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

Get to know other Positively members here.

Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost

Post Reply
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 »

Nettle wrote:Guilt is part of being a proper dog owner. We always feel we should do more for them. :)
Oh I like that, I might have to quote you in the future :mrgreen:
bendog
Posts: 2188
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

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

Post by bendog »

Sometimes it seems all I do is moan about my OH on here but actually, he isn't that bad! He hates being told what to do, so you have to let him think he has figured it out by himself, but a lot of his views about dogs and training are much more in line with my own now :mrgreen:

Still some things I don't like, for example he is still likely to pick them up even when he can see that they don't like it, and he is more slack with management, he trusts the dogs much more than me, so whereas I might put them on lead "just in case" in certain situations, he is more likely to assume they'll be fine and deal with anything as it happens. This is my one big worry when baby is here so I'm really trying to drill it in that being OVER careful is far safer than just trusting that they will be ok. And he is much more likely to get frustrated with Poppy when she is bored, rather than trying to keep her busy.

But, he can read their body language pretty well, walks them more often, is well trained to reinforce good behaviour, and probably knows a lot more than most "normal" dog owners. For example people at his work have started asking him dog advice, and he has mostly given decent advice eg suggested a lady whose dog has been getting bored to try using kongs etc. and let's face it, how many men would put up with 4 terriers?? Even a lot of dog trainers on my course last week were a bit OMG :lol: :lol:

Anyway, Sash has been a bit neglected the last couple of days because OH has been working or dog walking non stop and I've been away. So she has been alone a lot and not really had her usual little 20 minute plods to sniff stuff. she is not allowed on the bed, due to risk of fights with Poppy and risk of her biting our face if she sleeps up near our head. Last night we both felt really mean shutting her in the kitchen on her own to sleep when she had been on her own most of the day, so OH decided to sleep on the sofa with her instead so she has some company :lol:

Since I've been pregnant Charlie has been much more attached to me than normal, and after taking him away on the course for 4 days he has hardly left my side since, whereas before he was always more my OH's dog than mine, yesterday evening Charlie chose him for snuggles instead of me so OH was made up.
Image
Last night
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 »

Oh that is so stinkin' cute!


People psychology - as a sweeping generalisation, women are pro-active and men are re-active. Men think if it hasn't happened it won't and women think if it can happen it will.

So your OH is doing really well!
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
User avatar
minkee
Posts: 2034
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:58 am
Location: Yorkshire
Contact:

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

Post by minkee »

This explains why when I met up with my OH both our dogs were off lead... RIGHT NEXT TO A FIELD OF CATTLE :evil: :evil: :evil:

and why he cannot fathom why I was so shocked & appalled! They were literally in the same field - only separated by a string of electric fence. :cry:
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 »

Glad to hear Opal is doing better, Erica.

Today we took the dogs for a nice walk at the battlefield 3.13 miles. I would have loved to go around the fields again and knock out Sirius' 5 miler for her trail dog excellent title, but we got a late start and OH is just getting to where he can go as far as 3 miles. It was a warmish day with temps in the upper 40's F so we did encounter a few other dogs out and about. The perpendicular jogs off trail to avoid other dogs were likely the reason we surpassed the 3 mile mark. We usually come up short of 3 miles on the particular loop we typically do there these days.

On the way back home we made a couple of short store stops. At the second one we came out to find the van refusing to make even the slightest attempt at starting. We called oldest son and AAA, both of which arrived at about the same time. Oldest has a big pick up truck, I think it is in the 300 range size wise. It has a crew cab, so we loaded the dogs into the back seat. That was a challenge because the truck is so high off of the ground that neither dog could get in on their own. OH rode home with oldest to drop off the dogs and pick up our other van to return for me. Poor Sirius was rather freaked out about finding herself released from the van into a busy parking lot, walked to a big truck and hoisted inside. As soon as OH climbed into the passenger seat, Sirius launched herself over the seat back and dived into his lap. It apparently then took the two of them quite a bit of effort to get her back into the back seat with Sky again.

OH made it back to the parking lot just as the tow truck did. Sirius seemed still rather freaked out when I arrived back at home. Both dogs are resting now.

There will be big excitement here tomorrow as the Fiber Arts Group of the sammy club is coming for a luncheon meeting at our house. There may also be a young samoyed coming with one member. The plan is to have our two outside or upstairs. Or maybe Sirius upstairs and Sky outside. Sirius got a little snarky with a couple of the ladies last time who had difficulty with the "do not touch the small dog with brown eyes" rule, so I think it will probably be best to keep her separated from the crowd. There will also be about twice as many visitors as we had last time, so more reason to keep Sirius away from the hubbub.
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.
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 »

Sounds like a really stressful event for all of you! I'm sure the dogs will be fine and hopefully your van too, then you can get back to your trail dog. Sounds like the Fiber Arts Group will be quite stressful too but good luck, both with the entertaining and making sure the dogs are okay :D


I have very tentative plans for after summer (when I finish uni) as I've decided to take a break from things relating to my degree. The plan is to hopefully continue with my part time job I currently have, try and build contacts that could hopfully lead to a job when I'm ready to move on, but most importantly, I'm hoping to take Laufey on interesting walks further from home. I don't have a real plan yet, I figure that can come after my degree because then I'll have time.
katej215
Posts: 302
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:05 am

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

Post by katej215 »

I'm a very proud Mum...Hattie got 4th in Pre Beginners today out of a class of 39! She only lost 3 marks...what a little superstar! :D Who needs a collie to do competition obedience when you've got a fox terrier eh? :lol: :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 »

Congratulations to you and Hattie! :D What a great accomplishment.

Good luck Della - figuring out a career is stressful work! (I'm still trying to figure out what direction would be something I could stick to that wouldn't kill me with stress, lol.)

I think you've got a good plan, MP.

Delta and I start the enrichment games class tomorrow! I'm excited to see what it's all about, and I hope we haven't already accidentally done everything already....
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 »

katej215 wrote:I'm a very proud Mum...Hattie got 4th in Pre Beginners today out of a class of 39! She only lost 3 marks...what a little superstar! :D Who needs a collie to do competition obedience when you've got a fox terrier eh? :lol: :mrgreen:

BLIMEY! Well done :D
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 »

Yay Hattie! Way to show them what a fox terrier can do! :D

Have fun in the class Erica.

I forgot to mention earlier to Bendog what a cute picture of OH that is.

Our day went well. The dogs had occupied themselves in the back yard chasing squirrels, so I took advantage and closed the gate between front and back to keep them back there and not barking at all the passersby. A couple of sammys came, but stayed in their car. One member is taking a trip and another member will be watching the dogs during that time, so the sammies came with one person but left with another. All was quiet and peaceful from outside for the most part. When there was occasional barking it was attributed to the samoyeds.

When most of the people had left and others were packing up, I went out to let the dogs out of the back and they immediately raced to the front door to come inside. I had put a "House Rules" sign on the door as people entered and I had put one of my homemade "no hands" shirts on Sirius before she had gone outside. That way, no one could mistake her for Sky. She barked a couple of times as people left, but otherwise was very well behaved. Sky was her usual friendly self and got a bit in the way of things, trying to say hello to everyone. She also spotted the dogs in the car in the driveway and started jumping at the window and inviting them to come and play.

After everyone left, we took them over to the quiet park across town for a short walk. Oh's back was bothering him, so it was shorter than usual. He apologized, but really the park was full of people, children, and other dogs, so what short of a walk that we had really wasn't all that enjoyable compared to when it is cold and we are the only people in the park. Today was a sunny day with temps in the 50's F and no wind, so the mobs came out. It further reinforces that I need to get Sirius' last two walks accomplished before there are more days like today than days when most people avoid going to the park.
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.
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 »

ahaha thanks Erica. I have no idea what to do with my life and it's been stressful knowing I was supposed to be applying for jobs and just not. But now that I have a bit of a plan I feel better.

Laufey's doing well at the minute, I've let him off his lead quite a few times in the morning when the park is empty and he's not disappeared (touch wood) but he is will eating mud whenever he gets the chance and I have no idea how to work on it. I'm really hoping to stop it before we embark upon any adventures because I really don't want him to be poorly. I wouldn't mind but I can't even work out if it's the mud itself he wants or something in it. He doesn't do it to "old mud" he paws at the earth to uncover some "new mud" so I'm not sure if it's seeds or something that he's really after. He doesn't seem to start digging holes but if there's a hole there he will root around in it to find whatever it is he's after and will paw at muddy patches. :roll: Crazy kiddo
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 »

Are you feeding more green veg yet? Mud-eating is so often a sign of hindgut problems which is why the veg do so much good.
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 »

Nettle wrote:Are you feeding more green veg yet? Mud-eating is so often a sign of hindgut problems which is why the veg do so much good.
Yep, we have veg daily and he's getting more tripe too. It doesn't help that I'm not sure if it's the mud itself or something (seeds?) that he's after. Where he does it the most is where it should be grassy but is currently more of a muddy wasteland so I did wonder if it was related to the grass eating as opposed to the actual mud :?
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 »

Class is great :D even though Delta and I have started or finished most of the tricks from this week already...we will work on polishing them up! It is still great to work in a distracting environment and to have other eyes to see where we can improve.

It's a small class, only three other dogs - one is very nervous, one is slightly nervous, and one is mildly confident. I had to take Delta's harness off as it's a bit large/bulky between his legs and he wasn't comfortable lying down in it on cue. I just dropped the leash (attached to his collar) after that and he stayed with me; the instructor has previously made it clear that if we can control our dogs, we can drop the leash. All the dogs in this class are dog-tolerant, so even if there is an oops-my-dog-ran-over-to-say-hello moment, it shouldn't be a tragedy.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
WufWuf
Posts: 1371
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 7:53 am

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

Post by WufWuf »

Photo evidence that Honey is spoiled rotten.. Here she is cuddling with her (my) hot water bottle that has to be made everyday after her morning walk or she can't settle :roll: :lol: .

Image
Operant conditioning rocks but classical conditioning rules
Post Reply