|
Lol, ok. I wasn't seriously going to spray a dog with mace. These people around here with the small dogs never seem to control them :|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 00:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 20:14 |
|
|
Danith posted:Lol, ok. I wasn't seriously going to spray a dog with mace. A lot of people with small dogs do this, hence "small dog syndrome". They think "Oh, he's just a little dog, he can't do any damage if he's acting up" and so don't bother to train the aggressive behaviour out like they would with a bigger dog. And then they act surprised when a bigger dog returns the aggression or gets freaked out, or the little dog manages to do some damage to someone (getting a hard bite from even a little terrier is not great). I have relatives who let their little dogs get away with so much that they would never let their big dogs do (taking food from children, climbing on laps, jumping up, etc), and it does impact on the big dog - whether he gets confused about what is/isn't allowed or starts viewing it as "unfair" (inasmuch as dogs have a sense of fair/unfair). I would suggest for your roommate to keep an eye out for them and try explaining to them that the Lab gets nervous or upset around aggressive little dogs and why it's something they need to work on as much as him, and why having a small dog doesn't mean you get a free pass to skimp on the training. I'm not a dog trainer/dogtor though so they might be able to offer more advice.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 00:36
|
|
|
Danith posted:Lol, ok. I wasn't seriously going to spray a dog with mace. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3522054&pagenumber=282&perpage=40#post424643941
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 00:45
|
|
|
CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:A lot of people with small dogs do this, hence "small dog syndrome". They think "Oh, he's just a little dog, he can't do any damage if he's acting up" and so don't bother to train the aggressive behaviour out like they would with a bigger dog. And then they act surprised when a bigger dog returns the aggression or gets freaked out, or the little dog manages to do some damage to someone (getting a hard bite from even a little terrier is not great). I have relatives who let their little dogs get away with so much that they would never let their big dogs do (taking food from children, climbing on laps, jumping up, etc), and it does impact on the big dog - whether he gets confused about what is/isn't allowed or starts viewing it as "unfair" (inasmuch as dogs have a sense of fair/unfair). I wouldn't pin all of this on people spoiling their precious furbabies (though it clearly doesn't help). Small dogs have to give big signals to get people or other dogs to leave them the gently caress alone, so disproportionately more of them have fear aggression and reactivity issues. Combine that with people in general thinking it's so cute when a little dog jumps up on them and they get tons of mixed messages from the world at large.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 01:31
|
|
|
There are a lot of lovely poorly-socialized big dogs too and most small dog owners I know have at least one story about a much bigger dog attacking their little one. I imagine that plays a role in the reactivity/fear aggression issues.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 02:46
|
|
|
Danith posted:Lol, ok. I wasn't seriously going to spray a dog with mace. Carry a squirt gun. A shot of water will stop the dog, piss off the bad dog owner, and hurt no one. Don't let your dog be a victim, you're there to protect them.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 03:37
|
|
|
thylacine posted:7y old Basset. I took her to the vet today. My anal expressing technique was not adequate. Turns out I need to do the whole finger in the butt thing. The vet squeezed them and there was tons of juice in there+infection. Boo.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 17:36
|
|
|
How do you express anal glands without going in the butt?
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 17:37
|
|
|
You can get by with squeezing them from the outside on some dogs (smaller ones? I don't know just depends on anatomy.)
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 17:45
|
|
|
Northern climate pet owners: how do you deal with pet smell in the winter? I'm terrified of my apartment smelling like the inside of a kennel. Today I kind of thought the bed was funky, so I covered it in lavender-scented baking soda and vaccummed it up, plus I'm washing all the bedding. We vaccuum frequently and generally clean the house regularly. Is there anything else I should be doing during the winter months while everything is cooped up? For reference, I have two medium-sized dogs in a 600-700 square foot apartment.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2014 21:09
|
|
|
My roommates American bulldogs nails look really nasty and I wanna clean them up with a dremel but don't really know what parts are safe to touch up, here's a picture what should I do about the grey blackish stuff in the center? I'm guessing leave it alone but it doesn't look very healthy
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 00:01
|
|
|
torgeaux posted:Carry a squirt gun. A shot of water will stop the dog, piss off the bad dog owner, and hurt no one. Don't let your dog be a victim, you're there to protect them. A water gun will probably not stop an aggressive dog that's in the zone, not just like 'growling warning' and backing up - a lunging dog. Personally I'm really wary of tiny dogs on retractable leads because they could easily outrun their allowance before the owner fumbles to click a button, and if they lunge at my dog who is heeling at my side on a 2-3 foot leash and focusing on me, she will be the one who gets in trouble because she's a pit mix and does not like being attacked. I try to tell people if they don't move out of my way or cross the street that my dog "does not like little dogs", from far away, and if they are not taking the hint I stop and heel her as far off the sidewalk as I can and let them go by. Last week came across an AGGRESSIVE territorial fluffy thing that was on 10 foot lead tied to their yard/garage, but they could reach the sidewalk we were walking on from there and they jumped out at me and my two dogs. My dogs on 5 foot leads were surprised and sorta sidestepped and ran away thankfully, but that could have been a mess, and frankly i'm not sure who would be at fault there because all the dogs were on leashes, and I'm not sure if that's public (sidewalk) or the person's property. Also the owner was just sitting next to the dog in a lounge chair watching. No comments or grabbing the line, while i was like 'heel!' to mine and scurrying past the growling yapping terrier. Scary.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 02:10
|
|
|
thylacine posted:Beneful Health Weighty (prob get yelled at for that—it keeps her weight down and she likes it.) Is she fixed? Recent nursing litter? The food is not optimal, but if you've had picky food issues in the past, I'll leave it. You might want to consider feeding a higher quality food, in smaller amounts, if weight control is the issue. May I also suggest canned pumpkin? Not the sweetened pie stuff, just straight boiled into a tin. It's an easy way to introduce fiber into the diet, which makes poops more plentiful, which naturally expresses the anal glands. Also, I am not a vet. Consult your real vet before making any dietary changes.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 03:19
|
|
|
pizzadog posted:I try to tell people if they don't move out of my way or cross the street that my dog "does not like little dogs", from far away, and if they are not taking the hint I stop and heel her as far off the sidewalk as I can and let them go by. As much as other people suck it isn't their job to ~heed your hints~ about your dog. It is your job to protect your dog and nobody else's, so if she doesn't like small dogs up in her grill just cross the road or turn and walk a different way. It's your dog who doesn't like small dogs (who are often dicks so I understand) so don't leave it to the other person to handle the situation by controlling their own.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 10:25
|
|
|
I have a fat cat. A very fat cat. I feel like I've tried everything. I've used two different prescribed vet foods, I've tried about 4 different commercial diet foods, I've done research and tried raw (none of my cats will eat raw) and feeding wet only. I'm feeding high quality, high protein wet and kibble right now. I portion control and restrict access to food. I don't feed treats very often, except to my old man cat. She usually doesn't even eat all her portion, she's not a food freak. I try to engage her and get her to play, and she barely moves. She's too fat to properly clean her butt, so I have to clean it for her. I'm worried she's going to develop arthritis. I have consulted with the vet and I run blood work every year or two. Everything is apparently pretty normal, and the vet doesn't really have any more suggestions to make. I will take her to another vet in the next couple weeks for a second opinion, but can anyone recommend something? I'm getting to the point of fairly desperate here. Is there a medication I can try?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 20:08
|
|
|
How many calories does she eat every day?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 20:54
|
|
|
I'm feeding Natures Variety Instinct with "Raw Boost", which is just freeze dried chicken to up the protein content. It lists 447k/cal per cup. Between the three cats, they get a half cup in the morning and a half cup before bed. I'm on medical leave right now and am actually able to monitor how much everyone is eating. The kibble is pretty evenly split, so she's getting about 147k/cal from kibble per day. Twice a day I feed wet food. We mostly feed Weruva, so I picked their highest calorie can, and divided it by 3. Paw Lickin' Chicken is listed as having 103 calories per 5.5oz tin. That means she's getting about 68 from wet food, only she never ever finishes her wet food. The boys always bully her away. Most days she eats about half her wet food. I was originally feeding all wet food, but when we adopted a 17 year old cat last year, he was clearly needing more food. Also wet food for 3 cats is really pricey :/ Edit: I should clarify. Old man was clearly free fed and was having a hard time with 3 scheduled feedings. He was having a hard time making it through the night without food, so we changed around the feeding schedule and took out a can of food and subbed it for kibble, split twice a day. Edit again: She is 20 pounds. She was 22 when I used to free feed a few years ago, but she won't budge past 20. Regardless of her fat, she is a big cat. From nose to tail she's almost 2 feet long. 
Echeveria fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Nov 16, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 21:21
|
|
|
Fraction posted:As much as other people suck it isn't their job to ~heed your hints~ about your dog. It is your job to protect your dog and nobody else's, so if she doesn't like small dogs up in her grill just cross the road or turn and walk a different way. It's your dog who doesn't like small dogs (who are often dicks so I understand) so don't leave it to the other person to handle the situation by controlling their own. It's definitely their job to control their own dog. I'm talking about a dog on long leash that can cross my body to reach my dog on the opposite side of me.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 21:59
|
|
|
Echeveria posted:I'm feeding Natures Variety Instinct with "Raw Boost", which is just freeze dried chicken to up the protein content. It lists 447k/cal per cup. Between the three cats, they get a half cup in the morning and a half cup before bed. She's getting roughly 200kcal per day then, yes? If she's not losing weight, she needs to eat less. Cat metabolisms can vary a lot, especially if they are inactive most of the day. She should lose weight on just about any diet as long as you cut it back enough, it's a matter of figuring out what your cat needs--my 10-11 lb cats each get 170kcal each per day, more they gain weight and less they lose weight. They were very inactive when they were much fatter, but they are pretty active now, so I think they were eating less than that during the weight-loss plase. I can easily see a largely-inactive housecat not losing weight on 200kcal+ per day. What I did, and what I recommend to clients, is to weigh the cat every week or two. 2-3 weeks without any weight loss and the food gets cut back a little bit more.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 22:53
|
|
|
Dr. Chaco posted:What I did, and what I recommend to clients, is to weigh the cat every week or two. 2-3 weeks without any weight loss and the food gets cut back a little bit more. I was doing this, and it works to an extent. But then when she get's too hungry, she eats plastic and paper. She'll eat books, magazines, shopping bags, any kind of product packaging, cardboard boxes. Her favorite is the plastic packaging from the bag of toilet paper or paper towels. She'll break into the linen closet and go to town. She's developed an intestinal blockage this way. Keeping her above this point where she eats my house, she does not lose weight. I did it for 6 months. My cat Hektor lost weight. Fatty did not. Echeveria fucked around with this message at 23:13 on Nov 16, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 23:10
|
|
|
PFlats posted:Looking into adopting a senior dog with Lyme. Raised dogs before, but never dealt with Lyme disease. From what I can read, there's going to be a long treatment with antibiotics. What do those usually run, cost-wise? Any chance of other, more serious treatments? From the end of the last page before tiny angry dog chat. Any help? Just look at this mug.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2014 23:19
|
|
|
PFlats posted:From the end of the last page before tiny angry dog chat. Any help? Just look at this mug. I think it just requires courses of antibiotics. Which are very cheap. I think problems like arthritis may arise as a complication or side effect which may end up costing more to treat chronically. Heck, ear infections that cockers are prone to may end up costing more than that. But that dog looks super sweet and I usually don't like spaniels, go for it!
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2014 02:32
|
|
|
I have a 15 week old kitten that I recently discovered was covered in fleas. Tried to give him a bath which didn't really do anything for the fleas and gave me a miserable, wet, cold cat, and for some reason all the fleas slipped through the flea comb. In a fit of extreme guilt and worry, I ran to the store and grabbed the first thing I could find for fleas. What I ended up getting was Ultra Guard Plus for cats and kittens over 5lbs. I didn't do any reading before applying -- chide me for this if you like, I already feel bad enough so a bit more wouldn't hurt -- and upon finding that tonight, he STILL has fleas (the box says it kills most fleas within 15 min), I did some research. I found a lot of horrible reveiws, even entire websites dedicated to the horrible things that this has done to people's cats, including neurological damage and death. Most people noticed symptoms in minutes while some noticed symptoms over the course of a few days or a week. So far, my kitten appears fine.. but I'm a humongous worry wart and I really don't want my cat to die. The back of his neck is still greasy from the application so I guess I can wash that off but it's probably too late for what has been absorbed. I'm not sure if this warrants an emergency vet visit that I couldn't afford, since he's not sick I don't know what they could do, or what. I'm really freaking out. I'm also wondering what I can do about all of the fleas he still has.  please help I'm a horrible pet owner
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 06:13
|
|
|
copy of a posted:I have a 15 week old kitten that I recently discovered was covered in fleas. Tried to give him a bath which didn't really do anything for the fleas and gave me a miserable, wet, cold cat, and for some reason all the fleas slipped through the flea comb. In a fit of extreme guilt and worry, I ran to the store and grabbed the first thing I could find for fleas. What I ended up getting was Ultra Guard Plus for cats and kittens over 5lbs. A vinegar and water dip
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 06:45
|
|
|
Echeveria posted:I was doing this, and it works to an extent. But then when she get's too hungry, she eats plastic and paper. She'll eat books, magazines, shopping bags, any kind of product packaging, cardboard boxes. Her favorite is the plastic packaging from the bag of toilet paper or paper towels. She'll break into the linen closet and go to town. She's developed an intestinal blockage this way. If she's too hungry on the appropriate caloric amount, the next step would be to find a less calorically dense food so she can have more of it. For example, Hills' new weight loss food, Metabolic, is almost 300kcal per cup, so significantly less than what you're feeding now, and she could have more of it for the same calories. Not all weight loss foods or "light" foods will be in the same calorie range, so you'll have to look around.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 06:50
|
|
|
Dr. Chaco posted:If she's too hungry on the appropriate caloric amount, the next step would be to find a less calorically dense food so she can have more of it. For example, Hills' new weight loss food, Metabolic, is almost 300kcal per cup, so significantly less than what you're feeding now, and she could have more of it for the same calories. Not all weight loss foods or "light" foods will be in the same calorie range, so you'll have to look around. I used metabolic for almost 8 months :/ I really appreciate your help and I don't mean to seem negative. I've really tried a lot of things with her.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 07:00
|
|
|
PFlats posted:From the end of the last page before tiny angry dog chat. Any help? Just look at this mug. It depends on how he has responded to Lyme and how long ago he was infected. In most dogs who get Lyme disease, they are never clinical. Something like 5-10% actually develop clinical signs of Lyme Disease, and that's usually within a couple months of being infected. If it is past that or he is a nonclinical dog, he may never develop clinical signs of Lyme Disease, even without antibiotics. As far as if he comes down with Lyme, the antibiotic of choice went out of service or something dumb so it got stupid expensive. Others can work though, so it isn't all bad. Nomally they just get lameness problems with Lyme, but rarely it can cause some nasty kidney problems, and of course, you can see loss of appetite and fever with a clinical Lyme.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 07:20
|
|
|
copy of a posted:I have a 15 week old kitten that I recently discovered was covered in fleas. Tried to give him a bath which didn't really do anything for the fleas and gave me a miserable, wet, cold cat, and for some reason all the fleas slipped through the flea comb. In a fit of extreme guilt and worry, I ran to the store and grabbed the first thing I could find for fleas. What I ended up getting was Ultra Guard Plus for cats and kittens over 5lbs. Generic capstar (nitenpyram) is available at Wal-Mart for like $15 for a few doses and is safe for cats over 2 months. It will kill all the fleas on the cat super fast. It's a pill so you have to jam it in and wash it down and you'll find a flea holocaust in an hour. Wal-Mart has generic topical frontline as well that you can apply to help control reinfestation. You might end up fighting the fleas for a bit because they're probably in your carpet and furniture now. There are some other threads on approaching that.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 14:35
|
|
|
Echeveria posted:I used metabolic for almost 8 months :/ Have you tried increasing her activity level in conjunction with restricting calories? Laser pointer? Dangly-thing-on-a-stick toys? No joke, I used to get my fatties to walk laps around the apartment by carrying their food bowls around in circles.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 16:38
|
|
|
Enelrahc posted:Generic capstar (nitenpyram) is available at Wal-Mart for like $15 for a few doses and is safe for cats over 2 months. It will kill all the fleas on the cat super fast. It's a pill so you have to jam it in and wash it down and you'll find a flea holocaust in an hour. Wal-Mart has generic topical frontline as well that you can apply to help control reinfestation. Thanks. He is right at 5lbs, is this still an option considering his size? Luckily we don't have carpet, just a small rug that's easily cleaned, but I do plan on doing something about the furniture. Just need to rent a steamer and blast all the bedding in a nuclear-hot wash cycle.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 17:06
|
|
|
copy of a posted:Thanks. He is right at 5lbs, is this still an option considering his size? I believe the smaller size is labeled for cats and kittens 2 - 10 pounds, so it will be fine. Just double check the packaging when you buy it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 17:15
|
|
|
Dr. Chaco posted:Have you tried increasing her activity level in conjunction with restricting calories? Laser pointer? Dangly-thing-on-a-stick toys? No joke, I used to get my fatties to walk laps around the apartment by carrying their food bowls around in circles. Yeah, she'll only play with them when they come within batting range of her. We got Da Bird thinking that would help. It gets her standing and batting at it, but not running after it. I thought she was intimidated by the other cats, so I even locked them away for one on one play time. Hektor tries to engage her to play too, but she hisses at him. I've tried walking her, too. Aside from refusing to move, she's also managed to get out of every harness I've bought. I will try dishing out the wet food and walking around the house to see if she'll follow. Might have to get my husband on board because I'm still not too mobile after knee surgery. Also I am really glad we don't have fleas here.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2014 17:25
|
|
|
Echeveria posted:Yeah, she'll only play with them when they come within batting range of her. We got Da Bird thinking that would help. It gets her standing and batting at it, but not running after it. I thought she was intimidated by the other cats, so I even locked them away for one on one play time. Hektor tries to engage her to play too, but she hisses at him. At 20 lbs, she may only be able to stand at bat at toys comfortably. Mine didn't jump and run after toys until the weight started to come off. If she's hungry enough to eat non-food items, she should be excited enough about meal times to follow the bowl. If she's not that hungry, you can cut it back more.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 04:13
|
|
|
Dr. Chaco posted:If she's not that hungry, you can cut it back more. Her and my older cat sit in the kitchen looking at their bowls pawing/screaming at me as meal time approaches. In fact I have 2 cats staring me down as I type. I'm pretty sure she'd follow me around I'm just a bit of a cripple.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 06:30
|
|
|
What's the best way to introduce two cats with a dog? Our neighbour has a Maltese that's a bit on the hyper side, but we're hoping to get our pets acquianted with each other so we can dog-sit for them while they go on vacation. Our two persian cats are pretty mellow, but I have no idea as to where we'd start with introducing the dog to our cats! Also, are disposable pet food bowls a good idea? We were thinking of using them for when we're out of town, so our cat-sitter can just toss each bowl after they're used. melon cat fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Nov 19, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2014 16:24
|
|
|
Our 4-year-old female rotti/lab, who has never had an accident in the two years that we've had her, just had a big ol' pee on our couch while my girlfriend was sitting right beside her. She had just gone outside maybe two hours earlier although granted, I can't guarantee that she actually peed when she went outside as she was let out right as company was coming over so she might've forgotten. Is this worth a vet visit? Some things that may or may not be relevant: - She's acting normal now - She had a lot of exercise today, I had just finished a pretty long fetch/keepaway session indoors with her about forty minutes before her accident - We've been in the middle of selling our house and buying a new house over the past few weeks so we're probably giving off some nervous energy (we are still in the old house and haven't started packing, but we have moved a lot of furniture around) - We're also fighting our yearly battle with mice who are trying to set up shop in our house for the winter. I think it's unlikely she's encountered any since they seem to be mostly holed up in places that she can't get to but she can probably smell them. Is there anything we should look out for? Should we just take her to the vet tomorrow regardless?
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 04:31
|
|
|
I'd chalk it up to a very annoying one-off right now and wouldn't automatically run off to a vet. However I would watch her like a hawk for any irregular pee habits, and I would watch her when you let her outside to ensure she's going while she's out. Clean the couch with Nature's Miracle to the very best of your ability. Or buy a new one.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 15:56
|
|
|
Thanks, we're going to keep a close eye on her for the next few days and see if she's acting weird at all. Luckily the couch has a removable cover and she was on top of her dog blanket so it didn't seep into the cushion.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2014 17:09
|
|
|
My personal rule is the first time is an accident, the second time makes me suspicious, and the third time gets a vet visit for peeing in bad places.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2014 00:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 20:14 |
|
|
Is it still a bad thing to feed your dogs jerky from China, or has that passed by now? I got a big bag of duck jerky treats for my dog last month and didn't realize they were made in China until I looked at the package today. It's unopened and he hasn't had any, but I don't have the receipt any more and don't know if I could return them without it at this point. FWIW it's Happy Hips duck jerky treats from Petco.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2014 02:04
|
|
