General Dog Chat 5

[BiteyShark]

A thread for general chit chat about our wonderful but sometimes pain in the arse dogs.

New or old, feel free to join. Everyone's welcome.

Well done PestDog. Hope you are charging for his pest control abilities .

BiteyDog is loving the bank holiday. Outside with DH playing ball with him and we have a piece of chicken on the side to go on the BBQ later. He is very spoilt

Lucky Bitey dog

Bluepuppy is fine. No more limping so must have just been a minor injury. They do love to worry us.

Summer never seems to end here so I’m restricted to when I can walk him at the moment. It’s going to be 34 degrees here tomorrow!

He only goes to daycare every couple of weeks now and my parents only come over to see him if they want to. I’m so glad I persevered with him as a puppy. He really is such a lovely dog and if I hadn’t been able to keep I think it’s likely I never would had another dog again

That's so good to hear blue that he's not limping.

I have noticed BiteyDog has slowed a bit from his younger days. Once they get to adulthood it's a sigh of relief . Really pleased for you both that his early anxious days are behind you.

It's lovely here but your summers are far too hot for me. BiteyDog's bbq chicken never touched the sides as he gobbled it down so quickly.

The summers are far too hot for me as well. Think somewhere like Scotland would suit me much better

Glad to hear Bluepup is on the mend

I may change my dog's MN name to PestControlDog No bbq chicken for him - now the behaviourist has helped us crack the issue of not letting visitors into the house I'm interviewing lodgers, who should provide a rather necessary cash boost. Thankfully, he hasn't tried to eat any of them so far, nor the landlord when she inspected

PestDog would love 34 degree weather. He considers calling the RSPCA cruelty hotline whenever it dips below about 15 degrees, and never seems to suffer in the heat.

With the nice weather I'm pleased to say that he's managed to ignore approximately eleventy billion picnics, though a BBQ was clearly a test of his self control ("we've got a spare burger if he'd like it" 😬).

We only had one incident of picnic theft last year before I wised up, so I'm aiming for none this year. It's not easy, however, when the park is full of dog starved 20-somethings who want to stroke PestDog (he's not even slightly interested in cuddles from strangers) but don't want his nose in their picnic (the only reason he'd bother to approach them).

On a side note, does anyone else find that their dog is completely unable to follow a pointing arm? If I point at something I know he'll be interested in (eg friendly looking off lead dog, or a grey squirrel) he usually runs off at a 90 degree angle to wherever I'm pointing

I have no idea what BiteyDog would do if there were picnics about. He does generally think food on the floor is his but all other food is ours so I suspect he would be in cohorts with PestDog

Many years ago in my student days I used to live in shared houses. I would have loved it if I had lodged in a house with a dog. Hope you find a dog loving lodger.

BiteyDog does follow arm pointing in a general direction so left or right but that's only because we use it when he's hunting his ball in the forest and he can't find it.

Last night was a bit of a disaster. We bought a portable air conditioning unit given last years unbearable weather. Put it on for the first time last night and it gave off a funny smell (presuming because new).

BiteyDog was really upset and would not settle and actually climbed into the shower in the en suite I think to try and get away from the smell. We hadn't linked his behaviour to that at the time and though he was ill (as he likes the shower floor when ill). Took him into the spare room instead and he just happily fell asleep.

Going to have to put it on again today and hope the smell is something that disappears after a couple of uses.

I first met PestDog because I was looking for a flatshare and found one that had a dog - a great excuse for occasional cuddles and fair weather walkies I thought. We all know how that story ended

Hoping to avoid a repeat of the last lodger who thought PestDog would be a therapy dog (literally the last thing he is), and tried to kill himself a week after moving in while I was on a business trip and PestDog was elsewhere. I had a few months off lodgers after that one...

When I bought my first house I needed lodgers to help with the bills. I had my fair share of 'odd' ones but fortunately never as bad as yours.

BiteyDog is in the groomers so I am having a 30 mins to myself with a nice cup of hot chocolate from McDonald's.

Ha, that wasn't the half of it. He drank every drop of alcohol in the house (none of it was his) and didn't even apologise, and eventually ended up not coming out of his room if I was in the communal areas. It was like living with a poltergeist with unknown, possibly malevolent intentions. Even PestDog frequently growled at him. It turned out that neither parent would house him, and I never met the girlfriend as she considered pet ownership to be abuse.

If you ignore the weed smoking sex pest from university halls, all my previous housemates have been relatively normal...

Unlike BiteyDog, I don't think I could take PestDog back to the same groomers twice...

Your post reminded me he was due for a bath, so I had a shower and invited him in. Thankfully he quite enjoys a hot shower, and at least this way he can't get me any wetter than I already am

at PestDog in the shower

BiteyDog comes home wet because the scary hairdryer reminds him of the vets. He then proceeds to dry himself on all the rugs whilst growling .

I’ve just finished reading almost all the puppy survival threads and hoped I could join here. I just got muppetpup 2 weeks ago when he was 10 weeks old - he’s a blue whippet and I’m up and down like a rollercoaster!

I lost my 7 year old lurcher back in January and had a huge pointy hound shaped hole in our family. I had him at age 1 from rescue where he’d been returned as a bit of a handful but he was so easy to train and I took him to work with me and he was just the easiest dog. He collapsed and died v suddenly and while muppetpup is gorgeous he keeps triggering me to huge floods of tears as things happen which remind me of how amazing he was.

I know things will get better with muppetpup and I am loving him lots already and
loving puppy snuggles and seeing him learn but I’d definitely not realised how intensive this phase would be. I thought I’d get things done while he slept but he wakes if I move and ends up an overtired whiny mess. I know this phase passes and am focussing on the positives like him and my cat are super cute together playing and snuggling and mooching together. My cat hasn’t left us alone! He sleeps on top of his crate at night which is on my bed. I only put him in the crate as otherwise muppetcat thought it was playtime at 5.30am when I was trying to get muppetpup back to sleep.

I go back to work next week and my mum will be here to look after him in the day but there’s an hour before she arrives and I’m not as far with crate training as I’d like for then. I tried leaving him with free reign of the kitchen but he can open the door! Something my previous dog couldn’t do

I pretty much have house training cracked but mainly because I watch him and am tuned into him and an worried my mum will be pants on that front.

We’ve been out lots of places and he’s met my previous dog’s morning well behaved older dog walking friends who were good at teaching him some doggy manners. He’s learning recall and is good at looking at me and checking in with me.

I’m just so anxious and feel I’m failing as I find it hard to wash my hair and have a shower and to eat

Sorry for pouring it all out. I’ve been reading all the puppy survival threads and feeling less alone. It’s so stupid because I know this all passes but also am worried he’ll never be the calm sensible dog I can take to work. If I can’t I’ll just arrange daycare for the day my mum can’t be here. I’ve got two teenage daughters and remember feeling all this irrational craziness when they were babies too.

Lots of to all the Mumsnet puppy survival veterans - thank you

Welcome merretMuppet. Gosh I can still remember the puppy phase and it was so bloody hard.

So sorry to hear of your old dog passing away. They really do worm their way into your heart so understandable that the reminders still hurt .

It was months after we got BiteyDog that I was able to take a bath as they are so needy at first. Just remind yourself that it will get better. I can sometimes even pee on my own now

If muppetDog can open doors could you use a baby gate to stop that? Even at BiteyDogs age we have a couple of baby gates to ensure we can keep him safe in certain rooms when we need to.

Welcome Muppet to the thread I think I'd like to do the puppy stage once, but I'm not sure I'd make the same mistake twice!

I'm currently trying to navigate this real life temptation alley off lead. So far so good, though I did hear a picnicking cosplayer declare loudly that she'd give her life for PestDog

I’ve found your journey with Biteydog really encouraging BiteyShark - they are all ongoing projects! I’m only realising now how amazing my old dog was on so many things as was always focussed on what there was still to work on (he could be reactive on lead to certain dogs) - my favourite was how he knew the mornings I washed my hair it was pointless getting off the bed until I’d put away the hair dryer. I think he could tell by the towel on my head!

On the bad side my house is a mess but on the positive, my garden is looking much neater as I’m spending so much time outside. Also managed to go to a cafe and then an off lead walk in woodland as he’s sticking like glue while he’s tiny. Now he’s crunching on an ice cube in the garden while muppetcat is mooching and chasing flies. Will try to remember this if he wakes me up at 12pm, 2am and 5am

The stair gates are definitely on my purchase list. My amazon bill is through the roof!

I’m impressed your dog can manage those temptations off lead avocados - that’s amazing. How old is PestDog now?

Probably 2y10m but training didn't start until he was 14/15 months.

It mainly helps that he
a) has no interest in approaching strangers (not something I taught)
b) has a very strong sense of what's his and what isn't (not something I actively taught)
c) knows he'll get a treat if he comes back when called - a bird in the hand and all that
d) he's food motivated but not greedy, and will leave food in his bpwl

Having learned to swim in a pond last year, and finding himself swimming in a river this year, PestDog is rather confused by currents and how he goes at no speed in one direction and double speed in the other

BiteyDog loves having a paddle and a swim in a deep stream at the end of a walk. I once made the mistake of holding onto the lead thinking he would have a quick drink but he launched himself in and nearly dragged me along .

Haven't we put you off the puppy months yet Avocados

merrel I often have to remind myself of the good things with BiteyDog because it's natural to focus on the bits that you are trying to change.

My amazon bill is still through the roof as I can't help buying stuff for him and it doesn't help when you see people recommending things on the threads and I think oooooh that looks good

I was going to rescue an older dog again Avocados but I too thought I'd like to experience having a puppy at least once and this seemed the perfect time with older teenagers and someone at home almost all the time and I'm not too ancient to struggle with the broken sleep. I also thought given how well training our rescue had gone that I'd be able to cope with training a puppy. I read up loads before-hand and was anxious even then thinking 'what am I doing?' I'm still glad I got him and I can see glimpses every day of the dog he'll become. Right now I'm thinking I'll never do it again though! - definitely an older rescue next time... but maybe I'll forget these days in the future and jump straight in again...

I suspect the puppy months are a bit like childbirth - you forget the pain and decide to do it all over again despite everything! Either way it's one of those mistakes I think you have to make yourself.

Mind you, given my past record with acquiring animals I'll go looking for a papillon puppy (my dream breed) and come back with an elderly staffy with mange and cataracts

That sounds like the time I went to the cat shelter Avocados to look for a young cat probably around 1-2 years and felt so sorry for this elderly cat so friendly and full of character and nobody was taking any notice of him. I then found out he came with another elderly cat who was hidden away from everyone as so fearful in the rescue shelter so guess who went home with two elderly cats that evening! (although they were at least minus the mange and cataracts)

A puppy feels like a baby and a toddler combined with no understanding of what you're saying to them and also much much faster with sharper teeth.

Previous incidents include

• going to rescue a ginger Syrian hamster and being handed a grey Russian dwarf hamster
• going to rescue a Syrian hamster and coming away with a second because it was being kept in a bucket (that was a fun trip on the tube)
• moving into a flatshare and accidentally acquiring DDog from an outgoing flatmate.

Come to think of it, as an adult I've never gone looking for a pet and come away with what I was planning

This probably isn't the moment to tell you that adult dogs are like toddlers and you've signed up for a decade or more of parenting a furry toddler with a self destructive streak

I am loving this break at home. DH is getting all the things from BiteyDog that I experience all the time.

Trying to lick the water off you when you are in the bath.

The 'play with me now' sit and stare.

The dropping the ball repetitively by your feet in case you didn't see it first time.