The Pet Thread

tangled_metal

New house, first one with garden. 3 year old border terrier. She's taken to sitting out on the patio at night, even after the light has gone off. Just lots there looking left, right and straight ahead up the hillside garden. What's that about? Calm as you like. Cold concrete slabs doesn't bother it.

It felt like part of its settling in process. Stage before that was to follow me around everywhere. When I wasn't around she just sat near my partner while she worked.

Anyone got experience of moving house with a dog? How did it settle? How did you help it settle?

PS she's a complete creature of habit. She has every day of the week sorted even though they're mostly different. If we pick our son up from school earlier than normal, no late after school when he should have, then she knows there's a change. This change affected her.

ddraver

Pross said:

Nice try!

Best I've seen this year. Don't seem to have been too many.

The Monoski Freeride World Tour was ok...ok

Pross

New family member has arrived. He's seems to have been a bit spoiled, after playing with him for ages when getting home he was quite happy lying in his bed. We then put the TV on, he immediately started to cry and try to get up on the sofa. He's obviously used to being cuddled on the sofa while people watch TV. We held firm though and he eventually settled back in his bed.

tetley10

He looks awesome, Pross. Looks like he is going to be a lot of fun.

Pross

Thanks. He'll be hard work no doubt but it's the first chance I've had to have a puppy and train it so will be my fault if I don't get him well trained. Looking forward to him being old enough to start long walks with me and to eventually start coming on runs. I think he's going to be a big lad.

briantrumpet

Pross said:

Thanks. He'll be hard work no doubt but it's the first chance I've had to have a puppy and train it so will be my fault if I don't get him well trained. Looking forward to him being old enough to start long walks with me and to eventually start coming on runs. I think he's going to be a big lad.

Best training things I did with my first puppy (GSD x collie), under the advice of a farmer who trained collies: no biting, even playfully; no jumping up on people, ever; sit and stay, getting further and further away before calling back; no begging at table; no getting on furniture; no tugging when on a lead. The farmer also told me that, on the whole, dogs really do want to please, and dont want to disobey - if they don't do something you want them to, it's probably because they don't understand what you want them to do. Tone of voice is everything.

The only trouble I had with him, initially, was that he thought himself sick every time he went in the car, and the vomit was arriving earlier and earlier in the journey. One day I lost it with him: if I was cross with him, I'd grab his 'jowls' and press my nose against his, and this time I did that and told him very crossly there was no point in my having him if I couldn't take him to farms to work. He never threw up again.

I was also able to growl at him, and he knew I was cross. I think we both got in each other's heads.

ddraver

briantrumpet said:

Pross said:

Thanks. He'll be hard work no doubt but it's the first chance I've had to have a puppy and train it so will be my fault if I don't get him well trained. Looking forward to him being old enough to start long walks with me and to eventually start coming on runs. I think he's going to be a big lad.

Best training things I did with my first puppy (GSD x collie), under the advice of a farmer who trained collies: no biting, even playfully; no jumping up on people, ever; sit and stay, getting further and further away before calling back; no begging at table; no getting on furniture; no tugging when on a lead. The farmer also told me that, on the whole, dogs really do want to please, and dont want to disobey - if they don't do something you want them to, it's probably because they don't understand what you want them to do. Tone of voice is everything.

General good dog advice I think. The only thing I might stress is the importance of him coming back when you call. (Almost) everything else is (in comparison) irrelevant...

Pross

ddraver said:

briantrumpet said:

Pross said:

Thanks. He'll be hard work no doubt but it's the first chance I've had to have a puppy and train it so will be my fault if I don't get him well trained. Looking forward to him being old enough to start long walks with me and to eventually start coming on runs. I think he's going to be a big lad.

Best training things I did with my first puppy (GSD x collie), under the advice of a farmer who trained collies: no biting, even playfully; no jumping up on people, ever; sit and stay, getting further and further away before calling back; no begging at table; no getting on furniture; no tugging when on a lead. The farmer also told me that, on the whole, dogs really do want to please, and dont want to disobey - if they don't do something you want them to, it's probably because they don't understand what you want them to do. Tone of voice is everything.

General good dog advice I think. The only thing I might stress is the importance of him coming back when you call. (Almost) everything else is (in comparison) irrelevant...

Yeah trying to train out his prey drive (or control it anyway) isn't biggest concern. He'll be staying on a lead until I'm comfortable with that and that he'll come back as soon as called. My biggest issue with dog owners is letting their dog run free with no control.

tetley10

I'm on my first puppy and the best advice i got was to take him off the lead (in a safe area) ASAP. I'm definitely no expert but apparently they love to be close to you so it makes it easier to work on their recall.

briantrumpet

I did have the advantage of a few hundred acres of farmland to train off-lead, with no distractions.

pinno

Jack (he's a (tw@t):





Adopted us sometime between 2013-2014 slowly.
British short hair. First pedigree cat I have owned who has owned me. Not the brightest button in the box but he purrs when I pick him up, wants 'permission' to eat, and follows me around the garden and across to the neighbours. will go for short walks in the adjacent field with me and we play hide and seek. So he acts a bit like a dog. I have tried to tell him he isn't a dog but he doesn't listen. Has only once messed in the house because he was shut in, rarely jumps on counters and is generally a PITA decent natured hairy friend.

From what I could gather, owner bought him and subsequently got 2 kittens. I think he wanted peace and solitude (despite there being no peace in our house). He started attacking the kittens if they came into our garden and he was riddled with worms and often came out of the copse which was behind our house with a bird in his mouth. This was much to the horror of the girls when they were wee. We moved and brought him with us. He settled in immediately and rarely catches birds - mainly rabbits, mice and the odd ferret.

I miss my Spaniel but the girls are still a bit of a handful and Jack is a bit aggressive towards dogs so another Springer will have to wait.

DeVlaeminck

I'd take your dog to training classes Pross - worth doing even if you've had dogs before especially with a big powerful breed that has a guarding and herding instinct. If nothing else it's good socialisation.

Pross

DeVlaeminck said:

I'd take your dog to training classes Pross - worth doing even if you've had dogs before especially with a big powerful breed that has a guarding and herding instinct. If nothing else it's good socialisation.

I will be as soon as they reopen. There's a place near me with an ex-policedog trainer who specialise in GSD (normal puppy / obedience stuff but also does the IPO type stuff I think). There's also a GSD club near me that I might eventually join if I've got the time to commit. He's already very well socialised having come from a house with 7 kids and various animals and has settled in with our dog and my daughter's Staffie. We also took him to see my niece and nephew, my nephew can be a bit rough with their dogs but they got on really well.

Settled quite nicely downstairs in his pen last night. I had to get up about 3.30 to let him out and spend a bit of time with him but then he settled back down letting me go back to bed until 6.30 when he got woken by my daughter going down to let her Staffie out. Even then he settled back down in his bed and I got a bit of a nap on the sofa until I had to get up anyway.

Pross

Pup is 20 weeks now, grown a fair bit and he's letting me get a bit more sleep these days. He's booked in for 9 days residential training in a few weeks and has started to go to doggy daycare for additional socialisation but is pretty good most of the time.

Stevo_666

Here's our two, taking a break from their daily rampage around the woods.

Pross

Having owned dogs all my life and never needed to use a vet for them other than for "routine maintenance" today my daughter has had to take her's in as he had multiple fits and I had a call from the boarding kennels to say mine had an issue with his leg, they've taken him to the vet where it looks like he's chewed at his leg due to a sting or bite and done so much damage he's currently having an operation.

My daughter just got the vet history on hers from the Dogs Trust and vet advice there was that he probably had a neurological issue. They recommended that he have an MRI or be deemed unfit to re-home - he doesn't appear to have ever had the MRI and was obviously re-homed against that advice so we'll be talking to them about the cost of treatment as it won't be covered by her insurance.

Hopefully mine will be covered as the estimate at the moment is nearly £900.

So strange that two major things have come up on the same day.

rjsterry

Sorry to hear that Pross. Hope you get somewhere with the Dogs Trust.

Pross

Mine is all done now. Didn't affect the bone luckily but sounds like he had a fair bit of infection and tissue damage. One of the staff at the boarding kennels is keeping him at her house until we pick him up on Monday.

My daughter's vet is going to try to get Dogs Trust to agree to an MRI which will cost around £3k. I'm still amazed they decided to send him to see how he got on in a new home rather than agree to the MRI their own vet recommended let alone that they told my daughter it was a behavioural thing when they already knew that was unlikely.

elbowloh

Pross said:

Mine is all done now. Didn't affect the bone luckily but sounds like he had a fair bit of infection and tissue damage. One of the staff at the boarding kennels is keeping him at her house until we pick him up on Monday.

My daughter's vet is going to try to get Dogs Trust to agree to an MRI which will cost around £3k. I'm still amazed they decided to send him to see how he got on in a new home rather than agree to the MRI their own vet recommended let alone that they told my daughter it was a behavioural thing when they already knew that was unlikely.

There is your answer. Funds are limited.

When the missus worked for the PDSA, they were severely limited on what tests or treatments they were allowed to do/order and of those they had a limit per day, so you had to pick and choose the most needy.

The Bluecross is thankfully a lot more open in that regard and they have a much higher treatment level.

Pross

elbowloh said:

Pross said:

Mine is all done now. Didn't affect the bone luckily but sounds like he had a fair bit of infection and tissue damage. One of the staff at the boarding kennels is keeping him at her house until we pick him up on Monday.

My daughter's vet is going to try to get Dogs Trust to agree to an MRI which will cost around £3k. I'm still amazed they decided to send him to see how he got on in a new home rather than agree to the MRI their own vet recommended let alone that they told my daughter it was a behavioural thing when they already knew that was unlikely.

There is your answer. Funds are limited.

When the missus worked for the PDSA, they were severely limited on what tests or treatments they were allowed to do/order and of those they had a limit per day, so you had to pick and choose the most needy.

The Bluecross is thankfully a lot more open in that regard and they have a much higher treatment level.

Sure but if a vet has said without an MRI they suggest the dog isn't suitable for rehoming due to quality of life issues and then the behaviourist says see how he goes in a new home before making a decision then the person adopting should at least be made aware of the problem. As it stands my daughter currently has a bill of £900 that won't be covered by insurance as it was a pre-existing condition she didn't know about.

First.Aspect

Pross said:

elbowloh said:

Pross said:

Mine is all done now. Didn't affect the bone luckily but sounds like he had a fair bit of infection and tissue damage. One of the staff at the boarding kennels is keeping him at her house until we pick him up on Monday.

My daughter's vet is going to try to get Dogs Trust to agree to an MRI which will cost around £3k. I'm still amazed they decided to send him to see how he got on in a new home rather than agree to the MRI their own vet recommended let alone that they told my daughter it was a behavioural thing when they already knew that was unlikely.

There is your answer. Funds are limited.

When the missus worked for the PDSA, they were severely limited on what tests or treatments they were allowed to do/order and of those they had a limit per day, so you had to pick and choose the most needy.

The Bluecross is thankfully a lot more open in that regard and they have a much higher treatment level.

Sure but if a vet has said without an MRI they suggest the dog isn't suitable for rehoming due to quality of life issues and then the behaviourist says see how he goes in a new home before making a decision then the person adopting should at least be made aware of the problem. As it stands my daughter currently has a bill of £900 that won't be covered by insurance as it was a pre-existing condition she didn't know about.

Could be worse. BIL, who is autistic and in care, received a rehomed dog, which we later found out had a history of biting people. We found this out after it had bitten a few people in a care setting.

MIL adopted it to stop it bing destroyed. Lovely dog providing you knew what not to do.

Wheelspinner

Pross said:

Having owned dogs all my life and never needed to use a vet for them other than for "routine maintenance" today my daughter has had to take her's in as he had multiple fits and I had a call from the boarding kennels to say mine had an issue with his leg, they've taken him to the vet where it looks like he's chewed at his leg due to a sting or bite and done so much damage he's currently having an operation.

My daughter just got the vet history on hers from the Dogs Trust and vet advice there was that he probably had a neurological issue. They recommended that he have an MRI or be deemed unfit to re-home - he doesn't appear to have ever had the MRI and was obviously re-homed against that advice so we'll be talking to them about the cost of treatment as it won't be covered by her insurance.

Hopefully mine will be covered as the estimate at the moment is nearly £900.

So strange that two major things have come up on the same day.

Lousy news for you both Pross. Maybe something in the moon phase or something... walked out this morning and ours appears to have hurt herself somehow overnight, yelps every time she moves. Must have been chasing something outside, which never ends well...

ugo.santalucia

The Hungarian Devil has landed

DeVlaeminck

I'm guessing that's a wirehaired vizsla ?

ugo.santalucia

DeVlaeminck said:

I'm guessing that's a wirehaired vizsla ?

Yes... she's called Maple, but Jaws would be more appropriate

pinno

My Jack - MIA. Haven't seen him for almost 24hrs. Searched everywhere.
The latest he's come back is 10am after night time roaming.
He is neutered and doesn't stray far.

First.Aspect

pinno said:

My Jack - MIA. Haven't seen him for almost 24hrs. Searched everywhere.
The latest he's come back is 10am after night time roaming.
He is neutered and doesn't stray far.

Cat?

pinno

First.Aspect said:

pinno said:

My Jack - MIA. Haven't seen him for almost 24hrs. Searched everywhere.
The latest he's come back is 10am after night time roaming.
He is neutered and doesn't stray far.

Cat?

Yep, see upthread.

First.Aspect

pinno said:

First.Aspect said:

pinno said:

My Jack - MIA. Haven't seen him for almost 24hrs. Searched everywhere.
The latest he's come back is 10am after night time roaming.
He is neutered and doesn't stray far.

Cat?

Yep, see upthread.

Worrying but teenagers can go off for a while, particularly boys, even when they've been neutered. Scared the daylights out of us with one of ours. Somewhere in the 36-48 hour range when he first started it. Hopefully it's just that.

pinno

He just came in 10 mins ago. Very hungry but looking like nothing happened.
Barsteward.
Phew.