The dog musing/vent thread

This is the result I had with Bailey. I hesitated to put her on drugs but when I did, all the training I'd put in seemed to be effective. And then I wished I'd done it years earlier.

I've been dog sitting 7 dogs for 8 days now. The first 6 days were absolute torture, I started a new job and it's been extremely difficult. I haven't slept much at aaaall, Mom's puppy has been howling screaming and barking with SA and scratching up my legs jumping on me constantly. I tried being consistent, training, but it's been really hard with life right now and keeping my cool. On day 2 dads GSD hurt her back knee and was limping. OMG.... So I've been nursing her and she's finally doing better....

Yesterday, on day 7, I came in like normal and the puppy was totally silent PROGRESS!!!!!!!! and jackpot treating! Yesterday and today she's finally caught onto the "sit!" command, too. How totally frustrating and yet how rewarding.

This has made me appreciate my own dogs sooooo much more.... And also I feel I am actually ready for nextdog aka puppy 2015. I feel like I've neglected them this week though, my poor little girls. My parents are supposed to be home tonight, I have to go back to work tomorrow and I'll still have my grandparents dog Zoey but we need to do something fun and then relax

I had tried drugs a couple of other times with Briz, but this is the first time there has been such a noticeable effect. I can't wait to take him to lure coursing and see what he does.

After weeks spent playing see-a-thing-get-a-food on walks with Ullie, he actually looked at me unprompted when he saw people on the trail today. So proud!

Holy wow Southpaw, the ragin' Cajun looks SO much better!!

Seriously, playing fetch with Qcumber is so much fun. I almost wish I was more motivated to actually do something with him lol. That and I dont think we would ever do too much as he has had a bit of a bum shoulder since he was a pup.

But, a dane catching a frisbee and catching air...its pretty fun to watch for me

It certainly is an improvement over the hippopotamus she once was!

Mia stop being so cuddly and perfect and making me not want to go to work.

Realized today that I address all aussies as 'Wigglebutt' by default. They are all named Wigglebutt until otherwise identified.

Met houndy girl in person today. Drove about three hours there, same back...and I am sans second dog I'm trying not to be disappointed but...

She was absolutely gorgeous, sweet, and looked athletic - very light and lithe, actually looked like her mix might be BC or some other light herder. But she didn't want to play with Astro. Her corrections were appropriate and measured, but I couldn't see them playing...the org people confirmed that she's really more of a people dog. She heels naturally, learns well, just overall wants to be with humans.

I thought hard about it. I almost took her because she is such a good dog. The logical part of my brain was like "don't get a dog for your dog, get a dog for you." The thing is, I do want a dog for my dog! I want it for me too but I LIKE watching crazy dog play. I want my two dogs to be boisterous and insane together.

I just can't believe how many dogs I've met - upwards of a dozen specific dogs, along with going to numerous adoption events (I haven't mentioned them all on the forum because a) I already seem crazy most likely b) the sheer volume of them) - and none of them fit, when I want what is supposedly all over in rescues: a pushy obnoxious adolescent dog! All I ask is that I find it cute and that it be physically healthy, other than that I actually PREFER crazy and I still can't find it...Every dog I've met has either been indifferent towards Astro, or alarmed at how in your face he is. I know that somewhere out there, there is a dog who will immediately respond to his thumping and playbows and paw shoves with adoration.

I meet the Houla next Saturday. She's 8 months old, hopefully she's still in her wild child phase. If she doesn't work, I think I'll call off the search for a bit, my heart can't take many more ups and downs for a while.

I'm home sick and Jari is driving me nuts. Bubbles is in standing heat so he's literally screaming at her/at where he thinks she is. He will train with me just fine but when it's time for him to just like not train, he freaks. And I can't take him anywhere to get him out of the house because I feel so yucky. Ughhhh.

I'm sorry I hope things with the Houla go well. But good on you for taking the time to do what is right for you and Astro.

omg. The amount of bruises on my thigh from teaching Cajun to rebound off of me. Why did I decide to do this?! :rofl1: It is impressive though, I showed it to my mom this morning so she can see the horrible things I'm teaching her dog ("she's not going to randomly do this to people, is she?!?"), and from the other room my niece stopped playing with her dolls and exclaimed "wooooowwww!" afterwards lol.

Now I just have to get Juno to realize it's okay to put her feet on me, because I feel like she would be much gentler about it!

Brisbane's obedience class come front involved him stopping by slamming into my legs and rebounding into a sit, which looked pretty cool but meant I had Briz-height bruises on my thighs until he got slightly less enthusiastic after a couple years.

I noticed a bunch of bruises on the inside of my thighs and I couldn't think of how I'd have gotten those. Then I realized it was from the golden retriever at work who has a serious humping problem. I've been assaulted by a dog. I've never met a dog that was harder to peel off of my leg.

Cause it's awesome and all dogs should know how to do it.

If it makes you feel any better I'm teaching it to Fergus right now and I might die. I'll video it tomorrow. He goes from sitting looking at me to full spring on top of me with his mouth engulfing my hand in about a blink of an eye.

Luckily those bruises just kinda meld into all the others I have.

anyone else a klutz?

I just dropped a bunch of stuff in the kitchen and I swear Summer's expression is a look of utter confusion and concern about how stupid I am.

Yes, video please! This sounds awesome. I've never done anything with my dogs before that would result in bruising, this is completely uncharted territory!

There is video of one of my work dogs literally recalling to me from a long sit/stay SO HARD he takes my legs out from under me then proceeds to wag his tail and bounce around happily. He was off leash in a parking lot, totally focused and he stayed with me, but DARN THAT HURT! It should be a viral video. Like legit. It's hilarious. We have been working on a nice front that's like, a few inches away hahaha.

I get mysterious bruises and cuts all the time at work. No clue where half of them come from.

ETA - And then there are the ones from my own dogs, but those are pretty much self-inflicted from things like rebounds

I just dropped my keys on Brisbane's head again yesterday, confirming all his fears and undoing all the years of classical conditioning and desensitization therapy from the last time I dropped my keys on his head. He still puts up with me though.

"Are you safe at home?"

"Well, it was the dog who broke my nose and the scooter that caused these giant bruises on my legs, so no... but not in the way you mean."

Had to have a "downstairs" exam one time. Forgot I'd been working on fronts with Indy who is... enthusiastic about them to say the least. My legs were scratched up, my chest was scratched up, my thighs and calves were bruised. I got that "are you safe at home" talk. It's nice to know they care, but the funniest part is telling them, "yes, I'm perfectly safe from all the humans in my household, but my dog is a bit of a sadist, and enjoys knocking me over a little bit too much."

They always think that's funny.