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

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

Post by Ari_RR »

We were leaving for a park, Ari already in the back of the SUV in the driveway, when a delivery van pulled up and the guy brought out a parcel. Seeing an intruder in the driveway, Ari put on a good show of barking and growling from within the car. The guy turned out to be a curious soul, walked over to my SUV, to see what's inside, and got essentially nose to nose with Ari, trying to see through the dark tinted glass. By then, seeing that the intruder wasn't much of a danger, Ari was just staring back at him.

The guy was quite fascinated, was asking what kind of dog it was... Rhodesian what? Can he really kill a lion?! :shock: Oh, they don't really fight lions... :( But what if 5 of them decide to fight a lion, can they kill it? :x How much does he weigh? Almost 110lbs?! :shock:

He hung around for a few more minutes, asking questions, and eventually came to a conclusion.
Wow... That's a Big A$$ Dog you got there, man!

Then he got back into his van and drove away. God bless him, curiosity and ability to get surprised goes a long way in learning things.
Last edited by Ari_RR on Sat Sep 13, 2014 5:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Sweetie's Human
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Sweetie's Human »

I can relate to that! A few months ago there was a lady in the carpark at the pool waiting to collect her kids and she had the tailgate open with two beautiful ridgeback faces poking out. I had to go over for a closer look (asked first, of course) and they were absolutely lovely. They were an adolescent male and female and were happy enough to meet me (they weren't in their own driveway protecting their home, though!). I think big dogs that are a little out of the ordinary just pique peoples interest.
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Ari_RR »

Sweetie's Human wrote:So off they went with OH at a slow jog and little Sweetie a blur of legs beside him
:lol: :lol: :lol:
ClareMarsh
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by ClareMarsh »

Nettle wrote:I hesitate to be sexist, but I do find most men to be re-active not pro-active, and it can take the devil of a lot of work to get them to change. Also I find as a rule that men think if it hasn't happened it won't and women think if it can happen it will.
Totally agree with this. I have hammered what can go wrong into OH to the point that he can be a bit skittish on walks :lol: but better than not worrying at all. But still I find unless I have drummed the possibility of a scenario in to him he doesn't think. So yesterday he went to lie on the bed with Ted for a bit, I said great I can have Ella out of her pen (she's in the fertile bit of her season for anyone who hasn't read elsewhere). Needless to say Ted quickly decided being upstairs with Dad was not as attractive as usual and started crying, so what did OH do? Just let him out the bedroom with no warning. Now because I'm a ninja I saw all this coming and already had Ella off the ground and ready to go back in her pen by the time Ted was half way down the stairs. But I didn't tell OH this :twisted: just yelled that I'd told him Ella was out and why the hell didn't he forewarn me that he was letting Ted out. "But he was crying" was his response :roll: I will admit it was all a bit "set up" and there's no way I'm going out and leaving him with anything but explicit instructions about who is to be where whilst I'm gone but I was a bit peed off that he didn't think.
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Sanna
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Sanna »

Nettle wrote:I hesitate to be sexist, but I do find most men to be re-active not pro-active, and it can take the devil of a lot of work to get them to change. Also I find as a rule that men think if it hasn't happened it won't and women think if it can happen it will.
Yup. Or, as with my OH just not thinking period. :twisted: I've largely given up, his intentions are good and by now he bloody well knows what he's supposed to do/ not do, I think he just forgets. Every time. Or he just disregards me cos I'm a 'know-it-all', then when it goes wrong admits that maybe I had a point after all.. Still doesn't stick tho :roll: :lol:

I had a wonderful walk with P yesterday :D we walked through the local park on our way to the fields, I normally avoid it cos with all the dogs and people there P is just hyper focused on everyone else, pays me no attention whatsoever, I really struggle to get his focus there and he is likely to wind himself up wanting to check all the dogs out but then potentially deciding they are Bad Dogs in need of a good telling off :roll:

But we'd not gone that way for a while and it's on the way to where I wanted to go so I figured we'd give it a try. There was quite a few dogs and people about, including a group of maybe 10 smaller dogs walking with their people, but everyone was doing their own thing and we had plenty of space so I thought I'd try and engage P in some obedience whilst making our way thru the park (it's quite big). I wasn't really expecting much at all but boy did he make his mama proud :D I got beautiful focus and attentive walking to heel, left&rights, about- turns and backing up, quick pace and slow pace, down-stays and roll-overs- he was so into what we were doing that we ended up staying to do some searches and retrieves as well (first time EVER he's stayed interested in a toy/game when out and about) :D
Probably sounds like a very normal walk to most of you but honestly it felt like such an accomplishment :lol:
And for the rest of the walk all the way home my little big hooligan decided he would walk perfectly not only on a loose lead but to heel :shock: I expect he'll be an absolute brat today just to keep me on my toes and lower my expectations :lol: It was a good day tho.

That puppy class sounds fab Erica! I wish they were all like that. Delta sounds amazing, well done :D

How's Babydog doing Nettle?

Oh and I'm loving the idea of Sweetie going for a run- we need a video! :lol:
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minkee
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by minkee »

ClareMarsh wrote:Now because I'm a ninja I saw all this coming
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Thanks for asking :) Babydog is still coughing but not as much. It's as bad a go of KC as I've ever seen. But she is lively and eating well.

Good news - White Stilettos the Chav Puppy has a new home, and she is the last to go :D We had to be very careful where she went, as she is going to be hard work before she morphs into the most amazing working dog. She now has that home.

Love the ninja, CM :lol:
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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

Post by MPbandmom »

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with an OH who doesn't seem to grasp the gravity of certain situations. Not that the knowledge gives encouragement for improvement in the future. :lol: :lol:

We did have a bit of a discussion after parking yesterday when I asked OH to be certain no-one was close by of the sidewalk. He didn't know what I was so bothered by. He has a good grip on her. She won't bite anyone. :roll: I pointed out that she doesn't have to bite anyone for someone to cause trouble for her. All they have to do is complain that they felt threatened, and she does a good job at making people feel threatened. Hopefully it registered and will stick. We shall see.

The deer at the quiet park across town are way too acclimated to people and dogs. We headed into the wooded loop trail yesterday and the dogs were very keen on the woods. We looked but couldn't see anything. We came back around the loop and there standing just inside of the woods was a young deer. The dogs went a little bonkers. Sky threatened to back out of her harness, but was stropped by a stern uh uh from me and OH felt compelled to grab her lead and hold tight. I don't think he realizes that it is the tight lead that assists her in backing out of the harness. It didn't matter though because she had already stopped threatening to back out.

The next time we came around the loop, the deer was pretty much in the same spot. The third time we came around the loop, the deer had moved further out into the open. The fourth time we went around the loop the deer had decided to go on over to the section of woods outside of the loop and we saw her cross over the trail not too far in front of us.

Why in the world the deer just stood there watching the dogs go bonkers the first time and didn't duck back into the woods is rather a mystery to me. She must feel very confident that the dogs can't get to her. One of my sons suggested letting the dogs off lead to take care of the issue of the acclimated deer. He stated it would be a win win situation as we would get to keep whatever was left of the deer after the dogs finished eating. Hmmmm being in a public park, with leash laws, outside of hunting with dog's season, I don't see that coming out well for us at all. :lol:
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.
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

MPbandmum, if dogs are normally on lead there the deer may have learnt that they are not a threat. But it may also be that when deer see a predator they freeze rather than run - sighthounds tend to respond to movement, and on several occasions Jasper hasn't spotted a deer that was in clear view. The moment it moves, he's off!

I was supposed to be looking for a pair of smartish shoes to wear with a dress today but ended up with a pair of red boots which go beautifully with Jasper's new collar :oops: OH and Jasper then met me for a walk along the seafront on the Baiter, a large field of reclaimed land. He can get a bit 'naughty' here - the excitement of somewhere he doesn't go often, a big expanse of grass, and plenty of other dog walkers. He was great though - I put him on lead whenever I saw a dog I was unsure about, but he was fine with all of them. He also introduced himself to another lurcher, and even playbowed to him, which I don't see often :D They had a bit of a play, but they were on a sort of beach about 6' wide so it wasn't easy :lol: He was clearly telling the other lurcher that even though they were playing, he was in charge though :lol:

I saw a lovely playful young dog - OH and I both thought it might be a leonberger but looking on the internet, it was paler, more of a fawn colour, less fluffy, and less heavily set. I've discovered there's such a thing as a 'fluffy mastiff', which looks closer, but again, I'm not sure the dog I saw was as heavy and jowly. Any ideas, anyone?
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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minkee
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by minkee »

I've found that I've had to very clearly spell out what I mean and what the consequences could be. For example -

We were walking Scout (pre-Breeze) in the park, throwing her ball for her. A GSD that I know doesn't like other dogs comes along down a path so I mention this to OH. He acknowledges and then throws the ball straight towards it so Scout hurtles towards them. "!!!!!" I say. "What?" he says. What I *should* have said is "That dog doesn't like other dogs so we need to keep Scout over this direction for a while so she doesn't startle it." Apparently.

To be fair though, that was a long time ago. I think having a dog like Breeze makes you wake up a little bit to what's going on. Though I always had to cringe when I saw him pass person / dog / dog / person.
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

minkee wrote:Though I always had to cringe when I saw him pass person / dog / dog / person.
I know that's meant to be a no-no, but I sometimes find it works better for us. The reason is our relative strengths - if Jasper wants to get to the other dog and is on the other side of me, he can get more movement, and more momentum, up if he can move across my body. If he's on the same side as the other dog and I have him on a short lead with a firm grip, he can't get nearer the other dog. And he knows it, so is less likely to lunge.

But this is the scenario where Jasper is the aggressor, not where another dog is trying to get at him.

I have to say, OH is very good at doing what he's told with Jasper - he's happy to admit he's not a dog person and I am the 'expert' (even if he does call me alpha b!tch :lol: ). Apart from when Jasper digs holes in the garden - then he tends to get angry and shout at him. But to be fair, when I see Jasper dig in the garden I usually watch and laugh, enjoying seeing him having so much fun, while wondering what I can plant in the new hole.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
MPbandmom
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by MPbandmom »

JudyN wrote: But to be fair, when I see Jasper dig in the garden I usually watch and laugh, enjoying seeing him having so much fun, while wondering what I can plant in the new hole.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh my dear little Sirius. :roll: We took the dogs for an afternoon walk at the battlefield with their backpacks today. Things were going really well, when we happened to encounter a jogger. Sirius normally isn't all that touchy about joggers, if we get her off if the trail and distract her. However, this jogger was running a bit awkwardly and wearing a neon green safety vest which was flapping in the breeze. OH was hanging onto her lead and at one point grabbed her by the muzzle and she was still trying to go for the guy, who was obviously quite certain he was under attack, which just made him flop his arms and shriek. :oops: :roll: Of all of the reactions she has had to various people, I think this one may well have been the most intense.

Afterwards, I told OH it was the green vest that set her off. So he said, "so now it is people wearing bright green vests?!" I do feel for him. There are times when it is really hard to grasp just what is is about a particular individual that sets her off. The particular trail we were on is one of the more narrow trails in the area where we hike. Now that I think about it, it was this same trail where we encountered man with baby carrier backpack. I guess we need to come up with a way to avoid that trail.
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.
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Anybody moving oddly, especially at a run, looks 'weak' and 'weak' means prey. So no wonder S got lively - the flappy vest just added to the 'sick animal needs killing' vibe.

Sometimes I think it's easier to tell the less dog-savvy to assume they'll react to anything except when they don't, rather than they'll react to odd things of this or that type.
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bendog
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by bendog »

Yup. Or, as with my OH just not thinking period. :twisted: I've largely given up, his intentions are good and by now he bloody well knows what he's supposed to do/ not do, I think he just forgets. Every time. Or he just disregards me cos I'm a 'know-it-all', then when it goes wrong admits that maybe I had a point after all.. Still doesn't stick tho :roll: :lol:
This is my OH too.
Although enough seems to be sinking in through some kind of osmosis. He had a week off recently and came with me on a couple of my dog walks and surprised me a couple of times by picking up on how the dogs were feeling, when play was getting too much, etc.

I've just been on the 2 day Institute of Modern Dog Training course run by Steve Mann. First day was a lot of (what I thought was) stuff that was common sense/most people knew - operant conditioning, observing dog body language, shaping behaviour with a clicker (stand on a bowl, and down on a towel).

I was pretty surprised to find that a lot of people (bearing in mind lots were already dog professionals) didn't already know most of it, and had to sigh at a few of the questions where people were STILL bringing up dominance, pack theory etc. Steve was pretty awesome at answering these though!

Second day was much more useful from my point of view (I want to get into running classes/1-2-1 training eventually) and it was about how to structure a good puppy class, and what to ask on 1-2-1's, how to phrase things so you don't come across as judging the owner etc.
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Aaargh, I need a G&T this evening!

I decided to put Jasper on a diet yesterday - he's gained another kilo, and after he had a dip in the pond and was dripping wet I realised I couldn't see his ribs. But so far, it's not going well....

He has got the hang of breaching the cat's defences, and twice today has eaten his catfood. We have made temporary reinforcements, and will try to do something a bit more effective at the weekend - possibly a hook on the airing cupboard door which will only let it open to Monty width.

Also, I had left three ciabatta rolls in sealed plastic boxes on the worktop, thinking that as they were firmly closed he wouldn't realise there was anything edible in them. Foolish me... he nicked the lot, just before tea time, so we had to have burgers in rolls without the rolls (but with chips & beans instead :D ). He was then on a mission to remove everything off the worktop that might have once upon a far and distant time have come into contact with food. A freezer bag has been shredded. I did tell him off, but really for my benefit - he just looked blankly at me wondering what was up with me.

Anything awaiting washing up is now going to live in a basket in the garage till washing-up time :?

Then after tea, when I sat down with my coffee, Monty wailed - probably because he hadn't got any food any more - and I called up to him 'Just a minute Monty' and moved to get up. The movement combined with my raised voice (and possibly the stress of me telling him off earlier) caused Jasper to have one of his moment, and he leapt up and growled at me, not wanting me to move. He got his front paws up on the sofa and I'm afraid I ROARED at him. 'NO!! OFF!!!' He looked quite shocked, got back to the floor, and though he didn't respond to 'DOWN!' he did go straight to his bed when I said 'BED!!!'

Maybe it's a good thing, once in a while, to make it quite clear that some things aren't acceptable... or maybe I'll just have upset him so much he gets to be even more anxious about where I am and keeping me there.

Oh well - as OH often says, 'The diet starts tomorrow' :wink:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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