One of my dogs gets upset and barks/growls/eventually shows aggression when any of the following is happening:

1 - If one person is hurting another (or maybe if that's what he perceives)...repetitive slapping on the back, acting like you're hitting someone etc
2 - If you hit yourself (or act like it)
3 - Even if you just take a belt and slap it against the bed/dresser

I don't think he was abused as a puppy as we got him when he was very small.

What gives?


*Disclaimer - He's crazy in general. Has anxiety etc. Needs drugs.

5/10/2014 5:53:58 PM

He probably was exposed to the wrong type of people when younger... People who did things to eachother or him.

Give him treats while smacking somebody, get him to associate it with snack time.

5/11/2014 2:22:25 AM

Just make sure you're smacking random people on the street.

5/11/2014 1:32:55 PM

Getting an Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix on Monday

Any vet recommendations? Will be living off Wade Ave, so anything in that area is preferred, but not a hard requirement.

Any other tips are helpful! Here's a pic: https://flic.kr/p/npDT4o

5/21/2014 10:38:11 AM

I was pleased with the Dixie Trail Animal Hospital, for the most part.

[Edited on May 21, 2014 at 11:03 AM. Reason : ]

5/21/2014 10:41:56 AM

Damn dog just ate a tube of polysporin

5/22/2014 12:00:56 AM

I really love Gentle Care Animal Hospital.

http://www.petrepair.com/

I've worked a TON with Dr. Mallo and she does amazing work.

One time, I was in the process of adopting a dog from the SPCA with terrible health issues and GCAH worked/negotiated with the SPCA in lowering the costs so the dog could be treated and recover from his declining condition. It was very charitable and generous for Gentle Care to put the animal before the money. I didn't experience this level of compassion with any other animal hospital that was consulted.

They are fantastic, caring people. All of my animals are comfortable going there



[Edited on May 22, 2014 at 12:45 AM. Reason : /]

5/22/2014 12:40:44 AM

I've been using them for 10 years with my Chihuahua and with the exception of the cost I have zero complaints.

5/22/2014 8:00:18 AM

where can i get cheap plush toys? i have an absolute shredder and destroyer of worlds. i don't mind him doing it, but i do mind him doing it to anything that costs more than five bucks (which seems to be 99% of toys)

5/22/2014 11:17:09 PM

Quote :

"If you guys have dogs that get up on your furniture when you are gone we have found a great solution."

Just turn the couch cushions vertically



[Edited on May 22, 2014 at 11:50 PM. Reason : like this]

5/22/2014 11:45:43 PM

Quote :

"where can i get cheap plush toys? i have an absolute shredder and destroyer of worlds. i don't mind him doing it, but i do mind him doing it to anything that costs more than five bucks (which seems to be 99% of toys) "

There's always a "2 for $5" bin at Petco...but the toys are kinda small. The pet sections in Marshalls/TJ Maxx usually has some cheap ones as well.

5/23/2014 6:59:00 AM

$1 section at target

5/23/2014 10:31:25 AM

Quote :

"Just turn the couch cushions vertically"

Or teach your dog not to jump on the couch from day one. It's a lot less time consuming than flipping couch cushions whenever you leave the house and no purchases are necessary.

[Edited on May 23, 2014 at 2:05 PM. Reason : ]

5/23/2014 2:03:44 PM

Need some advice rather quickly. I found a wound on my dogs neck today and it looks kind of nasty, not to the point where I think she needs medical care but it definitely needs some attention. It is about the size of a nickel and is a little yellowish. I put her in a cone so she can't scratch or get it in anything and put some Neosporin on it and wrapped it up. Only issue is we are going out of town tomorrow and leaving the dog with a sitter. The sitter is just some service we pay and I don't know if she would be able to handle changing out the bandage as my dog can be pretty squirrely and it is hard enough with me and my wife.

We are going to be back Monday so do we change the bandage out tomorrow morning before we leave and ask the sitter to just take it off that night so it can heal? I dont want to leave the same bandage on the whole time and I figure it can heal faster if it isn't covered up. With the cone on her she at least can't scratch it.

Any advice?

5/23/2014 9:42:04 PM

buy some Nu-Stock. that shit will protect a wound and make it heal super quick. no bandage required.

5/24/2014 7:54:54 AM

Too late now, at the airport. Told the dog sitter if she starts acting sick to take her to the vet, hopefully there will be no issues and the cone lets it heal, otherwise we will probably have a pricey vet bill.

5/24/2014 9:29:46 AM

For cheap plush toys, you could always try those crane games in front of stores like Target, Walmart. If you're good enough, maybe you can get some for 25 cents/each.

5/29/2014 10:17:27 AM

this thing is the bee's knees

http://www.doggiedoodrain.com/xcart//home.php
http://www.amazon.com/Doggie-Doo-Drain-Waste-Attachment/dp/B0020N940C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409677523&sr=8-1&keywords=doggie+doo+drain

it might be the best $45 I've spent in quite a while. no more bags (no more stinky trash cans from stinky poop bags). brilliant, highly recommend

9/2/2014 1:08:27 PM

^ How bad was your dog poop situation in your yard to begin with?

We trained our dog to go in the back of the yard in the straw where we never hang out (we call it "going in the woods" so that we can tell him the same thing when we're visiting other people and he never shits in people's grass). The only time I'm back there is to do yard work. So about once a week I get a whiff of dog shit. But we also clean it up. Once or twice a week I go back there with a plastic grocery bag, fill it up, then drop it in our big trash can Take a couple minutes at the most. We keep the trash can a few feet from our porch and I never smell the dog-shit odor.

Not saying that it isn't a good product, just don't think it's necessary.

9/2/2014 1:23:29 PM

damn what kind of trash can do you have? every can I've put shit in has smelled like the death of a thousand corpses

our previous situation was a lot like yours. 1/3 of an acre, back half fully wooded - I never picked up shit. it stayed back there and did whatever shit does and it never bothered me. 1.5 months ago we moved to a 0.5 acre lot, and what isn't occupied by house and driveway, is 95% grass. the back yard is 100% grass.

I've got two dogs - a 90# lab and a 20# schnauzer/terrier mix, both of whom shit like wildebeests. push mowing grass is a chore in and of itself, but it's even worse when you have to dodge land mines all over the place. and why does dog shit take so long to decompose? good grief. I have a four year old, and as the new neighbor, we have made friends with some other kids who like to play in the yard. I really don't want to step in shit, and I don't want other people stepping in shit either.

I was picking it up at first, but I had no where to put it but the trash can. a week's worth of dog crap marinating in a trash can is foul.

9/2/2014 2:18:10 PM

Regular trash can. 80# dog that shits once or twice per day in the backyard (the other half the time he shits on our daily runs or dog park visits). I mean...I tie up the grocery bag pretty tight. I think the key is to not have wide open bags of shit. Obviously that's going to smell. But if it's contained in a doggy bag or other tied up bag, then the smell is contained pretty well IMO.

9/2/2014 3:10:59 PM

my 2 dogs are adamant about shitting in nearly the same exact spot as they always do... so it's easy for me to steer clear of, but damn does it smell.

I trained them to do both 1& 2 in the woods, but now that my fence is built and I don't watch them, they're backing to peeing in my grass, or lack there of. The male mostly shits in the woods so I never worry about it. My female shits in a wasteland of no vegetation in the back of my yard, along the fence next to the woods where she used to go shit. I guess she misses her old shit ground

9/2/2014 3:17:56 PM

One of ours eats the others poop so that leaves only one to clean up after

9/2/2014 7:39:00 PM

This little guy showed up starving at my girlfriend's place (soon too be my place too) last week:



He was very timid at first, but warmed up very fast, and is very loving to every new person he meets. We called around to vets to see if anyone was looking for him, and posted found notices online, and no one has come forward. We are keeping him outside (on a 42 acre farm), and he has stuck around for a week, so we have decided to keep him.

I've never owned a dog before, so it will be a new experience for me. He is already looking much healthier after a week of being fed, and we're scheduling a vet appointment to get him all checked out. Also started some training, he's picked up Sit very quickly. Any guesses on what breeds he may be?

9/2/2014 10:54:15 PM

that's a good looking puppy, he looks sweet. glad he found a good home.

i'd say there's Labrador in there for sure (overall body and head/nose shape). maybe some shepherd (mottled hair, sticky uppy ears)?

9/3/2014 10:52:21 AM

that's a good looking puppy, he looks sweet. glad he found a good home.

i'd say there's Labrador in there for sure (overall body and head/nose shape). maybe some shepherd (mottled hair, sticky uppy ears)?

9/3/2014 10:52:21 AM

^+1 I was going to go with some kind of lab/shepherd/etc mix

[Edited on September 3, 2014 at 11:01 AM. Reason : .]

9/3/2014 11:01:36 AM

Dog looks happy. Kudos for taking him in.

9/3/2014 11:34:05 AM

Anybody here grind their dogs nails instead of clipping?

[Edited on April 11, 2015 at 5:26 PM. Reason : ]

4/11/2015 5:14:32 PM

^ I have PetSmart do it. Is there a follow up question/concern?

4/11/2015 10:42:44 PM

If u did it yourself there would be

[Edited on April 11, 2015 at 11:13 PM. Reason : ^ OK, isn't that like $12+ on its own?]

4/11/2015 11:12:18 PM

Yeah. Or $9 if you have them clipped. I usually go with clipped because I wait too long. I have a Beagle mix so when you cut his nails he cries and shrieks like he is being tortured. It's not worth it to me to try to hold him down and fight with him to clip his nails. I'll gladly pay $9-$12 for someone else to deal with it.

4/12/2015 12:29:06 AM

i clip my dog's nails and it takes less than a minute. you just have to be careful when you do not to cut too deep. (I've done that a time or two when i first started and it bleeds a lot)

4/12/2015 12:36:57 AM

Dog likes catching bugs, decided to catch a wasp today which stung her tongue. Gave her some Benadryl per doctors order in case there is any swelling that could close her throat.

Unrelated to the sting, over the past week she's been licking her back leg "pit" raw. In a small area all her hair is gone and it is bright red. I've got her in a cone now for the day.

4/15/2015 12:51:35 AM

been feeding her people food? might be food allergies making her lick/chew it

[Edited on April 15, 2015 at 1:46 AM. Reason : .]

4/15/2015 1:44:57 AM

When my dog goes in for a bath they'll clip his nails. But in between bath's I'll grind my dogs nails on my own, just to try and keep them down as his nails seem to grow fairly fast. What's the question?

4/15/2015 9:57:26 AM

^^^Could be environmental allergies. Like people, my dog gets it this time of year, so we typically wash her legs with warm water and epsom salt (we give her some fish oil to help with any skin drying). If the licking gets bad enough, we give her some benadryl, but usually only need to a few days.

4/15/2015 10:06:31 AM

As of late, I've been very good w/ the people food. If I do give her anything, it is pizza crust or a french fry here or there.

Also a funny thing she does is an involuntary reverse sneeze. If you are not use to it, you may thing your dog is about to have a seizure. I guess it's rare, but fairly commonplace in beagley mixes like mine (she's about 40lbs). Here is a vid of one reverse sneezing. I just calm her like the owner is doing and it will pass. It's a spasm of the throat and soft palate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80ijkYoBcE8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puFXxq2Z7Bs

4/16/2015 12:38:53 AM

Quote :

"But in between bath's I'll grind my dogs nails on my own, just to try and keep them down as his nails seem to grow fairly fast. What's the question?"

What product do you use?
How large is your dog?
How well does it work?

4/16/2015 12:41:41 AM

I bet you could just use a Dremel with a fine grain bit. just don't do too much at a time because it could heat up the nail and by extension the quick. I've heard the Seen on TV nail grinders are shit and a lot of dogs get scared just by the noise of any of them.

I take my GSD to PetSmart and pay them like $8 to deal with it.

4/16/2015 1:07:29 AM

At Petsmart it's [starting at] $12 for the grind, and $8 for a clip...and I've got two dogs.

Looks like they use a dremel too:

4/16/2015 9:00:21 AM

I'll have to check back at home later and see what the product name is. It's something I found out Petsmart though. I think it was around $25. It's basically just a battery operated dremel that has two speeds. It has a light at the end to help you locate the quick. It also comes with a clear plastic piece that goes over the top of the dremel to kind of collect the nail dust, but I took that off as it's a pain to get some of the nails in the holes it provides.

My dog is around 35 lbs. I have the gf hold him up while I do it. He doesn't mind it too much but will squirm around a little bit, so it makes it easier if she's holding him. The trick is to go slow and take your time and not apply too much pressure and reward him/her after you've completed a paw.

It works pretty well. You'll see the dust flying around while you're doing it, so you know you're shaving it down. Like I said it's more for maintenance with me but it's definitely worth it in my opinion.

4/16/2015 9:22:29 AM

With regards to the noise of the grinder, some people recommend first just turning it on for a couple minutes then turning it off and giving your dog a treat. Then turning it on near them, and giving them a treat, etc. Get them used to the sound before you actually use it on them.

Also consider doing the actual grinding outside, just in case the dog doesn't like the smell

[Edited on April 16, 2015 at 10:23 AM. Reason : .]

4/16/2015 10:20:32 AM

Seasons have changed and now my dog is biting and itching like crazy again. Happens every year.

Trying to avoid spending a ton of money at the Vet with tons of medication this year...anybody have any home remedies? It's definitely skin allergies...as we've never found a flea on him and it happens at the same time every year.

First google result yielded this:

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/06/22/pets-seasonal-allergies.aspx

Quote :

"Allergy-Fighting Supplements Quercetin. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. I call it 'nature's Benadryl' because it does a great job suppressing histamine release from mast cells and basophiles. Histamine is what causes much of the inflammation, redness and irritation characteristic of an allergic response. By turning off histamine production with a quercetin supplement, we can suppress or at least moderate the effects of inflammation. Quercetin also has some other wonderful properties. It inhibits 5-lipooxygenase, an enzyme that upregulates the inflammatory cascade. Quercetin inhibits the production of leukotrienes, another way the body creates inflammation, thereby decreasing the level of bronchoconstriction. Bronchoconstriction occurs in the lung fields as a symptom of asthma. Quercetin can actually suppress how much constriction occurs. Bromelain and papain. Bromelain and papain are proteolytic enzymes that increase the absorption of quercetin, making it work more effectively. They also suppress histamine production. One of the reasons I use quercetin, bromelain and papain together is they also suppress prostaglandin release. Prostaglandins are another pathway by which inflammation can occur. By suppressing prostaglandins, we can decrease the pain and inflammation associated with irritated mucous membranes and body parts. Using the three substances in combination provides some natural pain and inflammation control. Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids help decrease inflammation throughout the body. Adding them into the diet of all pets -- particularly pets struggling with seasonal environmental allergies – is very beneficial. The best sources of omega 3s are krill oil, salmon oil, tuna oil, anchovy oil and other fish body oils. Coconut oil. I also recommend coconut oil for allergic pets. Coconut oil contains lauric acid, which helps decrease the production of yeast. Using a fish body oil with coconut oil before inflammation flares up in your pet's body can help moderate or even suppress the inflammatory response."

Anyone use any of the above supplements? Another quick google found this:

http://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Quercetin-Bromelain-Vcaps/dp/B0013OSQ5I/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1429641387&sr=1-1&keywords=quercetin+supplements

Going to do some research to make sure there aren't any adverse affects, but $12 a bottle is a lot better than the couple hundred books that I usually spend at the vet for blood tests and medications.


[Edited on April 21, 2015 at 2:43 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on April 21, 2015 at 2:43 PM. Reason : .]

4/21/2015 2:27:19 PM

I mentioned it above, but epsom salt foot/leg baths, fish oil, and the occasional benadryl do the trick for my dog, and hers have been pretty bad. This year she's done much better, and the only thing we changed was the type of food, trying pet pantry's salmon & sweet potato (http://www.feedyourpets.com/our-blends/dog-food-blends/holistic-choice-salmon-sweet-potato-grain-free/)

4/21/2015 3:20:01 PM

We've gone the benadryl route before and it didn't seem to make much of a difference. It might sound lazy, but we have a big hairy dog, and frequent epsom salt baths would be a pain in the ass. I'm not against it, but would rather just pop a few pills in with his breakfast.

4/21/2015 3:22:02 PM

Quote :

"Anyone use any of the above supplements? Another quick google found this:"

I've done the latter two, and a bunch more, and a daily 5MG dose of prednisone is the only thing that works for my dog.

Quote :

"We've gone the benadryl route before and it didn't seem to make much of a difference. "

What was your dose? Most people who try this (myself included), underdose.

[Edited on April 21, 2015 at 5:19 PM. Reason : ]

4/21/2015 5:18:49 PM

^^Yeah that doesn't sound fun. Fortunately mine is shorthaired, and it's just her legs that bother her, so some of the time I'll just get a salty wet towel and pat them down.

4/22/2015 2:15:45 PM

^^ I think we might have actually over-dosed on occasions.

^ He's not too bad...not a golden or anything...more wire-haired. But he is 85+ lbs and isn't the biggest fan of baths.

Just ordered some Quercetin with Bromelain today. Everything I read up on it sounded pretty good. We might switch his food up a bit as well. He's been on the same Natural Balance/Potato and Duck formula for a while. I'll start some research when this bag is getting close to empty.

4/22/2015 2:20:44 PM

Quote :

"I think we might have actually over-dosed on occasions"

They call for 1-2mg/lb body weight, twice a day. For my 65lb lab I was giving like 50GB, so not really enough. How much did you try? Supposedly it doesn't make them drowsy like it does us...but I've never tried a higher does than that

Check out Taste of the Wild food when you're in the market...reasonably priced grain free, pretty similar to the stuff you're using actually.


[Edited on April 22, 2015 at 2:30 PM. Reason : Let us know how if that supplement helps]

4/22/2015 2:28:00 PM