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.

[MaxatAgincourt]

I love reading about everyone's dogs. They all sound fantastic.

[DorynownotFloundering]

Re the clicker, I can see the principle but I'm so bloody unco-ordinated that I forget which to do first & I'm fumbling with leads, treats etc
I don't have much time just to do training so have to incorporate it into walks & every day life. But early days he's still settling in only got him in mid Nov so we're getting to know each other.

[DorynownotFloundering]

Oh & I forgot to mention I've found a couple of good online training workshops that show you games to play with your dog that tires their busy brain & gets them to focus on you so training is easier. They can be a bit excitable & over enthusiastic these trainers but I cherry pick the ones that will work for us!

[Soubriquet]

Can't believe my madam will soon be 1 (beginning of march)

How much has she changed?!

[Wolfiefan]

Soubriquet she's looking lovely.
Dory I couldn't cope with clicker, treat and bloody huge puppy. I use a word to mark the behaviour instead. So say yes instead.

[DorynownotFloundering]

Wolfie glad it's not just me!

[SleightOfMind]

Can I join in?
We lost our two older dogs just before Xmas 2016. It all happened very suddenly and we were reeling.
We now have 2 young lunatic hounds who are keeping us all on our toes!

Anyone else’s dogs being driven mad by foxes at this time of year?

Ours go clattering downstairs, woofing their heads off about 3 times a night at the moment!
Very wearing.

[BiteyShark]

Welcome Sleight. Fortunately BiteyDog doesn't seem to be bothered by foxes at night but I always see one keeping his distance on our very early morning walk (before dawn) which BiteyDog obviously can smell which sends him into a spin. I have to keep my guard up with the torch making sure we avoid any of the poo as he will start smearing his face on it if I am too slow which is not something I want to be dealing with at that time in the morning .

Soubriquet time has flown quickly by. She's looking good

[rightsaidfrederickII]

Idiot question that doesn't merit its own thread - DFather went to the butcher and unexpectedly came back with some raw pork ribs for PestDog. He's normally fed kibble, and was given his first ever raw meaty bone while I was out. Apparently he ate it entirely in "about 3 minutes", but wasn't watched closely so no idea how big the bits were.

Is that a normal / safe sort of speed? If not is there anything I need to monitor him for? The ribs were about 6-8" long and PestDog is a young adult JRT cross with no sense of self preservation.

[thegirlsallgrowedupnow]

Rightsaid, I experimented with raw feeding a while back and one of the reasons I gave up was the sheer speed at which she ate it....not enough chewing. But I think ribs and chicken wings are softer. It is not recommended by many raw feeding folk you read about on here to mix raw with kibble because of the different ways they digest them but as an isolated incident I’m sure all will be fine. I occasionally get raw marrowbones from our butcher which I freeze and then defrost one as a treat for cocodog . This will keep her busy chewing for over an hour, cleans her teeth and then provides her with endless fun over the next few days moving it about the garden hiding it and checking on it until I deem it too manky and bin it.

[steppemum]

wrt the pulling on a lead. Steppedog was nightmare when we got him, and you could only really walk him with a halti round his muzzle which he hated.
I watched loads of youtube videos and and then decided to lead train him.

It is really time consuming, and I did it in 2 stages. On the pavemnet on the way to the park with a short lead. (took us 30 minutes to do the 5 minute walk to the park) then I put him on the long lead and halti at the park, then did the short lead and training on the way home. At that point we weren't letting him off the lead.

so, every time he pulls, you stop, and only contiue once he has relaxed the tension on the lead. Then give a 'good boy' and whatever word command you want to use (heel, walk, with me)
Another way is to stop and then slowly start to walk backwards until he turns to look at you and takes the tension off the lead.
I don't use treats for this as this is the one time when he isn't interested in food/treats

Look up loose lease training. I am not looking to get him to walk to heel (not realistic for a spaniel) I am looking to get him to walk on a soft/loose lease

It took 5 weeks before I coudl say we had cracked it. Now, he is pretty good, unless he spots a squirrel/cat/bird within reach!

[rightsaidfrederickII]

@thegirlsallgrowedupnow Thanks - I'm aware that raw food tends to be a bit of a purist thing but we're visiting DFather and I haven't got the heart to tell him to bin the bag of bones (and a pork knuckle and some trotters!) he very kindly bought and I don't have the freedom to switch PestDog to raw properly because he belongs to DFriend who buys the kibble and opts for the cheapest stuff he can find which I then quietly supplement (I'm just the 22/7 dog sitter, walker and trainer )

I'll keep an eye on his poo but if it looks alright I don't think it will do any harm to have it as a treat for the few days of our visit?

@steppemum I've used the same stop start method. He was starting to cause me back pain and was thoroughly in the habit of it. The stop start method has worked well for us, but it does need to be reinforced daily - the second the front door is opened he will pull, and has to be reminded of the rules! He does also pull when he sees a cat / dog / fox / squirrel etc etc but that's more of an instinct thing than anything else

[bluetongue]

I too used the stop / start method although slightly different. The technique I was taught was to change direction or do a u turn every time they pull. We spent ages not going very far on our walks but one day it just seemed to click and most of the time he walks on a loose lead. You’d be amazed how strong a 13 kilo whippet can be!

This might be a uniquely whippet problem. My boy is only small but has no idea he’s not a big dog. His play style is better matched with dogs like Weimaraners, villas, staffies and even dobermans. I do let him play with biggerdogs but sometimes they wind each other up too much and I have to call time out. If I let him play with small dogs he’s just too boisterous unless they’re very feisty. He certainly keeps me on my toes

[DeepfriedPizza]

bitey PizzaPup is very strong and tall when she wants to be.

We had foxes howling from 4am this morning and she never batted an eyelid.

[BiteyShark]

Oh dear Deepfried, a new super reinforced bin required

[snowy1982]

Snowydogs tend to leave the bins alone, although I have caught snowydog2 have a sneaky wee lick of the bin lid before

[PerfectlyChaotic]

Bluetongue she can come and play with my crazy girl anytime! She’s a medium height, but fine build. She’s absolutely sure that she’s one of the big girls/boys 😂

[PerfectlyChaotic]

*HE!! So sorry 😳

[DeepfriedPizza]

I had a loaf of bread on the worktop in the kitchen. I'd pushed it right to the back. She bloody ate it 😫 it was a brand new £2.50!! Loaf.

[snowy1982]

snowydog1 is a big time food thief, if stuff is pushed as far back as it can go he can’t get at it (we have very deep worktops) but DH never pushes stuff back and then gets all annoyed and indignant when snowydog1 nabs his food, seriously what does he expect doggo to do? I would be a tad disappointed in him if he didn’t steal it

[averylongtimeago]

The stop start thing with loose lead walking has always worked with my Goldies.

My lovely oldie Goldie was pts just after Christmas, and younger Goldie (4) is still very quiet and cuddly, although DH did get a welcome when he got home last night.

[allfurcoatnoknickers]

It’s -4 where I am today, and BoyDog went on strike this morning. We went outside and he just refused to walk and kept trying to go home.

He hates the cold, but now I’m stuck with an under-exercised Jack Russell bouncing off the walls.

[rightsaidfrederickII]

We solved the bin thing (tipping over then rummaging) by putting a dumbbell weight in the bottom so PestDog physically can't tip it

[BiteyShark]

Now I don't want to go back to using a crate as we were happy to put the crate away after BiteyDog turned 1 but I do wish there was an easier way to stop him from clip clopping (we have hard floors and no matter how short his claws are he makes a noise) around the bedroom during the night . How I wish for an unbroken nights sleep again. If he didn't have such a cute face I think he would have been booted out of the room months ago

[Mustang27]

Bitey ikea do cheap long runner rugs that you could throw down to give a bit of padding to those claws. Wood flooring and dogs is a noisy business.

Right that's a great idea.

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE WEAK OF STOMACH !!

Neither of mine were particularly bothered by the bin but my girl used to eat everything and anything on a walk, we had an issue where she found human diarrhoea, that was grim and another time a used tampon. Lived In a city for awhile so that stuff at the side of roads is pretty common on a Sunday morning . I won't miss sitting sobbing and gagging brushing out her mouth whilst wondering if bleaching the dog and myself was really that unacceptable.