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wtftastic posted:Yeah I know they're "different" (haha) but I was on my phone, lazy, and my point still stands. Can they whelp without significant human intervention?  goonsYeah they can fertilize and whelp naturally. That was one of the most important things when I was doing my research into breeds. wtftastic posted:I get your s/o wanting something specific, but maybe something different, especially if the breeder is giving you a song and dance. I would just go to a shelter but she has a number of criteria that led to the current train of thinking. There are three of them near me and if they all give me a song a dance then yeah they can go pound sand, one of them at least does seem at least to want to talk about the dogs at great length which is better than stone cold silence. One did give me the whole I don't want to spend time on your queries as you might be a time waster run around so I doubt I will even go visit them... thus making me a time waster.
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Oct 31, 2014 17:24
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BigPaddy posted:
Yeah if they pull the whole time waster bull poo poo instead of being excited someone gives a gently caress and doesn't just go GIMME PUPPY PLZ K THNX, then gently caress them. If you like what you see, then go for it. I guess just be prepared to squirrel more away in your rainy day vet fund than you would if you had random heinz 57 mutt with no clear prepropensity to health problems. Also, when you talk to the breeder, try to see if she keeps in touch with people who buy her puppies. How are they doing in their new homes? Any health issues in other pups? She/he might freely offer that info, but its nice to know that if your pup developed problems the breeder would want to know about it.
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Oct 31, 2014 20:12
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I'm glad this thread exists, because like many working animals dogs get tough as they get older. For a younger specimen you can still consider hot/fast cooking methods like grilling, pan-frying or even deep frying. I'd stay away from the deep fryer on this one, though; you need a good sear on the meat or fond for pan sauce making. If you want to grill, I'd do it in pieces rather than whole-animal. While carving an entire puppy at the table may be spectacular presentation and in some homes a time-honored tradition, it's easier to get all of the cuts properly done without anything drying out if you carve before cooking. Leave the whole suckling dog for the professionals. When pan-frying I'd do a simple three-bowl dredging technique: heavily-seasoned flour first, then egg wash, then unseasoned flour (spices will burn during cooking in the outer layer). Most preparations seem to prefer spicy sauces leaning heavily on capsicum, probably not without reason. Even primary carnivores can be strong-tasting and need a lot of help to be edible. A traditional gaejan-guk would be one obvious example more suited to grilled pieces. For pan-fried I might consider a kung paw style preparation, complete with whole peanuts to provide textural contrast.
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Nov 1, 2014 23:28
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It's been a long time since I checked in with this thread so sorry if this was discussed recently, but is there a go-to book on separation anxiety? A girl I'm seeing has a super sweet rott mix who gets destructive when left alone. At her own house she busted out of three different crates so she's allowed to wander the house, and has started doing very well with that freedom without causing damage. She's starting bringing her over to my house, and at first we tried to shut her in a small room but she ripped into the door and got loose. For the next day we let her roam and she apparently climbed on top of tables judging by all the scratches on a bunch of my stuff up there. She also barks her head off, which I learned from my neighbors when I got home. Calming treats don't seem to be doing any good. I know the long-term answer is to start from square 1 with crate training and practice leaving, but is there anything to do in the interim? My corgi also had mild separation anxiety so any book I can dig into would be immensely helpful. Millions fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Nov 2, 2014 |
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Nov 2, 2014 19:23
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What kind of crate(s) has she busted out of? My dog can wiggle his way out of a standard wire crate but he's yet to find his way out of an airline crate. You can also use things like carabiners to keep the crate shut if she's good at latches.
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Nov 2, 2014 22:10
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We brought our little guy home yesterday: Excuse the blurryness...I was snapping a bunch of pictures and was rushed to take this one since it was [otherwise] perfect. He managed the 7 hour trip sleeping most of the way in his crate. We had him out in our laps a few times, but for the most part he was fine. He did pee once, but it must have been towards the end since we never noticed his towel was wet until we got home..and we had adjusted it several times during the trip. When we got home last night, he seemed pretty happy. He was playing with his ball, running around, and having a pretty good time. Today, however, he's been pretty bummed out. He doesn't whine too long after we put him in his crate, but when he's out he doesn't seem interested much in playing with the ball or any other toys. He just wants to chew on things. We manage to get him to chew on a nylabone for the most part. Other than that, he seems like he's pouting a lot. He'll cuddle up in our laps, but he's not much in a playing mood. We have been trying to get him used to his collar, and he doesn't like it much. We're trying to keep it on him whenever he's out of his crate. Every once in a while he will stop to scratch at it, or start wriggling around or rub against things to try to get it off. We worry that the collar is a distraction from trying to housebreak him, since when we go outside he usually just sits there or tries to get it off, but where we are I don't think letting him loose is an option. All that said, this is expected behavior, right? We did just take him away from his family and playmates, after all...I just want to make sure we're not doing anything wrong and torturing the poor guy. When he does whine in his crate, it sounds like bloody murder...it's painful to resist the temptation to let him out until he stops, but we've manged to do it so far. His appetite is still there, to be sure.
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Nov 2, 2014 23:04
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That all sounds perfectly normal. Give him some time to settle and enjoy your puppy. 
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Nov 2, 2014 23:24
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DaveSauce posted:We brought our little guy home yesterday: All perfectly normal. If he's having a tough time with the collar and lead initially, you can try using a shoe lace for a leash. That worked really well for us the first 2 weeks. Good work with the crate training. They're really good at sounding like they're being murdered. It will get better faster than you think if you keep it positive and consistent. One other thing we did for the first week or so was to tie her to us. They'll always wander off to eliminate and if you stay alert it is possible to go through house breaking accident free. We got very close ourselves.
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Nov 3, 2014 04:37
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Went to see a breeder yesterday and it was a good experience. The guy knew his stuff, all the dogs were tested for hip dysplasia and other issues, they were all kept in clean conditions and there was a litter in the house in a purpose built whelping room in the basement. Of course one of his stud dogs was out and could sense some of the girls were almost in heat so there was a few leg humping attempts on my other half which with her being fairly short and the male being the best part of 80lbs could have been interesting 
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Nov 3, 2014 14:53
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Haha wow I have been told! Breeder with our pup apparently NOT happy with owners choosing their owns names for their own dogs, doesn't seem to understand why we don't want to go with the name she pulled out of the hat for him. So of course we're just going to pick up the puppy and immediately start teaching him his new name but jeez woman, the pup will be 9 weeks old, it's not set in stone.
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Nov 4, 2014 20:10
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I wouldn't be happy with a breeder who did that.
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Nov 4, 2014 20:49
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Tamarillo posted:Haha wow I have been told! Breeder with our pup apparently NOT happy with owners choosing their owns names for their own dogs, doesn't seem to understand why we don't want to go with the name she pulled out of the hat for him. Some breeders get particular about the puppies they sell being recognized from a particular litter. I see a lot of references to the "A litter" (with names like Allan, Annabelle, Ackbar...), the "B litter" (with Bob, Bailey and Bryte), the "C litter" etc. Sometimes a breeder will also choose a puppy's registered name. However, while they may have a preference for a call name, as far as I'm concerned they have very little say in it. It might be more reasonable if they give you a letter to work with -- I think it's unreasonable to insist on a particular name for the rest of your dog's life.
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Nov 4, 2014 20:54
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a life less posted:Some breeders get particular about the puppies they sell being recognized from a particular litter. I see a lot of references to the "A litter" (with names like Allan, Annabelle, Ackbar...), the "B litter" (with Bob, Bailey and Bryte), the "C litter" etc. Sometimes a breeder will also choose a puppy's registered name. However, while they may have a preference for a call name, as far as I'm concerned they have very little say in it. It might be more reasonable if they give you a letter to work with -- I think it's unreasonable to insist on a particular name for the rest of your dog's life. Also what's stopping you from changing it the second you leave?
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Nov 4, 2014 20:57
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m.hache posted:Also what's stopping you from changing it the second you leave? Nothing really. Some people actually like keeping in touch with their breeder, working with them and being active in the dog community. I'd say those people are more likely to play along with the X-litter name tradition.
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Nov 4, 2014 21:09
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Yeah I will call my dog what I want, as long as it is cute 
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Nov 4, 2014 21:21
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Yeah she went with Benson because his dad's name is Ben, therefore he's Ben's son. It just reminds me of a packet of cigarettes - we want his pet name to be Sterling. I give no fucks about his breeder name and he can be Sheltiepuff Honkytonk Assbutt for all I care. I'm just going to cheerfully ignore her weird lady quirks; because really, getting upset over a pet name is pretty unreasonable and I am sure she'll calm down eventually. E: from what I can tell there is no real naming convention with the litter, they're all random people names. Tamarillo fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Nov 5, 2014 |
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Nov 5, 2014 01:15
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So how long should we be letting our puppy roam in the evening when we're home? We're having trouble determining how much time to leave him out versus when to crate him. Everything we've read and been told is to not give him too much freedom until he's ready, but we also don't want to leave him in his crate save for a few hours a day. We obviously can't spend every waking minute playing with him or training him, and we don't. But, there are obviously times where we are not strictly paying attention to him, but aren't necessarily doing anything constructive (like watching TV or something). Should we crate him at this time, or just keep him out in the open and keep an eye on him? Our vet recommended what she called the "umbilical cord" approach, where we keep him leashed and keep the leash attached to us. Is this recommended? She says it will keep us from letting him wander and get in to trouble, and it will also help him learn to accept the leash. We don't want to keep him crated any longer than we have to. But at the same time, when he's out, he tends to be really high energy (duh, he's a puppy...), and he tries to jump on things and chew on just about everything. Lately, he's been really desperately trying to jump up on the couch, because there are some nice frilly blankets up there for him to chew on...I've been trying to redirect him to his tug toy, but he only does it sometimes. edit: It just seems like whenever he's out of his crate, he's looking for trouble. If we're just watching him instead of interacting with him, he very quickly finds a way to get in trouble. edit again: Also he now just barks at his tennis ball...he was having a blast playing with it when we brought him home on Saturday. On Sunday he would just ignore it, and now he barks at it. No idea what happened there... DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Nov 5, 2014 |
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Nov 5, 2014 02:34
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Some dog people are really weird and are best left just dealing with dogs. The lady running one of the daycares we use is a prime example. She's very good with dogs, but she is also really weird.
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Nov 5, 2014 02:36
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DaveSauce posted:So how long should we be letting our puppy roam in the evening when we're home? If you are home the dog should be out and learning imo. It is important to continue crate training during this time as well, so getting him to go in there for naps and time outs is fine. However, it should more often be reserved for when you actually can't watch him rather than when you don't feel like it. I second your vets recommendation for the umbilical cord approach. Really great at keeping the pup out of trouble and will help tremendously in potty training. Speaking of training; start teaching him commands now. Your dog sounds bored based on your description. A 10 minute training session after each potty break will do wonders. You can even watch TV while you do it.
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Nov 5, 2014 06:29
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Math You posted:If you are home the dog should be out and learning imo. It is important to continue crate training during this time as well, so getting him to go in there for naps and time outs is fine. However, it should more often be reserved for when you actually can't watch him rather than when you don't feel like it. When he's out, if we're not playing with him then we're working on training in some fashion. Typically I've just been doing click-treat to get him conditioned to the clicker. But we've also been starting to do "sit" and he seems to be picking it up fairly fast. We've been trying to do "come" to some degree as well, but it's been a mixture of "come" and just calling his name. Also, on crating: he is crate trained, but I'm beginning to be a little concerned about where we put it. I was under the impression that we should have the crate in a quiet place so that he can rest free of distractions (us walking around, cooking, watching TV, etc.). I'm now finding a few sources that say the crate should be in an area with people so he doesn't feel isolated. Not necessarily high-traffic or in our bedroom, but not hidden away in a room we never visit. It'd be great to be able to use that bathroom again...but we don't want to crate him and then let him sit there and watch us do things instead of napping. Which is correct?
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Nov 5, 2014 15:38
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I think it depends on the dog and his personality. For instance one of my dogs needs a quiet place away from activity to relax (he's appropriated the bottom of my linen closet as a dog cave) but the other prefers to hang out with people. I'd move his crate around to different places till you find somewhere that makes everyone happy.
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Nov 5, 2014 19:06
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Are you supposed to eventually leave a crate in the same place? I crate my dog upstairs across the hallway from my bedroom while I sleep but I bring his crate downstairs during the day so I can let him look out the back door all day while I'm at work. When it gets too dark to see out the back door, I usually bring it beside the couch in the living room and just leave the door open. He doesn't seem to mind; he's even figured out that the crate coming upstairs means I have a treat for him and it's time for bedtime and he'll go in and take a nap when it's in the living room. I can understand creating a reliably safe space but he seems pretty okay with moving around a couple times each day.
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Nov 5, 2014 22:54
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We only have 1 crate and it being an XXL size, it doesn't get moved around. We live in an open plan loft with a mezzanine sleeping floor and the crate is on the main floor. Hana got no issues sleeping down there, although eventually when she gets older, she will be allowed to sleep upstairs with us.
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Nov 5, 2014 23:36
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Oh good lord what am I going to do with my dog this winter? She's a 14 month old German Shepard terrier mix that is very high energy. As the days get shorter there have been less and less dogs for her to play with at the dog park and I'm nervous to let her run wild in the semi-enclosed dog area when it's dark. I've been upping the walks and starting to run with her in the mornings for about a mile and a half or so. I'm also looking into doggie day care twice a week during the work week. Any other suggestions for what to do to exercise them in the winter? Unfortunately I don't have a big yard for her to play in and I live in the cold state of Minnesota. I'm just worried that I'll only be able to exercise her for 30 minutes at a time in the winter and that she'll be bouncing off of the walls.
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Nov 6, 2014 04:16
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Oh good lord what am I going to do with my dog this winter? She's a 14 month old German Shepard terrier mix that is very high energy. As the days get shorter there have been less and less dogs for her to play with at the dog park and I'm nervous to let her run wild in the semi-enclosed dog area when it's dark. I've been upping the walks and starting to run with her in the mornings for about a mile and a half or so. I'm also looking into doggie day care twice a week during the work week. Can you take her on multiple outings? I am in northern BC, Canada and when my dogs were younger they got a minimum of 3 good outings per day, even in -40. It was terrible tbh They may not need to be 30 minutes at a time, but getting out and letting her zoom around will be helpful.Indoor activities, things like trick training and puzzle toys, might be an option. Its not a replacement for exercise but keeping a dogs' mind busy is so helpful.
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Nov 6, 2014 07:38
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I had similar fears and got a second dog. Best. Decision. Ever. Now we are all able to live and enjoy ourselves without Sherdevil going crazy. They still get three walks per day but we no longer have to go to the dogpark multiple times, have a dog walker come 7x/week, have to play play play to get it all out and Kosh lives in a loving and stable home where she's thriving and protects me from that evil monkey.
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Nov 6, 2014 19:40
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Oh good lord what am I going to do with my dog this winter? She's a 14 month old German Shepard terrier mix that is very high energy. As the days get shorter there have been less and less dogs for her to play with at the dog park and I'm nervous to let her run wild in the semi-enclosed dog area when it's dark. I've been upping the walks and starting to run with her in the mornings for about a mile and a half or so. I'm also looking into doggie day care twice a week during the work week. Have you looked into enrolling her in some sort of class? The place where I take my dog for training has an option for $10 or so a month where you can get a key to the building to use it whenever. It's meant for practicing on agility and flyball equipment between classes, but people also use it just to be able to throw a ball for a while for their dogs when the weather is lovely. As a bonus if you sign up for a dog sports class like flyball or agility that's at least one night a week your dog will be so wiped out she won't get into any trouble.
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Nov 7, 2014 00:49
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Our current biggest problem is now that Hana is deadly scared of getting her nails trimmed. We've been trying to desensitize her, initially by putting PB on the nail clipper handles and got to the point where I can tap her nails with it...but the moment I (or my wife) grab her paw, with the clipper nearby, she goes into flight mode, regardless of what treats I'm trying to stuff into her. It clearly broke her trust yesterday and it took me quite awhile to get her to calm down yesterday. (And we didn't get the nails cut). She's big enough now that it's nearly impossible to restrain her, without using a lot of force. I'm tempted to get one of those dremel ones, but I suspect that wont really solve the issue?. The other alternative would be to ambush her when she's sleeping, but I also really don't want to traumatize her. On agility: We're planning to take Hana to agility classes. We could only find one place that offers it for puppies and the start date of their next class crashes with our current advanced puppy classes. Whenever I've taken her out to the woods, she has very clearly enjoyed the challenges of obstacles, despite being quite poor at them (She's a Dane, so that's to be expected), but you can clearly see the sense of achievement when she does succeed.
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Nov 7, 2014 02:59
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ImplicitAssembler posted:On agility: We're planning to take Hana to agility classes. We could only find one place that offers it for puppies and the start date of their next class crashes with our current advanced puppy classes. Whenever I've taken her out to the woods, she has very clearly enjoyed the challenges of obstacles, despite being quite poor at them (She's a Dane, so that's to be expected), but you can clearly see the sense of achievement when she does succeed. Agility foundation classes for puppies are usually only frequented by fairly dedicated competitors, because you have to wait for their growth plates to close in order to do stuff like jumping or a stopped contact. Since you have a Dane, that means to be safe you'd be doing groundwork only until she's 18 months old, which could get really old if you start too soon.
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Nov 7, 2014 05:41
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Agility obstacles can be pretty awkward for Danes too since they're designed for dogs about half their height. The standard tunnels are only about 18" in diameter, and the contacts are often too short for them to hit without a full stop on the obstacle which puts them in a weird position. I'm not saying Danes can't do it, there was one in my dog's class who was doing pretty well with it, but it can be more of a challenge with such a big dog.
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Nov 7, 2014 12:55
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Any suggestions for some good brain-training toys? We have a small puppy kong and that's about it (aside from a nylabone and a tug toy) It's fun to feed him kibble out of it, though sometimes I worry that he'll start barking at it when it's empty. We're also planning on getting a kong wobbler to give him something else to work on...something more purpose-built for feeding. That way we can use the small kong for other things without him expecting food to spill from it. Other than that, we're kind of lost as to what to get. There's a million things at the pet store, but it's hard to tell what will stimulate his brain. Also, how do we get him to stop barking at his ball? He loved it the first day we got him, but now whenever we try to get him to play with it he just barks at it. If we roll it at him, he backs off and starts barking. If roll it away from him, he'll approach it and bark at it, and same thing if we just set it down. I'm not good enough at reading his body language to figure out if he's afraid of it, or frustrated, or what. My instinct is to just ignore him...set it down and let him bark like crazy until he figures it out on his own. Obviously not FORCE him to do it...just set it in the middle of the room. But I'm thinking that this is less and less a good idea, since multiple exposures to the ball haven't helped at all yet.
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Nov 7, 2014 13:37
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The Kong Wobbler is awesome. I love watching my dogs beat the crap out of that thing for their food.
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Nov 7, 2014 15:30
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The wobbler is pretty easy for a clever dog to empty out in a few minutes. The buster cube is a bit more difficult and long lasting because of it's shape. BaseballPCHiker posted:Oh good lord what am I going to do with my dog this winter? She's a 14 month old German Shepard terrier mix that is very high energy. As the days get shorter there have been less and less dogs for her to play with at the dog park and I'm nervous to let her run wild in the semi-enclosed dog area when it's dark. I've been upping the walks and starting to run with her in the mornings for about a mile and a half or so. I'm also looking into doggie day care twice a week during the work week. I did a lot of scent work with my GSD during winter and I think it was probably the only thing that saved my sanity. If the issue is just the darkness, consider picking up a light-up collar and harness patches so it's easier to keep an eye on her and invest in a long line. Flirt poles are also a good option for exercising a dog hard in a short amount of time. I'd also start increasing the amount you train her indoors and start working on physically intensive tricks - tried brains means tired dogs.
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Nov 7, 2014 16:51
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:Agility obstacles can be pretty awkward for Danes too since they're designed for dogs about half their height. The standard tunnels are only about 18" in diameter, and the contacts are often too short for them to hit without a full stop on the obstacle which puts them in a weird position. Yeah, I'm reasonably well aware of the limitations, both obstacle wise and regarding physiological developments. It's also my impression that the competitive agility people take their puppies through the agility clubs and not this more general school, which happens to have an agility class. I'm expecting something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIOy3p6jxGc and not this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6MoVDcT9-s Oh a +1 on the Wobbler. It was really good in the beginning on rainy days and I still use it for evening snacks from time to time. It's easy for her now, but it'll still keep her busy for 10 mins or so.
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Nov 7, 2014 20:16
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Was hoping to get some pointers on separation anxiety for an older dog. I recently adopted a 7 year old boston terrier. I used "Boston Terrier Rescue Canada" for finding this dog (I actually put an application in around 6 months ago and they contacted recently as they match up dogs in the same city / area) Patch (female dog) was great when we did the first meet up, I got to talk to the foster couple who were keeping Patch, and got to take her for a walk, etc. In the meeting they described Patch as mild energy, loved attention, acts well with children and other dogs ; never aggressive during walks. The foster family also explained that she is fully crate trained, and is crated during their own working hours (which were 6am to 5 pm) with no issue. They also have 2 other boston terriers who they own; all of them crated in separate crates, but next to each other I got Patch 3 days ago, I have a crate but she just freaks out when I leave. I cant even shower, or go to the washroom without her whining. She follows me everywhere I go. I take her for long walks before I go to work in hopes of her just sleeping while I am gone, but as far as I can tell she just barks all day. On top of the that I live in a condo building with neighbours. They haven't complained yet but I'm assuming its just a matter of time. I told the foster family about this and the seemed genuinely surprised she has so much trouble with the crate. Also ; she doesn't really 'play' at all. If I try to play with her, she just licks my arms and face, and won't stop until I physically stop her. She isn't interested in tennis balls, or rope toys. I have a kong ball and she tried to retrieve the treat until I sit on the couch; then she just lays down beside me and sleeps. I've tried leaving her in a separate room for 5 minutes, coming back, 10 minutes, coming back, 40 minutes coming back ; all with the same results, barking and whining (she actually only barks when I leave my actual condo and just whines when she knows I am in the other room). It's only been 3 days but every time she is alone she just barks. I'm really getting stressed with this.
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Nov 7, 2014 22:28
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I'll break out the Wobbler sometimes but drat if Tater isn't a master at pushing it into a corner and getting pissed at it.
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Nov 7, 2014 22:31
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ImplicitAssembler posted:Our current biggest problem is now that Hana is deadly scared of getting her nails trimmed. We've been trying to desensitize her, initially by putting PB on the nail clipper handles and got to the point where I can tap her nails with it...but the moment I (or my wife) grab her paw, with the clipper nearby, she goes into flight mode, regardless of what treats I'm trying to stuff into her. Start out desensitizing her to toenail grabs alone without clipper. It may be overwhelming her. You should have started younger with toe grabs so should the breeder have though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MO8fUpMGC0 Interactive dog toy that is my favorite: http://www.target.com/p/mad-scienti...mLqgaAh5x8P8HAQ
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Nov 8, 2014 04:45
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ImplicitAssembler posted:Our current biggest problem is now that Hana is deadly scared of getting her nails trimmed. We've been trying to desensitize her, initially by putting PB on the nail clipper handles and got to the point where I can tap her nails with it...but the moment I (or my wife) grab her paw, with the clipper nearby, she goes into flight mode, regardless of what treats I'm trying to stuff into her. For the time being, regular walking on hard surfaces should probably be enough to keep her nails reasonably worn down as you work through this. I definitely think your instincts about avoiding ambush are correct. It will work a few times but just get worse and worse and should be saved for if things get seriously bad. My dog Hector was terrible about all things grooming related when I got him, and nail clipping was the worst. I think Pizzadog's advice about practicing toe grabs without the clippers nearby is the way to go. It removes the pressure. Hector would let me handle his paws in play, or if he got a sticker in them that he needed to have removed, but he freaked out if I grabbed one and inspected it and especially if I started manipulating his toes or tried to clip his nails. I fixed it (well, more or less...it's still not his favorite thing but it's a work in progress) by stepping up my casual handling of his paws. Basically whenever I was cuddling him, I made sure to play with his feet. That didn't bother him anyway but it helped normalize me touching his paws. I also made a point of holding and just looking at his paws once a day, every day. For him, that focus on the paw was what upset him. I started for just a second at a time (basically, grab the paw, stare at it while I clicked, then release as I rewarded...the release itself was probably a reward but I still used a food treat to create a really positive association). Then gradually increased that time, started playing with his toes, etc. as he started accepting it. It wasn't until he was comfortable with me closely staring at his toes and playing with them without the clippers nearby that I introduced them. It's a long process in a way but if you work on it for a few minutes every day (or almost every day, anyway), it goes pretty fast. It probably took about two months with Hector before I was able to get him to tolerate a quick nail trim. Golden Dandy posted:...separation anxiety for an older dog...The foster family also explained that she is fully crate trained, and is crated during their own working hours (which were 6am to 5 pm) with no issue. They also have 2 other boston terriers who they own; all of them crated in separate crates, but next to each other. Is she okay crated when you're in the room with her but ignoring her? Also, have you tried leaving her alone for a few minutes in a larger area? I ask because in my experience, sometimes older foster dogs who are "crate trained" are more like..."do okay in a crate in a specific situation but don't really see it as a safe place," if that makes sense. I had a foster dog who would tolerate a crate if there were people/dogs in the room with her but freak out if left alone in a crate. She was fine (no barking or destruction or anything) if left loose in the house, though. I'm not necessarily advocating giving your dog total freedom, but it might be something to pay attention to. If it's general separation anxiety though, "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell is a great resource. As far as the play thing goes, I think some dogs just aren't into it. I don't know if it's a feature of their age or they never learned as puppies or what. I know I got my dog Scooter when he was about 8 months old and we tried to play but he was never super interested in toys, and now doesn't care about them at all. For older dogs who don't like that kind of play, trick training can be a great substitute, or sports like agility. That gives the mental stimulation and bonding that play provides with other dogs. I think most people feel some frustration and discouragement as they settle into a routine with a new dog. Things always seem perfect when you're waiting to take the dog home, and then the reality of having a new puppy/dog who either has no training or bad training hits full force. Separation anxiety is particularly difficult to deal with. I really recommend consulting a trainer if you can, for moral support if nothing else.
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Nov 8, 2014 05:13
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quote:Is she okay crated when you're in the room with her but ignoring her? Also, have you tried leaving her alone for a few minutes in a larger area? I ask because in my experience, sometimes older foster dogs who are "crate trained" are more like..."do okay in a crate in a specific situation but don't really see it as a safe place," if that makes sense. I had a foster dog who would tolerate a crate if there were people/dogs in the room with her but freak out if left alone in a crate. She was fine (no barking or destruction or anything) if left loose in the house, though. I'm not necessarily advocating giving your dog total freedom, but it might be something to pay attention to. If it's general separation anxiety though, "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell is a great resource. Thanks for the suggestions. She whines every time I put her in the crate, even if I stay in the same room with her. She only starts to bark when she knows I've actually left my condo. I also tried leaving her out of the crate, but she still just continued to bark when I left. Thanks for the book tip, I'll check it out. Any experience with covering the crate with a bed sheet? I read it gives it more of a den feeling for the dog. I am currently using a large wire / open crate, which is quite different from the one she was using at the foster (I think she was just using a large travel crate which is very closed in). I'll look into a trainer if this continues ; thanks for the help.
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Nov 8, 2014 15:51
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| # ? Jun 4, 2024 11:10 |
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For what it's worth, the only dog I crate whenever I leave, I use a plastic airline crate for because she prefers it. She has the option of using a wire crate too but only goes in it willingly (I mean, just to hang out when I have her loose and she can go wherever she wants) when I cover it. So my crazy dog Bu thinks you should cover the crate, but I've also fostered a couple of dogs who hate enclosed/covered crates. It's worth a try though...can't really hurt at this point, right? 
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Nov 9, 2014 07:09
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