Dog Owner Chat v4

[Crossflare]

Man It reminds me of my old border collie whose fluff was really fluffy we had to get him trimmed on his tail especially that thing was a feather duster man only to our coffee table he kept knocking over my pencils on coffee table it was ridiculous I miss having a collie around haven't had one since 2015. But if you put a square around your girls head it makes for perfect doggy face portrait

[nyoovi]

first time posting on this thread woot woot!!
so yesterday I got a new puppy ;v; she's about 4-6 months old (I'm unsure of her exact age) and her name is Lady <3


she's an absolute sweetheart. very timid and quiet, but the only problem I'm having is leash-training her? she's used to the collar, but the leash freaks her out. any ideas on how to fix that? I'd really love to take her on walks with me ;v;

[minimire]

hey guys just a quick question here.
should my nine year old shih tzu keep jumping up and down my 50cm bed? like is it good for him at his age?
thanks!

no it is not so good...you also dont let a dog run on the bike at this age...or jump things to much, and i think small dogs should not jump down bed ....(Young dogs and old dogs should be given a bit more care and when some stairs or pet ramp help why not^^)
look for some dog stairs (this portable ones, this you can put at your bed...or wherever you dogs likes to get up)


-snip-

thank you for your help! I'll research more into what I can use to help him get up on the bed easier like what you've mentioned (:

also, any tips on how I can get him to stop jumping up and down in the mean time? Especially from jumping down? He used to wait for me to carry him down but now he's growing bolder.

[.Middy.]

Haha yeah, idk what I'm going to do with my border collie. I haven't had a tail in the house in years besides Annie who was mostly a outside dog, and even then she kept her tail contained in the house!

Astu- Aw! She's adorable congrats! If she is scared of the leash, I'd start with just holding it in your hand while training her. Then ask her to interact with it by sticking a treat on it so she has to touch it to get the treat. Then eventually putting it on her and letting her drag it around. Finally pick it up and use treats to make sure she stays close so it doesn't go tight and scare her, then work up to walking along in a loose leash walk with you.

Hopefully that makes sense, I'm kinda exhausted lol

[Taiger Lilly]

@atsu
If she is food motivated you can use treats to desensitize her to the leash. Start with the leash on the ground and give her treats for being near it, looking at it. Then move the leash around and give her a treat for that. Next you can do things such getting the clip to make a noise or reaching towards her with the leash. Work towards having her clipped on the leash by starting with only having it on for a few seconds thrn unclip. You should also give treats while she is on the leash and have it on her for longer and longer time periods.
Use small treats for this. If you don't have small treats break up a larger one into small pieces (pinky nail size)
Watch her for signs of being nervous/scared out and go back a step if she is.
If you just meant freaking out as in biting the leash you can use similar steps but reward when she is being calm/ignoring the leash instead.

[Imzadi83]

first time posting on this thread woot woot!!
so yesterday I got a new puppy ;v; she's about 4-6 months old (I'm unsure of her exact age) and her name is Lady <3


she's an absolute sweetheart. very timid and quiet, but the only problem I'm having is leash-training her? she's used to the collar, but the leash freaks her out. any ideas on how to fix that? I'd really love to take her on walks with me ;v;

What do you mean the leash freaks her out? Will she not even let you attach it or just freaks out once you put pressure on the leash?

I don't recommend attaching a leash to a collar anyway as it can be harmful https://dogmantics.com/is-it-harmful-to-attach-a-leash-to-your-dogs-neck-2/. I'd recommend getting her a well fitting harness for that reason, but it may also help if she's nervous about you attaching the leash because you won't be going for her neck. Here's a video about teaching your dog to accept you putting on a harness...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7edMjwEY1c you can use the same technique to get her used to you attaching the leash. Practice putting on and taking it off. Let her drag it behind her and see it's nothing to be scared of.

Here's a video on teaching loose leash walking...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgtqgiAKoQ

If it's the pressure that upsets her work on teaching her to give into the pressure...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4vEayrRyB0

Start indoors all over your house, then outside in your yard, etc.

[Crossflare]

I taught my poodle devon to literally leave his dentastix treats alone for about 2 minutes before I tell he can eat it he also moves when I tell him to stop eating his treat on the couch XD So while I may not have trained him to wait patiently for a treat I have managed to make it clear to him that the couch is not a place to eat though that doesn't stop him having to be told not to sit on it. The cats have started learning how to get away with things from the dog. It's kind of bizarre. My pets are so manipulative. Note two minutes is the longest I got him to leave it before I forgot about what i was teaching him and he just got bored and ate it. He's an old dog so of course he's going to be oddly impatient. I mean all his squeeky toys are chickens and if you steal one of his chickens he will follow you around the house like No thats my chicken give it back.

His chickens are his babies he spends like hours trying to poke he squeeker with his nose and fails to squeek it lol.

[uchuujln]

Thank you for your responses! :D

I completely forgot to mention- he's not getting a lot of physical exercise. He was neutered not that long ago and is still recovering from the surgery. I completely understand a lack of exercise is part of my problem and he might change when I finally get to wear him out, but it's still a little hard to keep that in perspective...

Today, I continued trying to ignore/leave him when he bites... whenever I returned to play, I generally got met with more biting and barking. Using food to reward him when we're playing and he isn't biting me really seemed to help prevent him from biting me in the first place.
He's also suddenly significantly less behaved when we sit in my room... Something's making him more excitable in my room and it's not clear what. He either barks out the window at nothing (I THINK it's because he knows there are other dogs outside, but he can't even see them or hear them...) or he barks at me and nips me when I sit on my bed (even if I'm paying attention to him and talking to him). I don't get it; neither of these things set him off before. :?:

.Middy.- Do you have suggestions for physical exercise he can do that wouldn't upset his stitches? And how can I teach him basic commands if he's hardly willing to listen to me? :c (P.S., your dog is beautiful!)

RWBY Rose- When you say "redirecting to chew toys", what exactly do you mean? Do you mean just waving them around/ putting them in her mouth? I tried that and he'd immediately drop the toy and go back to biting me... :c

Cardinal- He hasn't been anywhere new, he just takes potty breaks in the front yard. A lot of people let their dogs and cats roam around off-leash in this neighborhood, and since he goes outside frequently, we inevitably meet a lot of friendly neighbors who want to introduce themselves to him. We can't go in the backyard because then he gets distracted by the dogs on the opposite side of the fence and ends up barking and not pottying. I don't actually try to get him to meet anyone new, it just... happens. Sorry, I should have been more specific about that in the first place. :<
I did come across snuffle mats yesterday, I don't exactly have the tools to make one ATM but will make one if I can find what I need. And he hates his crate, even with toys, water, and a nice cozy blanket. His barking is more tearful and anxious when he's in the crate. I DO have a small area that I could try baby-gating off... assuming he doesn't tear the gates down...

Imzadi83- I'm not sure if the shelter would let me change him from an adoption to a foster, but I'll call and ask tomorrow. Will also go looking for rescue groups who are interested in mutts with unknown origins; we're close enough to a big city that I can probably find SOMETHING.
I don't have trainer/behaviorist money, honestly. I just didn't think it was a necessary part of the budget. Like I said, we've never had these kinds of problems before, so we weren't really expecting them... :(
He does actually like the puzzle toy, but he becomes so distressed when anyone leaves that he drops his toys and starts barking. I can try taking him for a short walk once he's fully recovered from the surgery and see how he feels about being left alone then...
The last paragraph was particularly helpful, so thank you. I started exercise and bike riding to cope with my loss a while ago, but I stopped doing both to care for this new dog and didn't even think about the fact that not doing either of those things is probably making me even more stressed. I'll try doing something relaxing before I wake Jake up tomorrow morning. c:

Sorry for my extremely long posts, I don't know how to paraphrase for the life of me. @_@

[Faybell]

....yes that's 100% your problem. The first two weeks with Aika was a horrible nightmare because she had all kinds of pent up energy from being spayed and not being able to exercise. Trick training and puzzle toys help some.

Yeah I just stick it in her mouth when first walking in the room or when it looked like she might go in for a nip. The thing that helped most was training her to sit to interact, making a buzzer noise (eh), leaving the room when she nipped, and returning in 1-3 minutes to try again. Like I said it took around a week so you just need patience. If he is around 5 months then he is in his teething faze and just wants to put everything in his mouth. Even though Aika is so much better she still tries to put my hand in her mouth (albeit gently).

How many toys do you have? Aika has toys she likes more than others. Her favorites the squeaker toys. Try toys with different texture, maybe he's just not that interested in your current one.

How food driven is he? Get a clicker (they are like a dollar or two). Click it and give him treats until he understands that a click equals a treat. It helped Aika focus more when first starting trick training. I can train her without the clicker now but I still use it if she isn't catching on to a trick by voice.

I used these videos to help me learn how to teach her. They are pretty awesome and go over basic tricks and manner training. I can't afford a trainer either so I've just been getting info off the internet/watching videos.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DPNz6reMVXY

[ribbon.pawz]

ahhhh Idk what to do, my dog's 6th birthday is in 2 days, and I wanna get her a dog-cupcake.. yet I need to get my other dog something as well, yet the issue is he's diabetic and can't have regular dog treats :.: i don't wanna just give him green beans.. any ideas on what I can give him?