Jump to content

Xan

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,378

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Xan

    Blood Donor Greys

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Brilly got typed and accepted to be a donor yesterday, which is great. :D But as we were going over details, she mentioned that they "lightly sedate" the dogs during the procedure.

     

    Is that common? Do they do that to all donor dogs?

     

    I really want to do this, but I'm not sure I'm happy about sedating my dog every 6 to 8 weeks! :unsure:

    Curbing Leash Reactivity

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    Robin, not to undermine what your behaviorist is doing with you guys at all, but just throwing in my own experience with walking four dogs, one who's aggressive towards other dogs (Pogo), and one who's ... bad mannered (Wabi! :rolleyes: ). It's a challenge, and I much prefer to have DH walk with us so he can manage at least two other dogs, but I've done all four solo. I have Pogo on my right (my more coordinated side! ;) ) and the others all on the left. I always keep everyone on super short leashes, so I don't have to reel anyone in or risk losing control of a dog 4 feet away. That way, I can use my Pogo-hand to control him, and feed him treats out of my treat pouch. I don't click, but I bet you could work that in somehow... Maybe only click-train the problem dog? Use some other cue for the other dogs?

     

    Also, this article (thanks, KennelMom) was pretty enlightening to me about using "snoot-loop" type head collars, which I'd been using with two of my four.

    Ew Tapeworms

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    I see you're in FL, but if you want to try something less potentially poisonous, give Borax a shot. We saw the first fleas we've had here in 3 years this summer, and I really wanted to avoid pesticides, so I tried Borax. Worked fine! :D All over the house. Google it up, and follow the directions. It's cheap, and it's at your grocery store! :D

     

    Good luck!

     

    Oh, but for the tapeworms, yeah, we went the Drontal pill route. :/

    Curbing Leash Reactivity

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    Oh! I missed that you posted this! :D Thanks so much for doing that. It's a great video!

     

    Okay, turns out that's what I was doing with Pogo before! :lol I use a verbal cue rather than a clicker, though I have toyed with a squeeker, and that works well, too.

     

    So, the chain of behavior goes like this? 1. Look at me: click-treat. 2. Look at the dog: click - look at me - treat. 3. Look at the dog, look at me: click-treat. Is that the training route?

     

    For dogs who don't like a clicker, if you have a squeeker from a toy (or a replacement squeeker - I bought a bag full before I realized they don't stay IN the toy's long enough to justify putting them in there! :lol ), you can palm that like Giselle is doing with the clicker. You have that and the treats in the same hand, right? So, if you have multiple dogs to handle at one time, you can hold the SHORT leash of the trainee and the noise marker and treats all in one hand, and the other leashes in the other hand. It's juggling! :P But, I've done it in a pinch. I prefer to walk with DH so I can concentrate more on Pogo, even if I do have one other calmer dog in the other hand.

     

    Question for those of you who've done this for awhile: Does there come a time when you can walk all the way past the triggering situation and only treat afterwards, or only praise? Or, must you always and forever have treats at the ready? Will the good behavior go away if not food-rewarded every single time for eternity?

    Mandibulectomy From Oral Fibrosarcoma

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    First off, hugs. This must be so scary for you, especially while it's all so new.

    :bighug

     

    I don't know anything about this particular situation, but I want to send some encouragement about how well she will adapt. I have two dogs with deformed snoots, and they make noise and mess, but they eat well and are healthy. I know of a dog who recently passed from an unrelated issue that had his entire upper jaw chomped off as a wee puppy, and went on to race, pretty well, too! He was the star of his adopted home where he enjoyed shredding the mail with the best of 'em. There's another girl her on GT (sister to one of my deformed pups) who also has a deformed mouth, and she does just fine, too. They look different, no doubt, but they don't worry about that, and eventually you won't either. She will just be your gal, and you'll just be so grateful to have her with you for however long you can.

     

    Best of luck and an uneventful recovery. Please keep us updated!!

    :bighug

    Beau In Hospital--update # 80 Beau Home

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    First off, whew!  Looks pretty good, so far.  Here's hoping the healing is quick and without incident.

    :bighug

     

    Second:

    <...>

    On the webcam I have seen Beau and Teddy "going at it" through the ex – pen when DH leaves for work (always after me) and leaves everyone their kongs. It's pretty scary to watch them barking at each other for the 2-3 minutes they do it

    If they 'fence fight' this badly when no one is there, you might consider blocking their view of each other (drape a blanket or something over the pen).

    ~Lindsay~

    When we leave our four, we have everyone muzzled, and separate the boys with an x-pen across a hallway, in an oval shape, so there's dead space between the fences, if you know what I mean.  Then I still drape a blanket over it so they can't eyeball each other, either.  With Pogo being aggressive towards Brilly in somewhat unpredictable ways (no food is left for them, ever!), making this sort of insulated barrier has worked well for us.

     

    Good luck with the trainer!

    :bighug

    A New Year - A New Darcy Thread

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Well, y'know, you could always get proactive and just shave her down like a greyhound so she can skip the moth-eaten stage. :D

     

    Patsy, I'll deal with YOU privately! :lol

     

    I second the warm goats' milk idea! Especially if you can find some fresh (as opposed to canned), even from a goat not kept in antiseptic conditions, so the milk is "tastier". It's easier to digest than cow's milk, so it might not tax her tummy too much, either. And the bread sounds like a good idea, too.

     

    She still looks elegant, loping tripodally along through the romantic windy meadows! :wub:

×
×
  • Create New...