What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Get to know other Positively members here.

Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost

Post Reply
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Jasper's had an allergic reaction to something :? All of a sudden after tea I noticed that his face looked lumpy - he's got a fat lip, lumps on his nose, and swollen eyelids. I've since found a swelling on his bum too. Called the emergency vet, whose main concern was that it could have been an adder bite, but it had been a good four hours since we'd been out (he had to have an early afternoon walk as we had to go to the dentist). She was happy for me to give him Piriton and keep an eye on things. Found I was out of Piriton, had to rush to the shops, which only had Piriteze, but when I rang the vet again she said it was OK to give him that.

My best guess is that one or more bees were involved. Maybe one stung his bum, he grabbed it, and it stung his mouth for good measure. Though I don't think he's been out in the garden on his own much at all this afternoon, and he's not one not to let the whole neighbourhood know if he's in pain.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

Hope Jasper feels better soon!

Agility class last night was great :) Our class is two aware reactive dog owners and their dogs, two clueless "friendly" dog owners who would let their dog just walk all over the place, even up to other dogs, and then me and a sheltie owner who was chatty but didn't just let her dog wander up. The two "friendly" dogs got in a scuffle at one point because their owners weren't keeping distance. :roll:

Anyways, Delta did wonderfully at the jumps; the instructor even asked if he'd done agility before. :) We also did straight tunnels, which he worked up the courage to go through when lured him with a toy (after that he was pretty happy to go through them). The last thing was the A frame, which, along with the dogwalk and teeter, is going to be the toughest thing for Delta...he doesn't like picking his back feet off the ground much when he has to put them down somewhere higher up. I've worked on hind end awareness - pivoting around his front feet, targeting with his back feet, and at puppy class we did a lot with the raised ladder and now he keeps all his feet in the squares. Still, he is Not A Fan yet. I was very pleased with our instructor, as she made sure the dogs didn't feel too uncomfortable and didn't try to push them farther than they wanted to go.

Going forward, I'm going to work with Delta on staircases (which he will bound up if they're outside - we're going to work on going up them slowly, moving his feet separately and not just hail-mary-ing it) and find some more hind end awareness stuff.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Delta's going to be a star!

Jasper's fine thanks - I think the swelling was actually going down before I got the antihistamine for him. I'm aware that allergies can kick in harder after the first exposure to the allergen, so I'll make sure I always have some tablets on me now.

Introducing MacDuff, the puppy I got to name :D

Image

Image

Here's his thread on Lurcher Link: http://www.lurcherlink.org/llink/forum/ ... hp?t=97949 I'm sure there's going to be more lovely photos of him as he grows up.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
gwd
Posts: 1958
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:33 pm

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by gwd »

Macduff looks like a sweetie! Good choice of names!
Image
User avatar
Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Gawjus!

He will be fawn with a black mask, ears and tail top (tail underneath will go fawn). When they are little black velvet things it's hard to realise how much lighter the adult version is.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
delladooo
Posts: 763
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:53 am
Location: Blackpool, UK

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

He is lovely Judy!

Mum and I are at Blackpool Dog Show this weekend. We're going all three days (day 2 today) and leaving ours at home even though they're welcome. MiMi would be deeply unhappy and Laufey far too excited. I've met some stunning dogs of some wonderful breeds I thought I'd never see in person and even got to touch some of them. I've bought Laufey a new collar and a Julius-k9 harness. I've been considering one for a while but the front strap bothers me as to where it applies resistance if he lunges but he's getting much better and does look very good in it. His collar is a lovely little leather string just to hold his tag but I'm hoping, being thinner, it will also disrupt his fur less

Image

Image
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

You already know I think Laufey looks lovely in red :) I tend to find on a lot of dogs red just looks tacky, like "we went to get a collar and the first one we saw was red," but he looks very deliberate and striking in red!

MacDuff is adorable!

We had agility class tonight and Delta was a star again :) Going to all those staircases (a different one every day this past week!) seems to have payed off - whereas last week he wouldn't step outside of the yellow on the A frame, today he got past the yellow (with his front feet) on the first go :) and by the end would nearly go to the top! I think next week he'll crack it.

But he really shined in the mini course we did at the end. Perfectly focused off leash, only tried to duck the second tunnel but did it when I guided him to it again (might have been handling error on my part that had him try to skip it - we're both learning!), did the tire (new this week) and all the jumps perfectly! He jumps so joyously; it''s great to watch. He is definitely enjoying it and so am I. The trainer noted that he had an amazing learning curve. Probably a bit of poodle braininess and a bit of "we train for nearly an hour every night." :P Learning how to learn is what I find most dogs have trouble with. Once they understand that nope, not everything I try to get you to do is "sit," they learn pretty quickly!
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
delladooo
Posts: 763
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:53 am
Location: Blackpool, UK

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

Erica wrote:You already know I think Laufey looks lovely in red :) I tend to find on a lot of dogs red just looks tacky, like "we went to get a collar and the first one we saw was red," but he looks very deliberate and striking in red!

MacDuff is adorable!

We had agility class tonight and Delta was a star again :) Going to all those staircases (a different one every day this past week!) seems to have payed off - whereas last week he wouldn't step outside of the yellow on the A frame, today he got past the yellow (with his front feet) on the first go :) and by the end would nearly go to the top! I think next week he'll crack it.

But he really shined in the mini course we did at the end. Perfectly focused off leash, only tried to duck the second tunnel but did it when I guided him to it again (might have been handling error on my part that had him try to skip it - we're both learning!), did the tire (new this week) and all the jumps perfectly! He jumps so joyously; it''s great to watch. He is definitely enjoying it and so am I. The trainer noted that he had an amazing learning curve. Probably a bit of poodle braininess and a bit of "we train for nearly an hour every night." :P Learning how to learn is what I find most dogs have trouble with. Once they understand that nope, not everything I try to get you to do is "sit," they learn pretty quickly!
I agree that some dogs do end up looking tacky in red. Personally I'd say he naturally suits the colour well and then I spend all my time specifically trying to locate good pieces which makes the difference :wink:

Sounds like Delta is doing really well at agility. I might have to try the staircase thing because Laufey's back end awareness is appalling. He tends to pick his feet up but just has no consideration for where he's putting them so it might make him think more. You're doing excellently at agility and likewise we're learning it is great fun. We've not started A frames yet but have done dog walk and teeter, I think the poodle brain definitely helps Laufey so I'm sure it does wonders for Delta. We need to start doing more independent training but a heat wave has just hit and we're suffering just as I thought we had the basics down enough to attempt some independent stuff. I agree that them learning to learn is a huge part of it too :mrgreen:
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

I want to vent about how poor Rosie the goldendoodle is left so much alone that she doesn't even look up to any voices or noises I make. She can hear, she'll respond to a squeaky toy from another room, but human voices? Absolutely meaningless. Training her is kind of a nightmare because, well, voice cues mean NOTHING. It's sad. I'm trying to do a bit of training to give her humans advice for when they get back but honestly, if they don't just PLAY with her and do training for fun and teach her that interacting with humans is rewarding and has meaning...

sigh.

But Delta is great! I took him outside to potty, grabbed the squeaky ball in case the neighbor's dogs were out so I could get him to not go say hi. We go out, he pees in the woods, starts coming back, and then a herd of deer take off a few feet from where he is. He turns and starts chasing them, I call him and start squeaking the toy, and he turns and runs back to me. :) I'd have liked for him to turn when I called him but I'll take what I can get lol. We're working on impulse control with chasey things, like gently tossing a fetch ball and then chucking another ball to reward him holding a stay. I want to get to the point where I can call him off of chasing a ball (or deer etc) but obviously that's college level and we're still elementary school. :P

Delta's birthday was a couple days ago (June 30). I got him a beef trachea, hoof, and for dinner I lightly seared a steak on one side with some butter and garlic. Might have been a bit over the top but he loved it, so that's alright. Butter is his favorite, lol.

...anyone know of butter-flavored dog treats?
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
User avatar
Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Wow, that's brilliant about the deer!

Delta's birthday dinner sounds lush. Dogs are so sensible - nothing but the best :lol: butter is far healthier than any substitute.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
MPbandmom
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:18 pm

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by MPbandmom »

What a lovely birthday dinner for Delta.

Yesterday was Independence Day here in the US, so fireworks, so Sirius has not been having a good week. There have been a couple of evenings where OH was watching the Women's World Cup soccer and thus didn't want to go for a dog walk. So, I took Sky out by herself. OH pleaded Sirius' case for her and accused me of discriminating against her. What I was doing was avoiding having her outside in the evening with a high likely hood of local hooligans setting off fireworks. They don't bother Sky, but Sirius wants to head to the van or home immediately, right this instant, if she is out for a walk and hears something go boom.

Oldest got married Friday so dogs were home alone for a lot longer than they are accustomed to. It was kind of sad as we got ready to leave. The dogs were certain we were all getting ready to head out for a grand adventure.

We tried to make up for it on Saturday, but even at 10 am there was a pop and Sirius wanted out of the dog park which I had taken Sky in for a little fetch and OH had followed with Sirius as she wanted to follow Sky. Fortunately, OH was able to convince her that the sky wasn't falling and fortunately that was the only boom we heard while we were out. All of the big city festivities are at the "quiet" park across town, so the rec center at the park behind the house was closed, making the closer park the ideal choice for a nice quiet walk, with the exception of the one firecracker incident.

Today is more Soccer so I was informed after I got home from taking my parents to church that any walking needed to be done early. Fortunately there is a breeze today although rather muggy. We headed for the woodsy trail at the battlefield and had a delightful walk in spite of encountering 3 horses, as well as pretty well sharing our entire walk with a family of 5 whom we passed once and they passed us once. We also encountered a couple of other people, but Sirius didn't have any hissy fits. The calming tablets she has been on because of the fireworks might have helped, or she is just worn out from all the scary noises last night.

We came home and I asked OH to help me give the dogs baths. Sky has smelled like a "sweaty dog" ever since her surgery, but of course, one cannot bathe a dog who has recently had surgery. Once she was healed enough, other things came up. Today just seemed like the perfect day.

After baths, I pulled out my blow drier that I have gotten for the dogs. Is it just a human hair drier with a cool air setting. It is powerful enough to get down to the dogs' skin, but takes forever, and while it did blow out a few tufts of undercoat from Sirius, at some point a more powerful blower will need to be acquired. I was amazed at Sirius' response to the blower. She who hates noisy things, actually lay down and let me blow her and even started to go to sleep. Again, it could just be the calming tablets, tiredness from all the scary noises, and maybe also from the walk and the indignity of being bathed. She wasn't very happy when I got close to her head, because the air tickled her ears, but otherwise, she was very cooperative. I really need a more powerful blower though. I got one side I thought pretty well, then she moved and then came back and I got the other side, but when she got up after that, the first side didn't look like I had dried it at all.

Sky wanted nothing to do with the drier. Her fur isn't quite as long and thick as Sirius, and my arm was getting tired from blowing Sirius, so at least for now, I am letting Sky dry on her own.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

I don't know how your dogs would react to the environment, but in my area we have a DIY dog grooming place. You can use their bathing and drying facilities. Having used a hair dryer and a high-velocity dog dryer, the hair dryer just can't compare. If you can find a DIY dog grooming place in your area it may be worth looking into, depending on the price.

I meant to groom Delta today too, but I ended up feeling just bone-tired and taking a nap. :) I'm finally home for a couple weeks, and I can't wait to sleep in my bed and not on a hard-as-rock mattress in a room so humid that the sheets are constantly damp. Delta will get his bath and trim on Tuesday instead.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
MPbandmom
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:18 pm

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by MPbandmom »

We have a self serve grooming place around here that has a blower. It is just more convenient, less expensive, and less stressful to bathe the dogs here. We do go there sometimes if the outdoors weather doesn't seem right for a bath and we need to get them done before vacation or such. A friend has offered a loaner blower provided OH is able to fix the wire chewed by a foster dog. We don't bathe the dogs very often, the three times they have been bathed so far this year, I think is a new record for us. :lol: I am saving for a K9 II blower.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

I've heard the K9 II is a great piece of machinery. :) If mine bites the dust, that'll be what I go for.

While drying Delta today (after his bath) I noticed that he must have ripped his stopper/carpal pad while playing fetch recently. He is...really into fetch and didn't make a sound when it happened. But I'm going to order some skid boots because a) I don't want that happening again and b) they will be GREAT for keeping those stinking hitchhiking seeds out of his leg poofs when we walk/play in weed-strewn areas.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
delladooo
Posts: 763
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:53 am
Location: Blackpool, UK

Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by delladooo »

Wow Delta seems to be getting in the wars a lot at the minute, I hope he's okay.

I'm planning on doing some serious "ignore the distractions" work with Laufey to try and build his self control some - he's doing brilliantly if the reward is a ball but without the ball he tends to get distracted easily but with his ball it's all he wants to the point that I've fallen over him trying to walk down the road to get to the park and I don't always have it on me. I don't know if the ideal solution is more self control with the ball (and hence me taking it everywhere) or more self control without the ball. I feel the latter is more flexible and possibly easier because he seems to riled up to learn when he has his ball sometimes.

Either way, he did brilliantly this morning and ignored a westie sat right next to him (we see him all the time, he's friendly and just wanted some treats) in favour of getting his own treats. Dog control is something we really need to work on though because the sitting and whining isn't conductive to walking and it just attracts the dogs and people I'm trying to avoid :roll:
Post Reply