Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[cornspurrd.]

He's a service dog, I need him. He can handle it. Other dogs are always a worry, No matter where I go.. I'll be safe, Not my first rodeo.

[mynameisbacon]

Does anybody have a labradoodle? I do! She is currently 5 months old and is caramel colored. She is super playful but she is also teething, which is leaving marks on our skin. It even got to the point where I was called to the guidance office because they though I was cutting myself, but it was just my puppy's bites. Any advice on how to help?

(Also, she lost a tooth the other day, and it was so cute and tiny!!)

First of all make sure you have a variety of chew toys for her, teething hurts and biting helps relieve the pain. Things like bully stick, antler chews, pig ears, rope toys, etc.

Second, teach bite inhibition...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c77--cCHPyU&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wbLzz1QlDw&t=47s

Thank you!

[.Middy.]

So I had massive feels tonight after a fantastic day. My friend and I took O and her dog Captain down to meet O’s dad’s owner and get a private dock lesson! I’ll link my sappy Instagram post for anyone that may want to read it and get my view on reputable breeders lol

https://www.instagram.com/p/BodEsOfhGD9 ... hare_sheet



For anyone not interested, there’s a pic from today for y’all to enjoy. This was a massive milestone!

[ᴍᴀᴏᴄɪғᴇʀ]

So I had massive feels tonight after a fantastic day. My friend and I took O and her dog Captain down to meet O’s dad’s owner and get a private dock lesson! I’ll link my sappy Instagram post for anyone that may want to read it and get my view on reputable breeders lol

-Snip-

The breeder sounds lovely and it's nice that Octavia got to reconnect with her fam – maybe she wanted to impress them XD
That was a really great way to put it though, it's nice to have someone that knows the dog who can talk to you and help you and stuff c:

[Naeco]

I am taking Skai trick or treating very soon at too separate events. This will be her third and fourth time going, so its not our first rodeo. I am so hyped for this.

[drift.]

what kind of gear

I LOVE head halters, but I can also admit to using it with an e-collar, and you've stated you don't want that.

chewing.

so relatable, honestly. What I had to do with my mother's basset mutt was gate him in a small area (for me, it was the tile kitchen.) and gave him a good variety of different sized kongs and antlers. I would praise every time he chewed one of those two chews, and scold him if he grabbed a towel, shoe, sock etc. Now this took FOREVER because he didn't catch on and he's super stubborn, but now, a month later, he only chews his antlers! (Apparently kongs are too difficult for him and not worth the time... :/ )

[qin]

i guess i'm just gonna pop in here since i've recently got a new dog, and sorta am seeking some training advice? ;^0

quincy [my doggo] is 4 years old, if that helps at all, and we got him from someone who wasn't able to take care of him anymore, and he does know like, 1 or 2 commands but in chinese, and despite my family knowing chinese we've decided to attempt to train him using english.

we're starting at the very basic sit command, and it's not working that well, unfortunately, whoops. the only time he'll sit on command is when he smells or hears a treat of sorts, and without asking he'll just sit himself down without anyone telling him to. does anyone happen to know any ways to prevent this ? ;0 thank you in advance !!

also, on the bright side, he just got a haircut today after not getting one for a really long time, and he's lookin pretty nice >:0 i don't have a picture though, aha ;v;

[cornspurrd.]

Deacon is doing so good on his leave its! And behavior in general! We went to our local Sprouts today and I only gave one correction and he self corrected a few times... Such a change from where i was always on his butt for something... I've never seen a fake in sprouts, but there is a first for everything and Deacon handled it so well.. Last time we saw a fake in walmart he dropped what he was carrying for me and got really unfocused.. This time he didn't break eye contact with me as we walked past the yipping dog! Proud doggo mom.

[Imzadi83]

I need some advice.

A little backstory: I own two pitties, one's a pocket pittie named Penny and the other is Cali. Penny is brown/brindle with black tripes (reminds me of a tiger). Cali is white with dust brown spots that mostly cover her body. We rescued Penny when she was around 4-6 months and she is now 5. Cali we got from someone who didn't want to give her up to breeders, but I still call her a rescue because they had originally rescued her not too long ago, but they didn't realize that they were going to need to give her up. The husband of the owner got really sick and the wife couldn't take care of both. Cali was super skinny when we got her, and super weird. She wouldn't let you touch her, but she would come up to you. She's still weird, she hardly ever barks, but she's super cuddly and sweet. Penny came to us on pain meds since she had just been spayed. She was out of it for about 1 1/2 days, she was unsure where she was and didn't move much. We had an older dog named Loretta (before we got Cali) who we had to put down for health problems, she was my best friend but also Penny's. Penny, I think, got depressed for a while because although we had fostered other dogs and they had come and gone to their forever homes, Loretta had been there since she was little and she had grown up with her. We fostered a little more and then got Cali and for some reason stopped fostering.

Now that that's out of the way, here's where I need advice. Well, I have a few topics. The first is teaching Cali to bark. She's super weird, as in she's not too sure how to dog. We've taught Penny to bark on command (I use it when I'm home alone and someone comes to the door. I usually don't answer the door and make her bark instead, she sounds vicious if you're not look at her.) I keep trying to teach Cali to bark on command, but she hardly ever barks. She's doing it the longer she's around Penny but only for defensive reasons (like if someone tries to open the door or someone she doesn't know is at the house late at night) but whenever I try to treat her for it, she doesn't understand. I've found I can make her bark when Penny isn't around if I get her in her playing mode, but she's usually too far for me to treat and she doesn't understand vocal cues, like "yes!"

The second is what kind of gear I need for Penny. Both of my dogs are strong, they have that pittie muscle, but Penny always gets fixated on other dogs/animals. It gets annoying for both of the walkers because she whines and barks until we get her away from the dog. She also used to pull towards them but we cut that. We currently have an ez walk harness, but that doesn't do anything to stop the vocal-ness, more of just the pulling. I was thinking about getting a gentle leader, but I didn't know if there was something else I should look in to? We use gentle leaders, ez walk harnesses and theseat the shelter, so I know the most about those. I'm honestly up for anything as long as it's not like a shock collar.

The third and final thing is chewing. Both of my dogs LOVE to chew. We have plenty of toys for them but they always tear them to small pieces and we have to throw them away and then it gets costy. I've seen the durable toys, but those disinterest them since they're so rough. The other day, we didn't secure Penny's kennel and she broke out, tearing up things in four different rooms. She's house broken so there was no bathroom incident (which I was happy about) but we can't stop her from chewing. Both of them together have chewed:
~ our wall
~ our window seal
~ our chairs
~ our wooden table
~ thousands of papers
~ blankets
~ shoes
Does anyone else have a dog that chews a lot (puppies excluded) and what do you do for that? We've tried that spray that you spray on furniture and that seemed to stop her from chewing on the chairs but things like papers, you never know if she's going to chew it. Also, does anyone know of durable toys that aren't tough as rocks?

If Cali doesn't respond to a marker word then either the word has been poisoned (she hears it used without recieving an reward) or it was never charged properly in the first place. I recommend choosing another marker word (or sound like clucking your tongue) and charging that. Here's a video on how to do that... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6B-Q4-nqNg

For barking if you can try and set up scenarios that cause Cali to bark so you'll have more opportunity to reward it. Also try training them together. If Cali sees you reward Penny for barking she might be more inclined to try it herself, reward any attempt on her part at first.

The problem you're having with Penny isn't because you have the wrong gear. No tool is a substitute for training. You need to train her to walk on a loose leash and deal with her reactivity. I'll link you to videos to help with both of those...

Loose Leash Walking - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgtqgiAKoQ&list=PL7287C737FB745168
Giving Into Leash Pressure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4vEayrRyB0&t=1s
Let's Go - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-L2qtD7MQ&t=56s
Stop Barking on Walk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY7JrteQBOQ&t=225s

Chewing - First off the old adage "A tired dog is a good dog." is very true. Upping both physical and mental exercise can go a long way to keeping dogs from chewing on inappropriate things. Also when you put them in their kennel give them a chewie or stuffed Kong to keep them occupied. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwZI1isnvPQ&t=13s

Second is management. They can't chew what they can't get to. Put things away, close doors, supervise when out of kennels, etc. If things were put away (like paper) and doors were closed so they had less access you can limit the amount of things they have access to and the amount of things you have to spray (which I would continue doing)

Third with the toys I would suggest chew toy training...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mabu1Y6iOj4 Also try smearing some peanut butter, plain yogurt, etc. (make sure whatever you use is dog safe) to entice them to chew on the toys. Some times it helps to put toys in your hamper so that they smell more like you as well.

Fourth try some chewies that they can eat so you're not left cleaning up toy scraps. Bully sticks, pig ears, dried tendons, antlers, etc. Check out https://www.bestbullysticks.com/ to get an idea of what's out there.

Last but not least chewing and breaking out of their kennel can be a sign of isolation distress, separation anxiety, or that they weren't properly crate trained to begin with. It's hard to say if any of these could apply to your dog without knowing more but they are things you might want to consider if they above suggestions aren't enough to curb the behavior.

[Naeco]

Who here has brought their dogs to generally loud/crowded events such as festivals, trick or treats, or fireworks?