General Dog Chat Part II

[BiteyShark]

A place for nattering about our canine friends.

Old or new, feel free to come and chat any time

Do your dogs sleep in cages? Indy has slept happily in his since we've had him but surely now he seems to protest so am thinking of just having his bed out. He behaves fine when we we are out for a bit and he's in the lounge so I assume he'll be the same at night.

Around the age of 1 mine started to 'avoid' going in his crate. He would go but very reluctantly so we decided as he wasn't destructive to remove it. He either sleeps on the kitchen sofa or on his bed in our bedroom.

We stopped shutting the door to his crate at night when teatimetoller was about 8 months. He had a bed in his crate and another bed on the other side of the kitchen but preferred to sleep in his crate. When he was about 1, Dh couldn’t stand having the enormous crate in the kitchen any more so dismantled it. Teatimetoller was fine as the transition had been fairly slow. If the crate had been smaller I’d have been happy to leave it there as he liked it but it was truly enormous - it was a hand me down and could easily have fitted an adult Great Dane. By the time we stopped shutting the door at night, he’d been sleeping through for months and he’d never been a chewer anyway. It’ll be interesting (possibly not the right word!) to see if new puppy follows in his footsteps...

Poor Bluepuppy has the cone of shame on tonight

Got a phone call from daycare today to tell me he had injured himself. In one of his mad runs he’s somehow managed to get a tear in his side. It didn’t look that bad when I picked him up but it was quickly evident it really was a proper wound.

Luckily I’d already booked a vet appointment before I picked him up from daycare. The vet gave me the choice between a local anaesthetic and staples or a general and stitches. I had just assumed that dogs could be stitched with a local but apparently not. I hate having to choose!

I was reluctant to put him under if it wasn’t absolutely necessary so went with the staple option. The vet told me afterwards that he was perfectly behaved and didn’t make a sound. What a brave pup

Now to keep him quiet and not exercise him apart from gentle walks for the next 10-14 days. Wish me luck!

Oh no poor bluepuppy . Good luck on the enforced rest

SquirrelDog is exactly the same, teatime. Only he whines as he does it. I can’t STAND the whining, it makes me stressed because I think he’s unhappy (and the whole point of giving him the stupid chew in the first place was a) to make him happy and b) to keep him occupied to make me happy!)

I gave up giving Bluepuppy pig ears because he didn’t chew them, he just buried them Then at a later date he would dig them up and carry them through the house whining.

Madam bit Dh yesterday

She's getting worse.

She flew across the room the other week to growl at my Ds who was doing nothing at the time except play with his toys.

She sits and shakes in the corner of the sofa and growls every time Dh goes near me. She will fly over on to my lap to growl in his face.

She's started to do it to my children now too. She will be doing something, but the minute they come to me, she will fly across, leap on my lap and growl at my kids.

If I go to push her off, she will actually nip me.

I'm at a loss now

Soubriquet indy is like this too at the moment. Its frustrating as never knowingly encouraged the nippingbor biting. He nipped me hard yesterday before I went to work. I'm hoping it's the heat as he seems better in the cool.

Soubriquet have you been to your vet to get a recommendation for a behaviourist (after a check up in case there is a medical issue)? I honestly wouldn't battle with her on your own as you need some outside help.

Vet is next on the list.

She's been getting worse over the last couple of nonths so it's not the heat.

I'm worried about rehoming her, as due to her issues she could potentially be bounced from house to house.

I'm also worried about putting her in a rescue as I believe she would just give up on life.

Might even become aggressive.

However if the vet can't help, and a behaviourist can't help, I am going to have to think of my kids and rehome.

She has already bitten my dd on her face once. Luckily it didn't break skin but it's getting dangerous

I would get a vet appointment ASAP as it could be something easily sorted with a behaviourist but if not then at least you have all the information to hand. I really wouldn't battle with something like that on my own and as you have said it's been going on for some time.

Yes, it's gonna be Vets asap as it's getting worryingly dangerous for both her and us

Oh no. That sounds really odd behaviour. Have you spoken to the breeder? I would avoid lap cuddles. If she gets on throw a treat to get her off? Room divider would keep her away from kids.
Be aware that behaviourists aren't regulated. Dog Training Advice and Support on FB are a good place to ask for decent ones in your area.
Also worth a vet check too.

Just been on the dog food comparison site and found I can get a more 'meat content' dog food for cheaper than what I'm buying now. I've ordered samples hopefully wheelybuggerlugs1 and 2, will eat it

Hope everyone and their 4 legged friends are alright! I'll catch up with the thread shortly🐶🐶

Yes it's a good site to compare brands etc. I have just ordered some different types of wet food for BiteyDog as I think he's getting bored of one of his current flavours spoilt dog turning his nose up at 70% salmon

Honestly, Soubriquet, I would find a good behaviourist - I’ve had so much help from the ones SquirrelDog and I go to he now only behaves like a knob maybe 20% of the time

I sympathise Soubriquet - Radiodog is aggressive and has bitten somebody on the doorstep badly enough to make him bleed. She has also flattened a child by tackling him to the ground (she is only 12 inches tall and weighs 6kg), thank goodness she had a muzzle on but even so. We manage her very very carefully, we have a door system to separate her from visitors and anybody she doesn't already know. Introductions to new people are carefully controlled with limited exposure.

Her problem is largely about pain and fear, but we have utilised the services of 6 behaviourists in her lifetime - the last was a vet behaviourist at Bristol University, who essentially wrote her off as a lost cause. So we'll just love her quietly behind closed doors and keep up the pain meds until it's her time, that's all we can do really - she's old and tetchy so we keep her world very, very, very small and simple and she's ok with that.

I wonder if your dog has a pain issue? I hope you get to the bottom of it, could be as simple as a sore tooth, back pain, etc.

I hope someone can help. She's only a year old and she doesn't deserve to put to down for this (something else we have had to horribly consider)

That reads as though she has no quality of life. Of course she does, she's bouncy, alert and happy (recently had blood results which show her to be in good health) - just as long as her back pain is muted, and she doesn't have to face strange people, strange dogs, strange situations, and isn't touched by anyone other than her circle of 6 trusted people!

Hard to consider, but realistic - if she has a bite history rehoming will be difficult.

If it wasn't previously in her nature something has changed. I think you're doing the right thing - full vet check to rule out pain or hormone issues first, then take it from there.

We don't have young children so we don't have that worry, but naturally the dynamic is very different when you do. You can only do what's best for your family.

Our trainer says that lots of things can’t be fixed, but most things can be managed - eg she was talking about a dog that likes to cuddle on the sofa with its owner but will bite without warning if it sees a movement it perceives as threatening (like owner reaching for the remote). But owner doesn’t want to stop the cuddles on the sofa. So the solution would be, teach dog ‘off’ command, sit with dog on sofa, ask dog to get off sofa before making any ‘scary’ movements, change channel, allow dog back on sofa.

I really admire people with the patience to have dogs that need that level of management to keep them happy.

It's very difficult. If I had no children, then it would be so much easier to control. My kids are 3 and 5 and the 3 year old has suspected autism so is even more unpredictable

But now I've got got an unpredictable dog around unpredictable children.

It's like pushing water uphill with a rake

Soubriquet I think until vet has checked there isn't an underlying issue and you have had a behaviourist see her in RL I wouldn't be thinking pts.

It's hard because you are right on top of it living it everyday but having professionals take a look can make things seem a lot clearer.

Why don't you make that call to the vets now if you haven't already done so to start the ball rolling.

We are just back from a walk in the forest where I did lots of hiding balls and getting him to 'find them'. I think it must have been too exciting for him as he had the zoomies around the house and garden for 10 mins when we returned. Maybe a less exciting walk next time