For Dog Lovers.... Part 3

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Lucy
 
U2Fanatic4ever said:
a snoozing Gracie...

graciesnoozing.jpg
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I haven't been on this thread for a while. Great to see a new picture of Gracie!

We decided we are going to get another lab next summer (remember we lost Blue last October). :applaud:

We want to drive out west and spread some of his ashes in the mountains where we used to take him hiking. Have to do that before we get another dog (and this year, being a tour year, it won't happen)
 
So I have to enroll Patches in some sort of obedience training, cause what we're doing just isn't cutting it. He's still too wild to be in the house unsupervised. He's also still only 8 months old. Do you think PetSmart is a good bet or should I look for a local company?
 
Good lord :|
US anti-animal cruelty group CEO's blind and deaf dog dies after 4 hours in hot car - Yahoo! Canada News

Reggo said:
So I have to enroll Patches in some sort of obedience training, cause what we're doing just isn't cutting it. He's still too wild to be in the house unsupervised. He's also still only 8 months old. Do you think PetSmart is a good bet or should I look for a local company?
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A friend of mine worked at PetSmart. She said it really depends on the particular store and the trainers.
 
Reggo said:
So I have to enroll Patches in some sort of obedience training, cause what we're doing just isn't cutting it. He's still too wild to be in the house unsupervised. He's also still only 8 months old. Do you think PetSmart is a good bet or should I look for a local company?
Click to expand...

It totally varies. Some PetSmart's are lucky to hire really dog savvy people that have been training for years, others hire kids that have good intentions but no real experience other than taking a class. I've seen PetSmart trainers post training questions on dog boards that definitely make me think twice about ever using them. Also some places have good clubs that are priced competitively, compared to PetSmart. I look for trainers that are CGC evaluators, APDT members, and CPDT (certified pet dog trainer). If you're lucky NADOI (endorsed by the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors). PetSmart trainers may or may not have these endorsements. I steer way clear of any trainer that requires a single method and/or tool. For example, if a trainer says "everyone here must now use a choke/prong/flat/martingale collar..." I would leave. Every dog and household is different, a good trainer tailors a program to suit you and your dog, not their own agenda.

Training is a great idea. Eight months is not young to start training, but is not old to be left alone in the house. Nikon is just one year and I rarely take a shower with him free in the house! Because of his breed and their knack for chewing anything and everything, he likely will not be left alone for extended periods until he is 2 years old. A few times I've done trials but only left him out alone for 20 minutes max. He has done more damage with us being home, just running upstairs to use the bathroom, lol.
 
I remember my mom enrolling our late newfoundland Fiona in puppy obedience school when she was a few months old. She'd go under the chair and fall asleep. The other puppies would bark at her and she'd open one eye and go back to sleep. :lol: :cute:

I miss her. :sigh:

Anyways.....


Phoebe is a very fussy eater. We've changed her food three times in the past month. One day she likes it, the next she's not a fan. She responds better to eating when we handfeed her, but I don't want her to get used to it. I've never had a problem with a puppy not eating well. She's a happy, active pup and everything is normal except for that. Advice anyone?

Also, my thirteen year old collie-shephard Lanny has a golf ball sized something on her side. It's hard. My mom and I noticed it a few days ago. It doesn't hurt her when we press it. She's acting kind of meh. Her eating habits aren't great and some days she's active, other days not so much. But I know she's thirteen, so that goes with her being up there in age. I'm just worried about what we found. We can't afford to go to the vet either. :(
 
daygloeyes2 said:
I

Phoebe is a very fussy eater. We've changed her food three times in the past month. One day she likes it, the next she's not a fan. She responds better to eating when we handfeed her, but I don't want her to get used to it. I've never had a problem with a puppy not eating well. She's a happy, active pup and everything is normal except for that. Advice anyone?
Click to expand...

For one, many dog foods recommend up to twice the amount that a dog actually needs (it seems the cheaper/lower quality the food, the higher the amount recommended on the back). So the dog may just need less food. Personally I have zero tolerance for picky eaters and it seems the more I cater to them, the worse they get so now I put down what I have to offer and if they don't eat it, it's their choice. I put the food down for 10 minutes and whatever is left after 10 minutes, I pick it up and offer it later at the next meal time. Unless a dog has a health problem it will not actually starve itself. For the first several months after I got Kenya, she rarely ate all of her food, but maintained a correct weight and was healthy. I just didn't really worry about it. If she got hungry enough, she ate what was offered.
 
Nikon showing off his one year old self
3860625382_db52c1aac4.jpg


3842763623_ffa0bd06af.jpg


3843555270_e1f497bd70.jpg



Now entering gangly teenager stage!! I've up'd his food quite a bit because he is literally skeletal right now, and I say that as someone who prefers a lean dog. He's just so active I can't keep weight on.

He bit my hand (accidentally) pretty bad on vacation. That was two weeks ago. Part of my thumb has been numb ever since but I wonder if the nerves are now healing b/c it just this morning started to ache. The pucture was very deep but that has closed up. I ran it under cold water and antibacterial soap for a few minutes right away to avoid infection. Now the bone/joint where he bit hurts.
 
Liesje said:
Nikon showing off his one year old self
3860625382_db52c1aac4.jpg


3842763623_ffa0bd06af.jpg


3843555270_e1f497bd70.jpg



Now entering gangly teenager stage!! I've up'd his food quite a bit because he is literally skeletal right now, and I say that as someone who prefers a lean dog. He's just so active I can't keep weight on.

He bit my hand (accidentally) pretty bad on vacation. That was two weeks ago. Part of my thumb has been numb ever since but I wonder if the nerves are now healing b/c it just this morning started to ache. The pucture was very deep but that has closed up. I ran it under cold water and antibacterial soap for a few minutes right away to avoid infection. Now the bone/joint where he bit hurts.
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BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS!

gosh, he grew up fast. :) did he bite your hand during play Lies?
 
Yes he bit it while playing/training. SOmetimes I wiggle it for him to bite and tug, but this time I wasn't paying attention while I was holding it and he got my hand. I immediately let go and doubled over and he gave me such a sad "oops! I'm sorry!" look.
 
Just found out Gracie has kennel cough..Thanks to one of the dogs at the dog park. Gonna have to get her a kennel cough vaccination once she is done with her medication. Got antibiotics and a cough supressant that she needs to take for the next 10 days.:down: She's in quarrantine no contact with other dogs and no strenuous activity and I have to cut down her food more cuz she's 75 lbs. So now I can only give her 2 cups of food a day as opposed to 3. And I am giving her the good stuff, Blue Mountain..
 
Nikon had kennel cough when he was a puppy, even with a current vaccine (he got it from another dog that came to training sick, but they didn't know about kennel cough and apologized profusely). He did this reverse hacking sound for about 10 days, that was it. I didn't give him any meds (it's sort of like a human having a bad cold...usually clears on its down as long as the dog is eating and drinking well and not acting sick). So even with the vaccine there's no guarantee, since there's several things that cause it.

Get better soon, Gracie!
 
Liesje said:
Nikon had kennel cough when he was a puppy, even with a current vaccine (he got it from another dog that came to training sick, but they didn't know about kennel cough and apologized profusely). He did this reverse hacking sound for about 10 days, that was it. I didn't give him any meds (it's sort of like a human having a bad cold...usually clears on its down as long as the dog is eating and drinking well and not acting sick). So even with the vaccine there's no guarantee, since there's several things that cause it.

Get better soon, Gracie!
Click to expand...

thanks.... :hug:

I didn't know about kennel cough either.. We thought she got a piece of our wood newspaper basket caught in her throat.. As I found out tonite doing research that's what people think it is when they first hear it. She is eating,drinking and her same high energy self (except we are supposed to not really play much with yeah, that is so easy to do.. not). Really not coughing hardly at all. She has been doing this for the last couple of days.

Yeah I see that there are several strains of it..both viral and bacterial combined.. Vet said the vaccine was not a cure all that it goes after just the most common strain, Bordetella. Even with this I think I'll probably get it.
 
Liesje said:
It totally varies. Some PetSmart's are lucky to hire really dog savvy people that have been training for years, others hire kids that have good intentions but no real experience other than taking a class. I've seen PetSmart trainers post training questions on dog boards that definitely make me think twice about ever using them. Also some places have good clubs that are priced competitively, compared to PetSmart. I look for trainers that are CGC evaluators, APDT members, and CPDT (certified pet dog trainer). If you're lucky NADOI (endorsed by the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors). PetSmart trainers may or may not have these endorsements. I steer way clear of any trainer that requires a single method and/or tool. For example, if a trainer says "everyone here must now use a choke/prong/flat/martingale collar..." I would leave. Every dog and household is different, a good trainer tailors a program to suit you and your dog, not their own agenda.

Training is a great idea. Eight months is not young to start training, but is not old to be left alone in the house. Nikon is just one year and I rarely take a shower with him free in the house! Because of his breed and their knack for chewing anything and everything, he likely will not be left alone for extended periods until he is 2 years old. A few times I've done trials but only left him out alone for 20 minutes max. He has done more damage with us being home, just running upstairs to use the bathroom, lol.
Click to expand...

:hug: Thanks! I'll do some research to find a good one.
 
Right after we got Patches, Quincy got some sort of cough and we went through the meds and everything. Cleared it right up and Patches never caught it. :D *fingers crossed* for the same for Gracie.
 
My Dad just got a new job. He may have to get a German Shepherd attack dog in addition to our bomb sniffing Black Lab...I'm kind of nervous about it because we have had to babysit attack dogs before, I wasn't allowed to touch them...and we had to keep Gus (Our lab) in another room completely.

Hopefully it will work out! German Shepherds are amazing animals...
 
"German shepherd attack dog"...what does he mean by this? Just curious, b/c usually people that use this sort of phrase (either selling or buying) have the very wrong picture of what these dogs do and how they are trained. There's a lot of really BAD breeders and trainers out there that have NO idea what they are doing. Any dog that you cannot touch and has to keep separated is not at all a good dog. Above all the dog must be sound and have correct nerves. If it cannot be trusted in ANY situation, then it is quite poorly bred.
 
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