Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[M A Y F L Y .]

Marking this page <3

[NeverLand.]

I own 4 dogs. I KNOW. But before you say i'm crazy. im not, I just love dogs

Let me know if you'd like me to show you guys some pictures of them

[xXocea]

I own 4 dogs. I KNOW. But before you say i'm crazy. im not, I just love dogs :P

Let me know if you'd like me to show you guys some pictures of them :)

I'd love to see pics!

[.Middy.]

Imzadi- I’ll get you the name later, the card that came with it fell into my moms floorboard and I can’t bend down to get it 😂. It was part of my SS thing so I don’t know the maker off hand.

So Kes is getting fat and it’s bugging me really bad. My parents don’t want to feed her less due to her not exercising (they don’t get that food has to be decreased if exercise is 🙄) Hoping to get the ok to start going on walks tomorrow, and hopefully hikes again soon!

[eff]

Hello! Today I found out my mom accepted a deal by one of our friends; to take a teacup/toy male Chihuahua. Currently, we have a Chihuahua x Jack Russel mix called Pippin. The thing is, he has never (at least frequently) socialised with dogs due to the area that we lived in when we got him. It was a place where people preferred large guard dogs, whereas my mom prefers small dogs.
Anyway, he has never been 'aggressive' towards a dog, I'd much rather put it 'territorial', and I know dogs do state a heirarchy when a dog enters their home. I was just wandering, when we do get the currently fourteen week old puppy (he'll be older when we get him), is there anything I know? Currently, Pip is six years old.

[Imzadi83]

Hello! Today I found out my mom accepted a deal by one of our friends; to take a teacup/toy male Chihuahua. Currently, we have a Chihuahua x Jack Russel mix called Pippin. The thing is, he has never (at least frequently) socialised with dogs due to the area that we lived in when we got him. It was a place where people preferred large guard dogs, whereas my mom prefers small dogs.
Anyway, he has never been 'aggressive' towards a dog, I'd much rather put it 'territorial', and I know dogs do state a heirarchy when a dog enters their home. I was just wandering, when we do get the currently fourteen week old puppy (he'll be older when we get him), is there anything I know? Currently, Pip is six years old.

Yes, don't let them "work it out". Forget about hierarchy, dogs don't have hierarchy in the commonly used sense of the word. Letting dogs fight it out until one bullies the other into submission is dangerous and counterproductive. You need to help them form positive relationships with each other.

You need to introduce them on neutral territory (neither dogs home or places they go often preferably). Keep them far enough away that Pippin doesn't react and reward him for doing so. Walk both dogs parallel to each other until they are calm (both should be exercised before hand) then you can bring them together for a quick sniff then do some more walking. If Pippin is lunging/barking the entire time and you can't redirect him I would rethink bringing another dog home at this time. I realize you may not have much control over this but it may be something you want to discuss with your mom.

Once you get them inside together you can use a drag leash on one or both to be able to separate them if need be. You want to do this before something happens so pay attention to (and learn about) their body language. If they are showing stress signals (yawning, lip licking, ears pinned back, etc.) separate them in separate rooms (close doors or use baby gates) or crates.

Don't leave them together unsupervised. I'd say for at least six months but honestly some dogs need to be separated permanently. Remember to spend plenty of time with Pippin so that he isn't getting ignored in lieu of the new puppy.

If there is a positive reinforcement based trainer in your area that you can use to help deal with Pippin before hand (and expose him to other dogs in a safe manner) I would highly recommend you take advantage of this.

If a fight does break out (again the drag leashes will help you separate them) don't punish either dog. Separate them, think about what went wrong so you can prevent it happening again, and move on.

Considering Pippin's age and that he isn't used to other dogs in his space I'd advice feeding them separately and only giving high value toys/chews when then are separated. No matter how convenient or appealing it may be to humans to see two dogs eating side by side fights can happen very quick, and even if nothing bad happens it can be very stressful to one or both dogs.

[northy.]

quick post to sort of mark the thread really, but here are the pups in the snow last week!

[coyote!]

@ryan ross.
Both of your dogs are really cute <3

If you don't remember, I posted on this thread a while back asking for advice on how to convince my parents to get me a dog.

After some research and spending 6 hours writing them a letter, they kind of said yes. Basically they'll get me a dog if I resolve this one issue: who would walk the dog if nobody's around?

Usually, my house is pretty empty. On most days, nobody apart from my cat is home from 8:30 to 2:25. I looked online and a lot of sites say that an adult dog can go for somewhere between 6 to 10 hours. That's pretty long, but I'm still worried that the dog might use the bathroom in the house, even though the one we may adopt says he's "impeccably housebroken" on petfinder. But that's not my biggest problem. My parents are worried that when I go off to college and my brother goes to high school, that 6-hour period where nobody's home will increase to 7:30 to about 3:45. If he decides to join some clubs or after-school activities, it could be even longer.

Dog walkers can be expensive, especially if we hire one on a daily basis.

So what I'm trying to ask here is, what can I do as an alternative to two daily bathroom walks for my potential dog?
Thanks for any help c:

[Imzadi83]

@ryan ross.
Both of your dogs are really cute <3

If you don't remember, I posted on this thread a while back asking for advice on how to convince my parents to get me a dog.

After some research and spending 6 hours writing them a letter, they kind of said yes. Basically they'll get me a dog if I resolve this one issue: who would walk the dog if nobody's around?

Usually, my house is pretty empty. On most days, nobody apart from my cat is home from 8:30 to 2:25. I looked online and a lot of sites say that an adult dog can go for somewhere between 6 to 10 hours. That's pretty long, but I'm still worried that the dog might use the bathroom in the house, even though the one we may adopt says he's "impeccably housebroken" on petfinder. But that's not my biggest problem. My parents are worried that when I go off to college and my brother goes to high school, that 6-hour period where nobody's home will increase to 7:30 to about 3:45. If he decides to join some clubs or after-school activities, it could be even longer.

Dog walkers can be expensive, especially if we hire one on a daily basis.

So what I'm trying to ask here is, what can I do as an alternative to two daily bathroom walks for my potential dog?
Thanks for any help c:

Doggy daycare? I can't imagine it would be less expensive then a walker but you never know. Some pet sitters have an option to just let the dog out to potty and put it back that might be cheaper then a full walk.

Small dogs can potty inside but this isn't practical for larger dogs (though in theory you could do it if you had big enough pads, litter box, grass patch, etc). If you have a fenced in yard you could use a doggy door to allow it access to the outside as needed but this does pose certain hazards you would have to consider.

Can you find a neighbor/friend/relative who is responsible enough and willing to come over and let the dog out?

Every dog, no matter how he is "impeccably housebroken", has the potential to have accidents. I promise at one time or another (age, sickness, failure to properly train, stress, etc.) every dog will have an accident. Honestly I think 6-10 hours having to hold it is unfair to the dog, and I would reconsider whether this is the right time for you to be getting one. Maybe you should at least consider holding off until you find a way to earn the money to cover the expense of the dog walker.

[awakening souls.]

@ryan ross.
Both of your dogs are really cute <3

If you don't remember, I posted on this thread a while back asking for advice on how to convince my parents to get me a dog.

After some research and spending 6 hours writing them a letter, they kind of said yes. Basically they'll get me a dog if I resolve this one issue: who would walk the dog if nobody's around?

Usually, my house is pretty empty. On most days, nobody apart from my cat is home from 8:30 to 2:25. I looked online and a lot of sites say that an adult dog can go for somewhere between 6 to 10 hours. That's pretty long, but I'm still worried that the dog might use the bathroom in the house, even though the one we may adopt says he's "impeccably housebroken" on petfinder. But that's not my biggest problem. My parents are worried that when I go off to college and my brother goes to high school, that 6-hour period where nobody's home will increase to 7:30 to about 3:45. If he decides to join some clubs or after-school activities, it could be even longer.

Dog walkers can be expensive, especially if we hire one on a daily basis.

So what I'm trying to ask here is, what can I do as an alternative to two daily bathroom walks for my potential dog?
Thanks for any help c:

This isn't exactly a solution and could potentially even turn into a problem, but it might help you out, as it has helped out some of my friends in the past. Depending on the size of the dog, you could install a doggy door in your backdoor that leads to the backyard. You'd need secure fencing all the way around that would be tall enough to contain your dog. You'd also have to hammer in some wooden planks to the bottom of the fence to ensure the dog could not dig its way out of your yard. That would give your dog the freedom to go in and out as its pleases in order to prevent any accidents.

Another thing to look into is hiring a professional dog-walker. But you'd need to do a lot of research and make sure that they are credible, reliable, and trustworthy. I know you mentioned it can be pricey, but perhaps you can find some sort of deal? Or perhaps a neighbor can?