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Herr Tog posted:She has express serious love towards dogs and especially that breed and the idea of having a dog again. I guess I can assume by your post that I should be prepared to take part of this very excessive, mental and physical. Do they get bitey with other dogs? Has she had experience with rottweilers before? They really aren't dogs that you get just because you like the look of them. But yeah you should expect to be providing a job for this dog, walking it a lot, maybe biking with it when it's old enough (2+ years) to help stimulate it. AFAIK they can get aggressive with other dogs, yes, especially those of the same sex, and you'll need to prepare for that possibility and train with that in mind.
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Aug 6, 2012 11:32
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uptown posted:Having a puppy is a huge responsibility and when they are young, it is so important to keep the rules consistent. I agree with the poster I'm quoting here - I'm a world traveller and there is nothing I like more than jetting off into the sunset, but with a new puppy, I'm anchored to the house for about a year. Inconvenient? Sure, a little... But I made the decision to get a puppy, so he's my responsibility. My boyfriend and some friends are going camping tomorrow. Do I want to go? Sure. Am I going? Nope. I don't even trust my mom to look after my dog, because she won't stick with the rules I am trying to instil into his head. nesbit, I understand you are in a lovely situation, but if there is a next time, you should think hard about the puppy before leaving. You seem to be making a lot of assumptions here. We didn't just on a whim decide to head off somewhere for a week. This was a for an annual family reunion trip with my girlfriend's family, who of course pressures us to go because they want to see us, and we thought long and hard about it since before we even had the puppy since we knew it was coming up. We were unsure of leaving the pup until we met and talked with the neighbors, had several play dates, wrote up a 5 page memo on everything we do with the dog for them, etc. We still had doubts and were sad to leave her, but we ended up leaving feeling our neighbors were willing and well prepared. Though this is the first dog I have had on my own, she is the seventh I have had in my life, and we have had to leave puppies before on trips with my family and things were always fine. It doesn't irk me that it didn't work out. We knew that could happen and we would have to do something. What bothers me is that they didn't even give it 24 hours, sent us a message when they knew we had very little, if any internet or phone connectivity, and just made a decision that they would just keep the dog locked in her kennel at our apartment without talking to us first or anything. I can't even imagine how livid I would be if we had flown to see my family 1,000 miles away with no route back rather than somewhere a 6 hour drive away. We even drove to the next town 45 minutes away to try and call them and see wtf was going on but they didn't answer, later we found out because they decided to go out for the night. We arrived at the place after over 6 hours of driving, got this message, and then ended up heading back 2 hours later because we couldn't get a hold of them. Once they agreed to take her in for the week and everything seemed fine we just stopped considering other options, and then in less than a day they basically just decided for us that our vacation had to be canceled without even talking to us. edit: Thanks for the suggestion A Life Less, we checked around before we left but decided to just head back. We couldn't find any contact info we were confident anyone would answer on Sunday morning, and were not willing to wait until Monday to see if we could find another solution or not. nesbit37 fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Aug 6, 2012 |
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Aug 6, 2012 12:31
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Herr Tog posted:If my girlfriend wants a Rottweiler. What are some of the things I, as a person who only has had cats and bad experiences with dogs as a little one, should do or prepare for? TIA. The fact that you're timid about having a dog and you feel pressured by your girlfriend to consider getting a super high energy, high maintenance dog sort of says a lot about your relationship. You yourself needs to ease yourself into the idea of dog ownership to the point where you're more comfortable about the idea and doing research on what types of dogs would make sense given your living situation. Offer to dog walk/sit for friends, spend time volunteering at a shelter...don't just dive head first into this when you're hesitant or it will put a giant strain on your relationship. Tiny Faye fucked around with this message at 13:25 on Aug 6, 2012 |
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Aug 6, 2012 13:16
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So I've been slowly working toward finding a corgi pup for the last 6-12 months and then in the space of a week or two, the universe has conspired to give me a dog. (Note, most of these pictures are from a few months ago, the dog is way thinner now and you can see his ribs and spin clearly, I've been feeding him better food more regularly than he has received over the last couple months.) This is Bo (Originally named Bobo, but I prefer Bo and he doesn't care.)   He is a good dog, who had a lousy owner.  He's been staying in my house with my cousin for the last few months, while my cousin tried to get his poo poo together. The cousin didn't get it together and had to leave however, he's been neglecting his dog pretty bad (in my loving house!) and he has decided to choose his tweaker girlfriend, over his dog and his family's advice. Bo is very lonely, because he was abandoned, then my cousin adopted him, and then my cousin abandoned him while he was still living with him, then my cousin and Bo moved in with me, and my cousin began neglecting him again... So Bo has some separation anxiety issues. He is very well behaved and well socialized, considering.  So he gets to come to work with me.  He also loooooves his late night walkies before bedtime!  They tire him out.  
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Aug 6, 2012 17:33
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Small update on crazy-rear end dog: She's been doing a lot better. Some incidents with tugging at couch cushions but otherwise pretty good. I called the vet again today to update him on her. Then I realized I forgot to ask him to check one thing - if she was spayed. And she is not. Maybe she's frustrated in not finding a mate/in heat? I feel like the biggest dumbass for not asking about this earlier. (I've made the appointment for the surgery btw, holding off on behaviorist until after move/surgery)
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Aug 6, 2012 17:44
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buttslave posted:Maybe she's frustrated in not finding a mate/in heat? I feel like the biggest dumbass for not asking about this earlier.
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Aug 6, 2012 18:50
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Getting a bit frustrated here. My 11 month old Border Terrier isn't settling down in the evenings any more. She gets 2 long walks a day and I have several mega play sessions with her using a flirt pole so she's totally worn out. She's not left alone during the day either, there is always a family member about to keep her company. I don't think she's lacking in the exercise/company department. Anyway - She always used to settle and snooze with us in the living room at night, but for the past few weeks she's running all over, whinging, jumping up and down off the sofa and snapping at feet. When we tell her 'off' she gets really pissy and starts barking. When it gets dark we close the back door so she can't go out into our (fenced off mega secure) garden. This really pisses her off and she expects to have garden access all the time, even if it's cold and dark out. She'll be like this until we go to bed at about 11.30pm. Reading through the last few pages of the thread has made me pause to think - she was very ill a few months ago when she was on heat and vet said it was likely she'll have a phantom pregnancy. She isn't showing any physical symptoms, her teats are the same, no lactation or swelling in the stomach, but her behaviour has totally changed. That and she digs the carpet and our bed quite a bit now. Could it possibly be this? She was at the vets last week and had a once over health check and he said she was fine, although she's lost a little weight. Sorry to write so much, can anybody give advice? Shall we be giving her time outs and getting tough, or if it's hormonal would that be causing her more distress? She is booked in to be spayed on the 11th of September.
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Aug 6, 2012 20:23
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So, a couple of housetraining questions. My 9-month old rescue mutt has been with me for about three months now and is moooostly housetrained. I take her out regularly and still say "Go potty!" and praise a lot when she goes outside. She completely ignores treats when she's done with her pee or poop, no matter how high value, so I just act excited. I taught her to ring a bell at the door when she wants to go out, and she picked that up really fast (and of course abuses it by ringing merrily when she just wants to see what that noise was outside... but we still go outside, if we weren't JUST outside) Issues: - What do I do when we're visiting a friend? She peed on my friend's carpet when we were visiting last week. She'd just peed about an hour earlier. She was having a very happy time so I wouldn't say it's stress. My friend doesn't have a bell at the door :P - She doesn't always use the bell. I think part of the problem here is that she's taken to being really paranoid about noises outside at night, and will start barking, and occasionally rings the bell while barking, and I don't take her outside when she does that. So she doesn't seem to be using the bell as much, and last night she peed on the floor. (of course, I did not call attention to it at all and just mopped it up with Nature's Miracle) I don't think there's an UTI issue or anything as she usually goes ~3-4 hours between pees and can hold it all night. I think she does know that outside = pee and poo, but I don't think she really knows that inside = not pee and poo, and I'm not sure how to get her SUPER EXCITED about peeing outside when she ignores treats while in/exiting squat position :/
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Aug 6, 2012 21:10
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Okay. Thanks everyone for your help on this one. Sorry if my initial inquiries were a bit short written. It was late. Maybe I will be back when i have more time and maybe a little more info. Thanks again.
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Aug 6, 2012 21:13
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Tiny Faye posted:The fact that you're timid about having a dog and you feel pressured by your girlfriend to consider getting a super high energy, high maintenance dog sort of says a lot about your relationship. Really, I mean really? Get off your loving high horse. Rotties are probably a bad idea for a first dog owner to get. If you're intimidated by dogs and have bad experiences with them, just veer your girlfriend into a different direction. You'd be way better off with a lab or a dog more user friendly. I've met cool rotties who were well trained, and unless you have a specific need to have one, or are a really good trainer, I'd just stay away from it. Find out the biggest reasons your girlfriend wants that breed of dog, then say that other dogs do the same thing. IE, if she says she wants a big and very smart dog, veer her toward labs/poodles and say they fit the qualities she's looking for with less of the hassle. Also you never mentioned if you lived together, but if you don't then worry less.
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Aug 6, 2012 21:16
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Regarding the friends house, I would hazard to guess that she was very highly aroused at your friends place. Lots of new smells and people, and she is still a puppy. It was likely a mistake where she just couldn't hold it. I'd give her a chance to potty outside before entering the friends house, or anywhere else. I also recommend you proof her to other locations -- PetSmart is good for this. Leash her up, get her to go outside the store(try to use grass, dogs learn textures, not context), then head inside and wander for a bit. The problem with the bell is that they figure out quickly that they get to go outside, which can be rewarding in and of itself. As I recommend in the guide, give them a brief period of time (30-60 seconds) to eliminate, and then head back in. This will result in frequent, short trips for a little while, but pretty soon they'll get bored because they don't actually get to romp out there. That's my experience, anyways.
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Aug 6, 2012 21:57
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Riiseli posted:It could be false pregnancy, but this most often has bitches digging instead of biting, even adopting toys as puppies and some lactate, too. If she were in heat she'd be bleeding or cleaning herself noticeably often. It's easiest to determine with a simple paper towel test after she gets up from sleeping and before she has a chance to clean herself. She'd be trying to get her pack mates to mate her, if that was a source of her frustration and that would most likely mean she'd be humping them. She does disproportionately annoy our male dog and he has been seen trying to hump her face (he's neutered but even if he wasn't he apparently doesn't know what goes where).
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Aug 7, 2012 07:18
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buttslave posted:She does disproportionately annoy our male dog and he has been seen trying to hump her face (he's neutered but even if he wasn't he apparently doesn't know what goes where).
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Aug 7, 2012 08:41
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Veskit posted:Really, I mean really? Get off your loving high horse. Get off yours? A lot of rescues/shelters, (even some breeders) won't let unmarried couples adopt and what I was alluding to was a huge reason why they don't. Yes it's kind of stupid discrimination, but it's sort of hard to blame them for trying to place a dog in as stable a living situation as they can. Taking care of another living creature can totally change the dynamics of your relationship with your SO. You have no idea how many couples (even married ones) have one person that REALLY wants that dog, but the other person who wasn't that big on the idea in the first place ends up doing all the actual caretaking. If you're the only person taking the dog out for every walk, training it, making sure it's fed, and paying all the vet bills it's super easy to get resentful. The guy was talking about having bad experiences and not being crazy about the idea of dog ownership. That to me right there is a huge red flag. Jumping right into getting a dog simply because "girlfriend wants one" before coming around yourself isn't in anyone's best interest. Even if you're both good about dog duty -some people just might not ever be ok around dogs (sad) and it's lovely to not be able to relax in your own house because you're perpetually anxious around dogs. Full disclosure: my boyfriend of 3 years and I did adopt a dog a few months ago, but we didn't even consider looking until: A. we agreed we BOTH wanted a dog, and talked extensively about what kind of dog made sense given our living set up and B. we agreed to take equal responsibility for it. Tiny Faye fucked around with this message at 12:01 on Aug 7, 2012 |
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Aug 7, 2012 11:53
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Tiny Faye posted:Get off yours? A lot of rescues/shelters, (even some breeders) won't let unmarried couples adopt and what I was alluding to was a huge reason why they don't. Yes it's kind of stupid discrimination, but it's sort of hard to blame them for trying to place a dog in as stable a living situation as they can. Taking care of another living creature can totally change the dynamics of your relationship with your SO. You have no idea how many couples (even married ones) have one person that REALLY wants that dog, but the other person who wasn't that big on the idea in the first place ends up doing all the actual caretaking. If you're the only person taking the dog out for every walk, training it, making sure it's fed, and paying all the vet bills it's super easy to get resentful. What you said was "[that] sort of says a lot about your relationship." That's a dick thing to say when you don't know anything about the situation or the conversations they've had regarding getting a dog. None of what you said above has anything to do with your rude comment that Veskit took issue with. This isn't E/N and he wasn't asking for advice on his relationship, just on dog ownership and breed information.
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Aug 7, 2012 14:15
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My wife and I are adopting a 8 week old puppy next weekend from a local shelter. I've been furiously reading up on puppies and house-training the past few weeks and I think I'm prepared (my wife had dogs growing up and is just calling me a loving goon about my preparations). That said, I did have some questions regarding two items: play pens and indoor toilets. Are play pens generally okay? The Dr. Dunbar puppy guide recommends one in addition to a crate. I can see the logic of having one to allow the puppy a bit of room to get some water and stretch outside its crate before returning to get more food from toys. But should we just stick with the crate? My other related concern is with indoor toilets (made with grass like his outdoor potty spot will be). We'll be home for the first week or so after we get him to enforce regular potty breaks outside but after that, I can only come over at lunch to let him out. We may have a family member who can come over and let him out before and after then, but if not, would a indoor toilet be okay? Or would that encourage eliminating inside more than it should?
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Aug 7, 2012 15:14
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I love Ian Dunbar but I skipped the indoor toilet and just kept an eye and took him outside once an hour during the day. A week isn't usually long enough to train it but you should be ok if somebody lets him out and he isn't trained to pee in his crate when you get him. Just be careful that you give him as much time between food/water and going back in the crate as you can. The playpen thing is for the dog's safety and your sanity. I just used baby gates to confine mine to a safe area where I could keep an eye on him and he was able to jump over those by 10 weeks. I'd say the playpen is probably not going to work that long on a medium size or larger dog.
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Aug 7, 2012 15:39
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Ikantski posted:Just be careful that you give him as much time between food/water and going back in the crate as you can. Can you elaborate a bit on this? I'm not sure exactly what you mean.
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Aug 7, 2012 16:36
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Holy crap, just wanted to say that getting a Kong toy for Bo was an excellent idea. It took him about 2-3 days to figure out how to play with it (mostly I think he had already eaten plenty and got frustrated,) but once I put 2/3 of his supper into it, he was motivated enough to figure out how to push it around and learned the trick to get the food, within half an hour. He obviously gets excited and enjoys playing with it as well, because he generally doesn't wag his tail very often. Now I am trying to use the Kong in combination with me leaving my office at work, to distract him and keep him occupied when I have to leave him alone inside. I am careful to not leave it out when it's empty, though.. He would chew it apart PDQ, I'm afraid. Sidenote: I bought a Kong squeaky toy first, and he broke it within 15 minutes of my giving it to him. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Aug 7, 2012 |
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Aug 7, 2012 16:40
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Thwomp posted:Can you elaborate a bit on this? I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Water/food goes through puppies like a laser beam so make sure you can bring them outside after giving it to them. Don't feed them right before you have to leave. The more time you give them to eliminate between when you feed them and when you put them in the crate for a few hours, the less likely you will find a mess when you get back. Veskit posted:You'd be way better off with a lab. This is great advice, labs are so chill. My lab last night: 
Postess with the Mostest fucked around with this message at 17:04 on Aug 7, 2012 |
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Aug 7, 2012 16:48
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Ikantski posted:Water/food goes through puppies like a laser beam so make sure you can bring them outside after giving it to them. Don't feed them right before you have to leave. The more time you give them to eliminate between when you feed them and when you put them in the crate for a few hours, the less likely you will find a mess when you get back. Okay so in the mornings, a good routine would be something like this? Get up, eliminate outside, walk, give food-stuffed Kong in crate, (I go do my morning stuff), take to eliminate outside, chew toys in crate, leave?
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Aug 7, 2012 17:27
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Thwomp posted:Okay so in the mornings, a good routine would be something like this? 1. Wake up 2. Take dog outside 5-10 minutes. He might try to trick you that he doesn't have to poop. He probably does. If he doesn't, throw a ball or something to get him running to loosen him up. Throw a party when he does. 3. Feed food/water. I wouldn't be feeding them from Kong at this stage. They're such sponges, I would be giving all food as training rewards. You can start clicker training sit/down/loose leash/crate games right away. 4. Take outside to eliminate again and play. 5. While you do your morning stuff, give your wife a turn to play with the puppy or put him in the crate. 6. Go play outside, give him a chance to get another small, very tasty treat for going outside. We used dry liver squares. He got those only when he peed/pooped outside and it seemed to work. 7. Dog in crate and leave for work I'm not sure about the chew toys in the crate, maybe a nylabone or something very tough? Fresh deer antlers worked for us but the pet store ones are too old/porous and they can chew off sharp pieces. If he has a bed in there, he'll probably chew that though. Puppies are assholes but it's a lot easier if you don't give them the chance to be one.
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Aug 7, 2012 17:54
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Tiny Faye posted:Get off yours? A lot of rescues/shelters, (even some breeders) won't let unmarried couples adopt. Woah, I had no idea that rescues and shelters actually wont let a couple adopt a puppy. I had never seen that before. I could understand a breeder maybe because they care about their own lineage of dogs, but you've seen rescues and shelters deny unmarried couples? 
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Aug 7, 2012 19:16
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Veskit posted:Woah, I had no idea that rescues and shelters actually wont let a couple adopt a puppy. I had never seen that before. I could understand a breeder maybe because they care about their own lineage of dogs, but you've seen rescues and shelters deny unmarried couples?
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Aug 7, 2012 19:29
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Veskit posted:Woah, I had no idea that rescues and shelters actually wont let a couple adopt a puppy. I had never seen that before. I could understand a breeder maybe because they care about their own lineage of dogs, but you've seen rescues and shelters deny unmarried couples? Here's a good read: http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2011/08/loving-homeless-pets-to-death.html When I was looking into some lab-specific rescues before going to a shelter, I remember seeing a few that would evaluate adopting to unmarried couples on a case-by-case basis (in addition to having some strict fencing/yard requirements). A bunch of the places I found on petfinder also had statements saying they won't adopt to unmarried couples. But you know with the divorce rate being what it is and people having ugly custody battles over pets all the time...it just doesn't really seem to make sense to deny people on those grounds. I think it sucks that the rescue orgs are denying people who would otherwise be perfectly good pet owners - especially city folk. It seems like every other suburban family dog with a fenced yard becomes super overweight because helicopter moms are too busy shuttling kids to soccer practice to exercise the dog. Sorry for coming off as a prick originally.
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Aug 7, 2012 20:28
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coyo7e posted:Holy crap, just wanted to say that getting a Kong toy for Bo was an excellent idea. Kongs are excellent! Eccles never uses her one for chewing and she extracts treats from it in 0 seconds flat, however, it's great when you throw it and it goes bouncing off in unpredictable ways. She loves how skittish the kong is, like a cornered rat! I recently bought her one of those mind puzzle games in which treats are hidden under a series of wooden cups on a grid. Instead of trying to figure out which cup hid the treat, she grabbed the first cup and zoomed off to play 'catch me if you can', all the while slowly crunching the feeble cup to bits. I can't decide if my dog is stupid as hell or an evil genius. Lucky for me that hunk of junk was like 75% off, now I know why - nobody tested on a real life dog.
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Aug 8, 2012 08:04
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How do I wean my new rescue off table scraps? This is mostly conjecture, but I just adopted a 7 year old sheltie mix who's heavily overweight, gets very excited/ begs for human food, and is uninterested in dog food almost entirely. I've had her for 2 days now, she drinks water and poops/is housetrained, but has no desire to eat dog food even when she's hungry. So far I've tried 2 different flavors of Blue Buffalo, the only way I've gotten her to eat any has been shredding half a hot dog and burying it in the dry, and that's not something i want to make a habit. My theory is that her weight and begging (she doesn't know commands but she'll balance on her back feet standing for a treat) are from her prior owners feeding her table scraps as food. Any suggestions on how to get her interested in dog food?
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Aug 8, 2012 16:58
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Direwolf posted:How do I wean my new rescue off table scraps? Probably going to have to use stepping stones. You're on the right track, but here are some other things to try. Portion out her food into a ziplock, then take something she loves (in this case hot dog), and slice it in half, stick it in the ziplock with the kibble and put it in the fridge for a few hours. Remove the hot dog and feed the kibble. You can also pour a little bit of warm water on the kibble and let it soak briefly (a couple of minutes is plenty). This will draw out some of the flavors and aromas from the contents. Work towards regular dry kibble slowly and you should be able to get there, just be patient. I wouldn't make changes more often than every 3-4 days.
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Aug 8, 2012 17:34
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Veskit posted:Woah, I had no idea that rescues and shelters actually wont let a couple adopt a puppy. I had never seen that before. I could understand a breeder maybe because they care about their own lineage of dogs, but you've seen rescues and shelters deny unmarried couples? I've done a lot of breed rescue and we didn't outright deny unmarried couples, but we did look a bit harder at them. An unmarried couple who has been together for 10 years, the lack of a paper certificate doesn't mean much, as the amount of time they've been together speaks for itself. An unmarried couple in their 20s who has only been living together for 6 months? Whole different story. We still wouldn't necessarily rule out adopting a dog to them, but we'd tactfully ask about what would happen to the dog if they split up. The big things we looked for were stability and a home that wasn't likely to end up with the dog back with us in a year when a job changed or a couple broke up or whatever. Each time that dog comes back to the rescue he gets less adoptable, so it's important to put him in a good long-term home right off the bat. We had a lot of red flags like unmarried couples, college students, people with careers that might require a lot of travel, people in dead-end jobs (the fear there is that they'll find a better one but it will change their circumstances), elderly people or people with chronic health conditions, people who rent rather than own, military personnel, etc. And again, none of those things rule a person out--several describe me, for that matter. And it's also true that having a good job, long-term marriage, and own your own house doesn't mean you'll be able to keep the dog forever. Life in unpredictable. Signs of possible increased instability were just things we explored further, to make sure the person had thought about it--what happens if you break up? What happens if your lease expires and the landlord doesn't want to renew it? Are you willing to make some sacrifices and do everything you can to keep this dog, or will you dump it as soon as it becomes inconvenient? Remember, the goal is to do everything you can to ensure the dog is in a life-long home, or at least a home that feels a big sense of responsibility for him. The adoption approval process at a good rescue is designed to make sure that you're a)physically and financially able to care for the animal properly, and b)will do everything you reasonably can to provide that animal with a stable home for life. There are a lot of things that can make someone less likely to be able to do that. Those things will be investigated a bit, but it doesn't necessarily mean you won't be approved. And then there are also some nutty rescues. I knew of one once with a morality clause in the adoption contract, like you'd see for celebrity spokespeople. With those the best response is to just brush them off and keep looking for a sensible rescue, because there are plenty out there.
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Aug 8, 2012 19:03
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My partner and I have been discussing getting a dog for some time now and I would welcome some input and advice. First off, the home situation. I'm finishing up my PhD, but I do live in a country where grad students are payed about the same as you would in industry. She's in her last year of getting a teacher's degree. We've been living together for about 2 years. We've both lived amongst animals for most of our lives and being stuck in an apartment for 2 years with no other living soul has warmed us to the idea of getting a dog. I'm more of a cat person, but really do not want to get an carpet with legs. She's had a family dog for 10 years before moving in with me. A dog you can walk, so a dog it is. The arguments against are obvious: - We live in a 65m2 1 bedroom apartment, so it's on the small side. - Barky dogs are going to annoy the upstairs/downstairs neighbouts; although we never hear a peep from our nextdoor neighbour's dogs. - We're not married and living in sin  - Some changes are expected as she'll start working in about a year and I won't be doing this academic career indefinitely. No big changes are expected though, even if we move in a few years it will be to a bigger house nearby. Some arguments in favor: - We are used to going out for walks ourselves, as there are a few great parks around where we live. There are dog toilets around every corner and a few dog play areas in said parks. I'm not worried about the 2x daily walks. - It's not on a whim or to patch up a relationship. We both want the companionship and had to take care of animals before. The main question is: adopt from a shelter or a puppy from a breeder. A puppy is much more work the first year, but we will both have more time this year to raise it up properly and get it used to living in a small home. If we adopt a dog from a shelter, he should probably already have to be used to living in an apartment. An option we are also considering is to wait a year until my partner has a job and things have settled down. Raising a puppy will probably be out of the question, unless we synchronise vacation time or similar. The dog breed itself is obviously also an issue. I have no idea what does well in an apartment, but it's sort of obvious I won't be getting a st bernard or wolfhound. We're both not fans of yappy rats, so I guess that removes toy dogs. So, we're looking into small to medium sized dog breeds we would like. I'm partial to dogs like the sheltie or schipperke. She's favoring the irish terrier. Does anyone have good suggestions for what type of dogs are a good or really bad idea for a smaller home? Beef fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Aug 10, 2012 |
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Aug 10, 2012 12:56
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Greyhound! They generally are quite low energy, but love a walk or two a day. They don't need much space at all either. My boyfriend has two of them, and I lived with him for a few years so I've got quite a lot of experience with greys. You must make sure to think of your potential future cat though. If you know you will want a kitty one day, make certain that you adopt a grey who is cat friendly. Many are not. Edit: if you want a puppy though, look at shelters for puppies too, but research the breed heavily. My local shelter always has pups, but they're usually terriers or labs, and I know they would drive me nuts. I ended up getting a dog from a breeder and donating to a shelter, because I wanted a Newfoundland, and I have NEVER seen one at the shelter in the 2 years I've been checking their website. Also, get a puppy NOW if you have the time to raise it. I got mine this summer, right before my 4th year at school will start, because now I can get him accustomed to the home and semi-trained. uptown fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Aug 10, 2012 |
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Aug 10, 2012 13:53
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Beef posted:An option we are also considering is to wait a year until my partner has a job and things have settled down. I would do this. A lot of shelters will let volunteers walk dogs so you could take some different ones out for a test and get more familiar with the breeds while you're waiting. I like puppies but you might be able to find one from a shelter? Puppies in apartments are tricky though because you have to run it through a gauntlet to get it outside many times per day.
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Aug 10, 2012 14:04
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Shanti has decided he hates walks... This is a very recent development. He didn't want to take our morning stroll yesterday, and I thought it was because it was too hot out. Well, he didn't want to go after dinner either, and this morning was a battle as well. I'm wondering what the hell happened - We were out in a storm on Monday evening, but he wasn't scared and was walking like a champ when that happened. I just need him to walk again so he can burn off some energy! We went for a bit of a walk/drag today, which was just unpleasant for both of us 
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Aug 10, 2012 15:18
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I think your puppy is 3-4 months old? I'd guess he's sick.
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Aug 10, 2012 15:42
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In your shoes, I would wait for the work situation to settle out, but I am an ultra-cautious individual, so it's ultimately up to you. I will challenge the assertion that you need a small dog in an apartment. Look into specific breeds and their requirements. I personally think that Great Danes are fine in reasonable (i.e. not studio) apartments and that JRT's are terrible for them. Look into some breed selectors and try and figure out what will fit your lifestyle best.
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Aug 10, 2012 15:43
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Ikantski posted:I think your puppy is 3-4 months old? I'd guess he's sick. He's about 3 months. Bah, I hope he's not sick. Vet sick, do you think?
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Aug 10, 2012 16:02
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uptown posted:He's about 3 months. Bah, I hope he's not sick. Vet sick, do you think? How is his energy besides walks? The other option is that you poisoned walks for a 3 month old puppy, that's pretty tough to do. Did anything negative happen besides the storm on a walk?
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Aug 10, 2012 16:27
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gently caress, I think that might be it then... We walked by a few barky dogs, but I thought I distracted him well enough since he didn't really react much at the time. I called the vet and she said that it sounds like he's scared about something. So now I'm thinking I have two options: Lure him into walking (I've tried, this doesn't work so well) or wait a few days then start fresh.
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Aug 10, 2012 16:40
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I don't think a vet visit would be in order. Sometimes puppies spook. My 3 month old puppy did not much care for walks either. That's about the time they can enter into their first fear stage too. Does he play with toys? Take him outside and just have a few awesome play sessions with him. If you notice any problem landmarks, engage play with the pup and just power/jog past them.
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Aug 10, 2012 16:49
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| # ? May 14, 2024 11:34 |
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If you're looking to just find a puppy that can handle an apartment/small home I would just go and adopt one at a rescue/shelter. You can take each individual puppy case by case and just pick up any non hyper medium-small dog and it'll be just fine. Super hyper small-medium dogs are pretty much all of the herders right? Collies, corgis, cattle dogs and what not.
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Aug 10, 2012 16:54
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