General Dog Chat 4

[geekone]

Apologies I just noticed the thread was running out so I am going to repost.

Oh forgot to ask did anyone get a doggy advent calendar? Our dog walker got us one which is 'doggy fake chocolate'. Just waiting a bit to let his breakfast digest before he has day 2

Hi my dog has got a cold, he is lethargic, coughing only now and again and sounds like his nose is slightly blocked would it b ok to give him some child’s carpool, he is 16 months old

Gnivri I only give my dog human medicines if my vet has said they are safe as somethings are toxic to dogs and even if they aren't you need to know the right dose for your dog. Maybe if he's been unwell for sometime a vet check might be the best thing anyway in case it's not a simple cold.

@biteydog and others with anal gland issues, mine (8 months now) has needed them emptying regularly, which vet nurse is happy to do, so all good. But the last time, she suggested I add some all bran or weetabix to her food, to bulk out the stools which helps the glands empty as they should when Oscardog has a poo. Until a bout of the squits, that worked really well. I know from your posts that Biteydog has a sensitive tummy, but thought it might be worth a mention.

Thanks for the tip oscar. I might try a bit of weetabix but DH may be put out as that's his cereal

Hope you feel better soon Bitey. I do envy you not having to go for a walk every day. It was horrible here today - not snow but freezing rain which is so, so much worse... grim. But Ddog needs to get out because she doesn't have any interest in balls or indoor agility/training stuff and we just don't have the space for her to get enough exercise without a walk. Still, she makes me laugh as I just need to hold up the harness now and the tail is wagging and she actively rams her head through the hole and then patiently waits standing for me to clip her in - I was a bit cross with DH when he ordered this harness because she made such a drama about getting it on her (curling herself into the corner of the room and going into total dead weight + rigamortis when I tried to shift her to do up the clips when i'd eventually got her head in it)... and now a couple of months later it's all so different. And I got to treat myself with hot chocolate and cake after having to venture out into the ice/slush/mud/snow combo today so I couldn't be too annoyed...

I didn't realise dentastix were junk food DDog is still going to get one each night either way - she will not settle without it and it's very much part of our routine that DH takes her out for a final wee, she gets the dentastix whilst we brush our teeth and then it's lights out for 8 hours no matter what ideas she may dream up. So it could be the nutritional equivalent of a supersize family bucket of KFC and we're still not going to break that happy routine now it's established!

Steppe - does it get any cuter than that, dog warming your feet under table, no it does not

Biteydog, I'd managed to convince my grandson that weetabix is the only cereal for superheroes so we have now had to convince him that Oscardog is a superhero too.......would that work for Mr Bitey?!

distant don't like the sound of freezing rain brrrrrrrrr. So glad I don't have to go walking in that

BiteyDog also gets a dentastix as a treat but I have just learnt the right time to give it to him otherwise he is bouncing off the walls. It does nothing for his teeth as he swollows chunks of it rather than chews so we still have to brush his teeth. I am all for feeding good food especially with BiteyDogs stomach but I have my fair share of treats so more than happy for him to have some.

oscar I mentioned to DH about the weetabix and he looked sceptical. However, I know how much he likes to spoil BiteyDog so wouldn't surprise me to see him secretly sharing his breakfast with him

Yep SquirrelDog gets an indecent number of treats, but then so do I do it’s only fair!

Fgs when will BiteyDog give me a break. Looks like almost the whole of the top (hard black bit) has come off one of his nails with another section hanging off. Now I know why he looked like he was limping earlier.

Now my gut instinct is to take him to the vets where they can cut the nail right back but it's bloody embarrassing as we are in there ALL THE TIME. I can't bring myself to phone them. Maybe I should register him at another vets for minor things like this because I can't even pretend we don't go there often because all the vets and nurses know us 😭.

Right so the current plan of action is tonight get DH to stroke him when he is sleepy and I try and grind the nail down as much as possible to stop it catching. If that doesn't work maybe I could put a wig on and spray paint BiteyDog so the vets won't recognise us

Just as some people are more accident prone than others, I suppose it might be the same for dogs😬 if your vet offered loyalty points you could probably buy a second home soon. Hope the grinding works!
Cocodog and I have just had a battle of wills. We had our usual game off ball before her supper and it was properly dark when I ended it and came indoors. She usually sulks for about 5 mins outside and then trots in quite happily. 20 mins later still lying down in the middle of the garden in the dark, I had to call teatime over and over before she reluctantly came in. Little so and so🐶 She is now on the sofa with her back firmly turned on me.

Dont joke about the loyalty card. Vet said i was a bit of a 'frequent flyer' when I went last week .

Oooo maybe Cocodog has been chatting with BiteyDog. He runs away when DH tries to take the ball off him at the end of the night after his last garden play. I usually have to go out and be a bit stern and tell him BiteyDog not DH to get in the house. What is it about balls?

Cocodog gets so excited and fixated on a tennis ball that we only ever play before supper, it is her treat for 5 or 10 minutes only. If we did more than that her adrenaline levels would be permanently sky high. We can kick a football a few times for her during the day and then she will happily leave it and do something else but that has taken a lot of time to achieve. Not sure that would ever happen with a small ball though🙄

Bitey, from the sounds of it your instincts were right when BiteyDog was little, and he needed his frequent flyer card. And if we didn't go to the vets, they'd have no customers..... It isn't that you go unnecessarily, after all.

The groomer I go to does claws.....is that an option if you can't face the vet?

oscar his groomer does nails but whenever I have asked her she never seems to cut enough off as they still seem to clip the floor when he stands. I wonder if it's because he struggles so much as he doesn't like the groomers anymore after all his vet visits 😭.

I managed to grind the offending nail down a reasonable amount last night before he got really peeved and got up and walked off. I think I am going to have another go tonight and then start tackling his other nails. I wish they were pink instead of black then it would be much easier to see how far back I can go. I remember the vet cutting the one he fractured previously and he managed to get it really short and didn't cut the quick so I am hoping I can keep grinding a small bit every night until we get over the broken part.

We do ironically go back to the vets just before Christmas for his vaccination boosters hence not really wanting another visit inbetween

I wish mine was a bit more obsessed with balls...they aren’t furry enough for him. He prefers his repulsive rabbit skin toy. Or, you know, a real live rabbit.

Think of it as a lovely Christmas bonus for the vet, Bitey!

I bought BiteyDog a hunting dummy which was covered with rabbit skin. He just proceeded to rip the fur off it so it ended up in the bin

I sacrificed a rabbit skin toy to keep him quiet in the pub once.

He only gets the current one under VERY close supervision.

I am so glad dogs can't catch human colds as he is still the only well one in the household. BiteyDog is certainly far superior than any medicine for making me feel better but he did huff a lot last night every time I had a coughing fit

Huffing disapprovingly seems to be what our dogs do best😬
After two offlead walks despite the rain, a Kong at lunchtime and ball play before supper, Cocodog was so tired she stayed asleep during lighting of the woodburner(she normally helps) and totally missed DH preparing liver and mash for our supper. One very disapproving dog sitting in the corner of the kitchen waiting for the dishwasher to open. More disappointment when we had licked our plates clean😃

I often call BiteyDog GrumpyDog because he huffs so much

Awww poor Cocodog, she probably is very jealous of the dishwasher getting all the dirty plates

Well Bella has definitely got the measure of the advent calendar now we get the excited grumbling the minute it appears. Bought her one with meaty treats in as wasn't sure she had ever had doggy chocolate before. It's her birthday soon so she is having the birthday experience that Eric gets hopefully she will enjoy it, she will like the food even if the cake, candles and singing falls a bit flat.
Dd1 says she has an entitled way about her now she has settled in, I like to think it's more she is happy with her lot though. I went out the other night left her happy and settled came back a couple of hours later and found her in bed with ds who decided that she looked lonely and needed some company She is completely spoiled tbh.

flesh glad Bella is loving the calendar. BiteyDog was a bit wary of the doggy chocolate at first but now runs off and eats his prize out of sight incase we steal it

How old will she be on her birthday?

Very tired today after Ddog decided to wake us up at 2am with some jumping up at the baby gate across our bedroom door. This is extremely unusual behaviour so we assumed she must need the loo or something. It is - indisputably - DH's responsibility to take her out in such a scenario so I got up to go to the loo myself with the intention of settling back to sleep and leaving them to it. One minute later I emerge from the bathroom to find them both already snoring away... whilst I then can't get back to sleep for over 3 hours and have a 9am meeting!

Despite my tiredness as a result of her naughtiness, took her for a very long walk today and plan is to do the same tomorrow and the day after, as we are expecting big snowstorms throughout the weekend, which she will love to run about in but will make anything over a 20-30 minute walk impossible.

I'm so amazed when I read your stories of dogs so tired they miss you eating your dinner, or picky enough to turn their noses up at food in their bowl. We have always had some form of border collie and/or lab cross and all our dogs have always been so greedy I literally cannot imagine a scenario in which the mere noise of the fridge door opening - let alone the slight rustle of a crisp packet - would be allowed to pass by, even if they were out for the count in their bed after a full dinner!

Distant, we used to have a lab who never missed the rustle of anything. Cocodog is not a picky eater but we deliberately never gave her any scraps whilst preparing food or eating it and she never begs. However, because she is so good we have lapsed a bit and she will now hang around the kitchen if we are preparing meat or fish. Given we eat vegetarian at least three times a week this hadn’t become a habit for her, a bowl of crisps on a low table however is fair game😁
We have had a busy day today and she has had constant company so maybe that was why she missed the aroma of liver.