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

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

Post by Shalista »

trying out something new with bax. he didn't want to poop this morning so i confined him to quarters. while he was confined he barfed bile twice (thankfully on the floor and not my bed AGAIN). i just took him outside and he wanted to devour grass again instead of pottying. (he's now roughly 6 hrs late for at LEAST 2 poos)

my options are:

he's sick. which sucks for him but there's nothing i can do.

OR

He's just really hungry.

so i gave him an egg.

if, post egg, he proceeds outside without devouring grass then i get one step closer to figuring out why he goes through those grass devouring phases. maybe he's just really hungry? the bile barf backs that theory up....

EDIT: nope no dice. took him out a little while after he ate the egg and he's still flinging himself at grass like it's the only antidote to a lethal poison
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

I hope you get to the bottom (pun not intended) of his problems soon, Shalista.

I went away to a wedding on Friday, coming home yesterday. OH stayed at home with Jasper. When I got home, I was expecting J to want to leap all over me, but he just stuck his nose between my legs and stayed like that for ages while I petted his ears & neck. When I sat down on the sofa he wanted to rest his head against me too. I felt a bit sad about that because it was as if he'd been traumatised by my absence and so when I came back he didn't so much feel happiness as relief.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it. After all, this is the dog who will lie flat out on the floor waiting till I'm ready to walk out the door even when he's really keen for a walk. OH said he's been OK while I was away, but a little sad, and whenever they came back from walks he'd look round the house for me.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Shalista »

one again feeling like a failure as a furmom. :( i haven't done training with bax in AGES. Lately I've been doing the whole potty training with treats thing outside so I've had treats in my pocket. today i did a spur of the moment training session.

not to boast but holy crap is my dog smart! We've done SOME target stuff before ("touch" when presented with an outstretched hand. i know he absolutely loves that one) but today we progressed to "boop"( nose bump a closed fist), "high ten" (he cant quiet grasp high five) and best of all i trained him that, when presented with an outstretched arm at his height, he'll put both front paws up on it and stand like a gentleman for basically forever. if i move the arm away he'll even take a few steps. All this in like 20 min training session and he could CONSISTENTLY nail them even when i randomized which new cue i was giving him.

Once again i feel like i was given 90% more dog than i could handle.....

EDIT: also, why bax can you be so smart and still potty inside like an 8 week old puppy?!?!?!??! :x :evil: :x
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Shalista, of course you're not a failure - just focus on what you have achieved! And I know the lack of potty training isn't down to effort on your part. Wish I knew what it was down to though :wink:

Jasper walked past a driveway with a cat in it today, glanced at it, paused a moment, thought 'Meh, a cat' and walked on, with no need for me to prompt him :D
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Erica
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Erica »

Last week, we woke up to Opal bleeding from her inner thigh. As there's really nothing she would do to gain such a wound, Mom and Dad took her to the vet, where they cleaned it up and discovered it was some kind of mass. There's another on her other leg, right under her hip so you can't tell it's there unless you're comparing symmetry. The fine needle aspiration wasn't promising; they don't seem to be cysts or such. She sees a specialist Friday, but at the moment it doesn't look good. :(

On top of that, Delta's been getting obnoxious with her, sniffing her rear insistently and trying to mount her head when she's laying down. Seems troubling to me, as he has proven very observant and responsive to whenever I'm ill, even if it's something small like a bug bite or a tiny, small-marshmallow-sized patch of hives.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

That's a worry, Erica - I hope Opal's OK.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Nettle »

Hugs for you Erica, and whatever Opal likes instead of hugs.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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

Post by JudyN »

How's Opal doing, Erica?

I've mentioned before that Jasper finds the raw food shop we use scary, for some strange reason, but he went overboard this morning. We popped in on the way back from a walk to buy a freezerful of food, and though J and OH popped in briefly as J wanted to see where I was (and said hello nicely to a Yorkshire terrier while in there), for most of the time they waited outside. Then we loaded up the car and set off... And within a couple of minutes J started trembling, and then clambered in between the seats into the front with us :shock: With him half-standing with his back legs on Mr R's lap and front legs on mine, we weren't going anywhere so I had to get him out the car - he was desperate to get out. I started walking home with J whiled Mr R drove home, unloaded the food, and came back to pick us up - luckily J was OK this time (it was under 3 miles so it would have been walkable if I had to).

He's never tried to get in the front before, even when he got very stressed on the long car journey when we went on holiday. Given how much he loves his food, it seems bizarre that he should find being close to so much of it quite so stressful.

In other news... my grocery delivery company decided to give me a box of Whiskas cat food pouches a couple of weeks ago. I tried them on Monty, but they gave him a runny bum so last night, I added a pouch to J's tea. I won't be doing that again. He loved it, but the aroma in the front room in the evening was very unpleasant!
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 »

I'm so sorry to hear this news about Opal, Erica. Hopefully things will turn out to be not as bad as one's mind tends to imagine when these things come up. )))))))) Hugs (((((((((
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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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

JudyN wrote: Sat Jul 29, 2017 6:03 am...Jasper finds the raw food shop we use scary...
Someone on another forum mentioined that they used to have a lurcher who was generally calm and easygoing - but would get upset and freeze whenever they tried to walk past a butcher's. It's possible that he had some bad experience with a butcher's before this person had him (e.g. nicked some food and got severely punished) but I like to think this means J isn't the only one with this particular quirk. I'm now thinking about the stress a dog might feel if they had just brought down a huge elk and knew that they'd have to protect it from every scavenger in a 5-mile area. Though there is a risk in applying human logic to dog cognition.

He was a toerag the other day. We walked past a dalmatian - an older, quiet one, not the 'I'm up for it' bouncy challenging sort. J was going to ignore him, but the dal decided J was scary so slunk nervously to the side of the path. At which point J decided he'd have to demonstrate that he really was the big bad boy the dal thought he was so turned back and had a grrrr at him :roll: He did come immediately I whistled, but again it shows the playground mentality that some dogs have.
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 »

An interesting walk with the dogs tonight.

Sirius recently went for her 6 moths follow up on her behavior meds and we decided to up the Prozac a bit and she has stopped taking an herbal that the vet had given.

I walked both dogs together as it was hot, getting late, and both indicated they wanted to go for a walk.

We were heading up the hill in the park dodging people up ahead, when Sirius whined a bit and I realized we were being quickly overtaken by a young husky coming up the hill behind us. While Sirius wasn't thrilled, she didn't go off and followed directions to turn around. (as in face the opposite direction to where the husky was) :D

We had just about finished our loop when a medium sized black dog showed up behind us. The direction I dodged in, turned out to be the direction the dog was headed, so we changed course back to where we were headed in the first place, and while again. Sirius wasn't thrilled and whined a bit, she didn't go off and both dogs followed directions to move away. (Really great as my dogs are "racist" and medium to large sized black dogs tend to get a negative response.) :D

A little further on, we encountered a very yard aggressive Pomeranian. We are talking spewing forth really vulgar, nasty language when either of the dogs goes past and continuing after we are long gone. This is in an area where the sidewalk is more narrow with trucks parked bumper to bumper on one side, and this fellow's fence is right against the sidewalk on the other side. Both dogs walked past, briskly and without engaging with the attitude. :D

Around the corner and a ways down the street, we came upon the houses with the outdoor cats. A black and white cat was out on the sidewalk a good couple of houses down, but moved off into the yard which triggered the dogs to want to chase. As I was holding them back to give the cat time to get further into the yard, Sirius momentarily redirected to Sky. :shock: It was pretty much just a head bump and then she was back focused on the cat, but I would have expected this reaction out of her in all of the previous dog encounters, not upon seeing a cat.

I chalked it up to a building up of stress from the earlier encounters, with the cats tipping the scale.

Of course about 3 houses further down, the bulldog that throws himself against the fence was out in his yard. I gathered the dogs and walked them briskly down the grassy median between sidewalk and street, and they passed him very well. The rest of the walk home was uneventful.
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 »

My word - what a tricky walk. Marvellous illustration of how stress builds. I bet you needed a stiff coffee when you got home (and - you managed everything so well!)


People just do not realise how much work goes into nothing happening!
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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

Post by JudyN »

Jasper met his 'girlfriend' today - a pointer he first met when she was about 7 months old and he spent the whole walk trying to mount her & having to go back on lead. She's now 2.5 and neutered but J still kept trying to mount her. I'm wondering if the first time she spent 'interesting' (even though I don't think she had her first season soon after) and now he just thinks 'Ah, she's the dog I do this with.' Or maybe she just is very attractive in that way?

I met my friend with his new fluffy saluki/greyhound, T, this afternoon. T is coming on very well but his owner is still adjusting to the sighthound brain. He can't understand why T likes some men but not others, with no discernable reason, and is surprised when food disappears from unattended worktops. He'll learn :lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by Shalista »

poor bax, he'd sleep through a thunderstorm but these windy days are just the worst. he's all whiney and he hides under tables and slinks around with his tail stub tucked and his ears back. Hes EXTRA clingy to :cry: poor guy, i can just imagine he had a windy day when he was a pup, forced to be outside with no shelter. I'd be traumatized too. :cry:
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
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Re: What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

Post by JudyN »

Jasper gets worried when it's windy too - but only really in the house. As well as the draughts, curtains blowing around can scare him. Is Bax anxious outside as well as inside?

We got caught in a storm today which hadn't been forecast. At first I thought the rumbling noises were lorries at the nearby tip, then I noticed a big black cloud some way off. It was bright and sunny so I was just in jeans & t shirt) with blue sky and fluffy white clouds where we were... at first.

Then the rain started... the thunder got louder and I was just thanking my lucky stars that J isn't too bad in storms when CRACK!!!! :shock: He wasn't a happy boy, but it wouldn't occur to him to bolt away from me when scared. At least I can't imagine him bolting but I know dogs do so I shouldn't assume it should never happen.

Then the hail started and as well as being painful, without wanting to state the obvious, it was freezing. J decided to shelter under a couple of gorse bushes so I did my best to crawl in next to him. He was shaking now, from fear rather than cold I think :( I did my best to reassure him and suggested he lay down as he was half-crouched under the bushes and his back legs were shaking, but he didn't want to. We carried on as soon as the hail & rain eased a little - I even ran for some of it, further than I thought I could. By the time we got back to the car I was as wet as if I'd jumped into a lake fully clothed.

DS2, bless him, saw us pull into the drive, and welcomed us at the door with two towels, one for me and one for J :love:

There's a photo from the local paper of the storm just a bit further down the coast here: http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/resour ... fullscreen
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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