Dogs

Channel66 said:

My sister just sent me this thought I'd share. Her new rescue dog.

Lab border collie mix. Lexie.

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is she positive about the border collie? Alot of lab mixes who have the white crosslike pattern on the chest are descended from st johns water dogs, an extinct breed.

Goofynewfie said:

is she positive about the border collie? Alot of lab mixes who have the white crosslike pattern on the chest are descended from st johns water dogs, an extinct breed.

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Yes positive, the parents are known. And she's full grown at 35lbs

Our last 5 dogs have been rescues or "mercy thefts". Three of the five were badly abused dogs. One of those was about (unbeknownst to us) to be transferred to from a no kill shelter to a kill shelter the next weekend because she had been deemed unadoptable.

Molly was burned with cigarettes and then set on fire by the 8 and 10 year old owners. As they had called the cops on these folks three times in the past, the neighbors video taped them doing it to insure a conviction for the parents. Molly took two years in our care before she would intentionally enter a room we were in. It took 5 before anyone but my wife and I (and our groomer) could pet her. We had to put her down after 11 years in our family due to throat cancer. She was an amazing addition to our family and will live on forever in what she passed on to the other dogs in household that are still with us.

MJ had her skull and jaw broken by a tire iron and is partially blind in one eye as a result. MJ will never be "completely right" but we love her to death. She was adopted out three times and returned each time. My wife followed her on the internet for 18 months after meeting her before she decided (while I was still working in Iraq) that MJ needed us. She is still skitish around strange men but is freakishly protective of my wife...a good thing when I used to spend months on end in dangerous places with Christy home alone.

Roxy was not abused but neglected for 18 months living across from my in-laws. My wife went to visit when a typical Oklahoma hail storm was blowing in. Roxy was outside with no cover so Christy got my father in law's bolt cutters and snipped the lock on the gate. She left a note with her name address, phone # and the number of our lawyer. The vet removed a living tree from her ear canal. The dog has never meant a stranger and does not have and unkind bone in her body.

Wally was an owner surrender and almost breaks my heart the most. He is a full-blood Berenese Mountain dog that had the same owner from 6 months to 12 years old. She finally gave him up after living out of her car for six months with the dog. She did so because she caught herself feeding him from grocery store dumpsters and decided he deserved better. You will NEVER find a dog with a sweeter disposition. Wally is now 14 1/2 years old...nearly double the average age for his breed.

I never advocate pet ownership (but I am obviously not opposed to it) but I will always advocate pet adoption. Too few people make good pet owners and even fewer are left to pick up the pieces from those unfit individuals.

The first on is MJ the Catahoula mix. Then Wally the 1970's black porn star in a Berenese body.

My dog Otter

Channel66 said:

My sister just sent me this thought I'd share. Her new rescue dog.

Lab border collie mix. Lexie.

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Dangerous smart mix. Don't have to worry about that dog getting into the cupboards... it'll fire up the stove and make an omelet.

Onkel_Udo said:

Our last 5 dogs have been rescues or "mercy thefts". Three of the five were badly abused dogs. One of those was about (unbeknownst to us) to be transferred to from a no kill shelter to a kill shelter the next weekend because she had been deemed unadoptable.

Molly was burned with cigarettes and then set on fire by the 8 and 10 year old owners. As they had called the cops on these folks three times in the past, the neighbors video taped them doing it to insure a conviction for the parents. Molly took two years in our care before she would intentionally enter a room we were in. It took 5 before anyone but my wife and I (and our groomer) could pet her. We had to put her down after 11 years in our family due to throat cancer. She was an amazing addition to our family and will live on forever in what she passed on to the other dogs in household that are still with us.

MJ had her skull and jaw broken by a tire iron and is partially blind in one eye as a result. MJ will never be "completely right" but we love her to death. She was adopted out three times and returned each time. My wife followed her on the internet for 18 months after meeting her before she decided (while I was still working in Iraq) that MJ needed us. She is still skitish around strange men but is freakishly protective of my wife...a good thing when I used to spend months on end in dangerous places with Christy home alone.

Roxy was not abused but neglected for 18 months living across from my in-laws. My wife went to visit when a typical Oklahoma hail storm was blowing in. Roxy was outside with no cover so Christy got my father in law's bolt cutters and snipped the lock on the gate. She left a note with her name address, phone # and the number of our lawyer. The vet removed a living tree from her ear canal. The dog has never meant a stranger and does not have and unkind bone in her body.

Wally was an owner surrender and almost breaks my heart the most. He is a full-blood Berenese Mountain dog that had the same owner from 6 months to 12 years old. She finally gave him up after living out of her car for six months with the dog. She did so because she caught herself feeding him from grocery store dumpsters and decided he deserved better. You will NEVER find a dog with a sweeter disposition. Wally is now 14 1/2 years old...nearly double the average age for his breed.

I never advocate pet ownership (but I am obviously not opposed to it) but I will always advocate pet adoption. Too few people make good pet owners and even fewer are left to pick up the pieces from those unfit individuals.

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You're a good man and I'd buy you a beer if I didn't already know you have some.

When we got KB, we didn't know much about his previous owners (there were at least two) but he would flinch ever time you made a sudden hand movement near his head. Now I can walked right up and smack him (playfully) and he laughs and pounces me.

I think I've posted a pic of my boys before but I do have a question for other dog owners out there.

My wife is about 5 months pregnant with our first. I'm wondering how others have gotten their dogs "ready" for an addition to the family.

The husky (Leo) isn't aggressive in the slightest sense but is still pretty hyper and requires a good deal of attention. Our mini dachshund (Hiro) is more of our "guard dog" who barks at every little thing but is a lot more laid back.

For some reason I've kind of been stressing that they won't handle it well. We got them at 8 weeks and have had them for 4 years so all they know is that its just me and her. I'd like to just trust that they will handle it alright but like any expecting parent I'm a little worried.

Any tips from anybody on how to get them adjusted to having a baby in the house not only prior to, but after we bring him/her home?

Goofynewfie said:

is she positive about the border collie? Alot of lab mixes who have the white crosslike pattern on the chest are descended from st johns water dogs, an extinct breed.

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My purebred lab has a white blaze down his chest (doesn't make the cross pattern), and slight hints of white on his paws; I attribute this to the St. Johns genes in the Lab bloodline. I also figure this is why Sage started going grey in the muzzle at 4 years old.

MustBeZ said:

I think I've posted a pic of my boys before but I do have a question for other dog owners out there.

My wife is about 5 months pregnant with our first. I'm wondering how others have gotten their dogs "ready" for an addition to the family.

The husky (Leo) isn't aggressive in the slightest sense but is still pretty hyper and requires a good deal of attention. Our mini dachshund (Hiro) is more of our "guard dog" who barks at every little thing but is a lot more laid back.

For some reason I've kind of been stressing that they won't handle it well. We got them at 8 weeks and have had them for 4 years so all they know is that its just me and her. I'd like to just trust that they will handle it alright but like any expecting parent I'm a little worried.

Any tips from anybody on how to get them adjusted to having a baby in the house not only prior to, but after we bring him/her home?

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When we had our kid we were advised to carry a baby doll around but our dogs didn't care about it. 3 days before the wife's water broke our American bulldog (the big scary guard dog of the pack) gave herself a bladder infection peeing around the yard so much. The vet said the wife would give birth in a few days. He was right. The Bostons piled our bed covers around her in the middle of the night before her water broke and barked and whine when we left for the hospital. When we got back we let each of them give the boy a good once over sniffing and meeting in our arms they've been fine ever since

Congrats on the kid

Not this dog, but the one before was a straight up hunting dog. The biggest meanest goose would only have a second or two before that dog took them out. One day i brought home a 6 week old kitten. I knew it would only take one bite and the kitten would be history. I kept them apart, but still had them in the same room, I watched TV with the kitten on my chest and the dog at my side. I think the dog knew the kitten was not something to be killed, and when they eventually meet their was no problem.

Anyone who loves big sweet dogs and small kittens will get a kick out of any video on youtube with "Murkin" in it. I know, unfortunate name, but the dog is the canine representation of all that is right in the world.

Do not watch if you have drunk yourself into the sentimental stage of drunkeness, or you will bawl like a psychopath.

CreamyGoodness said:

Anyone who loves big sweet dogs and small kittens will get a kick out of any video on youtube with "Murkin" in it. I know, unfortunate name, but the dog is the canine representation of all that is right in the world.

Do not watch if you have drunk yourself into the sentimental stage of drunkeness, or you will bawl like a psychopath.

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that's an AWESOME name for a dog!

i'm expecting twins within the next month, so i too am wondering how the puppy will handle the new additions.

i read somewhere that before bringing the kid inside for the first time, you should introduce the dog to a blanket, hat, etc that the baby has worn at the hospital. this introduces the dog to the scent of the new guy.

make sure whoever is alpha is holding the baby when introducing him/her to the dog.

enjoy the silliness.

MustBeZ said:

I think I've posted a pic of my boys before but I do have a question for other dog owners out there.

My wife is about 5 months pregnant with our first. I'm wondering how others have gotten their dogs "ready" for an addition to the family.

The husky (Leo) isn't aggressive in the slightest sense but is still pretty hyper and requires a good deal of attention. Our mini dachshund (Hiro) is more of our "guard dog" who barks at every little thing but is a lot more laid back.

For some reason I've kind of been stressing that they won't handle it well. We got them at 8 weeks and have had them for 4 years so all they know is that its just me and her. I'd like to just trust that they will handle it alright but like any expecting parent I'm a little worried.

Any tips from anybody on how to get them adjusted to having a baby in the house not only prior to, but after we bring him/her home?

Click to expand...

sweetcell said:

i'm expecting twins within the next month, so i too am wondering how the puppy will handle the new additions.

i read somewhere that you before bringing the kid inside for the first time, you should introduce the dog to a blanket, hat, etc that the baby has worn at the hospital. this introduces the dog tot he scent of the new guy.

make sure whoever is alpha is holding the baby when introducing him/her to the dog.

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My oldest daughter was living at our place when she had my grandson. Our 3 dogs seemed to be aware of her condition for the duration of her pregnancy. When she brought him home, she carefully let each of them sniff her and the baby. Nitro, (Pugapoo)the oldest, pretty much was done and never hardly went near Jordan after that, but he's nearly blind and deaf anyway.
Nellie, (Brittany) the middle aged matron, was very much taken by Jordan and kept a watch over him. If he cried she would come running for his mother or me or my wife. At that time we still had Kronk, (Aus. Cattle Dog), passed away from severe cancer since then. Kronk accepted little Jordan into his "flock" with no problems. As long as my Wife or I said it was OK, he just assumed that it was another being he had to herd and protect.

I think dogs have been a part of us for so long that in general, they are quite willing and even eager to accept new members into their family pack.

sweetcell said:

i'm expecting twins within the next month, so i too am wondering how the puppy will handle the new additions.

i read somewhere that you before bringing the kid inside for the first time, you should introduce the dog to a blanket, hat, etc that the baby has worn at the hospital. this introduces the dog tot he scent of the new guy.

make sure whoever is alpha is holding the baby when introducing him/her to the dog.

Click to expand...

We did this with our dog when we brought our kids home from the hospital for the first time. Incidentally, we too had twins! Congrats btw!

Ours were premies and were in a NICU for almost two months and they had these little blankies the hospital gave them to have in their little incubators (as we called them). A couple of days before we were bringing them home we brought those blankies home for my dog to smell and it must have worked because he could have cared in the slightest bit when we brought them home.

He was a springer mix and was 6 at the time they were born and ended up being quite fond of both of them as he took turns sleeping with them at night up until he passed away last December. He was 15 when he passed and my girls miss him quite a bit. But they now have a new sleeping buddy only she's a bit more of a bed hog as she is an 80 lb Newfie/Lab mix!

Thanks for the replies!

We will definitely bring home something beforehand that smells like the baby...I'm sure everything will work out fine.

russrob81 said:

When we had our kid we were advised to carry a baby doll around but our dogs didn't care about it. 3 days before the wife's water broke our American bulldog (the big scary guard dog of the pack) gave herself a bladder infection peeing around the yard so much. The vet said the wife would give birth in a few days. He was right. The Bostons piled our bed covers around her in the middle of the night before her water broke and barked and whine when we left for the hospital. When we got back we let each of them give the boy a good once over sniffing and meeting in our arms they've been fine ever since

Congrats on the kid

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Pretty neat, how dogs know what's going on!

Sorry to jump in out of context. There is a book series written by an English veterinarian turned author named, James Herriot. I can't remember completely the names of them. I believe each book was named after a line of a poem.

I thought there were five but can't remember them all.

He also wrote a book dedicated to dogs. He is one of my favorite authors, it's a shame I don't remember more.

All Things Bright and Beautiful
All Creatures Great and Small
All Thing Wise and Wonderful
The Lord God Made Them All

This thread has been going for a long time. I went from no dog, to a new 7 week old puppy, to a 8 month old puppy. Today was the first day I let her walk off leash. She did great, never was more than 20 yards away. She came every time I called (I had treats). Some guy was power walking by my car and I asked him if he could help me with training her to not run and meet people; she ran all the way to the guy. How do I teach her not to run and meet people? Here she is on the woods walk, we were on deer trails for about an hour. I don't know how she did it, but at the end of the walk, she didn't have a single burr on her.

I tried everything I could think of to get my dog to learn to not run up to everyone he saw. Nothing worked. Eventually he just grew up and grew out of it.

Labs and goldens (which I have) love people so its definitely hard. Especially hard when they are puppies. Mine is a year and 3 months and is getting better but is still bad about greeting people.

our retriever is a year and a half old and she too is getting better about greeting people... but still not perfect. i too am hoping that she will continue to improve with time. she's become much more disciplined in many other things, greeting is hopefully on that list.

her biggest problem is jumping up on people. if she could just stop doing that we'd be all set. *sigh*.

We have a walking trail near my house that we take our dogs to walk on. Our chocolate lab is a runner (we found him cold and hungry dodging traffic on a busy road) and he never gets to go off his leash. Our black lab has been with us since she was a pup and I'll let her walk off of her leash until I see people coming then I get her back on. She likes to jump on people which she would most definitely do if she weren't on her leash...

sweetcell said:

our retriever is a year and a half old and she too is getting better about greeting people... but still not perfect. i too am hoping that she will continue to improve with time. she's become much more disciplined in many other things, greeting is hopefully on that list.

her biggest problem is jumping up on people. if she could just stop doing that we'd be all set. *sigh*.

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My golden does that too. Especially hard becuase when he jumps people reward that behavior by petting him. Best way to counter jumping up is to tell people to turn away from her when she does that. At least thats what I was told in training class and its worked pretty well.

Henry22 said:

My golden does that too. Especially hard becuase when he jumps people reward that behavior by petting him. Best way to counter jumping up is to tell people to turn away from her when she does that. At least thats what I was told in training class and its worked pretty well.

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A knee to the chest works pretty good too.... Barley doesn't jump up anymore, Blue sometimes still does with strangers. I'm always weary of it because I wouldn't want them to scratch a child's face...

MC

My lab retriever (RIP Cheyenne) was a big jumper. His nails and the pads of his feet were so rough that it hurt, and we never really broke him of the habit. For better or for worse, because of this experience, if a stranger dog jumps up on me in that manner I think "oh he's going to lick my face and wants to be pet" not "protect yourself."

Yeah Harper was really bad about it when I got him. He is much better now but still does is when he gets over excited. I found if he surprises me and is on me before I can turn away the knee works then turn away. If I see it coming though I show him my back and he realizes he won't get attention out of it and calms down.

My big problem is off leash. I can usually reign him in and sit him when we are walking with the leash and he will stay. He squirms and whines like a 2 year old that has to pee but he stays.

I think my biggest problem is he isn't socialized. Not to say he doesn't do well with other animals or he isn't good around kids but he is always with me so we pickup bad habits. I am a big guy and I don't mind rough housing sometimes so I kind of worry he might get super excited and start to rough house with someone more his size and hurt them or just scare the crap out of them (he can be mouthy).

KB would jump when we first got him, especially on me when I got home. What I did was completely ignore him until he sat down in front of me. I'd literally pretend that he wasn't there. For him, not getting attention is the most horrible type of abuse we could subject him to. He learned really quick that no matter how excited he is to see me (or anyone) he has to sit in front of the person to get the attention he wants. Once he'd sit, I'd kneel down and let him slobber on me and get belly rubs and whatnot. It was pitiful watching him when he finally got it because it was so HARD to sit still when he was that excited to see me and he'd just be twitching and shaking the whole time he's trying to keep his butt on the carpet, but he figured it out.

Training a dog to not run up or jump is called Focus. You teach the dog to focus on you and ignore the other stimulus in the environment. Once the dog is focusing on you it will not stray much beyond where it is supposed to walk when at heel. You have to start teaching that on leash and gradually add distractions over time. The leash is your connection to the dog and helps you gain his attention and refocus him or her back on where you want it to be. It is also a bonding issue due to the fact that you want the animal to live and breath to please you. It is not something that can be trained, it is a mutual respect that forms between you and the animal from long hours of interacting positively. A dog should never see anger, if your tired or angry wait till you feel better to conduct training, and keep it short and focused on one task at a time. 3 fifteen minute training sessions will give you much better results than a solid one hour session like at Petsmart or Petco. I just got a new Pure bred German Shepherd Service Dog from the Guardian Angels PTSD Foundation. She is fully trained and has had all of her obedience and practical skills. She was removed from training and given to me to become a pet because she was transitioning too slowly to meet the standards for the VA. She has overcome her issues since beginning to work with me and has been invited back to complete her training and become a full fledged Service Dog with all of the rights and benefits that includes. I can tell you that I am NOT a professional trainer, but have had dogs for over 40 years and trained them all to be good citizens and well behaved in public at all times. It just takes time and patience.

Wheelchair Bob

You're not giving her back are you Bob?

CreamyGoodness said:

My lab retriever (RIP Cheyenne) was a big jumper. His nails and the pads of his feet were so rough that it hurt, and we never really broke him of the habit. For better or for worse, because of this experience, if a stranger dog jumps up on me in that manner I think "oh he's going to lick my face and wants to be pet" not "protect yourself."

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Thanks to my friend's boxer, the first thing I think is 'protect the jewels'.

Yesterday, Reggie supervised my brew day.


Thanks again for all the kind thoughts and well wishes when he was AWOL.

Yeah Harper isn't all that attentive to where he lands either. I think it is cause someone took his so he aims for mine, lol.

On Sunday we stopped in to the local county animal shelter while killing time waiting to pickup our son from the grandparents. We've been looking for a dog for a while but hadn't found the right one yet as among other things our criteria was for a young dog, preferably a puppy.

When we got there we saw a sheets for two 2.5 month old heeler mixers but both were out meeting a couple. They decided they wanted to think about it and my wife and I fell in live with one of the pups. We spent an hour "meeting" the dog and examining its behavior and then brought the kids back to make sure it was a good fit.

Meet Ozzy (Yeah I know there's another Ozzy here and a heeler at that, but the fam has zero cares for internet people's ), a 2.5 - 3 month old heeler mix. He has blue and red heeler markings and my Aussie friend thinks he may have some Kelpie in him.

Jukas said:

On Sunday we stopped in to the local county animal shelter while killing time waiting to pickup our son from the grandparents. We've been looking for a dog for a while but hadn't found the right one yet as among other things our criteria was for a young dog, preferably a puppy.

When we got there we saw a sheets for two 2.5 month old heeler mixers but both were out meeting a couple. They decided they wanted to think about it and my wife and I fell in live with one of the pups. We spent an hour "meeting" the dog and examining its behavior and then brought the kids back to make sure it was a good fit.

Meet Ozzy (Yeah I know there's another Ozzy here and a heeler at that, but the fam has zero cares for internet people's ), a 2.5 - 3 month old heeler mix. He has blue and red heeler markings and my Aussie friend thinks he may have some Kelpie in him.

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Congrats! My ozzy says ozzy2 isn't a bad looking pup.

Channel66 said:

Congrats! My ozzy says ozzy2 isn't a bad looking pup.

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Thanks! He's a fun pup, tons of energy, though having an non-housebroken pet is an experience I don't desire to repeat. Couple more pictures of Oz

LOVE the ears on oz2!

Ok, so how many of us have dogs named Ozzy? Because I have an Oz too...

I, and everyone who meets him loves Ozzy's Gremlin ears. I'll be bummed when his body grows into them more

Potty training him is proving to be a bit of a challenge. 90% of the time he won't poop inside anymore, but he'll gleefully pee indoors no problem. So far I've tried...

Pee Post: He chewed on it, then ignored. I think I'm going to pee on it, just so I get my $10 worth.

Wee Wee Pads: He alternates between sleeping on, and chewing these.

He gets short walks six times a day, we allow him plenty of time to sniff and walks never end immediately after a potty. His walks have no fixed time constraint, I simply start to end them as soon as I see him getting tired and losing focus. Most are 10 - 15min.

When he pees or poops outside, he gets a little mini praise party and a treat. When he pees or poops inside, he gets no reaction. My wife or I simply clean up the mess, use a clorox wipe and then spray naturals miracle in a 50% large radius and redirect the dog away. I'm very glad I have laminate throughout my house.

Up until now he's had free access to water until about 8pm. I might start only putting down his water every half hour and increase the frequency I take him outside to the designated area and tell him to potty.

This is my first time housebreaking a puppy so I'm up for any suggestions from those more experienced than I.

Fixed meal schedule with only water down during meals works great until he figures it out. A walk right before the food goes down, one about half an hour after he eats (depends on the dog) and walks any time you notice him thinking about it (you know what I mean, lol).