dog thread

[Giorno Giovanna]

dog on the left is Gracie,middle is jake and far right is George

[Lady Fitzgerald]

7 minutes ago, Giorno Giovanna said:

dog on the left is Gracie,middle is jake and far right is George

That's a nice start for your dog army...er...herd...oh, never mind.

 

What spooked George?

[Giorno Giovanna]

Just now, Lady Fitzgerald said:

That's a nice start for your dog army...er...herd...oh, never mind.

 

What spooked George?

 

My grandma did as she walked by lol

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, FakeCIA said:

 

All puppies are cute! That video brought back memories of the German Shepherd I once had named Lady (long story but she was named after the nickname of a soap opera character). I love the ears on German Shepherds. Once the grow erect, they can be so expressive. My ex nicknamed Lady as Radar Ears because they way they were constantly twitching around and changinf angles independently like radar antenna.

[nox_]

I have a bit of an odd problem with my dog, she's 7 month old now and everything is fine with her, she never poops or pees inside but she's very afraid to be outside, she just gets out, does her business as quickly as possible and runs home immediately and if I try to keep her outside she cries and tugs on her leash very hard, tried bringing a treat or a toy and even that didn't help.. Worried about that, not sure what to do, this started about a month ago out of the blue, any ideas what could be the cause of this kind of behavior?

[MEC-777]

4 minutes ago, noxdeouroboros said:

I have a bit of an odd problem with my dog, she's 7 month old now and everything is fine with her, she never poops or pees inside but she's very afraid to be outside, she just gets out, does her business as quickly as possible and runs home immediately and if I try to keep her outside she cries and tugs on her leash very hard, tried bringing a treat or a toy and even that didn't help.. Worried about that, not sure what to do, this started about a month ago out of the blue, any ideas what could be the cause of this kind of behavior?

To cut to the chase, the "cause" of behaviours is usually mostly irrelevant. I say this because the way to fix and implement behaviour modification training is typically successfully done the same way, regardless.

 

I would simply just keep her there, in place. It would help if you use a prong collar so you can give a leash-pop to correct the pulling. Then, when she chooses not to try and flee when leash pressure is released, that's when you reward. Discourage the unwanted behaviour and encourage the good/compliant behaviour.

 

With a regular flat-buckle collar, most dogs will just pull as hard as they can because they actually like that feeling (like pulling on a harness) and will pull to the point of choking. Where as the prong collar is positioned high on the neck and provides a pinching sensation with leash pressure that dog's don't like. It boils down to effective communication and finding that avenue of connection to basically tell the dog what is and is not appropriate behaviour in a way they understand.

[MEC-777]

 

 

[paddy-stone]

27 minutes ago, noxdeouroboros said:

I have a bit of an odd problem with my dog, she's 7 month old now and everything is fine with her, she never poops or pees inside but she's very afraid to be outside, she just gets out, does her business as quickly as possible and runs home immediately and if I try to keep her outside she cries and tugs on her leash very hard, tried bringing a treat or a toy and even that didn't help.. Worried about that, not sure what to do, this started about a month ago out of the blue, any ideas what could be the cause of this kind of behavior?

Something spooked her, could be as simple as a bird flying overhead. What I did with Dink, is go outside as much as possible, and play around, act stupid, get them to chase you etc etc... it's just a matter of getting used to something IMO.

[nox_]

2 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

To cut to the chase, the "cause" of behaviours is usually mostly irrelevant. I say this because the way to fix and implement behaviour modification training is typically successfully done the same way, regardless.

 

I would simply just keep her there, in place. It would help if you use a prong collar so you can give a leash-pop to correct the pulling. Then, when she chooses not to try and flee when leash pressure is released, that's when you reward. Discourage the unwanted behaviour and encourage the good/compliant behaviour.

 

With a regular flat-buckle collar, most dogs will just pull as hard as they can because they actually like that feeling (like pulling on a harness) and will pull to the point of choking. Where as the prong collar is positioned high on the neck and provides a pinching sensation with leash pressure that dog's don't like. It boils down to effective communication and finding that avenue of connection to basically tell the dog what is and is not appropriate behaviour in a way they understand.

I'm kinda reluctant on using prong collar, but thank you for the advise, been trying to keep her outside, played with her and managed to keep her outside for more than 15 minutes.

2 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

Something spooked her, could be as simple as a bird flying overhead. What I did with Dink, is go outside as much as possible, and play around, act stupid, get them to chase you etc etc... it's just a matter of getting used to something IMO.

I tried doing that, helped a bit. Both my dogs I had before loved being outside and were very hard to frighten even when they were very young, so this kind of behavior is new to me.

[MEC-777]

4 minutes ago, noxdeouroboros said:

I'm kinda reluctant on using prong collar, but thank you for the advise, been trying to keep her outside, played with her and managed to keep her outside for more than 15 minutes.

Glad you were able to make progress. Try different things, see what works and what doesn't.

 

Side note: As someone who used to be against the use of training tools like prong collars, I understand your reluctance and just want to clarify; they aren't harmful. In fact they're one of the most safe and gentle tools available. They are essentially a communication device, first and foremost.

[paddy-stone]

11 minutes ago, noxdeouroboros said:

I'm kinda reluctant on using prong collar, but thank you for the advise, been trying to keep her outside, played with her and managed to keep her outside for more than 15 minutes.

I tried doing that, helped a bit. Both my dogs I had before loved being outside and were very hard to frighten even when they were very young, so this kind of behavior is new to me.

All you can do is keep trying.  Our Henry that died last year was a very nervous dog, sometimes there's little you can do, it's just their nature unfortunately.. but repetition might lessen heir fears, as long as they don't pick up on your own nervous response about them. That's why I suggested playing with them to try and encourage a different behaviour in that situation... my suggestion is to start playing with them indoors if possible, then taking it outside in a fluid manner, like if possible getting them to chase you outside and continue playing tug with them or similar. This then hopefully will over-ride their nervousness that might be triggered by passing through the door or whatever it is that's triggering them.

I am in no way a trainer, but that just seems like a common-sense procedure to take... if the dog is already triggered, it takes much more to try and get them out of that mindset IMO, so hopefully being pre-emptive will get it done.

[MEC-777]

1 hour ago, paddy-stone said:

All you can do is keep trying.  Our Henry that died last year was a very nervous dog, sometimes there's little you can do, it's just their nature unfortunately.. but repetition might lessen heir fears, as long as they don't pick up on your own nervous response about them. That's why I suggested playing with them to try and encourage a different behaviour in that situation... my suggestion is to start playing with them indoors if possible, then taking it outside in a fluid manner, like if possible getting them to chase you outside and continue playing tug with them or similar. This then hopefully will over-ride their nervousness that might be triggered by passing through the door or whatever it is that's triggering them.

Can absolutely give this a try. The only thing I would add to this to keep in mind is:

-It's ok to "work" (train) a dog while they are stressed. Life isn't always roses and daisies, as I'm sure we all know. They will experience stressful situations in their lifetime, regardless, so it will help them later on, how to deal with it in a more calm state of mind.

-Be careful not to reward unwanted behaviours by trying to distract or overwhelm the dog with rewards while the dog is in the act of misbehaving.

 

1 hour ago, paddy-stone said:

if the dog is already triggered, it takes much more to try and get them out of that mindset IMO, so hopefully being pre-emptive will get it done.

Precisely. You want to be pro-active. You want to interrupt the dog's thought process (typically with a correction of some kind) before the dog begins to act up. You then want to counter-condition by rewarding when they make the right decision(s). That is essentially the basis of behaviour modification training.

[soldier_ph]

This is Pongo, a Border Collie from a friend. Just chilling in the corner as you do:

[FakeCIA]

 

[MEC-777]

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

3 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

...

 

Awwww! Look at that face! I got a kick out of it chewing its foot like a human baby.

 

Edit: Wait! That isn't a dog!

[MEC-777]

Peekaboo

 

[paddy-stone]

We think we've found out why Dink has been acting strangely... we think she's having a phantom pregnancy, so we're trying a few things to help her:-

• Got some evening primrose oil for dogs - some people inc vets have suggested this might help.
• Got her a toy that she can hopefully use as a surrogate pup.

We'll have to see if they work or not... I'm doubtful about the toy personally as she's ripped open every other toy she's had.

 

 

*I watched Marley and Me again last night... man I cried at the end, reminded me so much of Henry. Dink came to see what was up with me and gave me kisses

 

 

 

 

Me:

Spoiler

 

[nox_]

6 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

we think she's having a phantom pregnancy, so we're trying a few things to help her:-

The dog I had developed this few years after having her pups, it kinda went away over a month or so, toy as surrogate pup did work with her, never tried oils or anything like that.

[MEC-777]

13 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

We think we've found out why Dink has been acting strangely... we think she's having a phantom pregnancy, so we're trying a few things to help her:-

Interesting. Never heard of that before. Did the vet say it's common? or what can cause it?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

14 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

We think we've found out why Dink has been acting strangely... we think she's having a phantom pregnancy, so we're trying a few things to help her:-

• Got some evening primrose oil for dogs - some people inc vets have suggested this might help.
• Got her a toy that she can hopefully use as a surrogate pup.

We'll have to see if they work or not... I'm doubtful about the toy personally as she's ripped open every other toy she's had.

 

 

*I watched Marley and Me again last night... man I cried at the end, reminded me so much of Henry. Dink came to see what was up with me and gave me kisses...

 

It's amazing how our pets (dogs and even cats) can empathize wtih us when we are upset. I've had both (even when they weren't mine) try to comfort me when I was unhappy.

 

I saw Marley and Me. Once. I couldn't handle watching it again. It was bad enough I nearly recreated Noah's flood the first time I watched it.

[paddy-stone]

11 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

Interesting. Never heard of that before. Did the vet say it's common? or what can cause it?

 

Yeah. it's very common apparently. Nobody knows what causes it, but some of the symptoms fit perfectly... I have known people to pay hundreds or even thousands for tests to see what's wrong with their dog, and then end up with this diagnosis. We're trying her on evening primrose oil, which has been known to help with this.

https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/reproductive/c_dg_false_pregnancy

 

10 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

It's amazing how our pets (dogs and even cats) can empathize wtih us when we are upset. I've had both (even when they weren't mine) try to comfort me when I was unhappy.

 

I saw Marley and Me. Once. I couldn't handle watching it again. It was bad enough I nearly recreated Noah's flood the first time I watched it.

Yeah, it's a real tear-jerker at the end. I knew it was from previously watching it, but it hit me hard this time because of losing Henry last year

[Bitter]

10 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

It's amazing how our pets (dogs and even cats) can empathize wtih us when we are upset. I've had both (even when they weren't mine) try to comfort me when I was unhappy.

One of our dogs will come around, the other will bail. My cat wanted NOTHING to do with me when I was upset, probably because I wanted him. He would only come around when he was being ignored.

[FakeCIA]

 

[TVwazhere]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:55 PM, MEC-777 said:

Peekaboo

Spoiler

 

Super important content within