Mundane Pointless Dog Stuff

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

What? Me, post about dog stuff? Why, sure! I may be a cat person, but I’m not a cat snob (most of the time) :slight_smile:

My doggy Jimmy had his second training class last night. (We missed last week’s due to snow–why, there was pert near 1/2 an inch! An Oregonian drives about as well in the snow as a Californian does in the rain.) The class started out a nightmare. It’s in a part of Salem that I’m not all that familiar with, and the route I’m used to was closed because of a wreck so I had to stumble around lost looking for an alternate route. Then I had to stop for gas, and by this time Jimmy was real keyed up barking at the attendant and so on. So when we finally got to the class, he was in high gear and rarin’ to go. Go play with the other dogs, that is. We’d practiced heeling and sitting the last two weeks, but at the class he would not heel or sit for love nor money (nor hot dogs). He was lunging at the other dogs, yipping and barking. When one of the trainers announced, “We do not allow aggressive dogs in this class!”, I was sure we were expelled. Finally his wife took Jimmy into the center of the ring and got him calmed down. She also put a pinch collar on him. I’ve been opposed to pinch collars in the past, but last night I was too embarrassed to argue. But it worked. Jimmy calmed down and my husband had a much easier time handling him. (I watch from the sidelines in class because I do have a hard time handling Jimmy when he’s excited. I wait until we’re in the relative safety of our own home before I practice the lessons with him.)

Anyway, by the end of the class, Jimmy was heel/sitting with the best of them, and the lady trainer assured us Jimmy was a good dog and a smart dog, he’s just also a hyper dog and a dog not used to the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior (our biggest failing–suddenly I’m remembering our Canadian journalist friend and smiling ruefully). We bought the pinch collar right then and there, and she gave us advice on how to make a calmer enterance into class next week.

So, all in all, things had a happy ending. I went from being on the verge of humiliated tears to bouncing up and down with joy as Jimmy fell into line and was no longer the worst-behaved dog in class. I guess one of the things I’ve had to really adjust to is having such a big dog (60 lb. is big to me) with such a high energy level. I’m a little dog person, I admit.

Which brings me to my next mundane dog thingy… honest, this isn’t a ploy to get people to look at my page, but I don’t know how to post pictures in messages yet. Besides, some people gripe that they take too long to load so I’ll just post a link and ask:

What kind of dog is this?

I’m referring to the little orangey mutt at the top of the page. I know she’s a mutt, but I’ve never been able to figure out what breeds make up the wholeness of her being. Guesses have included Pomeranian and Cocker Spaniel, but I don’t know anything for sure. She was a little girl, about 12 lb. at her top weight. This picture is rather old (and taken on a very old camera–had a flash cube even!) and blurry, but I’ve got others I can scan if you need a better look. So? Do the Teeming Millions have any guesses?

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

The Kat House
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2

Gr8Kat, do you live in Dallas now? If that’s the case, we should grab Chef Troy, Zyada and the other Dallasite. I’d love to meet you in person.

The lovely woman-child Kaa was mercilessly chained to the cruel post of the warrior-chief Beast, with his barbarous tribe now stacking wood at her nubile feet, when the strong, clear voice of the poetic and heroic Handsomas roared, “Flick your Bic, crisp that chick, and you’ll feel my steel through your last meal.”

3

Dallas, Oregon??

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

The Kat House
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4

Well, from what I can tell there is Pom in that dog for sure, but I don’t know what else she might be.

And perhaps, once you get Jimmy’s excitement under control, you can ditch the pinch collar and get a muzzle lead. These are some of the best dog leads out there but hardly anyone uses them. People think they are cruel because the look like muzzles, but they aren’t. Ask about 'em.

5

Michelle, we do have a Gentle Leader headcollar, but last night it didn’t seem to faze Jimmy so we went ahead and used the pinch collar. It’s probably our fault; I read the handbook for the headcollar but we didn’t attend the classes so we probably still weren’t using it right. Also, this trainer said that, in their experience anyway, sometimes a headcollar will make an excited or aggressive dog act out even more. If a dog is acting aggressively and you try to restrain its main form of self defense, it’s going to act even more aggressively to compensate. I’m not sure that’s what Jimmy’s problem was last night; he’s never attacked another dog or person, I think he just wanted to play, but the more my husband tried to hold him back, the harder he struggled. Once we’ve laid down some boundaries of acceptable behavior and learned to control Jim, we’ll go back to the Gentle Leader.

(The pinch collar looks like a terrible devise, but it was so exciting to see Jimmy transformed from a hellhound to a prancing pup before my eyes. Still, I keep thinking back to that episode of the Simpsons – everything reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons – where Bart took his dog to a trainer. When the dog wouldn’t sit, the trainer commanded, “Correct the dog!” Bart yanked on the choke chain and the dog collapsed at his feet, eyes bulging. Bart asked, “Ma’am, is my dog dead?” The trainer just smiled, “You don’t know how many times I’ve been asked that.”)

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

The Kat House
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6

I doubt that your dog was trying to be mean. As you say, he was just exicted. The muzzle leads I have seen though, would not really prevent a dog from biting if it wanted to, so I am not sure a lead like that would rile up an angry dog even more. Actually, I have seen many a bad dog quiet down almost as soon as a muzzle was placed on his snout. True, some do flip out and go wild trying to rip the muzzle off, but most realize that the humans who got the muzzle on them are in charge and they better behave.

Anyhow, good luck in the classes, it sounds like you have a big job on your hands! And keep in mind some dogs have to go through classes a second time before they get things straight, so if things go slow, don’t get discouraged.

7

I can’t stand to put a muzzle on my dog. She gets this horrible broken-spirit look on her face, and her whole body hunches like she’s been beaten unmercifully. It breaks my heart, and I have to take it off.

8

Well, Lissa, why are you putting a muzzle on the dog in the first place? Does she need one? Cause as someone who runs the risk of being bitten every day, I gotta tell you, I don’t care how pathetic a dog looks with a muzzle on, if the dog’s a biter, it’s wearing one!

9

For whatever it’s worth (and given greater expertise here, it ain’t much) my lively, loved Lab/Shep is about 65 lbs. and can be a handful. Never mean, just happy and exuberant.

We did some training classes and they really helped. I use a choke chain; a “P” shaped chain that goes over her head. She controls the pressure. If she lunges ahead and nearly pulls me off my feet, the chain tightens and she stops. So she doesn’t lunge anymore, she prances happily at my side while I wheeze and jog along.

The “sit” thing was easy, as were a lot of other human/canine communication things. A quick, gentle tug on the chain meant “do this”. Since she’s a loving, perfect dog she wants to please me and does. So that means a flurry of estatic praise, ruff stroking, face licking and mutual admiration.

Dogs are just such loving, loyal goofs.

Totally besotted,
Veb

10

Yay! An invitation to talk about MPDS!

As I’ve shared before, I have a sweet brindle Cardigan Welsh corgi named Crease. She’s 15 months old. Anyway, we’ve got houseguests this weekend and she’s so excited! Friends are in Houston ‘til Sunday and have asked us to watch their two-year-old Pembroke Welsh corgi (Cardigans have tails, Pembrokes’ are docked… in case anyone cares) and their 15-year-old corgi mix. The Pembroke’s name is Rolo and the mix’s name is Dory.

Mike and Rachel dropped them off last night, El Hubbo headed off to his weekly war games with neighbors and I had all three of them to myself. Man, having three dogs as opposed to one is rough! We had one pee accident (perpetrator unknown) and one poop accident (pretty sure it was Dory). In addition to that mystery, three facts were revealed last night. Number one, Rolo barks as easily as he breathes and gives no warning that he’s about to do so. Number two, Crease is a dog’s dog. No interest in me with these two other low riders around. Number three, dogs have personalities. Crease: Energizer Bunny, Rolo: Barking Maniac/Attention Monger and Dory: Comatose. Hey, if you were 105 years old, you’d sleep a lot too.

Mundane? Yah. Pointless? Yah.
Furry? Ohhhhhhh yah. My sinus headache, due to 3 times more dog hair flying around my house, confirms it.

11

Well, we got our second dog about 4-5 months ago. We only have one major problem with him.

He eats poop.

He’s house trained, but we still find poop in the house 'cause he carries them in!

We’ve bought some pills called Deter, that are supposed to make his poop taste bad, but it doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.

I guess I just have to catch him doing it more often and properly punish him.

Any other advice?

12

Jeb, dogs… um… really like poop. We don’t let ours into the bathrooms because that’s where we keep the cat boxes and he was always helping himself to “kitty treats.”

But when our dog was teething, we had a problem with him chewing on electrical cords, so the vet recommended some bad tasting stuff that worked. I can’t remember what exactly what its name was, Sour Apple something or other. It had a real vinegary smell and it worked, he wouldn’t chew on anything we sprayed with it. If “Deter” didn’t work, you might try looking for the Sour Apple stuff.

Otherwise, the only other thing I can think of is to pooper scooper after him before he comes in the house so there’s nothing out there for him to bring in.

Good luck :slight_smile:

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

The Kat House
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13

I just had a mental image of Jeb walking around spraying dog poop with Sour Apple stuff and realized that was a dumb idea. Nevermind :slight_smile:

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

The Kat House
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14

Jebediah-
Its my understanding that they eat poop because of a lack of protein(?) in their diet and it is a survival mechanism. So its more than just a Behavioral problem. Make sure you talk to your vet about it and I’m sure Michelle can offer some kernels of wisdom on the matter!

And Bezoar- is the sweetest little pup anyone has ever known, but when she gets on a leash she is a holy terror. Biting at the leash, refusing to walk etc. But if you drop the leash…She walks right next to you happy as a clam!

Oh Well…
And Canthearya Dogs have as uch personality as people. Some have none, others an overabundance!

-Frankie
Lack of charisma can be fatal

15

I always knew dogs had personalities, but never had proof.

Poop eating is a tough one. One theory I’ve heard is in reference to pet store dogs. Usually they’re taken away from their mothers too soon and are in a cage where they eat, pee and poop. A dog’s instincts tell them not to poop where they eat, so they eat the poop to get rid of it. Twisted logic, but 9 out of 10 pet store dogs I’ve known are poop eaters.

My girl doesn’t have that problem, thank God.

16

When I was a kid my dad had a series (he still does in fact) of badly behaved Boston Terrors. One I remember in particular was named Slick (after his slick brain). Poor Slick was terrified of the harness and leash. If he glanced it before it was on him, he’d dart out the door and cower under the utility building, well out of reach. If someone managed to harness him up for a “walk”, he would promptly flip over on his back, stick all four legs in the air, and stay that way. I remember laying him on a skateboard once and taking the dog for a drag around the block. He could have been dragged sans-skateboard the same distance without deciding to walk, except I thought that would be cruel.
The other dog Father had at the same time was named Hogatha, because she snorted when she breathed. She didn’t mind walking but had a paralyzing fear of storm drains along the sides of the road. The gutter was no problem, but when she came to the actual hole going to the sewer, she’d lock her legs and go no further. We literally had to pick her up and carry her past to continue on.
Both animals were truly psychotic. Father finally gave them to a neighbor, who could get either of them to do anything, including walk like normal dogs.

17

My dog went through a phase just like that! I think the only reason that it was a phase and does not continue to this day is because of clicker training. Crease would stop 10 feet from a storm drain and lock her legs. I’d then coax her a little closer to the drain and when she came even a squidge closer, I clicked the clicker and gave her a treat. Over a period of days, closer and closer until we got her to the point that she’d go right up to the storm drain and look at us like, “Hello, where’s my treat?” She still does it every once in a while, but we don’t treat her anymore. Dogs are goofballs sometimes. They get scared of stuff they’ve never seen/noticed before and have to have it proven to them that they won’t be harmed by it.

Crease also allows me to trim her toenails without protest. She readily come to me, even when she can see that I’m holding the toenail trimmer. She will lie on her side on our our fouton, let me cut each toenail and trim her foot fur. This is a dog who squealed and cried and had to be held down a year ago.

Clicker training is the only way to go.

18

Jimmy did much, much better at class last night :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: I wuvs my wittle mutt :slight_smile:

Now the problem is getting my husband to put the training into practice. So far I think Jimmy (and maybe husband) thinks the training is a game. He performs well in class and when we practice in the living room, but when they go for a real walk outside, the training goes out the window. They both need to learn that the training is for real life, so that maybe someday we will have enough control over him that I can safely take him for a walk myself without him pulling me down or yanking the leash out of my hand and running away. We didn’t spend $60 bucks so Jimmy could be a good dog one night a week.

Oh well, we’re all learning :slight_smile:

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

The Kat House
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19

We’re getting a puppy!!!

We’ve been talking to a breeder, and she has a puppy, and he sounds wonderful, and we’re going to meet him (the puppy) this weekend, and if the breeder decides we’re OK, we can have him!

We’re getting a dogdogdogdogdog!!! :smiley: :smiley:

We can’t take hom home 'til March, though, for various logistical reasons. :frowning: Of course, it will take that long to get the house puppy-proofed.

Wahoo!!!

More details as they become available …

20

What kind of puppy??

“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy

The Kat House
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