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.

I am incredibly lucky that my work is good on flexible working and even better that my manager owns a dog

I am amazed on threads when people list how much they spend and it's so little compared to what I spend. I think I am just a soft touch

Ear-goop update: managed a good clear out, armed with a sprint around the garden and a pocket full of sprats. TropicHound strangely seemed to quite like ear de-gooping...no yeasty whiffs for now

Just caught up on the ears conversation. I brush and comb cocodog nightly to avoid matting and sniff down her ears a couple of times a week. She gives me very old fashioned looks 😬 My old lab suffered badly with her flappy ears and this time I want to be pre emptive. I bought some finger shaped ear cleaning wipes to run around the outside bits, was quite surprised to see what waxy bits came off and then very gently a quick dive into the ear canal once every few weeks. If you have a dog who swims regularly be particularly vigilant!

Throwing balls for dog in park. Man decides to stand in the line of fire (not just passing through, standing there waiting). Man then complains at great volume that my balls are going too close to him and his children. I was there first, kindly fuck off.

These self entitled fair weather park users are really going to piss me off in the summer aren't they? I don't remember seeing them there in the cold, dark and wet days, so don't complain when I use the park as I always do.

PestDog only came into my life at the very tail end of summer and it was winter before recall was sorted. I can see that I'm going to end up irritated when fair weather park users decide to come in on the nicest days only, barbecue sausages in contravention of park bylaws and then complain when the dog shows an interest because, well, he's a dog. No doubt these people will be there in such great number that it becomes impossible to walk him off lead and will complain bitterly that their dog bait has attracted dogs

Avocados I try and avoid parks, people and other dogs. Not because of BiteyDogs recall because actually it's pretty solid now except for the odd bird he might chase until they fly off, but for the fact that he gets bullied by other dogs and I find some owners don't care. Even then the other day someone actively sought me out despite me moving away to tell me throwing the ball repeatedly will harm his legs.

I drive past lots of little fields that no one uses for anything. They must be owned by farms but aren't used for any crops or grazing. I dream of renting them out so I have my own private playing area. If only it was easy to track who owns them I wound seriously make them an offer.

In inner London, I'm afraid our options for walking him anywhere that isn't a park are very limited, and naturally they're populated. Rural areas are a long and expensive train ride away, so impractical on a day-to-day basis - though it would be lovely if we did have the option.

His recall is pretty good unless there's a squirrel but I don't know many dogs who can be expected to resist a BBQ hot sausage at dog height.

I think I'm just unduly irritated by the mouthy father I met earlier (and I also sometimes find myself irritated at having to put up with badly behaved / noisy / messy children in public places where relatively well behaved PestDog simply isn't allowed).

Are you an early morning person? When BiteyDogs recall was pants I used to walk him at the weekend at first light. At least then you would miss most people

Can we come in? SquirrelDog is 18 months. Or he might be almost 3. He arrived last May, at which point he was 'between 1 and 2'. I usually revise his age downwards because he is an idiot because he probably had a non-ideal early life and as a result has some challenging behaviours.

He's currently standing on the living room windowsill with his head through the curtains, staring out the window. He's been there all evening. I can only assume that there's an ostrich out there. Or a unicorn. Or Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

Welcome Squirrel26, the more the merrier

At least it sounds like SquirrelDog is happy watching out the window. When BiteyDog does that it isn't long before we hear a low belly growl (apparently our garden is full of monsters ).

@Squirrels of course you can come in I'm another one with a guesstimated age, though it's probably fairly accurate if he was microchipped when he was meant to be as a puppy. Also with a non-ideal start in life (20 months, 5 owners...) and a couple of behaviours we're working on. You're in good company!

@Bitey Not in the slightest. If it was daylight, I'd happily be out walking at 10/11pm at night, but alas that's not really going to happen. I've never anticipated the clocks going forward as much as I have this year; it makes my life so much easier and means we can do daylight walkies.

BiteyShark he’s ever so happy. I am less happy with the mud on my curtains, frantic scrabbling at the window, the squeaking that sounds like I’m jabbing him with a pointy stick, and the barking

I also cannot bloody wait for the clocks to go forward! I’m so tired of only being out in daylight at the weekend!

SquirrelDog was lured over here by me eating chocolate (in his dreams...) so I captured him and now he’s asleep on my lap. God I love him when he’s sleeping

Hello!

I have GoldieDog 10 and GoldieDog 6 months. Young GoldieDog is starting to go deaf on the recall. He is already a very confident, stubborn little shit so I'm predicting an long teenage period!

Squirrel you forgot the nose smear print on the window . Mine likes to get tangled up in our blinds (thank god you can buy anything on eBay so I have meters of the cord which holds them together to replace the stuff he breaks).

Jamie you have my sympathies. I am still scarred from BiteyDogs teenage phase. Recall went to zero for many months. I spent a long time on the puppy thread needing wine

Dog snot on the windows, sunny day, elderly not keen on dogs mother coming for lunch< aaargh, cloth and bucket😂

Oh yes, windows covered in dog nose-prints. I clean them, he regards it as some kind of challenge...

Boo hoo! Why can’t cocodog learn to play ball nicely. Tried again yesterday, nothing too exciting just up and down the patio. She waits for me to throw, brings back mostly but after a few mins gets so over excited biting the ball frantically. I managed to end the game swopping the ball for her supper and thought that worked but straight afterwards she was whining and pacing looking at the last place she had seen me put it, took ages to settle in the evening. Her normal relaxed self this morning. Any ideas. Perhaps we should just stick to tuggy games and brain games?

Not sure what to suggest as mine will go crazy for a ball but at home I then say good boy and they go away and he gets a treat. He is usually knackered afterwards and a bit hyper but no more than he is when he has just done lots of exercise.

We do always use two balls though so he never guards one because he wants me to throw the other. I also refuse to throw the other until he drops it so I give a command to drop it if he doesn't automatically which he soon got the hang off. He therefore goes for his ball and instantly drops it waiting for the other to be thrown (I pick up first one before throwing second).

I know this sounds peculiar but I feel she has a love hate relationship with the ball, playing ball unsettles her whereas playing tug etc doesn’t. I stopped playing at the park because she was getting a bit aggressive to other dogs over her ball, now back to her friendly self. We have left balls well alone for weeks until yesterday when I thought I would try again taking it slowly in the garden and teaching her an end cue. I would like to use the ball as reward out on walks because she will ignore anything else but the ball but not if she can’t change her focus when ball play stops. Don’t know whether to continue trying or not.

I do think BiteyDog has calmed down when balls go away now. I think he used to be worse but now accepts ball is over until they come out again. If he knows I have a ball in my pocket on a walk he won't leave my side and runs in front of me expecting it to be thrown.

I love this thread because I miss Eric desperately when I don't have him here. He lives with exh but visits regularly and I have him when exh needs him looked after.
I'm still wrestling with getting a dog of my own but can't work out whether I miss having a dog or whether I just miss Eric.
Exh made me laugh anyway when he reported that Eric had got him up twice at night last week. He thought he needed to go out for a wee but in fact had got him up because he'd left the biscuit tin out and he wanted a biscuit. He trotted downstairs and when exh opened the door he refused and instead sat staring at the biscuit tin It seems Eric has a better memory than exh anyway because he didn't get him up when he'd remembered to put the tin away.

Bitey, I wouldn’t mind that but cocodog jumps up and worries at my pocket if she knows it’s there. Just back from a lovely walk though and very well behaved off and on lead😀
Fleshmarket, read a lot about Eric when I was lurking around the doghouse. He sounds a real character. My dog has a great memory for the whereabouts of squirrels🙄 and always puts paws up on the wall of a little orchard to see the three pigs who were being fattened up over the summer...they mysteriously vanished in the autumn 😬 and she is so sad when they are not there!

thegirlsallgrowedupnow It's a difficult one because being obsessed with balls is such a good thing for recall but not if it gives you other problems to solve. Also not playing with a ball may make any ball even more exciting if she comes across another dogs. Fortunately BiteyDog seems to know which is his ball and never picks up another dogs.

I know not playing a ball is an 'behavioural problem' as such but do you think asking a behaviourist how to introduce one in a manageable way might be worth it?

fleshmarketclose I bet it's a bit of both in that you miss Eric but then another dog would be different with his/her own personality to love.

Eric is the only dog I've ever owned or indeed had in my life so I think what I really want is Eric here full time. He is a big character and I'm forever wondering if another dog could fill his shoes. I was thinking of contacting his breeder and see if there were any litters planned in the hope of getting similar again, maybe that's daft. Or maybe I should just look for a poodle because that is my dream dog and Eric was exh's compromise.
He's been here all weekend so missing him more today IYSWIM

The problem is that even from the same litter the puppies will have different personalities so replicating Eric would not be possible. However, I think they all worm their way into your life no matter what so perhaps a clean slate and look for the breed you would have picked so Eric will always be Eric and new dog will be different.