Dog Owner Chat! (for-fun poll added) (new chat)

[Lupen]

No offense, but how the heck have you owned 76 dogs ? I'm assuming you aren't older than thirty, and even a thirty or forty year old shouldn't have gone through 76 dogs.

I also find the fact you get rid of dogs a bit.. Sickening. Dogs aren't meant to be bought and given away at a moments notice just because they can't "protect you". And I hope you realize that no dog should be expected to protect you, even a Rottie or GSD, unless properly trained. And personal protection training costs thousands of dollars. I'm talking ten thousand or more. Any unprofessionally trained dog is nothing but a liability.

And I would've thought someone so experienced would know the answer to most of these questions... Whether a staffy would do good with other dogs for example. I also find it hard to believe a shelter would allow a dog home at one month, no matter how crappy of a shelter. Pups need to still be on milk at four months, albeit in the process of being weaned. It's also vital for them to be with their mother and litter mates if possible for socialization. If not possible, it's still required to hold them for eight weeks as It's actually against the law in many areas to sell them any sooner.

My dogs to me are family. Companions. They aren't accessories, security systems or whatever else. I don't buy them only to get rid of them a few months or years later.

As for your fearful GSD... I don't know why she's so terrified of a puppy. It just seems like lack of socialization.. Or has she been traumatized by dogs in the past? Either way, socialization and even a professional trainer, to help BOTH of you, wouldn't hurt.

I'm sorry if this came out offensively but .. It kind of irks me.

Edit: Ninja'd by cardinal.

[~Serenade~]

Dogs shouldn't be treated as weapons for the purpose of protecting the house. You get a dog because you love the dog and want to take care of it, not because you want something to protect your home. A badly trained guard dog could seriously hurt someone who's meant to be in the house. There are way too many cases of friend drops by quickly, guard dog mistakes him/her for intruder, dog bites, dog gets put down.

You shouldn't decided a dog's worth based on how well it guards your home, if you need something to do that invest in a camera, alarm system, ect.

When you get a pet, you commit to caring for it for it's whole life, not just until it's not worth the space/money. To get a dog simply because you want it to guard your home (Which as said a staffy won't likely do) and you're willing to give up one animal just to get another. Plus the fact that you seem to go through dogs faster than candy bars, I don't think you should get another pet. Ever. I apologize if my opinion offends you.

Doing that math if you are about 10-20 and have owned 76 dogs, you get about five new dogs every year?

[elizabethhher]

i guess i worded it wrong, a lot. with my chihuahua, we're not giving it away, in a sense. he's moving in with my sister, when she gets her new apartment, which should be soon. right now we'll be giving him to a rescue, where they promised to hold him for us. we'll visit him everyday until my sister gets her apartment. also, the maltipoo was given to our mother, who bought her and was the first to own her. she gave the maltipoo to us, as she was in the hospital. i guess i use given away very lightly.

the 76 dogs thing was an over-exaggeration, as i was just counting off the names of the dogs that we had when i was a child and the dogs that i had shared with friends, family, and have fostered. as i had gotten tired after number twelve, i just put a random number, which turned out to be 76.

i said i was experienced, but never did i say i was 'so experienced', as if i was the god of knowing everything about dogs. by experienced, i meant that i knew most things about dogs, and about their temperment. the shelter has given me some milk to feed the pup, as it mother had passed away. they told me they were euthanizing the pups (as i had said in my other post) but i have no idea if they said that to just get me to buy them or if they were being true.

i'm not judging a dog's worth based on it breed. i live in a neighborhood where my house gets robbed quite frequently, and i am on the process of moving out. yes, i know it may seem silly for me to buy a new dog even though i am moving out, but i still think that i should have some sort of dog as protection, even if they are the kindest dogs in the world, if that makes any sense.

my german shepherd has had proper socialization, and was a police dog, or so i was told. i bought her at a police dog event from an actual police man, who told me that she had been trained to be a police dog, but due to budget cuts, had to let most of the dogs go. in case you want to know, i do know her commands, and she does listen to me. i honestly just have no idea why she acts like this around my staffordshire, though.

none of your opinions offend me, as i read back over my post and found some things that i realize i didn't clarify or worded in a way where it sounds horrible and disgusting. i hope i clarified everything here, and if not, please bring them to light. hopefully, you guys don't think bad of me now. i am just a female who wanted some advice about her pets. i want to state that i, in no way, dispose of my pets, as you may put it. i treat them all fairly and equally, and they are treated like the best pets in the world, though they are not at the point where they are too spoiled, if that makes sense.

great, now i feel like the worst dog owner in the world...

oh, just so you know, i'm way younger than thirty. way younger. not even close.

[MayWolf]

Do you own a dog?: Of course! I used to own two pugs, sadly they passed away :C About a year ago I adopted a pitbull & cattledog mix <3 named Kitsúne.

Favorite dog breed?: Border collies were my favorite for a LONG time, but now I'm leaning more towards cattle dogs and pitbull type breeds.

Tell us about your dog(s), if you have any!: Kitsúne, or Kit for short, is the absolute best dog I could wish for <3 I adopted her when she was a 9 months old at a local shelter. Now, she is 2 1/2 and still my little baby. The one problem with her is that she is way to smart x3 AND stubborn. That's not a good mix... Anyways, inside the house she's a sweety. The absolutely most laid-back dog you'd meet. However in-front of my house she's VERY territorial, which I'm trying to get under control :S Kit doesn't really play fetch (only when she's bored) but she LOVES wrestling and playing chase with other dogs. I'm looking into to getting her friend



The black dog is her 'boyfriend' x3

[spiderfish]

Anyone got any tips on desensitizing dogs with hosepipes?

Toby LOVES water, but is terrified of hosepipes. Even when its not turned on, just the sight of it scares him.
Problem is, we don't know why he's scared of them. He has been ever since we got him. But considering what the first three years of his life were like, god knows why he's scared of em.

[Saracirce]

Bought Clemmy this toy today at the store. Hoping it will be one plushie that lasts a decent amount of time with her. It feels pretty solid. No squeaker though. So, we'll see. Haven't yet given it to her so we'll see how much she likes it. She's not exactly picky though xD

@Spiderfish: Just try leaving the hose pipe out in the yard, put him on a leash and bring him out though let him stay as far away from the hose as he feels comfortable. Give him treats as you slowly move toward it but don't push him. Once he's totally okay with it being on the ground and can even walk over it or sit on it without a problem, you can work with him on someone holding it. Just remember to work from a distance at first and have someone else manipulating the hose while you give the dog rewards for being calm. Or, if there's someone in the house who the dog likes better/finds more rewarding to be around, they can reward the dog while you manipulate the hose. After that, then you work on water going through the hose.

@Squid Girl: That's a pretty intense fear if she's peeing herself. If your girl's not food possessive, I'd start with the puppy in it's crate with him occupied with something Maybe a kong filled with wet/soft food if he's old enough to be weaned? Ask a vet before doing that though and going through simple, basic tricks on the opposite side of the room with the GSD. Make sure she can see him. Gradually work closer to the pup. Even if she seems okay with the pup in the crate, this will set the ground work for later. Once you're at the point you can be right next to the puppy in it's crate and your girl's still listening, put the puppy in a harness and leash and tie him to something solid. Again, give him something to be occupied with and, again, work with your girl on the opposite side of the room while slowly getting closer. This will probably take weeks for her to get comfortable with him. Even once she no longer seems scared of him, do not have them in the same room together unless you or someone else can give them their complete, total undivided attention. Puppies don't know body language yet and don't know any better. If you see your girl giving the pup signs to back off, reinforce it by redirecting the pup onto something else.

[Jazi]

Video of the day- how hot does it get in a parked car?

http://youtu.be/JbOcCQ-y3OY

[spiderfish]

@ Saracirce
Thanks That was my original idea, but because I don't know why he's afraid, I didn't know whether that'd be best.
We'll try it tomorrow

[.Gone.Traveling.]

Do you own a dog?: Yes, three!
Favorite dog breed?: Wippets, pugs and beagels.
Tell us about your dog(s), if you have any!: We have two female Bichon frises (?), Amy (3 or 4?) and Lucy (14). We also have a french bulldog x pug puppy name Bella who turns 1 in september...
Pictures of your dog(s): Can't find any good ones of the two fluff balls, but here's Bells:

My mum has her suspicions about Bella actually being just a frenchiexpug as apparently she's alot bigger than she's supposed to be and she's so hyper-active. She races around the lounge/kitchen and jumps up on the couch, using it to push herself off and then off she goes again! I swear if the couch didn't have the support of the wall behind it she'd push it over!
Although just like a pug she is food-driven, she learns quickly and will do almost anything for any piece of food you give her. We have a long list of all the tricks she can do somewhere...
We feed all our dogs home cooked meals, including liver, vegetables, rice with a mixture of dry dog biscuits and Bells puts on weight quite fast, but loses it in just about the same amount of time it took to put it on... We stopped feeding them regular dog roll a few months ago as their skin starting playing up.
We have to take her on at least two walks a day to calm her down as well.
Currently she's taking a holiday with some friends as Amy is having puppys near the end of July, it was quite unfair on our two other dogs to have Bella here when Amy's expecting puppies and all Bella wants to do is jump and play...

Does anyone have any tips on things we can do with Bella at home to get rid of all this extra energy?? Something we've found quite fun to do with her at the moment is play hid and seek!

Since she's food motivated have you considered a toy that dispenses food? Or maybe stuff her regular food into a kong toy. We used to play fetch and tug of war indoors with our little dog. As long as you keep it a calm version and in a safe area you could even play fetch by rolling the ball. Maybe try a big ball she'd have to learn to push around with her nose.

Thanks for the ideas, although she's pretty crafty and we gave her a konk and she managed to get the treats out without much effort? XD so it really needs to be something to get here running and being active. We often play "soccer" with her in the garden too but she gets bored and actually picks up the ball and runs off with it!

[Saracirce]

Don't you just love when a dog seems to injure themselves, act up just enough to get you worried and then, five seconds later, they're acting completely normal? Clemmy likes to do that to me a lot xp The most recent time (and why I'm writing this), she seemed to have landed on her front right paw wrong while trying to catch her toy and was limping, sniffing and licking at the back of her wrist. Naturally, I go up to her to check on her paw. Feel it and the wrist, flex it to see if it hurts her any and, when I let her go to see how she walks, she's acting normal again xp Frigging butthead. I swear, she likes to scare me like that and she's such a ham xD I guess she just tweaked it a bit and needed the muscles flexed for her.