Dog Owner Chat v2

[Tipsy]

You know what I hate?
When people force thing on to you. I was hanging out with some family, and we walked passed a pitbull looking dog that was going CRAZY. I stopped to amire it's coloring ( a pretty cream and white) and my cousin came up telling me that pit bulls are actually really sweet and that the media takes things to far with pits. No duh. I HAD A PIT BULL! He went on and on saying how I raised my pit wrong, how my pit should have ran up to everyone with licks and all. Sure my dog was a bit wary of strangers, but he didn't bite anyone, he wasn't aggressive. But still my cousin went the whole day telling me how sweet pits are.

[Jazi]

Thanks, Jaz!
Considering how he acts
in the bathroom, should
I start making the bathroom
door a fun place to be? That's
where his anxiety starts {If
I don't say the word 'bath', that
is}.

Definitely! Or even a little farther back from the bathroom door, start with it in sight and not at all reacting to it, and build from there. It will not be a fast process, but he should slowly start changing his mind

[Joe Kerr]

Thank you so much for
the tips. I'll do anything
to help Barnabas and his
struggle with anxiety.


Yodel all you want, Lola,
I am not giving you the ball
yet! Funny girl, she sounds
like a pterodactyl!

[Dakonic]

As a Pit Bull lover and breed advocate I will be the first to say that a lot of Pro-Pit Bull people are excruciatingly annoying. Usually it's the excess sugar coating that irks me though ^^"

That is an adorable picture of Lola

[.Middy.]

This is not a medical question, more of a grooming one.

Ok so about a year ago, Chewie somehow managed to rip open his head losing a bit of fur and leaving a small wound. I kept it clean and everything, and it healed fully. Recently, he has lost the same patches of fur again. He hasn't banged his head on anything, and there is no wound. The fur is just not there anymore.

Any ideas what happened? Did his hair grow back funky and fall out? Or did the goof somehow manage to pull the exact same chunks of fur out without a wound? (He has been fully inside for a while now, only going out to play and potty. I'm always messing with his ears, so I would have noticed a wound even if it had went away soon after getting it.)

[~Serenade~]

I'm a bit late but congratulations Jazi! Creed is super adorable!

[Joe Kerr]

@Dakonic

The sugar-coating does get a
lot of good dogs in bad positions;

People get Pit Bull type dogs thinking
they're bomb proof, because other
Pit Bull type owners never mention any
of the bad, and exaggerate the good.

And thank you! She's extremely photogenic!

[Jiloon]

So.. I have several dogs, and in those are two German Shepherds (actually from Germany, trained in Schutzhund) and a lovely Scottish Terrier that I trained from puppyhood. All three of them are marvelous dogs, and very loyal to me, but lately the Scottie has been wandering off with the Shepherds at her side, and then she'll come back hours later with them gone. After that, then many hours later they'll wander onto the ranch all dirty and almost rangy looking.. I've never had to tie a dog to keep them on the property, and she hasn't done this except for the last few weeks.. They aren't mating, one Shepherd is female and the other one is male, all of my dogs except the male Shepherd are fixed.. They never have any scratches or anything, and no signs of other animals or discomfort.. I've had them for many years.. Anyone know what might be causing this, aside from curiosity? And possibly how to fix it...?

[FlynnEugene]

Ok, I need some advice.
I really want another dog but my parents don't.
Last year we had to put my other dog down, and my mom is still upset about it.

We have a dachshund and is around 12 years old, I love her so much but I want a dog to call my own.
So I just asked my parents how they would feel and my dad said we aren't getting one because he doesn't want to commit to one for 15 years. Though I'll be moving out in a few years so I would take the dog with me.

How could I convince my dad to get me the dog?

(Ah sorry if this isn't allowed here...if it's not please let me know and I'll delete it xc)

I guess all the advice I have for you is before considering having a dog of your own, look at what you need. For example you say your leaving in a few years, I a guessing college. Of course your going to think " well, don't worry I will take the dog with me." Most colleges do not allow animals, they don't even allow small caged animals such as birds, reptiles and rodents. So they will not allow dogs or cats for sure. A dog is a 15 year commitment give or take a few years and it's not always wise to get one before you leave to college. It's not only hard on you, but the dog as well. If your parents want another dog that's fine, but I say don't commit with a dog unless you know you are stable.
Plus I don't know what your parents consider " owning your own dog" but my mom makes me buy everything buy myself that has to do with my dog, including vet bills. So also consider that as well. If you are not going to be paying for it and caring for it 100% it's technically not your dog and will still be a burden on your parents.


As for the whole collar thing, I appreciate all of your advice and I finally decided on no longer using the collar on Izzy. I mean it does have it's benefits but I also see where you all are coming from. I just recently started clicker training Izzy, so if any of you have youtube video's or ways that I can get her off of depending on treats I would LOVE the help. I'm kind of upset with myself for messing up like that with her Like I guess I just never saw the small signs of her being scared of things like that. It didn't scare her too much, but when it did I should've noticed. So please, if any of you have videos on clicker training and getting her off of treats please send them my way.
thanks!

[gingertail98]

Okay since this is getting a little buried:

Don't apologize, your post is fine! However, do remember, if you are about to move out because you're a high school student getting ready to graduate... there is a very high possibility your parents will be keeping your dog after you leave. Why is that? Because it has become very hard to rent with a dog nowadays, and most landlords will tell you flat out no. Especially if you have any breed considered aggressive, or anything over 30-50lbs. Ask me how I know.

The only reason I can rent with my pup is because he is a service dog prospect. If he was not, I would not be allowed him. And they only allowed my cat because they have prior experience with me and know she does not destroy things or piss everywhere.

Keep that in mind when your parents tell you no. However, if you really really want more interactions with a dog in your house, why not bring up the idea of fostering a dog for a rescue? That way the dog avoids being put down due to lack of foster homes, you guys get to take care of the dog until it gets adopted, AND later on you may decide to adopt one of that rescue's dogs or you could use that rescue as a reference for dog-related things such as purchasing from a breeder or getting a reference that knows how you are with dogs for a landlord

@.sea
Yep yep! I agree with pretty much everything Jaz has said here. Take it from someone a year out of high school and living at home. It took months of working at a part time job (since my work doesn't offer full time employment) to save up a 'dog fund' to cover everything from initial costs to vet bills to food. My family and I had to talk about what would happen when I move out in a few years, what will happen when I start doing part time Uni in the fall, training, still taking care of my personal cat i was already paying for and solely responsible for. It was months and months of deliberation on their part, but ultimately was decided by the fact that I will need a dog for my career choice and that it would still be several months until the puppy would be born and come home (fall/winter 2014) but, things don't always go as planned and several things happened and a 14 month old Chesapeake Bay Retriever fell into my lap 2 months ago and I decided to keep him, thereby giving up the puppy I'd planned for so many months to have. It's been a lot of hard work, Charlie is not an 'easy' dog by any means. He has a lot of issues, but they aren't anything I can't handle, considering I knew the breed very well before I took him in, since I had been looking at retrievers and was going to purchase a Labrador puppy and personally knew someone with a Chessie. I knew how psycho the dogs were and how 'velcro' they were before I got him. Had someone made a quick 'in the moment' decision and snapped him up of craigslist/kijiji for cheap (Which is what his old owner was going to do if we hadn't taken him) they would have been in waaay over their heads. While I regret that I don't get my puppy now, I love Charlie, and honest to god, that dog is so devoted to me, I can't picture him with anyone else. I know ultimately it's for the best I took him. Even the day I took him however, we weren't 100% sure we were going to keep him. He stayed with us for over a week to see how he would do with our other older dog and my cat before we 'officially' took him. Its a big decision, so I can see why your parents may have concerns about another dog. i definitely agree with Jaz that fostering might be a better option, at least for the time being.