General dog chat

[BiteyShark]

Anyone fancy a general dog chat thread?

BiteyDog is now almost 15 months old and it's about time we ditched the puppy survival thread for general chit chat but it's still nice to chat about our doggie dilemmas and days so if anyone wants to join me in wittering on saves BiteyDog having the listen to my incessant talking at him then welcome aboard.

How's all the dogs coping with the snow in the northern parts? I am sick of the rain and I guess fortunate enough that BiteyDog doesn't like it much either so apart from a 20 min ball run we are snuggled up in the house today.

She usually wolfs it down so I know it's not the case of not preferring it.

She's her usual normal self if a bit more blue in herself. She's definitely suffering from the baby blues bless her.

She just wants cuddles all the time and not bothered about doing much else.

Mine was very like that. She spent several days just curled up in a ball. No playing or messing about.

It's horrible to see when they are usually so bouncy and full of energy isn't it? Luckily madam is now on her second season so we will be looking at speying her in a couple of months. No more phantoms for her

We are also just finished the second season. Still can't spay her for a minimum of another 6 months. She needs to finish growing first.
She scared me. I really thought she was coming down with pneumonia (they are prone to it) or had a closed pyometra.
Hope she's feeling better soon.

Bless her.

Hope she's feels better soon Soubriquet.

Anyone else get the 'stare'? BiteyDog has this habit of sitting and staring intently at me and won't look away. I can feel his eyes burning into me . We get the 'get out of bed and feed me stare', then 'why aren't we going for a walk yet stare', and the walk off and sit in the corridor knowing that we will eventually check on him because he is quiet 'play ball with me stare'

Cocodog missed the memo on intent stares, she does the flump on the floor and dramatic sighs if she thinks it must be time for a walk. After her afternoon walk she stays outside pottering around with DH until it’s time for her supper. All well and good unless it’s raining, if they come in early we get treated to her running around squeaking a toy like a lunatic until she finally gives up and will lie down and wait to be fed.😁

I would have sworn I had typed this last night but clearly I didn't. Soubriquet why don't you book a vets consultation to give her a once over so you can discuss her clinginess, lack of eating her normal food etc. Then you get her checked over and can also discuss the next move e.g. spaying. I have previously booked general appointments specifically to discuss neutuering etc. That's the benefit of private vet care because you don't have to worry about taking up any resources as you are paying for it and I always say it isn't urgent unless it is so they prioritise my appointment accordingly.

thegirlsallgrowedupnow the flumping on the floor and dramatic sighs made me laugh . I can just imagine it.

We only get sighs if we stroke him and he is in 'do not disturb mode'. I love the fact that they all have their personalities

Does anyone clean inside their dog's ears?! Noticed they look at bit gross....like wax or something. I'm sure poking around would be unpopular, and they don't seem to be bothering her. What do you do?!

TropicPlunder I don't but I look in them from time to time to check them but they have never looked like they needed cleaning. Could you just wipe gently with a damp cloth?

I'll probably do that bitey

I'm going out and getting some chicken fillets today. Going to try and either feed them raw or roast them and see if that can tempt her.

With dogs ears, you do need to clean them if they get dirty. You can buy stuff to help with wax but I don't know what it's called. You then wipe it out. With some breeds you need to pluck the hair out of the ear canal to keep it clean. It doesn't hurt them. The hair slides out easily when pulled. Had to do this with me old cross bred poodle girl

Thanks for ear advice! I'll give the cleaning a go when she's looking relaxed. Ears not too fluffy, so hopefully it'll be straightforward

Teatimetoller doesn’t state much but takes direct action... if he wants you to play he gets a toy from his box and deposits it in your lap and if he thinks he’s not getting enough attention he’ll steal a sock from somewhere (usually the bottom of dh’s wellies) and wander casually around the kitchen waiting for someone to notice and swap it for a treat...

Luckily we don’t need to clean ears but when he was a puppy we got him used to being handled all over so it wouldn’t be a problem if he did. Look up Chirag Patel’s bucket game if you need to get your dog happy with being handled

Yeah good idea. Handling is pretty good, but she's young and I'd definitely have to pick my moment after some exercise, so she's not too much in play mode. Or....Yeah make a game of it

Got a 75% off code for Butternut Box emailed to me for Valentine's Day (the way to my heart is through my dog's stomach. Of course).

Turned up today. Inside was a card saying I could refer a friend and they'd get a free box! DMum's imaginary St Bernard is going to be very well fed

Haven't tried feeding it to PestDog yet, but it looks like it will be great for stuffing into Kongs and keeping him entertained.

Just catching up as been out at training all morning. BiteyDog is now resting

noitsnotteatimeyet BiteyDog when younger also used to run off with my slipper when he wanted attention. He used to get miffed if you pretended not to notice

Madam got given some fresh chicken thighs today to see if we could tempt her to eat.

Little fucker wolfed them down and was looking for more! We've got enough for 3 more meals so whilst she's poorly, we will can continue doing this. Hope she doesn't get too used to it.

I've got £25 worth of food in the freezer for her

Madam!!!!
Mine did go right back onto her normal food once the phantom was over.
Re ears. Is it waxy or dark brown? We had an issue with yeasty ears due to a food allergy.
Love hearing about all the characters. And look. A Wolfie off lead.

Magnificent wolfie! So the ears from what I can see, it's dark drown and dry, but looks like it was once liquidy (sorry, gross). Does that sound like the yeast infection?

TMI but my girl's ears smelt a bit yeasty. Dark brown does sound like what we had. Someone described it as chocolate ear. Boak!
We did need vet treatment unfortunately. It could not be that though. I tried a few things with no success.

Awww nice to see WolfieDog enjoying her walks.

Soubriquet oh dear she is being a fussy madam isn't she . I am so glad BiteyDog is no longer fussy as it can get expensive .

Avocados is PestDog now with you full time or you still waiting for the formalities?

He's been with me full time for about 6 months as DFriend and I have been living together! Hence totally failing when I told myself not to get attached... DFriend is still here, but only for a couple more weeks. Basically what this means is that day to day life won't change, but my bank balance will

I've got the passport, microchip reregistration form has been posted, and I need to chase the vet to find out where we're up to with getting his records (insofar as they exist) transferred into my name. Next step is insurance - he's still insured under DFriend's name (haven't got the details, but his admin is shocking and he's probably bought a moderately useless policy, so I'm probably just going to start from scratch with the insurance and go for PetPlan Lifetime), but I've been hanging on for an external reason that's a bit outing but would change eligibility for insurance and will be resolved by the middle of next week.

For some reason I hadn't realised PestDog was actually living in your home. Ah yes the bank balance will definitely suffer as it's sooooo hard not to buy them 'just a little something' .

Oh god, the "little something" bit has been going on for months anyway. He only had two toys when I came into his life, and both were looking a bit sorry for themselves! I've lost track of how many he has now To be fair he's got a good number now so I can rein back on that, but of course pet insurance (£42/month! For a young mutt!) and so on will be the drains, along with boarding when I have to work away overnight (£30/night).

Talking of dog boarding, I told the boss I needed to WFH for half a day (not uncommon) before going on a business trip next month. He said he might need me in the office that morning - "can't you drop him off on your way into work?". No, because that would cost me more money. "What about dropping him off the night before?". Only if you're paying... (he didn't offer)