What no threads with dog questions??

[shannon0218]

I feel so useless

[Oh the Irony]

here are my doggie questions for you...

dog toys and babies

can my baby get something, like a parasite, from chewing on the dog toys?

dog food and water bowls

where the heck should i put them???? my babies mission is to tip over the water bowl and fling dog food. he's 10 months old if that matters...

thank you.

[absinthe]

Okay Shannon Here's a dog question for you. What breed is right for me?
We lost our 2 elderly Akitas in March. One of them was to me everything havoc is to you. Truly my heart and that amazing one dog of a lifetime. I'm due in August so I'm thinking no puppies until next spring or so. Here's what my ideal looks like. . .
Big Big big sensible with good judgement, naturally protective of home and family without being a loose cannon, tolerant of children. I'd been considering a livestock guarding breed because the area we are moving too has had a number of bear and mountain lion incedents and I'm worried about the kids. I have been thinking pyrenean mastiff, but I'd love to hear suggestions.

[shannon0218]

Excellent Questions my dear Wolfmama!

Technically it's very hard for parasites to be passed from dog to child and obviously if dog is parasite free he can't pass anything on to the baby. Round worms are the most common one but they are very easily tested for with a fecal sample. Most virus and parasites are fairly species specific, but there are always exceptions to the rule. What I do here to discourage the dog's from chewing on baby toys is I put a couple drops of peppermint oil on all the dog toys, that way they know their toys smell different than the babies toys (this however will not work to keep the baby from stealing their toys!)

On the food stations, I use elevated feeders for my guys, mainly because Havoc has a bad neck. The one I built myself is roughly 2 feet high and then the bowls sit down in it, maybe baby would be less enthralled by a big wooden box than shiny dog food bowls??

[AngelBee]

Oh....I have one.

Our 4 month old Lab keeps peeing in the kitchen.....even right after he has been outside. We were keeping him in the kitchen as a baby and are now crating him instead however he still likes to potty in there.

What should we do to encourage him to go outside. Last night I was washing my hands in the sick and he peed right on my foot!

Also how much quality time should I spend with him daily? He is a big boy (projected to be well over 100 lbs) and I have trouble handling him and the baby at the same time due to his size.

How much exercise does his breed at that age need a day?

Thank you!

[JoAida]

Here's a dog question for ya...







Want a black lab mix?

She's super smart, but VERY stubborn, play motivated, and NEVER gets tired. She was a rescue from a dog fighting ring here in town. She was about 3 months old, and about to become a "bait dog".

:LOL

[weebitty2]

Here's one, too

I have Boxers. One's perfectly normal, the other .. is another story. (Well. he's as normal as a Boxer can be )

Our fem. boxer has a lot of skin tags ~ neg. for cancers, but she's been getting more and more of them (mainly on her chest) and skin growths on her right hind leg at the knee joint. Better to have them removed as a "just in case", or just leave them be? Can the be a precursor to skin cancer, which I've heard boxers are prone to?

[BabyOsMommy]

I'll bite. This one's for my sister, not for me:

Was her 1year old Golden/Yellow lab cross a criminal in a past life? His ability to escape any confinement leads me to believe that he was...

If you were a breed of dog, what breed would you be?

[shannon0218]

Absinthe, I think the Mastiff breeds are a good pick, just avoid the Neopolitan Mastiff. The primary issue with mastiff breeds is that the larger ones do not have long life expectancy and that is certainly a trade off.
I know you've had Akitas before, but I would probably caution against them with small children. It's not that they are a breed that is particularily nasty, but they are a hard dog to read accurately and they don't communicate well. This can make it difficult to tell when the dog may be sick and tired of a toddler's affections.
Just off the top of my head dogs that are decent guard dogs, good with their own children, large and generally have good common sense: any of the herding breeds as a rule are extremely pack oriented, therefore are generally protective of children and very attached to their families eg) german shepherds, rough collies. Then you can look at the working breeds, some that I would particularily recomend are Newfoundlands, English Bull Mastiffs (much healthier than the Old English Mastiff) American Bull dogs, Leonburgers.
HTH, this is by far not a comprehensive list, if you have questions about a dog I haven't mentioned, just let me know.

[shannon0218]

Angela, where do you feed your puppy?? Where is the crate??
On quality time, if you can spend one hour every day that is all about Fido (can be split into 15 min intervals too) you are doing great. If he is a power house and hard to handle, you can move to a small prong collar, not to give corrections, just to allow him to self correct (as in he hits the end of the leash hard it will hurt so he better settle down a bit) but you shouldn't be tugging on the lead. It sounds kinda mean, but powerful puppies do neck damage often by hitting the end of a lead hard on a flat collar.
Let me know about those first questions and I'll give you a bit of a plan.

[shannon0218]

Jo Aida.... NO I don't want a lab cross :LOL Labs and I don't really get along.

Weebitty, Boxers are very prone to cancer period, not just skin cancer. It's a really tough call, sometimes small lumps can be a precurser but sometimes a surgery site can also be a breeding spot for cancers. You are best to put him on the best quality diet you can afford (human grade) give them as many fresh veggies as you can. And you can use a spray by Bio Groom called Mink Oil, it has a natural sun screen in it that will help prevent skin cancer.

Annette, your sister's dog likely has some separation anxiety. With some dogs the herbal pet calmers help, otherwise if he's fine when not confined, I'd just leave him loose, but many of these dogs are destructive period and need medical and training help (neither works well alone)

[Rollermommy]

Ok shannon you knew i wouldnt be able to resist

2 questions:
Please oh please, tell me how to house break buster! He's driving me insane peeing and pooping everywhere. I take him out (should i be standing there with him?) and its like he wants to come in to pee and poop

And here's #2: is it possible for a dog to orgasm? Here's why i ask...our 2 yr old rhodesian, dixie, has this deal where she pees everynight. and i thought she was having bladder issues, but upon investigation here's whats happening. she comes in at night, settles down in a spot and starts licking herself..You know HERSELF. And she licks so voraciously that you can hear her going at it all over the house, its rediculous! By the time she's done she's panting and has peed in the spot where she's laying : So i'm thinking it might not be bladder issues as much as sexual issues. Am i just a lunatic or could this really be whats happening?

[BabyOsMommy]

Um, destructive isn't even a start to this dog's ability to chew. He's chewed through every toy they've given him with the exception of the large black kong. Even my Dad's rottweilers haven't done that. My sisters socks are not safe. On or off her feet. They have him in second level obedience (he passed the first), and the vet is looking into his diet. But I really think he needs an exorcism. I suppose you don't do those, do you ?

[Irishmommy]

Um, why did my dog get a tick on her head camping last weekend, and why was I the one who had to remove it? (Same kind of tick as I found on dd today).

And why is her pelvis so out of alignment again? The chiro will be able to retire on my dog!!

[shannon0218]

Giamom, I'm guessing it's still bladder related and she's licking because of irratation. Try putting a little cortisone cream on her vulva and seeing if htat helps the licking. I'd also take a urine sample into the vet, vulvar irritation coupled with weak bladder is fairly indicitive of bladder infection.
On housebreaking Buster, YES, you need to stand out there with him and make a huge freaky deal when he goes outside, throw a party, you couldn't be happier. If you catch him in the act (only if you catch him in the act) inside, you do another academy award performance about how mad and disapointed you are. It has to be memorable to the dog, so next time he has the urge to go, he's got black and white examples to think of--I'm the best puppy in the whole world when I go out there, I'm bad bad bad when I go inside. Use a crate or a tie down strap. You can make a tie down strap by going to the hardware store and buying 3.5' of plastic coated airline cable, put a loop on each end, a leash clip on one of those ends (I actually put leash clips on both ends) and you can fasten that around a table leg or whereever so that he can't run off to a corner and go without you seeing him, hopefully he won't want to go in the area he's tied off to. But if you let him out without going what ends up happening is he gets out there, is distracted by a butterfly or something, has some fun and then comes inside and goes--"oh yeah, I gotta pee!"

[Rollermommy]

Thank shannon!

so much for my doggie orgasm theory :

[shannon0218]

Annette, what kind of food is he on? He should be on a high quality diet that has NO SUGAR, (sugar in dog food is often listed as beet pulp) Where is she? If she's close to me, I can do a behavior consult and see what we can change to help a bit. Some dogs are just nutbars and all the training in the world doesn't help. Our Tunza was like that, her obedience was great, but that didn't stop her from climbing trees to chase the cat or jumping up on the kitchen counter to get her obnoxious squeeky ball we took away from her.

Irish, you had to remove the tick because you haven't trained your husband well enough, I would suggest a shock collar, its really the only way to get through to a man. On her pelvis, it's not uncommon for it to slip out now and again. I think it may be a good idea to go to the chiro in Guelph for one visit as she adjusted everthing (even her toes) and that may make it easier for her subsequent adjustment to stick.

[boricuaqueen327]

I have a question. Tyson is now finally done with all his shots and can be taken for walks in parks and stuff. My question is how to train him to be nice on the leash. He is pretty good about it but when he starts sniffing something It's hard to get his attention. I"{m worried about his neck being injured because he pulls so quickly that I dont have time to catch up before he gets the leash tight. He's a lab and weighs about 40 pounds right now. Also, when can you start training a dog with a prong (Tyson is 5 months)? Thanks!

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

Originally Posted by shannon0218

Irish, you had to remove the tick because you haven't trained your husband well enough, I would suggest a shock collar, its really the only way to get through to a man.

:LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL

[shannon0218]

You can go to a prong now and just teach basic leash respect. Have part of your walk when he can sniff whatever he wants and wait on him, the rest of the walk--you just keep walking, if you know he's peed and pooped he's just sniffing because he can, just keep walking--if he's on a leash, especially with a prong on, he's gonna have to follow. When you teach leash respect you are training the dog that if he tightens that lead, he's going to GIVE HIMSELF A CORRECTION. Tightening the leash is the same to the dog was sniffing a hot wood stove--it's unpleasant and therefore, he will try to avoid it. The key when you start proper leash training is to ALWAYS give the dog the option of a loose leash if he wants one. It's his choice to receive or not receive a correction, a lot of people don't even realize they walk around with the dog on a tight short leash.