Hello Dog Bros. Picking up this little guy on Sunday First time dog owner. Plz advise. Getting some puppy kongs, harness, leash etc, got my vet set up. Is buying something like this a bad idea because they will chew it and escape? https://www.chewy.com/new-age-pet-ecoflex-single-door/dp/142726
Crate train properly, don't get a crate or kennel that's overly large, get a long training lead, read about puppy blues, don't skimp on quality food and training, be prepared for the pup to do stupid things, puppy proof your dwelling, get a couple of good toys but nothing hard (squeakies, ropes etc), chewables like hormone free pigs ears, Zak George videos on YT, socialize with humans, dogs and other objects, use treats for training, start small and work up, use Ouch training, baby gates, the dog will poop inside so read how to potty train, check out the subreddit puppy101, microchip, bad habits are hard to break (table scraps etc), be patient, build up how long they can be alone, they will bark in the kennel so try to tire out beforehand/put a fan on/cover the kennel, try your best not to give into barking in kennel if you know it's not potty related, praise praise praise, crate train during the day by breaking up play sessions into naps
We used bells for when it was potty time. Positive reinforcement works better than negative, IMO. Try not to use the word NO, only in extreme circumstances. Use uh oh, or something else when you’re trying to reinforce something bad/negative. We did puppy classes at petsmart. I don’t know how good they really are, but they seemed to help and taught us a lot.
Signing commands. Ex recommended it, helps in situations with loud noises, over stimulation, or if Dierks ever loses his hearing. Vibration collars, keep a deaf dog leashed unless enclosed, lots of other sense training like smell, use luring and capture techniques to teach skills, have a gesture that is used to know when they're to be rewarded with treats, flashlight to substitute for clicker training, lots of eye contact, see if they can hear a dog whistle https://deafdogsrock.com/ Great resource. Honestly, raising a deaf dog sounds like a tall, but fun/rewarding task.
My dog recently lost confidence in standing up and sitting down I have to kind of force him to lay down now He's capable of walking and seems spry when he is outside. Just hurts to watch him fall off so quickly. I doubt I have much longer with him. Gonna be extremely emotional when the time comes, but I've been incredibly lucky to spend 14+ years with him.
My oldest is turning 10 in Feb. I cannot believe he's been with me since 2013. I got him in grad school and having a puppy around did wonders for my mental health during those years. He goes nearly everywhere with me, has moved to countless jobs in 5 states with me. He's in good shape health wise but I know our time left is running out and it kills me to think about.
Many of my friends and relatives have had to say abrupt goodbyes to their dogs over the last year, so its been a constant reminder that things can change in a hurry Haven't taken anything for granted. Spoil him and take him for 4 or 5 walks a day. Pandemic has been great for me to spend much more time with him working from home.
No. She has either gone call of the wild or something worse. Looked for weeks, signs, Facebook, and the army base. Set game trail cams up but no sign. :(
Any tips on giving a small dog pills? Taking care of my mom's dog over the weekend and it's a bitch to get her to swallow her kidney pills. I've given pills to my roommates great danes and my golden retriever, and it was easy as hell. But this small dog is giving me way too much shit
My moms little is like that. Peanut butter. Stick it in a spoonful and stick the spoonful to the roof of the mouth and pull the spoon out. It will go down.
I go with the old put in the the back of their mouth and then rub their throat until they swallow trick. Oh wait, we were talking about dogs and pills?
I did peanut butter but it kept sticking to my fingers last night, this morning I got a better scheme seems like. Took half the time
Nugget is approaching 12 and has really slowed down the past few years, hasn't been able to run for 3-4 years. He developed a seizure disorder last year and he's too old to go under anesthesia, so it's been somewhat controlled with an anti-convulsant every 8 hours. Combined with his allergy medicine and heart medication, he's up to 7 pills/day. Past few weeks his seizures have increased, he had 4 episodes over the weekend. 2 more this week -- very thankful I'm able to work from home. Whenever he has one he's knocked out for 12-24 hours and just sleeps. Now he's having trouble walking and rarely wants to leave his bed. I've always been told they will let you know when it's time. Had to make an appointment for Monday morning for him to pass over peacefully, I don't want his quality of life to deteriorate anymore. Trying to give him the best long weekend of his life. Went swimming with him last night in freezing ass water, just took a 2-hour lunch with him at the park. Curating a menu of hamburgers and steak every night this week. Going to a dog bar with lots of friends on Saturday -- he's never really cared about other dogs, but absolutely loves breweries and bars and everyone coming up and giving him attention. ] He has literally been by my side for 12 years. From college, to law school, back to Alabama, and all the way out to Seattle. He's the fucking embodiment of man's best friend. I'm already a mess Spoiler
Heading down to Bloomington this weekend to watch IU get smoked by Cincy. So, I gotta drop Teddy off at 6:50 tonight for boarding. Picking him up Sunday at 4:00. The longest I’ve ever been away from him is like 9 hours. Gonna feel really weird the next two days.
Dog thread fam, I started streaming on Twitch a few weeks ago. I've been doing games so far but tomorrow I'm doing my first stream about rescue stuff. I'll be showing a bunch of before/after pics, telling some of my favorite rescue stories, etc. If you are on Twitch please stop in and say hi! And if you can follow me, that would be huge, once I get to 50 followers, I can start taking subscriptions and I'll be donating a portion of anything I make to rescue stuff here in town. Thanks all!
Nugget passed over peacefully this morning at 8:30. I was scratching his ears until his last breath. I've never cried more than this weekend, I don't think there's anything left. Fuck, I don't think I've cried at all in maybe 10 years. I have never felt this sort of emotion before. But having a social circle and friends for support has been otherworldly. That was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I think as time goes on I'll be so happy with how I did this. He was always SUPER food motivated, so that was the weekend theme. Friday night, we had sous vide salmon and sweet potato. Dog gelato for breakfast every morning. He had a full bison burger for dinner Saturday night. I bought him a 1 lb organic, grass-fed ribeye last night with a baked potato. Spoiler We went swimming every day, spent the whole weekend at his favorite bar and breweries. Yesterday was an incredible celebration of life with all of his friends, way too many treats, and all the attention. Spoiler Love your dogs, friends. They are only around for a small percentage of our lives, but we are 100% of their lives.
My dog had to be put down out of nowhere just over a year ago and I’m still not over it. I saw a picture of her the other day and started crying. I’m glad you got that time to spoil Nugget before he had to go.
I am glad I am not the only one that had to put down a dog that visually still looked in pretty good shape. It is hard when people say “he looks great.” Nah, he doesn’t. Only the owner who is around the dog all day truly knows if the dog has a bad quality of life.
I did get a puppy just under a year ago after my dogs died (the other one went three weeks later) and he rules.
He was so tired, man. Had a lot of trouble walking more than a block. In that last picture where he's sitting on me, it's the only way he could sit because his hips were so arthritic. I did some morbid research this weekend, almost trying to talk myself out of it -- but it actually confirmed my decision. He was tripping and stumbling a LOT, whenever we were able to walk a bit. Everything I read said grand mal seizures can leave them paralyzed or with permanent brain damage, and if they have more than 1 per month it's not good. He had more than 10 in the past month. I wanted it to be on my terms, on our terms. The vet was amazing this morning -- "your final and best gift is a peaceful passing."
Sorry for your loss BamaNug. I also went through that emotional rollercoaster when I put mine down, but it brightens my day whenever I get an amazon anniversary pic. Those tears will turn to smiles soon enough Got a good one of gus slinging his stuff yesterday
When I did my stream this morning, I went through and talked about a ton of our fosters over the years. Several times I got choked up and had to stop talking and compose myself, not great streaming but better than openly crying live on Twitch I suppose. So sorry for your loss BamaNug , you gave him a wonderful life and an amazing last weekend.