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This thread makes me want to get a dog again... but I also feel its kind of soon. I had a Giant Husky who died in mid november  She went from over 80 lbs down to 65 real fast in september and then the vet told us she had what was in all likelyhood cancer (need a bunch of tests to confirm 100%) and she had about a month or two left.She was born on a horse farm my mom boarded her horse at and the rest of her litter was normal sized and remains there herding around the horses when needed, but she was just huge and sweet and shedded  OH SO MUCH SHEDDING, but we'd just throw it outside because the local birds would use it for nest material Sadly i'd really like to get another huge one but i'd 100% get a rescue dog or the like (if we didn't take her she would have ended up at one, and she was a free dog (-shots and forms to fill out for ownership)) so I don't know if i'd be able to do that.
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Feb 12, 2011 08:57
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| # ? May 9, 2024 21:32 |
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AtomikKrab posted:
My Buddy and rivals' Kaidan are both rescue dogs. It's actually pretty easy to find huskies in rescue, unfortunately, because they are hard to raise and people get them without knowing what they're getting in to. If you can find a husky rescue near you, you'd probably be able to find what you're looking for.rivals, that daycare sounds awesome! Buddy does the exact same stuff Kaidan does with getting in other dogs' faces without realizing it could have consequences, it'd be nice to have an outlet for socialization like that since people at the dog park freak out when Buddy grumbles. Really, though, if nothing else you got me wanting to take him by my inlaws and their dogs since he hasn't been in awhile.
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Feb 12, 2011 13:24
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Have some mal pictures. I find the lack of malamutes distressing. Click here for the full 1200x1600 image.  Click here for the full 1200x1600 image.  Click here for the full 1200x1600 image. Anyone have some good ideas for teaching a dog to give you some warning before they stop in their tracks to sniff something? When walking this is no big deal, when we are running (on ice) this is a bigger problem.
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Feb 15, 2011 00:05
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She's getting so big! I don't have any suggestions but Kaidan tends to do the same thing. It's not a huge deal for us since we're never really moving all that quickly.
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Feb 15, 2011 00:08
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Citizen Rat posted:Anyone have some good ideas for teaching a dog to give you some warning before they stop in their tracks to sniff something? When walking this is no big deal, when we are running (on ice) this is a bigger problem. With dogs it's kind of an all or nothing sort of thing. When my dog is on leash she's not permitted to stop and sniff. She can pee if she wants, but often I'll get her to pee on cue at convenient spots. I'm a real slave driver. Off-leash is a different matter -- at that point the walk becomes hers and she's granted much more freedom. So... that doesn't really answer your question. I would just only permit sniffing in certain spots, or on cue.
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Feb 15, 2011 04:22
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a life less posted:So... that doesn't really answer your question. I would just only permit sniffing in certain spots, or on cue. This 'on cue' thing really, really doesn't work out so well for malamutes. Or for most primitive breeds in general I'm willing to bet. It's that entire independent streak thing. At least not for things like 'go pee'. Sit, sure. Down, most of the time. Pee over there? heck no human, there are Ways In Which Things Are Done. I might be able to convince her that running is for running and when we do cool downs it is time for sniffing. I have better luck with activity differentiation.
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Feb 15, 2011 21:00
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You can maybe try a different leash or collar for running and walking and see if that helps cue her in. Also, use a command to keep her going and try to keep the leash shorter so she focuses more on running than exploring. We don't run, but if I want Buddy to keep up his pace and he's stopping, I'll say, "Leave it, let's go!" and he usually keeps up. The key is, I don't stop.  At all. He really has no choice but to come with then. Maybe work on a command like that while walking (so you don't run off and drag your dog) and once she gets it, start the same thing while running. Just an idea!
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Feb 15, 2011 23:17
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If it was possible for me to drag Sitka I don't think she would be able to play crack the whip with me! But that's an interesting idea and I'll give it ago. We run in the mornings and walk in the afternoons. I'm not yet fit enough to try to run 5 miles twice a day. Once is hard enough right now.
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Feb 15, 2011 23:57
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If there's anything that protrudes more than half a foot off the ground, Niko has to check and make sure he was the last one to piss on it. Even if he's bone dry, he'll go through the motions anyway. Usually he's fast enough that he can squirt-and-go so that I don't even have to stop walking, but sometimes the sniffing can last a good minute. It gets aggravating on long walks when he's trying to stop every 20 feet, so I just started going "AAA!" and giving a little tug on his leash whenever he started to deviate. Now I just use the same tone and say 'no' and he gets it. Guess who snuck out the other night? First time in 4 years and he finally figured out a way. So I get this phone call from a random chick at the pub down the street at 1:30 in the morning...he's just chilling out on the sidewalk socializing. Must have been a rough night as he spent most of the next day like this:  Bonus pix:  
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Feb 16, 2011 04:38
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Citizen Rat posted:Have some mal pictures. I find the lack of malamutes distressing. Nikita is half Malamute!  Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.
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Feb 16, 2011 04:59
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Philip J Fry posted:
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Feb 16, 2011 20:26
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Warbadger posted:Nikita is half Malamute!  Man, I could smoosh those malamute faces all day. I tried to get some pics of Hrafn with my fiance today using a feather as cooperation bribery. Things went completely as expected:  I'M A PRETTY PONY.  OH BOY COMPOST. Sigh. These are okay though I guess.   
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Feb 16, 2011 23:39
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Sock Weasel posted:
This picture is amazing. Great expression! 
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Feb 17, 2011 15:06
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Sock Weasel posted:
I left Diaz in Huntsville at the house where I lived for a bit, they're up to 4 dogs now (5 with Diaz) when I visited a friend in Jasper. She was not enthused about the crazy amount of dogs, but I snapped a shot of her trying to ignore their "wolfdog". Pretty typical expression throughout the weekend, I hear.  I demand more primitive doggy photos.  It's for my health.
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Feb 17, 2011 16:56
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Hahaha I love her expression there. "No. " (Took a look through your flickr and oh my gosh the closeup one of her in the car with that huge chill smile. )
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Feb 17, 2011 18:41
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Have any of you guys had issues with your dogs becoming anti-small dog? I think Sitka is starting to develop an attitude about small dogs. She used to be okay with them and try to play and make herself as non-threatening as possible, but there are a bunch of poorly trained yappy rats on our walk route that are starting to convince her that small dog=rear end in a top hat. Her hackles go up, her tail goes down & out straight, and she tries to step on them. She doesn't growl or show her teeth. She just tries to ... squash them. It would be kinda funny except she's 60lb and they are maybe like 6 pounds and is she does put serious weight on them I think I'd be looking at paying for some person's disaster of a dog's vet bill for a broken spine.
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Feb 18, 2011 16:17
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Citizen Rat posted:Have any of you guys had issues with your dogs becoming anti-small dog? I think Sitka is starting to develop an attitude about small dogs. She used to be okay with them and try to play and make herself as non-threatening as possible, but there are a bunch of poorly trained yappy rats on our walk route that are starting to convince her that small dog=rear end in a top hat. Her hackles go up, her tail goes down & out straight, and she tries to step on them. She doesn't growl or show her teeth. She just tries to ... squash them. My dog does not do with most small dogs but I don't really have any advice. For Quid I think it has more to do with the fact they are more likely to by shy/nervous around larger dogs and he seems to have a problem with that. We can be somewhere with a dozen dogs and he will pick out the one who is nervous and bark at them mercilessly... It even worse with small dogs because people are (rightly) nervous about a 60lb beast barking at their little rat and their first instinct is to pick their dog up. Too bad my dog can jump higher then my head and I'm 6', heh.I would guess the PI reccommendation would be to stuff your dog with treats when small dogs are around. Quid's not ready for that yet so I can't provide any personal sucess stories. I know I'm developing an attitude about small dog owners too. I'm aware that it's my responsibilty to work with my dog to get past reactivity but it doesn't help when people do stupid poo poo like bringing their teacup dog in the large dog area of the dog park when there are a half dozed 60+ dogs running around. Oh but the small dog side was empty and they wanted to talk to people.  Hopefully you can get the behavior moving in the right direction before you end up in a situation like mine.
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Feb 18, 2011 17:12
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Hey, if there are any Chicagoons interested, there's going to be a bunch of huskies at Brookfield Zoo on Sunday. Buddy's rescue, along with some other groups, are going to be doing sled demos. It's also a free day at the park! Just thought I'd pass the info along.
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Feb 18, 2011 23:18
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Just got back from taking Kaidan to an orthopedic specialist. The vets only reaction to his x-rays was "Oh wow". His left hip is very severe and his right hip is moderate to severe. They gave me estimates for a prosthetic hip, and the vet said he wants to just replace the left. The prices were a bit high though. I expected them to be somewhat inflated since it was a specialist as opposed to a vet, but these were way worse than expected. They are estimating $800-1.1k for pre surgery bloodwork and x-rays and $6.5k-8k for the surgery itself. Everyone I've talked to whose done this has quoted around $2k-3k so I think a second opinion is definitely in order. 
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Feb 19, 2011 02:41
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rivals posted:Just got back from taking Kaidan to an orthopedic specialist. The vets only reaction to his x-rays was "Oh wow". His left hip is very severe and his right hip is moderate to severe. They gave me estimates for a prosthetic hip, and the vet said he wants to just replace the left. The prices were a bit high though. I expected them to be somewhat inflated since it was a specialist as opposed to a vet, but these were way worse than expected. They are estimating $800-1.1k for pre surgery bloodwork and x-rays and $6.5k-8k for the surgery itself. Everyone I've talked to whose done this has quoted around $2k-3k so I think a second opinion is definitely in order. Holy cow, dude. I hope things go well at the second opinion. Poor Kai.
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Feb 21, 2011 20:49
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Oh gosh  Sending all my good thoughts for Kaiden, hopefully a second opinion turns out better!Someone on another pet forum I frequent just got a shiba puppy. Her post opens with "She has a litter of them back in late October and at first I wasn't interested. Didn't really think the breed was for me just based on what I'd read up on :P I like my easy going collies! " We all wished her luck with the temperament. She updated today with this quote:She's easily distracted LOL. Took her upstairs to work on her learning her name and she was more distracted by the tv downstairs than me and my chewy treats. Motivation is going to be a fun one :P I don't even require much, all I want is her to know her name LOL.
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Feb 21, 2011 21:37
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I think I know what that last quarter is. Boxer.   Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.  Click here for the full 1600x1200 image.  Click here for the full 1600x1200 image. She apparently likes cereal crumbs. She just sat there with her head shoved in against the floor for like a solid minute until I started laughing. Every time I made noise she'd jerk her head up to the middle photo and FREEZE and if I touched her, she'd look at me like there was nothing going on then go right back to grazing. Warbadger fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Feb 23, 2011 |
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Feb 23, 2011 02:11
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liwet posted:I forget it myself pretty often because yeah, they're relatively small (just over knee-high) and hairy and they look like teddy bears and Ru is at this moment sitting on my foot and headbutting me in the knee because I am using my hand to type rather than to pet him*, but when I come up against their stubbornness I remember pretty quickly, ha. I know this is an ancient post, but my mother got a Tibetan a few years ago after her runty pom passed away. My god, what a different experience that dog is. Maisie headbutts for pets and pats at you with her paws, and seeing someone else say that their dog did that sort of surprised me. I suppose its a very Tibetan thing to do? Neither of our poms ever really did it. By the way, do Finnish Spitz count as primitive breeds?
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Feb 24, 2011 05:47
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wtftastic posted:By the way, do Finnish Spitz count as primitive breeds? Yes they do. You better post pics if you've got them.
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Feb 24, 2011 09:21
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Kerfuffle posted:Yes they do. You better post pics if you've got them. I...I'll see if I have any of my Dad's dog. We got her last year, after our Schipperke passed away, and my dad's been showing her. She's not as poofy as a male, but my god she's cute and fox like.
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Feb 24, 2011 13:35
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I'm going to visit a friend tonight and he has two adult huskies and one husky/?shepherd? mix puppy and I get to run around and play with them all  The dogs are the main reason I'm going to visit, my buddy's okay with that 
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Feb 24, 2011 13:47
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wtftastic posted:
Poms do it too! The first thing Keeper does when greeting anyone is bat them with his paws to get attention, and he's definitely a headbutter. I think certain Poms are more primitive than others; from what I've seen, the ones overbred for show like Keeper tend to be more Spitz/primitive in behavior whereas the ones with longer muzzles/flat coats tend to have mellowed out over the years, at least IMHO. To keep the picture train goin, here's Taj the Husky mix pup that I posted earlier getting muddy with his sister Astra; Hopalong hosted a reunion for the litter and apparently everyone got incredibly dirty. Taj belongs to my in-law's neighbors/friends but we are his default babysitters.  
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Feb 24, 2011 16:29
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This guy I know has come to my work a few times now. He has MS and was a geneticist for some time. The dog he has is probably the most incredible dog I've ever seen. It has yellow eyes, a dark black coat, and is probably in the lower rung of a hundred pounds. It seems to be (yes 99% wolf) an awful lot like a wolf. I asked about him and the guy mentioned that he bred him himself, over time and during his research, because of his MS and his need for a guide dog. I forget the exact order, sadly, but I think it was several breedings between a German Shepherd, a malamute, husky, and a regular gray wolf or two. The end result was a crazy beautiful dog who seemed to have a great personality, if a little leery and shy. That said, he unironically mentioned that if I had a female malamute he wouldn't mind.. that. Would this be greedy on my part? How easy could I find places for the pups? I don't wanna be a jerk but man I would honestly kill for something like that. I don't even know where to find a female malamute, but yeah.
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Feb 24, 2011 17:18
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Anuv- posted:This guy I know has come to my work a few times now. He has MS and was a geneticist for some time. The dog he has is probably the most incredible dog I've ever seen. It has yellow eyes, a dark black coat, and is probably in the lower rung of a hundred pounds. It seems to be (yes 99% wolf) an awful lot like a wolf. You've got to stop and ask yourself why exactly you would want a pup out of this dog. Judging by what you just wrote there, the bulk of your reasons are aesthetic. Wolf dogs are absolutely gorgeous creatures, but they come with their own slew of problems and quirks. I would say that unless you had extensive experience with nordic/primitive breeds and had planned for quite some time to get a hybrid then it's really not a good idea. Also, just saying that he'd be looking for any ol' female Mal isn't particularly endearing. Mals are tough dogs, and I know of some with real issues with other dogs. I would want to temperament test the hell out of a potential match for his hybrid.
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Feb 24, 2011 17:35
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Anuv- posted:I asked about him and the guy mentioned that he bred him himself, over time and during his research, because of his MS and his need for a guide dog. I forget the exact order, sadly, but I think it was several breedings between a German Shepherd, a malamute, husky, and a regular gray wolf or two. The end result was a crazy beautiful dog who seemed to have a great personality, if a little leery and shy. I don't want to ball this genetic researcher crazy, but why would you want to combine primitive breeds + WOLF + very trainable breeds for a guide or support dog? That seems really weird.
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Feb 24, 2011 17:45
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Citizen Rat posted:Have any of you guys had issues with your dogs becoming anti-small dog? I think Sitka is starting to develop an attitude about small dogs. She used to be okay with them and try to play and make herself as non-threatening as possible, but there are a bunch of poorly trained yappy rats on our walk route that are starting to convince her that small dog=rear end in a top hat. Her hackles go up, her tail goes down & out straight, and she tries to step on them. She doesn't growl or show her teeth. She just tries to ... squash them. Beck is very good with small dogs except for an unneutered chihuahua mix that lives in our neighborhood. The best solution that I've found is to practice her "focus" skills, so she's got her attention on me. When we pass the house he lives at, I make happy "look at me" noises at her and get her to pay attention to me so we can walk briskly past. As long as we keep moving, there's no time for either of them to react. Anuv- posted:I asked about him and the guy mentioned that he bred him himself, over time and during his research, because of his MS and his need for a guide dog. I forget the exact order, sadly, but I think it was several breedings between a German Shepherd, a malamute, husky, and a regular gray wolf or two. The end result was a crazy beautiful dog who seemed to have a great personality, if a little leery and shy. Wow, it's like he set out to breed the worst possible dog for the job. A service dog should be the opposite of leery and shy, since they're going to be out in public with the owner. If you want a wolfy-looking dog, there are plenty of furry, pointy-eared mutts in shelters that won't require the massive amounts of care a wolf hybrid would. Primitive breeds are difficult, but wolf hybrids are a whole different beast. There's also the legal issues- the majority of states don't allow them at all, and the states that do usually have very strict requirements. Even if they're legal in your state, what if you move, or travel and have to take the dog with you? And if the dog ever bites someone, that's a death sentence for the dog, as there's no approved rabies vaccine for wolf hybrids. Learn about the requirements for primitive breeds instead, and if you're up to providing for their needs, adopt one. In wrinkle-dog news, this guy right here is currently in a rescue in Michigan:  Ow.
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Feb 24, 2011 18:39
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holy poo poo look at that leg
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Feb 24, 2011 18:41
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Anuv- posted:That said, he unironically mentioned that if I had a female malamute he wouldn't mind.. that. Would this be greedy on my part? How easy could I find places for the pups? I don't wanna be a jerk but man I would honestly kill for something like that. I don't even know where to find a female malamute, but yeah. Please please please do not do this.
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Feb 24, 2011 18:44
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According to the rescue, it's the result of a fracture that was untreated when he was a puppy. I want to buy him a dog rollerskate or something so he can just scoot it around because it makes my legs hurt just looking at him.
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Feb 24, 2011 18:46
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Anuv- posted:
 Assuming you're not trolling and are seriously asking if you should intentionally produce a wolfdog, no, no you should not and hey here's this handy dandy post linked right in the god drat OP that explains exactly why not. Jesus. Lurk more forever.
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Feb 24, 2011 18:47
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Boyfriend and I are going to check out this guy: today for his parents . We can't get a dog for ourselves right now, so we get our dose of dog from them.
Invalid Octopus fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Feb 25, 2011 |
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Feb 24, 2011 21:54
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adventure in the sandbox posted:I don't want to ball this genetic researcher crazy, but why would you want to combine primitive breeds + WOLF + very trainable breeds for a guide or support dog? That seems really weird.
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Feb 24, 2011 22:04
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We got another opinion on Kaidan's hips from another specialist today. She doesn't think we should put Kaidan through a hip replacement yet. It was a very interesting appointment and I felt more comfortable about the entire thing than the last one. This is going to be a fairly large wall of text. To start things off, I didn't much care for the feeling of the other vet. His exam was quick, he felt Kaidan's hips quickly, not very thoroughly, asked me a couple questions, looked at the x-rays, and then gave me the surgical estimate. This entire appointment was completely different. She started off with the normal stuff and asked me a lot of questions about his history, what signs we saw (practically none other than reluctance to hop on the bed/couch/car and a slight change in gait after a lot of exercise), what his exercise routine is like, etc. She examined his feet, knees, legs, hips, and spine all very thoroughly, and then had us go outside where she watched hip walk for a while and then trot for a while. When we came back in she said that having looked at the x-rays prior, she was amazed by his movement and the lack of pain during the exam (this was exactly what our original vet thought as well - she was shocked when she first saw the x-rays). She said that with hip dysplasia you tend to see one of three cases 1) The pain is severe when they are young and continually gets worse. 2) The pain plateaus when they mature and fully develop. In case 2 either a) they improve (as we saw with Kaidan after starting Glucosamine) or b) they start declining again around 6-9 years old. She said they (because the group of specialists we saw) only like performing total hip replacements (or other major surgical procedures to fix it) in cases 1, 2b, or special cases. She said that she thinks the only case in which we should pursue major surgery for him at this point is if we still wanted him to start pulling sleds (which was the reason we got him x-rayed in the first place). Otherwise, she said, if we are okay keeping his exercise regiment what it normally is then she thinks he'll be fine for a while. I voiced concern about the potential of waiting too long and the increased risk of complication with major surgery as he gets older and she said that those risks are not significant enough to push the decision into having it now. She also said that the reason I've noticed him seeming a little worse over the last few weeks is definitely the weather and the fact that since we moved (and for a few weeks before that) we haven't been doing the small hikes and beach trips that we used to do about twice a month. She recommended that I start giving him fish oil capsules in addition to the glucosamine, and told me to consider looking into Science Diet J/D since it has a correct Omage 6:Omega 3 ratio for joint health but also mentioned his current diet should help as well (CORE ocean recipe). She said that it's important that we keep up the activity level we have and get back into the habit of one large exercise activity (small hike or breach trip) once or twice a month because his muscles will be his saving grace. So that's about it. I felt more comfortable with what she had to say than the other appointment just because she went through the steps to get more complete information about his situation. I still can't help feeling that something needs to be done but she told me that if things ever deteriorate more or we notice any amount of pain to get him back in and we'll figure something out. She also scanned and burned his x-rays to a CD for me which is kindof cool, so that I can easily give it to new vets since I have to now mail the x-rays back to our old vet 200 miles away, so I guess if anyone wants to see them I can post them. It's really good news overall, but the fact that I got two completely opposite opinions is worrying. As I've stated though, I like that she had more complete information overall and she approached it from a quality of life standpoint.
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Feb 25, 2011 03:50
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That's really fascinating, rivals. That's such a tough call to make. It sounds like you guys are ready to leap into action once it's necessary, which is amazing. Wishing you and Buddy (and everyone else) the best.
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Feb 25, 2011 04:26
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Walked over to the college to play in the little bit of snow we got... 
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Feb 25, 2011 04:40
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