Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
One new dog, so many questions! (sorry for the length)
-
25-09-2013 12:46am#1I thought I had studied hard and knew about all there was to be known about how to take care of a dog. Little did I know! Now that we have had the beast for 25 days there seem to be new questions everyday. I spend a lot of times trying to find answers on the internet but sometimes without success so I thought I would put some of those questions here. I give a number to those questions to make it easier in case someone only had the answer to one of them and because I am sure more questions will come to me later. Sorry for the lenght of the post and the silly questions but I am a firm believer in the principle that it is better to ask a stupid question than to leave it unanswered:P
Q1- Ticks: a friend told me that in our area there is an important risk of lime disease. I forgot to ask the vet about it but the vet's receptionist sold us a treatment supposed to protect our dog against ticks for 30 days. Question: Is the treatment really necessary and would it also be needed when the weather becomes cooler ? The vet receptionist was trying to sell everything (food, toys, brushes...) so I did not expect an honest answer from her:o.
Q2- : Eating seaweed. For 2 days now our dog seems to be unable to resist eating, not just chewing but really eating, some white seaweed, I believe a kind of discoloured kelp. It is like an obsession, no amount of "no" makes him stop, if he is retrieving a ball, he lets it drop and eats the seaweed while completely ignoring us. The problem is that our dog has been suffering from diarrhea for at least 1 month and a half. He is at the moment on his third course of antibiotics. He has 2 daily walks by the sea and those were his time off the lead (he also has 2 small walks on the road were he is kept on the lead). Now we are worried and today for safety we ended up keeping him on the lead even by the sea. Are we overprotective or could eating those seaweeds (sometimes more than a foot long) be harmfull to him. He is a 2 year old labrador and it doen't seem that he his getting enough exercice when kept on the lead:(.
Q3: Food dispensing toys: In the afternoon we give him a frozen Kong, he loves it and so do we as he brings it out and it keeps him occupied for 30 minutes when he is so obsessed with his Kong that he doesn't even realize that we aren't with him (he otherwise gets stressed when we aren't around). He cannot however use the Kong inside as he always ends up losing it somewhere he cannot reach it under a sofa or a cupboard. Can anyone suggest a similar toy that would keep him busy, could be used indoor and wouldn't roll under furnitures? I start working again in a month and my partner won't be able to be home 100% of the time (even if he usually only works nights) so whatever eases the transition would be welcome:).
Q4: Aggressivity. Our dog gets along with everyone and every dog... except our best friend's dog, the one dog that we used to doggysit regularly. It does not make sense as our friend's dog is as friendly as it gets, a typical one year old golden retriever incapable of aggressivity. They met twice: the first time they seemed to end up getting along after a bit of a shacky beginning. The second time our dog seemed to attack the other dog every time they were close to us or running towards us. When they were far from us, on their own, they seemed to be ok. What can we do to make it stop:(?
Q5: "Stupid days". Our dog is usually quite bright but there are days like today when suddenly the simplest commands seem overwhelming: when I say "give me the paw" for example (which he usually understand without problem), he gets excited and looks at me as if he wanted to please but had no idea how to do it. Do dogs have stupid days
? 0
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
Q:1 May to September.
Thanks, I suppose the treatment we bought was not really necessary then. He mainly walks by the sea but we thought he might be at risk when we bring him to the local wood/park as there are deers there.
Q:2 Treats.make some treats like chopped sausages.
Walk him along where the seaweed is and say leave it when he goes for the seaweed.
Make sure he knows you have treats.
He always knows/thinks we have treats. Everytime I say "good boy" a bit excitedly, he looks at my right pocket hoping for a treat:D. I am afraid he prefers the seaweed to any treat though:(
Q:3. Could you put him in a utility room it the like.
What size is the kong.?
The Kong is the second biggest one (XL I believe). Our utility room is the least dog proof room so we do not want him there without us (what's more, we store his food and treats there). The hallway could be Kong proofed but we thought that we would leave him free access to the living room when we leave him home as his bed is there and it is his favourite room.
Q:4. Maybe meet the other dog at the other dogs home a few times where he will be on the other dogs patch if you get me.
The first time they met was at my friend's place, they met outside and were immediately brought for a walk (I wasn't there). The second time was by the sea down our road. I know we made a mistake: my partner and I parked our car and left our dog in it while we went to our friend's car. Our friend immediately let his dog out and the pup was jumping all over us while our dog was watching from our car. Probably not ideal:(.
Q:5. What food do you food him and is silly time soon after feed time.
Yesterday silly time was 2 hours after his kong so I don't think it is food related 0 -
Advertisement
-
-
Yesterday silly time was 2 hours after his kong so I don't think it is food related
It is if you're feeding him a food with ingrediants that are making him hyper (eg Hills) - what are you feeding him?
for #3 the Wobbler is IMO noisy on a wooden floor - my dog would bat it around and it'd smack the skirting boards and drive me mad...I'm ashamed to say I gave ours away!!
You can get a Buster cube made of softer plastic so it's not as noisy on wooden floors also Permier Linkables are brilliant - they're rubber so not noisy at all.0 -
-
-
It is if you're feeding him a food with ingrediants that are making him hyper (eg Hills) - what are you feeding him?
for #3 the Wobbler is IMO noisy on a wooden floor - my dog would bat it around and it'd smack the skirting boards and drive me mad...I'm ashamed to say I gave ours away!!
You can get a Buster cube made of softer plastic so it's not as noisy on wooden floors also Permier Linkables are brilliant - they're rubber so not noisy at all.
Oops:o Hills it is indeed.
For # 3 Thanks for the link I had never seen the premier linkables before. They look very much like his next toy(s):D0 -
Advertisement
-
My pup Henry (now 2 years old!) had awful diarrhea for a long time after I got him. The only dry food that seemed to settle it was Barking Heads Salmon and Potato.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barking-Heads-Fusspot-Salmon-Potato/dp/B00481FGU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380119821&sr=8-1&keywords=barking+heads+salmon
Taste of the Wild is good too as it's grain free, as is Orijen. The only downside to these two brands is that they have a very long list of ingredients and contain a lot of different protein sources. Now they're all great quality ingredients, but one of them might set him off and you'd have know way of knowing which. Barking Heads on the other hand only has a few ingredients and contains a single source of protein, so there's less chance of him reacting to something.
I now feed both my dogs raw - mainly a mixture of raw meat and bones - which is also something to consider if he doesn't do well on a dry food. It does take a bit of research though and it's more work.
0 -
-
bluecherry74 wrote: »My pup Henry (now 2 years old!) had awful diarrhea for a long time after I got him. The only dry food that seemed to settle it was Barking Heads Salmon and Potato.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barking-Heads-Fusspot-Salmon-Potato/dp/B00481FGU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380119821&sr=8-1&keywords=barking+heads+salmon
Taste of the Wild is good too as it's grain free, as is Orijen. The only downside to these two brands is that they have a very long list of ingredients and contain a lot of different protein sources. Now they're all great quality ingredients, but one of them might set him off and you'd have know way of knowing which. Barking Heads on the other hand only has a few ingredients and contains a single source of protein, so there's less chance of him reacting to something.
I now feed both my dogs raw - mainly a mixture of raw meat and bones - which is also something to consider if he doesn't do well on a dry food. It does take a bit of research though and it's more work.
Thanks, I add barking head to the list of foods to consider. Unfortunately when I start working again, I'll be away more than 50 hours a week including the commute. My partner, will be feeding our dog most days. I am absolutely sure he is not ready to consider raw food yet.
Q1- Ticks: I treat mine every 3 months <snip>
Do you mean that you believe that it is sufficient to treat a dog every 3 months even if the label says that it should be done every month or are you using a different treatment that only needs to be renewed every 3 months?
Q2- : Eating seaweed. <snip>. Suggest putting your dog on a long line and doing a session solely on 'leave it' with the seaweed. Always make sure the reward for leaving it is far greater than the seaweed itself. e.g. don't use kibble, use a high value treat such as liver or frankfurter. Even bring seaweed home with you so you can practice in the garden. Even tie it on to the end of a short rope, also tie a high value toy onto the end of a short rope, play with the two, but everytime he chooses the toy over the seaweed, he gets a high value treat. But, if you're doing the leave it exercise at the beach, bring him down to the beach, do the exercise and leave. Don't let him run loose having fun and to possibly ruin the exercise after spending 10mins trying to teach him to leave it alone. Straight on lead and back home. Keep him on a long line for a while until you're sure he understands and will obey the 'leave it'.
So in this case "leave it" is better than "no" ?
Q4: Aggressivity. Is it actually attacking? or is it one verrrry excited pup meeting another and going into seriously rough play mode. It can sound aggressive and is a common misunderstanding. Maybe take them out on onlead walks together for a few days so they get used to each others company but are moving along. Don't allow any play with each other while on lead. Use high value treats if you have to to take the focus off wanting to play etc with the other dog. If you think it is aggression, then again, take them for onlead walks together provided they're happy in each other's company, don't force the issue.
It really seemed like aggression to me and our friend who is used to dealing with dogs also thought it was aggression at the end.
Unfortunately, since we have moved, we only see that friend every 2 to 3 weeks and we always seized the opportunity to go for a long stroll with his dog while catching up. We don't have a daily opportunity to get the 2 dogs used to being together.
What is annoying is that this friend only trusts us to take care of his dog when he goes away for a couple of days and we thought we would do the same with our dog. That plan seems compromised now:(
Q5: "Stupid days". Be aware of how you're asking them to do the task. Is it a one 'Sit'? or is it 'come on honey bunny, sit now like a good boy'. Too many words that has the command word in the middle of it all are waaaayyy too confusing so they will sit there looking at you like you've two heads, they're thinking 'what exactly does she want me to do..?'. Pay close attention to yourself, make sure everyone uses the same command words. Don't repeatedly say the command. If they ignore you the first time, then by repeating it constantly is only teaching them that it's ok not to do it the first time. It's all about timing. Also be aware of tone, if your voice is getting all excited when trying to do a straightforward obedience lesson then they will get so excited they can't focus. Keep it nice and calm.
No honey or bunny with me:P just the command sometimes preceded by "Ross" when he doesn't seem to be able to focus. But I must admit I do repeat the command (sometimes a lot) when he doesn't seem to get it. To continue with your example of "sit" If he doesn't sit the first time I ask him to do so, if I can't repeat the command, should I just accept that he won't sit ? Or should I show that I am disappointed ? and if so how ?
As for the tone of voice, I might be missing in the authority department:o.
Good luck!
Thanks! He is a lovely dog:). I just realise that I only wrote about problems so it would be easy to believe he is trouble but he really very likeable and worth the effort0 -
Q1- Ticks:
Do you mean that you believe that it is sufficient to treat a dog every 3 months even if the label says that it should be done every month or are you using a different treatment that only needs to be renewed every 3 months?
I use Advantix which is a monthly product, however, I've never had an issue with fleas or ticks so I just do a routine every 3months on flea/ticks/worming. Saying that, over the summer months and especially if they've been exposed to high risk area or if I think they've been eating something like dead baby birds (which happened a good bit this summer), then I'd do an extra dose. It's just what I do, ask your Vet for this advice as everyone will be different.
Q2- : Eating seaweed.
So in this case "leave it" is better than "no" ? This entirely depends on you as to which word you want to use. I tend to use 'Leave it' for leaving something alone that I don't want her sniffing at. I stopped using 'No' as it's too commonly said but in the heat of an immediate situation it is the one that probably pops out! Ideally, choose one and stick to it. If you don't think he understands the 'No' and it may have been used to the point that he ignores it, then start the training again with a different verbal command.
Q5: "Stupid days". Be aware of how you're asking them to do the .....
No honey or bunny with me
just the command sometimes preceded by "Ross" when he doesn't seem to be able to focus. But I must admit I do repeat the command (sometimes a lot) when he doesn't seem to get it. To continue with your example of "sit" If he doesn't sit the first time I ask him to do so, if I can't repeat the command, should I just accept that he won't sit ? Or should I show that I am disappointed ? and if so how ?
As for the tone of voice, I might be missing in the authority department
.
Don't use his name when giving the command, e.g. 'Sit Ross'. Use his name to get attention, when you have it then just 'Sit'. Go back to baby steps on training, using food to encourage him naturally into the position and using the word so learns that command+action=reward. Might be worth going to an obedience class or two if you're having difficulty with it. But your behaviour and tone to a good obedience sessions is crucial. There's no need to show disappointment, dogs don't get this. Key here I think is, never do an obedience session with you being all excitable, You excitable=dog excitable. Control and calm is the way. And only 5 to 10mins at a time, don't labour it, he'll get bored.0 -
-
-
-
-
Advertisement