Dogs

Honey our English mastiff puppy is already on sanitation watch duty....





And she's caught sleeping on the job

Really miss my Mastiff. Beautiful dog. The Mrs. and I just had a big battle over my request for another. Not giving up.

Wife and I went for a drive and I went by a pasture and there were two really big calves playing in it. Big furry calves. With long black hair. Wait, those are newfoundlands.

My wife and I puppysit her parents Chihuahuas 1 or 2 nights a week and whenever they decide to go for a cross country motor home trip. They're fun and very cuddly, but I would never get one as a puppy. I want to be able to play with them outside in the winter and not worry about their diets so much. They have the most sensitive stomachs, if they take 1 bite too much they start vomiting.

One of my 3 Bedlingtons after he was particularly naughty!

Breakfast please

Snickers in the dog park earlier today

Adopted a dog from a rescue farm today! She is a mutt. A german shepherd mix of course. The other half is your guess...corgi, dachshund, something along those lines is my guess. Only 20 lbs. And 7 months old. Not anticipated to get much bigger.

She will be my wife and my first dog together. Indy is her name. The photo is literally 1 minute after we got her home. She walked right in and made herself comfy on our couch. Made us laugh pretty good.

TheMan said:

Only 20 lbs. And 7 months old. Not anticipated to get much bigger.

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That's what they told me when we adopted KB. He hit about 80 lbs.

srice said:

One of my 3 Bedlingtons after he was particularly naughty!

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Hahah nice. I also have a Bedlington. Not a too many people I know have one or ever has had one.

I think they can keep growing up till 18 months of age. He is a cool looking dog.

TheMan said:

Adopted a dog from a rescue farm today! She is a mutt. A german shepherd mix of course. The other half is your guess...corgi, dachshund, something along those lines is my guess. Only 20 lbs. And 7 months old. Not anticipated to get much bigger.

She will be my wife and my first dog together. Indy is her name. The photo is literally 1 minute after we got her home. She walked right in and made herself comfy on our couch. Made us laugh pretty good.

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she'll definitely get a little bigger, when she grows into those ears

congrats on the new puppy. awesome that you guys got a rescue. hope you all have many happy years together

ChshreCat said:

That's what they told me when we adopted KB. He hit about 80 lbs.

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Haha, well I wont mind if she gets that big. Cant you usually look at the paws and gauge how much bigger the dog will get? Hers are pretty small.

Btw, ive been stalking this thread for a while....waiting for when I got to post up a pic haha. Reading all your stories helps inspire rescues in my mind.

TheMan said:

Adopted a dog from a rescue farm today! She is a mutt. A german shepherd mix of course. The other half is your guess...corgi, dachshund, something along those lines is my guess. Only 20 lbs. And 7 months old. Not anticipated to get much bigger. She will be my wife and my first dog together. Indy is her name. The photo is literally 1 minute after we got her home. She walked right in and made herself comfy on our couch. Made us laugh pretty good.

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Cute pup. It's possible she's just got bat ears, but I'm guessing she'll grow a bit more. I'd tell you not to spoil her too much, but I can see it's too late for that.

Quick question for anyone that has experience...ive raised "normal" puppies, straight from breeder extremely young. But the rescue thing is a little different.

Do I need to wait for her to get fully acclimated to her new life before delving too much into training? We do make her sit, come, or lay down before we give her food or take her out or anything. But I didn't know if it was best to wait a bit to kick it up a notch. We have only had her since Saturday...

She is a cutie.... Keep it simple and enjoyable for her until she really bonds with her new family and you'll have no issues.

Otis

Look at that face!!!! that is a face you have to love. Like one of those pugs

Got my dog from an eye dr (sitting in her office now ironically). Charlie is almost 2, and she has definitely settled into our house over the last month. Swmbo never had a dog growing up, and has already taken to her. Yippee!
On a related note, a vet visit can be costly. Dog has an eye ulcer found on Monday and needs eyelid surgery... awesome...

SupervisingChildren said:

On a related note, a vet visit can be costly. Dog has an eye ulcer found on Monday and needs eyelid surgery... awesome...

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You're aren't kidding. I've got one that has survived osteosarcoma of the spine and another that needed liver surgery. Fortunately, I have been able in a position to be able to pay for this.

My wife just gave the go ahead to have ole' Nitro put to sleep. He's over 15years old, a pugapoo, don't hear or see too well, has bladder and bowel problems and evens growls and nips at her anymore.
Here is a picture of him with Nellie our 9yr old Brittany (this past Spring). They want to be on the garden side of the fence with my wife.

TheMan said:

Quick question for anyone that has experience...ive raised "normal" puppies, straight from breeder extremely young. But the rescue thing is a little different.

Do I need to wait for her to get fully acclimated to her new life before delving too much into training? We do make her sit, come, or lay down before we give her food or take her out or anything. But I didn't know if it was best to wait a bit to kick it up a notch. We have only had her since Saturday...

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I would say it depends on you and the dog. Training can be a great way to be trust and a solid relationship between you two. I've always started right away with my rescues. Just make sure to keep it pleasant for both of you and it should be fine.

What's everyones thoughts on electronic collars for training use? Ozzy is a pretty cool dog, but he's got some behavior issues that just aren't acceptable.

He jumps up on people like crazy, he gets in moods where he likes to try and play tug of war with the leash (I go still like a tree giving him no reaction until he drops it and goes calm and slack on the leash, usually with him sitting or lying down).

Worst of all is how food driven he is, he will actively try and steal anyones food that he can get and I've had him take food right out of my son's hand or off his plate if I turn my back on him for a second. I can't take him anywhere in the car if there is any form of food in the car and he might have to be left alone for more than 2 seconds. One night I had him in the car with me when I picked up some togo pho, and then stopped and picked up a kids burrito for my son. I was in the taqueria for all of 90 seconds and when I came out Ozzy had gotten in the front seat, torn the bag open, torn open one of the cardboard boxes and had wolfed down all the onions, meat and noodles.

However, he's not food aggressive at all. I can take food out of his mouth (though he doesn't make it easy to get his mouth open) and I can actively stick my hand in, or take away his food bowl while he's eating with no guarding or aggression. He's simply a walking stomach that does't understand that food must be offered to him.

One of the trainers I talked to suggested a electronic collar, and while I really didn't like the idea of a shock collar, apparently they come in a vibration mode as well. I've been doing only reward based with him so far, but I'm curious what people think about these. I want whats best for the dog, but I need to break some of these bad habits while he's still young.

TheMan said:

Quick question for anyone that has experience...ive raised "normal" puppies, straight from breeder extremely young. But the rescue thing is a little different.

Do I need to wait for her to get fully acclimated to her new life before delving too much into training? We do make her sit, come, or lay down before we give her food or take her out or anything. But I didn't know if it was best to wait a bit to kick it up a notch. We have only had her since Saturday...

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I'd start immediately. New home, new life, new routine. She's never going to be more open to learning new ways than she is right now. And she'll be eager to please and cement her place in the home.

Think of it this way. She's just moved to a new job and has a new boss. What would you do?

Lu Lu
I can't seem to get my phone photos right.

ChshreCat said:

I'd start immediately. New home, new life, new routine. She's never going to be more open to learning new ways than she is right now. And she'll be eager to please and cement her place in the home.

Think of it this way. She's just moved to a new job and has a new boss. What would you do?

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You and fastandy make a good point. She is very timid right now. But I feel like she wants to please us and do what we say. I took her on a long walk today and had her practice some regular commands. She does really well.

Ill keep moving forward. She seems receptive.

And btw, Otis and lulu are too cute.

Sorry to hear about your recent decision subsailor. I remember my folks doing the same with their dogs. It's a rough time.

TheMan said:

You and fastandy make a good point. She is very timid right now. But I feel like she wants to please us and do what we say. I took her on a long walk today and had her practice some regular commands. She does really well.

Ill keep moving forward. She seems receptive.

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She's not sure of her place and not sure what kind of a boss you're going to be. Give her things to do to please you and make sure she knows when she does good and she'll be happy.

TheMan said:

You and fastandy make a good point. She is very timid right now. But I feel like she wants to please us and do what we say. I took her on a long walk today and had her practice some regular commands. She does really well.

Ill keep moving forward. She seems receptive.

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You GOTTA SELL IT! When she does good yell, good girl!! And give her a treat. When I had my puppy at 8 weeks old, if she went potty outside at 4am, I know my neighbors heard me yelling "GOOD GIRL!!!" <treat>... She was so proud. I was proud of her too.

TheMan said:

Quick question for anyone that has experience...ive raised "normal" puppies, straight from breeder extremely young. But the rescue thing is a little different.

Do I need to wait for her to get fully acclimated to her new life before delving too much into training? We do make her sit, come, or lay down before we give her food or take her out or anything. But I didn't know if it was best to wait a bit to kick it up a notch. We have only had her since Saturday...

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It all depends on her temperament, history, etc.

I got a rescue dog as well. She's about 1.5 years old and extremely timid (probably due to living on the streets with lots of other homeless dogs and being a small thing herself). She's a hunting dog right down to the core - very, very close to a Parson Russell terrier but now way to tell if she's purebred or not. In the house, she's lazy and just sleeps right next to me where I sit. Take her outside and she's like a totally different animal - she's super alert, got her nose to the ground nearly all the time, and got a hair trigger - launches through the air from dead-stop like a bottle rocket if she sees a bird or rabbit.

She's been pretty nervoius when I've been walking her down sidewalks with buses and cars and people with other dogs going by, but she's been getting more relaxed a little bit every day. I took her to the dog park twice and she's been terrified, but she has managed to build up the courage to greet a few other dogs out walking - though not most of them. From her lineage, she should be pretty much fearless but there is no way of knowing if she's been abused before.

She wasn't housebroken at all when she came to us already full grown, but she comes from the most intelligent (and stubborn) of all the dog lines and it took us just 5 days and there has been zero punishment involved.

Everybody asks me if she's a puppy, but she's actually right in line with a full grown female Parson Russell terrier - 5kg weight, 33cm tall, with long legs. I've only heard her let out two barks since I've known her, and those happened the first time I met her.

Safety first!



Fore those wondering... Those are medium-size safety vests from Amazon ($6 a piece)... I put them on backwards (zipper on the back), and I removed about 8" of material from the back (the dogs' stomachs), since they are boys. For girls it wouldn't matter. Barley & Blue are about 70# each.

MC

Safety first!

Well, My little princess is finally graduating from Service Dog Academy. Tommorrow (Dec 7th) she will officialy graduate from her training and become a full fledged Service/Alert dog. The best part is that she has been paired with me so I will get to keep her with me and her sister. Those two are a bonded pair and she is bonded to me already so they decided to place her with me permanently. So after Tommorow Dixie will have Federal and state protection and will be allowed to go anywhere I go as long as she has on her vest and behaves. I'm thrilled and looking forward to her graduation ceremony tomorrow evening.

Make sure to include a photo with her wearing her cap and gown

The girls don't realize that the pool is a summer toy.

mikescooling said:

Safety first!

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Picking out which one she gets to eat?

Her and I sleepped on the porch where it got cold. She keepped trying to go in the bottom part of my sleeping bag (making the top part of me stick out) and every time she heard a mouse, she was wide awake; then one of the guys would come down stairs and she'ed be up again. All night long she was difficult to sleep with (not like home).
She got cold tail, see how her tail is down (not wagging), this happened on the last day. Two days after we got back her tail stayed down, the the 3rd day it's fine. They call it "cold tail".
She loved deer camp, everyone played with her. She stayed in the house all weekend and loved every minute of it. All the hunters are dog people, and she is a good dog. She made a bunch of old guys feel younger. The property owner said, he liked having her up there and any time I wanted a puppy sitter he would love to do it. That made me feel good.

If we took KB hunting, it would have to be bowhunting. He'd never be a gun dog. He does NOT do well with loud noises. 4th of july is hell on earth for him.