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I've had my German Shepherd rescue for about a month and a half now and man, I love dogs and their weirdness. She doesn't chew my shoes, but she constantly is relocating them from the shoe rack to the living room or the bedroom. Same with socks. She loves the smell of my feet, apparently. She's very much a Velcro dog right now, constantly attached to my hip whenever I'm in the house. Until bedtime, where she won't sleep in the bedroom with me, instead laying in the living room. But if I decide to sleep in after I feed her in the morning, she goes back to sleep with me in the bedroom. Random. I love the goon.
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Feb 17, 2020 15:17
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Reminds me of me and Apollo - he leaves all shoes alone EXCEPT when I'm gone and he's with the parents. Then he will relocate a slipper, kind of as a threat. "If you don't make Strix reappear right now..." So far he hasn't followed through fortunately, haha
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Feb 17, 2020 16:20
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I started keeping my shoes in my closet when I got a dog.
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Feb 17, 2020 16:54
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That’s what my wife has done now that our pup got a taste for her boots.
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Feb 17, 2020 17:04
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It's been just over four years since Luna (my minpin) passed away. A friend of mine is fostering rescue puppies, and we are thinking of getting one. It's been 19 years since I've had a puppy, and definitely not since I've had kids (who are now almost 3 and 6). I feel simultaneously like I know what I'm doing and also like I have NO CLUE OMG. Are there good resources people recommend for navigating the puppy + kid situation? They're enthusiastic about playing with puppy, and already have some exposure - our nanny got a 3mo puppy last summer and brought him over for several hours every day. That's not the same as having a dog every day in the house, though! It's specifically these puppies fwiw because the friend has volunteered to watch one of them if/when we go out of town later this year.
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Feb 22, 2020 05:41
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Hello, I've just adopted a dog from a shelter about a week ago. Initially she was so terrified of everything she wouldn't leave her bed. Every day she's gotten a bit better so I'm happy for her. But I have some questions. In the mornings or when I get back home from being out, she wags her tail when she sees me(something she started doing just the past few days) but when I squat down to pet her, she moves out of reach. Then she continues to wag her tail, but then she yawns a whole lot which I thought meant "I'm sort of scared", so I feel like I'm getting mixed signals. If I hold out my hands, she'll inch forward carefully then retreat and this goes on for a bit and rarely she will come all the way over and let me pet her. I'm wondering, is the tail wag really saying she's happy, and is it good to keep trying to pet her to show her I'm not too scary, or is it possible that's just stressing her out? I pet her a lot when she's in her bed too, I just also want her to not be afraid of coming to me when I call her. I've never owned a dog this fearful so I feel a little out of my depth on when it is right to push through fear and when it is right to let her alone. Like with the elevator, we unfortunately had no choice but to use it even though she was terrified of it. I love her but not 50 flights of stairs for a quick pee kind of love. So I always gave her a small bit of a treat every elevator ride and comforted her and now she walks right on and while she is still somewhat afraid it's definitely better than before. The other thing is that if she gets a treat given to her near her bed, she hides it in her blanket and eats it later. Is this okay to let her do or should it be discouraged? My only concern is that it could lead to her getting growly if people approach her bed. She hasn't shown any sign of that yet.
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Feb 24, 2020 01:41
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I can't speak to fear in dogs, other than the usual advice to give it time. It takes a while for a dog to get that your home isn't some strange place - that it's their home too. Once that transition happens, more extreme behaviors will hopefully fall away. This happened with our rescue, who absolutely would not settle down for the first month or so of ownership; she just patrolled endlessly. So while I can't give specific advice for that.... bones 4 beginners posted:The other thing is that if she gets a treat given to her near her bed, she hides it in her blanket and eats it later. Is this okay to let her do or should it be discouraged? My only concern is that it could lead to her getting growly if people approach her bed. She hasn't shown any sign of that yet. Our idiot does this. We give her a bone, she'll walk around the house with it, whining all the while, attempting to bury it in pillows and blankets. I think it's a slightly different behavioral path than food defensiveness, but at any rate, we haven't had any problems with it in the ~8 months we've had her. You may want to discourage it if she starts trying to hide it in, say, the leather couch you don't want her clawing up. I do try to stay aware of the potential issue, and I think you can take reasonable precautions to ensure it doesn't sprout up. Making the dog work for meals and treats or interrupting a good chew session to re-enforce a "drop" command are the two things we've been doing regularly. I'm not sure how effective these would be in a dog with defensive behaviors already, but we're in good places already, so we're just promoting behaviors the dog is already exhibiting. EDIT: the "burying around the house" thing probably hit a comedy peak when she ran to jump on our bed and jammed the thing underneath me. Sorry, Lady, I am not a safe place to bury a bone. Boxman fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Feb 24, 2020 |
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Feb 24, 2020 15:03
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My second dog is fearful, was also adopted, and two years later still freaks out when I replace garbage bags (used to be when holding anything). My older hides things and has no fear at all, so those behaviors are not related imho. A week isn't much time. Mixed signals will sort themselves out in the next few months.
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Feb 24, 2020 15:13
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Week one of having Apollo mostly consisted of me walking him, being certain I'd made a mistake and should return him to the shelter, and him convincing me that he wants to sleep on my bed, not on the floor. I think we also had a few accidents inside until he figured out that I REALLY want him doing his business outside. Oh, and he had to play with the toys I got for him, not anything else. He was roughly... ten months old? I think? Now, years later, I know he was a good decision, he can sleep on my bed, and he mostly behaves like a perfect angel*. Basically one week isn't enough time to learn a dog. I don't have advice on your situation specifically alas, but don't judge her based on one week. *due to separation anxiety he will move slippers around in a threatening manner for my parents while I'm out of the house. "bring strix back or the slipper gets it" is the entire motivation there
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Feb 24, 2020 15:21
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so I posted about Max a little bit up thread with his swollen eye... turns out it may be quite a bit more than that.  in the last week, we noticed he wasn't able to open his jaw more than a half inch or so. it manifested initially when we saw him unable to pick a favorite toy off the floor, then unable to catch a treat, combined with extreme face shyness and drooling from the same side he had an inflamed eye. he is thankfully able to eat and drink and still has a high energy level. I (and his vet) now believe he has masticatory muscle myositis, or MMM. since this is apparently an autoimmune disease, right now the best treatment appears to be high doses of corticosteroids (prednisone) to try and keep his cheek/jaw inflammation down, and eventually restore full function to his facial muscles and jaw. I feel pretty devastated to be honest, he's barely over a year old and my first puppy. We're basically hoping the prednisone does something quickly, or his quality of life is going to decline rapidly.  I'll try and post updates through his treatment. If you see these symptoms in your animal I wouldn't wait, take them in immediately
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Feb 25, 2020 00:49
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ex post facho posted:so I posted about Max a little bit up thread with his swollen eye... Poor Max! I hope he gets well soon
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Feb 25, 2020 00:55
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First six months of my rescue would submission pee at any rise in my voice or command she didn't quite understand. She wore a doggie diaper inside for a long time because of the near daily issues. But over time she learned that no matter what, I'm on her side. It was tough, but I couldn't give up on her. I've been volunteering at a shelter for 3 years and have seen all manner of behavior in rescues. Nearly ever return could have been solved by a little more patience or some training commitment. It can be tough, but these are living, codependent beings that need to figure out that they aren't going to be abandoned again. A majority of dogs didn't end up in the shelter because they've had a good life, you just gotta show them that good life the deserve, so they can accept that you do love them.
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Feb 25, 2020 02:20
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Yeah, shelter dogs have it rough. Apollo will always have some form of separation anxiety (as I assume he didn't have it before he was put in the shelter) and that's just something I have to work with. Fortunately I'm at home most of the time (thank you online college classes) so I have pretty direct control as to when I'll be away from him or not. He's got a secure kennel that he sleeps in while I'm gone, and I know that when I get back my first priority has to be letting him out and then sitting on the floor so he can lose his mind with joy over how I'm back.
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Feb 25, 2020 02:52
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Thanks for the advice everyone. Id like to make it clearer that I wasn't trying to judge my dog too quickly, nor even remotely considering returning her over such trivial things. I know moving to a new home takes time to adjust to, it was mainly my lack of experience with fearful behavior specifically that I was concerned about. I just wanted to be sure I don't make this transition more stressful for her than it needs to be. Here's a pic of her making a stupid face because of her under bite. 
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Feb 25, 2020 02:54
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She's gorgeous. Have you spent any time on the floor just being around her? I tend to sit on the floor and read a bunch (as the couch is too comfortable and if I read there I wind up napping) so I often get Apollo either coming to help or just lying near me. That might help with the fear? I'm completely spitballing here, for the record. My only experience with dogs is Apollo.
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Feb 25, 2020 03:00
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The shying away from touching will very likely go away with the more time they spend with you. I agree with the sitting on the floor with them and maybe find a toy that you can play with together. Cute little chomper will ease up with the consistent attention and positive reinforcement. In time, you'll have a confident doggo that knows you and you'll feel confident as well.
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Feb 25, 2020 03:32
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My German Shepherd rescue I've had for about two months ago really made herself at home super quickly. Within two hours of her being in the new house she was lounging around on her Costco bed. It's weird though, she's a Velcro dog whenever I'm home. Follows me around everywhere I go, if she's laying down and I get up she's right there with me. When I need to use the bathroom she plants herself outside the door. When I work from home, my office is upstairs and she's afraid to go up them, so she spends the day camped out at the base of the stairs. But come bedtime, the SECOND I get into bed she leaves the bedroom and sleeps either next to the front door or in the middle of the living room. I guess it's either her protective instincts, or I snore really, really loudly.
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Feb 25, 2020 03:40
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Tell me about doggie DNA tests - are they worth the price for the entertainment? Our puppy theoretically has an improbable mix of dogs in her, and I'd love to find out if there's any truth to it. She was imported by our local rescue from Oklahoma, so they really don't know much about her for sure. Pic for payment! 
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Mar 13, 2020 16:35
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cailleask posted:Tell me about doggie DNA tests - are they worth the price for the entertainment? Our puppy theoretically has an improbable mix of dogs in her, and I'd love to find out if there's any truth to it. She was imported by our local rescue from Oklahoma, so they really don't know much about her for sure. We’ve done them for our dogs and I think they’re worth the price, especially if you can find a discount.
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Mar 13, 2020 16:40
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Mine was a giant disappointment because it came back "eastern European village dog". While probably correct, it was kind of an anticlimax after six months of guessing. We opted for the slightly more expensive Embark package which does health screening as well, which helped me to rationalize it as being useful and not just for fun.
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Mar 13, 2020 16:47
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cailleask posted:Tell me about doggie DNA tests - are they worth the price for the entertainment? Our puppy theoretically has an improbable mix of dogs in her, and I'd love to find out if there's any truth to it. She was imported by our local rescue from Oklahoma, so they really don't know much about her for sure. I really liked doing the embark testing. I did it for both my mutt and my purebred dog for the health testing. There are a couple big sales a year, rumor is the next one will be on national dna day which is April 25th. I think I spent $120-ish on the embark breed + health test on Black Friday or cyber Monday last year and that’s as low as that option seems to go. There’s a breed only test that I‘ve seen go a bit lower. I did wisdom panel first and wouldn’t suggest that. Just save for the embark, it’s way more accurate.
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Mar 13, 2020 20:13
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Okay, not a huge fan of medical mysteries when it comes to dogs Last night right before bed when I asked Apollo to go out with me he didn't want to get up. Uh oh, I thought. Normally he springs up. I coaxed him into getting up and walking to me, but he sat down and didn't want to go anywhere. Ears pinned back, sad expression, but he didn't want to move. I coaxed him to come with me outside in case this meant like, diarrhea or something, but... nope. He went out, laid down, eventually peed, and came back in. He moves fine - no limp, no weird gait, no held paw, nothing. He just doesn't want to. I took him to bed after discussing this with the parents, and decided to get some sleep, see how he was in the morning. I checked his paws - no cuts or torn claws, nothing weird. I checked his belly, his ears, his butt, everything. Nothing weird, nothing that made him react. He looks and feels like a normal dog. He curled up in bed, slept soundly with me and in the morning - well, nothing has changed. He hopped out of bed, but when I tried to go down the hallway he stopped in the main room and sat down and looked at me sadly. I brought him water - no interest. I'll bring him food in half an hour. I checked his body again, gave him lots of pets, and finally instead of asking him to walk I carried him to his dog bed and he stood next to it, then arranged himself in it and has been there for the last ten minutes with ears up, eyes open, watching me do stuff. He even shifted to point in a different direction. If this keeps up I'll call the vet this afternoon (assuming they're open), but I'm... hoping that this is just a pulled muscle? He's had no other health issues before this. He's not whining or whimpering, and his fur is fine. Psychologically he's stressed as we're stressed, and I left him for an hour yesterday in the kennel so I could go grocery shopping. Also my brother left yesterday to visit some friends and won't be back until this evening, so if he's missing him.... but my brother has only been here a few days, and normally if Apollo's missing someone (me) he tells everyone about it. I'm sitting here typing and looking over at him and worrying and I just, I want him to be okay. He gets breakfast in half an hour, I'll try to walk him after that - but a real short one, if he is having sore muscles I don't want to contribute. e: I took him out and he peed and pooped so that's one worry taken care of. Everything looked normal, and he ate breakfast fine as well. Then he went and laid down near me, and has been doing the sadface + quick tag-wail thing and baby... I hope it's a sore muscle that recovers soon and not something more serious. StrixNebulosa fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Mar 14, 2020 |
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Mar 14, 2020 10:36
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Is he just noping out of going outside? Are you sure there's nothing going on outside that's bothering him? My dog has been weird about noises or smells, like construction or fires, a couple of times. She's also overly dramatic and a weather weenie.
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Mar 14, 2020 11:59
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It's not the outdoors - he's avoiding getting up as much as possible and not following me around like normal. e: ugh yeah. Like just now. I just got up and swapped rooms to sit at my laptop, and he hasn't come in like normal. I go back to check on him and he's got his ears pinned back and a sad expression and baby I wish I knew what was wrong so I could help you... StrixNebulosa fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Mar 14, 2020 |
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Mar 14, 2020 14:32
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I have never been so happy to see regular behavior - Apollo barked at a delivery guy, I took him for a walk and he kicked after peeing, rolled in some of the leftover snow, and has come in to patrol the house and is acting like himself. I think I'm right - he must have pulled a muscle and was in pain until it healed up. Or something. I will of course keep an eye on him.
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Mar 14, 2020 16:51
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StrixNebulosa posted:I have never been so happy to see regular behavior - Apollo barked at a delivery guy, I took him for a walk and he kicked after peeing, rolled in some of the leftover snow, and has come in to patrol the house and is acting like himself. Glad to hear it!
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Mar 14, 2020 20:08
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Max is doing better now after a few weeks of prednisone. His jaw unlocked for the most part, and we're starting to reduce his dose gradually. Good news for anyone who runs into this and you catch it early.
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Mar 14, 2020 21:44
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Here's a fun one: my dog (75lbs lab mix mutt) ate my leather wallet. The wallet itself is relatively small and she didn't eat anything inside of it (or the cloth) but I can't find any trace of the leather so I'm thinking she chewed it up and ate it. Is this a go to the emergency vet right now situation or is it a keep an eye on her and see if she poops in the next 24 hours situation? Edit: called the e-vet, they said for a dog her size just keep an eye on those poops for the next little while. prom candy fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Mar 15, 2020 |
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Mar 15, 2020 03:56
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That's one of the advantages of medium-large dogs. My 95 'lbs guy hoovered up a raisin or two before we even realized he was in the room and he was fine.
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Mar 15, 2020 04:41
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She has eaten lots of stuff in the past and had no problems. Chocolate, bone-in pork chops, whatever kind of granola bar my wife leaves in her purse. She's never been one to eat non-food items though. Now I need a new wallet too, poo poo.
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Mar 15, 2020 04:49
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My dog will eat anything and everything edible, but is fairly smart about non edible stuff. Case in point, last week she ate an entire bag of hot dog buns but left the wrapper. And then the rear end in a top hat had the nerve to ask for a treat when I found the bag.
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Mar 15, 2020 05:21
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Follow up report: yeah Apollo is totally fine. Racing around this morning like normal, when we went out he tried to chase something in the woods, and he's now giving warning growls at the front door because there might be something threatening behind it. I swear, he's a great doorbell - except he gives so many false alarms. Must be ghosts haunting our carport.
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Mar 15, 2020 12:21
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Wallet update: Barfed up in our bedroom at 5am. Dogs are lucky they're cute.
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Mar 15, 2020 14:38
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prom candy posted:Wallet update: Barfed up in our bedroom at 5am. Dogs are lucky they're cute. Ah, a happy ending. I'm glad your terrible monster is okay.
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Mar 15, 2020 14:40
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I've posted in the rabbit thread also. But here's the situation: I have 2 beagles. My niece had a rabbit at college near me, but was at home hundreds of miles away for spring break when classes were cancelled due to coronavirus. Being the world's best uncle, I rescued the rabbit. It is socialized with dogs at home, and doesn't seem alarmed by the dog smells and noises. The beagles are not taking it nearly as well, are sure there's a monster in the other room and don't understand why I won't let them investigate. This might drag on for weeks-months, and if that transpires, I'd hope to be able to desensitize the dogs enough to be able to have the caged rabbit and dogs together in the same room with me without all hell breaking loose. Any ideas? Is this a fool's errand?
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Mar 16, 2020 14:49
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arn't beagles like bassets where they just find and don't kill their prey? Not that I'd trust that but you should be able to teach manners. Hounds will be curious as long as there's something to investigate. Dunno if you can just use and old fashion pet gate to socialize/coexist? It took a few days for my hounds to not be terrified of my kittens.
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Mar 16, 2020 16:02
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cailleask posted:Tell me about doggie DNA tests - are they worth the price for the entertainment? Our puppy theoretically has an improbable mix of dogs in her, and I'd love to find out if there's any truth to it. She was imported by our local rescue from Oklahoma, so they really don't know much about her for sure. Yes, absolutely. Found out the DNA results for my new pup who was sold to us as a "yorkie corgi" mix and, as I recall, has no corgi and is primarily chihuahua. But still has the yorkie style of fur, so who really knows? I don't know if the results were anything meaningful, or just prove that for the most part dog breeds in mutts can be really hard to gauge? Macichne Leainig fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Mar 16, 2020 |
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Mar 16, 2020 20:40
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Dog woke up at 8AM (I went to bed at 4AM and wife at 5AM) and threw up next to the bed, I was so loving out of it while trying to get cleaning supplies I tripped over the couch, thought I was in our old apartment and turned into a wall and then stepped in the water dish; some clown poo poo this morning. Dog is fine, he sleeps under the covers and if he gets too hot this happens, got some food/water in him (after I got new non-foot water) and he was ready to go back to bed.
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Mar 16, 2020 22:38
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Thanks for the fantastic OP and guide. My spouse and I just got a puppy within the span of a few days (after years of wanting to, and the last few months of serious planning) because both of us are working from home over the next 2-3 weeks because of coronavirus (in fact, one of us is fully off for the next 2 weeks). While the timing is great for the time/attention we can give her, we recently called the vet who could only book us for vaccinations at the earliest 2 weeks from now, on April 1st. Should we be concerned? Much like in the OP, I'm worried that I'm missing prime socialization time because we'll have to avoid outdoors and other dogs for a considerable while longer. We got her last night and she's 9 weeks old. I never thought that I would say this but I also realize I'm completely overwhelmed with this, and I don't know why. We're very prepared, have all the stuff we need, watched videos, read guides and such but everytime she's napping I'm incredibly anxious and wondering what we got ourselves into and if we can actually do this, and I feel terrible that I feel this way when I should be super excited. Does this go away at some point? Finally, we've been crate training and potty training since we brought her in last night, and so far so good. However, I'm reading now that as part of crate training, she should be actually napping in her crate. She's been super anxious still, so we're not always sure when she'll fall asleep after playtime. Do we just wait until she falls asleep and pick her up and put her in the crate? Or is this contrary to not forcing her into the crate and trying to make it positive? Should we be trying to get ahead of it by after playtime, luring her into the crate with lots of treats and hopefully lull her to sleep? Thanks for the help again, this guide is great.
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Mar 17, 2020 22:48
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Oysters Autobio posted:I never thought that I would say this but I also realize I'm completely overwhelmed with this, and I don't know why. We're very prepared, have all the stuff we need, watched videos, read guides and such but everytime she's napping I'm incredibly anxious and wondering what we got ourselves into and if we can actually do this, and I feel terrible that I feel this way when I should be super excited. Does this go away at some point? For the first week I had my dog, I was 100% convinced I should send him back to the shelter. It was a massive change in my life, and that was without the problem of potty-training. Then, eventually, the week passed and turned into two weeks, and now several years later I love this dog so much and am glad I stuck it out.
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Mar 17, 2020 22:54
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