The dog musing/vent thread

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I can join the ranks of those who have taken dogs to the head.

Finn has since learned the difference between "around" and "rebound".

Gimmick is starting agility next week! I'm super excited, and I hope that this helps improve his confidence in life.

We're going tonight so he can see the place and meet the trainer, so next week won't be such a shock. One of my best friends and her dog are taking the class as well, so fingers crossed that this is a positive experience for him.

Venice bit me twice at flyball practice last night when she missed her tug.

After a disaster of a workday I didn't even mind. It was just fun to play.

Gimmick's breeder (whom I google stalk sometimes. Yeah, I know) has a litter of puppies on the ground that I believe are full siblings to Gimmick.

I hate myself for even looking.

Remind me to never order bones from Petco ever again. I've no idea why I thought this time would be any different- I guess I just forgot all the previous times that I've ordered bones along with food. The bones ALWAYS come damaged.

And of course, because of all the crumbs and whatnot around the Merrick "The Tank" bone, I didn't realize it was split before I had already given it to Roxie and she of course started gnawing on it... boom, it was in two pieces within seconds.

So obviously I just let her have one half and save one half for when I have to leave her alone, as I usually only give her new bones when she's alone (until she gnaws the awesome meaty bits, then the bone's down until it's gone). These bones usually last her quite a few months, and she's already got this half dwindled down in only a few days.

Why can't they just package stuff so the bones don't break? I have never had this problem with Chewy.com!! Clearly I'm going to return the other bone to the (physical, not sending it through the mail) store so I can get an undamaged one, but they don't have a Petco nearby so I'm just very annoyed by all of this.

Are they the smoked kind? Because thats why I stopped buying them, because they kept coming broken :/. I just get the raw marrow "soup" bones form the store for like, $4 or so for a package of four, I freeze them and give them at will, the best thing is I can restuff them with whatever once they eat all the marrow out of them.

I love the re-stuff factor of marrow bones. There are generally like 2 kongs and 4 marrow bones in my freezer.

No, they're just the normal meaty "The Tank" bones that Merrick offers. Any bone I've ever gotten shipped from Petco ends up getting broken in the mail because they can't figure out how to package them correctly. Like I said, never had this issue with Chewy, because they package the bones in a way that they won't fall to pieces during shipping.

I just found out there's Dock Diving at the Kentucky Cluster next week.

Trying to find out if I can still register Payton for a number (it's not DockDogs, of course, so he's not registered with them) or if I can just do a fun jump.

Either way I am really hoping we'll have reason to pack his life jacket and some towels.

I met the sweetest little 25 pound Brittany at the park today. I thought she was only 5-6 months old, but she turned out to be almost 2. Now I have serious Brittany want.

My friend had 3 of the small brittanies - French Brittany. They were really sweet.

HANK BRAG.

I'm so happy with my boy today. We had a lot of fun doing a lot of things. I am so happy having a dog that is so up for everything. I LOVE this dog. He is awesome and so good at everything we try. It's so fun!

First off, Hank attended his first ever real trial. He ran two CAT (lure course) tests and qualified in both. He needs one more Q to get his CA title. Hank is a lure coursing NUT. I thought he might be but he turned into a screaming lunging nut at the sight of the 'bunnies'. He has to run the 600 yard course and did just great. The sighthound people liked him and said he was a natural.

We also did two agility fun runs where he stayed engaged and tugged despite all the distractions. We did not do a full course for obvious reasons but he played very nicely, did some lowered jumps and tunnels and the a-frame very well.

Then we did some disc work with a friend after Hank accidentally rebounded off her uninvited. He did well. I can't throw rollers at ALL but she can and he played well with her.

Then we did a barn hunt and Hank also did that very well. He turned 'on' a lot more than the last time. Took him a minute to remember the game but he was all about that rat.

Summer ran agility twice. Her first run she did a full AKC novice course beautifully and well under time. Her second we just played a bit on tunnels and dog walks. She was so happy to be out there.

Mia was carried around and grumped several dogs.

I feel like such a jerk when I say it and hate myself for it, but I really wish I had a dog, like a real dog that I could do things with without worrying about if my dog is going to try and hurt someone.


Yesterday I went with my aunt and uncle to bring home their new puppy, 7 months old. Spent the day showing them how to teach her not to jump up or mouth or chew the furniture. Helped show them how to teach her to sit and target their hand. It was fun. My aunt walks 4 miles every day with a friend and her dog so eventually her pup will come too. She'll come pick the kids up from school and go to the beach with them in the summer while they're at their house down the cape. There is so much potential and I know she'll do great, she's a nice friendly normal pup.


Then my uncle drove me home and came inside to say hi to my parents. Dad picked Tucker up before he came in and I took him and leashed him so he wouldn't bite my uncle. He calmed down quickly, I was actually really proud of him. Within a few minutes Tucker was totally relaxed and falling asleep on the arm of the couch (where he was by choice) while I pet him. My uncle was standing behind the couch, maybe 10 feet over from where Tucker was. Then he laughed. Tucker took off and tried to launch himself at my uncle's face. He was never in danger, Tucker was on leash and I saw it coming, just not fast enough to stop it completely. I don't even think anyone other than me saw it happen because he didn't bark when he did it and everyone was laughing. But it's just so disheartening. Tucker would have attacked him because he laughed and I guess Tucker was too close for laughing to be okay. He tried to go after him again when he went to leave.


It just felt unfair. Watching someone else get a dog that they can do everything with, all of the things I wish I could do. Meanwhile I, the "my whole world revolves around dogs", completely dog obsessed, want to participate in dog sports, go to the park every day, go hiking, do everything with my dog member of the family has a dog who can't go out in public. I can't even take a dog training class because aggressive dogs are not welcome. He has to stay in the house or go on walks where we are never at risk of getting close to people or dogs. And even then his aggression still interferes. Walks are all about preventing leash reactivity. He goes berserk every day as dogs walk by the house and he sees them out the window.


I'm just having a bad day, jealous I guess. I love Tucker but don't feel like I have a dog. I can't do anything enjoyable with him.

I get you. I love Gambit. He is my heart and soul, and I would do anything for him. But sometimes, I just want to shake him and scream "Be normal! I've had you for 4 years. I've devoted myself to positive training, and desensitizing and working with you every single day. I love you, and I want to make your life better and happier."

But I still can't take him anywhere. Petsmart? Nope. Walks around the neighborhood? If I plan religiously for us to never meet other people. Agility classes, which he would excel at? Yeah right. Going downtown to hang out and meet people? Only if I wanted to carry his screaming pooping self back to the car in shame.

And knowing that I have 10+ years more of this. For what he is probably capable of, Gambit's progress is nothing short of amazing. A feral coydog puppy who wasn't touched by human hands until he was 20ish weeks who is now a loving pet? That's more then most are capable of. But in the grand scheme of things? He's a very high needs animal who will likely never be anything other then a high needs animal who will require me to make all of my plans around him and what he can handle.

It's hard when amazing progress means that he didn't growl at the neighbor he's lived next to for 4 years this week, or when he actually pooped during transport trip, instead of holding it for three days because he felt to vulnerable to squat outside of his comfort zone. Especially when you hear other people bragging about GCG or getting points and awards with their dogs.

Ok. Humble lesson learned. Terrier stays on leash now and forever. Terrier is not a sheltie or papillon.

Plus side, he stayed with his game and I found him with the poor armadillo balled up in its den. And also a plus in that he is very vocal when he corners prey.

So yep. No more off leash at Dad's acreage. Long line only.

Armadillo is ok. Hank is ok. I am covered in mud and sticks and lost an earring.

And all I want to know is how did the armadillo react

We went on vacation once and saw one dead in the road and I thought it was so neat. People at the gas station said they were like raccoons to us back home. Probably had never heard anyone so amused about a dead animal.

The armadillo balled itself up in in its den. I got Hank by the collar and the armadillo looked around. It was within arm's reach of me. It looked around a bit then trotted off like no big deal.

We went back through the fields a couple hours later (Hank on long line) and he was on full alert looking for his varmints. Yep, definitely never going off leash there again.

They're not very smart animals.

It cracked me up in Alaska when our guide was so excited that we had armadillos. Seemed so weird from someone that had bears and wolves and elk in their back yard! But he had never seen an armadillo before. They're all over here.

I think they are so neat! We don't have them. Porcupines are neat to but don't want those

Limit is making me SO HAPPY! Agility classes have done...astounding, amazing, wonderful things for him in terms of confidence. I would NEVER in 100 million years have believed the change that I've seen in him.

Our first couple of weeks of classes, he slunk up the hill to the field next to me, tail tucked, avoided eye contact, ducked and hid from anyone that paid attention to him. Was scared of the equipment, growled and barked at the instructor's husband, bared his teeth at other dogs in class etc etc etc

Now??? It's been a year...and he pulls me up the hill, tail wagging. He very gently hugs people that have been in our same set of classes this whole time. He actually pulls and barks to get to one man (even when he's wearing a "scary" big vest and a hat). Other dogs have run up to him, sniffed him, shoved their noses under his coat, and he just ignores or hops around. He barks at me, smacks at me, demands his turn, loads up, does everything I ask. He is a dream to handle (the class always makes fun of me because it's "first dog" and he is making up for my errors. They all say that after first dog, I'll have to make up for the next dog's errors with better handling hahaha). He will work for a food or a toy. He'll even go with other people to sit on the sidelines while I walk a course (he would have shut down and freaked out if I'd done that last year).

Of course, we've dabbled in a couple of matches and trials, and the same dog isn't making an appearance there yet, but he is trying!

Yesterday we brought the entire pack to IPO training because the weather is gorgeous (they get cut loose and get to run while we're setting up the field, another good thing for Limit as he can approach people or not as he feels like it). Limit actually bit a half sleeve on a different person, and held it, and then brought it back! Twice! He has never, ever played with another person he didn't know (he did not know this man at all, he's relatively new to the club), let alone with a more contact driven sport like biting a sleeve.

It's taken us almost 3 years to get here, but he is so funny and such a joy. I hope we continue moving in this direction!

I got one of the vets at work to very reluctantly agree to let me do a trial of thyroid medication for Cajun. I had her bloodwork results sent to Dr Dodds for interpretation, and I don't know that I necessarily believe everything from her, but I just so badly want an answer, and so badly want to be able to rule out hypothyroidism. And I was also of the belief that, if even Dr Dodds would think she doesn't need medication, then that means her thyroid is for sure not the problem!! (For anyone not familiar - Dodds is controversial and many believe she'll find a way to diagnose every dog with hypothyroidism).

So, there was a lot of mumbling about Dodds being a quack, and making things up, and her trial dose is so low that she's probably just going for the placebo effect, etc etc etc. But I.... don't care.

So here we are with our 8 week trial. The compromise is that I am not allowed to do anything else that could potentially improve her condition - no new meds, no new food, no supplements, no new shampoos, etc. opcorn: