The dog musing/vent thread

Trent is not always the wild child I make him out to be I should probably stop warning people about my "out of control dog reactive beast with no manners", because sometimes he is mindful, only somewhat interested in/distracted by dogs, and not actually that rude. Huh.

Also the Malinois want is strong and I'm not quite sure if I should do something about that eventually.

Em has suddenly taken to gulping her food.

Idiot.

I was talking to a fellow about working line GSDs in general last night and for some reason that made me want a Mal.

So, I overheard someone say, that when their dog gets "hyper", or too much energy, that they will give their dog benadryl.

I don't even think they excerise their dogs.

Sigh.

I've been doing some training work with Cobain recently, and it seems to be that years ago I must have hit that fabled "off switch" on him and never turned it back on....until now. I've created an enthusiastic, barky, hand biting (soft mouthing, working on nose-to-hand touches and he's a little over the top right now), monster. And I couldn't be happier.

Crazy how a little change in priorities can make such a huge difference. It also makes me feel bad about how un-fun I must have made everything before this.

So TODAY as I get my final mortgage stuff my friend tells me she has an oops litter of JRT mixes for free. They're adorable.

I SAID HERDER THOUGH.

But I like terriers too. There, I said it. They're jerks but I like them.

Oh gosh.

The sister of one of my coworker friends is looking for a home for her 1 year old cockapoo. The dog is smart, friendly, only 20lbs. Oh my gosh. My family would actually like it.

Ohhhh. I feel so unhinged without a dog for a companion.

The cockapoos I've met have been awesome dogs!

Ticks! >_<

That is all.

I am seriously going to ask the fam if I can take it in. Probably won't let me but it's seriously everything I'd be looking for! And poodle mixes are so awesome I love them. My first dog was a poodle shih tzu mix and she was smart as a whip and just so wonderful.

This dog barks in her crate and excitement barks, but I think that's manageable. The excitement barking at least, could definitely work on a quiet command. The crate issue, eh, but I could try a frozen kong or the wobbler if I have the chance.

I seriously at least want to have the chance to foster their dog temporarily.

I will admit to giving buddy benedryl at night during a really bad storm a couple of times, but only if his phobia gets really bad. It seems to help him settle.

But in place of exercise? That's not right.

Brisbane gets a lot if benadryl, sometimes two or three pills at a time when he's super itchy. I've never noticed it making him sleepy or less intense, so I've never considered using it to chill him out or make him sleep. I myself am incredibly resistant to the stuff. I know it's known to be psychoactive at high enough doses, but apparently that dose is more than ten pills at a time, which is when I decided it was useless. Briz and I, we are unaffected by benadryl.

I keep telling the dogs we are moving tomorrow. They don't seem to care lol.

I was *going* to say, "I am so glad I'm able to have dogs that don't need to be crated when we're gone."

Then I come home from work to find that someone has pooped in the house. It was a solid turd with some diarrhea, so I'm sure whoever it was had to GO, but that doesn't make it any more pleasant. I can't tell if it was Cynder or Abrams. The poop was big to be Cynder, small to be Abrams, and they both wanted out the door as soon as I got home (before I had even realized there was poop in the house) and wanted nothing to do with the poo spot (before I had even realized there was poo there).

Bad dogs. Bad, bad dogs.

On the plus side, my new carpet cleaner works well.

Ha, and Abrams is an idiot. There was a bird or something out in the yard and he likes to barrel through the door after them so I was mean and made him wait before going through because I'm tired of him hitting the door out of my hand. He broke his wait before I released him, but when I said, "Ah-ah, get back here!" he broke off mid run, turned around, came back inside, and tried again. ROFL So you don't have enough impulse control to restrain from barreling through the door, but you can come back mid run for another go-round. Okay, dog, whatever. My laugh for the morning.

Today a woman who interacted with Squash for all of fifteen seconds while she was entering and I was leaving the dog park exclaimed "He's so FUN!"

This dog. I tell ya. <3

Payton is going on another round of Tylan powder. Except I put it in his food this morning and he was like NOPE NOPE NOPE. Normally if somebody won't eat, fine, they just miss out. But I really needed him to eat it and get his abx. Tried adding beef broth... NOPE NOPE NOPE. Couldn't figure out what else to add that he wouldn't just pick out and eat only that. Finally I decided on adding a little bit of peanut butter along with a pour of the oil on top. That got him to eat most of it, but there's still quite a bit left. I put it in his crate with him in hopes he'll eat it if he's in there staring at it all morning long but I doubt it.

Thinking next time I might just try mixing it straight in with a spoonful of peanut butter and smear the PB in his mouth. SURPRISE. Urgh. I remember this being a bit of a challenge last time but don't remember how I finally overcame it. I know eventually he just ate his food anyway. Maybe it just took a few days and he finally got over it? It's been two years, too long for me to really remember.


And my dad was trying to "help" by yelling at him PAYTON. EAT YOUR FOOD. Siiiiiigh.

Trying to get another rescue dog has been the most stressful thing. Every dog I meet and put on hold winds up having some issue (extreme fearfulness, medical problems, doesn't jive with Astro), and the dogs that are issue-free are adopted by the time I enquire about them - despite the fact that they're listed as being available.

I just don't know how many more times I can fall for a dog only to find out she's already got a home lined up. Or that he's actually a head case with severe separation anxiety.

Aww, I'm sorry

I wish you lived closer. We have SO many dogs at our shelter who are young and active with no behavior issues other than having a ton of energy and being, well, annoying to most people

What isit about puppy crack? Gimmick, who has always had motivation issues, is insane for it. He didn't care about freeze dried liver, expensive treats, cheap treats, cheese, hot dogs, jerky, or anything else. But he's performed three perfect leaps for a hunk of puppy crack. The ingrediants aren't that spectacular, though they do smell good.