Oh my giddy god......

[HangingOver]

I can't actually believe I'm finally typing this... I think I'm getting a dog!

I've wanted one of my own my entire life. I had one growing up and look after friends and neighbours at every available opportunity as I adore dogs so much. A rescue came up locally and I thought he looked lovely, he was snapped up immediately, but came up again yesterday! Me and DP are meeting him this afternoon.

Any tips for meeting a rescue for the first time? Other than being gentle and calm? He's 8 months so a bouncy chap.

ARGGGH! So excited. 😁

In agreement with @GelatinousDynamo . You need to calm down and take everything slower. Your excitement about getting a dog was understandable and on this thread it was infectious. Whilst I fully understand that, you do need to allow a settling in period for any dog or puppy. When we get a pup we have a full week of it being only with me and DH and our cats; no visitors, no dogs or kids, no excitement. Yes, it is intoxicating having a new pup, but whether it's a tiny 8 week old baby or a boisterous 8 month adolescent, the first days should not be a frenzy of umpteen new people and places.

Sorry, because it seems like this is not what you want to hear, but this youngster needs to be allowed to get to know his new home and his own people before having a thousand other things chucked at him or he will never be the calm, settled, happy dog that you want. It is being overstimulated and tired that causes frenzied biting in a lot of young dogs. Taking things a lot slower initially is always best.

When my lab was about a year old he caught, killed and ate a pigeon while on a short lead. He refused to let go of it and wouldn't let me take him somewhere less public. So I had to stand there holding the lead while he ate every last bit, including the feathers and feet!

Dear god.

Actually yesterday I learned that DDog is fine with having something he's eating pulled out his gob, which is obviously a positive thing, it's just a shame that the object in question was a mushy fox shit.

When we get a pup we have a full week of it being only with me and DH and our cats; no visitors, no dogs or kids, no excitement

Yes I see this is now what we should have done. He sees my next door neighbour now and then through the fence but other than that it's just us now and I've put signs up for delivery people not to come in the gate.

Well done (I think!). Not something I would even attempt to do as I'd be gagging... I try to stop my dogs eating fox shit but if they do manage to eat it, it never seems to do them any harm.

Well done (I think!). Not something I would even attempt to do as I'd be gagging... I try to stop my dogs eating fox shit but if they do manage to eat it, it never seems to do them any harm.

Just where we were there were some bulbs lying on the ground that looked like daffodils or similar which I had in my head are poisonous so I thought that's what he'd picked up. Imagine my surprise and delight 🤢

Here he is dismembering his favourite stuffy

What a character, he reminds me of the sycamore helicopters we played with as kids.

OMG, I love him. Those ears are just incredible 😍

I honestly think you will be fine now, OP ❤he's going to be a fantastic dog once you get through the initial settling and bonding.

Yuck but also great 👍

We were told to teach ours the command “drop it” ( & then offer them something great as an alternative).

Sometimes it works, we’re still learning 😊

Oh, a poo eater. How nice for you.

One of my brother's late DDogs had a delightful taste for cowpats. (They lived rurally and often walked through fields.)

I had a poo eating beagle, he would even eat his own if he got the chance.

I never let him lick me!

We had a sheep poo eater and a cat shit eater who used to shove his head in the litter tray. Charming things, dogs, aren't they?

Thankfully not had dead things to deal with though, would struggle with that 😝

Oh man so many great stories about the disgusting things dogs do 🤣

DDog1 once found a stinky washed up fish and what a prize that was! I was a young first time dog owner terrified it would make him ill so desperately tried to remove it. Ddog1 accidentally nipped me whilst trying to tighten his grip on this award winning fish. So now I'm crying, snot running down my face, blood (both mine and the fish') everywhere and the blasted Ddog is having the time of his life. A sweet, rather prim older lady walks past this pantomime and asks if I'm OK. The whole story comes tumbling out and all the while she's listening and calmly removing a tissue from her sleeve and sorting my hand out. When I've run out of words she eventually locks eyes with me and says "don't worry dear, mine has eaten much worse. Your worst case scenario is he might get the shits" the last word I ever expected her to say 🤣 I bet she doesn't even remember this interaction at all but it will stick with me forever.

Ddog2 loves to roll in fox poo eewww. But she once found a dead rabbit whilst I had both dogs and my dad on the phone. He can never says goodbye and just keeps talking 🙄 my oh eventually caught on to what was going on and took ddog2 and ran her in circles on the end of lead until she was dizzy enough to drop the poor creature 🤣

DH lost a football sock, 10 days later our setter brought it up. I cannot begin to describe the smell. We still can't work out how he carried on eating and living normally with it in his stomach.

Our fridge was secured with rope, he knew how to get it open and eat the entire contents, including the eggs and the box they were in.

This worked most of the time for my lab but he wouldn’t swap a freshly killed pigeon for anything, no matter how tasty the treat.

Yes, that's the theory!

Shamelessly coming on for pictures only!

Relieved about the pigeon. Just had a panicked lab- just- eaten-a-feather moment and is-that-safe? Also a pigeon.

I can well believe it.

Mine will give up minor things but not the things he considers best & I expect a pigeon would come into that category.

It's too bad this thread is being derailed by unpleasant anecdotes about dead animals.

Just did a full hour with the trainer and he was absolutely wonderful and so good for doing it on a Sunday mid house move. Feel really supported. He explained a lot about teenage dogs and the breed characteristics and answered all my questions about the here and now, and we'll do zoom calls regularly until his course starts. Anxiety gone down by about 1000%.

Sounds good! Out of curiosity, what was his advice?

His ears are epic. He could hear to the other side of the universe with those things. 🥰

I won't go into all of it as there was a lot but the main thing I understand now is the difference between being physical exercise and mental stimulation and how his breed characteristics play such a huge role in that. Like you might think you're helping your new dog to sleep but tiring your dog by taking him on a walk and while it will exercise his body, his brain will be going crazy because of how much new information he's taken on through his eyes, ears and mostly his nose. Perhaps that should have been obvious but it was a lightbulb moment for me.