^ if your dogs truly have allergies to beef, i'd suggest switching to just ivermectin for heartworm control. the heartgard tablets (and really any of the commercial heartworm meds) are flavored with beef..

8/19/2012 7:44:17 PM

I have some issues and need some help.

Set up: 8 week old golden retriever.

Problem 1: When I put his leash on to walk him he will sit and refuse to walk with me. I have to use treats and designate about an hour to go on a solid walk on the leash. Without a leash he'll walk with me and won't leave my feet- but the leash is a battle. How do I work on building his consistency when he's on a leash? I have gotten it to the point where he'll walk with me and sit when I stop- but then the next day when we go out again, it's like nothing ever happened...

Problem 2: He is not letting me move his food bowl around while he eats. He snaps at me with an aggressive growl. Should I just keep going?

Our house is on a river front with a very large yard- I let him sit outside while I get ready for work in the morning and what not. He has been very good at just chillin' on the porch, takin' a snooze, and just staying put for the past several days- but as of today he has started running over to the neighbor's house and eating oyster shells....

AND he snapped at me today twice when I tried to remove a crab and an oyster shell from his mouth. He broke the skin. I'm pissed. I know he has puppy nipping and play bites- but these are aggressive "HEY GET THE EFF OUT OF MY WAY" bites. With growls.

Tips? (please?) I work with him constantly....

8/19/2012 7:44:19 PM

the heartguard is not enough to cause a reaction as its only given once a month. the issue is with kibble, fed daily. she can eat raw beef just fine, but anything processed makes her itch.

8/19/2012 7:54:46 PM

an 8 week old puppy should not be going on a 1 hour walk. Take him out for a play session, but he shouldn't be expected to walk like that right now. For one, its awful on his joints. Secondly, he's not even protected by his vaccs yet. Thirdly, he's a puppy...he has ADD and can't be expected to focus for 60 minutes, much less 10. Do short training sessions (5 minutes, tops) with the leash and basics. But honestly, I wouldn't expect so much out of such a young puppy. Its not fair to the puppy, and you will just get frustrated. This is the time to instill foundation work.

For the food issue...feed him from your hand.

As far as him wandering...again...he's 8 weeks old...

8/19/2012 7:59:39 PM

Per food aggression...I'd work on making the puppy sit and waiting for the food bowl. This will take time, as she's 8 weeks old, but she definitely needs to learn that's your bowl, not hers.

And per walking...I don't expect my 11-year-old Beagle to walk an hour on the leash, much less an 8 week old puppy. Short and sweet. Her joints won't be ready for any sort of sustained walking until at least a few months more, and running not until at least 12-18 months.

8/20/2012 12:39:31 AM

And with shit he gets in his mouth....I'd say a sharp "no" and pry that junk out anyway. Eventually train on a 'drop' command, but there may be a time the dog gets a snake or other thing in its mouth, and dropping it could save the dog's life.

A dog should never growl at you, ever.

8/20/2012 12:42:34 AM

Agreed with the above 3 posts.

As far as wondering around in the yard, other than getting some type of fence/invisible fence, you can work on some basic commands: sit/stay/here/stop. When the dog goes in the yard to play, so do you. But train on those commands inside first, then on a long/retractable leash (or even a secured rope) let him explore, but have him stop at your properties (by command) and return to you.

Without a type of fence, you'll never keep him in your yard only (well, I guess it could be possible...) but you can really limit his explorations (hopefully) by instilling in him that he's never to get far away from you/the house.

I've got one dog that will pretty much stay in the yard (unless she's distracted by something) and another that won't stop.

TL;DR: get a fence

[Edited on August 20, 2012 at 8:10 AM. Reason : .]

8/20/2012 8:08:42 AM

Quote :

"I have some issues and need some help."

Sounds like you're allowing puppy to become alpha. Any signs of aggression, I immediately turn my pups on their back and use my hand to grab the side of their neck. I keep my pup on his back until he basically goes limp. A lot of pups will scream, yelp, squirm (pee or poop), but you can't let him get up until he submits. When they finally submit, they give me this look like "I really wish I wouldn't have done that, and I am sorry." This is how mother wolves disciplined their pups when they get out of hand. Smacking them (especially in the face or with an object) just makes them more aggressive. If I smack my pups, its on their rear and its hard enough just to get their attention. I don't do it much any more. They just know by the way I control my voice (I don't even have to raise it) that they are doing something they know they shouldn't. But they aren't afraid me either.

I also trained both my dogs to "leave it." Its really easy to teach them and like other people have said, its really useful. I have had to use it in the kitchen when foods have fallen off the counter I don't want them to eat.

8/20/2012 12:49:13 PM

So, after 11 years of having a dog, I am having my first experience with fleas, and can not figure out how to get rid of them. My dog was given a flea bath, the carpets and her bed was vacuumed, and then she was given her flea treatment. But the fleas are back does anyone have any good advice or ticks that may help? It's starting to get really annoying for both me and the dog.

8/21/2012 11:46:18 AM

Once when we had a really bad flea infestation due to a dumbass roommate our vet recommended spreading diotomaceous earth on basically everything one morning, going out all day to let it do it's thing (the whole weekend was even better), then vacuuming it all up. It worked but it was kind of a pain in the ass. If that hadn't of worked we would have resorted to calling an exterminator.

8/21/2012 12:30:27 PM

Did you put that on the dogs bed also? Fortunately, I dont allow her on my furniture, so that shouldnt be needed.

What did you do to get the fleas off of your dog? I don't want her to take the fleas to another house while the diotomaceous earth is working.

8/21/2012 12:43:34 PM

Even if your dog isn't allowed on the furniture you still need to treat it. Fleas can jump from carpet to furniture.

For removing them from the dog in question, we hosed down the dog in the shower with some medicated flea bath stuff, then after he dried off and was no longer pissed at us had to take a flea comb and comb out any remaining fleas, dropping them in a bucket of hot soapy water. Takes forever.

For the dog bed, throw the whole thing in your washer and wash it on the hottest setting (or sanitize mode of your washer has it).

[Edited on August 21, 2012 at 1:14 PM. Reason : a]

8/21/2012 1:14:04 PM

Thanks, where did you get the diotomaceous earth?

8/21/2012 1:33:27 PM

Amazon has the cheapest prices I've found. Make sure to buy the food grade kind since you'll be spreading it around your house.

8/21/2012 1:48:40 PM

Just want to promote the, "put your dog on a leash and walk him to the spot in the yard you want him to use the bathroom in" method. It works.

Our pup started out doing this (without using the leash...we just told him where to go) and then had a one or two week lapse where he was just peeing wherever he wanted to in the yard. Used the leash for about a week....and now it's better than it was in the beginning.

He has, however, forgotten how to "stay." He'll only do it now when we feed him (put his bowl down and make him stay until we say he can eat). Now when I'm running through the "sit, lay down, stay" routine...he just starts acting crazy when I say "stay". I don't really know how to make him stay without doing the training with my fiance and making her hold him (I usually do training when I'm at the house by myself and bored). Any suggestions?

8/22/2012 8:57:09 AM

eh, never had one resist "stay" that much

How are you training stay alone? I usually have them sit, then hold them and say stay, and slowly back away, and whenever they move (get up, laydown, etc) have them sit again and repeat the process.

And within that is a nitpicky detail, but I think it's important - stay means to stay in that spot and in that position (sitting or laying, etc.) I try to train this way so that any change the dog makes isn't acceptable. My sister is a great dog trainer, she can tell her Golden to stay and that thing will. not. move. I'm pretty sure her dog would sit there all day until told to do otherwise.

I'm trying to teach my dogs how to follow commands by name, which isn't going well, haha. I have 2 GSD mixes and I'll have them sit and then tell one "here" and both come running I probably need to work with the male a bit more, I've been slack on his training (he gets bored if he has to "stay" for more than 15-20 seconds, so he'll lay down or walk-off)

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 9:05 AM. Reason : .]

8/22/2012 9:03:51 AM

Quote :

" I usually have them sit, then hold them and say stay, and slowly back away, and whenever they move (get up, laydown, etc) have them sit again and repeat the process."

That was what I was doing in the beginning and it was working really well. I think he just had a relapse.

I also think it works better when he's tired. Recently he's been all hyped up a lot and I think puppies in general don't want to sit/lay/stay when they're all wired. Oh well...

Quote :

"My sister is a great dog trainer, she can tell her Golden to stay and that thing will. not. move. I'm pretty sure her dog would sit there all day until told to do otherwise."

My fiance's parents have a Spinone that will do this and they aren't even good trainers. They give him sherbert for desert once a week (his favorite thing in the world). He once put the sherbert in the bowl, went in to the den, fell asleep, woke up half an hour later, and the dog was still sitting by the bowl waiting for him to say "okay". Dogs...

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 9:11 AM. Reason : .]

8/22/2012 9:08:39 AM

^haha, nice. I guess a good walk/jog before training would help. And that goes for a lot of training for high energy dogs.

8/22/2012 9:37:16 AM

Oh I love the "leave it" trick. Its basically a stay trick too. But I use hand motions with all of my commands too so they can visually and verbally understand what I am saying. I got to the point with my male that I could place a treat in front of him while he sit and stayed, I walked away and came back and he was looking at me like "Common, this is freakin' tourture!"

Seems so long ago since I had to worry about training. Now its cake getting my pups to listen and its great!

8/22/2012 10:47:37 AM

"Leave it" and "wait" are great tricks.

My old wiener dog, Meatstick, was trained that when I put her food down I'd say "Wait" and she'd hover over it, but I'll be damned if she tried to eat til I said "Ok, you can eat."

I remember I once got a phone call and walked outside, came back and hour later and that dog was going into hysterical fits wanting to eat her food, but I didn't give her the OK before talking on the phone.

8/24/2012 4:08:00 PM

My vet recommended against all dog foods manufactured by Diamond including Kirkland's. He told me to stick with the basics.

8/29/2012 9:59:35 PM

^What are "the basics"? Is this something like the most common brands, or basics as in natural grain free ingredients?

8/30/2012 8:16:33 AM

^^Also, did your vet say specifically the concern with Kirkland's? Based only on the ingredients they seem to be pretty high quality (at least the one I get). No or very little by-product, fillers, etc.

8/30/2012 9:23:45 AM

They probably had that advice because of the HUGE amount of pet food recalls made by Diamond.

They had their own site for it: http://diamondpetrecall.com/

8/30/2012 10:49:01 AM

Yup I read this thread and bought Kirkland brand dog food. I had a random vet appt and he said that diamond dog foods was recently involved in recalls. They make food under many different brand names including Kirkland's and Chicken Soup for the Puppy's Soul (which the rescue agency recommended).

He recommended sticking with the common brands like Purina, Iams, etc.

[Edited on August 30, 2012 at 10:40 PM. Reason : Oh yeh en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Pet_Foods]

8/30/2012 10:40:15 PM

I love Acana and so do my dogs. Premium food for champions

http://www.naturaldogfoodexpress.com/warningsome-dog-food-linked-salmonella-infantis-infections/


But seriously, it's 5/5 dog food. Hell, my dogs eat better/healthier than I do...

8/30/2012 10:56:35 PM

8/31/2012 1:54:00 AM

Before I say anything- I have to thank JBrick and everyone for posting such helpful tips and everything. Thanks. Humphrey is coming along wonderfully- he's about to be 9 weeks old and he is very social with people, kids and adults- and other dogs. I haven't seen any outbursts lately...I'm taking him to puppy kindergarten tonight for a positive reward training course in Morehead City.



My latest question is in regards to invisible fences. I'm having a hard time figuring out the ethics behind this- as I am worried it's going to zap that tar out of him and scare him forever. I don't want him to lose his innocence... How have y'all trained your dogs on invisible fences? I don't want a buried wire- we saw one with a 100 foot radius yesterday at Lowes and I think that would be perfect. It says it's waterproof- but lord knows that makes me nervous as we live about 25 feet from a river...He will be going in that water a lot within the next few months...so I guess if it says it's waterproof- ok - but what if he goes out past 100 feet in the water?!

How do you train your dog to stay within the parameter?

How hard is the zap? Is it like a tazer? Or a slap in the face?

How long does it take the dog to learn?

My dog: 9 week old, golden retriever.

HALP.

Thank you!

9/3/2012 4:56:42 PM

We used one with our previous dog. It took us no time to train her to it. Just an afternoon. You put the flags up and walk the dog around the perimeter and make being inside the flags a positive experience (toss treats inside the flags). Then when the collar begins to give a warning beep, you back them up. It's pretty basic. My dog only had to test it out a couple of times to get the idea and eventually, it didn't even have to be on. She knew her area and stayed in it.

You can choose the level of correction. I accidentally got zapped by the collar while we were setting the perimeter at our new house and it is unpleasant. If you've ever touched a faulty light switch, it's that unpleasant electrical shock. The high levels of correction seem to be pretty painful. We had an incident with our dog and she got zapped with the collar at a high level and she yelped and tucked her tail. That just isn't necessary unless you have a really stubborn dog. In my opinion, you want your dog to back its ass up and give a WTF look, not hurt or scared. Also, you want the ability to go higher on the correction if you have a dog who is stubborn or decides that the zap is worth getting out of its designated area.

I think that it is ok to use it, if you use it properly. There's no reason to crank up the juice on a dog necessarily. You don't want your dog really hurt or scared, you just want leaving the yard to be undesirable. There is like a little caution zone where your dog's collar will start beeping to let it know that it's about to get out of range. That's all most dogs need to back up back into their area. So it's not just zapping your dog all the time. And, if your dog is crazy enough to run through the fence or ends up getting chased out of the yard by another animal, it will stop zapping your dog after a period of time. I also think that if you cannot afford a real fence or don't live somewhere putting up a fence is feasible, it is definitely preferable to letting your dog roam free. We liked it because we were able to take it with us when we traveled to visit family without even having to retrain her to a new area because she knew that the warning beep meant that she needed to back up.

9/3/2012 8:13:08 PM

What's a good blanket to buy. My dog chews through all of hers. I'm looking for a specific material that dogs wouldn't want to rip to shreds. This would be for her crate to sleep on. She took the stuffing out of her bed, ripped up two crate pads, and chewed the embroidery off of 4 fleece type blankets. Kk thanks.

[Edited on September 7, 2012 at 2:23 AM. Reason : Hs]

9/7/2012 2:23:03 AM

You might want to work more on your dog not chewing up everything rather than getting something she can't chew through. If she isn't a puppy anymore, then this is a problem you probably want to fix instead of just trying to find a way to lessen the destruction. My puppy wanted to chew the towels on top of her bed and also lift them up to get to the bed underneath it. We trained him to the point that he rarely does it anymore, and if he tries, a simple "no" does the trick.

I would only let her on the bed when you're around her, so you can discipline when she starts to chew. A stern "NO" should work and praise her when she's laying on the bed and not chewing. When you put her in the crate when you're not around, take the bedding out.

If you're not going to try and fix the problem, a quick google search led to these results for a bed:

http://kuranda.com/

http://www.k9ballistics.com/

Don't know if you're going to find too many chew-proof blankets.

9/7/2012 7:45:14 AM

Thanks! Actually the chewing has gotten better but she does chew from time on her blanket at bedtime and when I'm at work. I always come home for lunch to walk her. I just have a lot of chewed up stuff from when she was a baby so I want to replace it. She's 7months now. I was even able to put our couch pillows back and she doesn't mess with them.

9/8/2012 3:12:19 PM

I think my dog's anal glands aren't emptying. His butt smells a little....fishy.

We've had this problem before, but it was when we temporarily switched his foods and he had soft stools. But his stools are pretty solid, so it doesn't make sense.

I guess I'm just trying to make sure that's what it probably is. Is the "fishy" smell consistent with that problem? And has anyone "released" their pet's anal glands manually? I'm not looking forward to trying it, but the stink is a little unbearable.

10/4/2012 11:01:52 AM

why not just take your dog to the vet?

10/4/2012 11:32:25 AM

does he need a bath?

10/4/2012 11:34:42 AM

He gets bathed every Sunday after I take him to the beach.

I'd rather not take him to the vet and get charged $50 for something I can do myself. Last time they did it (when his stool was soft), they said you could do it yourself, but that it was unpleasant (smell and liquid coming out. ).

10/4/2012 12:00:07 PM

ughhhhhhh, I'd pay $100 for it; as long as I'm not in the same room.

yuck

10/4/2012 12:09:11 PM

I'm just hoping he takes a rock hard shit sometime today and it happens by itself.

The smell isn't too bad unless you get up on his ass. He's been in the office with me all day and I've noticed it maybe twice.

10/4/2012 12:17:38 PM

haha yeah expressing anal glands is something I happily pay our groomer to do while the dog is getting her hair and nails did. There's just some things I'm not willing to DIY

10/4/2012 12:44:11 PM

Quote :

"ughhhhhhh, I'd pay $100 for it; as long as I'm not in the same room. "

hell...I'd pay $200

10/4/2012 12:44:47 PM

Ha...maybe its time for a grooming appointment then...

10/4/2012 1:15:39 PM

Doing the anal glands isn't hard, you just need to be careful not to be too aggressive or you could puncture the gland.

I do my dogs/my parents dogs about once a month...it's not too bad...5 minutes and a hose.

10/4/2012 5:05:51 PM

Yeah...we stopped by the Vet...only $30 bucks.

Apparently his glands are in an odd area hiding behind a layer of fat. So his stools don't always "activate/secrete" them. Vet said when he fills out, that it might fix the problem. We're also going to try and feed him treats with more fiber in them.

If all else fails...we might be doing it ourselves once a month as well.

10/4/2012 6:07:34 PM

I pay around 24 for a grooming appt including expressing glands. Not bad

10/23/2012 7:53:53 PM

When do you stop feeding your dog "puppy" food?

Ours is almost six months old. He's probably about half the size he's suppose to be (45lbs...and they are usually anywhere from 80-100lbs).

He's also about to get the 'ol "snip-snip" in a couple weeks. Feel bad for him.

10/24/2012 8:55:33 AM

I've always heard conflicting information, but I think it's generally ok after 6 months. I think the "conservative" numbers are 6 months for small dogs, 12 months for medium, and 18 months for large.

10/24/2012 9:06:14 AM

^^ haha don't feel bad for him. My MIL has an unneutered dog and he pisses all over the house so she has to leave him in a diaper all the time. Now that I feel bad for the dog

10/24/2012 9:17:35 AM

I want to get people kitty kams for Christmas

http://www.kittycams.uga.edu/index.html

My parents would love getting video of all the things their cat kills.

10/24/2012 3:30:54 PM

Our rescue dog was diagnosed with a malignant mast cell tumor on her leg this past summer, we tried to remove it but it was not totally successful and the vet said at the current stage it was in the average life span is six months. This was back in July or so and she still seems just as healthy as the day we picked her up from the middle of the road, healthier actually. We are giving her Benadryl and prednisone as instructed by the vet to slow the growth but that is it.

Anyone have a dog go through this? Is it something where she will appear pretty healthy and then just go downhill really fast?

10/24/2012 10:03:19 PM

i've never heard of benadryl as a treatment for cancer. interesting.

10/25/2012 9:31:07 AM