Dog Owner Chat v2

[orpheus.]

Forgot to say, we got Lyra a jacket since it's getting colder.
She's completely fine with it, surprisingly! Will get photos up soon.

[FuzzyThePunkCat]

Is it safe for me to give my dogs (and cats) raw on Thanksgiving as their meal?

You have to be really careful. Turkey sold for human consumption is usually loaded with sodium and other chemicals (to make it taste more yummy) before it's even sold to be cooked. You want to avoid skin and fat trimmings, and anything that says anything about precooked, preboiled, blahblahblah and sodium should be under 100mg. Otherwise you run a really high risk of causing your dogs to have pancreatitus, and trust me when I say that's not fun to save your dog from because I had a GSD that had the same problem after a battle with bloat. Absolutely do not feed any turkey scraps once the bird is already cooked.

We usually give Mocha the organ bag from the turkey if the sodium is low enough. She likes feast days- she gets more yummy things in her food bowl

The turkey I give to Creed is a ground bone/meat tube not loaded up with all those chemicals because it's for pet food.



Edit:
Oh, I just had a thought.

The only human-food turkey I buy is turkey necks. You could give Kiba a chicken neck since she's so small, and Wolf a turkey neck. Those are typically not treated so strongly (because they are not a "feast" cut like the whole bird is) and you can get them in packs for 1-5$ per pack.

Thanks! I might try that. Chicken necks for the cats too? I definitely was not planning on giving them turkey, my grandmother almost kills her dogs every year doing that (one did die once). Where can I buy the necks?

[Tipsy]

Thanks! I might try that. Chicken necks for the cats too? I definitely was not planning on giving them turkey, my grandmother almost kills her dogs every year doing that (one did die once). Where can I buy the necks?

I buy turkey neck at a supermarket I get like 10 for a dollar.

[Joe Kerr]

My brother, the one who owns the GSDs,
is wondering what is a healthy height and
weight for a male GSD, one who apparently
came from Germany originally {Not sure on
this though, he might be exaggerating}

[Jazi]

Is it safe for me to give my dogs (and cats) raw on Thanksgiving as their meal?

You have to be really careful. Turkey sold for human consumption is usually loaded with sodium and other chemicals (to make it taste more yummy) before it's even sold to be cooked. You want to avoid skin and fat trimmings, and anything that says anything about precooked, preboiled, blahblahblah and sodium should be under 100mg. Otherwise you run a really high risk of causing your dogs to have pancreatitus, and trust me when I say that's not fun to save your dog from because I had a GSD that had the same problem after a battle with bloat. Absolutely do not feed any turkey scraps once the bird is already cooked.

We usually give Mocha the organ bag from the turkey if the sodium is low enough. She likes feast days- she gets more yummy things in her food bowl

The turkey I give to Creed is a ground bone/meat tube not loaded up with all those chemicals because it's for pet food.



Edit:
Oh, I just had a thought.

The only human-food turkey I buy is turkey necks. You could give Kiba a chicken neck since she's so small, and Wolf a turkey neck. Those are typically not treated so strongly (because they are not a "feast" cut like the whole bird is) and you can get them in packs for 1-5$ per pack.

Thanks! I might try that. Chicken necks for the cats too? I definitely was not planning on giving them turkey, my grandmother almost kills her dogs every year doing that (one did die once). Where can I buy the necks?

Your cats may or may not eat it, who knows. Cats tend to be a little more fussy about stuff like this.

I get necks at the low cost meat market downtown. It's the only place that has "weird" cuts of meat as well as organs which I need for Creed's diet. I usually get a 1-2# pack for under $3.

[§~Dawn~§]

Well Pepper is sure a handful! I'm trying to train her to be more obedient. Not working. Any suggestions? She is an Aussie so she is very hyper and can't sit still. She is working on 'Sit' and she's kinda-almost there. I'm hoping to get her to walk on a Leash properly. And here are some pics of Latte and Pepper outside today:

[.muse.]

No such thing as can't sit still, it's won't wit still. Find a treat she goes nuts for and use those as your training treats. If she's not very food motivated find her favorite toy and try that. How old is she? She's super cute! I've always loved the look of aussies they just aren't a fitting breed for me. So I just admire the ones people here own lol.

Lovely pic of Creed! He's such a handsome boy.
Question about him while it's on my mind. Do you find he walks better with the thicker collar or does he not care which collar he's got on? Cause I've noticed with Link he walks well with the leash clipped to his collar, but he's 110% better with his harness. I'm working on getting him used to walking well with just his collar, cause I don't always have the time to harness him up if we're just going somewhere real quick or just for a car ride while I run errands.
So I was just curious if the collar thickness makes any difference.

[§~Dawn~§]

We're not exactly positive. Her father is unknown and her mother was a stray who had already had the pups. But the shelter took them in.


Creed is so handsome!

[Cardinal]

Warriorcat, clicker training is loads of fun! Kikopup has some great videos on youtube about it.

[ilhdc7]

My dog Kakao is sensitive to the touch. When you touch her paw, and shes not ready for it, she jerks back wildly, then ignores you for the rest of the day. Obviously, she doesn't like it, so, any tips on how to get a dog to be less sensitive to the touch?

It's normal for some dogs to dislike having their feet touch, particularly if they've experienced having their quick cut when nail clipping or have allergies/skin conditions that make their paws itchy/painful.

First thing's first, find a super yummy absolutely awesome treat that she'll do ANYTHING for. Touch her shoulder, say 'yes' (or click if you have a clicker) and treat. Keeping doing that until she knows that you touching her shoulder = treat. Repeat, touching her elbow and then just under the elbow then the middle of her leg then her ankle then finally her paw. Don't even pick up her paw, just touch it. Remember, only move on to each step when she seems completely relaxed and comfortable and doesn't mind you touching her. Finally, you can start BRIEFLY picking up her paw, treat, let it go. Work on extending the amount of time you're holding her paw. Then you can start messing with her paw. Separate the toes, touch the nails and nail beds, put you fingers between her paw pads, run you thumb over the top of her paw, etc. If there's anything that seems extra difficult for her to handle, work on that more. Work on one leg/paw at a time.

If nail clipping is a stressful thing for her, you're going to need to work on that too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWZUcLfHXLE

Thank you. I will definately be trying this.