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Sorry I haven't read the whole thread, but my dachshund mix has had the shits for two days now and I'm pretty sure it's because of the road food that he snarfs while on walks. It's pretty hard to stop him because his face is like 2 inches from the ground, and whatever he's mixed with means if you try to get the food out of his mouth you just get your finger chewed as a bonus. So I had this brilliant idea of a muzzle to keep him from scavenging. Googling tells me that this is a thing. Is this a good idea? He's totally calm with people, and it would be a bit of a shame to have people think he's dangerous because of a muzzle. And he's about 5 years old, so is it even feasible to get him used to one?
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May 22, 2013 06:37
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Dr. Chaco posted:What you're looking for is a basket-muzzle, which will let him breathe and pant comfortably but should keep him from snarfing random poo poo off the road. I actually recommend these to patients with a history of eating rocks. Unfortunately, people will likely assume your dog is aggressive until you explain otherwise (and probably even then), but if you really can't keep him from eating random crap, I think it's a good idea. There are an awful lot of things out there that dogs shouldn't eat, ranging from diarrhea-inducing to fatal. Thanks, I guess Mr. Poops-Badly here is heading to Tisol this weekend to try on some basket muzzles. Will check back in soon for advice on how to get him to wear it, most likely.
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May 22, 2013 06:59
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It's below zero celsius here now, and this stupid hummingbird has decided to hang around. Haven't seen any for months, then suddenly a couple of days ago I saw this really anomalous bird hunting around, so I got out the hummingbird feeder. But it freezes. I don't know if I want to get into heating elements or whatever, it never stays below zero here for long. So far I've been a) mixing the nectar 3:1 to reduce the freezing temperature and b) rotating between two feeders but i doubt i'll be doing that at 6am when it counts. Of course the internet is full of conflicting advice so I can only trust the random strangers from SA.
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Dec 8, 2013 03:12
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Dog I've had for about five years has this occasional thing where he gets super restless at night, pacing and panting, no interest in treats, wants to go outside for ten seconds, needs to be on the bed, needs to be off, repeat, generally making sleep impossible. I know this sort of thing is fairly common since it gets tons of google results, but nothing seems definitive. He's been to the vet, no symptoms of anything (though over the past couple of years we've been through "maybe disc problems" to "maybe a skin condition"). He's perfectly normal in the day, but something kicks in a night -- suddenly he'll bolt upright and need to pace around. Have tried these valerian pills, benadryl back when allergies were suspected, now we have the pheromone collar thing, but really it just seems to kick in regardless and randomly, these days maybe twice a week. So I thought I'd add to the indeterminate google results by contributing this. What other things might I try to get Mr Poops here to calm down at night? Also, it's not storms or fireworks or anything like that.
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Apr 13, 2014 06:49
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HelloSailorSign posted:I agree, though I'd put anxiety first. Sometimes wildlife will make nests, traverse under houses or in walls, that sort of thing, and the dog picks up on it and either tries to find it or spazzes out because something is happening but they don't know what. Sorry for not responding sooner, for some reason not much sleep. Anyhow, re: wild animals; we live in an urban area, there are squirrels, raccoons, and rats I suppose — and our attic really does need to be patched up — but Angus here does not really care about other animals. Like, a squirrel in the park? No reaction. Cat? A curious sniff at most. Other dogs, it's more about getting a sniff in without being sniffed himself. He's got this scientifically detached thing going on. Also just to be clear, he is by far not a hunting/herding/guard dog, he's a Shih Tzu X Dachshund X terrier of some sort. Sleeps all day, I have video proof. Also most nights, until lately. So unless it's about sounds that I can't hear and he's upset about, I dunno. Maybe I should set up some sort of white noise generator? The weird thing is, he'll be basically his inert self, apparently asleep, and apropos of nothing he'll bolt awake and the circus begins. It's not a sideways poop (he doesn't like to poop in his own yard), I have taken him out for (hour long at 3AM) walks when this happens and I get nothing other than a dog checking his usual mail. Nightmares? Do dogs get nightmares?
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Apr 15, 2014 06:11
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Melicious posted:This is a possibility. My normally very lazy, docile cat has terrible nightmares that cause her to wake up hissing, swiping, and howling. It only takes her half a second to realize everything's okay and whatever she was dreaming about wasn't real, but she usually does get snugglier afterward as though she wants to be comforted. No idea why she gets the nightmares, and they didn't start until she was 9 or 10. Well, he's no cat, but I've met dumber dogs. He has me trained pretty well at least. Sitrep: he's apparently asleep, but has had one bolting-awake thing so far tonight. Just about bedtime for humans, if I post again within 7 hours then argh. Edit: yay Tad Naff fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Apr 15, 2014 |
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Apr 15, 2014 07:34
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Perhaps related? This is my dog, who is normally indistinguishable from a rug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq3DLeHlXQQ He gets the basement when we're at work, this has been just a fine arrangement for 6 years. Radio on, treats distributed, etc. This is from today, I had been gone for about an hour and a half. Usually he lies on the left side of that couch all day, but lately he's been tearing poo poo up down there once in a while. It looks kind of like humping? He's neutered and has never humped anything in my presence -- well actually once, a Labradoodle, it was extenuating circumstances. Currently we give him doggie Xanax (prescribed) when we see one of his episodes starting up, but today he was inert when I put him down so I thought things would be cool.
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Oct 14, 2015 23:05
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So I'm in the market for a new dog friend, and finding one that fits my wife's parameters is pretty difficult (the parameters don't mean much so I won't bore you with them, suffice to say finding a dog that ticks all the boxes is non-trivial). So I found one, a rescue from China. The story varies, but she was either found in an abandoned factory or she was liberated from a meat truck. The truth will never be known, but anyway: this weekend we packed, got on a ferry, visited our glorious provincial capital, paid way too much for a hotel because unknown to us there was a big music festival, and went to visit and hopefully claim this creature from the foster. But we didn't adopt, yet anyway, because the poor thing is basically a broken shell of a dog. Having some PTSD of my own I immediately recognized the affect -- head buried into a corner, unresponsive, no eye contact, not interested in treats, averse to noise and movement, and apparently she'd been like that with very little improvement for three weeks. You can touch/pet her but she doesn't react other than to bury her face further. So anyway, the questions: - We had a rescue before. The experience was pretty much opposite to this one (after the house visit, the rescue coordinator basically cheerfully shoved the dog into our car and wished us luck, and he was basically the best dog for fourteen years). So is this more of a normal experience? - Can a dog even recover from this? (I hope yes, or it means bad news for me too). While I can talk it out with a therapist, this dog sure can't. But finding a dog with the right qualifications has been difficult. I offered to foot the bill for an assessment from an animal behaviorist, a vet visit, and any medications that get prescribed until she gets adopted by me or someone else, but I also said this doesn't constitute a commitment to adopt since we have no idea what kind of personality might emerge. But what's even worse is that the foster, bless her, has never done this before. It's her first foster and I'm pretty sure she isn't equipped to handle this. The dog is (possibly, it's probably a wild guess from China) 7 months old so hopefully the damage isn't permanent. - Am I just overly concerned, and most rescue dogs start out like this but self-heal (and if so, why did the rescue society put her up for adoption when she wasn't even close to ready)? I know there will be a lot of admonishment directed to me about sunk cost, but you know, she's definitely a looker and I feel emotionally invested / empathetic now. I'm not exactly rolling in cash, but since I'm not paying my previous dog's medical bills anymore I don't feel too bad doing what I can for this poor girl. I'm wondering, percentage-wise, what are the odds of her becoming an actual pet rather than a dark spot in the corner; and what kind of timeline would that be? Thanks any rescue/behaviorist people who might offer an opinion. Tad Naff fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Sep 20, 2022 |
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Sep 20, 2022 05:47
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