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Siets posted:I've been thinking about getting a dog for over a year now, ever since I moved into my condo a few years ago. I feel settled and financially capable of providing a proper home for a dog. I also grew up with a family dog that I helped train when I was young, so I know what I am generally in for. No it doesn't, it says puppies may not be for you. I agree that some of the wording could perhaps be changed, the OP is far from perfect, but it is pretty comprehensive. I stand by the statement that you shouldn't be considering a puppy if the best you can do in the first few weeks is coming home at lunch breaks. This is going to make housetraining extremely difficult for you. Lots of goon posters are young, working fresh jobs and they still want to have a night life. None of those things are bad, but they make caring for a young puppy much, much harder. The OP is intended to suggest that if you don't have that kind of time, you may want to consider looking at an adult dog instead of a puppy.
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Oct 18, 2013 22:07
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MrFurious posted:No it doesn't, it says puppies may not be for you. I agree that some of the wording could perhaps be changed, the OP is far from perfect, but it is pretty comprehensive. I stand by the statement that you shouldn't be considering a puppy if the best you can do in the first few weeks is coming home at lunch breaks. This is going to make housetraining extremely difficult for you. Lots of goon posters are young, working fresh jobs and they still want to have a night life. None of those things are bad, but they make caring for a young puppy much, much harder. The OP is intended to suggest that if you don't have that kind of time, you may want to consider looking at an adult dog instead of a puppy. I have a number of coworkers who've crated out of the car for the first few months of puppydom. It's obviously climate-sensitive and highly dependent on your parking situation, but it's worked out reasonably well for a number of people.
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Oct 18, 2013 23:07
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Engineer Lenk posted:I have a number of coworkers who've crated out of the car for the first few months of puppydom. It's obviously climate-sensitive and highly dependent on your parking situation, but it's worked out reasonably well for a number of people. That's actually a pretty interesting idea. I'd be hesitant to recommend it except in very specific situations though because of those safety concerns.
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Oct 18, 2013 23:20
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So i posted a few pages back about my 8 month old Yorkie pup, and my hesitancy of crate training. Since that post, some of the honeymoon phase has worn off and I have decided to crate. Here is my dilemma, I am a nurse and thus work 12 hour shifts 3 days a week. Most weeks, I work at least 2 of those days back to back. When I do days back to back I come home and go straight to bed then get up a few hours before work to get ready. I would have her crated durring about half my shift a my fiancee would be home from 6pm-8am but obviously sleeping during some of that time. He stays up late so she would be crated from about 1am-8 am where he gets up or i get home. She would then be crated while I'm sleeping during the day (10am-3 or 4 pm). This would only happen twice a week tops to accommodate back to back shifts. Thus is why i feel like an rear end for crating her.
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Oct 19, 2013 04:04
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Condo here, with a Doberman/Mastriff (we think Mastiff) mix. It's a challenge but it's doable like others have said. Ours is only 6 months old and just past his chewing stage for the most part. I can't wait until I can run with him to kill some energy. 1 year is what I hear. Other than that, if you have a dog park in the area for sure go there.
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Oct 19, 2013 18:05
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I personally don't really recommend dog parks (or doggie daycares) for most dogs, especially young puppies. It probably won't be the end of the world, but the dogs and people that go to dog parks can be unpredictable and/or stupid. Even though dogs are "evaluated" (and I use that term lightly) at doggie daycare, some dogs pass it even though they shouldn't be there. At the last doggie daycare I worked at they put all the dogs in one tiny room, regardless of play style. That meant the shy, timid ones were often getting picked on by the obnoxious, rough-playing bullies. It's not uncommon for dogs, especially puppies, to learn to hate other dogs in daycare/dog parks. The dogs who were bullied became really quick to lash out and the puppies would pick up annoying habits from the other dogs (including the bullying).
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Oct 19, 2013 18:22
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Interesting, I didn't know dog parks could be a negative thing. My pup gets picked on sometimes by the more aggressive bigger dogs but he'll be A Big Dog soon enough and I figured it was all part of dog socialization dynamic. Sometimes I do want to punch smug dog owners though when they make smuggy remarks.
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Oct 19, 2013 18:36
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Goonicus posted:Interesting, I didn't know dog parks could be a negative thing. My pup gets picked on sometimes by the more aggressive bigger dogs but he'll be A Big Dog soon enough and I figured it was all part of dog socialization dynamic. Honestly if your dog loves other dogs, and you have friends with dogs who your dog gets on well with, have play dates with them. Your dog still gets chances to socialize, play, and have fun, but you can avoid bully dogs and smug lord owners! My dog is socially awkward and loves to play dog police- he's decent with other dogs, but even for him, a dog park is just too much. I now only allow him to interact one on one with other dogs, and even then I usually take a pass if the other dog seems spastic or rude.
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Oct 19, 2013 21:42
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This is our new baby, Freya, I picked her up last night from a local rescue. She's five months and her and the rest of her litter were from a remote reservation, I'm not sure if they were born in my home town or there though. Her original name was "Pink" and we were going to try and go by the old "use old name with new name attached" method of but she wasn't responding to her old name so..now she responds to Freya, neat! She's five months old and a husky/border collie cross according to the rescue but Jesus Christ, she must have some terrier somewhere in there because she sometimes looks at me and looks just like my parents Jack Russell.  She is so mellow. She hasn't really figured out what playing with toys means yet. She kind of nibbled on Kermie (as seen in pic) last night and has started taking toys out of her basket but not much else. We are picking up her crate from my parents tomorrow, so last night we taught her "bed" and how to lie down in her new bed and she did really well! When my husband finally came to bed she trotted in behind him, plopped right down on her bed and went to sleep. At night I might just leave the crate door open for her. Here's where it becomes a little problematic. The house fostering her was...something else. This woman has 26 dogs in her house. 12 of her own, the rest fosters. She has a heart of gold I can tell but my God, it was filthy. Husband and I got to the front door and from a foot away we could smell piss and household cleaner. I'm not sure how much time a day Frey spent in her cage, as the foster works full time, but I feel like this dog's bladder is gigantic. We got home about 9PM last night with her, I fed her dinner and gave her water. About ten minutes later, I took her out to use the bathroom. Nothing. Okay, I figure she's still curious so we go back in and I take her out again later...nothing. I wound up going to be a little after 11 but my husband was up so he had tried a couple times as well. It's 7:15AM and she hasn't used the bathroom or made any indicator that she needs to, what the heck? She's not in pain or uncomfortable, she's not lethargic and has been moderately active, what is the deal here? 54 40 or fuck fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 12:16
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Toriori posted:It's 7:15AM and she hasn't used the bathroom or made any indicator that she needs to, what the heck? She's not in pain or uncomfortable, she's not lethargic and has been moderately active, what is the deal here? edit: And those are most likely GSD ears. Could've come from a GSD or some closely related breed. I'd say def not from only terrier, bc and husky heritage. Riiseli fucked around with this message at 12:46 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 12:44
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Riiseli posted:Is she on a leash outdoors or off? I once had a youngster over, who wasn't about to go with a leash on. She was housebroken at home, but I figured she might opt to rather going without a leash indoors than with a leash outdoors and therefore I tethered her to me. It took some fifteen hours for her to be willing to do her business outdoors and on leash. I had her on a leash, just because it was dark and we have a lot of trees in our (fenced) back yard. It's getting a lot lighter now so I'm going to feed her shortly and take her out back with no leash on. She was so confused by the tv when I turned it on  E: took her out off leash- she did it! 54 40 or fuck fucked around with this message at 13:28 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 12:55
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It's good that she finally went! Also keep in mind that she was in a new place with new people, so she might have been too nervous to do something that feels vulnerable, like peeing. Definitely work on the peeing while on leash thing. It's helpful to teach her to pee on cue also, so you can be sure she has an empty bladder if you need to go in the car, go to the vets/groomers, if it's raining, etc. Usually I do this by capturing the behaviour, so waiting until I can see the dog is about to pee, saying the phrase I want to use while they do it, then rewarding them when they're done. It didn't take long for my (at the time) 5 year old dog to pick it up. Hopefully your puppy picks it up fairly quickly too!
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Oct 21, 2013 05:11
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Thanks! She is the most bizarre puppy either of us has seen. Not nearly the amount of energy I had expected, lots of laying down with not a lot of crazy puppy time. She made a big big mess in the house yesterday while we were at work. Pooped and peed in her kennel and also outside of her kennel. I'm very thankful my mom has graciously offered to come check on her in the mornings and she actually cleaned it all up. It was my fault, Freya doesn't eat very much, we think maybe she's not used to having total access to food since there were so many other dogs in the house, when we went to visit her and the day I picked her up she was very hungry and was even just licking stains on the floor and eating little pieces of whatever. I think also she was stressed and missed us, mom said she was looking for us after she got to our house. Maybe she's tired from all the transition and just needs some time to recharge her batteries.
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Oct 22, 2013 12:08
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My sister just got a puppy. It's her first dog. It's an Australian Shepherd. She lives in a two bedroom apartment by herself (no intentions of getting a roommate) and works 8-5 M-F. I don't even like dogs or know too much about them but even I know that with her schedule and without an actual yard she really has no business owning a herding dog. She agrees in a way, but "he's so cute" (because it's a puppy). I asked random friends who either are dog owners or have owned dogs at some point in their lives and they all agree. Are we all overreacting and the dog is gonna turn out fine, or how do I convince her to get rid of it for the dog's sake?
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Oct 22, 2013 20:44
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You've not really given us enough information to go on to make any opinion on if she can handle the dog. If she's dedicated to it, there's nothing wrong with having a puppy and a 8-5 job.
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Oct 22, 2013 21:08
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Thwomp posted:You've not really given us enough information to go on to make any opinion on if she can handle the dog. If she's dedicated to it, there's nothing wrong with having a puppy and a 8-5 job. But herding dogs are really high energy and lots of long walks probably won't be enough to sufficiently exercise it and satisfy its urge to herd things.
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Oct 22, 2013 21:23
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LeftistMuslimObama posted:But herding dogs are really high energy and lots of long walks probably won't be enough to sufficiently exercise it and satisfy its urge to herd things. Generally, sure. My first Aussie was a total lump. He was content to chill most of the time and was a great family dog. My second Aussie is the opposite and can go all day if I want her to. As a puppy she was a whirling dervish of teeth and energy. As an adult she can cope with being home alone for 8 hours a day while I work (E: though I need to dedicate a good chunk of my evening to her, daily). a life less fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Oct 22, 2013 |
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Oct 22, 2013 21:26
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A herding dog doesn't *need* to herd, although of course the dog would probably love it. Lots of energetic outings, fetch, frisbee, jogging, offleash in safe areas, etc. can be enough for most high-energy dogs. I have two GSD in an apartment with no yard. Well, technically its a 4plex but all we have is a little deck. My dogs go to the park multiple times a day and run hard during fetch. I take them on more interesting outings as much as I can, which could be only once a week. It was a big adjustment for me but they are thriving.
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Oct 22, 2013 21:28
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I survived puppyhood with a high-energy herding breed in a 700 sq ft apartment with no yard. We made a lot of trips out to fields and fenced areas so she could tear around twice a day to her heart's content. She did zoomies in the apartment as well. No biggie at all once you've made the commitment to do what is needed for the dog's benefit. People work. Puppies still somehow manage not to destroy everything or fall apart despite their owners working. Is it the Most Ideal Circumstance? No, but we also feed them processed kibbles and don't let them pee on everything we own and make them walk on leashes on sidewalks made of concrete while seeing other dogs on leashes that they can't interact with, so uh, let's face it, we designed the world for our convenience anyway, and that's not going to change ever. I work with plenty of people who have 9-5 jobs and their dogs end up plenty well-adjusted, so let's not pretend that there is One Right Way to Raise Dogs and any deviation is going to ruin the dog.
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Oct 22, 2013 23:28
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E: Moving question to the questions thread.
54 40 or fuck fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Oct 23, 2013 |
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Oct 23, 2013 00:08
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Boris Galerkin posted:Are we all overreacting and the dog is gonna turn out fine, or how do I convince her to get rid of it for the dog's sake?
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Oct 23, 2013 08:58
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We've had Roscoe for 5 days and he's just adorable. He's a 9 week old Lab/Labernese who was about to hit the shelter because of bad owners. He hasn't had too many accidents inside the house (and only pee) and he's pretty cool with the leash, chilling outside and even going back to the house. We play in the crate a bunch, with the door open and closed at times. When we're playing in the living room he sometimes chills in there and I've never seen him hesitant to go in. We toss a toy in his crate or sit next to it and he'll just get in, which we reward heavily. The problem is this. He will whine a bit when we put him in the crate and sit on the couch about 3 feet away, which we're OK with, but as soon as both of us are in another room he loses his poo poo. He will jump up and down, try to dig, howl, bark, you name it. I think the appropriate course of action is to leave him a few minutes at a time, taking him out when he settles down, etc. However, he doesn't always settle down. We take turns sleeping next to the crate for short periods, which I'm sure isn't helping, but after 5 days we are going to need some sleep eventually.  I don't think the crate itself is the problem, because it also happens when we go downstairs (which he hasn't done yet). I'm told this is normal for puppies in a new home but are there any tricks I could use to help ease the process? I've heard mixed things about covering the crate with a blanket to help reduce external stimulation. Should the blanket always be on or is this crazy? Should we stop sleeping next to the crate or on the couch? Anyway, look at this smarmy little dude!  
internet inc fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Oct 23, 2013 |
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Oct 23, 2013 16:27
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So we are going to see this dude today, and I wouldn't be surprised if he comes home with us. http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/26417928 We know the proper steps of introducing new animals to existing ones, done a bunch of reading, etc. I have two dumb first dog questions: 1) We live in PA and it will be snowing in winter. Does a small dog like that need some sort of sweater to go outside with? What about boots? How long of a walk will they be able to get when it is cold? If they can't walk much outside, what is good inside replacements for exercise? 2) We have Nature's Miracle Just For Cats. I know it says Just For Cats but enzymatic cleaner is enzymatic cleaner right? Will it work fine for dogs? EDIT: Also if you see any big warning signs from the posting, or things we should look for when visiting, please let me know. Talking to the foster parent on the phone, she said the only real issue is that he likes to bolt if off leash, which is easy enough it just means no off leash for a long time while we train him. Chin Strap fucked around with this message at 11:49 on Oct 25, 2013 |
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Oct 25, 2013 11:45
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Yea he might want a sweater. See how he acts on colder vs warmer days. I know I need to get a sweater for my 10lb poodle because I see him sitting by the space heater during the day. Dogs that small are more susceptible to hot and cold.
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Oct 25, 2013 14:39
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Recently our 5 month old Australian Shepherd/German Shepherd mix has been an absolute terror to try to walk. We've had her since 6 weeks old and started taking her on short walks around 8 or 9 weeks. She was tolerable on those early walks but we could tell she wanted to be the leader and when she grew bigger she tended to pull on the walks almost 100% of the time. She has two speeds, stop and sniff and run, there is no comfortable walking speed with her it seems. We've tried to treat her at heel position periodically during a slow walk but this ends up with her disinterested in actually walking and more interested in trying to get into our pocket where the kibble is. Within the last two weeks she's gotten noticeably worse. Her favorite thing now is to play tug with the leash. I've included two short videos taken today while trying to take her out to pee. Help we have no idea how to correct her behavior. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2s5vCuJS9Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YesNc6Exi-w She's a completely different dog when we are inside. We play tug regularly and she never gets really aggressive with her rope like she does on the leash Obligatory pup pic 
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Oct 28, 2013 02:11
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lazerwolf posted:Recently our 5 month old Australian Shepherd/German Shepherd mix has been an absolute terror to try to walk. We've had her since 6 weeks old and started taking her on short walks around 8 or 9 weeks. She was tolerable on those early walks but we could tell she wanted to be the leader and when she grew bigger she tended to pull on the walks almost 100% of the time. She has two speeds, stop and sniff and run, there is no comfortable walking speed with her it seems. We've tried to treat her at heel position periodically during a slow walk but this ends up with her disinterested in actually walking and more interested in trying to get into our pocket where the kibble is. Within the last two weeks she's gotten noticeably worse. Her favorite thing now is to play tug with the leash. I've included two short videos taken today while trying to take her out to pee. Help we have no idea how to correct her behavior. Have you tried a front-clip harness? EasyWalk, WonderWalker, or the like. They don't let the dog get leverage to pull - their own momentum turns them back towards you. They won't teach loose leash walking, but they'll keep them from practicing bad behavior when you actually have to go somewhere. I'd keep up the kibble practice - start by practicing leash walking with food in the house where she might be less likely to mug you. As for the leash, take a tug toy with you when you go for a walk and try to get her on that rather than on her leash. You can also switch to a chain leash or something that's not as tug-friendly.
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Oct 28, 2013 02:46
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lazerwolf posted:Recently our 5 month old Australian Shepherd/German Shepherd mix has been an absolute terror to try to walk. We've had her since 6 weeks old and started taking her on short walks around 8 or 9 weeks. She was tolerable on those early walks but we could tell she wanted to be the leader and when she grew bigger she tended to pull on the walks almost 100% of the time. She has two speeds, stop and sniff and run, there is no comfortable walking speed with her it seems. We've tried to treat her at heel position periodically during a slow walk but this ends up with her disinterested in actually walking and more interested in trying to get into our pocket where the kibble is. Within the last two weeks she's gotten noticeably worse. Her favorite thing now is to play tug with the leash. I've included two short videos taken today while trying to take her out to pee. Help we have no idea how to correct her behavior. Ha, cute. It looks like jumping at your pockets and tugging on the leash is a lot of fun. What I would do is start practicing her walking inside. Teach her that jumping at your pockets is not fun, in fact it is totally boring because when she does it, you either freeze or walk away and she gets no attention and no food. Then practice her sits and leave its when food is around. For tugging, inside or in a fenced area, try to get her to walk. If she grabs the leash, you don't tug, you drop the leash and walk away! That's no fun. When she starts to get the hang of it, you can feed her for being in heel position or for choosing to do anything acceptable that isn't mugging you or eating the leash. I understand that you need to take her out to pee, so that will hamper things, but if she develops good habits inside, you'll have more chance outside. Hell, you could even carry her outside to pee so she can't practice bad behavior... For outside, you can also step on the leash to stop her from tugging. A longer leash will make this easier. Redirecting to a toy is also a good idea.
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Oct 28, 2013 03:04
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Thanks for the quick replies, we'll definitely work on these things with her. The kicker is for quick pees she cooperates very well. It's usually when we try to actually take her for a walk or when we are trying to get her to eliminate that she gets more interested in playing and jumping than doing what we want
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Oct 28, 2013 03:34
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I'm kind of exasperated with house breaking. The guide in the OP worked for awhile, but now she seems to have disregarded any sort of signs notice that she has to pee. She has started to let us know that she wants to pee by whining, but other times she pops a squat with no warning, no sniffing around, no nothing. Often this is right after she has just gone outside (within 10-15 minutes) -- when we take her out, we give her ample time to go as much as she needs to, and generally she just goes once and is fine. She is 13 weeks old now, and is getting better at the vast majority of things, but man am I tired of her peeing in my house.
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Oct 28, 2013 23:56
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A friend of mine is getting a husky puppy from a breeder who is sending the pup home at 6 weeks. The money has already exchanged hands, contracts already signed, there's no convincing otherwise...the pup is getting picked up in 2 weeks. I've always felt that you just shouldn't take them before 8 weeks...but apparently this breeder doesn't guarantee the health/safety of any dogs after 6 weeks of age and insists that everyone get their puppy immediately...so there wouldn't be any other littermates for someones pup to play with anyways, if someone insisted the dog stay til 7 or 8 weeks. Seems crazy to me for that to be their policy. So aside from the obvious "sounds like a breeder they should have avoided" notion....anything special to be done with that pup or any specific training advice for one that age? I'm thinking that the dog won't have enough learning time without spending more time with the littermates.
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Oct 29, 2013 00:12
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Sab0921 posted:I'm kind of exasperated with house breaking. The guide in the OP worked for awhile, but now she seems to have disregarded any sort of signs notice that she has to pee. Are you walking her around outside or just letting her out in a yard?
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Oct 29, 2013 00:27
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lazerwolf posted:We've tried to treat her at heel position periodically during a slow walk but this ends up with her disinterested in actually walking and more interested in trying to get into our pocket where the kibble is.
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Oct 29, 2013 08:44
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Riiseli posted:How much exercise does she get? And what kind and where? Do you go to a dog park or does she get to play with other dogs regularly elsewhere? She hasn't been getting too much exercise recently because she was just spayed about 10 days ago but before that we would take her to the dog park every morning to have her run and play fetch. It's a small dog park and most of the time it's empty but we make sure that she gets to run a lot. When there are other friendly dogs present she loves running and playing with them which is great. However this behavior started before we took her to get spayed, it may be more prevalent now since she's been cooped up inside while she heals (the surgery hasn't slowed her down at all it seems) so we'll see if this problem persists when we start our regular exercise routine with her. Unfortunately our yard isn't enclosed so we are limited to going to the park to let her run free which is why we really want to be able to take her on a walks around the neighborhood. lazerwolf fucked around with this message at 14:05 on Oct 29, 2013 |
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Oct 29, 2013 14:03
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It shouldn't take that long for her to heal from the Spay. You could probably resume your old habits. Reinforcement of the behavior is key in this scenario. Treat like mad when she goes. Sidenote: Spay at 13 weeks seems early. Vet recommended? Edit: Quoted wrong person.
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Oct 29, 2013 14:06
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Engineer Lenk posted:Are you walking her around outside or just letting her out in a yard? She walks outside, we don't have a yard. I live in a townhome.
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Oct 29, 2013 21:20
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Our one and a half year old pup has had 3 seizures over the past few months. We went to the vet again after his most recent and they say it is probably epilepsy. They have suggested putting him on Phenobarbital, which my wife and I will do if the seizures worsen. However, as we researched the side effects of it we've been pretty disheartened at how strong they can be, specifically that it looks like there is a decent chance of it altering his energy and enthusiasm to a pretty extreme degree. We've been trying to do as much research as we can to find out what environmental factors, diet factors, etc may contribute to seizures as well as to see if there are any other possible remedies before we go with the Pheno. Are there any suggestions any of you have for what we can try before putting him on Pheno? We are getting back with our vet later this week to discuss this, but I figured I would check here since you are always so helpful. I work from home, so one of us is around the house / him most of the week. I want to stress, again, that we will not hold back on the Pheno if he needs it, we will do whatever we have to for his health and safety. We would just like to research in to possible alternatives before going to what seems to be a potentially extreme medication in terms of side effects.
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Oct 30, 2013 16:46
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Asnorban posted:Our one and a half year old pup has had 3 seizures over the past few months. We went to the vet again after his most recent and they say it is probably epilepsy. They have suggested putting him on Phenobarbital, which my wife and I will do if the seizures worsen. However, as we researched the side effects of it we've been pretty disheartened at how strong they can be, specifically that it looks like there is a decent chance of it altering his energy and enthusiasm to a pretty extreme degree. We've been trying to do as much research as we can to find out what environmental factors, diet factors, etc may contribute to seizures as well as to see if there are any other possible remedies before we go with the Pheno. Are there any suggestions any of you have for what we can try before putting him on Pheno? We are getting back with our vet later this week to discuss this, but I figured I would check here since you are always so helpful. I work from home, so one of us is around the house / him most of the week. Phenobarbitol or another vet prescribed medication is probably the best choice (IANAV)- other alternatives like herbal or alternative treatments are unlikely to help and a lot of the other stuff that might cause the seizure might be hard or impossible to pinpoint. If you work with your vet and explain that you are concerned about the side effects, I'm sure he can work with you to either adjust the dosage or discuss other medications that will treat his seizures. Please be open and frank with your vet about your concerns- seizures are scary for dogs and owners and can have long lasting effects, so the sooner you get to the bottom of this, the better!
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Oct 30, 2013 17:43
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My dog Monty has epilepsy and used to be on phenobarb. He was having a seizure every 1-3 months in the beginning. After the 3rd or 4th one, the vet decided it was time to put him on phenobarb. SO glad we did because it decreased his seizures to something like 1 a year. I did not notice any changes in energy or personality. However, after ~3 years of taking pheno he started showing some cushings-like symptoms. The vet determined it was a side effect of being on the medication for so long. We switched him to another anti-seizure medication (potassium bromide) and he is doing wonderfully. He hasn't had a single seizure (that we know of) in the 1-2 years he has been on it, and all the cushings-ish symptoms are gone. Basically what I am saying is don't worry too much about putting him on the drugs. If side effects occur/you aren't happy with it, you can probably talk to your vet about other options. 
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Oct 30, 2013 21:38
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What do you do about treats with no calories listed? We are trying to clicker train our new dog, but kibble only works so well. We are using hot dogs for the really high value treat, but we have some dog biscuits as well. The biscuits don't have calories listed, so I don't know how much to alter the kibble for the day in response. Also, how overinflated do the dog food feeding instructions tend to be? How many calories should a 10 lb chihuahua be getting in a day?
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Oct 31, 2013 00:44
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| # ? May 30, 2024 16:39 |
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Chin Strap posted:What do you do about treats with no calories listed? We are trying to clicker train our new dog, but kibble only works so well. We are using hot dogs for the really high value treat, but we have some dog biscuits as well. The biscuits don't have calories listed, so I don't know how much to alter the kibble for the day in response. Sadly there is no good answer to this. Maybe a vet can determine a rough estimate on calories, but IIRC it is difficult to calculate due to differing activity levels (or just varies between dogs) If the dog looks fat, decrease food until they are a good weight and maybe increase a tiiiiny bit to maintain that weight. Too thin? Add more food. Same applies to when you introduce treats in the mix. It is a lot of eyeballing and trial and error.
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Oct 31, 2013 01:09
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