My Dogs

[Pink Cashmere]

raeoflyte I’ve been waiting to hear about “our” new dog.  How’s it going?

[Annie7]

Sept 29, 2022 15:41:10 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

I’ll have to Google snuffle mat, Idk what that is. Before we got Boy, I got Newbie a ball that she has to figure out how to get treats out of, she was not interested at all lol. I’ll have to research other puzzle toys too.

I’ll try the “find” game too. Newbie is not as motivated by treats as Boy is. Maybe because we’ve been over feeding her since she’s “obese”. I am obviously still offended that they said my baby is obese lol. But I have to be honest and say that she really is overweight, now that I really look at her.

Thank you so much for sharing and offering suggestions! I agree that it’s fun doing different things with our dogs, and watching them learn and play. I hope you continue to share things about life with Nala.

smile.amazon.com/NEECONG-Dog-Snuffle-Mat-Slow-Feeder-Bowl-Simulating/dp/B08HSBQBWN/ref=sr_1_7?crid=YB4V8LBD2DVG&keywords=snuffle+mat+for+dogs&qid=1664484383&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI3LjE2IiwicXNhIjoiNi41NCIsInFzcCI6IjYuMTgifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=snuff%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-7

The one I have is like this. I would put in Nala's kibble in there and she would find and eat them.

Nala is very picky and doesn't always like to eat her kibble. So, I keep trying different ways to get her to eat. I put the kibble in an egg carton and she has to shred the carton and get to the food. I watch her of course to make sure she doesn't eat the carton. 

You can do the find game with kibble too if you are cutting back on treats. Or maybe with toys? I name all toys I think she knows what toy I say when I ask her to get me say "squeaky ball" or "snowy". Not that she gets it to me everytime, but I think she does know. So, you could probably hide one of their toys and ask them to find it.

I love how gentle Newbie seems to be toward Boy. Nala is also very gentle to smaller dogs. So it upsets me when owners of small dogs get scared of Nala barking and yell at me to muzzle her and threaten to call the police. This is when Nala is leashed and I am in control but she is barking and wanting to get at the dog to play, not bite. I understand the owners are scared of the german shepherd, but most times, they are over the top rude.

[Pink Cashmere]

Sept 29, 2022 15:55:57 GMT -5 Annie7 said:

Sept 29, 2022 15:41:10 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

I’ll have to Google snuffle mat, Idk what that is. Before we got Boy, I got Newbie a ball that she has to figure out how to get treats out of, she was not interested at all lol. I’ll have to research other puzzle toys too.

I’ll try the “find” game too. Newbie is not as motivated by treats as Boy is. Maybe because we’ve been over feeding her since she’s “obese”. I am obviously still offended that they said my baby is obese lol. But I have to be honest and say that she really is overweight, now that I really look at her.

Thank you so much for sharing and offering suggestions! I agree that it’s fun doing different things with our dogs, and watching them learn and play. I hope you continue to share things about life with Nala.

smile.amazon.com/NEECONG-Dog-Snuffle-Mat-Slow-Feeder-Bowl-Simulating/dp/B08HSBQBWN/ref=sr_1_7?crid=YB4V8LBD2DVG&keywords=snuffle+mat+for+dogs&qid=1664484383&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI3LjE2IiwicXNhIjoiNi41NCIsInFzcCI6IjYuMTgifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=snuff%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-7

The one I have is like this. I would put in Nala's kibble in there and she would find and eat them.

Nala is very picky and doesn't always like to eat her kibble. So, I keep trying different ways to get her to eat. I put the kibble in an egg carton and she has to shred the carton and get to the food. I watch her of course to make sure she doesn't eat the carton. 

You can do the find game with kibble too if you are cutting back on treats. Or maybe with toys? I name all toys I think she knows what toy I say when I ask her to get me say "squeaky ball" or "snowy". Not that she gets it to me everytime, but I think she does know. So, you could probably hide one of their toys and ask them to find it.

I love how gentle Newbie seems to be toward Boy. Nala is also very gentle to smaller dogs. So it upsets me when owners of small dogs get scared of Nala barking and yell at me to muzzle her and threaten to call the police. This is when Nala is leashed and I am in control but she is barking and wanting to get at the dog to play, not bite. I understand the owners are scared of the german shepherd, but most times, they are over the top rude.

Thank you for the link.

When I work with Boy, sometimes I just use his kibble instead of treats. He’s so greedy he doesn’t care what it is, as long as he knows or thinks I have some type of food in my pocket. LOL!

I’ve been thinking about naming their toys. Mostly so I can teach them to put them away in the basket I got to hold the toys lol. Newbie use to hide her toys in her crate before OG died. After we took the crate down and put it away, she started stashing stuff in the living room. That is usually where we can find Boy’s toys now. She takes his toys in there too. But she doesn’t really play with toys anymore. She just likes to hide them all in the living room.

People yell at you and threaten to call the police?! What the world?! That would REALLY upset my nerves! Especially if my dog is on a leash and I am in control. In my experience with walking Newbie, people with small dogs think it’s okay for them to run around unleashed, even if the dog does not stay on their property. I do the yelling when dogs run up to us “PLEASE GET YOUR DAMN DOG!” Because Newbie does have a strong prey drive, and I know that if something happened, somehow it would be Newbie’s fault because of the type of dog she is, even though she’s on a leash on a sidewalk or street and minding her own business and unleashed dogs run up to us. So far nothing has happened, thank goodness. I am not above kicking an unleashed dog out of Newbie’s reach to try to prevent a fight. People can judge me for that, but they should really judge the dog’s owner for being irresponsible enough to let their dog run around like that. Kicking the dog away is better than what Newbie could do to it in a fight. 

People are just stupid. 

[weltschmerz]

Nala barking and yell at me to muzzle her and threaten to call the police. This is when Nala is leashed and I am in control but she is barking and wanting to get at the dog to play, not bite.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I use Closed Captioning on the TV.
They were talking about breed-specific dangers. The CC said....

'If you don't know how your dog will react to other dogs, put a Muslim on him.'

[Pink Cashmere]

Sept 29, 2022 16:30:13 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Nala barking and yell at me to muzzle her and threaten to call the police. This is when Nala is leashed and I am in control but she is barking and wanting to get at the dog to play, not bite.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I use Closed Captioning on the TV.
They were talking about breed-specific dangers. The CC said....

'If you don't know how your dog will react to other dogs, put a Muslim on him.'

A Muslim?! LOL!

[Pink Cashmere]

It’s a good thing that Newbie does not “guard” her stuff. Boy has pretty much taken over that stupid blue ball and Newbie lets him have it. He brings it on the deck and she eventually takes it back out in the yard.

Good grief I wish I could find a toy they like as much as that stupid blue ball. I don’t get the attraction. It’s dirty from who knows what, and totally deflated. Newbie found it when we had some brush cleared back, so we don’t even know how it got there in the first place. OG never bothered it, but Newbie LOVED it on sight. And apparently Boy really likes it too.

A random, dirty, deflated stupid ball that Newbie found, is much more attractive than any of the toys we’ve bought. Boy is gnawing on it right now, on the deck.

[Pink Cashmere]

You can’t tell from this picture, but Boy is starting to get “leggy”. He is getting taller more than he is “filling out”.

[saveinla]

Sept 29, 2022 16:59:53 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

You can’t tell from this picture, but Boy is starting to get “leggy”. He is getting taller more than he is “filling out”.

Oh those eyes - he has grown a lot since the last sitting photo.

[weltschmerz]

Sept 29, 2022 16:59:53 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

You can’t tell from this picture, but Boy is starting to get “leggy”. He is getting taller more than he is “filling out”.

Mon Dieu! He's so cute.

[Pink Cashmere]

saveinla it’s so hard to see IRL how he’s growing, so I’m going to do this again







And weltschmerz, thank you! He’s lucky he’s cute because GOOD GRIEF he’s a lot of work!

Fortunately for us both, I know from experience that putting the work in now will pay off eventually, and make the rest of our lives together joyful.
insert code here

[weltschmerz]

It makes me want to get a dog, and then I remember that it drops to minus 40 here. The thought of going out at the ass-crack of dawn for walkies makes me rethink. It's not like I have a yard to just let the dog out.

[Pink Cashmere]

Sept 29, 2022 17:50:51 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

It makes me want to get a dog, and then I remember that it drops to minus 40 here. The thought of going out at the ass-crack of dawn for walkies makes me rethink. It's not like I have a yard to just let the dog out.

We have a yard to just let the dogs out, but we still have to go out with Boy to see whether or not he does his business, in order to teach him that that’s where we want him to go. 

I seriously can’t imagine trying to house train a puppy living in an apartment, or living anywhere during winter. 

[raeoflyte]

Sept 29, 2022 15:46:24 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

raeoflyte I’ve been waiting to hear about “our” new dog.  How’s it going?

She's so good. Pretty mellow for the most part, good with the cats, people, dogs, adorable puppy zoomies and snuggles. She's starting to settle in and play with toys. This weekend we'll let her and devil dog have less structured introductions and hopefully let then play together. Speaking of...devil dog has been so good this week too. Not sure what that's about, but I'll take it.

[chiver78]

Sept 29, 2022 16:21:04 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

People yell at you and threaten to call the police?! What the world?! That would REALLY upset my nerves! Especially if my dog is on a leash and I am in control. In my experience with walking Newbie, people with small dogs think it’s okay for them to run around unleashed, even if the dog does not stay on their property. I do the yelling when dogs run up to us “PLEASE GET YOUR DAMN DOG!” Because Newbie does have a strong prey drive, and I know that if something happened, somehow it would be Newbie’s fault because of the type of dog she is, even though she’s on a leash on a sidewalk or street and minding her own business and unleashed dogs run up to us. So far nothing has happened, thank goodness. I am not above kicking an unleashed dog out of Newbie’s reach to try to prevent a fight. People can judge me for that, but they should really judge the dog’s owner for being irresponsible enough to let their dog run around like that. Kicking the dog away is better than what Newbie could do to it in a fight. 

People are just stupid. 

oh man, I feel this one. not so much on the canal path, but definitely closer to where I live, and absolutely in the cranberry bogs. that's part of why we don't walk there anymore. I've got 6ft leashes for both of my two, with an extra handle at 1ft that I use if they are riled up. I had one encounter in the bogs where I was doing the math about dropping Punk's leash entirely in order to have better control over LD while I tried to shoo away a stupid corgi that wanted to get in his face. 

[Annie7]

Sept 29, 2022 16:59:53 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

You can’t tell from this picture, but Boy is starting to get “leggy”. He is getting taller more than he is “filling out”.

Oh, what a cutie. Those eyes and paws are adorable 

[Annie7]

Sept 29, 2022 16:30:13 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Nala barking and yell at me to muzzle her and threaten to call the police. This is when Nala is leashed and I am in control but she is barking and wanting to get at the dog to play, not bite.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I use Closed Captioning on the TV.
They were talking about breed-specific dangers. The CC said....

'If you don't know how your dog will react to other dogs, put a Muslim on him.'

[raeoflyte]

Sept 30, 2022 7:54:28 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Sept 29, 2022 16:21:04 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

People yell at you and threaten to call the police?! What the world?! That would REALLY upset my nerves! Especially if my dog is on a leash and I am in control. In my experience with walking Newbie, people with small dogs think it’s okay for them to run around unleashed, even if the dog does not stay on their property. I do the yelling when dogs run up to us “PLEASE GET YOUR DAMN DOG!” Because Newbie does have a strong prey drive, and I know that if something happened, somehow it would be Newbie’s fault because of the type of dog she is, even though she’s on a leash on a sidewalk or street and minding her own business and unleashed dogs run up to us. So far nothing has happened, thank goodness. I am not above kicking an unleashed dog out of Newbie’s reach to try to prevent a fight. People can judge me for that, but they should really judge the dog’s owner for being irresponsible enough to let their dog run around like that. Kicking the dog away is better than what Newbie could do to it in a fight. 

People are just stupid. 

oh man, I feel this one. not so much on the canal path, but definitely closer to where I live, and absolutely in the cranberry bogs. that's part of why we don't walk there anymore. I've got 6ft leashes for both of my two, with an extra handle at 1ft that I use if they are riled up. I had one encounter in the bogs where I was doing the math about dropping Punk's leash entirely in order to have better control over LD while I tried to shoo away a stupid corgi that wanted to get in his face. 

I carry "dog mace" in my dog walking bag. It's citronella, no long term damage to a dog shot with it, but shoots 20 feet. I practice getting it ready fast.

Another option to stop an oncoming dog is opening an umbrella at their eye level. It's usually shocking enough to get them off their charge and sometimes scary enough to run them off a bit. But carrying an umbrella while walking dogs for me is difficult.

In our current neighborhood we rarely see off leash dogs and when we do, they're actually good off leash dogs. At our last home though, just walking anywhere was filled with offleash dogs, big and small - sometimes with a human, sometimes not, a lot of times loose in an unfenced yard and that was when I was walking 4 dogs at a time that all had varying degrees of reactivity and/or aggression. I don't know that I could do that again.

[Deleted]

Pink Cashmere Boy is starting to look like a real dog instead of the cutest stuffed toy I've ever seen

raeoflyte I'm glad your new puppy is thriving - I love puppy zoomies!

[Pink Cashmere]

Newbie is probably wondering how did this become her life….



But in some ways having her has made life with Boy a little easier. Mostly because of his desire to follow her wherever she goes.

Somehow Boy has managed to spend the last 2 nights sleeping on a sheet on top of the comforter on my bed. Y’all know I don’t like dogs on the furniture, and especially not on my bed, so I really don’t know how that happened.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

But he’s just so cuddly. The same way he likes to sleep up under Newbie, he likes to squeeze as close to his humans as he can get and sleep.

[chiver78]

Sept 30, 2022 8:20:06 GMT -5 Annie7 said:

Sept 29, 2022 16:59:53 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

You can’t tell from this picture, but Boy is starting to get “leggy”. He is getting taller more than he is “filling out”.

Oh, what a cutie. Those eyes and paws are adorable 

I'm on my phone now, so I can actually see the pictures. OMG, what a cutie! 🤩😍🥰

Pink - he looks really similar to LD when he first came home. I'll find the pic I have on FB and PM you. I want to snuggle him so badly! and beware - if he's anything like LD, he will shamelessly take over your bed. more than once in the last house, he literally shoved a guest out of (his) bed. there's a reason the guest room has a full bed here. 🤣

[Pink Cashmere]

Guess who did this to my outdoor rug on the deck. 



And is it my imagination or what, because I swear a see a toy RIGHT THERE!

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2022 16:52:27 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

Guess who did this to my outdoor rug on the deck. 



And is it my imagination or what, because I swear a see a toy RIGHT THERE!

I know it's not funny but I can't help it.  That is so puppy.  

[Pink Cashmere]

Sept 30, 2022 16:59:33 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Sept 30, 2022 16:52:27 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

Guess who did this to my outdoor rug on the deck. 



And is it my imagination or what, because I swear a see a toy RIGHT THERE!

I know it's not funny but I can't help it.  That is so puppy.  

It’s okay to laugh. I’d probably laugh too if it wasn’t my rug, because…… puppy, lol.

After we brought Newbie home (she was older than Boy, maybe a year old), she chewed on the wood planters you can see in some of my pictures, the wood furniture on the deck, and even the bottom step to the deck. 

When we went to the pet store to try to find some toys she couldn’t destroy in 2.2 seconds, and named all the stuff she’d been chewing on, the lady helping us said “oh, you have a big mouse on your hands”. Exactly! 

Newbie eventually stopped chewing on all the wood on and around the deck, thank goodness, but in addition to tearing up the rug, Boy chews on the same wood planters Newbie use to chew on. He has a couple more rows of braiding on the rug that he’s been working on too. Once he gets the end loose, the whole row comes up easily, like in the picture. I guess I’ll need a new rug next spring. And it’s not a small or inexpensive rug.

Sigh…… 

[Pink Cashmere]

Sept 29, 2022 22:15:56 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Sept 29, 2022 15:46:24 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

raeoflyte I’ve been waiting to hear about “our” new dog.  How’s it going?

She's so good. [img src="https://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff155/JiminiChristmas/ymamsmiles/smile.gif" alt="" class="smile" src="//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png"] Pretty mellow for the most part, good with the cats, people, dogs, adorable puppy zoomies and snuggles. She's starting to settle in and play with toys. This weekend we'll let her and devil dog have less structured introductions and hopefully let then play together. Speaking of...devil dog has been so good this week too. Not sure what that's about, but I'll take it.

Please let us know how the new puppy does this weekend with devil dog.

Did he already have his second test? If so, how did he do?

I feel kinda bad calling your baby devil dog, but you said it first lol.

[Pink Cashmere]

And Annie7, I’ve been meaning to ask about you working with a trainer for Nala. What exactly does your trainer do to help you with your dog? I’ve never worked with a trainer, even though I understand a good trainer can be a valuable resource, so I’m not knocking it. I’m just curious about your experience with a trainer.

[TheOtherMe]

I have not lived with dogs since I was a kid.  You all know I am a cat person, which I didn't know back then.

My sister was the dog person.  She got a Beagle puppy.  I don't think my parents or her knew anything about Beagles or training them.  While everyone was gone all day, the puppy was shut in a room in the basement.  She chewed a wooden closet door.  

My mom was so mad.  Dad found a guy her worked with who had beagles and the dog went to live with him.  

We never had another pet when I was growing up.

[Pink Cashmere]

Sept 30, 2022 19:52:23 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I have not lived with dogs since I was a kid.  You all know I am a cat person, which I didn't know back then.

My sister was the dog person.  She got a Beagle puppy.  I don't think my parents or her knew anything about Beagles or training them.  While everyone was gone all day, the puppy was shut in a room in the basement.  She chewed a wooden closet door.  

My mom was so mad.  Dad found a guy her worked with who had beagles and the dog went to live with him.  

We never had another pet when I was growing up.

My first dog was when my Mom let me get a dog from one of her coworkers that had a litter of Cocker Spaniels. I clearly remember that I was in the 4th grade at the time. 

My Mom didn’t even really like dogs, she was just indulging me, so neither of us knew anything about living with and taking care of a dog. 

At Christmas time, he tore open every present my Mom put under the tree. Then he managed to knock the whole tree down. My Mom was SO mad lol.

The summer before I was in 10th grade, we went on a family trip to Florida. We left my dog in the care of my Grandfather, who was an asshole. But that’s another story.

We got back on a Saturday night, and when we were on the way to church the next morning, I begged my Mom to stop by my Grandma’s house so I could see my dog. When we got there, my Grandmother was almost in tears, telling me that something had happened to my dog while we were gone (my Grandmother went to Florida with us), my Grandfather said he’d got hit by a car, and my dog was laying in the backyard, pretty much lifeless. My Grandmother actually thought he was dead.

I ran in the backyard, he was in a pen with my Grandfather’s German Shepard, and because it was locked, I was literally climbing the fence in my white church dress, trying to get to my dog. I did not care about the German Shepard barking at me, I just wanted to get to my dog. He’d raised his head when he heard my voice, but he couldn’t get up. Somebody pulled me off the fence, and instead of going to church, my Mom took my dog to an emergency animal hospital.

Whatever had happened to him, after that, he would not turn his head to the left. If I stood on his left and called him, he would circle around to his right, to come to me. A few months later, he died. I was inconsolable and didn’t even go to school.

My Mom told me I couldn’t get another dog because they become too much like family. She didn’t really like dogs, but she was upset too about what happened to him. But she was even more upset about how devastated I was.

About a month later, she took me to the animal shelter to get me another dog lol.

[Opti]

That's an awful story Pink. 

[raeoflyte]

Pink that's so sad! I hate to lose pets, but losing pets the kids love adds another layer of grief.

The pups are doing well. The neighbors are replacing the fence between us and their dog keeps coming into our yard through the gap (on a long leash) so held off on letting them out together. I moved their playpens together so they can sniff and play between the bars. Nothing to indicate they want to do anything but play, even when eating. So tonight we'll do a pack walk but where they're walking side by side with 1 handler, but I'll have dh with me just in case.

Devil dogs test is next week. I didn't work with him at all this week so will need to really buckle down this week. Maybe Ill start calling him Lucifer. Unintentionally creating chaos is his MO. I want to start foundation training with the puppy but that replaces regular walks for a few weeks so may hold off.

[weltschmerz]

Oct 2, 2022 11:05:52 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Pink that's so sad! I hate to lose pets, but losing pets the kids love adds another layer of grief.

The pups are doing well. The neighbors are replacing the fence between us and their dog keeps coming into our yard through the gap (on a long leash) so held off on letting them out together. I moved their playpens together so they can sniff and play between the bars. Nothing to indicate they want to do anything but play, even when eating. So tonight we'll do a pack walk but where they're walking side by side with 1 handler, but I'll have dh with me just in case.

Devil dogs test is next week. I didn't work with him at all this week so will need to really buckle down this week. Maybe Ill start calling him Lucifer. Unintentionally creating chaos is his MO. I want to start foundation training with the puppy but that replaces regular walks for a few weeks so may hold off.

Lucifer is a bit harsh.  How about Damien, son of Lucifer?