Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[Luzien]

so something fast about Canine parvovirus from wiki

Prevention is the only way to ensure that a puppy or dog remain healthy because the disease is extremely virulent and contagious.

Appropriate vaccination should be performed starting at 7–8 weeks of age, with a booster given every 3–4 weeks until at least 16 weeks of age.

Likewise, pregnant mothers should not be vaccinated as it will abort the puppies and could make the mother extremely sick.

The virus is extremely hardy and has been found to survive in feces and other organic material such as soil for over 10 years.

It survives extremely low and high temperatures. The only household disinfectant that kills the virus is bleach. The dilute bleach solution needs to be a (1:10 ratio) to disinfect and kill parvovirus.

Puppies are generally vaccinated in a series of doses, extending from the earliest time that the immunity derived from the mother wears off until after that passive immunity is definitely gone.

Older puppies (16 weeks or older) are given 3 vaccinations 3 to 4 weeks apart.

The duration of immunity of vaccines for CPV2 has been tested for all major vaccine manufacturers in the United States and has been found to be at least three years after the initial puppy series and a booster 1 year later.

A dog that successfully recovers from CPV2 generally remains contagious for up to three weeks, but it is possible they may remain contagious for up to six. Ongoing infection risk is primarily from fecal contamination of the environment due to the virus's ability to survive many months in the environment. Neighbours and family members with dogs should be notified of infected animals so that they can ensure that their dogs are vaccinated or tested for immunity. The vaccine will take up to 2 weeks to reach effective levels of immunity; the contagious individual should remain in quarantine until other animals are protected.

[Naeco]

I would still take the dog out and about. Obviously, take more precautions. Carry the dog or get a stroller/wagon. Do not let him/her interact with strange dogs or people until at least the first shot.

[ᴍᴀᴏᴄɪғᴇʀ]

@Luzien
By cages, I mean pens — such as ones you'd keep a dog in at a boarding kennel. So about 3 of the dogs head-to-tail along the front and 5 along the side (that's the only measurement I can think of >< but I just wanted to emphasize that it's large enough for them to walk around in)
They're in cages because they have a lot of chickens and cats, and I presume the dogs would kill them. Only one dog gets free-roam and that's Paz, my Ruby's half-sister. The cats, chickens, peahen, etc., all roam free around their land so it's not like the dogs would be able to leave their cages unsupervised.

They'd never willingly re-home them because they're the offspring of two of their deceased dogs, Ruby's mum and their old greyhound. Basically, they're only there because of their bloodline, and I'm unsure of what they're thinking of accomplishing by that since they're too unsociable to breed with any other dogs.
They're about 3/4 years old now? So it'd be difficult to socialise them even though they still have puppy mentality, and I doubt the parents would go through the effort of trying to train them now to be calm around the horses. Though it isn't a bad idea.

[juicebox!]

can you guys please give me home remedies or tips and stuff to relieve car sickness for my dog? i fed him like 40 mins ago and we arent leaving for another two hours. i cant crate him and he cant sit up front. the ride is like 40 minutes but my dog got sick last time we went near there.i was going to get dramamine but cannot. i just am desperate for tips.

[Imzadi83]

can you guys please give me home remedies or tips and stuff to relieve car sickness for my dog? i fed him like 40 mins ago and we arent leaving for another two hours. i cant crate him and he cant sit up front. the ride is like 40 minutes but my dog got sick last time we went near there.i was going to get dramamine but cannot. i just am desperate for tips.

You could give him some peppermint and/or ginger tea. Depending on his size a spoonful may be enough. Brew the tea plain of course and make sure there are no harmful additives. You can give it to him via a syringe, mixed in something, or plain if he'll take it.

Also don't feed him anything else. And unless it's extremely hot where you are or your car is going to be hot I'd withhold water for an hour before you go and not give him any until you get to your destination.

I personally believe dogs should be safely harnessed in the car and should not hold their head out the window. But if he can look out the window instead of just lying on the seat that may help prevent carsickness as well. Sometimes a small crack in the window will encourage a dog to look out and sniff the air while preventing their head from getting out.

In the future I recommend https://www.onlynaturalpet.com/products/Animal-Essentials-Daily-Digestion-Herbal-for-Dogs-and-Cats/148019.aspx, this is what I use to prevent Chloe's car sickness.

I also advise trying not to stress, you're dog can pick up on that and it can exacerbate the situation. Bring some grooming/baby wipes, paper towels, and poop bags to clean up the mess if your dog does get sick bring and extra leash too in case it gets on that, you can store the soiled one in a poop bag). Also bring a towel for him to lay on.

[Skysong]

So..... We’re moving and staying the first night in the new house.

Moving furniture has stressed Thor and Lilly out but they did great on the hour long car ride to the new house.

Now, we’re looking at a second and third trip for the things we need tomorrow.

Man, I need to go back and grab my work shoes. 😂😂

Things like the crate, the other kennel for Gizmo, various other things like my bedroom furniture. Man. I forgot how stressful moving is. Especially with 5 dogs.

[typically,]

ok so just for restraining rocco on walks i want to
teach him to sit between my legs ?? but what should i call it
i already use 'between', so i can't use that.

also rocco is extremely food motivated, could
i possibly break him outta that habit ?

[Imzadi83]

ok so just for restraining rocco on walks i want to
teach him to sit between my legs ?? but what should i call it
i already use 'between', so i can't use that.

also rocco is extremely food motivated, could
i possibly break him outta that habit ?

You could really call it anything you wanted. "Between" in a foreign language, "legs", or "hide" are the things that came to mind.

What is the problem with food? Do you mean he is too excited around food, or do you mean you want to phase out treats?

[typically,]

ok so just for restraining rocco on walks i want to
teach him to sit between my legs ?? but what should i call it
i already use 'between', so i can't use that.

also rocco is extremely food motivated, could
i possibly break him outta that habit ?

You could really call it anything you wanted. "Between" in a foreign language, "legs", or "hide" are the things that came to mind.

What is the problem with food? Do you mean he is too excited around food, or do you mean you want to phase out treats?

i mean that he'll really only do lots of tricks for food and nothing else. i can't get him to do a lot of tricks without holding some sort of food in my hand. also, i'll try hide!

[Imzadi83]

ok so just for restraining rocco on walks i want to
teach him to sit between my legs ?? but what should i call it
i already use 'between', so i can't use that.

also rocco is extremely food motivated, could
i possibly break him outta that habit ?

You could really call it anything you wanted. "Between" in a foreign language, "legs", or "hide" are the things that came to mind.

What is the problem with food? Do you mean he is too excited around food, or do you mean you want to phase out treats?

i mean that he'll really only do lots of tricks for food and nothing else. i can't get him to do a lot of tricks without holding some sort of food in my hand. also, i'll try hide!

You want to phase out treats then. First start by getting the food out of your hand, put it in a pocket or use a treat pouch. When he does a behavior show him there's nothing in your hand but that's okay, he still gets one from somewhere else. Once he can handle that you can try having him do behaviors without any food on you at all. He still gets a treat, it just comes from a sealed container somewhere else like a bag in the pantry or a sealed container somewhere.

Second begin making him do more for the same amount of food, more repetitions, multiple behaviors, etc.

Third introduce reward scaling (if you haven't already). Determine what he values most and least in terms of treats and use only high value treats for exceptionally precise and polite responses or when you're training something new or upping the criteria (a sit on a walk as opposed to one in your living room).

Fourth cultivate other life rewards; petting, praise, play, access to the environment, etc. Rotate these in with the treats. Over time slowly fade out the treats entirely and put behaviors on a variable reward schedule, meaning you reward him sometimes but not others. This is like a dog version of a slot machine, as long as it eventually pays out people will sit there for a long time playing hoping they will win big. By this point you won't need treats to get him to do something, but now and can you give him one.

Despite the fact that I've labled things first, second, third, etc. does not mean this is a linear process. You can be at different stages of fading out treats with different behaviors. I'll link you some videos down below to help you as well.

Fading Out Treats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ74wVgoEzY
Reward Scaling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7XxG5KchQ8