Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[furcap]

Does anyone here raw feed their smaller breed dogs? How much does it cost, on average? I am thinking about getting a puppy once I'm more financially stable but ethics are a concern for me so I'd rather go for grassfed and pastured meats over kibble but like.. how much do small dogs even eat?

[katouchet]

Does anyone here raw feed their smaller breed dogs? How much does it cost, on average? I am thinking about getting a puppy once I'm more financially stable but ethics are a concern for me so I'd rather go for grassfed and pastured meats over kibble but like.. how much do small dogs even eat?

I have a fairly large chihuahua that we raw feed. My dog is 15 lbs but she isn't overweight she is just big for a chihuahua. It costs about 25 dollars a month to feed her but we also give her kibble at night. She gets about 1/2 cup of raw food and 1/4 cup of kibble.

[katouchet]

also does anyone have any advice on clipping your dog's nails at home? Every time we try to do it my dog struggles a lot and we don't want her to get hurt so we take her to the groomers but that can get expensive pretty easily so we are trying to figure out how to do it. Thank you!

[taikunfoo]

also does anyone have any advice on clipping your dog's nails at home? Every time we try to do it my dog struggles a lot and we don't want her to get hurt so we take her to the groomers but that can get expensive pretty easily so we are trying to figure out how to do it. Thank you!

It can be pretty tricky to do a dog's nails at home- the first step is getting your dog comfortable with you handling her paws. When she's dozing or sleeping, gently touch her one or two of her lower legs and paws, and then stop. If she'll tolerate touching all four paws, great, if not, don't push it. Your aim is to first desensitize her to getting her feet handled before introducing the nail clipper. You can also ask her to shake (ideally a separate command, but starting with shake is good), then hold the offered paw for a moment or two (again, whatever she'll tolerate, you can gradually increase the length of time as she becomes more comfortable), and then give her a treat. When she's more comfortable with her paws being handled (again, going to take time), you can start introducing the nail clipper, but don't clip her nails just yet! Show her the nail clipper, then she gets a (high value) treat, and put it away. You want the nail clipper to be associated with good things. Keep introducing the nail clipper and giving a treat. Eventually you can move on to handling her paws with the nail clipper just bring it close, then having it make a few noises, and then tap on her nails with it. After she can tolerate these steps, try clipping one to two nails at a time, giving lots of treats and praise.

It's going to take a little bit to desensitize her to getting her nails trimmed, but the steps I outlined above worked great with my adult rescue (he was ~2.5 years old when I got him and hated getting his nails clipped) and I've been able to clip his nails on my own.

[Blue_Aussie]

also does anyone have any advice on clipping your dog's nails at home? Every time we try to do it my dog struggles a lot and we don't want her to get hurt so we take her to the groomers but that can get expensive pretty easily so we are trying to figure out how to do it. Thank you!

Hello, as a dog groomer, I can tell that that dogs act a LOT different around their owners and around groomers. Usually better for the groomer from my experience. What you should definitely do is put your dog on a table to clip the nails, if you try to do it while someone is holding her or in your lap, this is when the dog gets hurt or struggles.

The actual clipping part is simple, you can tell where to snip almost at once. The nail will have a indent in the back of it and your clippers will almost slide right into place. Make sure you have styptic powder on hand while doing nails in case you cut the quick on accident though.

Hope this helps, feel free to pm me with any questions c:

[Imzadi83]

Does anyone here raw feed their smaller breed dogs? How much does it cost, on average? I am thinking about getting a puppy once I'm more financially stable but ethics are a concern for me so I'd rather go for grassfed and pastured meats over kibble but like.. how much do small dogs even eat?

I think I spend about $30 a month for Chloe's pre-made raw. If I went with dehydrated instead of the kind in the freezer I think it would be more.

also does anyone have any advice on clipping your dog's nails at home? Every time we try to do it my dog struggles a lot and we don't want her to get hurt so we take her to the groomers but that can get expensive pretty easily so we are trying to figure out how to do it. Thank you!

Here's some videos on desensitizing your dog to having it's nails trimmed.

The best way to cut your dog's nails - dog training grooming - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cq5X8aV95E

5 TIPS for training your dog to like GROOMING and NAIL TRIMMING - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCJ0wh5cxi4

How to train your dog to relax for nail clipping - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgBvnQ71ss

FIRST TRAINING GAME for grooming and nail trimming - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQrefk0Wyc

Dog training tips: You can use human nail clippers with puppies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvhJJdy-1U0

[shadow~wolf]

sorry to add onto the nail trimmingdiscussion, but i really wanted to share this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzYGxgdY6eE

i play this game with our two dogs and it's gotten pretty enjoyable for both of them :)

[Imzadi83]

OMG I'm so angry I'm crying. I was walking Chloe and my neighbor let their lab loose to run around. Seeing another dog walking on leash you think they'd get control of theirs but no, wouldn't want to cut into valuable gossiping time. So we got rushed up to by the lab. I should've just used the dog repellent but I could see the lab wasn't aggressive so I tried to grab her by the bandanna (because of course there's no collar on the dog) which just slipped off. The woman (teen? I dunno they have had more then one teen mom in that family so I don't know) called for the dog who didn't respond in the slightest. I had to keep yelling until the woman finally came and got the dog and held her back so Chloe and I could get home. Chloe's okay, she wasn't too upset by it. I'm the one who's a basket case. I wish I wasn't the type of person to cry when angry as I feel it comes off looking weak not to mention it's harder to get out what you want to say.

The woman called to apologize and assure me it won't happen again. I accepted the apology and am trying to let it go but it just makes me so angry that people are that lazy/irresponsible. But this family has history of irresponsibility when it comes to pets and considering she let her toddler start to walk into the road and didn't seem to be in a rush to grab him... Then the woman had the nerve to ask to speak to my mother, why? I'm decades into adulthood, I was walking my dog, and you want to speak to my Mommy? Because you think a 70+ years old woman would be nicer to you (you don't deserve it) or because your grandma and my parents (me too btw) have lived near each other for years that'll get you more leniency? Or you want to tattle on me for getting angry (I did not curse her out anything like that). Um, no, I refused that. I'm still debating contacting AC and filing a complaint anyway. But I'm afraid it'll come back to my parents (whom I live with and own the house) who don't want to make enemies of the neighbors and have enough to deal with right now. *screams internally* Not to mention the lectures from Mom will start again about how I shouldn't be walking Chloe anyway outside of our yard and how if she gets killed it's on me and she'll never let me get another dog, etc. etc.

Right now I just want to obliviate. I just found out a few weeks ago that Chloe has started into heart failure, I also have an appointment with an optometrist because I'm concerned about one of her eyes, my Dad's Parkinsons is getting worse and I obviously have my own issues to deal with as well. Is it so much to ask to have a peaceful walk with your dog?

[shadow~wolf]

^^ I've had a lot of scary dog encounters as well. People never immediately come to grab their dog, but always continue to call it until it's already reached my dog and is clearly blocking out the owner's voice. So frustrating, seriously!

Do you guys have any dog repellent spray suggestions? and how do you know when exactly to use them?

[Imzadi83]

my lab pup thinks "fetch" means run over to the toy and immediately run back to me for the treat. sometimes she runs over to the toy and picks it up for a split second before dropping it and coming back to me. i dont reward her when she does either of these, but im not sure how to teach her to leave the toy in her mouth. if i cant get her to learn fetch i wont be able to teach her retrieve. any tips/video suggestions?

Teach Puppy Fetch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZogNFdSBlzw

Fetch Anything - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nm4goEuBt4

Here's some videos for you. The trick is to mark and reward the second she has it in her mouth and slowly up the duration of time she has it in her mouth. Alternative you can put a cue on her dropping it (or giving it to you) and hold off for longer periods of time before giving it. Also I would work on this close to you and once she has that down then bring back the distance. Working on both duration of time and her bringing it back may be too confusing for her right now.

^^ I've had a lot of scary dog encounters as well. People never immediately come to grab their dog, but always continue to call it until it's already reached my dog and is clearly blocking out the owner's voice. So frustrating, seriously!

Do you guys have any dog repellent spray suggestions? and how do you know when exactly to use them?

I carry Halt! since that's what the US Postal Service uses. You're supposed to spray it in the direction of the approaching dog so it will smell it and stop approaching. Of course as stated in my earlier post I've never actually used it. So sorry if this isn't actually helpful, but since no one else has responded to his I though I'd let you know. Also PetSafe puts out a dog repellent in seems.