Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[General Chaos]

Question

So I've posted a few pictures of my dog Duke.
Lately he's been laying by the front door and crying, I take him out but he just lays down. I've taken him to the vet and they say he's in perfect health.

Can dogs get depressed?
A family member recently just went to boot camp so he hasn't been around.

[eleutheromania]

yes. i am in the military and my dachshund went through a horrid period of depression when i left for basic. it was to the point where he wasn’t eating or drinking like he needed to. he just laid around and wouldn’t want to do anything. he was just surviving. my mom ended up getting another dog to help, which did but he was still out of it. he came to see me for graduation and he peeed everywhere from excitement and couldn’t stay still. he stays with my mom because i can’t have him with me and every time i leave after a visit he is down for a few days.

[Naeco]

@Luzien

I tied it lose enough so that there is no contact even if she takes off. If she takes off, she will be pulling the bike with her harness. And 18 months is not too young. Sled dogs start light pulling at 3 months to 6 months. Plus she is vet checked.

Have you tried running and jogging before you trained for the bike. The dog needs perfect attention before you even start with anything with wheels. If she doesn't listen at a faster pace she wont listen at a run.

Also with the collar I wouldn't have anything attached to it a sudden jolt will make her think twice about pulling which will be defeating the objective ( you correct her with the prong collar for being bad she could take it to mean she cant pull if it catches on something ) The only time a sled dog has anything on its collar is attached to the other dog beside it for keeping them together. If you need a collar use a flat collar or fabric martingale collar.

Unfortunately I cannot physically run due to injuries and asthma. And she doesn't think that way. "Let's go" means to pull just as me walking forward means let's walk. If I have used the prong on walks, then she would not want to go for a walk, right? But, instead, she loves it when I get the prong out and loves to go on walks. Also, a prong isn't a sudden jolt. It is a light snap. I literally just twist my wrist back, not yank back. Most of the time, I jiggle the chain and she will respond.

Forgot to add, she does not respond to martingales, choke chains, or flat collars. (Not that I would use a choke chain. Choke chains are much more dangerous than prongs. )

[maninkari]

It sure is tough being a puppy.

Do y'all have any tips for grooming some very dirty Scottish terriers? I've only ever owned and washed shorthair dogs lol. I'm going to bath them and trim their nails for my friend. They are veerry gross old puppers.

[oddball1234]

I agree there is no excuse for having a fat dog. No it isn't the dog that is at fault it is the owner that is far too lazy to exercise their dog. For dogs with health/breathing issues there are plenty of "calm" exercises you can do, it doesn't have to be running. For example you could use a balance ball and let the dog stand on it. That uses up alot of muscles in the dogs body and is one type of exersice. You just have to be sure to help and support the dog so it will be a pleasant experience.

Today Chibi, a good friend of mine and I went on a mountain trail with a beautiful lookout area at the top. There were so many stairs, and I had fear of slippimg with each step. Once we reached the top my legs were honestly giving up on life. But Chibi enjoyed it and didn't show any signs of being tired, instead she wanted to play and was being her happy usual self. I'll definitley have to take her there again as she really enjoyed it. I could use the training too haha.

Seeing as I rarley post images on here I'll share some from today.

I have the same hoodie for Killian. his is red but too small. i bought a small and it ended up being a little too snug for my liking around his chest. i recently bought two more. a medium and a large. they won't arrive for another month though xD

[.Middy.]

So I’m still alive, woo! Had my surgery on Monday and just yesterday started feeling semi human again lol. Luckily my parents have been taking care of the monster faces. Been a few snags including Kes taking off looking for me while I was at the hospital, but luckily mom found a video of me calling her and she came right to her at my voice. Chew has been bad about the kennel, so he’s either been tied up to my bedpost during the day or been held by my stepdad. (They are paranoid about letting the dogs loose now lol)

I think Monday they will both go to work with my mom to stay quiet and have some more room to stretch out and relax while she works. Chew did Friday and it worked a lot better for him than being kenneled. Hopefully I’ll be able to get up moving more soon and they can start being loose with me or in my bed. Just can’t have them jostling me right now so we are having to work around it lol.

Finally managed to sit up yesterday and do a trick session with Kes, and my friend may come get her today and take her hiking or something to get some energy out. She was going to take her to a mushing clinic yesterday but I didn’t get back to her in time. Once I’m healed up we will go and see how she likes it lol.




Also puuuuppy! Still haven’t picked a name yet, top choices right now are Arrow and Haze and possibly Flurry. Her reg name needs to have something to do with storms, and her call name has to somehow tie into it. So still debating lol. She saw snow the other day and as you can see was adorable in it! Also saw ducks for the first time and showed nice instinct and drive for herding! So we will be doing some herding for sure, even if I have to get her a flock of her own!

[Fysha]

@.Middy.
Glad your surgery went well.
The stalking position of the pup is so good. She does have a strong instinct and eye. Out of the new names I like Haze the best, it will also work well if you put in herding training as you want a short call name. Can I ask where you are getting her from?

[meerkat boi.]

my dog, lexi, I can actually get a pic of her up woo!

[Fascai]

Never though thumbing through ingredient lists could become so tiring.

Shadow's allergy panel results came back and she's allergic to corn, soybean, duck, rabbit, rice, lamb, and turkey. Had the boyfriend order Under The Sun's chicken formula and she's reacting horribly to that, too. Now it's back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, along with being cursed with an extensive list of allergies, she's also incredibly picky and won't eat a formula with solely fish long enough for the purchase to be worth it. Zignature Pork is on the list to try next. Wish us and our bank accounts luck. All of the half eaten bags of food are piling up quick!

In other news, Opie cost me another 300$ vet bill a month ago after he flared up with some sort of skin infection. Cause is still unknown, but I've already weaned him from the steroids so that's good. :)

Edited to add; A while back on another thread I asked about reviews on Stella & Chewy's kibble. I've tried it long enough now to give some input of my own. After going through both a bag of the Beef and Chicken, it's fair to say that if it's not given to me again from the representatives at my location I will not be trying this product again. It seems like at least 1/4 of the bag is powdery crumbled kibble, which isn't worth it considering you're already buying a 22lb bag for upwards to 80$. It's in such a fine powder that it gets stuck in Opie's throat and no matter how much water is left down he's constantly hacking it up. I'm really disappointed with the results truthfully and am no longer recommending it to any of my customers. :/ I'm thankful we're almost done with the last bag. Onto the next!

[awakening souls.]

Never though thumbing through ingredient lists could become so tiring.

Shadow's allergy panel results came back and she's allergic to corn, soybean, duck, rabbit, rice, lamb, and turkey. Had the boyfriend order Under The Sun's chicken formula and she's reacting horribly to that, too. Now it's back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, along with being cursed with an extensive list of allergies, she's also incredibly picky and won't eat a formula with solely fish long enough for the purchase to be worth it. Zignature Pork is on the list to try next. Wish us and our bank accounts luck. All of the half eaten bags of food are piling up quick!

In other news, Opie cost me another 300$ vet bill a month ago after he flared up with some sort of skin infection. Cause is still unknown, but I've already weaned him from the steroids so that's good.

Aww, sorry to hear about that! That sounds really frustrating. My late dog was allergic to gluten, nuts, and chicken, but for some reason, she seemed to do okay with chicken fat and chicken liver... I'm not really sure why, but it saved us a bit of hassle. If Shadow can have chicken fat, I'd perhaps check this out? You mentioned she didn't do too well with the other fish formula, but maybe she'd give this a go?

https://firstmate.com/product/pacific-ocean-fish-meal-original-formula/

Totally understandable if it's not for you!