Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[shadow~wolf]

Middy, I think Phoenix would really fit her! You could call her Nix for short

[Marley.&.Me]

Middy, I think Phoenix would really fit her! You could call her Nix for short

“Nix” reminded me of Twix.

“Phee/Phoe” whichever way you would prefer spelling it would be a cute nickname too!

[.Middy.]

Awaking Souls- Thanks! Hoping things go well and the Aussies don’t drive me nuts during recovery myself lol. I’ve already used Raven, Sparrow, and Hawk for other animals, so can’t use them. I was considering Mockingbird and calling her Birdie but I’m not sure that’s right either. We will see lol

Phoenix is Kestrel’s Dam’s name, so don’t want to use that but I do like it lol.

And like I’ve said, not concerned about the ears, they will go up I’m sure.



This girl went to the vet today! Somehow she got something in her eye, and it didn’t look great yesterday but luckily looked better this morning! Since I have surgery before the vet opens again, I went ahead and took her in. She wasn’t super comfortable, but did pretty good. Luckily she’s already muzzle trained, so it didn’t bother her at all when I put it on.

[maninkari]

@.Middy., AAAAH, Baby pictures!

@Imzadi83, That picture of Chloe with Santa Claus is cracking me up. So much Christmas spirit.
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Have any of you built a carpet or slat mill? I'm thinking of building a carpet mill for JJ.

Edit: a JJ AND Pete picture :o

[taikunfoo]

Hey guys, I'd figure I'd drop in here for some advice. I'm planning on adopting my first dog this summer, and I've never owned/lived with a dog before. I love dogs, and my best friend has two small dogs that I see regularly and absolutely adore.

Some information about what I am looking for in terms of getting a dog:
I am planning on adopting a dog from a shelter, mutt preferred. I do not want a puppy, I want a young or adult (but not senior) dog that is medium or medium/large in size, with short hair. As much as I love pitt and pitt mixes, I will be renting housing, so I need to stay away from breeds and mixes that could result in having problems finding a place to live for me and the dog.

I'm planning on walking the dog with a harness, and giving them a martingale collar to wear at all times with ID. I also plan to have the dog chipped and spayed/neutered. I'm hoping for a low-medium energy dog, as I enjoy walking and hiking, and if I have enough time I can walk up to 10 miles in a day (although this doesn't happen often). I have a food brand picked out and I know how to transition them over to the new brand of food, if fed differently in the shelter.

Some questions hopefully some of you can help me with:
Do any of you have advice for a first time dog owner?
Is there anything you wish you would have known before getting a dog?
What are some common issues or problems you have to work around bringing home a new dog?
Are there any breeds or breed mixes that would (generally) be good for a first time dog owner?
Any breeds or breed mixes I should stay away from?
Best/worst training methods (I am planning on positive reinforcement training methods but any training advice is appreciated)
I live in an area with a temperature range between -40 and 90 degrees fahrenheit. Are there any special items I should have (ie booties for the feet, jackets/blankets, kiddy pool) to help with the temperature extremes?
Is there any special training that I should focus on/would be helpful? (Ie crate training, muzzle training, is quiet or stop barking training a thing?)
How much money should I set aside for adopting a new dog, crate/toys/bowls/leash/food/etc, vet visit, preventative medicines, etc, for the first month?
Any other advice that you can offer?

Thank you,
taikunfoo

[juicebox!]

@taikunfoo - hello! thats so exciting. you sound very responsible. most dogs from shelters are already spayed/neutered and microchipped (-:

i would say remember to never let your dog walk up to a dog or even a person unless the other person allows it. you dont know if the dog is under training, dog aggressive or has a fear of dogs. you also dont know if the person is fearful of dogs or allergic.

i probably wish i wouldve known more things that they needed. ears cleaned, teeth cleaned, stuff put on paw pads so they dont crack, etc. i didnt know that and i have a dog with bad ear infections and another with very dry paw pads that crack.

potty training is very hard. no matter what age the dog will still need to be adjusted to be potty trained.

retrievers! i would also honestly suggest a mastiff. theyre very laidback and lazy. but are slow to learn.

i would stay away from stubborn breeds and breeds prone to problems like chow chows, dobermans, huskies, etc. i would also stay away from breeds that are frowned upon like pitbulls, GSDs and dobermans. youll get a lot of stupid people. my doberman gets hit all the time and yelled at and i get yelled at for having him. he is also dog reactive cause hes been attacked a few times but he is always blamed altho the others dogs attack him. so its kinda crappy.

tools are your friend! my doberman is sensitive so we dont usually use that much corrections. train a dog a trick using positive reinforcement. after they know it - you can start correcting them if they dont do the wanted behavior.

if the dog is short haired - booties and a jacket! my doberman gets very cold but these help him. i would suggest a kiddy pool for any type dog. theyll either get in it, play in it or drink out of it haha.

crate training and muzzle training can be helpful. neither of my dogs are and we dont have any problems with them. if your dog doesnt bark - dont train it to. i wanted to hear my doberman barked and trained him to speak and now he barks all the time when he wants food. i would train impulse control. leave it and wait. it will be very beneficial.

i dont know the answer to this but id say atleast $200

[awakening souls.]

i'm likely going to be adopting another cat (from one of the city shelters). i already have one picked out and she's the sweetest thing ever. just need to bring in all four of my dogs to make sure they get along well together... agh, such a pain lol, but i have to do it. :') wish us luck!

[taikunfoo]

@schistad;

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it! I know I'm going to need more than 200$- it costs usually between 375 and 500$ to adopt a dog in my area, not even factoring in supplies or the vet visit or anything else I might need.

I knew about the teeth cleaning as my the family of my best friend had a dog with bad dental issues that could have been prevented by cleaning her teeth, didn't know as much about the ear cleaning other than they can get issues with their ears, thank you!

Ideally the dog would be house trained already, but I know moving into a new place can be stressful and I'm assuming there will be accidents and I'm planning on being able to let them out frequently to try to help mitigate that.

Thank you for listing off some of the perceived 'problem' breeds- I love shepherd and husky mixes but I know that I should stay away from them as a first time dog owner.

I'm glad to hear that your dogs have a patient family to live with, and I'm glad that you are working with your dobie! Thank you very much for your help

[yetzali]

x
@taikunfoo, another thing that i'd recommend when you get a new dog is to be patient! especially with rescues, because the vast majority of the time, you don't know what their background is. it can take a while for a dog to be settled in, though sometimes it can be a lot quicker, it just depends on the dog. also, be patient with training, some dogs learn quicker than others, you just need to go at their pace, even if it gets a bit frustrating.

out of all the dogs that i've worked with, i've only used positive reinforcement, so it's definitely the only thing that i'd recommend. if you ever decide to use anything like a prong collar, make sure that it's fitted properly and you know how to use it, or else it can harm your dog, which wouldn't be too great.

i'd personally never have anything less than $1,000 put aside for emergency vet trips, they can often cost quite a bit more than that. it's best to first focus on getting that money aside + getting all the necessary things for your dog, then once you've got it under control, get anything else you might want!

[tea!]

@taikunfoo

good luck !! and definitely be sure to use positive training.
The only problem I had, was that you would be giving them a martingale collar
to wear at all times, collars are fine to wear when going outside ! But keep it
off when inside, especially martingales. If left alone, your dog can easily get it
caught on a handle or their crate. There are lots of deaths every year due to
dogs getting their collars caught on door handles, or getting the chain part
caught in their mouth, causing them to strangle themselves out of fear.

So make sure you only have it on when you're outside and are with her !

This is also something to keep in mind with all collars !