General Dog Chat Part III

[BiteyShark]

A new shiny thread for general chat.

Old or new, big or small, everyone is welcome to pop in and chat

I would love to have a go at scentwork with BiteyDog. I am tempted to try and see if I can find a 1-1 trainer to have a go.

Bloody rain. BastardPup has piddled on another rug today because he is a big soft get and hates getting wet.

Although I sneaked out this morning without seeing him as I had an early train, and the welcome I got when I got home at half six was amazing!

I think Cocodog and I would get on better as a team with scentwork than we do with agility, where she is potentially an athlete and I am running in the parents sports day sack race😂

Awww I love the welcome home BunchOfBastards although he saves the big dramatic ones for DH .

thegirl I know what you mean, BiteyDog was uncharacteristically brilliant this week despite me getting things wrong . I do wonder if his brilliance this week was linked to the fact that snappy dog wasn't there, maybe it does affect him more than it shows. I certainly can't take credit for it as he just did the course even though I directed him badly

I have found someone who advertises scentwork but it is at the max distance I would be prepared to travel along shit roads so will have to think about how practical that would be.

BiteyDog is at his backup daycare again today. He was a bit trembly again waiting outside so clearly still nervous . Really hoping these odd days make the difference.

God I miss him when he isn't in the house. It's far too quiet. Can't wait to pick him up at 5.

I have a very very tired dog who was so tired he even let DH brush his teeth tonight with no resistance at all

Scent work classes are good fun, puppy took to them really well and now we practice all over the house and garden. Only problem is that there isn't many trials up our way and when they have them they book up very quickly. Definitely plan on doing agility with him next year once fully grown, puppy is definitely not a lazy puppy, which suits us as we are hill walkers, runners and mountain bikers, but he's still too young for all that, so that's why we did scent work.

What cameras do you all use? I miss our dog when im at work (briefly)!

Newyoiker I have an ieGeek camera which I got from amazon. Not a lot of money but works well as I can follow him around the room.

ADHDpuppy you might want to investigate agility classes before he is fully grown as at ours they tend to teach the techniques for the younger ones so no jumping but get them used to equipment, contacts and commands.

BiteyDog has a very poorly tummy this morning. Not sure if it was the stress of yesterday or just something he might have eaten at daycare

Fgs I need to stop reading threads on the Doghouse. The one about beds has just cost me £70 for a new bed being delivered tomorrow by amazon because I have suddenly decided BiteyDog might like to try a memory foam one 😬

Internet shopping is addictive

@BiteyShark haha! Me too! Although I just bought ours an off cut of memory foam from amazon for £11 they use it to make toppers etc. It's about 4 inches thick and I put Vet Bed on it :) he prefers that to anything else!

I was thinking about getting the foam and making a cover but my sewing machine is bust .

I really really hope he likes it as I already have one expensive bed in the loft that he hated

Haha I've bought SquirrelDog yet another crate (crate number 3. Or 6 if we're counting the ones I borrowed to try out). I have decided that this time he will learn to love it...

I bloody love watching him searching in scentwork when he's 'on it'. I can't believe how clever he is. When he's not on it, and is refusing to work, it makes me want to poke myself in the eye with a pointy stick.

I am so pleased it isn't just me that spends a fortune on stuff for the dog

Damn it, we actually started with diarrhoea earlier in the week and it has gotten worse but still in the 'must have been something he had eaten' thinking. Well it's all kicked off this evening and I have a horrible feeling we are actually having an IBD episode now. Obviously can't do anything now anyway until Monday but think I am going to have to book an urgent appointment to recommence steroids again to get it back under control .

@BiteyShark that's so rubbish

NewDog has regular diarrhoea and they give him this weird black paste to sort it out. Do the steroids help?

Steroids are brilliant at protecting his stomach lining which is being attacked by his own white blood cells. Everytime he has had injections in the past he gets better. We did do a high dosage course of steroids in tablet form but the side effects caused him to be excessively hungry and have behavioural issues so unbeknown to us he ate a rag and had to have emergency surgery to remove it 😭. So my plan is to ask for a couple of injections to calm it back down or go for a low dosage this time of tablets (which may take longer to control the symptoms) to minimise any rag eating episodes.

BiteyDog.

Just ordered SquirrelDog new top and front bits for his harness. Have gone for a different colour. Ridiculously pleased about this.

Squirrel is this new bits for a perfect fit harness?. I think shopping for BiteyDog is way more exciting than shopping for myself .

Poor BiteyDog has just been put in the bath and had his bottom shampooed as he managed to get (tmi) diarrhoea all over himself

I love the idea of a two tone perfect fit harness!

I am having difficulties here finding appropriate winter coat for a small, fluffy dog of 7kgs who just cannot abide the fleece we bought (yet she happily let the shop lady put it over her head? Twice!)

I wrongly assumed there would be a mid cut out for harness loops, but now figuring the harness needs to go on top of the coat? If I have this fundamentally wrong, any advice/recommendations would be most welcome!

ealingwestmum I have seen coats with a section that opens for harnesses but not all of them have them. I wonder if those that don't assume people just use collars with them.

@Ealing I know Dorset Dog Togs do made to measure coats with a hole for a Perfect Fit harness in them.

I've got one of their raincoats for DDog, though it hasn't had any use yet so can't recommend it fully. Quite thin so I'm planning on using it in conjunction with an equafleece on extra cold and rainy days, but the reason why I mention them is that they're all handmade, so they could probably offer a version that means DDog doesn't have to put her head through a hole.

@Ealing, Doggie Coats UK do a step in, zip along the back raincoat. Again quite thin. I put Cocodogs perfect fit harness on top to keep it firmly in place. She doesn’t seem to feel the cold so I only use it when it is lashing down rain and I want to keep her back and chest dry.

Sorry biteydog is unwell again, you have had a good run for a while now without any episodes I think? 💐

Thank you all, that’s really helpful!