Dogs

[PseudoSABR]

 

He's getting pumped for opening day!

There's a certain ironic cruelty to allow him to play with his own instrument of punishment. 

[Craig Arko]

There's a certain ironic cruelty to allow him to play with his own instrument of punishment.

 

He’s not Tomi Lahren, you know.

[Vanimal46]

Happy National Puppy Day! It doesn't matter how old your dog is, they'll always be puppies.

[D. Hocking]

What is that green stuff he is walking on?  It looks vaguely familiar.

[Vanimal46]

What is that green stuff he is walking on? It looks vaguely familiar.

You'll see that green stuff in your own backyard by June I'm sure!

[Brock Beauchamp]

First, congratulations on a dog!

 

Second, congratulations on choosing the right dog! Far too often I see people choose the dog they want and not the dog that's best for their life. A lab is possibly the most flexible breed; they love to play and romp around for a few years but slow down pretty quickly and become affable big ol' lumps of fur if you're not able to keep them exercised as often as you should.

 

One thing I advise is that if you live in an urban area, get that dog out to the dog park regularly once he's big enough to go. Dogs need to be exposed to other dogs to learn how to socialize and not freak out whenever a strange dog is present. Go at least a couple of times per week but consider starting during slow times at the park so the puppers isn't overwhelmed by a horde of much larger dogs who will swarm any new animal. Once the little guy gets used to the atmosphere of the park where he'll meet all his newest, bestest friends, you can take him to the park any time and he should be fine.

 

And do the same for kids, even if you don't plan to have any yourself. Luckily, you're working with a lab so like socializing with other dogs, normalizing kids with the dog is an easy task. It's a bit more challenging with something like a pitbull (great dogs but naturally more dog- and kid-aggressive... not a problem if you take care of it early, though, it just requires a bit more concentrated work to get there). Children move very differently than adults and it freaks out a lot of dogs. Kids are all arms and legs flailing without the fine motor control and it can put a dog on edge. Dogs rarely bite out of anger, far more often it's entirely fear-based and a response to perceived danger. If you expose the dog to kids at a young age and get them used to the weird movements and let them realize that kids are just harmless playthings that will romp around with the animal, it'll chill out and probably be okay with even the most unruly kids it may come across in its life.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

The t-shirt trick is great, but use a dirty/sweaty one; and if you have a partner, put one of hers in there too.  (Do you eventually want to allow the dog on the bed with you? If so, I think you can bring the crate in the room with you, and when the dog isn't crying for a time, bring her/him up on the bed for a while.)

 

Good system for potty training that worked for me, when leaving for the day, or several hours.   As he gets a couple months old, give him more responsibility.  At first, I'd put my dog, and her crate in the bathroom, if she didn't pee on the floor, the next time I left, I'd move her to the kitchen, grated off from the rest of the house.  But if she did pee, she'd go back to the bathroom, and if she peed in the bathroom, back to the crate.  Eventually, she figured she needed to hold it.  The changing environment I think helped imprint the lesson.  

 

Very cute, pup! Best of luck!

This is basically what we did with our rescue lab mix (lab + something, probably some kind of pointer hunting dog). We did strict crate training for awhile, then moved her to the kitchen outside the crate... but after about a year, we started getting lazy with the kitchen and the dog just settled into the house.

 

She's now three years old and has messed in the house twice in the past 18 months; both times were due to our extreme inattentiveness and overnight when poor little doggy had her legs crossed but we didn't wake up and let her out.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

First, congratulations on a dog!

 

Second, congratulations on choosing the right dog! Far too often I see people choose the dog they want and not the dog that's best for their life. A lab is possibly the most flexible breed; they love to play and romp around for a few years but slow down pretty quickly and become affable big ol' lumps of fur if you're not able to keep them exercised as often as you should.

 

One thing I advise is that if you live in an urban area, get that dog out to the dog park regularly once he's big enough to go. Dogs need to be exposed to other dogs to learn how to socialize and not freak out whenever a strange dog is present. Go at least a couple of times per week but consider starting during slow times at the park so the puppers isn't overwhelmed by a horde of much larger dogs who will swarm any new animal. Once the little guy gets used to the atmosphere of the park where he'll meet all his newest, bestest friends, you can take him to the park any time and he should be fine.

 

And do the same for kids, even if you don't plan to have any yourself. Luckily, you're working with a lab so like socializing with other dogs, normalizing kids with the dog is an easy task. It's a bit more challenging with something like a pitbull (great dogs but naturally more dog- and kid-aggressive... not a problem if you take care of it early, though, it just requires a bit more concentrated work to get there). Children move very differently than adults and it freaks out a lot of dogs. Kids are all arms and legs flailing without the fine motor control and it can put a dog on edge. Dogs rarely bite out of anger, far more often it's entirely fear-based and a response to perceived danger. If you expose the dog to kids at a young age and get them used to the weird movements and let them realize that kids are just harmless playthings that will romp around with the animal, it'll chill out and probably be okay with even the most unruly kids it may come across in its life.

 

I'd love to know where you got that opinion on labs. My sister had a black and chocolate lab. Both were very high energy. Her chocolate lab is a year older than my dob/rot mix. Her dog is insanely more energetic than mine (which is 3). I haven't had much interaction with yellow labs, so perhaps there's something different there.

 

I'd note pitbulls are also more of a bad rap dogs. They are very docile. It's the abused ones that get aggressive (and their strength makes them dangerous)... Speaking of pitbulls, highly recommend pitbulls and parolees as a show to watch.

 

Definitely echo what you said on the kids, but I'd mention that you should expose it to well behaved kids (at least at first). My rescue (top dog in the photo) was abused for the first 3 years of his life. His abuser was the same age as my son. Let's just say that the kid's parents were worse parents than they were dog owners. Anyways, Apache still has issues with kids to this day. It's not as bad as it used to be, but when things get chaotic (which happens when lots of kids are around), he will snap and growl at them. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I'd love to know where you got that opinion on labs. My sister had a black and chocolate lab. Both were very high energy. Her chocolate lab is a year older than my dob/rot mix. Her dog is insanely more energetic than mine (which is 3). I haven't had much interaction with yellow labs, so perhaps there's something different there.

 

I'd note pitbulls are also more of a bad rap dogs. They are very docile. It's the abused ones that get aggressive (and their strength makes them dangerous)... Speaking of pitbulls, highly recommend pitbulls and parolees as a show to watch.

 

Definitely echo what you said on the kids, but I'd mention that you should expose it to well behaved kids (at least at first). My rescue (top dog in the photo) was abused for the first 3 years of his life. His abuser was the same age as my son. Let's just say that the kid's parents were worse parents than they were dog owners. Anyways, Apache still has issues with kids to this day. It's not as bad as it used to be, but when things get chaotic (which happens when lots of kids are around), he will snap and growl at them. 

Agreed on kids and a good point to raise that I forgot to mention.

 

I say that about labs because I've been around them quite a bit in my life. They're definitely moderate energy early in their lives but seem to settle down much more quickly than, say, a German Shepard (which are absolute terrors in multiple ways... way too eager, smart, and energetic for most households). You definitely need to exercise labs early in their lives, maybe I didn't stress that enough, but in my experience they settle into being pretty docile animals pretty quickly (3-4 years).

 

Pitbulls definitely have an unfair reputation but they are naturally slightly more aggressive dogs (which is probably why they're owned by such *******s who help give them a bad reputation). I don't mean to disparage pits - we considered rescuing one if a lab didn't come available in a reasonable timeline - but a person probably shouldn't go out and just get a pit without reading up and focusing on training them properly. It's not hard to do and every pit I've known owned by a responsible dog person has been a *fantastic* dog but I don't think they're a dog you just buy and let it ride.

 

But I'm super-critical of how people choose dogs in the first place. More than anything else, it's necessary to take a good, hard look at your life and choose the breed that fits your lifestyle because few things piss me off more than people who go out and get a dog because it's "cute" or their favorite character on TV has one; more likely than not, the dumb bastard who does that ends up with a husky or dalmation and the dog isn't living the life it naturally wants to lead. It's so unfair to the animal and so selfish of the human to inflict that upon an animal that has natural instincts that need to be filled in some capacity.

[Vanimal46]

Agreed on kids and a good point to raise that I forgot to mention.

 

I say that about labs because I've been around them quite a bit in my life. They're definitely moderate energy early in their lives but seem to settle down much more quickly than, say, a German Shepard (which are absolute terrors in multiple ways... way too eager, smart, and energetic for most households). You definitely need to exercise labs early in their lives, maybe I didn't stress that enough, but in my experience they settle into being pretty docile animals pretty quickly (3-4 years).

 

Pitbulls definitely have an unfair reputation but they are naturally slightly more aggressive dogs (which is probably why they're owned by such *******s who help give them a bad reputation). I don't mean to disparage pits - we considered rescuing one if a lab didn't come available in a reasonable timeline - but a person probably shouldn't go out and just get a pit without reading up and focusing on training them properly. It's not hard to do and every pit I've known owned by a responsible dog person has been a *fantastic* dog but I don't think they're a dog you just buy and let it ride.

 

But I'm super-critical of how people choose dogs in the first place. More than anything else, it's necessary to take a good, hard look at your life and choose the breed that fits your lifestyle because few things piss me off more than people who go out and get a dog because it's "cute" or their favorite character on TV has one; more likely than not, the dumb bastard who does that ends up with a husky or dalmation and the dog isn't living the life it naturally wants to lead. It's so unfair to the animal and so selfish of the human to inflict that upon an animal that has natural instincts that need to be filled in some capacity.

Thanks Brock! He's brought me so much joy in such a little amount of time so far.

 

My first order of business was getting him socialized with good dogs and people. There's a huge dog park across the street from me with great dog parents. They make sure their dogs play gently with my little boy.

 

Of course at the park there are bad dogs and bad dog owners. As I've spent more time out there knowing the people and their dogs, they've given me great advice.... "Avoid that dog, yours will pick up bad habits from him." "That German Shepherd is a prick." Those sorts of things.

 

I love the urban neighborhood I'm in... It's truly like a family. There's been times when I couldn't make it back to my apartment in a reasonable time to take him outside, and my neighbors have jumped at the chance to help out. There's also dog walking services available to wear him out during the day.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

"That German Shepherd is a prick."

In my experience, that statement is nearly universal for urban-owned Shepards.

 

They're not a dog you should keep in the city unless you're a fanatic runner, hiker, etc. Those dogs have more energy than 20 five year olds hopped up on sugar and they're smarter than your typical five year old.

 

Great dogs if the owner knows how to manage them but all too often, an absolute terror in the typical household.

[Twins33]

I think it really depends heavily on the owner. I know a family who's only had German Shepherds and they are as good as can be. Not crazy high energy or anything, even when they were young. Then I know another family who has a chocolate lab who is absolutely nuts to this day and is at least five years old.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I think it really depends heavily on the owner. I know a family who's only had German Shepherds and they are as good as can be. Not crazy high energy or anything, even when they were young. Then I know another family who has a chocolate lab who is absolutely nuts to this day and is at least five years old.

Yep, it entirely depends on the family and how they raise the dog. I'm not condemning Shepards, they're very sweet dogs, but they're often a nightmare for people who aren't ready to own a German Shepard.

 

It's almost never the dog's fault. It's almost always the owner's fault if a dog is a mess. The three most psychotic dogs I've ever known were Shepards owned by three different people. I did not and do not blame the dog for their psychosis. That's on the owner.

[Vanimal46]

Yep, it entirely depends on the family and how they raise the dog. I'm not condemning Shepards, they're very sweet dogs, but they're often a nightmare for people who aren't ready to own a German Shepard.

 

It's almost never the dog's fault. It's almost always the owner's fault if a dog is a mess. The three most psychotic dogs I've ever known were Shepards owned by three different people. I did not and do not blame the dog for their psychosis. That's on the owner.

The Shepherd in my neighborhood being a prick is definitely on the owner. I've seen them open up their door to let them out, and close it. Just letting them loose without any supervision. It's awful.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

The Shepherd in my neighborhood being a prick is definitely on the owner. I've seen them open up their door to let them out, and close it. Just letting them loose without any supervision. It's awful.

Yeah, gotta know your dog. I let my dog out to run around the backyard all the time but she's kind of an idiot. Her life goal is to run around without purpose and woof at squirrels that enter her line of sight. She could clear the fence without a thought but somehow hasn't learned that she's capable of leaping.

 

She's real dumb. I like dogs that are real dumb. They're easier to manage.

[biggentleben]

 

But I'm super-critical of how people choose dogs in the first place. More than anything else, it's necessary to take a good, hard look at your life and choose the breed that fits your lifestyle because few things piss me off more than people who go out and get a dog because it's "cute" or their favorite character on TV has one; more likely than not, the dumb bastard who does that ends up with a husky or dalmation and the dog isn't living the life it naturally wants to lead. It's so unfair to the animal and so selfish of the human to inflict that upon an animal that has natural instincts that need to be filled in some capacity.

 

....and this doesn't just end once the dog is chosen. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and made even harder when the people who got her ended up abusing her, but when I was starting my married life with my wife and moving to town, I had to give up my German Shepherd to someone who I knew would have a lot of room for her to run. She'd lived for years on a farm with the country mile between the old farmhouse I was living in and my parents' place being free domain to run (and often she'd end up all the way over at my parents and get a car ride home).

 

There was no way I was going to force that beautiful animal into apartment living, but the old farmhouse was going to be torn down, so me staying out there was not an option, and finances didn't allow for building in the country at that time (or now, frankly, but that's a whole other story).

 

Good ending to the story is that she ended up being dropped out of a vehicle by those that abused her and ended up at the home of a couple that cared well for her and hooked her into a young farm family with kids to play with her and space to roam.

[biggentleben]

 

Yeah, gotta know your dog. I let my dog out to run around the backyard all the time but she's kind of an idiot. Her life goal is to run around without purpose and woof at squirrels that enter her line of sight. She could clear the fence without a thought but somehow hasn't learned that she's capable of leaping.

 

She's real dumb. I like dogs that are real dumb. They're easier to manage.

 

My mom said that once about men...heard her talking to...wait...damn, that was my now-wife. Well, someday I might figure out there's a gate on this fence.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

In my experience, that statement is nearly universal for urban-owned Shepards.

 

They're not a dog you should keep in the city unless you're a fanatic runner, hiker, etc. Those dogs have more energy than 20 five year olds hopped up on sugar and they're smarter than your typical five year old.

 

Great dogs if the owner knows how to manage them but all too often, an absolute terror in the typical household.

 

That's probably not fair to shepherds. They are smart dogs. They shed a lot. They are fiercely loyal to those they bond with. 

 

If you're worried about dogs you need to run a lot, never get a husky/malamute. Those dogs are more energetic. I do agree that it's wise to research the breed. My wife's first dog (the one in my old photo) was either a malamute or a husky/lab mix. She was told the latter, but he fits the look of the former.  Anyways, he was an energetic dog and really wanted his space. You needed to run him 3-5 miles a day just to calm him down and if he ever got out it was going to be a 2 hour ordeal getting him back.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

That's probably not fair to shepherds. They are smart dogs. They shed a lot. They are fiercely loyal to those they bond with. 

 

If you're worried about dogs you need to run a lot, never get a husky/malamute. Those dogs are more energetic. I do agree that it's wise to research the breed. My wife's first dog (the one in my old photo) was either a malamute or a husky/lab mix. She was told the latter, but he fits the look of the former.  Anyways, he was an energetic dog and really wanted his space. You needed to run him 3-5 miles a day just to calm him down and if he ever got out it was going to be a 2 hour ordeal getting him back.

Yeah, huskies are nightmares. My wife had two of them and while she loved the dogs, they were exhausting.

 

I'm not trying to be mean to shepards, as they can be great dogs. They're smart, loyal, and energetic... but lots of them need to work. And all the lunatic shepards I've met are dogs that badly wanted to work but didn't have anything to do. And a dog in that situation slowly becomes less and less manageable.

 

They're good-tempered (mostly) and extremely trainable but if the effort isn't put in on a shepard, it can be a pretty miserable dog to own.

[D. Hocking]

 

Yeah, gotta know your dog. I let my dog out to run around the backyard all the time but she's kind of an idiot. Her life goal is to run around without purpose and woof at squirrels that enter her line of sight. She could clear the fence without a thought but somehow hasn't learned that she's capable of leaping.

 

She's real dumb. I like dogs that are real dumb. They're easier to manage.

 

The backyard was not a good exercise for my dog, because she would patiently sit under the tree and watch the squirrels.   If one came into the yard she would run after it, but she was not one just to run in circles (if she was in the woods, then she would run around looking for things).   She would also quietly hide under a bush by the walk and then playfully pounce (but not bark) at people when they walked by - often startling them (she was behind a fence). 

 

She was also not a fan of jogging.   She loved to run loose or go on long walk, but if you tried to run with her in the city on a leash she would grow bored (not enough sniffing time) and was strong enough to stop on a dime even if we were going at a good, steady pace.   She was always looking around on he run, so it was only a matter of time before something distracted her.   I  usually felt like I needed a chiropractor afterwards from the sudden stops.  

 

I am over-generalizing, but I do think certain breeds such as shepards and terriers tend to be smarter, or at least tend to get bored if not properly stimulated, and then cause more problems if they do not get the proper attention.

[Vanimal46]

Does anyone have tips on leash training? I'm luring him with treats lately but even that doesn't work if he doesn't want to go in that direction.

[Vanimal46]

Reason #7548 why I love my neighborhood... This is the newest addition.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Does anyone have tips on leash training? I'm luring him with treats lately but even that doesn't work if he doesn't want to go in that direction.

How old is he now? 

 

Problem 1 is that males in particular are going to want to explore and mark their territory. That makes them a bit more difficult to train. With mine, I tend to stay in the road, so there's less distractions or items to pee on. That helps a bit, but doesn't work if you're in a downtown area. 

 

The dog will take to the leash with practice. Puppies don't really know what to do there, so lots of practice. I wouldn't give them much room to roam. Keep it short so they have to be near your side. If you see the dog start to wander or staring at animals, other people, etc. some slight negative correction tends to work. I'll smack (not hard) my rotty in the back of the head and tell her to leave it. Big thing is to be consistent. Use both positive and negative reinforcement.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I just wanted to revive this thread because I'm so impressed with my dog right now. We're taking on a behaviorally challenged four year old and the dog is an absolute gem with her. They chase each other around the yard as often as possible and despite this behaviorally challenged child (who has previous issues with dogs, mostly small dogs), the dog plays like crazy with her. The dog shies away and gets scared on occasion but never, ever becomes aggressive.

 

And now that the baby is nearing eight months old, she has learned the dog is the (second, behind the cat) most interesting thing in the house. And the other day, the dog spent five minutes chewing on the baby's hand because the puppers thought the baby was playing with her and wanted to play back. The baby believed this was the most amazing and wonderful thing that has happened in her short life.

 

Labs, man. You can't beat them. They're the best.

[biggentleben]

Our first foster was a baby that was just short of 5 months old when he came in the house. The pug took instantly to him and was immediately his protector. Instead of running to the gate at the top of the steps to bark at any opening of the front door, he would bark, and then sprint next to the baby, then run a bit away to bark, then return to the baby (as if he didn't want to upset the baby too much by barking too near).

 

Our poodle did not take to the baby right away, and often walked right over (as in, on top of) the baby to get to us as we played with the baby on the floor. She was startled by the sudden and uncontrolled movements the baby would have, and she stayed a distance from him. Then, she did this (nevermind the John Oliver on in the background LOL):

 

https://youtu.be/Ydum_57LP6I

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Our first foster was a baby that was just short of 5 months old when he came in the house. The pug took instantly to him and was immediately his protector. Instead of running to the gate at the top of the steps to bark at any opening of the front door, he would bark, and then sprint next to the baby, then run a bit away to bark, then return to the baby (as if he didn't want to upset the baby too much by barking too near).

 

Our poodle did not take to the baby right away, and often walked right over (as in, on top of) the baby to get to us as we played with the baby on the floor. She was startled by the sudden and uncontrolled movements the baby would have, and she stayed a distance from him. Then, she did this (nevermind the John Oliver on in the background LOL):

 

https://youtu.be/Ydum_57LP6I

The dog was pretty standoff-ish to the baby through her first five months. It started to change when I'd bring the baby home in her car seat. The dog would run up, greet me, then spend 20-30 seconds snuffling the baby in the seat. After awhile, about half the time I'd put the baby on the floor and leave the room, I'd come back to find the dog laying next to her.

 

Now, the dog lays next to the baby regularly and allows the baby to harass the **** out of her by pulling on her collar and slapping the dog (as babies do). The dog just puts up with it and doesn't move.

 

Dogs are fascinating animals. The baby has become an accepted member of the pack and therefore worth protecting.

[Vanimal46]

My little lab is in the toddler phase right now... He wants to stay up all the time because of FOMO. Little does he know my life isn't that exciting after 9 PM on weekdays.

[biggentleben]

 

My little lab is in the toddler phase right now... He wants to stay up all the time because of FOMO. Little does he know my life isn't that exciting after 9 PM on weekdays.

 

I have a 5 y/o like that. Doesn't seem to understand that sleep = better behavior = not losing things you enjoy during the day, and so the cycle goes....

[Vanimal46]

Funny that once you give your dog Independence their hearing becomes selective at times... Still love him, and I know you can hear me!

[ashbury]

 

"Who's a good dog? Who's a GOOD DOG?"