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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The Pod-cast

960 replies

HangingOver · 27/10/2024 20:55

Hello PodSquad,

Thank you for being on this crazy ride with us.

Here's the OG thread if anyone wants to go back and laugh at how staggeringly naive I was adopting my first rescue pup: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/5177112-oh-my-giddy-god?page=1

Could someone please explain who this dog is in my house and what they've done with Pod? Because he's been absolutely angelic today. Truly a wonderful, wonderful dog and even coped with my DF and DPs pal coming over for Sunday dinner and sitting up getting merry on red wine.

Or perhaps the collective will on MN have given me a SERIOUSLY needed good day. What a star. 🥹

Oh my giddy god...... | Mumsnet

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 l...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/5177112-oh-my-giddy-god?page=1

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Thread gallery
84
MontyDonsBlueScarf · 25/12/2024 20:13

I hope it cheers you up a little to know that Pod opening his octopus has been the high point of the day for me.

HangingOver · 25/12/2024 20:16

MontyDonsBlueScarf · 25/12/2024 20:13

I hope it cheers you up a little to know that Pod opening his octopus has been the high point of the day for me.

I seriously seriously love how much you guys care about him 🥹

Feels like he's got a village.

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Scampuss · 25/12/2024 20:18

MontyDonsBlueScarf · 25/12/2024 20:13

I hope it cheers you up a little to know that Pod opening his octopus has been the high point of the day for me.

It was fab, wasn't it?

Meanwhile, my dcat has ignored her catnip-fuelled goody-filled gift bag all day Xmas Hmm

Ebananascroogey · 25/12/2024 20:30

If it makes you feel any better, here's the remains of the Christmas presents in our house!

The Pod-cast
OldSpeclkledHen · 25/12/2024 21:13

HangingOver · 25/12/2024 19:23

Fancy boy

Fuck me - he's all legs and ears! 😂

Ohh @HangingOver we all love your Pod updates (you guys are the only reason I venture onto MN these days 😳)

I'm sorry it's so shit for you right now, sorry your DF doesn't appreciate all the hard work you've put in 😞

Everything is amplified because of recent events, cabin fever and Christmas. Lots of us empathise with how you're feeling right now, you're just brave enough to share.

Because of you, I've discovered the DTAS website, so Bruce thanks you too 😉 There you go, helping dogs every day 🙂

Happy Christmas Pod and his family xx

WiddlinDiddlin · 26/12/2024 13:07

Hopefully broadening his circle of friends and making his village a bit more 'real life help' will really help his confidence, and your sanity!

There really is nothing like a relative descending and being a bit of a nobber to plummet the old mental 'elf into pits of doooooooom though - and for that reason my dogs go absolutely no where near my Dad and only see my sister in v limited contexts!

They are both utter wankers at times who will happily tell all and sundry I am some sort of dog-genius.. but the minute I say something pertinent to my own dogs, I know absolutely jeff all and they argue the toss (I mean come on people, at least be fucking consistent!).

HangingOver · 26/12/2024 17:29

Hello PodSquad,

Thank you as always for the love. I'm feeling a bit better today. He's learning so fast there's no reason he can't learn to be happy alone for short periods again. We've had the living room door open for him all day today for the first time. Even when he was feeling nibbly he still was allowed in because he CHOSE his octopus, not the cushions, with no prompting. It was bloody amazing. He is amazing.

The way I'm trying to think of it is he's a breed selectively bred for biting soft furry things hard. And nothing will change that. So I try to imagine he's got, say, 800 bites in him per day that needs to "get out". And it's up to us to direct him where he can put them.

He's also coped amazingly with today... He had a long walk this a.m and behaved brilliantly... Then this afternoon I drove him and DF to a National Trust place about 40 mins away (his longest car ride so far). We met a LOT of dogs, probably as many as he's met in the whole week combined and he really coped well.

Then he's come home and STILL behaving in the living room. He's snoozing on my legs.

He's got the paddock with Princess tomorrow. This time I will take a LOT of toys because she gets a big resource guardy with hers and him, and they can have a happy tear around together.

How did everyone else's DDogs cope with yesterday?

Pic attached. One of the many many things I love about Pod is that when he's licking something really delicious, he shuts his eyes like and anime character. So cute.

The Pod-cast
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Pashazade · 26/12/2024 17:34

Glad you've had a better day Hanging. I really do love reading this thread, he's beautiful and is totally worth the effort!

Scampuss · 26/12/2024 17:49

So pleased today was better.

HangingOver · 26/12/2024 17:52

sonjadog · 25/12/2024 19:55

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time with Pod the last days. It will pass. Think how much he has come on since you got him. Progress is never constant with any living beings, so it will be up and down. But it will be up again, don’t get too despondent.

Btw, I have had a rush of anxiety and depression a couple of weeks after having COVID every time (and I’ve had it five times!). It passes after a week or so. Hopefully you will also feel better soon.

Thank you for saying this @sonjadog I hadnt really made the connection but of COURSE everything is harder when you feel terrible. I'm "well" again but I need to nap morning and afternoon ATM just to get through. That's surely fueling the old anxiety furnace a bit.

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HangingOver · 26/12/2024 17:55

HE'S WAGGING IN HIS SLEEP I cannot 😭

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BirthdayRainbow · 26/12/2024 18:05

This is my favourite thread. I'm pretty sad atm and a photo of Pod cheers me right up. And I'm so pleased you stuck with him, and proud of you @HangingOver .

My dog has opened aka ripped open two soft toys and is crying as I've taken one away and she wants to carry on ripping all the stuffing out. I think she thinks that is the point of the toy..

WiddlinDiddlin · 27/12/2024 03:03

Ohhhhh the sleep wagging - the Long Wheelbased Hound does a lot of that, he is a happy soul (the Stick Dog growls her displeasure in her sleep a lot, they have very different outlooks on life!!)...

I will have to look closely at mine to see if they shut their eyes when they lick/chew... I don't know that they do.. and that is extremely very cute indeed that Pod does!

Just as Pod will be more easily trigger stacked if in pain or discomfort, grumpy guts or hurty teefs... so will a human be if struggling with a virus or just, any extra stress. It makes all of the things harder to handle!

Twiglets1 · 27/12/2024 11:44

Glad you are feeling more positive again @HangingOver & Pod looks so cute with his eyes shut.

My pup was pretty good over Christmas. Got 2 soft animals as gifts and hence lots of fluff in the house plus 2 headless/armless creatures added to the precious things in his bed.

We may have been ever so slightly pissed last night as left a box of chocolates on the dining table in the room where he sleeps. Incredibly he didn't climb on top of the table in the night to eat them. That would have been an expensive trip to the vets so he's in my good books today.

HangingOver · 27/12/2024 22:30

Hand hold needed every one, I'm a bag of nerves.

I've accidentally created a situation and now I can't get out of it.

Remember I bought Pod a snuggly bed which he joyfully dismembered multiple times? Well I got that to help him stay warm in his crate overnight as, even though the room itself is warm, his ears and nose felt cool in the mornings with just his vetbed and blankets. Unfortunately, his determination to dismember the bed beyond usefulness has led me to shutting his crate door quite lot during the day

THIS combined with me dropping his morning crate nap because DP and I now both work from home and combined with attempting something someone on the training Facebook group (leaving him for a minute at a time alone in the house in his crate), which he found really distressing has all combined to make him more and more reluctant to go in there. He much, much prefers his raised bed, which fits next to the radiator (the crate doesn't fit there).

Anyway tonight it finally happened: he refused to go into the crate at bedtime. Not for cheese or chicken. He really, really wants to stay on his raised bed and was so sleepy.

So I fretted and hid every single thing in the kitchen he could hurt himself with or destroy. And I've left him there with the kitchen door closed. His crate door is still open. I looked on the camera and he went to sleep immediately.

To be clear if he sleeps through I have absolutely no problem with him sleeping out of the crate. I don't even mind if he has a sneaky chew of the chair legs overnight. Or dismembers the bed completely. But if he gets up in the middle of the night and starts whining and barking because he's bored or lonely I fear I will actually crack up.

I've said multiple times to DP that the only thing that keeps me sane with his behaviour sometimes is the fact he sleeps all night without a peep.

Argh. Anxiety. Wish me luck. Please sleep tight, Pod! 😢

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rainbowruthie · 27/12/2024 22:36

Sleep well dear Pod

BirthdayRainbow · 27/12/2024 22:47

I hear you as mine has started getting up.

Sleep well Pos. Be a good boy.

FeralWoman · 28/12/2024 01:44

Sweet dreams Pod. Be a good boy and sleep all night. At the very least be quiet all night.

@HangingOver I love that you wrapped each leg of the octopus. Extra fun for Pod to rip open and some creative wrapping from you! I hope that Pod gives you a peaceful night.

WiddlinDiddlin · 28/12/2024 04:59

Fingers x for sleep and no major destruction!

Desensitizing is a tricky old business, you have to work close to, but under threshold and as the subject cannot tell you if you are close to yet still under threshold you just have to watch for the 'fall out' - and sometimes its as obvious as the nose on your face and you can stop, re-think, tweak what you're doing and start over...

And sometimes it is subtle and sneaky and trips you up when you weren't expecting it.. and i suspect that is what has happened here.

Hopefully, a break with no 'crate pressure' and some more 'crate is SUPER lovely' business and you will be able to use the crate again IF you need to, and he'll continue to sleep loose in the kitchen at night from here on out....

FWIW, I start DS to alone time in seconds, sometimes not even that, sometimes its in and out the door.. for some dogs, its shifting your weight forward on the sofa as if you were going to stand up, then not standing up!

Unfortunately we have to guess the start point for any dog we're working with, and we have to play a balancing act of 'cautious and careful' and 'but the job does need doing'... and it is inevitable when one party is having to guess what the other is experiencing, that the Fuck Up Fairy will visit us one day.

This is not a massive error, it absolutely can be fixed, you're learning to do a very very tricky job whilst doing that very very tricky job and I think you're doing a damn fine job... as you were, keep trundling onwards!

BirthdayRainbow · 28/12/2024 07:06

BirthdayRainbow · 27/12/2024 22:47

I hear you as mine has started getting up.

Sleep well Pos. Be a good boy.

Apologies, Pod.

Twiglets1 · 28/12/2024 07:12

Good Luck and hope the night was uneventful.

HangingOver · 28/12/2024 10:24

Well, it could have been a lot worse.

He woke up and did a few barks at 4am and 5am.

The first time DP went to check on him, the second time he stopped so quickly I didn't need to get up. Went straight back to sleep both times and no wandering or chewing. He was still in place at 8am, awake but just licking shelf and chilling.

Is that good??

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Twiglets1 · 28/12/2024 10:40

HangingOver · 28/12/2024 10:24

Well, it could have been a lot worse.

He woke up and did a few barks at 4am and 5am.

The first time DP went to check on him, the second time he stopped so quickly I didn't need to get up. Went straight back to sleep both times and no wandering or chewing. He was still in place at 8am, awake but just licking shelf and chilling.

Is that good??

Very good!

I don’t know if you did this last night or not but I would leave a bone or something he likes to chew out overnight. So that if he gets the urge to chew something he can make a good choice.

HangingOver · 28/12/2024 10:42

Also I've splurged and ordered a robot vacuum cleaner that mops which I can run when he's on his walk each day - hopefully will help with the muddy paws a bit!!

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HangingOver · 28/12/2024 10:56

WiddlinDiddlin · 28/12/2024 04:59

Fingers x for sleep and no major destruction!

Desensitizing is a tricky old business, you have to work close to, but under threshold and as the subject cannot tell you if you are close to yet still under threshold you just have to watch for the 'fall out' - and sometimes its as obvious as the nose on your face and you can stop, re-think, tweak what you're doing and start over...

And sometimes it is subtle and sneaky and trips you up when you weren't expecting it.. and i suspect that is what has happened here.

Hopefully, a break with no 'crate pressure' and some more 'crate is SUPER lovely' business and you will be able to use the crate again IF you need to, and he'll continue to sleep loose in the kitchen at night from here on out....

FWIW, I start DS to alone time in seconds, sometimes not even that, sometimes its in and out the door.. for some dogs, its shifting your weight forward on the sofa as if you were going to stand up, then not standing up!

Unfortunately we have to guess the start point for any dog we're working with, and we have to play a balancing act of 'cautious and careful' and 'but the job does need doing'... and it is inevitable when one party is having to guess what the other is experiencing, that the Fuck Up Fairy will visit us one day.

This is not a massive error, it absolutely can be fixed, you're learning to do a very very tricky job whilst doing that very very tricky job and I think you're doing a damn fine job... as you were, keep trundling onwards!

Yes this is the plan I think...

Separating out the alone time and the crate part for now...

So since it looks like he wants to sleep in his raised bed for the time being I've removed the stuffy bed and his crate door is permanently open again. And we'll go right back to basics with treats and getting him in and out of it. Then will build up the seconds he spends alone just in the kitchen 🤞🏻

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