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My current lab (6 years old now) was super easy to crate train. When she was about 3 months old I picked up a crate. I took the door off for a couple of days and made it a fun place for her to be. We would put her toys in it for storage and her favorite blanket. After a week she would go in and stay without the door for hours. Once my work schedule picked back up she was pretty happy to get crated while I was at work.
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Sep 7, 2018 20:56
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| # ? May 18, 2024 08:13 |
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My dogs just stay home all day when I'm gone. They're adults though. I close some doors though so they don't have the entire house. When I've stayed home sick, they just sleep all day, like me. One always hated the crate so I didn't use it for very long. She was pretty much house trained and never really destroyed much, nothing important anyway. One came crate trained but took longer to stop peeing on things. One's crate trained but not house trained yet. He's still crated while he's unsupervised until he quits peeing on the floor and counter surfing. GoodBee fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Sep 8, 2018 |
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Sep 8, 2018 00:03
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All right, cool. She's about a year old, crate trained, and can be left alone in the house without worry (hooray for the doggy door.) I guess we'll try just leaving her. Probably I'll miss her more than the other way around.
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Sep 8, 2018 00:06
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If you have time, I would try working up to longer times alone if possible. Working up to things slowly might be easier than all of a sudden BOOM now you're alone all day.
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Sep 8, 2018 00:13
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Verman posted:If you have time, I would try working up to longer times alone if possible. Working up to things slowly might be easier than all of a sudden BOOM now you're alone all day. Yeah this, when we first got our pup someone was home with him all day outside of at most an hour, then it went up to 2 hours, then 4 hours and now it's between 4-9ish hours a day where he'll be home.
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Sep 8, 2018 00:32
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Getting a new puppy. Going to train it up and junk. Might look at getting a shelter dog later for a second dog. OP had a good"introduce puppy so your current dog doesnt eat it." Section. Anything on the reverse of that? I see a lot of mother dogs that get sheltered, (big nipples hate?) Would that be good one to look for? I like them anyway as they tend to be mellow and nice, which may just be personal bias. Edit: also the timeframe for the pup. Thinking 6 months so they will be (hopefully) trained and settled by then Bombadilillo fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Sep 9, 2018 |
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Sep 9, 2018 23:28
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I just want to complain. First is omg puppy energy. He's not even a puppy, he's a young adult, about 1 year, 8 or 9 months. He's been here about two and a half weeks. It's nothing out of the ordinary and he'll start going to the dog park once his intestinal parasites are cleared up. Second is people who want dogs to be fat. My two girls and the new dude are all tall, narrow dogs. They don't need to "fill out". New dude could stand to gain some muscle, if that's something his mixed breed rear end can do. My first dog was a little underweight when I adopted her, about two years ago. She weighed 47 lbs. She got up to 55 lbs, which was probably a little much due to too many treats. The vet said she wasn't too fat then but she's at a healthy 52 lbs now. The little dog has been at 24-26 lbs, which is good for her. The new guy is around 45 lbs. He doesn't have noticable hip or rib bones, but he also has significantly less muscle, tone and mass, than either of my two girls. I'm thinking he'll be okay if he gains a couple of pounds of muscle. My brother also adopted his first dog. He's an about 70 lb mixed breed dude who's about 2 or 3 years old. He was in foster care for a couple of months before adoption and he looks like the perfect weight. None of these dogs need to "fill out". My dad's got a little terrier mix who is grossly overweight. She looks like a sausage. I want to steal her and put her on a diet. I know part of it is my dogs are tall and narrow and there are plenty of other dog breeds that are the same height that would be perfectly healthy at a higher weight. Mine are all shelter dogs. One looks like the spitting image of a Plott Hound and she falls right into their ideal height and weight range, albeit at the upper end of both for females. The other girl fits the size and shape of a Rat Terrier, not the miniature sized one. The dude is harder to place since he looks like nothing that should exist on purpose. He's the same height and even narrower that the Plott so I'm just going to use her as a comparison. Everyone is fine. /rant
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Sep 20, 2018 00:58
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I've gone on dates with vet techs who've never seen a basset in as good of shape as mine and Instagram supports that. Just don't give a poo poo duder
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Sep 20, 2018 01:52
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TBH my lab at 6 years old goes from a bit over weight in the winter to a bit under weight by the end of the summer. I blame my lack of enthusiasm for longer walks in the cold winter Canuck months and my active summer camping schedule for this. She has never been 'off the rails' over weight and I do free feed her in the summer when we are camping, so she gets as many calories as she needs. Basically, I give no fucks for random peoples comments about my dog. She is perpetually happy and healthy.
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Sep 20, 2018 02:05
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Yeah, I won't do anything differently. Except maybe steal my dad's dog for a couple of months and put her on a diet. Maybe they'll go on a vacation this winter and she can play with my dogs and eat reasonable amounts of dog food and no table scraps. That poor little sausage. Hopefully new guy can gain enough stamina for a hike. He's a little big to carry back to the car if he poops out after a mile or so. My hound got a little fat after visiting my mom a bunch. My mom is basically a treat dispenser. I'm surprised the little dog didn't get fatter. She'd be a sphere if mom had to watch her for an extended amount of time. GoodBee fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Sep 20, 2018 |
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Sep 20, 2018 02:11
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When I moved about 10 years back my previous black lab spent a summer with my parents and got a bit fat. It wasn't a big deal to get her back into shape after a couple of camping and hiking trips. That being the said, the first hiking trip we took was at a lot slower pace than we had done in the past. My mom was a treat dispenser as well:) That being said, that dog loved my mom probably as much as she loved me. When we would go and visit, even in my moms last few months she would park herself at my moms feet and not move for anything.
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Sep 20, 2018 02:21
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My mom never had dogs so I think it's nice that she likes to give my dogs treats. My stepdad likes to take my hound for a walk around their neighborhood, which I also think is nice. He won't walk my little terrier mix because she's a poo poo. That's fine though, my mom will give her more treats. One time the little dog climbed in my mom's lap. My mom really liked that. She's used to cats and the little dog can be kind of catlike at times.
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Sep 20, 2018 03:56
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Sister-in-law had a petite adult Chihuahua mix as an ESA. I say “had a petite” because we just saw the dog for the first time in three months. We last saw the dog when my mother-in-law moved in with my SIL. Now, he is bursting at the seams (but SIL hadn’t noticed it because it was over time). Carrying him onto the bathroom scale showed something like a 25% weight increase (don’t remember the exact numbers offhand, but something like 8 lbs. —> 10 lbs.). Turns out that not only was my MIL leaving the cats’ food dishes on the floor where the dog could (and often would) get to them, but she also fed the cats some bacon regularly to help prevent forming hairballs, and the dog “just looked so pitiful” when he didn’t get any that she started giving it to him too. When I say “some bacon” I mean half a strip for the smaller cats and a full strip for the latest cat (and the dog). Daily. Because it was good for all of them. Vet checked out the doggo and he’s going to be fine, just need to control his food intake going forward, so I guess all’s we’ll that ends well.. JFC what the gently caress is wrong with some people.
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Sep 20, 2018 18:14
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The beag has started to develop little poo poo like tendencies. We left a plate of fried mushroom ball things on the table overnight by accident and neglected to toss them out in the morning. The pooch watched me leave through the window and I instantly hopped on to of the table, spent a good deal of time tossing each shroom on the floor, and then eating ONLY the breading like a picky child eating an onion ring. How do I know this you ask? Roomba chock full of mushrooms.
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Sep 21, 2018 05:43
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A little late to the discussion, but my veterinarian mother-in-law told me once that in 30 years of owning her practice she maybe went two weeks where she didn't have to tell at least half of her clients that their dogs were overweight. People chronically overfeed dogs. Mine are rocketing balls of energy and I feel like I practically starve them and they still hover above an "ideal" weight range, not that they're unhealthy. She claims she's only twice had a basset or bloodhound in that hasn't been obese. Unrelated, but she claims she's also never had a chow that hasn't tried to bite her.
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Sep 24, 2018 16:44
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my puppy lost his water bowl priveleges (cause he keeps dumping the water on the floor) so he's now a hamster:
the talent deficit fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Sep 25, 2018 |
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Sep 25, 2018 02:52
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How bad is a squirt bottle as a training tool? I needed something to get the new guys attention when he's just sitting there, barking at one of the girls. I've tried getting his attention by making a noise, clapping, giving a command, shoving a toy in face. I've also tried letting him bark it out. Apparently he just doesn't get tired of barking at them and they are apparently quite tolerant of being yelled at for 20 minutes or so. I just let him go and ignored him for a whole episode of Venture Bros or something. He'll shut up and listen to a command if I've got a treat but I don't want barking and treats associated in any way. He doesn't seem too worried about being squirted, which is why I think it might be okay for him. It just seems to get his attention and he fucks off to do something else, which is what I'm going for at the moment. I got the idea from the lady that was fostering my brother's dog before he adopted him. She didn't go into detail other than my brother's dog understood the squirt bottle and would quit whatever he was doing wrong when she picked it up. I didn't have the new guy then, so I didn't have any questions. The new guy doesn't seem afraid of it but he does look at me when I make a noise and pick it up. I did squirt him and my big girl once when they were getting growly at each other. My girl went to her bed and pouted for a while. She definitely looked pissed and like she thought it was a terrible punishment. I don't want to squirt her anymore because of that.
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Sep 28, 2018 00:59
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GoodBee posted:How bad is a squirt bottle as a training tool? Also looking for thoughts on this. We have an 8 month-old mix who barks (LOUDLY) at me and Mrs. Turkey Farts at random times of the day (even if he's been fed/let out). He doesn't respond to loud noises or positive re-enforcement and I've run out of ways to let him know that it's not OK.
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Sep 28, 2018 11:55
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I've never heard of a dog being traumatized by a squirt bottle. It's about as inoffensive a negative reinforcement tool as I can imagine. It's still negative reinforcement instead of positive, but it's not always reasonable to expect to be able to train a dog with only positive reinforcement.
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Sep 28, 2018 14:25
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Sitting at the emergency vet. It’s either cancer (around her spine) or some crazy infection. Man, this sucks. Edit: now I am waiting at the emergency vet two states over Mozi fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Sep 29, 2018 |
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Sep 28, 2018 17:34
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Hey thread. It's been a long time since I've been here but I have a legitimate question that is a) to gross for my internet buddy (a cat person) b) potentially not a thing (according to my boyfriend) and I need other dog owners to help me out. My dog has always had the yeasty scent of dog but it's not gross or out of control - after a while his prime toys get a funk (and we wash them) and if you inhale with his feet in your face you will get the smell but why do that. Today I left my room and upon returning I noticed a faint smell of doritos. Just hanging in the air. Everywhere. There's a faint smell in the carpets, too. I immediately washed his toys and bed / everything that he's in long term contact with, and vacuumed the carpet. I also ordered an air purifier. Is it a thing that the yeast and bacteria that is on your dog could transfer from your dog to carpets / fabrics / stuff and multiply and get out of control making one's room a hellhole of dogscent even though there is a cleaning lady who vacuums / cleans weekly and laundry is regularly done (as well as cleaning independent of cleaning lady who may not clean everywhere). I know that dog smell gets on this but this isn't dog smell this is loving Dorito yeastiness and not even my loving dog smells like this. Is it time for a huge deep clean or is being colonized by dog bacteria / yeast a thing that does not happen. Did I just somehow notice this and become attune to it and now can't stop thinking about it? An earnest question.
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Oct 1, 2018 04:04
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luscious posted:Hey thread. It's been a long time since I've been here but I have a legitimate question that is Personally, I prefer my bacteria to smell like Fritos.
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Oct 1, 2018 13:35
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I'd say ask a vet.
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Oct 1, 2018 13:43
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Wash his feet regularly and trim the fuzz between his toes/ foot pads. Dogs have sweat glands on their feet and the space between the pads is prime yeast territory. Some dogs are more susceptible to “frito feet” than others. My male gets it pretty bad during the summer but a weekly foot wipe and trim keeps it in check. Wouldn’t hurt to check with a vet anyway, in case it is coming from more than his feet.
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Oct 1, 2018 13:54
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My father and boyfriend both smelled the room and both say that they don't smell anything, so I likely caught a whiff of something and couldn't get it out of my head. Or maybe it was a seizure. Who knows. Brains. I made an appointment to see the vet because he's due for one anyway. I'll bring it up then. Super Grocery Kart posted:Wash his feet regularly and trim the fuzz between his toes/ foot pads. He's a Boston, so he doesn't really have fur to trim but I will wash between his toes-ies. I know that they get moist, and as I mentioned before I know that they smell. I clean his stupid face folds near daily, so adding another part of him will not hurt. Zeluth posted:Personally, I prefer my bacteria to smell like Fritos. I have never had Fritos so I don't use them as a smell point but it's probably exactly what this is!! Thanks dog friends.
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Oct 1, 2018 16:24
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Mozi posted:Sitting at the emergency vet. It’s either cancer (around her spine) or some crazy infection. Now back home  Diagnosis still unclear, either an autoimmune condition that caused brain inflammation, or brain cancer. She seems to be responding well to high doses of steroids and is taking a couple antibiotics as well. Symptoms initially seemed to be from a fall (bad limp,) but progressed to general weakness and eventually she could barely even more her head, just flopped over on her side. CT scan and MRI both were negative, but they didn't scan her brain.
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Oct 2, 2018 13:31
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Mozi posted:Now back home Feel better pupper 
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Oct 2, 2018 13:36
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She says thanks  I don't have to remind anybody of this, but cherish every moment you have with your pets, because one day before you expect it you will turn around and they won't be there anymore.
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Oct 2, 2018 14:32
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So the Beag's gotten the unpleasant habit of counter surfing/hounding out any food or treats she can find when we leave. Particularly so if we leave her outside of our normal schedule. This is annoying but hasn't really been a major issue; it's our fault for leaving stuff out of course. Which brings us to today. I had an old back of "composure and calm" treats the vet gave us when she was a puppy and her separation anxiety was pretty extreme. She found said bag and proceeded to gorge herself on the entire thing. We get back to a hound dog that is frankly stoned our of her mind. It's pretty amusing to see, I'm not going to lie.
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Oct 7, 2018 21:26
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If you want to fix the problem, these worked for me. Gives the dog a surprising but harmless swat when they trigger the trap. My dog triggered it once, then just the sight of the traps was a good deterrent; I didn't even need to set them, just leave them lying out in their sprung state.
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Oct 8, 2018 16:56
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Hey, dog health question: One of our two dogs -- the younger, friskier one, she's a jack russell mix -- hasn't been eating her food for several days. She always gets a half cup morning/evening (our other dog, much larger, gets a full cup). She's still lively and active and playful, there are no other outward signs of illness or anything, and she'll eat a treat if proffered, but she's not eating her kibble. The other dog is eating the kibble just fine. It is a new bag of kibble but it's the same brand I always get them (Wellness brand). Should I be worried or is this just a thing she's doing? Maybe just not hungry or caught something in the yard and has been eating that instead?
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Oct 8, 2018 17:15
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Hey, dog health question: In your situation I would call your vet. Not go in, just call and ask if there are any red flags here. Is your dog pooping at all?
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Oct 8, 2018 17:19
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StrixNebulosa posted:Is your dog pooping at all? I'm not sure, good question (most days they take care of business in the yard on their own). I'll watch her this evening and check.
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Oct 8, 2018 17:23
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Is she eating no kibble or just not finishing it?
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Oct 8, 2018 18:27
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Hey, dog health question: Is there any chance that she's found another food source? Early on when I got my dog he wasn't eating his kibble but was pooping a lot. It turns out that he was stealing a boatload of bran muffins off the table.
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Oct 8, 2018 18:40
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Hey y'all, new around these parts but hoping for some guidance (for my friend - it really is my friend tho). So long story short, my friend has 3 dogs and was attacked by the oldest (and the one he's had the longest) last week. He's a pitt or some mix, so was able to do a good bit of damage; one very deep wound in forearm and both hands really torn up, didn't get him anywhere else thankfully. So previously this dog has always always been super sweet and affectionate, I've cuddled on the couch with him often and I've never seen him get aggressive with other people or dogs (one of their other dogs does get a bit aggressive with other pups sometimes, so what I mean to say is of the three this is NOT the one you'd expect to attack anything). The circumstances of the attack were sort of strange, my friend was coming in the back door and his fiance coming in the front door simultaneously and the dog just sort of flipped out on my friend... I'm not sure if he thought my friend was an intruder or what. So now my friend is injured and is trying to decide whether to put the dog down. I don't know what I'd do in this same situation; part of me would want to try and trust the dog again, think of it as a mistake, but the other part of me doesn't think I'd ever feel safe again. He's having a really hard time because he loves this pupper so much, but the thing happened. So basically my question is, what's the advice from people who know more than us? I know the prevailing attitude in my corner of the woods is "dog attacks person, dog gets put down" - is that just the only conclusion? I don't know, I guess I'm just hoping against hope that somehow we don't have to do the sad thing. Any advice or commentary appreciated, this is a really difficult and emotional time and basically anything will help.
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Oct 8, 2018 19:02
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imho it's one thing if its a puppy or a stranger, another if its the owner. Dog simply cannot be trusted.
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Oct 8, 2018 19:10
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black.lion posted:Hey y'all, new around these parts but hoping for some guidance (for my friend - it really is my friend tho). The dog needs to be put down sadly, as there is no way to guarantee that this won't happen again, and it most likely will, given that they flipped out at something pretty innocuous, and then attacked someone they should trust. Ask your friend how he'd feel if he kept the dog and it freaked out on someone else and attacked them.
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Oct 9, 2018 01:22
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Submarine Sandpaper posted:imho it's one thing if its a puppy or a stranger, another if its the owner. Dog simply cannot be trusted. Yeah, sadly this is my conclusion as well. The only reason I can keep my dog is because I'm able to control him and the environments he's in when we're in public, and I have confidence he accepts my leadership. If he ever attacked me that confidence would be gone. I could never be certain if the next time I went to put his leash on him, he might bite my hand instead.
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Oct 9, 2018 01:30
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| # ? May 18, 2024 08:13 |
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It would be one thing if the dog was just confused and nipped before realizing who it was but that level of damage is really concerning. If this came out of nowhere I'd be concerned there's something medically wrong, like a brain tumor or something. As sad as it is that's not a dog who can safely exist in the world and the kindest thing would be to put him down.
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Oct 9, 2018 16:05
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