Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[meerkat boi.]

hoiii
Sorry to post a different subject but..
my dog always looks lonely? like she's a family dog so it's not like she's a show dog or learning all these super amazing tricks.
she knows how to sit and lay down and jump up and paw but nothing special.
she does get walked quite often but is rarely ever played with. she has a lot of toys and I always try to play with her but my mom doesn't like it how she howls/barks all the time.
I don't have much time to play with her either now that I'm busy in secondary but I can't help but feel bad that she's home all alone from 8:30am to 4pm every day.
My mom doesn't exactly like her that much as she is always jumping up on the counter and destroying stuff and ya. she's destoryed some of the framing on the door because the wind shut the door (our back door is always open because she knows how to open it) and she was trying to get out into the Hall.
she barks a lot and bites my dad a lot..

any way to get her to 1: be more happy
2: stop biting us and jumping up on the counter
thanks

[Imzadi83]

hoiii
Sorry to post a different subject but..
my dog always looks lonely? like she's a family dog so it's not like she's a show dog or learning all these super amazing tricks.
she knows how to sit and lay down and jump up and paw but nothing special.
she does get walked quite often but is rarely ever played with. she has a lot of toys and I always try to play with her but my mom doesn't like it how she howls/barks all the time.
I don't have much time to play with her either now that I'm busy in secondary but I can't help but feel bad that she's home all alone from 8:30am to 4pm every day.
My mom doesn't exactly like her that much as she is always jumping up on the counter and destroying stuff and ya. she's destoryed some of the framing on the door because the wind shut the door (our back door is always open because she knows how to open it) and she was trying to get out into the Hall.
she barks a lot and bites my dad a lot..

any way to get her to 1: be more happy
2: stop biting us and jumping up on the counter
thanks

Part of the problem of the jumping and barking is that she needs more exercise and mental stimulation. You may want to talk to your parents about helping her expend some of her energy through walks, playing, training etc. A tired dog is a good dog. If you and your parents are pressed for time (could everyone wake up 15mins early in the morning to play or walk her?) and can afford it I would consider hiring a dog walker, or consider a doggie daycare. Also how are you feeding her now? If she is receiving meals in a bowl I would only give them to her in puzzle toys or through training so she has to work to get her food and expend some of that energy. Also you say she gets walked often but that may not be enough. Besides upping the amount of exercise you can also up the intensity, jog instead of walk, try a flirt pole, hid her toys and make her run around finding them before playing, stop at different points along the walk to work on training, etc.

You can use training to help with the problems but honestly nothing is going to work if she isn't getting enough exercise. Lack of exercise can also be contributing to her not being "happy. She's bored. This is likely contributing to her excessive barking as well. Of course there could be some isolation distress or even separation anxiety involved as well.

When you do leave her alone it's best to use management to prevent her from destroying things in the house. Put stuff away, put her in a dog safe room with a closed door, in a crate, etc. And give her something to do while you're away such as a puzzle toy and/or chewie. Also keep things off the counters so as not to encourage the behavior.

With her chewing I suggest trying some bitter apple spray on things like the door framing to discourage her chewing there. But for a "no" you also need to provide a "yes" and give her something she is allowed to chew on such as an antler.

As far as the biting goes, under what circumstances is she biting?

Here's some links to videos that may help you...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c77--cCHPyU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wbLzz1QlDw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZCIeEUm_n8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwZI1isnvPQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqPQKLh883s

[shadow~wolf]

@apology
what kind of dog do you have? i don't remember you ever introducing yours C:

[Fascai]

Sara Carson added another dog (Thor), but does anyone know what happened to the puppy she got right after AGT named Stark???? She hasn’t posted or said anything about him recently that I can find.

[liv :)]

Sara Carson added another dog (Thor), but does anyone know what happened to the puppy she got right after AGT named Stark???? She hasn’t posted or said anything about him recently that I can find.

Stark developed carpal hyperextension and had to be re-homed because he wasn’t going to work out as a performance dog. He lives in another home now and occasionally Sara posts updates of him on her Instagram story. His new name is Tsuki.

[Taiger Lilly]

There has been a class action lawsuit filed against Champion pet foods (Orijen and Acana) on March 1st.

Looks like it is associated with the clean label project which isnt the most reliable from what I have seen but it will be interesting to see how it progresses.

Here is a link to the pdf, since the only articles I could find weren't from sources I trust. : https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=w ... J7XlTg1uFG

[Faybell]

I was curious why some were saying they don't support neutering/spaying so I looked into it. I understand that it could potentially cause health issues... but

- This is a relatively new study and this is the first I'm hearing of it. I feel like judging others for it is unfair, especially if they live in an area where they don't have access to such knowledge. I actually didn't have access to good internet until a few years ago (the joys of living in rural America that has crap/no internet) and have only heard spaying/neutering had health benefits as long as it was done after the dog reached maturity with added benefits of preventing unwanted litters.

- Especially if their dog is older than this study or came from a shelter/other that requires it. My SO's family dog is 19... though her days are numbered (they think she's starting to give out)

And at the same time overpopulation is sooooo bad in some areas that I still don't think demonizing it is a good idea. Imagine if irresponsible owners didn't nueter/spay because of it? I'd hate to imagine how bad unwanted litters would increase in my area when it's already super high. The amount of strays/pets that are allowed to free roam in my area is insane. Hell I joked with my SO that if we couldn't find a dog we liked in the shelter we could probably find an abandoned stray wondering around in certain areas.
______________________________________________
From my understanding a vesectimy or modified spay doesn't cause these issues though?

[bnom]

I'd love to hear opinion's on this new 'dog cloning' stuff going on.
Good or bad? Unnecessary? Anything you have to offer would be interesting c:

actually i just wrote a report on animal cloning for biology! personally i think cloning dogs is bad because there are so many health risks for the clone and the surrogate mothers :c i also think it's a waste of money, $100,000 isn't worth it for a dog that just /looks/ like your old dog as it won't ever have the same personality, temperament, act the same, etc...

also! i took sammi to our family friends farm (his first farm!) he did really well with their farm dog but we had to tie him up when we were tending to the cows and their young calves. the problem is he barked most of the time while on the chain, even though he had space to run, drink, things to chew and play with, etc. while being tethered, and i think he barks for attention. he was only tied up for maybe 35 minutes, and i would like to not make it a habit when we take him there again or somewhere else he might have to be tethered up.
anyone have any good tips that could help to stop the constant barking?

(btw he had two collars on because the blue is his regular but we borrowed the black one from another person because it had a chain attached to it so we could tie him for the time being ^^)

[Cardinal]

RWBY theres been multiple studies done. Breed specific include Rotties, Goldens, and GSD. Its been known for decades that early spay and neuter prrrooobbaabbllyyy causes issues and isnt especially great but its been the last 10 or so years that people have really started questioning the practice of pediatric altering and older studies are being given merit with new research.

Im for spay and neuter and also owner education. I prefer sterilization whether surgical or chemical vs the traditional full removal and I wish these options were more available and affordable. I think theres a lot of fear mongering that happens in the dog community (males will be aggressive and break into your house to mate your crated bitch. Your bitch will 100% get cancer! ) and theres a huge push towards pediatric altering and I think its fairly disgusting. Currant dog Lucky had a mammory tumor 6 years ago and we were told it was OUR FAULT because I didnt have her spayed before her first heat when I didnt get her until she was 5 years old... and now because she had one tumor she would get tumors in every mammory gland. She didnt. Lol. Juniper, late pupper, had a blockage and while weak and nearly dead the vet 'did me a favor' by spaying her with out my consent and knowledge and didnt think he'd done a darn thing wrong. She went septic and died.

Now, after 2 or maturity, Im not nearly as opposed and I guess Im fairly lazy as I had Sardonyx spayed mostly out of convience because man is it annoying to have a nasty pee drinking intact boy, crating and rotating is a deal breaker, and I have 'helpful' family that will take them out (together) if Im gone for a lengthy amount of time. I couullddd have made it work, short of losing my sanity, but theres little enough of that to go around already. Spaying was a reasonable option for us.

Im also down for cosmetic ear cropping/tail docking.

[Faybell]

Now I'm confused. I already knew fixing too early was bad but I thought it said spaying/neutering at any age wasn't good?

I'm sorry to hear that people were giving you a hard time about something that wasn't even your fault and for what your vet did! (I assume Ex vet?) ~My heart goes out to you, that poor pup! D:

I think it would help if others didn't jump at others throats and assume things without knowing their situation.

If I stayed in my current state I'd probably have to figure something out because like your family mine would probably do something similar. We plan on moving in a year or two though so if it's beneficial I could keep Wick intact.