krissy
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Posts posted by krissy
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Right now Kili has about 4 tricks on the go, plus agility stuff.
I drop stuff that isn't going well to revisit later and focus on stuff that she is picking up on well.
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I don't think dogs NEED to go to the dog park. I do disagree that they don't need to run free though. Do they NEED it as in they will die without it? No. But my welfare would be significantly diminished if I wasn't allowed to exercise to high intensity. When I'm injured and can't play hockey or Frisbee I practically go stir crazy. Most athletes do. Sure, some of our older hounds are content to just lay around and some may not be as interested in running as others, but they were bred to run and I think most would have increased contentment if allowed safe opportunities to run.
I can only speak for my hounds... but Kili would go mental if not able to run at LEAST once or twice a week and is honestly a holy pain if she doesn't get to run every day. Summit being the old man is pretty content, but I can tell this winter is starting to get to him. He does his best to chase Kili in the backyard without going out on the snow and ice. I know as soon as that snow is mostly gone he's going to go for one big rip!
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In one of my BarkBox orders recently I got a couple of "energy gels" for dogs. Like the ones they have for people. I haven't had an opportunity to try them out yet though thanks to winter. We've taken Summit camping before and we never had any problems with him, so I can't be too helpful. He always finished normal meals at normal times, he takes snacks on our hikes and will drink from lakes/streams as well as whenever I offer him water from his travel bowl. Kili hasn't been camping yet, but on long, summer hikes I have also had no trouble getting her to drink and she loves food so much I doubt she'd skip a meal just because we're camping.
If your dog likes ice cubes that might work for the first day, or if you're more camping and not so much backpacking in the backwoods and can run into a small town every morning.
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It depends on what his needs are. I don't change food unless I notice a problem (putting on or losing weight). And honestly, I have almost never changed food intakes. Both dogs are eating 3 cups of Hill's J/D. One is a 75 lb relatively inactive (thanks winter!), almost senior male. The other is a 58 lb highly active 18 month old female. But that said, I have not changed her intake between summer when we are highly active and winter when we are less so. This winter has just been far too cold to be outside most days. In the summer we do something every night... Off leash hike or 5k jog or dog park.
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now have him doing some simple tricks, and he finally "gets" the concept of the training and will offer up behaviours on his own which is amazing considering how he started off.
This. Dogs who have not been trained specifically to offer behaviours do not understand what to do. They need to "learn how to learn". Summit got better and better at offering behaviours. Now if he isn't sure what I want... he just starts trying behaviours until he finds what I want or I give him some direction. But it doesn't start out like that and we can't expect it. That just leads to frustration on both sides.
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Summit is only just turning 9, but we have been fortunate. So far other than pannus (totally treatable eye condition) he has been quite healthy.
Kili has a mild murmur that is not expected to cause any long term problems, and she had a congenital abnormality in her urogenital tract that caused recurrent UTIs as a puppy. However, after having surgery to fix it she has been fine. She does tend to crop up with all sorts of minor stuff. I'll take lots of minor stuff over something major though!
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He will follow the treat with his eyes but won't otherwise move, and will abandon the endeavor very quickly.
So reward him for that. Training is all about small steps and some dogs take smaller steps than others. When I trained Summit to retrieve I had to bait a toy and then click and treat every time he touched the toy with his nose to start. But with Kili I just wiggle a toy and she grabs it. If I had waited for Summit to actually grab a toy I would have gotten nowhere.
And a dog shouldn't get tired of "repetition" if you're just loading the clicker. You're not asking him to do anything except eat food, so unless he is not at all interested in the food you give him there's no reason for the dog to lose interest. It's no different than standing there for no reason and handing out a couple of cookies in a row. You are not clicking and waiting for a reaction from the dog. It is literally "click" and almost instantly after presenting the treat. Nothing to get tired of except chewing!
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Congrats on the new, matching addition!
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I have to admit I am cringing just a little bit.
I will not dispute whether her dogs were well trained, obedient, etc. I will not dispute that she was wonderful for the greyhound adoption community as a whole. But I do cringe at the thought of some of these ideas in the hands of unversed, new dog owners.
On the whole there is a time and a place for "aversives", of which all of these suggestions are (except for the juice can... I am not sure there is any edible substance that Kili would find aversive as she regularly goes for hot sauce, begs me for slices of oranges, and loves pickles). I will not say that I never use an aversive, however, when I do I think through the situation to make sure there isn't another, better way. And I also distance myself from the aversive if at all possible. The only real example I can think of where I routinely use an aversive is for counter surfing. I do as Gilley suggests with tin cans. I string several tin pop cans together, place several coins in each one, and attach the whole lot to a bone or bully stick for bait. Then I booby trap my counter by leaving the bait at the edge of the counter and the cans right near the back. If the dog goes for the bait, she gets a horrible clatter of cans following her. The trap is never then associated with me which is ideal. When using an aversive you don't want the dog to be able to associate it with you... it's damaging to your relationship. You also want it to only be as noxious as is needed to deter your dog. In other words it needs to be based on the personality of the dog. A sensitive dog might do fine with double sided tape. Kili needed the pop cans. There are some dogs you could probably smack in the head with a 2x4 and they would still get up and be just as happy-go-lucky as before (disclaimer: it is obviously never okay to hit a dog with a 2x4 no matter how obnoxious and resilient his personality... aversive techniques can only be taken so far before they are completely inappropriate regardless of situation and personality!).
I would not call myself a seasoned dog owner. I would not call myself a dog trainer. I would not say that I understand even half of what there is to understand about dog behaviour. I do not think that there is absolutely no place for the use of aversive techniques, however, I don't think aversive techniques really have a place for the novice dog owner without the direct supervision of a behaviourist. It is far too easy to abuse the use of aversive techniques.
I am no expert take all of that for what it is worth. However, I have taught Kili to be a good citizen (a work that is constantly in progress with a young dog) with the use of positive techniques (aside from booby trapping my counter once or twice) which would work for 99% of other dogs before the use of an adverse technique ever needs to be considered.
[shrug] Just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth (which is probably not much, lol).
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It seems to me that the reason is because vets have a big profit margin on drugs. Some vets don't want to lose out on the profit margin so they come up with the prescription fee to compensate for the loss of revenue. I understand that vets have to make money, but a huge prescription fee just to write a prescription seems dishonest to me. It reminds me of the telecom companies with their made up fees.
As already noted, we don't make a ton of money and the clinic has to stay in business somehow. We are talking about a fully operating hospital. When I see American medical bills I am amazed by how cheap we do things in veterinary medicine. I was watching Judge Judy (television at its finest, lol) where a lady had gone to the ER because of a puncture wound to her hand. It was cleaned, no stitches. I assume she was given antibiotics as well. Bill was $1000. If I did that for a dog the bill would be $120 or so and 1/10 clients would be screaming at me about how I am a cruel person who doesn't care about animals.
It really does rub me the wrong way when people suggest that vets don't care. We work hard and have stressful jobs that don't pay as well as they probably should... precisely because we care about animals and clients. It's not like we don't understand. We own pets too. Kili ran up close to $10 grand last year. Thank goodness for pet insurance or I would have been in trouble.
The bottom line is that there is a clinic for everyone. If you don't like the policies at one then go somewhere else where they are more in line with your expectations. Everyone is happier that way. The client, the patient, and the clinic. It is like adopting a dog that is a bad fit or the family. No one's fault but everyone is unhappy. It is important to find the right fit in a pet and in a vet clinic.
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That wasn't asked by the client though. Nobody would say "spend 30 minutes of your valuable time to call around town". I am paying for medical advice, not a personal shopping assistant. I can do that myself. If someone did explicitly ask, then sure, charge him per minute. But if the client didn't ask, I don't think people should be charged for time that they didn't agree to.
Actually, this same client has asked us to drive 30 minutes out of town to pick up medication for her dog from another clinic because her meds were on back order. We were unable to find a way to explain that it was on back order from the company so no one could get it in. We had already called every clinic in the area and no one had any. She called her old clinic over a half hour away and they happened to still have one bottle left in stock.
One of our amazing technicians actually ended up driving there to get it for her at no charge. She did have flowers delivered to the clinic and this is now her favourite technician. But she is definitely a... demanding client all around.
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I'm sorry for your loss. What a lovely, sweet, and humorous tribute. You had me giggling along with all his goofy antics. Run free sweet boy.
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Honestly, the amount of time I spend on the phone is sometimes quite significant. I think often people don't really think about that. We often have people who refuse to accept the technician's advice even when it was my advice... "I just spoke with the doctor and she says..." I'm not saying we'd charge for that but it is pretty significant and I often have to cut into my lunch or go home late in order to catch up on phone calls.... We don't get paid for staying late to make phone calls. After a 10 hour day I do kind of want to go home and spend time with my own family too.I can understand that I'm paying for the diagnosis, but that should be part of the total treatment cost. How long does it take to write and log a prescription? It's not like I'm paying per minute here. What's next, charging for spending time answering questions? IMO, the time spent doesn't justify the charge.
Looks like this is a more common practice in UK and Canada. I'm gonna try to call around and see what the other vets do.
It seems to me that this is kind of bad for business. It drives away long time customers who would potentially pay thousands of dollars for other things.
There is a dispensing/prescription fee included in our prices for medication we dispense (again this is common place in Ontario, maybe not so in other regions) and that is the same script fee we charge if someone requests a script. We do everything the same for filling a script in house as we do to write one. The only difference is that in one instance we are counting the pills and in the other I have to write a second prescription (remember one has to go in the file). So time wise/personel wise it is about the same either way. I don't know about human doctors in the States. Here obviously we don't get charged for a script, however we do get charged for a doctor's note. I don't think it takes much for the doctor to write that note but I get that I'm paying for their time.
Honestly, I can say that for us what I've noticed is that the clients who don't understand this policy are usually not clients we care if we keep or not. Which might sound bad, but at our hospital we pride ourselves on always doing our best to provide a high level of medical care. That, unfortunately, costs more. The clients we have that are long term understand and appreciate that. They know we are the most expensive clinic in town and they are okay with that because of the level of care that gets them for their pet. The bottom line dollar amount is greater but what they get for that money is so much more. Clients we've had that didn't understand policies like this one have typically been price shoppers who are more interested in the bottom line price. And both parties are happier if those clients go to a lower cost clinic that is more in line with their needs. Keep in mind that this is common in our region (Ontario); I am not suggesting that you settle for substandard care because you don't like the idea of a script fee. Obviously if that is not routine in your area it seems strange.
ETA: I have gone to order a medication for a patient, looked at the price in shock, and then called every human pharmacy in the area to get the lowest price. I just charged the client our standard script fee and sent her to the cheapest pharmacy. Saved her over $100 even with the script fee. And that took up probably a half hour of someone's time to do all that calling around. I do go above and beyond for my clients and save them money if I can. Personally I believe our time is worth something.
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Sorry for your loss. Your poor Mom.
I hope she can find comfort knowing that Sasha is with your dad again. -
We charge a prescription fee which is for our time. I have to take the time to look over the patient's file and make sure they can have the medication or check to see what dose they are currently on and if it is still appropriate. Not only do I have to write the prescription to be faxed or given to the owner but I also have to log it in the patient's file and computer record. Personally I think my time is worth a few dollars, but I'm sure we have a few clients who think otherwise.
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Has your vet ok'd a change to a non-prescription food? If there is a medical reason I would be really hesitant to change, especially with kidney related diseases, unless the change was being supervised by your veterinarian.
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That's nuts. Why isn't it available up there?
No clue. I would have thought I could get it through human avenues but apparently it s unavailable to us all.
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So sorry for your loss.
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Yes, she likes the leg weaves. High rate of pay out.
More leg weaves, stationary and moving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO2iJvDobQk&feature=youtu.be
And compilation of tricks we are currently working on (sit pretty, crawl, wave, leg weave):
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Welcome! Enjoy your last few days/weeks of freedom. You will never be free again.
They just worm their way right in there and you can't be without at least one! -
Advantix can cause a reaction called paraesthesia which is a weird skin sensation/numbness. Summit acted really itchy after his first dose of it so I contacted the company to speak to one of the staff vets. She recommended giving it with a vitamin E capsule (broken and dropped on the skin as well) to reduce the paraesthesia. I never actually did it though. The next month when I applied it he never reacted at all. I've also used it on Kili and she never reacted either.
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Leg weaves! Yay! Just baby stuff at this point, then we'll move on to the fun stuff.
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Oh, just on re-reading your post... I stand by everything in my original post, however I would be finding a new trainer. Not because he is unfamiliar with sighthounds (most trainers are) and not because he thinks dogs should be challenged (I tend to agree), but because he uses aversive techniques even though it is on other dogs. I used a trainer for show handling only because she was the only one who offered it in the area. She often used mild aversives on some of the rowdier dogs, but never on mine. Still, I found that Kili became increasingly nervous at that training location but not at my obedience or agility facilities. She would become more obviously upset about any raised voice directed at the other dogs in the show handling class. The instructor was always very sweet and mild with Kili, and it's not like she was screaming or hitting the other dogs... but these hounds can be incredibly sensitive. I haven't gone back as a result.
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Lucky you guys can even get it down there. I tried through veterinary and human channels and aminocaproic acid is no longer available in Canada at all... at least that's what the pharmacists all said when I went in to inquire about it. I'm not sure how I'll get any... very frustrating. I probably should have brought a script with me to Vegas last week and just filled it in the States (not even sure I can do that) but I didn't think of it.
I hope she can find comfort knowing that Sasha is with your dad again.
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She's beautiful.
Congrats.