lefty's random dog thread. - Page 217

problem with my moms dog is not that he will piss himself but that he will attack.

we decided to go with the small dog, and are thinking about perhaps fostering the larger dog until we can find her a home (which will be much easier in the city than out in the country). now to come up with a name..

Pippin?

pics?

What is most frustrating is that around me (and when visiting my family/other people with whom she is friendly), she's just about the perfect dog. Tremendous amount of personality and enthusiasm. Very smart (and stubborn, I must admit). My dad came back from visiting family in Houston and meeting their dog for the first time, and said "that dog is boring as hell. He's very nice, but he doesn't DO anything."

So this is not a dog who's spending her days cowering in the back of her crate. If anything, she's over enthusiastic (in situations in which she is comfortable).

If only I could get to react that way around everyone she meets....

^^ I agree with the above.

My experience with "shy" dogs is that they're more prone to fear bite later in life. It may be the result of the owner's attempt to accomodate their dog to situations, but I've seen quite a few that become more and more nervous in new situations. Like I said, it could be that the owner has attempted to "help" the dog over the years and has limited the dog's exposure to new things...the old genetics vs. environment deal.


My intact dog has shown symptoms of a bladder infection since yesterday. It didn't occur to me at first that it could be a bladder infection. I just noticed whining, restlessness and a bit more attention to his genitals. Temp was normal, no sensitivity to poking/feeling his organs. Made a trip to the vet early this morning with a urine sample. Urine only showed a higher level of protein but walked away with some anti-biotics (only 5 days' worth ). Ultrasound didn't show stones. He's still whining tonight, no ideas. Still eating/drinking like normal, normal stools, really excited to go out. No struggle to urinate nor blood in the urine. I'm going to wait it out with the antibiotics, but it's a strange set of symptoms for me.

we forgot to take any pics, but will grab some this weekend.

she's a black/brown beagle/basset mix, but looks very beagley. cute little face. little chunky.

Congrats, man! Best of luck with her.

Wonderful! All the best....

So there've been a few developments with Charlie, my new rescue. I knew he had some quirks when I got him, but now I'm wondering which issues need attention and which may have just been misunderstood eccentricities by his foster family.

First, he's clearly very uncomfortable with strangers. A few days after I picked him up I was walking and ran into one of my neighbors walking his dog (a small, confident jack russel). Charlie wasn't overly aggressive towards the dog - he firmed up a bit in a pointer stance before sniffing him, but didn't growl or bark at him at all. However, after a few minutes of calm talking with my neighbor, he reached down towards Charlie with the standard, palm-down, greeting and Charlie growled very deeply and wouldn't let the neighbor touch him. I don't remember him snapping or baring teeth, but it was clearly a very uncomfortable situation for both him and my neighbor.

This weekend, I brought him to my parents so they could meet him and ran into the same discomfort on Charlie'st part. After calmly talking to them in front of them and clearly showing him that they aren't hostile, he still reacted like he did to my neighbor. This time, he also snapped back at my dad while he was scratching him behind the ears (no biting action, but it was a clear head jerk.)

Both of those situations are somewhat understandable, especially considering his abusive past. From the beginning, I planned to set up training lessons if needed, so I have no problem signing him up and going with him to courses to help him with this xenophobia.

However, the past two nights have made me a little more curious about his personality. He's been completely calm and loving with me for the first full week, showing no hostility at all, in or out of the house. The past two nights though, he's started a very low, mumbling growl every once in a while when I pet or scratch him. It's not every time, but maybe every fourth time that I reach over to pet him. He'll allow me to scratch him, but will continuously growl on and off. He doesn't avoid me or shy away, and even rolls over to allow me to keep rubbing him, but he still continues to growl at the sensation. His lip quivers a bit like he wasn't to bare teeth, but he hasn't snapped or even jerked towards me at all (even a few minutes ago when I continued petting him, despite the growling, for about 5 minutes). Sometimes he'll stop growling for a bit while I pet him until I talk to him or say his name. When I talk though, he starts up again.

I know it's a thought that goes against biology, but I'm wondering if he's just slightly confused by what growling means when he's around me, haha. By typical dog standards, talking to him with my familiar voice in an affectionate tone while petting him should calm him instead of encourage the growl, right?

Despite his quirks, he's definitely a cool dude.

Yes, this is a large part of the difficulty. The shyness isn't going to be helped by keeping the dog inside and away from new experiences. At the same time, it's hard not to be somewhat nervous when a stranger approaches, which surely the dog picks up on (and this feeds into the shyness/nervousness).

There's a guy I run into walking his dog once or twice a week. My dog initially wouldn't approach him. She's now gotten to the point where he can pet her briefly, though it has taken more than a year.

Hope your dog is doing better!

good luck with the new pup Teegs

Came home earlier from an hour and a half walk with the dog in -5c and snow and the dog was warm underneath his coat, when I took it of, that explains why he didn't want to go home.

I think it's a common problem in owner/dog relationships, we avoid the things that cause the problems (whatever it may be) which reinforces the fear/problem in the dog.

Thanks for asking, by Wednesday, he actually turned around and was 1000x better. I think the vet took a shot in the dark with the anti-biotics, but he must have had an infection in the bladder/prostate.

Can anyone tell me what kind of dog this is? My girlfriend and I just found it wandering at a major intersection and prevented her from an early trip to doggie heaven.



Looks like a pomeranian but I don't know anything about dogs.