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TheRamblingSoul posted:So, my roomie's puppy Luna really enjoys nibbling with my fingers for some reason. She does this pretty much every single time my hands are out and I'm playing with her. She goes straight for the hands. Because puppies are assholes. End the game when she hits skin and leave the room -- tether her while playing if you have to. Oven mitts help too. Speaking of which Tater's being barky right now so it's oven time for him.
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Dec 24, 2013 03:49
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Eegah posted:Tater's being barky right now so it's oven time for him. 
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Dec 24, 2013 04:16
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Baked Taters don't bark.
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Dec 24, 2013 04:48
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TheRamblingSoul posted:So, my roomie's puppy Luna really enjoys nibbling with my fingers for some reason. She does this pretty much every single time my hands are out and I'm playing with her. She goes straight for the hands. Dominance theory is old and not really worth considering. Your example would be like a toddler being pegged as a Type A overachieving personality.
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Dec 24, 2013 05:17
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Is anyone here epileptic? I'm getting a puppy soon and am epileptic. My epilepsy is generally under control but due to medication changes I do sometimes have "neurological activity" if I am overtired or am changing medications at all. I know that dogs are sensitive to this and am worried that as a puppy, when he starts out sleeping in my room with me when I first get him, he will get upset or freaked out by this. In the same vein: if I do have some kind of epileptic activity and it wakes him up should I make a point to take him out or just see if he goes back to sleep? I am not going to have him sleeping in my room for a LONG time - just until he is used to not being with his brothers and sisters still. The breeder does start to separate the puppies from each other and their mother when they're a bit ready to leave in preparation.
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Dec 25, 2013 03:39
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Anyone have a recommendation on a good DURABLE chew toy (if such thing exists). Our pup goes through tennis balls like it's her job. I got her this ball for Christmas and within 5 minutes of playing with it, she had the orange canvas partially ripped off. We got her a couple of the snowman shaped Kongs but she has no real interest in chewing them. Anything ball shaped she absolutely goes nuts over. We don't leave her unsupervised while she plays with tennis balls but we aren't always watching her. Today was a perfect example, she was playing with her tennis ball, mouthing it and being relatively calm. She would come over to me and I would bounce the ball for her to catch sometimes but mostly she would just lay on her blanket chewing the ball. She loves chewing bones also. However, when she's in the mood to play with a ball, bones do little to appease her. My real concern is her eating the felt off of the tennis balls (we do a good job making sure she doesn't chew off pieces and we always cut off the excess that she pulls free) and the small bits of the rubber ball that break off from wear and tear. Any suggestions on a more durable rubber ball that behaves like a tennis ball?
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Dec 26, 2013 04:03
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I have these for my dog: http://www.mypoochiesparadise.com/web_images/chuckit_rubber_balls_1.jpg No felt to rip and ball shaped. I have seen some really determined dogs be able to rip them apart though.
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Dec 26, 2013 04:35
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lazerwolf posted:Any suggestions on a more durable rubber ball that behaves like a tennis ball?
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Dec 26, 2013 05:40
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luscious posted:Is anyone here epileptic? I'm getting a puppy soon and am epileptic. My epilepsy is generally under control but due to medication changes I do sometimes have "neurological activity" if I am overtired or am changing medications at all. I know that dogs are sensitive to this and am worried that as a puppy, when he starts out sleeping in my room with me when I first get him, he will get upset or freaked out by this. I would say it depends on how you WANT him to react to your epileptic events. On the one hand, if your dog notices it and wakes up from it, it may mean he can learn to alert you to seizures and that might be something you find useful and want to cultivate. If it helps you to go outside after an episode and get some fresh air, then there's certainly no harm in taking him out with you. On the other hand, you may not want him to learn that your seizure-smell (for lack of a better phrase) means he gets to go out because there may be times when you have to take care of your needs and can't take him out right away, and trust me, a puppy who is pretty sure that you are supposed to be taking them out can be reaallly loving annoying at the worst times. Basically, if you don't want him to eventually learn seizure=out, then if you wind up waking him up and he won't go back to sleep, try to wait at least a couple minutes or however long you can before taking him out so he doesn't make that connection. The last paragraph kinda raises an eyebrow for me- how old will the puppy be when you get it? How early does the breeder start separating them? Edit: for reference, I'm not epileptic but I do have a service dog and one of his tasks is to wake me from night terrors and we have a certain routine that him waking me starts. And god help me when I don't follow the drat routine.
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Dec 26, 2013 08:19
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an expert posted:I would say it depends on how you WANT him to react to your epileptic events. He'll be 10 weeks when I get him. That's the earliest that she lets them go  I don't really WANT to go out after episodes but was mostly wondering about whether or not he would want to. Thanks for the advice and I am really interested in knowing more about this routine and what it entails etc. I would like it if I could make this dog into some kind of a service dog but don't know if it's 'that easy'. Would you mind PMing me about it if you have a chance?
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Dec 26, 2013 09:27
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luscious posted:He'll be 10 weeks when I get him. That's the earliest that she lets them go 10 weeks is a good age! I wake up extremely disoriented and fearful, so our routine consists of Do Things What Are Comforting. He wakes me up by licking my face or hands, then pawing at the blanket so I lift it up and he can lay down next to me underneath it. Then he gets spooned while we play super lazy tug with my fingers until he's ready to go back to sleep. It was super easy to teach him this stuff- it's self rewarding for him because he loves snuggles and lazy tug, so he learned that if he woke me up when I fretted he got rewarded with it, and if he woke me up any other time he just got ignored or pushed away THEN ignored. Like I said though, that's the routine and we have to stick to it. There MUST be finger tug, no playing with toys (unless they are RIGHT THERE in which case I get to hold onto it while he chews it), no getting out of bed, he HAS to be tucked in and spooned, if I'm calmed down and ready to fall back asleep before he is then he'll flail his legs and make whiny puppy noises because he needs bellyrubs to sleep, etc. loving border collies. And yeah feel free to send me any PMs with questions about service dog stuff.
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Dec 26, 2013 10:58
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Any idea on how to stop barking when we aren't home besides treating when he's quiet in his crate? He'll bark in the morning to let us know he needs to go outside (which can be annoying but better than having to clean up) and we've heard him a few times from outside the house, possibly after he heard our cars in the driveway. I'm not exactly sure if he barks other than that so I'll set up a recording device over the next few days to tell us if he does bark when we aren't there. We rent upstairs but the neighbor has been away for the past month so it hasn't been an issue yet, but he'll be back in a week or so.  How do you treat for being quiet when you aren't home, if you aren't home to treat in the first place.  4mo/M/Labrador
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Dec 27, 2013 02:58
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Little Ellie hasn't been eating a whole hell of a lot over the last day. Yesterday she started eating only after we left her to her own devices for awhile. Today, she's only eating peanut butter if we spoon feed her. She threw up a worm today too. She's still running and playing and energetic. Her poop is solid and she's been peeing every time we take her out for a walk. No whining or anything either. I'm on the fence about taking her to the vet today. Thoughts? If she continues to snub food I'm definitely going to take her tomorrow. Edit: false alarm. Once we left the room for more than 10 minutes we heard tell-tale crunching. LooksLikeABabyRat fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Dec 27, 2013 |
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Dec 27, 2013 20:47
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You're in good company. I really had to push Reggie to eat the first week he was home, then all of the sudden he was emptying his bowl by 3pm. vOv
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Dec 28, 2013 07:21
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What's the best way to prevent separation anxiety from starting? I'm getting a 7.5 week old shiba inu this saturday (:3), I work monday-thursday and she can come to work with me, then the days I'm off, I generally tend not to go out because I'm lame. Is us (boyfriend and I) always being around setting her up for SA? How can we prevent it, if so? We are gonna crate train her, fwiw. Pic:  She's perfect  :
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Jan 3, 2014 08:55
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Super cute. You can be around all day and still not develop SA. Play games with you leaving the room. Reward her for being calm in her crate. Set her down for naps in one room and hang out in another. Give her something fun to play with in the crate that'll keep her busy while you go do something else. Don't come running the moment she cries (or reward bad behavior in general). Just general puppy crating stuff. I know it's all "cute puppy awww!!" all the time because, hey it's a cute puppy, but try to slowly adapt her to your normal schedule as she acclimates to your home.
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Jan 3, 2014 14:37
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This is Poe, my 4 month old Plott Hound all worn out from playing soccer. I picked him up on New Years day, last night I got him sleeping in his open crate by pointing at it and telling him to go to bed. I'm pretty sure he's going to grow up to be smarter than I am. 
Erowid fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Jan 3, 2014 |
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Jan 3, 2014 16:34
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Erowid posted:This is Poe, my 4 week old Plott Hound all worn out from playing soccer I assume you mean month? Poe is a cutie 
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Jan 3, 2014 16:37
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Whoops, yeah definitely 4 months, not weeks. Also how common is it for pups to lose their teeth? I got him a bag of rawhide bones, but I'm not sure if those are too hard for him right now? Should I go for something softer so hes not putting too much strain on them before they are ready? I know they lose them over time eventually. He does have softer toys, but the bones are definitely his favorite.
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Jan 3, 2014 16:46
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Erowid posted:Whoops, yeah definitely 4 months, not weeks. There are rawhide stuff specifically for puppies along with a ton of other puppy chew stuff. So long as it isn't the stuff for "heavy chewers" or whatever that means (really, really hard stuff), your pup should be okay. Just remember that rawhide should be treated as any treat would be.
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Jan 3, 2014 16:51
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Erowid posted:Whoops, yeah definitely 4 months, not weeks. I figured, haha! Puppies lose their puppy teeth around 5-6 months. I think he should be fine with normal rawhides, but keep an eye on him when he is eating the rawhides and if he is having issues with it you can get the light chewer rawhides. They are very hard initially but it will soften nicely with saliva.
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Jan 3, 2014 16:54
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cryingscarf posted:I figured, haha! Puppies lose their puppy teeth around 5-6 months. I think he should be fine with normal rawhides, but keep an eye on him when he is eating the rawhides and if he is having issues with it you can get the light chewer rawhides. They are very hard initially but it will soften nicely with saliva. I've always found a frozen wash cloth or ice cubes are great for teething puppies. Just a thought if it gets bad.
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Jan 3, 2014 17:14
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We did the frozen cloth thing for Monty and he loved it. Dexter not so much. So YMMV, but it is always worth a try!
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Jan 3, 2014 17:24
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On suggestion of one of my dog trainer friends I got a bunch of books by Ian Dunbar. One of the things that he suggests is feeding your puppy almost exclusively (if not exclusively) in Kongs or other reward giving toys. Is this a thing that you guys agree with / suggest? He explains that dogs spend most of their days in the wild searching out food so when you feed them an entire meal all at once they then have an entire day that they don't have to fill with... searching for food. He says it also teaches them to love Kongs and makes them more able to be kept busy / calm down / go to crate. On the other hand, it seems like if your dog is kinda  then he might not understand or might be super hungry or something all the time.Is there someone who has any real experience with this or reasons for or against? I still have a week before I pick up tiny puppy (10 weeks) and feel like no matter how many books I read or videos I watch I still feel very green.
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Jan 3, 2014 18:34
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Food toys are great. There are very few dogs who will not enjoy hunting about for food. Plus it kills time, burns off energy and takes the load of you as the owner for a while. A+.
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Jan 3, 2014 18:37
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Agreed, my 3 month old puppy loves his kong and his uh... I don't even know the name. It's one of those always stays up when tipped toys that has food in the top that falls to the middle, and then slowly falls out the side. He'll happily play with either for however long it takes to get all the food out, which can be quite awhile.
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Jan 3, 2014 18:45
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I agree, food toys are wonderful. Dex has a few that I pull out whenever I can and he hops around excitedly when he sees me reach for it. I like having multiple types so that I can vary it, rather than using the kong every day and risk it becoming a boring thing. Look into kong wobblers, tug a jugs, starmark treat dispensing ball, and whatever others you can find. You can also make a hide and seek game out of feeding time if you want once your pup knows some training. I started by making Dex sit/stay and have him watch me hide kibble somewhere in the room (under a pillow, behind a shoe etc) and after I released him, I would tell him "find it!" and over time started making hiding spots harder, having him sit/staying in another room and hiding the kibble out of sight. luscious posted:I still have a week before I pick up tiny puppy (10 weeks) and feel like no matter how many books I read or videos I watch I still feel very green. Is this your first puppy? I will tell you what I have learned. No one is a 100% "perfect" dog owner and no one has a perfect dog. Don't worry too much, you are already doing a great job by educating yourself Also, that feeling very green thing will take a while to go away. I guarantee by the time your dog is 1 year old, you will look back and say "Man I wish I did x, y, and z differently" and then whenever you get your next dog you will do those things differently but notice MORE things you wish you did differently. I feel that way looking at my 3rd dog now, and sometimes I look at him compared to a very experienced dog owner/trainer and feel like I don't know what the hell I am doing. You just keep going and let your dog teach you new lessons in dog ownership.
cryingscarf fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Jan 3, 2014 |
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Jan 3, 2014 18:48
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I've actually used the entirety of his meals as training on occasion. Bring your clicker, figure out a few commands you want to work on, and dole out the entire meal as you train. I got him following me around the house in heel position very quickly using that method. Of course, this is one of those 'sounds nice!' sort of things that is much less appealing when you're dead tired after a day of work, but when you've got the energy for it, its a good way to play with your pup and teach him at the same time. Now if only he wasn't smart enough to know when I do or do not have food or treats and sets his obedience level accordingly... 
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Jan 3, 2014 18:52
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a life less posted:Plus it kills time, burns off energy and takes the load of you as the owner for a while. A+. Yeah the killing time / keeping them from being bored and barking or w/e is a major factor in my wanting to do this. victrix posted:Agreed, my 3 month old puppy loves his kong and his uh... I don't even know the name. It's one of those always stays up when tipped toys that has food in the top that falls to the middle, and then slowly falls out the side. I have Kongs and three other toys that are like the one you are describing (one is like a plastic bottle and has a rope that slides in and then treats come out). cryingscarf posted:You just keep going and let your dog teach you new lessons in dog ownership. Yeah victrix posted:I've actually used the entirety of his meals as training on occasion. Bring your clicker, figure out a few commands you want to work on, and dole out the entire meal as you train. This is how I "trained" my bunnies. You cant really train a bunny though so... kinda as close as one can get 
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Jan 3, 2014 19:06
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cryingscarf posted:Is this your first puppy? I will tell you what I have learned. No one is a 100% "perfect" dog owner and no one has a perfect dog. Don't worry too much, you are already doing a great job by educating yourself Even just doing some basic training, manners and socialization is way better than a lot of dog owners.
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Jan 3, 2014 19:41
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Kong wobblers are fantastically easy to fill and feed from- Bailey has been using his for every meal for ~1.5 years. I also give him kibble in other small treat toys for when I leave in the AM.
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Jan 3, 2014 19:43
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cheese eats mouse posted:Even just doing some basic training, manners and socialization is way better than a lot of dog owners. THIS times a billion.
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Jan 3, 2014 19:58
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cheese eats mouse posted:Even just doing some basic training, manners and socialization is way better than a lot of dog owners. One of my biggest concerns is that I don't know many people and the whole "100 people in 100 days" might be unreasonable. There are a lot of dogs in my apartment buildings (like the "bugg" that lives above me and barks so much that I'm getting another white noise machine so that I don't hear him all the loving time) and I might be able to use said dogs and their owners as socialization. I do worry about tiny puppy not being fully vaccinated and meeting other dogs but will talk to a vet about this. Books say to toilet train puppy in "litter area" instead of outside to reduce exposure to possible illness. However, I think it has been mentioned more than once in this thread that it is worth the socialization to have tiny puppy around other dogs instead of keeping inside all the time. Also I don't want tiny puppy to learn that going inside (even in litter area) is what is preferred and would rather have him outside learning to pee and poop in the right places. There's also no way that I can replicate cold and snow and imo going from learning to potty in nice warm place and then SURPRISE it's FREEZING and time for him to basically relearn!
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Jan 3, 2014 20:50
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I'd do his potty training in one area that looks to be either non frequented or less frequented by other nearby dogs. Don't let him use the bathroom or go wandering in an area that is other-dog-poo poo-central. As for socializing, check local forums/sites/dog schools/petsmart, ask around. I'm sure you can find other puppy owners who have properly vaccinated pups that'd be happy to meet. I wouldn't take him out when he's super young and have him meet all the neighborhood mutts (although this is part of his learning too!), but whether you want to or not, local dog owners will soon know you (I say not, because one of our sorta nearby neighbors has a pair of horribly untrained ill behaved dogs of the same breed as mine, so he latched on to my puppy, found out where I lived from nosey neighbors, and ambushed me with a playdate request - that's not happening again). You'll pretty quickly figure out who has a dog that you do want to know. It's really obvious who cares about training their dog or having it behave well. I don't know what the gently caress I'm doing and my three month old puppy behaves better than a lot of the other dogs and puppies I've met. edit: Another option is puppy kindergarten. This is basically 'pay us a bunch of money so you can socialize with other puppies', but depending on the school you find and fee they charge, it might well be worth it. My pup is going to his first of six meetings on monday with 10-12 other puppies, all clean and vaccinated in a school that I really like. In theory they'll teach him/us some stuff, in practice I'll be happy if he just meets a bunch of other tumbly puppies his size. victrix fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Jan 3, 2014 |
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Jan 3, 2014 21:41
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cryingscarf posted:I feel that way looking at my 3rd dog now, and sometimes I look at him compared to a very experienced dog owner/trainer and feel like I don't know what the hell I am doing. You just keep going and let your dog teach you new lessons in dog ownership. Don't worry, you don't need to compare yourself to me wtftastic posted:Kong wobblers are fantastically easy to fill and feed from- Bailey has been using his for every meal for ~1.5 years. I also give him kibble in other small treat toys for when I leave in the AM. Both my dogs absolutely love the kong wobbler we have. I should prob invest in another one at some point but 
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Jan 4, 2014 00:52
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I have a question that I'm sure one or two might have had to deal with. Poe will not stay quiet at all when he can not see me. It doesn't matter where he is. Backyard, garage, my room. Oddly enough if I leave him in the car to go to pay for gas or get a drink he stays relatively calm. I have his crate in my room so I can keep and eye on him, hes pretty much housebroken except for the times when I mistake him whining that I don't let him on the bed for he has to pee whining...that happened once, not fun. How can I deal with this? Hes 4 months, always had his brothers with him before I got him so he always had company. Am I spending too much time with him?
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Jan 4, 2014 03:56
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luscious posted:One of my biggest concerns is that I don't know many people and the whole "100 people in 100 days" might be unreasonable. There are a lot of dogs in my apartment buildings (like the "bugg" that lives above me and barks so much that I'm getting another white noise machine so that I don't hear him all the loving time) and I might be able to use said dogs and their owners as socialization. As the importance of early socialisation is recognised more, I think the tide is changing from "Don't take puppy outside until after 12 week vacc" to "Be mindful of where you take puppy." Certainly the trainers I work with, and vets I've seen and been trained by, have supported taking puppies out for socialisation before they are fully vaccinated. If you miss out on that early socialisation, it can take months or years of work to counteract the problems that may arise. For meeting people, try going to pet stores and to the vet. Guaranteed everyone in the stores will want to pet your puppy, and you can use it as an opportunity to check out various vets in your area if you haven't chosen one yet, (and even if you have, just go 'browse' or something). I would advise not putting it on the ground in those sorts of places. Carry some treats with you and ask people to give your puppy a treat before they pat it. If puppy seems scared, don't force it on them though. Socialisation is about making these positive experiences, not just exposure to the experiences. Definitely check out puppy preschool classes in your area. They should be run at vets where the floors are all sterilised, and the puppies should be around other pups of the same age which are at the same stage of vaccination. They shouldn't be older than around 12-14 weeks at puppy kindy since they start to move into a different stage of development and it can affect the younger puppies, (an older puppy may play differently, be starting to push boundaries etc). It's still good for them to socialise with dogs of all ages of course, but not necessarily in a puppy preschool environment. I've heard of people posting ads on CL or whatever to seek out playmates for their puppies. Then you can make sure they're vaccinated and friendly, and play in someone's backyard instead of at the dog park which has greater risk of them contracting something.
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Jan 4, 2014 05:26
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6-Ethyl Bearcat posted:"Don't take puppy outside until after 12 week vacc" to "Be mindful of where you take puppy." I will be getting him when he's 10 weeks old so two weeks doesn't seem like THAT long to introduce him to few dogs / not worry too much about it while focusing more on introducing him to people. The idea of being mindful for two weeks seems totally manageable and taking him to pet stores is an awesome idea. I also live in an apartment building and see people when I walk around. Because I live in such a small city / town and because I kinda hate everyone here it's kinda tough to think of what I will do. I will be checking out puppy kindergarten and there's also the option of having him see a dog walking service where they could take him for longer walks with their "pack". Oh.. just checked and a puppy kindergarten starts two weeks before his 13 week vaccination :/ I will definitely sign him up for the next round but in the meantime will work on it the best that I can.
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Jan 4, 2014 07:03
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internet inc posted:Any idea on how to stop barking when we aren't home besides treating when he's quiet in his crate? He'll bark in the morning to let us know he needs to go outside (which can be annoying but better than having to clean up) and we've heard him a few times from outside the house, possibly after he heard our cars in the driveway. I'm not exactly sure if he barks other than that so I'll set up a recording device over the next few days to tell us if he does bark when we aren't there. We rent upstairs but the neighbor has been away for the past month so it hasn't been an issue yet, but he'll be back in a week or so. I'm bumping this and adding some new information to it. I set up a recording device while we were both at work and while he's generally quiet, he'll start barking for no reason for 2 to 3 minutes, 3 or 4 times in a 6 hour period. I suppose there isn't much to do about it? We thought about setting up another crate or a pen in the basement for when we're not at home so that his barking isn't as annoying to the upstairs neighbor but we're afraid it's just going to make him more nervous about the whole thing. We always reward quietness and give him plenty of toys/food for him to enjoy but nothing lasts as long as 6 hours. At least, not that I know of. We work at the same time maybe once a week and are always home the rest of the time so it's not a daily thing. He also barks in the morning to let us know he needs to go outside. I get up almost instantly and take him outside where he does his things. If I go back to bed, he'll bark/whine constantly until one of us gets up and starts to do things around the house. Hell, even if I sleep on the couch he'll tolerate, but not the 2 of us in the bedroom. What is this? Are these 2 issues related? I thought about setting up my alarm maybe 6 hours into the night so that I'm woken up before he has to go outside so that he doesn't reinforce barking = outside but as soon as he hears something from our bedroom (alarm, cough, anything) he'll start barking like something's on fire. Help! 
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Jan 4, 2014 16:53
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luscious posted:Because I live in such a small city / town and because I kinda hate everyone here it's kinda tough to think of what I will do. I will be checking out puppy kindergarten and there's also the option of having him see a dog walking service where they could take him for longer walks with their "pack". Be mindful when deciding on a dog walker. Many of the ones around here with 'packs' have little control over the dogs and it looks like a recipe for bad experiences and the development of poor habits.
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Jan 4, 2014 20:37
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