Dog Owner Chat v4

[melbourned]

So, we are going to an adoption event "shelter" to see if any dogs are right for us. not advertising but i'll post more on my blog if we are successful

[shadow~wolf]

anyone have tips for teaching a dog to pay attention to you on walks? Lucky doesn't pull on walks and listens pretty well but he never "checks in" or offers any eye contact during walks.

[LizzytheWolf]

I went to the dog park with Justin today. It was a lot of fun and we met two border collies, their owner was really nice and he seems to think I should enter Justin in a dog show. I'd love to, but I don't have the patience and I don't think Justin does either.
A little girl came up to us in the park, I had a picnic blanket set up and Justin was on his leash, tied to the fence. She was playing with him and I showed her how to get him to do some tricks. The girl's mother ran up to us and started yelling at me, telling me my dog was vicious and shouldn't be allowed in a public park. I tried explaining and she threatened to call the police. Justin was very gentle with the little girl and the mother had no reason to yell the way she did. They left the park and I took Justin the a little cafe across the street. I got a coffee and a bag of special gingerbread treats especially for dogs. Justin really loved the treats, we hung out on the patio in front.
Other than the park incident, today went really well.

[rainbowwrowell]

Any tips on keeping dogs cool in very hit weather?

[Angelus Gaston]

Any tips on keeping dogs cool in very hit weather?

Cooling coats are a god send, there dog coats which can be wet and you just re-wet them once there dry. You can also wet an old blanket for the dog to lay on to help keep the dog and floor cool if you cant get a cool coat.

Rio currently has a cooling bandana we brought and honestly it lasts for hours and he isn't as warm as when he didn't have it.
Water we drop ice filled bottles in to a washing up bowl of cold water the dogs love it ( we have to stop them stealing all the bottles ) and even the cats enjoy a cold drink.

[taurus ;]

Any tips on keeping dogs cool in very hit weather?

Spade looves ice!! When it gets really hot, I fill up a pool with ice and let her to crazy lol.

Vashti is a brachycephalic breed, meaning short-faced, so she is at an extreme risk of heat stroke. I also live in TN, so it gets very very hot here. Vashti's walks are very short, I don't even think she would care if we didn't go on walks, she has no extra energy to get out like Spade does and she's been a steady weight(12-14lbs) for years now. My house is air-conditioned so its not really hot inside, but after walks to help her cool down, I usually get out the fan and let her sit in front of it or I'll allow her to sit/lay on an air vet for a while.

[maninkari]

Any tips on keeping dogs cool in very hit weather?

Spade looves ice!! When it gets really hot, I fill up a pool with ice and let her to crazy lol.

JJ's going through a skittish faze and she's afraid of ice and popsicles! Even though she ate ice and popsicles throughout her entire puppyhood since she was born in the summer. There's a picture way back in this thread of her licking a popsicle.

anyone have tips for teaching a dog to pay attention to you on walks? Lucky doesn't pull on walks and listens pretty well but he never "checks in" or offers any eye contact during walks.

Do you always walk the same way every day? He might not pay attention cause he knows the routine and doesn't have a reason to. Maybe switch it up every now and then. When JJ starts to ignore me I'll change direction or stop, but I only need to do that because she's usually off leash.

[taurus ;]

Awee, poor JJ!! Spade is skittish with strangers, but I think that's normal?? When someone goes up to pet her head she'll jerk her head away and then hide behind my legs. She hates butt pets even more, someone tried doing that once, nope, never seen her jump so high into the air lol. I just hate when people don't give you time to say yes or no to pets, like they're saying 'hey, can I pet your puppy/dog??' and reaching out to pet at the same time, wHY do people do that ??????

[Imzadi83]

anyone have tips for teaching a dog to pay attention to you on walks? Lucky doesn't pull on walks and listens pretty well but he never "checks in" or offers any eye contact during walks.

You could teach an attention noise/cue that tells your dog you want them to check in. Also changes of direction/pace can encourage a dog to pay more attention to you. Is he just not offering eye contact? Does he occasionally turn an ear in your direction? It may be that he is paying attention to you in other ways besides eye contact. The fact that the leash is loose may be indicator enough in his opinion that you are still there so he just may not feel the need to make eye contact.

[shadow~wolf]

I'm pretty sure he is paying attention. He begins to turn as soon as I do, stops when i do, gets into the heel position again if he goes ahead of me when I stop (on accident), ignores children + dogs, responds to my cues as soon as I say them, etc. He knows to look at me on cue. He'll give eye contact when I ask for it but he just doesn't ever check in on his own.

EDIT: Anyone know of some good frisbees that are on amazon for a decent price? Trying to find one for Sage!