Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[eleutheromania]

@Dipstick; if she’s an older dog, it’s highly unlikely. then there could be other underlying health issues that result in tiredness. HD, ED, being overweight, among many others can make exercise something a dog doesn’t want to do a lot. My beagle use to be a high activity and drive dog. now at 7 going on 8, she just wants to sleep all day and doesn’t really do much in terms of activity, she also has HD, which doesn’t help in wanting to get her to go on long walks etc. Other environmental factors can come into play also, such as temperature.

[taurus ;]

I feel like I forget about this thread too much, so update! :))

I got a puppy!! A female border collie named Alice. Working/showline mix and I am so happy with her, almost too smart but that's what I wanted LOL. Her breeder is amazing and matched me perfectly with her. She is my Novice A dog, so I plan to dabble in multiple sports with her.


Kenai is doing well! He recently got neutered(I waited until 2) and was not happy about the 2 week crate rest, but now that it's over he's full on flat coat spaz again. It's pretty obvious that his hormones are out of order at the moment, so hopefully in these next few weeks they settle out. He's taking to Alice pretty well too, a little annoyed with having to share toys now, but they get along well!


I also got a new camera, a beginner DSLR. I'm so happy to be getting pictures better than iPhone quality. It's definitely a little hard to work with, but Kenai doesn't mind sitting still and modeling as long as he gets fair pay haha.

[i<3 wolves678]

Does anyone have any advice on dealing with a dog with canine cognitive dysfunction?
Over the past couple weeks, Mungo has been showing a lot of the signs, and considering his age (roughly 12), it seems like the most likely cause of his behavior. He’s been wandering in circles a lot and forgetting where things or people are, as well as regressing back into some old behaviors we had previously managed to stop. He used to wait in the back garden when my mum left the house, but that was something we managed to stop him doing, but now he’s returned to doing it again, and it’s worse now that he forgets she is in the house and goes out to wait for her when she’s actually inside. It wouldn’t be a huge issue if it wasn’t for his separation anxiety that has now gotten much worse again, and sometimes forgetting causes him to have panic attacks, which we worry could cause a heart attack at some point considering he gets himself really worked up. We don’t want to take him to the vet over this for the same reason, as he has severe anxiety about it, and we know they are likely going to tell us what we already believe is the case.

[triplethesix]

does anyone know what to do to help a dog that sheds an insane amount??? this photo shows a small part of our yard after a few minutes of brushing and little to no improvement on how she looks :’)
she’s some sort of a golden lab mix, we aren’t sure exactly due to her being a rescue, but our house is constantly covered in hair no matter what we do. i cant imagine how itchy it would be for her either, please help :(

[mawsoleum]

does anyone know what to do to help a dog that sheds an insane amount??? this photo shows a small part of our yard after a few minutes of brushing and little to no improvement on how she looks :’)
she’s some sort of a golden lab mix, we aren’t sure exactly due to her being a rescue, but our house is constantly covered in hair no matter what we do. i cant imagine how itchy it would be for her either, please help :(

furminator all the way, thing works wonders. you will have to spend a lot of time on it, expect to brush out undercoat for some time. you can also take her to a groomer to get an undercoat blowout - they'll usually use special shampoo and high velocity dryers. if all else fails - get her a lion cut or something, just shave the coat entirely!

Does anyone have any advice on dealing with a dog with canine cognitive dysfunction?
Over the past couple weeks, Mungo has been showing a lot of the signs, and considering his age (roughly 12), it seems like the most likely cause of his behavior. He’s been wandering in circles a lot and forgetting where things or people are, as well as regressing back into some old behaviors we had previously managed to stop. He used to wait in the back garden when my mum left the house, but that was something we managed to stop him doing, but now he’s returned to doing it again, and it’s worse now that he forgets she is in the house and goes out to wait for her when she’s actually inside. It wouldn’t be a huge issue if it wasn’t for his separation anxiety that has now gotten much worse again, and sometimes forgetting causes him to have panic attacks, which we worry could cause a heart attack at some point considering he gets himself really worked up. We don’t want to take him to the vet over this for the same reason, as he has severe anxiety about it, and we know they are likely going to tell us what we already believe is the case.

so i know you don't want to take him to the vet, but they may be able to get him on gabapentin or trazodone or something for his anxiety. they'll likely want to do bloodwork due to his age, just to rule out any other causes of the symptoms. if not the vet, you can always try some OTC remedies for anxiety, just keep a close eye on his health to make sure there isn't something bigger going on.

[taurus ;]

furminators really shouldn’t be used. what’s shedding is the undercoat, furminators are blades and rip out the top coat and undercoat. because of this i’ve seen them make dogs bleed pretty frequently and it’s not healthy for the coat either.

double coated dogs also shouldn’t be shaved ) shaving doesn’t make them shed less, the fur that comes out is just going to be shorter.
i recommend a double toothed rake! helps my heavy shedder bunches!
as for professional grooming, shedding shampoos and blow outs do help a ton.

[Kenjaku]

Your dog will always shed, but the pic looks like mostly clumps of undercoat - so she may be doing a thing called "blowing coat". It's totally normal, natural, and isn't anything dangerous. You may find when you look at your pup she has little tufts sticking out - and if you give them a little tug they'll pop right out of the coat! This is harmless for your pup. That's the soft, downy undercoat that's shedding out as we head into the summer months.

Furminators are fine if used correctly lol. I work at a grooming shop and both of my mentors have over 40 years of experience a piece in the industry, and we have & use them. (Some dogs coats won't come out with a rake, but the furminator will grab it. It's always such a mixed bag! My personal chow/lab mix's coat does awesome with a furminator, for example.) It's just an expensive "brand name" carding tool. You can just as easily brushburn a dog to bleeding with any tool. I've seen undercoat rakes grab skin folds/flaps and cause bleeding. (Hell, we dull our undercoat rake blades a little so we don't cut *ourselves* LOL)
Any tool can be used correctly and incorrectly; let's not demonize them. Instead it would be most helpful to provide information on *how* to use tools correctly.

At our shop we do offer a deshedding package where we use a specific kind of shampoo/conditioner that works to help get the undercoat out! Then we go in with a rake, furminator, etc - whatever works best on your dog (because in my experience, every dog needs something different!) and also blow out undercoat with a high velocity dryer. I would recommend bringing your pup in for a similar service, and when you pick up - ask what they recommend for your dog's coat to help get undercoat out. Groomers are very happy to help you keep your dog in good, comfortable shape. They can also teach you how to properly use it - how to know when to stop brushing / raking areas.
(Generally, when you stop feeling resistance you want to move on to another area unless you want to thin their hair to baldness haha)

[nervousdog]

It's been a couple weeks since it happened, but I finally got to the point where Hazel was comfortable enough to let me shave her ! We did it in the bath with the water running to minimize the clipper sounds . She definitely wasn't too keen on it, but was polite and held still for the majority of the trim ! I didn't get her feet very well because they are still a very touchy subject with her and I didn't wanna make it worse by zoning in on making them perfect .
We are working on doing some positive conditioning with the nail clippers and every once in a while she lets me clip a nail .

Please forgive how fat she is 😭 she was much fatter in jan-feb-March and has actually been losing some weight and starting to look better ( and seemingly feel better ) . She gained a lot of weight when she was HW+ and on crate rest !

We got an embark for her and sent it in, it just arrived at the lab so in about 2 weeks we will see what breeds our little mutt are ! Her previous owners said she is 50% American bulldog because they owned her mother, so while I will believe them I take it with a grain of salt- bully breed mixes get mislabeled often and I never saw the mother ( hazel was 4 when we got her ) .
Do you guys have any guesses what she might be ? : )

My breed guesses are : American bully, miniature/standard schnauzer, shitzu, border collie

[fairytale.]

The kids are growing up too fast! 4 and a half months old now and it kind of blows my mind. They have been totally bomb-proof with everything I have thrown at them and I love them to pieces. Thora also totally adores them even though they're basically teenagers now and she cramps their style haha. Their littermate Rune just took an IABCA Puppy Herding Group 1/Best Puppy in Show and Puppy Herding Group 2 on his first weekend out!

Of course, old man Beaker is doing great. He turns 11 later this year which is just wild. He is doing really well with the puppies compared to how he was when I brought Thora home, though he definitely has his limits. Luckily they're learning what those are and respecting them. He's such a good boy and I am glad to have him around <3

[drift.]

@ fairytale- I dont know if its just my laptop but your images are broken/ not showing up ! I'm glad the puppies are doing
well though :]

@nervous- I don't have a great guess, but I just shaved down my little mutt as well and he also hates it unless
there's a good reward to entice him to be on his best behavior- which that day, happened to be a little stuffed
mushroom he could hold for comfort lol. We think he's a dachshund/mini poodle/shihtzu but it's hard to say for sure,
nothing is known about him. I can definitely see some bull breed in her, and the shihtzu. My guy's tail hangs over his
back like the shih tzu, but he's got floppy ears and a wiry coat.