Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Puppy

Livestock guardian dogs

445supermag — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:38:14 -0800

The 445supermag family is looking for a dog. Specifically, we are looking for a dog to guard our small flock of ducks from area coyotes. The perfect dog would be happy on our 3 acres of cow height fenced in area (it is fenced for smaller animals too - no going through the wire, but not so high a motivated couldn't jump.) We currently have 3 kids ages 5 to 10, 2 cats and 5 ducks. We potentially want to get some geese, and maybe a goat or cow. Neighborhood kids come to our door unannounced, as does the mailman. We occasionally have company (other than the kids) that we would like the dog to not be aggressive towards.

We have had dogs years ago as pets, and do plan to do more reading up on how to handle and train working/flock guard dogs. We plan to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we, the humans, are the top of the pack, not the dog. We are willing and able to do daily longer walks if that is what the dog needs. We plan to get a puppy so that we can train the dog to protect our animals.

So, what is the best dog for our needs? It absolutely must be trainable to not eat our livestock, and while I'm sure a lot of dogs may be good with prey animals if raised with them, we'd like to do whatever we can to prejudice this characterist genetically. Unfortunately, most humane society dogs are pit bull or Labrador mix. Bonus points if you can figure out away for us to avoid a puppy mill or direct us rescue operation west of the Rockies.

How to make my dog have a solid stool?

jwfree — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:25:15 -0800

What type (not brand) of dog food is good for dogs with bad gas and soft stool? I have an purebred American Bulldog puppy that is about five months old. She has been on the Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul (Large Breed) brand since I have owned her, which is about three months. This whole time her stool has had various states, ranging from diarrhea to normal. Along with this she has had very, very bad gas! The vet has checked her twice and assures nothing is wrong, she just has those two problems.

I am not sure if this is something that wears off in time since she is just a puppy or if I need to try a new food. It was suggested to me that I try a food without chicken and see where that gets us. The same feed store also informed me that Chicken Soup has been known to cause bad gas for American Bulldogs and Boston Terriers.

I am open to trying anything, even if it is a little pricier.

Should've-Asked-This-Question-Before-I-Got-The-Dog-But-I-Had-My-Head-Up-My-Ass-Filter

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:22:36 -0800

I used to live with my dog and (now) ex-boyfriend. I moved out. Dog now lives with him. I live in apartment that doesn't allow dogs. Ex is abusive to dog. She can't stay with me, she can't stay with him, even though he wants to keep her. If I find her a new home, she'll be safe, but I won't get to see her again and my ex might retaliate against me. If I leave her there, I'll get to see her more often, but my ex could flip out and hurt her. I'm not sure how to do what I need to do. (I'm asking this anonymously, so I'm trying to include as many details as I can)

Ex-boyfriend and I lived together, had a dog. Two months ago, I moved out to an apartment that doesn't allow dogs, so the dog stayed with him. I still watched the dog on the weekends because he works long weekend shifts. The ex has a backyard, but it's not fenced-in, so she stays in a kennel in the basement when he's gone. I have a key to the basement, but not his actual house. So, when I watch her, I let her out, feed her, take her on walks and sometimes sneak her up to my apartment for 3-4 hours each Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes, I'd pay for her to stay at a doggie-daycare facility if I need a break. She's a high-energy mixed breed, so she needs lots of attention.

The ex used to keep her on a leash in the basement so that she could move around, but about two weeks ago, the dog got loose and tore up a bunch of stuff. My ex's response was to throw her out of the house in the middle of the night (he lives near a very busy street, the dog could've been killed). He sent me a text-message (at one in the morning) saying "I've had it with this dog. Come get her or I'm going to let her loose all night". I got the message the next morning, and raced to his place, half expecting the dog to be dead. Fortunately, she wasn't. He showed me the damage she did. He then proceeded to grab her, yell at her, throw her against the wall, and told me that she couldn't live there anymore and that he was going to kill her if she continued to be destructive.

This was not the first time he's been abusive to her. Normally, he's fine, but if she doesn't act the way he wants her to, there have been times that he's hit her or just dropped the leash and walked away from her when he took her for walks. And! There's a picture of him throwing a cat on facebook (with accompanying "OMGLULZ! I threw a cat" comments). His hand is around the cat's neck and the cat is upside down, in the air.

So!
I immediately started looking for a new home for my puppy. It was a heart-breaking process, because I knew that it meant that I probably wouldn't see her again, at least as not as much as I do now. But I wanted her to be safe and happy. I finally found a place for her, last week, and when I told him (via text message), he said that he'd changed his mind and that he (and his new girlfriend) wanted to keep her.

I sent him a very pissed-off message about how I was worried about her safety and how angry I was at him.

To his credit, he asked me if I wanted to talk about all of this in person. I'd rather not see him ever again, but we need to get this taken care of. I want my dog to be safe, but I'm afraid of stirring up shit with the ex.
I'm just really scared that he'll do something drastic, like change the locks on the basement and make sure I never see her again or turn all of his mutual friends against me, saying that I'm just trying to hurt him.

I don't know what the best course of action is in this situation.
The best thing for all parties involved is to get the dog a new home, that way I don't have to worry about what will happen to her the next time she does something wrong. And then I'd never have to see my ex again. (Yes!) But then that means directly confronting my ex, and I don't know how that will turn out. Clearly, he has anger issues. He never hit me when we were together, but I was very frequently afraid of his anger. He's very reactionary; if someone hurts him, he's going to hurt them back.

I wish I could take the dog myself, but as I mentioned before, I can't have dogs at my apartment (I did look for apartments that did allow dogs, but they were out of my price range, or in bad parts of town. Also, I moved out of my ex's place before we officially broke up, so I wasn't worried about the dog part, I just assumed she'd stay there). I work 6 days a week and I don't have the time nor the energy to give her the attention and exercise she needs. As it is, I'm wearing myself out trying to spend several hours a day with her on the weekends. Plus, it's getting colder now. We can't take 2 hour walks for much longer.

Then there's the status quo, leave her where she is, avoid upsetting the ex, and get to see the dog more often. It seems that the ex's new girlfriend is a positive force in his life and she's been a good caregiver to the dog so far, from what little I've seen.

I don't know what to do. Or, I guess I do know what to do, I just don't know the best way to go about doing it.

If/when I go talk to him, what's the best way to approach him? How do I even start the conversation other than "AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGG!"?

Suggestions, pep talks, and all other forms of help are desperately needed. Thanks!

Ok, they're barking at us. Now what?

hamsterdam — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:24:55 -0800

How do I best socialize my dog with other dogs while we're on our daily walks given that 90% of the dogs we encounter are fenced-in and/or tethered? When a fenced-in dog sees my dog and starts running around and barking, what does it mean and how should I respond? So, puppy is 4-5 months old, super sweet around people, housebroken & responsive to training in general. His one problem is that he gets protective of me around other dogs -- never to the point of snapping or attacking another dog, but he does tend to emit a faint rumbling growl. There have been a few what i would call neutral or neutral-positive encounters with other dogs which I have positively reinforced.

Obviously I'd like to get him socialized so that I know he can play safely with other dogs. Everyone is begging for a doggy playdate!

We don't encounter very many dogs walking with their owners on our twice daily walks -- maybe once every other walk. Most of the dogs in my neighborhood are fenced in in small front yards either on or off of a tether. I've read that this is not good for the dogs, and so I don't know if these are the kind of well behaved dogs I should be socializing my dog with in the first place, or if I should even bother at all.

So what should I do when another dog sees my dog, runs to the edge of the fence and starts barking and jumping about? How can I tell the difference between a "good" and "bad" dog since they all seem to do the same thing? If the other dog is quiet in this situation is that a good thing or a bad thing? When should we approach and when should we just keep walking past?

Most of the time I just keep walking confidently past the barking dogs, and puppy always follows me without a problem. I'm just not sure if maybe I should be allowing him to check the other dogs out to help him get acclimated.

Puppy and Baby?

brevator — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:16:05 -0800

Puppy and Baby? Long story (skip to the end if you like): My wife and I walked out of our apt. 2 weeks ago and found a miniature poodle trying to cross a busy 4 lane avenue. The little guy nearly got hit a few times and we felt that we needed to grab him before he hurt himself. We grabbed him and brought him inside. No colar, no ID, no chip. He was unkempt (matted hair on his underbelly, fleas) but very docile and domesticated. He was so small and nervous we figured there was no way he could have been on the street for long. We called local shelters and animal control and left a description with our name. No one called. Then we got him his shots and a flea treatment.
Then we fell in love.
Fast forward two weeks- we're out walking him, when a car pulls up and a couple gets out and asks us where we found the dog. He's theirs. They breed purebred poodles. He has a pregnant lady about to have a litter at home. My wife, despite falling hard for this dog, gives him up without hesitation. She knows that he should be with his people and his lady. The owners are so grateful that they offer us the pick of the litter.
We're still grieving, but seriously considering taking them up on a puppy. Here's the problem:

My wife is pregnant and due in mid March. The puppies are due this week, but we would have to wait another 8 weeks to take one, which leaves us taking the pup home mid December. After that we have about 3 months until our baby is born, at which time the pup will be 5 months old.

Is this fair to do to the puppy? The baby? As I said, were still grieving the loss of the poodle (yes I realize it was only a couple of weeks, but the first couple of weeks are usually very intense when you fall in love), so we're not exactly thinking straight. We have a couple months to figure this out, so I'd figured I solicit peoples experiences with puppies and babies.

Some specific concerns:

Poodles are reported to take longer to house train than other breeds. Will trying to house train a poodle (or any other breed) be significantly more difficult in the cold and snow of a northeast winter?
Puppy will be 5 months old when wife delivers -- this is when puppy adolescence begins. Is this bad timing to have a baby when the puppy is entering a difficult behavioral time?
The breeders are nice people, but, as mentioned above, the sire was not well kept. What do we need to do to ensure that they are adequately socializing/taking care of the puppy in its 1st 8 weeks of life so that we have a dog that will be ready to fit in well with a family?
Is it just too much to have a new baby and a puppy at the same time?

Positive mitigating factors:

My parents and my in laws will be here after baby is born to help take care of wife, baby & puppy (and me).
Wife is much happier with a dog in her life.
We can be home with the pup &/or take him with us most places we go.(Wife is also a grad student with very flexible schedule.)
Wife is very much looking forward to training the new pup, even with all the work and time that entails.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially regarding any potential problems and/or benefits we haven't thought of yet. Thanks.

Am I Going to Break My Puppy?

duckus — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:52:32 -0800

I just took my ~13 week old pit bull puppy to get spayed. The post-operative say to keep her indoors for 7-10 days . Right now, she's outside during the day with our other dog, and she's crated at night only. Can I expect this to go smoothly? She's been sleeping in the crate since she found us at ~10 weeks old. She's only had a couple of accidents in there, one due to me not waking up fast enough, and nothing over the last week or so.

Normally, she's outside with our other dog (2 year old neutered male beagle/lab mix).

Based on the crate threads I've read, I plan on giving her some activity toys, frozen Kong, etc. But is it unrealistic to expect her to be crated for the same amount of time during the day as at night? Especially when she's used to being outside? And in a single day?

Parvovirus: odds of a puppy getting it?

zippy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:34:45 -0800

I understand the danger parvovirus poses to puppies, but what are the odds of a puppy contracting the disease in the US (specifically Alameda County, California)? I have been reading about parvovirus in dogs (including this discussion), and understand how serious the illness is.

What I can't seem to find is any indication of risk or prevalance. What are the odds a dog will get parvo, and how many cases of it are there a year in my area?

The more mathematical and bounded the answer, the better. I know I can't be assured to the fifth decimal place about anything, but I want to know: Parvo, this terrible disease, are the odds 1%, 10%, or 100%?

More details below, in the hope that they may allow more exact bounding of the answer.

My dog is five weeks old. He was one of the larger dogs in the litter (with two or three brothers and a sister), which I understand tends to confer longer maternal immunity. I intend to start him on a full vaccine series for parvo.

He's 3/4 Australian Cattle Dog, 1/4 Fox Terrier. He was born in a remote rural area of Humboldt County, California, and as of a few days ago now lives in a semi-urban area in Alameda County.

I keep him mostly indoors, with trips to the back and front yard for exercise. I understand that completely preventing exposure to parvo is impossible (as the virus hardy and survives for long periods in the soil), but also that minimizing exposure to parvo greatly reduces the chances for infection.

I would like to know:

How common is parvo in Humbolt County and in Alameda County? Or, if these specific numbers aren't available, then whatever numbers are available for California or the US. A link to numbers of cases per year would be ideal.

What are the odds of a puppy getting parvo between the ages of 5 and 16 weeks if he's allowed to socialize with a: known dogs (with shots), or b: occasionally visit parks and meet other non-wild dogs.

Links to scholarly papers are fine, and links to the dog equivalent to the CDC would also appreciated.

If this is too specific, or if there isn't enough information, please let me know. Also, I do know how bad the illness itself is.

Help save my puppy from my bullying cat

trinkatot — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:46:58 -0800

New female puppy and a larger, older male cat, please help us keep him from eating her! (more inside) My boyfriend and I recently adopted a 3 month old minpin/chihuahua mix (she is Molly and she is VERY small). We have cats at home, 2 of which are 14 years old and 14 lbs a piece. We read all about integrating the home and are going slowly but we've run into a problem that we cannot find any information on and it isn't with the puppy... The problem is with one of the big cats.

I don't know if it's because she's so small and it has triggered some kind of hunter instinct but one of the big guys (Hill) actively stalks and attempts to attack the puppy when they are in a room together. When she's sleeping it's not an issue, he totally ignores her then (even sleeping near to her). She is never running after or chasing him when these attacks happen (she is so scared of him now she avoids him at all costs). She is usually just walking around exploring and he will stalk her from the other side of the room and then attack her by jumping at her and hitting her. The whole attack really looks like a cat stalking his prey and not a cat defending his territory.

We've tried a few things to try to "show" Hill that Molly is a new member of our family and not food: I lay on the bed with them and pet her and then pet him hoping everyone's smells would intermingle and he would stop seeing her as food, I've carried her around while he was watching and talked nicely to her, everyone pets her and talks nicely to her (and he's been getting attention too, we've been trying to make sure no one feels left out). Granted, it has only been a few days, however this is obviously not acceptable behavior and my googling hasn't found ANYTHING about how to correct this. Everything is aimed at stopping puppies from stalking cats.

We have a vet appointment this week so we'll also bring it up then, but in the mean time, anyone have any ideas? I haven't punished the cat at all for his behavior, worrying that punishing would bring bad associations with the puppy, but this is our first puppy/cat experience so maybe there's something we're missing?

Are my dogs getting along?

curiouskitty — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:11:51 -0800

I just got a new puppy, a goldendoodle who is now nine weeks old and kind of strong-willed. I also have a submissive dachshund who is more than 10 years old. They've been living together for about two weeks, and I'm wondering if the little one is bullying the older dog. How can I tell, and how can I stop it? The dogs are about the same size (10 pounds for the doodle, making him one of the bigger pups in his litter, vs. 13 pounds for the dachshund, who was the runt of her litter), so I think they may be jockeying for dominance over the other. I don't think they are seriously hurting each other, but they're nipping at each other's face, ears, etc., and fighting over toys. The dachshund is very gentle -- she wouldn't bite me even if I stuck my fingers in her mouth while she was gnawing a chew toy. The puppy is teething, so he's biting, though not hard (at least not me), and I am trying to train him out of the habit. I know that will take some time. Finally, the dachshund has neck/back problems (she had surgery when she was four), and though the vet said she's healthy enough to have a playmate -- which is one of the main reasons we got another dog -- I worry about the roughhousing. I've heard that humans shouldn't interfere too much as the dogs figure out their pack order among themselves. Is this true? Are they just going through a temporary boundary-setting period and this is totally normal? Sometimes I can't resist refereeing when they are really annoying each other, but it can get exhausting and I don't want to be unnecessarily paranoid. Is everything okay as long as they're wagging their tails? Will the dachshund put the puppy in his place if she's getting hurt, or does that depend on how submissive she is? What are the signs that their playing is getting too aggressive, and how can I get them to play nice in the long term?

How prevalent are puppy mills?

isopropyl — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:01:11 -0800

Have any major pets stores (petland, petco, ....) been linked directly to puppy mills? I worked at pet and as a vet tech and the animals came to us so sick and for lack of a better word awkward. Most had yeast infections (presumably from overuse of antibiotics) and/or upper respiratory infections. The pets came in a semi-truck and were unloaded through a tiny door in the back. I confronted the owner and he acted highly offended and told me to worry about the pets current health and not where they came from. If the animals health didn't get any better after a few days they were sent back just as if they were broken commodities. I'm working on a speech to give to a large group at my university so any statistical information or links would be great also.

Should I buy an ACA registered dog?

jaynedanger — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:01:51 -0800

Should I buy an ACA registered dog? I have been looking to buy a purebred pug puppy for months and have the best feeling about a breeder who only registers her puppies through ACA. I've done some searching, but haven't been able to come to a reasonable conclusion. If I am buying solely as a companion pet, is there any reason I should buy an ACA registered puppy? Most purebred owners swear by the AKC only.

My main concerns with the puppy is that she's free of health defects and well socialized before she comes home with me.

Thanks!

Help me get that puppy

pulled_levers — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:31:01 -0800

How and where can I buy a male German Shepherd puppy? My dad wants me to help him buy a German Shepherd puppy. Unfortunately, I've never bought a dog before and I don't really know the best and safest way to do it. Also, I currently live in NYC. He lives in New Jersey.

He'll pay up to $900 for a male GSD puppy and he's the kind of guy who's willing to pay for convenience (i.e. a dog with all its shots).

I've looked online a little bit, but many sellers are a far drive out and I think it'd be best to interact with the puppy before buying it (rather than relying on photos). I feel pretty hesitant and uncertain about this whole thing because I've never done anything like this before. Is there anything I should watch out for? What's the best way to get this puppy?

Just to add, my dad has had prior experience with raising and training big dogs.

Kong alternatives?

youcancallmeal — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:51:20 -0800

Seeking Kong alternatives for our puppy's chew / chowtime. I got our ten week old English Shepherd a puppy Kong, but he's not really interested in it. He sniffs at it and plays for a few minutes, but as soon as it gets hard to get the kibble out, he gets bored. He loves his toy lobster with rope for legs and his stuffed teddy bear.

Are there any products that he might be interested? if I can get them from Amazon Prime, that'd be awesome, but is not neccesary.

Should I bring my puppy on vacation?

bluedaisy — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:50:37 -0800

My family and I are going to the beach this weekend. Should I bring the puppy or leave him in the kennel? My puppy is four months old. He's a small terrier mix, and a pretty well-behaved dog. He's crate-trained and mostly house-trained. He'd be fine spending a few hours alone at a time in his crate while we swim.

We'll be spending three days away. The drive to the beach is only about 3-4 hours. The hotel allows small pets like mine, and has nice grounds for walking.

I booked a space at the kennel, and it's a decent place, but still ... a kennel. I haven't paid yet and we can still cancel.

I'd like to bring the dog, as would the kids (even though they don't know it's an option--they're just always glad to have the pup around). But my husband feels like it'll be less of a vacation if we have the puppy there since I'll be on puppy duty and it'll mean he has more kid duty. But I think we'll have more fun with the puppy.

My husband will be fine either way, but I'm wondering what the hive thinks.

How do I get my puppy to stop peeing in her crate?

MsChanandlerBong — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:32:59 -0800

Housebreaking is going great...except my puppy keeps peeing in her crate! Help! Two weeks ago I brought home an 8 week old black lab puppy. So far, housebreaking has been going pretty well (she's begun to use the bell to signal when she needs to go outside). I am also using crate training, but am not having the best luck during the day.

Molly sleeps in her crate every night with no problems. She can hold it for about 4-6 hours in the night, cry when she needs to go out and then go right back to sleep, with no accidents in the crate. Daytime is a different story. She will not poop, but will pee in her crate almost every single time she's left alone.

I have a large wire crate with a divider. She has just enough room to turn around, a few toys, and a blanket covering the sides of the crate. Overall she isn't crazy about it but goes in without trouble and doesn't cry or bark anymore. I started with soft blankets for her to lay on, and kept coming home to wet blankets. I moved to a single towel, but after doing a ton of laundry and speaking with my vet, it was recommended that I remove the bedding and have her lay on the plastic bottom for a couple of days. I am now coming home to a wet puppy laying in her own pee on the plastic bottom. I leave work throughout the day so she is never alone for more than 2-3 hours at a time in the crate, which I think is an acceptable amount of time for her to hold it at 10 weeks (plus, she holds it for much longer at night). Each time I clean her crate with an ammonia free cleaner and use vinegar to remove the smell. I'm just not sure why she keeps peeing, and why she has no problem laying in it. I have been reading that a dog's natural instinct is to not lay where they soil, but this doesn't seem to be true for Molly. I've housebroken dogs with the crate method before and have never run into this problem.

If it's relevant, I think the breeder's home was kind of dirty, and I've read that this may have something to do with a dog not being too concerned with being clean. I should also point out, my vet has checked her out and she doesn't have a bladder infection or UTI. Basically, I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this. Is she just too young and will grow out of it? Does anyone have any other advice or tips to get her to hold it during the day? Please tell me this won't become a bad habit that I can't break!

Help me find a reputable toy/miniature poodle breeder.

orangeshoe — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:38:56 -0800

Recommendations for a reputable toy/miniature poodle breeder, especially those located in the Northeast Corridor? I have decided to adopt a toy/miniature poodle and have been tirelessly researching breeders for several months now. Of course, I have found many poodles for sale, but am too keenly aware of the atrocities of the puppy mill and backyard breeder and will not have any part in supporting such operations. Can anyone suggest a reputable, responsible toy/miniature poodle breeder who truly understands the breed and is knowledgeable about the breed's unique characteristics and health issues? Please bear in mind that I have no desire to show. My chief concern is to find a healthy poodle of sound temperament to become a lifelong family companion.

As an aside, I would certainly be open to adopting a pure toy/miniature poodle (pure breed is a must as allergies are an issue in my household), however, I have received little to no responses to my various emails to rescue organizations. Thus please keep your referrals limited to poodle breeders unless you have a specific connection to a rescue organization.

Crate training a panicked puppy

ohio — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:04:09 -0800

Crate training help! We have a new puppy (around 9 weeks) who panics in her crate. I know we have to introduce her to the crate slowly, but how do we do that and also sleep/leave the house occasionally? Please help me not hate the dog. We have had her for a week now. She is a usually a good dog outside the crate and is even making good progress on housetraining. But. She panics-- not just whines, but throws herself around, chews on the bars, howls forever panics- when I put her in her crate and close the door. When the crate door is open she will go in and out and even nap in there. She eats her meals in the crate. If I put her in the crate when she is supersleepy and close the door she will be OK for a while. But if I try to close the door on her while she is awake she goes into full panic mode and I am afraid she will hurt herself. This is true even when I stay right next to the crate. I even put the crate on my bed, and she still panics.

I am trying to do everything that the books say to do, like introduce it slowly during the day and leaving treats in the crate. But I can't be tethered to the kitchen forever! How do I introduce the crate slowly and also sleep, shower, and leave the house every once in a while?

Puppy with stomach issues.

hxc — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:37:19 -0800

Why is my puppy still having issues with her bowel movements? I have a 7 month old pomeranian / bichon frise. Lately she has been having a lot of diarrhea. To the point where she will have an accident at night in her little kennel. My girlfriend took her to the vet and the vet gave her some powder to sprinkle on her food and some "bland" dog food. That seemed to help out a lot her poop firmed up and she didnt have accidents. The vet said that she might have a sensitive stomach, but didnt offer any more advice other than the $122 vet bill. Around thanksgiving my girlfriend took our dog to her grandparents house for the week and chibi (the dog) did not have any issues at all even after flying. Her bowels were firm and no accidents for the whole week. Now when my girlfriend brought her back home it started again. There wasnt any change in her diet at all. The only difference we can tell is that her grandmother's house is all hardwood and in my girlfriends apartment its all brand new carpet.

Chibi's diet is normal puppy food from eukanuba, the specific type I cannot remember (I am deployed right now). Its wierd because we do not feed her any people food at all and she doesnt get into anything she is a very well behaved dog.

Please help us out and stop my girlfriend from going insane with this issue.

Shh puppy, shh.....

mjcon — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:18:28 -0800

After 4 months of living with me, my puppy's barking in the kennel issues haven't improved much. I am looking for suggestions for things I haven't tried that might make him quiet down. I have a 6 month old small dog who still barks in his kennel EVERY DAY when I leave him alone. I don't want him to do this. I have tried everything I can think of and am looking for some fresh suggestions. I apologize in advance for the long back story, but here goes.

I have had the dog since he was 8 weeks old, and he's never been super fond of being alone. When I leave him in his kennel, he barks/howls off and on for a while, often as much as a half hour. Then he seems to settle down and fall asleep for the rest of the time he is in there. From my extensive google-ing, it appears that his deal might be a mild form of separation anxiety or something similar. Other details:

1. The dog does typically follow me around throughout the house, but sometimes he will go and play in another room for a little while when I am home
2. He gets anxious and whiny when I leave the house even if other people are home. Sometimes my roommate has to grab him to keep him from darting out the door when it is obvious I am going to leave. He whines for a bit after I am gone, but not nearly as long as when he is alone in his kennel
3. He does not get anxious and whiny when my roommate (who the dog is very very fond of) leaves the house.
4. Before he was housebroken, he slept in his kennel in my bedroom and had no problem with it. He was pretty much completely quiet and would go in without a fight. So I don't think the issue is that he hates his kennel.
5. When he is in his kennel and barking, he will still eat any easy to access foods in there (he won't fight for an hour for something that is frozen, but he will spend a couple seconds gobbling something up) He never hurts himself or tries to get out or pees in there or anything. When I come back, he is totally quiet and sleeping. Its really just that first little while that he is upset.
6. He is a moderately barky character. He doesn't bark to huge excess, but he does seem to bark or whine when he is frustrated (toy trapped under the couch, bark. Water bowl empty, bark, cool person or dog out the window, bark)

Things I have tried to calm/quiet him down in the kennel

1. tons of awesome food items in a kong toy, frozen or unfrozen. He will eventually eat them, but seems to understand they aren't going anywhere....He isn't as food motivated as most other dogs
2. DAP spray and rescue remedy
3. playing music
4. Spraying him or spraying in the room he is in with a squirt bottle to distract him from barking (this actually has cut down the barking some....)
5. one of those ultrasonic noise things that makes an inaudible beep when he barks. This had some impact, but it wasn't good...made him bark less, but for way longer. And he was a neurotic mess when I took him out of the kennel. I returned the thing.
6. Exercising him tons before he went in the kennel so he was dead tired. He still seems to find the strength to bark for a while.

I know about the whole building up the time he is alone thing, and after the holidays I am going to work toward moving him out of the crate and gate him in the bathroom. We will work up the time he is in the bathroom from nothing and hope that he has a more positive association with the bathroom than the kennel. I think for his own safety, he's still too young to have free run of the house when I'm gone, but I hope that someday he will. What other things have you wise dog owners done to keep dogs quiet that I haven't tried? Has anyone used a citronella bark collar to any success? Did your dog eventually just grow out of this problem?

I want to spy on my puppy while I'm at work.

bondgirl53001 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:19:26 -0800

Can you please recommend an affordable and good USB webcam as well as easy-to-use monitoring software that can broadcast a streaming image or snapshots of my pup to a Web address? Also, I would prefer the program not to clog my computer memory, obviously. I have a Dell notebook and run Windows Vista.

DogFilter: Should I adopt a male or female Boston Terrier pup?

krisken — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:26:34 -0800

DogFilter: Should I adopt a male or female Boston Terrier pup? I've heard conflicting information about male vs. female Boston Terriers. Is there much of a difference in regard to general temperament? Your thoughts on advantages/disadvantages and experiences all welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

Are cherry pits really poisonous to dogs?

HotToddy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:46:12 -0800

My yard contains lots of cherries dropped from my tree, and thousands of cherry pits from dropped cherries of yore. My puppy finds them irresistible. Googling indicates that the pits contain cyanide and are potentially harmful to dogs . . . but are they really? Once I realized last night that he was actually swallowing the cherries and not just playing with them, I became concerned about the possibility of a physical obstruction, and in researching that learned about the cyanide thing. This morning I got up and raked up as much of the tree litter as possible, and have been picking cherries all morning--but it's an impossible task to get them all. There are thousands! And even though I thought I got all the dropped cherries and pits up, every time I turn around my puppy has one or two in his mouth (which he very nicely lets me remove in exchange for peanut butter, good boy!). He's closer to the ground than I am and is obviously a more skilled cherry pit hunter.

I called the vet hospital (one of the top vet hospitals in the country) last night and they said it was too late to make him throw up, so just keep an eye on him and he'd probably be fine. They didn't actually seem that worried about it. And so far he is fine. I'm sure he's been eating them since I brought him home six days ago.

I think he is just sort of rolling them around in his mouth and lightly chewing them. I went around with a baggie and squished all the poop I could find, and so far have found five whole pits but no crushed pits.

It is now apparent that the cherry pit problem is insurmountable short of chopping down the tree. Every year will bring more cherries, and I will never be able to eradicate all cherries and cherry pits from my yard. The tree is a major landscape feature and cutting it down would be a SERIOUS blow to my already not-lovely abode. However, poisoning my puppy is not an option.

So here are my questions:

1) What is the real risk here? Does anybody know how many he'd need to eat before it's a problem? Are whole ones dangerous or just ones that are chewed up?
2) Is there a way to keep the tree but keep it from making cherries? Some kind of tree hormone or something?

Thanks!

Stop! Puppy time?

WidgetAlley — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:06:30 -0800

Please, please help me consider my options with some lovely stray puppies I found. About a week ago, I found four gorgeous stray beagle/terrier mix puppies in the Knoxville, TN area. They are absolutely adorable, sweet and loving, not very big, and have already had their first round of shots... you would think no problem finding homes, right?

Well, not so much. After contacting everyone I know, every no-kill shelter in the area, every rescue in the area, and at one point simply asking total strangers if they could take a puppy, I cannot find a single home for any of these dogs. I really, really do not want to take these little guys to shelter that euthanizes their animals, as I have already called around and everyone is full up, meaning that if I took them in they would be euthanized immediately. These are exceptional dogs, tractable and loving, and I cannot imagine putting them down.

Due to a combination of circumstances, I am no longer able to keep them myself until I find them homes. In fact, I can't even keep them temporarily in my yard (for their own safety.) I have, as far as I can tell, run out of options. Do you clever MeFites have any suggestions as far as something I can try?

Puppy training 101.

Mavri — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:40:00 -0800

Advice needed on a new boxer puppy--best training book and suggestions for training treats especially. My mom and stepdad just got a 6 week old boxer puppy. Neither of them has had a puppy in decades, and when they did they were country dogs (not trained). This dog will be an outside dog, but she's sleeping indoors while she's still really young. I've read about crate-training on this site, but I don't know if that's just for inside dogs. So far, she's peeing in the yard well, but pooping indoors and on the deck. My mom is being very patient with her, but wants to do things right.

We would like suggestions about books and training treats appropriate for such a young puppy. My mom was apparently overwhelmed by all the treats at Wal-Mart. (Small town, no pet store.)

Please help identify my mixed puppies breed...

ShootTheMoon — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:27:02 -0800

Please help identify my mixed puppies breed... Pictures inside Yes, another id my pups breed questions :). After getting hounded by this question everytime I walk the girl, I have come to the green for help.

Here is Anza:
pic1
pic2
pic3
pic4

The first 2 are at about 12 weeks old, the second 2 are at about 16 weeks old.

We know that the mother of the pup was a lab. 100%? Not sure, but we did see the rest of the puppies in the litter. 3of the six looked like standard yellow lab. 1 was spotted (we adopted) 1 looked like a rotty/lab, and one had longer hair like a golden.

Right now, at 5 months, she weighs about 30 lbs. The humane society told us to expect an 80 lbs dog at full grown. How likely is this? I have heard that at 5 months, she is 75% of her adult weight?