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radlum
May 13, 2013
I have a door between the kitchen and the areas she can to, so closing the door just leads to her scratching the door (if I open the door, she goes towards the kitchen door). I think I'll try giving her treats when she stops scratching.

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ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

We got a Kong Wobbler this weekend for our puppy and apart from having to spend an evening trying to convince her that it wasn't trying to kill her, it's been a revelation. Once she figured out how to get food out of it, she's clearly been more relaxed and while I've changed a couple of other things, she's become a lot more sociable in a good way (not biting all the time).

Psychobabble!
Jun 22, 2010

Observing this filth unsettles me

luscious posted:

A bab ygate may prevent her from going near the fridge but I don't think that it will stop the desire to scratch / dig, and as soon as she has access she will be right at it. Maybe try some kind of a "would you rather" game using treats and a clicker. Anytime that she starts scratching, wait until she stops, and then click and treat. If you have some spare monies laying around and are looking for something really awesome you could try to Treat and Train as it will benefit you in MANY ways. In this case, as soon as she stops scratching the fridge and is quiet for a minute, push the button and she gets to go and have her treat (that way you don't need the clicker and treats in hand all the time).

I would try to engage her mind more than anything else. Sherlock doesn't really go for Kongs but likes it when I give him something to gnaw on or something that figure out.

Edit: redacted for being stupid mean jerk comment for no reason

ImplicitAssembler posted:

We got a Kong Wobbler this weekend for our puppy and apart from having to spend an evening trying to convince her that it wasn't trying to kill her, it's been a revelation. Once she figured out how to get food out of it, she's clearly been more relaxed and while I've changed a couple of other things, she's become a lot more sociable in a good way (not biting all the time).

If you ever want to step up in challenging food stuff, buster cubes are really awesome and my dog loves them

Psychobabble! fucked around with this message at 09:51 on Jul 22, 2014

wtftastic
Jul 24, 2006

"In private, we will be mercifully free from the opinions of imbeciles and fools."

ImplicitAssembler posted:

We got a Kong Wobbler this weekend for our puppy and apart from having to spend an evening trying to convince her that it wasn't trying to kill her, it's been a revelation. Once she figured out how to get food out of it, she's clearly been more relaxed and while I've changed a couple of other things, she's become a lot more sociable in a good way (not biting all the time).

Kong wobblers and food dispensing toys are a godsend. My dog has a bunch of kong style purple ones that roll around for when I leave in the AM and a wobbler for meals. It helps with his weight and helped to teach him to be more adaptable.

Abutiu
Oct 21, 2013

radlum posted:

I have a door between the kitchen and the areas she can to, so closing the door just leads to her scratching the door (if I open the door, she goes towards the kitchen door). I think I'll try giving her treats when she stops scratching.

I'd probably actively redirect her. If you catch her digging, call her off and run through some quick obedience stuff and then give her a treat or a good toy to chew on, something like that. If she's smart and you just wait for her to stop then reward her, she might make the connection that digging = eventual reward. If you call her off every time and get her mind off it and are sure to never reward the behavior accidentally (don't open the fridge if she's been digging at it, even if she doesn't get anything), she'll probably figure out she's not supposed to do it.

If she tends to mob you or get excited whenever you open that, you can discourage that by putting her in a stay some distance away whenever you go to get something out of the fridge. I did that with mine when they started getting all pushy about the fridge and they got the idea pretty quick, now they hang back when I open it.

Engineer Lenk
Aug 28, 2003

Mnogo losho e!
You can also actively make the kitchen off-limits, if this behavior is primarily when you're in/around the kitchen. You can do this by teaching a 'go away' using body pressure and a treat thrown behind the dog or teaching a send to a mat or crate and cuing that every time they cross the boundary.

adventure in the sandbox
Nov 24, 2005



Things change


Psychobabble! posted:

Uh no offense but you have a loving useless Boston, what do you even know about dog training?

Wow dude, how about chilling out its just dogs plus here is what the person has said now, after your ^^ post:


radlum posted:

I have a door between the kitchen and the areas she can to, so closing the door just leads to her scratching the door (if I open the door, she goes towards the kitchen door). I think I'll try giving her treats when she stops scratching.

radlum, definitely focus on stopping the behaviour, not just at the fridge itself. Scratching and trying to get to the fridge are the problem. Abutiu's advice is p much what I would say :)



ETA: I have more to say :) First, lol at someone with a shiba trying to call out a Boston terrier for being "loving useless." Both of those breeds exist to be cute companions. Neither breed is known for being ~super genius trainer dream dogs~. Second, luscious takes really good care of Sherlock and puts a lot of effort into training. She certainly talks about it on PIFB more than you do. Chill out Psychobabble. Your advice was really low effort, maybe because Aiko is so easy.

adventure in the sandbox fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Jul 21, 2014

luscious
Mar 8, 2005

Who can find a virtuous woman,
For her price is far above rubies.

adventure in the sandbox posted:

Wow dude, how about chilling out its just dogs plus here is what the person has said now, after your ^^ post:


radlum, definitely focus on stopping the behaviour, not just at the fridge itself. Scratching and trying to get to the fridge are the problem. Abutiu's advice is p much what I would say :)



ETA: I have more to say :) First, lol at someone with a shiba trying to call out a Boston terrier for being "loving useless." Both of those breeds exist to be cute companions. Neither breed is known for being ~super genius trainer dream dogs~. Second, luscious takes really good care of Sherlock and puts a lot of effort into training. She certainly talks about it on PIFB more than you do. Chill out Psychobabble. Your advice was really low effort, maybe because Aiko is so easy.

Thanks :)

Sherlock and I train daily using deference methods, as well as just every day trick and obedience. I have on verbal command as well as visual cue: sit, down, twirl, paw, other paw, drop it (verbal only), high five, off, up, leave it, as well as name cueing to certain things in my apartment for Treat and Train. I am proudest of the deference training that I have done with Sherlock, which is basically just guaranteeing that he is able to calm down while excited and understands how to ask for things. Even when meeting a new dog or in the height of a play session I can give him a simple "sit" command and he sits, regardless of what is going on around him, and is able to stay calm and assess before he starts to play again. This has come in handy in many situations and I would recommend that anyone learn about it and use it with their dogs.

Most of what I know about dog training has been learned through my friendship with Abutiu, who is a phenomenal owner of a number of difficult dogs (and perfect Scooter) and through whom I have learned about techniques that have only really honed Sherlock's nice behaviour, such as deference training. I don't claim to be a training guru - far from it as I haven't needed to be - I do think that good advice is fairly easy to give especially since stopping a behaviour is something that we really all have to deal with at some point.

Abutiu
Oct 21, 2013
luscious is super sweet but doesn't give herself enough credit. At least 3/4 of my "training advice" to her is just her telling me what she's thinking about doing, and me saying, "Yeah, that is a good idea!" Especially since Sherlock is her first dog. She's doing better with him than I did with my first dog, that's for sure.

luscious
Mar 8, 2005

Who can find a virtuous woman,
For her price is far above rubies.

Abutiu posted:

luscious is super sweet but doesn't give herself enough credit. At least 3/4 of my "training advice" to her is just her telling me what she's thinking about doing, and me saying, "Yeah, that is a good idea!" Especially since Sherlock is her first dog. She's doing better with him than I did with my first dog, that's for sure.

I'm thinking about mailing this dog to you bc he just stole a piece of steak from my hand. Good decision confirm deny.

Abutiu
Oct 21, 2013
Confirm, Hector's almost done with the duck squeaky toy that sounds like him.

Fraction
Mar 27, 2010

CATS RULE DOGS DROOL

FERRETS ARE ALSO PRETTY MEH, HONESTLY


luscious posted:

A bab ygate may prevent her from going near the fridge but I don't think that it will stop the desire to scratch / dig, and as soon as she has access she will be right at it. Maybe try some kind of a "would you rather" game using treats and a clicker. Anytime that she starts scratching, wait until she stops, and then click and treat. If you have some spare monies laying around and are looking for something really awesome you could try to Treat and Train as it will benefit you in MANY ways. In this case, as soon as she stops scratching the fridge and is quiet for a minute, push the button and she gets to go and have her treat (that way you don't need the clicker and treats in hand all the time).

^ do never

Actively interrupt the behavior (body block, correction, conflicting cue, whatever) or redirect the dog or block access. Above advise is saying to operant condition dog to scratch and stop and that's dumb




(& euth all useless dogs, starting with mine)

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

What about barking? Hana only really does it when I'm prepping her food or treats, but I would still like her to stop it.

Psychobabble!
Jun 22, 2010

Observing this filth unsettles me

adventure in the sandbox posted:

Wow dude, how about chilling out its just dogs plus here is what the person has said now, after your ^^ post:


radlum, definitely focus on stopping the behaviour, not just at the fridge itself. Scratching and trying to get to the fridge are the problem. Abutiu's advice is p much what I would say :)



ETA: I have more to say :) First, lol at someone with a shiba trying to call out a Boston terrier for being "loving useless." Both of those breeds exist to be cute companions. Neither breed is known for being ~super genius trainer dream dogs~. Second, luscious takes really good care of Sherlock and puts a lot of effort into training. She certainly talks about it on PIFB more than you do. Chill out Psychobabble. Your advice was really low effort, maybe because Aiko is so easy.

Yeah sorry Luscious I was drunk and cranky(didnt even remember posting that until I saw it), but it was a pointless mean comment and I apologize.


V lol k whatever chick

Psychobabble! fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Jul 22, 2014

luscious
Mar 8, 2005

Who can find a virtuous woman,
For her price is far above rubies.
Wow three people called that response. You almost as predictable as my dag. Good job :downsbravo:

Cozmosis
Feb 16, 2003

2006... YEAR OF THE BURNITZ, BITCHES
So we just adopted our dog on Sunday, a ~2 year old Shih Tzu/terrier of some sort mix. Reportedly house trained, crate trained.

We are having a few issues, some more significant than others
1) The crate. The first night, he was super tired and kept falling asleep everywhere, so he went in really easily, got up early with my wife, went outside, then went back in the crate with no issues until I woke up and got him out. Last night, he started whining almost immediately after going in and continued to whine at least until we fell asleep. After my wife re-crated him this morning, he started whining + some feverish barking (at 5:30am). I went downstairs, sat nearby until he got quiet, and then let him out. Went for a long walk, did some training work and bathroom use, then put him back in and as soon as the front door shut to go to work, the barking started.

When I let him out this morning, I brought him into the bedroom and he curled up on a fluffy blanket on the floor and we napped for a couple hours.

If I go upstairs to the office to work or use the bathroom, he just goes downstairs and curls up on the couch.

Part of the problem is at the foster's, he was sleeping in bed with her, and we don't want that. We figured sleeping in the crate was smart, at least initially. He goes in for a treat voluntarily and doesn't really fight it or anything. He has not shown any destructive behavior or chewing in the house, nor has he had any accidents inside in the house or crate.

He whined a little bit while crated when the foster mom was out, but no overt barking she is aware of. There were also 2 other small dogs there.

Should we just keep crating and wait it out? Should we let him sleep freely downstairs or on the floor in the bedroom? Should we let him free or confined to a room when we leave? I guess i just don't know how to "vet" him for his ability to do these things.

2) He whines. A lot. He whines before getting a treat, he whines if I stop paying attention to him for a minute, and he whines when excited. We have tried ignoring him during the time when he whines and don't reinforce it, which has worked somewhat, but hasn't really curbed it. Any ideas on how to curb these things other than what we are doing?

Thanks everyone. I'm sure some component of these things are new place jitters but wanted to reach out for some advice.

Cozmosis fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Jul 22, 2014

Thwomp
Apr 10, 2003

BA-DUHHH

Grimey Drawer
Have you tried crate games/toys in the crate? Anything to make the crate more of a "this is a happy place where I get good stuff" vibe for your dog is the road to successful crate training.


As to the whining, don't give him anything if he's whining. If he's whining before getting a treat, wait until he's quiet and then treat.

Other than that, he's a terrier and he'll always be a bit yappy/whiny. Just don't reinforce it and be careful with your actions.

54 40 or fuck
Jan 4, 2012

No Yanda's allowed
Freya has been really good lately, like someone had mentioned when I last asked, I think she was just being a stupid teenager. We have been talking about getting a second dog and took her to meet a little guy yesterday. He's about 8 weeks, looks like a Shepard/Lab mix and is from a local rescue. I'm kind of on the fence, they got along well and I know she'd be happy to have someone to play with, especially while we are both at work. We have a huge, fenced yard but pretty small house. Really, costs and the size of our house are the two things I am hesitant about, but I know that we wouldn't necessarily regret it. Freja just turned a year in May, and we got her last October, is that too soon?

Engineer Lenk
Aug 28, 2003

Mnogo losho e!

Toriori posted:

Freya has been really good lately, like someone had mentioned when I last asked, I think she was just being a stupid teenager. We have been talking about getting a second dog and took her to meet a little guy yesterday. He's about 8 weeks, looks like a Shepard/Lab mix and is from a local rescue. I'm kind of on the fence, they got along well and I know she'd be happy to have someone to play with, especially while we are both at work. We have a huge, fenced yard but pretty small house. Really, costs and the size of our house are the two things I am hesitant about, but I know that we wouldn't necessarily regret it. Freja just turned a year in May, and we got her last October, is that too soon?

I like to wait until my dogs are trained to a level I'm happy with before I think about adding another dog, because I never get the focus to perfect behaviors when there's a new dog that needs basic manners. Beyond that, I think long-term about the age distribution of animals in my house - having two senior pets at the same time can be difficult financially as well as the double whammy of potentially losing them pretty close to one another.

I also don't leave dogs alone together if I think they're likely to interact much with each other. My dogs sleep when I'm not home, and I definitely wouldn't trust a puppy and adolescent together unsupervised.

Jewce
Mar 11, 2008
I'm crossposting this (with a few changes) from the Nutrition thread because I asked it a couple days ago and the thread doesn't seem super active.

My wife and I just adopted a 1 1/2 year old hound mix (oh my god the curiosity and energy) and we're going to get some food tonight to start weening him off what he is currently eating. The rescuer we adopted him from fed him Kirkland Brand dog food, which doesn't seem terrible, but I think we can afford to do better.

I looked through the OP and have a general brand awareness when it comes to premium foods, but is there a recommended Large Breed Puppy mix? He is about 60lbs right now according to the rescue and has been getting 2 cups of food a day. That would be about 700 calories of food according to the kirkland label. He looks to be an ideal weight based on the body condition score chart, but I think he is on the lower end and we exercise him a lot so I'd like to up his caloric intake. He's also been getting a lot of treats as we charge the clicker.

Just a bit overwhelmed by the options of food/treats. I do plan on purchasing Dog Food Logic (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IODSQKQ...=I2TRJJJJFOHYNI) to learn morea bout nutrition, but could use some advice in the meantime.

Thanks!

Engineer Lenk
Aug 28, 2003

Mnogo losho e!

"Jewce" posted:

My wife and I just adopted a 1 1/2 year old hound mix (oh my god the curiosity and energy) and we're going to get some food tonight to start weening him off what he is currently eating. The rescuer we adopted him from fed him Kirkland Brand dog food, which doesn't seem terrible, but I think we can afford to do better.

I looked through the OP and have a general brand awareness when it comes to premium foods, but is there a recommended Large Breed Puppy mix? He is about 60lbs right now according to the rescue and has been getting 2 cups of food a day. That would be about 700 calories of food according to the kirkland label. He looks to be an ideal weight based on the body condition score chart, but I think he is on the lower end and we exercise him a lot so I'd like to up his caloric intake. He's also been getting a lot of treats as we charge the clicker.

The Costco grain free food is pretty good, if that's what he's eating.

At 18 months you don't need puppy food.

Don't fatten up your dog unless you can see ribs. Hounds chunk up easy, and most dog owners think a healthy weight looks too thin.

Suzaku
Feb 15, 2012

Jewce posted:

I'm crossposting this (with a few changes) from the Nutrition thread because I asked it a couple days ago and the thread doesn't seem super active.

My wife and I just adopted a 1 1/2 year old hound mix (oh my god the curiosity and energy) and we're going to get some food tonight to start weening him off what he is currently eating. The rescuer we adopted him from fed him Kirkland Brand dog food, which doesn't seem terrible, but I think we can afford to do better.

I looked through the OP and have a general brand awareness when it comes to premium foods, but is there a recommended Large Breed Puppy mix? He is about 60lbs right now according to the rescue and has been getting 2 cups of food a day. That would be about 700 calories of food according to the kirkland label. He looks to be an ideal weight based on the body condition score chart, but I think he is on the lower end and we exercise him a lot so I'd like to up his caloric intake. He's also been getting a lot of treats as we charge the clicker.

Just a bit overwhelmed by the options of food/treats. I do plan on purchasing Dog Food Logic (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IODSQKQ...=I2TRJJJJFOHYNI) to learn morea bout nutrition, but could use some advice in the meantime.

Thanks!

If it helps, we feed both our dogs Blue Buffalo grain-free food. They make it for dogs of varying ages and sizes, and in different flavors. We've had great results from it, and our vet has been impressed with their health. It runs around $53 for a 24-lb bag at PetSmart. I don't know how cost-prohibitive that would be for you with a larger dog, though. Our adult dog is around 30 pounds and our puppy is in the mid-teens. Neither go through a bag per month (the puppy is on the puppy variant, so they aren't eating out of the same bag yet). There is also a Large Breed variant if you need that.

Triangulum
Oct 3, 2007

by Lowtax

Engineer Lenk posted:

The Costco grain free food is pretty good, if that's what he's eating.

At 18 months you don't need puppy food.

Don't fatten up your dog unless you can see ribs. Hounds chunk up easy, and most dog owners think a healthy weight looks too thin.

Nothing wrong with being able to see a couple ribs. If he's on the lower end of ideal, keep him there. Slightly underweight is definitely better than being overweight especially for a growing large breed dog.

Food-wise I'm a big fan of Orijen and Arcana. They're definitely on the higher end of the price range but are more calorically dense and higher protein than most other foods, which my male definitely needs or he starts dropping weight. Blue Buffalo tends to be pretty hit or miss with a lot of dogs, a lot of them hate it and it's pretty low end for a non-lovely kibble especially considering the recent information that's come to light regarding incorrect labling (ie grain free having grains, chicken free containing chicken fats etc). The Kirkland grainfree kibble is actually just repackaged Taste of The Wild so if he's doing really well on it there's probably no real reason to switch. The best food is the one your dog thrives on.

Triangulum fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Jul 23, 2014

Suzaku
Feb 15, 2012

Triangulum posted:

Blue Buffalo tends to be pretty hit or miss with a lot of dogs, a lot of them hate it and it's pretty low end for a non-lovely kibble especially considering the recent information that's come to light regarding incorrect labling (ie grain free having grains, chicken free containing chicken fats etc).

Can you elaborate or toss me a link about that? Since we're feeding our dogs Blue Buffalo, I'd like to know what's going on, particularly with the supposedly grain-free stuff. My google-fu is apparently weak.

Triangulum
Oct 3, 2007

by Lowtax
They were sued by Nestle/Purina a while ago for mislabeling their products:
http://fortune.com/2014/05/28/pet-food-wars-david-v-goliath-edition/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/dog-fight-product-ingredients-heads-federal-court/story?id=23769501

Basically Nestle is claiming that they sent BB food to an independent lab and their grain free products were found to contain corn, rice hulls, and poultry meal, all of which BB has attacked other brands like purina for containing in the past. They're current having a court battle about it and obviously Nestle has a dog in this fight (:hurr:) so who knows what the actual truth is right now. But that combined with the amount of recalls BB has had as well as the fairly low protein content (~27% compared to Orijens 42%) makes me hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Suzaku
Feb 15, 2012

Triangulum posted:

They were sued by Nestle/Purina a while ago for mislabeling their products:
http://fortune.com/2014/05/28/pet-food-wars-david-v-goliath-edition/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/dog-fight-product-ingredients-heads-federal-court/story?id=23769501

Basically Nestle is claiming that they sent BB food to an independent lab and their grain free products were found to contain corn, rice hulls, and poultry meal, all of which BB has attacked other brands like purina for containing in the past. They're current having a court battle about it and obviously Nestle has a dog in this fight (:hurr:) so who knows what the actual truth is right now. But that combined with the amount of recalls BB has had as well as the fairly low protein content (~27% compared to Orijens 42%) makes me hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Thanks for the follow-up. I'll be following this with great interest. Hopefully it doesn't take four or five years to hash out.

Engineer Lenk
Aug 28, 2003

Mnogo losho e!

Triangulum posted:

Nothing wrong with being able to see a couple ribs. If he's on the lower end of ideal, keep him there. Slightly underweight is definitely better than being overweight especially for a growing large breed dog.

Fat on the ribs is kinda breed-dependent. I've almost never seen a scenthound with visible ribs that looked healthy-thin rather than emaciated (they lose a lot of the fat around their hips and spine before the fat pad over the ribs). On the flipside, visible ribs are pretty much necessary to have a healthy-weight sighthound.

Triangulum
Oct 3, 2007

by Lowtax
Yeah breed obviously plays a big role in what constitutes an acceptable level of boniness but a blanket statement like "ribs means fatten up" isn't terribly helpful. The last two ribs being visible is fine on basically any dog though and you definitely need to take into consideration the rest of the dog's body condition.

Man if I had a dollar for everytime someone had a meltdown because you can see my GSDs ribs I'd be a lot richer.

Suzaku posted:

Thanks for the follow-up. I'll be following this with great interest. Hopefully it doesn't take four or five years to hash out.

No problem. I'm really curious to see the outcome of the case.

Engineer Lenk
Aug 28, 2003

Mnogo losho e!

Triangulum posted:

Yeah breed obviously plays a big role in what constitutes an acceptable level of boniness but a blanket statement like "ribs means fatten up" isn't terribly helpful. The last two ribs being visible is fine on basically any dog though and you definitely need to take into consideration the rest of the dog's body condition.

Man if I had a dollar for everytime someone had a meltdown because you can see my GSDs ribs I'd be a lot richer.

I wouldn't make a blanket statement about the last two ribs; it's true for a lot of dogs but scenthounds who get down to that level usually look emaciated around the hips/spine. In the context of 'hound mix' (which almost always means scenthound), 'ribs means fatten up' is a reasonable rule of thumb.

Something like this:

Jewce
Mar 11, 2008
Thanks a lot for the nice discussion and food suggestions. I'm not sure if he is being fed the grain free version of kirkland food, but if it's rebranded taste of the wild and he enjoys it, then I will be inclined to keep using it.

The discussion between Engineer Lank and Traingulum about weight is great and I hear what you're both saying. I am aware that a dog should be lean and that ribs showing is okay, especially when they are in certain positions.

However, I think that Engineer Lenk hit the nail on the head. I never realized it was a breed thing, but he is in fact a scent hound and though he is definitely a mutt, he's more hound than anything else. The reason I asked about food was that even though I know it's okay for ribs and all that, he definitely looks emaciated in the hips and spine which is what caused me some concern. We already upped his food amount to 3C a day and have been letting him gorge on treats to get my clicker charged.

I'm going to have to learn how to get a handle on his food so that he doesn't get too fat and that's the part I'm worried about. I guess it will take some trial and error to figure out just how much food he needs a day.

Edit: I was just thinking about it and although I think that he has a good amount of redbone in him, I'm also wondering whether he has some some Ridgeback. He's super quiet like I've heard him bark 3 times and never bays. He also has shorter ears than a redbone, but he is so clearly a scent hound that I sort of wrote anything else off. Regardless, he's definitely a mix and I'm not totally sure about what he is!

Jewce fucked around with this message at 13:38 on Jul 24, 2014

Bobfly
Apr 22, 2007
EGADS!
Hi again, tread. I wanted to thank you all for your replies to an discussion of my post -- I'm really glad of the feedback you've all given me. I've been on vacation in a spot with remarkably, heh, spotty internet, thus the lateness.

Silken Windhounds are drat pretty, but there are no kennels in Denmark raising them, and I'm not ready for the headache of importing a dog. Pity.

We had already dismissed corgis as a dog that needs a yard and neighbors separated by more than a single wall. Love them though.

Spaniels look completely awesome, and the more I learn about them, the more I want one! All I've ever been told about them is that cockers were bitey bundles of nerves with lots of health problems, mostly from their ridiculous ears, but now I'm learning that isn't the case at all :)
The girlfriend wants a British Staffordshire, though, since her friend has one and it's apparently (I've never met it) the sweetest dog in the world. But I'm worried about dog aggression.

Anyway, what we're going to do is write down a list of personality traits and look for races that match, then take it from there once we've narrowed it down. Thanks lots for the suggestion!

Invalid Octopus
Jun 30, 2008

When is dinner?

Bobfly posted:

Hi again, tread. I wanted to thank you all for your replies to an discussion of my post -- I'm really glad of the feedback you've all given me. I've been on vacation in a spot with remarkably, heh, spotty internet, thus the lateness.

Silken Windhounds are drat pretty, but there are no kennels in Denmark raising them, and I'm not ready for the headache of importing a dog. Pity.

We had already dismissed corgis as a dog that needs a yard and neighbors separated by more than a single wall. Love them though.

Spaniels look completely awesome, and the more I learn about them, the more I want one! All I've ever been told about them is that cockers were bitey bundles of nerves with lots of health problems, mostly from their ridiculous ears, but now I'm learning that isn't the case at all :)
The girlfriend wants a British Staffordshire, though, since her friend has one and it's apparently (I've never met it) the sweetest dog in the world. But I'm worried about dog aggression.

Anyway, what we're going to do is write down a list of personality traits and look for races that match, then take it from there once we've narrowed it down. Thanks lots for the suggestion!

I would shy away from American Cockers and Cavalier KCSs unless you absolutely fall in love with one of the breeds, because they both have health issues and the American Cockers tend to have the poor personality traits you've heard about. Clumber spaniels best spaniels :3: (just not American show ones).

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Except they don't come with eyebrows. I desperately wanted this field spaniel pup. EYEBROWS!


I like english cockers too though, especially the field bred ones :3:


(Clumbers do have freckles though and freckles are always a Good Dog trait.)

Bobfly
Apr 22, 2007
EGADS!
That is good to know, thanks! Though we're not american. We live in Denmark, in gloriously socialist Scandinavia. Obviously, I don't know how much regional difference there is, but I will be sure to keep it in mind if we do end up wanting a cocker spaniel (it would probably be a british-type from a hunting line in any case - I don't like the idea of a dog bred for looks).

couldcareless
Feb 8, 2009

Spheal used Swagger!
Not a new dog owner yet, but looking for advice. I'm considering adopting a young sheltie. Any words of advice or warning regarding the breed? I know most pure breds have some inherent health issues, is there something I should be particularly concerned about for Shelties?
For info on me, engaged, we own a home with a small yard, no kids.

a life less
Jul 12, 2009

We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.

couldcareless posted:

Not a new dog owner yet, but looking for advice. I'm considering adopting a young sheltie. Any words of advice or warning regarding the breed? I know most pure breds have some inherent health issues, is there something I should be particularly concerned about for Shelties?
For info on me, engaged, we own a home with a small yard, no kids.

Shelties are energetic and barky. Very, very barky. Many of them have some pretty serious anxiety/fear issues that could present a problem but it depends on the individual dog and what you're looking for in a dog too. They're definitely not I Love Everyone dogs.

Health-wise, they're a relatively healthy breed. There's some blood disorder issues in some, bladder cancer, skin problems, eye issues, hip/elbow issues, etc but if you're getting a dog from known lines and health tested parents you can dramatically increase the odds in your favour.

couldcareless
Feb 8, 2009

Spheal used Swagger!

a life less posted:

Shelties are energetic and barky. Very, very barky. Many of them have some pretty serious anxiety/fear issues that could present a problem but it depends on the individual dog and what you're looking for in a dog too. They're definitely not I Love Everyone dogs.

Health-wise, they're a relatively healthy breed. There's some blood disorder issues in some, bladder cancer, skin problems, eye issues, hip/elbow issues, etc but if you're getting a dog from known lines and health tested parents you can dramatically increase the odds in your favour.

This is a rescue that was a stray, at least according to the info I am provided, so no way of telling he dog's history.
I'll keep the temperament in mind, though

Triangulum
Oct 3, 2007

by Lowtax

Jewce posted:

Thanks a lot for the nice discussion and food suggestions. I'm not sure if he is being fed the grain free version of kirkland food, but if it's rebranded taste of the wild and he enjoys it, then I will be inclined to keep using it.

The discussion between Engineer Lank and Traingulum about weight is great and I hear what you're both saying. I am aware that a dog should be lean and that ribs showing is okay, especially when they are in certain positions.

However, I think that Engineer Lenk hit the nail on the head. I never realized it was a breed thing, but he is in fact a scent hound and though he is definitely a mutt, he's more hound than anything else. The reason I asked about food was that even though I know it's okay for ribs and all that, he definitely looks emaciated in the hips and spine which is what caused me some concern. We already upped his food amount to 3C a day and have been letting him gorge on treats to get my clicker charged.

I'm going to have to learn how to get a handle on his food so that he doesn't get too fat and that's the part I'm worried about. I guess it will take some trial and error to figure out just how much food he needs a day.

Edit: I was just thinking about it and although I think that he has a good amount of redbone in him, I'm also wondering whether he has some some Ridgeback. He's super quiet like I've heard him bark 3 times and never bays. He also has shorter ears than a redbone, but he is so clearly a scent hound that I sort of wrote anything else off. Regardless, he's definitely a mix and I'm not totally sure about what he is!

The grainfree kirkland kibble are the ones in solid colored bags, if I recall correctly they're either red, blue, or yellow depending on the flavor.

Learning how much to feed a new dog is definitely a trial and error process. Just keep an eye on his weight and adjust as needed. You'll probably find yourself needing to tweak his intake quite a bit at first as you learn about his metabolism and he adjusts to your exercise and training routine. I know when I first got my girl it was a bit of a struggle to keep her trim. In addition to breed, sex and intact status effects a dog's weight pretty significantly as well as their ability to gain/lose weight. My male is intact, puts on muscle very easily, and eats a huge amount of food so I don't worry about being able to see his ribs even though he's double coated because he has good muscle definition. My female is spayed so it's much more difficult to keep her trim and since she doesn't build muscle like my boy, I tend to err on the side of caution regarding how much rib I can see.

Abutiu
Oct 21, 2013

Triangulum posted:

The grainfree kirkland kibble are the ones in solid colored bags, if I recall correctly they're either red, blue, or yellow depending on the flavor.

I feed it and yeah, those are the colors. It's called Nature's Domain, with only a small Kirkland logo at the top. There's also a Kirkland brand that comes in a white bag and is lower quality.

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Invalid Octopus
Jun 30, 2008

When is dinner?

Instant Jellyfish posted:

Except they don't come with eyebrows. I desperately wanted this field spaniel pup. EYEBROWS!


I like english cockers too though, especially the field bred ones :3:


(Clumbers do have freckles though and freckles are always a Good Dog trait.)

I see your field and cocker spaniels and raise you:




(both from that Danish breeder I posted)

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