Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dog

Dog friendly DFW

flipmiester99 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:56:08 -0800

PuppysocializationFilter: Im looking to socialize my 8 week old German shepherd by taking her to as many places as i can that allow dogs. I live in Sachse, Tx which is just outside of Dallas. Can you please tell me what stores/restaurants/etc...are dog friendly in the DFW/Sachse area?

Woof.

corn_bread — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:39:20 -0800

Please share your favorite poems/quotations about man's love for dog(s).

Help me deal with my parents and their ass-eating dog.

granted — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:41:06 -0800

HomeForTheHolidaysFilter: Help me deal with my parents and their ass-eating dog. About a year and a half ago, my parents' 12-year-old longhaired German Shepard (Skye) was given about two months to live. My dad was heartbroken and immediately started looking for a replacement. My mother, however, was looking forward to the independence offered by not having a large dog in the house. But my dad begged my mother for a new dog, and eventually she told him, “I don’t want a dog but I can’t stand in your way either if you're willing to care for the dog.” He got a 1-year old Shepard (Maya) from a rescue shelter.

Fast-forward to the present: Skye is still alive but can barely walk (he requires a lot of care), and Maya has become a serious problem. I'm visiting for the month (usually I'm away at school), and I am finding the situation unbearable for the following reasons:

-THE HAIR: Two German Shepards shed an incredible amount and hair covers almost every surface, but my parents don’t vacuum often. I find the hair upsets my breathing a bit. Part of the problem is that they cannot brush Skye because it causes him pain. They also do not brush Maya (for reasons unknown to me). My dad is responsible for vacuuming but he doesn’t do it. Anytime I bring up vacuuming, it provokes a fight. I have tried doing it myself but I get resentful especially because the Maya ate some of the vacuum attachments, making it hard to get the hair up (and my dad won't replace them because he claims he "fixed them.").

-TRAINING: Skye is very well trained (we adopted him after his past family sent him to obedience school) but Maya has no training. My dad refuses to send her to obedience school, contending that they can train her himself. So far, he has done some haphazard clicker training but doesn’t do it often enough. Usually Maya finds a way to get to the source of the treats and eats them all in one fell swoop anyway. She has also taught Skye some bad new habits, like drinking out of the toilet. Maya has an oral fixation and typically destroys anything in reach. We now cage her when we go out but she still gets into trouble when we’re home.

-WALKS/EXERCISE: Traditionally, we’ve taken our dogs out three times a day for longish walks. But now, because Skye can barely walk, we just walk Maya about ½ block and my parents refuse to take them on separate walks. I think Maya just has too much energy. She runs out back sometimes but there aren’t any kids at home to play with her.

-HYGIENE: The dogs have just made the house super dirty, and it's disgusting. For example: Skye will take a shit, Maya will spend 20 minutes licking his ass and eating his dried shitballs, and then run around sticking her nose in everything.

-THE FIGHTING: Despite his frustration with her, my dad has grown attached to Maya. Meanwhile, my mother has grown more and more resentful. My mother's resentfulness and my father's distaste for household chores has led to a great deal of tension. "The dogs" have become a "third rail issue" meaning that we really can't talk about them honestly. We cannot have a dialogue, for example, about whether to put Skye to sleep and we cannot discuss how best to train Maya. Any suggestions I put forth cause a fight. Meanwhile, my mother refuses to do more than the bare minimum for Maya because my dad adopted her on the promise that he would take on the primary care role. To be fair, I do contribute to the tension by losing my patience with Maya and making my opinions about her odor, her behavior, and the state of the house known. I'm ashamed to say that I don't always express my opinions in the most mature way (a la, "get away from me, you stupid ass eater ")

I know there are obvious solutions to these problems, but anything I suggest turns into a fight. If I say something to my father, my mom just starts yelling at my dad, saying she hates the dog too. My parents resent my coming home and telling them how to live their lives, and they seem unable to commit any more time to the dogs (they put a lot of time into caring for Skye already - and, as I said, my dad will not entertain the suggestion of putting Skye down). How can I cope with this situation, given my physical discomfort, my resentment, and my parents' unwillingness to address the giant hairy elephant(s) in the room?

(Posting for my gf, who will respond to questions by proxy)

Can our kooky, mouthy dog calm down?

keener_sounds — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:13:02 -0800

Have you trained a super mouthy dog not to nip and chew? Is it possible? (below is very long in case details matter; feel free to skim.) We adopted a one year old, 35 pound, scampy looking, terrier mix last spring from a shelter. Face like a benjy, body long and short like a funny basset hound, eyes like a border collie. At first she was a nightmare: she chewed EVERYTHING (I mean everything in an entire room, including the entire contents of the bookshelves, the Duraflame log, the clothes, everything -- it happened in half an hour when I was in a different room working). At first she also nipped all the time in a herding (never an aggressive) way. Though she was playing, she once gave me a very severe nip in the leg with deep painful puncture wounds when I was running beside her -- again, in a herding/excited way. She loves to play but gets too excited.

A trainer taught us how to teach her not to nip; the technique has really worked great except when she's really out of her mind with excitement, which is any time food is involved (she was all bones when we got her -- now very strong and robust). Just tonight I was trying to teach her a trick, and she got so excited by the treat in my fist that she jumped up and nipped my nose. She was then mortified/overexcited and went tearing around the house like a maniac. In addition, she still tries to run after bikes and joggers; they drive her nuts. I am sure she would nip a runner if she ever got off the leash, and sometimes she does get out by mistake (I.e. the neighborhood kids let the gate open, or a child in our family opens the door without looking, etc) so I worry about what will happen if she chases someone who's out running on our suburban street.

Even though I've put in time training her, she doesn't consistently come when she focuses on something, like a deer or other animal, in the distance -- she has a hound/scenting/focus thing that suddenly tunes me out and off she goes. Again, I know she wouldn't attack anyone in an aggressive way -- she is not aggressive at all-- but she is still really wild. She plays great with huge dogs who don't mind her nipping, but I can't let her play with dogs her own size because she runs along and "herds" them with her teeth and some owners hate that (the dogs haven't seemed to mind much though -- again, it isn't aggressive, but it's annoying to some of them, understandably).

What if she gets out and causes a biker to crash, or nips a jogger as hard as she nipped me that one time? What if a neighborhood toddler gets nipped as hard as she nipped me when she broke my skin through jeans? We've had her for 6 months and she's improved SO MUCH, and the trainer says some of this craziness is still because she's youngish, but I am becoming aware that there is really always a danger of her getting too excited. Not to mention the constant chewing -- not only when she's alone in the house either; if I'm cooking dinner and not paying attention to her, she'll chew up books, hats, kids' toys she grabs from tables, anything at all, in almost a chewing frenzy. She'll drop her chewies and rawhide and treats and go for whatever she sees. In fact when she's alone in the house she sleeps, and when we're home she chews things if we don't pay attention to her every minute. It's getting so that the family is more frustrated and exasperated by her than enjoying her; my kids' friends absolutely HATE her and make us promise to lock her up when they come over, because she runs through the house so crazily, and suddenly runs through whatever they're doing, messes up their games and chews their toys if they leave the door open to where they're playing. I am at a loss. Again, we've done everything the trainer told us to, and it's like 500% better, but it is still very, very hard to live with this hyper dog. The trainer said she is just a very "mouthy" dog. Advice please? I hope you won't just tell me I'm a horrible dog owner. I'm an average, full-time-working person, a pretty typical pet owner who wants a nice life with our dog; I've had three dogs before and it always worked out great; I'm not totally dog-centered, though; even though I'm willing to work with the dog to some extent, I want the dog to fit into our world, not vice versa; so please don't respond if you think a dog owner has to be a professional and have full-time hours to devote to training to deserve a pet.

Again, we have had a trainer and spent many hours trying to train this doggie, and we do give her tons and tons of love. there is no way I'm giving her back to the shelter, by the way, but I wonder if she'd be better off as an outside dog on a farm.

Throw shit away in another person's can?

c:\awesome — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:36:33 -0800

Right or wrong: throwing away a tied-up plastic bag filled with your dog's feces into another person's trash can (with trash already in it) at the curb. I take my dog for walks twice daily, and when he shits, I place it in a plastic grocery bag, tie it up, and usually walk it back to my house, where I throw it away into my own trash can. Occasionally, however, I'm tempted to toss the poop bag into a neighbor's trashcan if I'm somewhat far away from my house.

Is this OK to do? I wouldn't think of throwing it into an empty trash can (as in, the trash had already been picked up) I'm on the fence about it. My wife says no. Is there a right answer here?

This is in a mid-sized city in the Midwest, U.S.A. The trash cans are the standard large plastic bins provided by a private, local trash company. They look similar to this.

Dogwatch.

Pippi Longstocking — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:30:38 -0800

Dog Filter: My labrador thinks she's a lifeguard! Help! My 5 year old Labrador Retriever, Molly is an avid swimmer, as are all Labradors. However, she makes swimming at the pool and at the beach very difficult, as she seems to have this deep seated biological drive to save anyone she determines as being in too far (she almost rescued a stranger's child once, who was clearly in no danger, but nevertheless she tried.)

At the beach, once you are in up to the depth she has determined is enough (about human knee depth), she will grab whatever piece of clothing she can, quite gently, and pull you back towards the shore.

In the pool, she is perfectly happy to swim by herself, and 'rescue' the kick board and bring it back numerous times, but once a human wants to swim with her, she whines and barks from the edge, or will swim on top of you, unintentionally scratching at you, in an attempt to grab your swimwear and take you to the edge. She will tolerate you standing still or floating close to the edge, but move towards the middle of the pool and she is clearly distressed. Throwing the board in and swimming is the only way both of us can swim, and you can still see her doggy brain frantically trying to triage who she should rescue first.

So, my question finally....how do I help train her to calm down in these situations, so both of us can swim at the same time? While there are clearly some advantages to this 'need' of hers (and is sometimes hilariously funny), it seriously impedes us both having a good time swimming.

The difficulties of having dog treats at the pool are clear....any suggestions as to training techniques?

We adopted a Rott!

msali — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:46:30 -0800

We just adopted a rescue Rottweiler and we couldn't be happier. When we bring her home on Monday, I want to be completely prepared. Please help! Details inside. Our new girl is a three(ish) year old who was abandoned about a month ago. She is about sixty pounds and has already had a litter. She was just neutered on Thursday, so we are going to wait until Monday to bring her home, to make sure that she heals properly.
Her behavioral checks and our personal (albeit) short experience demonstrates that she is a sweet and docile girl, and has evidently already been crate and leash trained. She knows basic commands, so it appears at one time she was someone's beloved pet.
I already joined a rottweiler forum, but I'd like to know from owners of larger pets, what do you prefer to feed them? How much and how often should they eat? Do you leave food in their bowl all the time, or do they eat at set intervals? I work from home, and we have a huge yard, so walking and exercising her won't be a problem. She doesn't seem terribly energetic, is a two mile walk a day too much? She seemed like her skin was a little dry, is that common? What can I do about that? Can anyone suggest a good brush?
Do Rotties like to chew on things? What sort of toys should I get her?
Would she like a bed (she will not be sleeping in mine), or would a blanket suffice? Do we get a crate for her to sleep in, even if we leave the door open?
Lastly, just any advice to a new dog owner. I had shepherds as a child, but have not owned a dog my entire adult life. We want to do this right, because we have already fallen in love with our new girl.
Thanks in advance.

Am I the pack leader?

nitsuj — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:42:04 -0800

Am I the pack leader? We got a new dog -- a rescue from the pound -- and he's a wild one. Over the last month or so, I think we've done a pretty good job taming him: two walks daily, time out in the yard, discipline and rules, and, of course, lots of affection.

When I first started our daily walks, he was constantly pulling on the leash. Now, I've got him to a point where I can walk him with a loose leash 90% of the time, but he's still at least a few steps ahead of me, sniffing the ground. When I tighten the reigns to keep him closer and attempt to either be in front of (or at least beside) him, then he's tight on the leash probably 90% of the time.

In the house, I feel I am leading him and he acts accordingly. He normally doesn't get wild or run around like a bucking bronco as he did before. He responds to commands, knows his boundaries (and is breaking those boundaries less and less each day), and is generally a well-adjusted dog considering what he was only a month ago.

But those walks -- that's where I lose confidence.

Since he is physically leading me on those walks, is he seeing himself as the pack leader? If so, what can I do to reverse that, as I feel it is while in the house? Any other tips or tricks for this situation?

Thanks!

Best Dog GPS tracker?

ZackTM — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:09:47 -0800

Recommendations for a Dog GPS collar? Hey guys, I want your opinion on this. It's almost 2010, and Dog tracking GPS collars have been around for a while now. So have keychain dongles for tracking your belongings. I want to know whats the best, reasonably priced device for my needs.

Long story short, I own a bar and my little dog (Rat Terrier, 17lbs) is my constant companion while I'm working. The customers lover her, and she's a sweetheart. I want a system in place that will (A) let me locate her if she ever sneaks outside.. or if someone tries to walk off with her and (B) sound an alarm if she ever wanders close to the door. The bar is pretty long, so most of the time she never goes near the door anyways, so I'd like an alarm on my end to go off should she end up over there. Extra points if it has an 'invisible fence' option that will both alarm me and make an annoying noise to her so she knows to stay away from the exit unless I'm carrying/walking her.

Several of the devices built specifically for dogs seem incredibly overpriced without bringing much to the table. Most I've seen involve a monthly fee and only let me locate my dog a couple times a month. This obviously seems silly since most GPS units don't require a service plan, and if they do then they don't limit me to how often I can use them.

I know its important to set your fears at ease-- she's got her own little safe place to hide when we're busy or she's tired. She's only out and about when we're slow. This is also a nice, relaxed and classy bar with a lot of focus on art and good music. Not a 'lets go out and get TRASHED and break stuff!!' kind of place. Most of our clientele is 25+. We don't serve food, so health code isn't an issue. Outside the bar is a very pedestrian friendly street with huge sidewalks, a patio area (Fayetteville Street in Raleigh)

I could probably get by with even a very rudimentary system but it'd be nice to be able to pull up a graphic showing my dogs location. The ideal solution would be a dongle that hangs from her collar and has the ability to do both (A) and (B) from above, so it doesn't necessarily have to be made specifically for a dog. Also, should she wander off, it wouldn't be hard to find her as long as I know right when she leaves-- there aren't a lot of woods for her to hide in.

What you gon do with all that junk inside your trunk?

sickinthehead — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:08:12 -0800

Which is the safer car position for my dog? We have a VW Golf and a German Shepherd. Traditionally, when the dog travels with us he sits in the back seat. Yesterday we drove 12 hours home for Thanksgiving and I had to sit in the back with my dog the entire time as we drove an additional person home with us this time. It was an...adventure.

This led to the following debate between my husband and I:

He wants to get one of those bar things that extend from the back seat to the roof of the car and start putting the dog in the trunk. I think it's an unsafe proposition because I think we're most likely to be rear-ended if in an accident, and that would effectively smush my dog. I think he's way safer sitting in the back seat, and therefore we should continue this arrangement. What do you think? Note I'm only looking at this from the perspective of his safety.

Give me more 'Verklemptness'.

Pippi Longstocking — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:26:47 -0800

Book Filter: In the spirit of 'Verklemptness'... Following this post please help with my search for books, fiction or non fiction, that tell the heart warming stories of animals (dogs in particular) and their interactions with humans, other animals, their environment, and so on.

It is only in the last few years that I have become a dog person, and Marley and Me (the book in particular), is the only book that has ever made me literally sob. While sad, it was also quite cathartic, and I'm looking for others like this. I have tried other books of owners reflecting of what their dogs reveal about human nature, but after reading 'Sophie & Stanley' I have been wary of picking up another one.

I have, however, read "From Baghdad with Love", "Alex & Me"(a bird, I know), and "Dog Boy" (fiction) by Eva Hornung, and while they were all good didn't elicit the same emotional reaction (ok, maybe a little bit).

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

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.

Can someone claim ownership of our dog?

dozo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:04:16 -0800

Missing dog filter: How long does ownership last? My girlfriend's dog recently went missing (we believe stolen) from a dog sitting friend in Colorado Springs, about a week ago. The dog has a collar and microchip implant with current info but no one has contacted us yet. We have peppered the area with missing posters, sent posters to all area vets and reported him missing to the Humane Society, Pet Amber Alert, etc. It would be easy for us to prove ownership of him, that he was stolen/lost and is still being looked for, but time is passing and he is rare, cute and friendly - perfect for anyone to just keep if they were heartless. Is there a statute of limitations on ownership? Is it possible that he will ever legally become the property of someone who has possession of him now? My girlfriend is beside herself and the thought of someone having her awesome dog for good is breaking her heart.

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!

Peter Brady Can't Play Ball In the House, but My Dog Wants To!

xingcat — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:03:49 -0800

Are there any non-Kong dog balls that my Lab won't destroy? My 4-year-old black Lab loves to play ball, but when she has a ball inside the house, it takes her an average of 15 minutes to destroy any ball she'll play with.

Tennis balls are her favorites, because she can spend 5 minutes removing all the fuzz, and then she chews them in half and rips the ball into tiny rubber confetti.

We've gotten her Kong balls, which she doesn't seem to be able to destroy, but she doesn't like playing with them, either. It seems to be a mouth-feel thing with her, where if it's too solid, she has no interest.

We've tried mini-tires, squishy foam balls (which she loves, but it only takes her slightly more time to chew apart), "indestructible" fabric toys, and she can kill them all dead.

Any hope for a ball-playing but very strong-jawed dog?

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.

How to help neighbour with barking dog?

Elfasi — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:06:43 -0800

New neighbour, new dog. Dog was home alone today(indoors), barking and howling, for the first time. Doesn't bother me one bit but I caught another neighbour outside, on the phone to the RSPCA (which seems an insane overreaction), to report this situation. What to do? How to help both neighbours and the dog be happy? Some background:

I live in the UK, own my house and have been there a few months. I'm getting my own dog very soon, you may find a question from me some months ago on that whole process.

My house and 3 others all join up back to back in a big block. New neighbour with dog is beside mine so we share a common wall. Neighbour with complaint is behind neighbour with dog and so shares a common wall with them. I just share a corner with complaint neighbour.

The new neighbour is renting and has permission for pets. She has a 2 year old male lab. They've been there just 3 days, no noise or barking till today, dog wasn't left alone till today.

Now there's plenty of advice around for stopping barking but I'm going to give benefit of the doubt for now and assume doggy needs time to adjust to the new place and will improve. But if a neighbour is calling the RSPCA after just 3 hrs, then suddenly I am quite concerned.

I like this new neighbour. I like her dog. I've already offered to walk and dogsit whenever I can. I want to help. But more than that, I want to foster a mutually beneficial relationship. I get my own dog next month. How wonderful to have a dog owner right next door, so we can help each other out! But, being a renter, just moved in, and already with phonecalls to the RSPCA, I can't help but think her position is suddenly very precarious.

I dont want to see her go, I see a very fruitful future together. But more than that, this could affect me in more direct ways. I get my dog next month. I don't intend to have a dog home alone, howling and barking all day, but what if I'm next on the RSPCA hit list? I'd love to try and fix this and reach an understanding first.

So, what to do? I'm going to give her the heads-up on the situation at least, and impress upon her that I'm home nearly every single lunchtime and I'm more than happy to check in on the guy, maybe even give him a walk. I'll suggest she makes nice with the neighbour if she can. I'll suggest she investigates methods to reduce separation anxiety if this continues beyond the settling in period from moving house. I want to help as much as I can.

Should I call the RSPCA and put my side? Should lady with dog? Should I chat to neighbour who complained? What to say? Assure her I'll be doing a lot to help reduce the noise problem? What do MeFites suggest?

OUR BARKING DOGS vs. My SANITY

mickeefynn — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:58:15 -0800

What other things can we do to stop Our relentlessly Barking Big Dogs from yapping constantly! HELP! I'm losing it here. I hate having to yell at our barking dogs all the time! We've tried EVERYthing! NOTHING works! collars of all sorts... doggie-speak techniques...a fake bird house that emits high pitched sounds when they bark... they're even bad inside this week... I am so bummed. We have a 3 yr old Great Pyrenees neutered male and a 2 yr old neutered Newfoundland female. All of these things have helped for a while but then these two just get used to them and carry on as if nothing had been done. These dogs can be and are sweethearts but the barking is making me very irritable and tense.

How far should I walk my dog?

mola — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:09:54 -0800

How far should I walk my dog? He is a hound mix, 1-year-old, essentially full-grown at about 50 pounds.

Should he stay or should he go? Dog problems..

emkelley — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:23:42 -0800

When is it time to get rid of the dog? Fiance's poorly-trained dog has bitten me three times. I'm nervous about moving in with them and our future children. What do I do? My fiance received a gift of an American Eskimo from his girlfriend-at-the-time about one year before we met. Both Fiance and his Ex worked in jobs with long hours so never really had time to train the dog. When Fiance and I started dating, Dog was really horrible: when it was time to leave the house, he would position himself in front of the door and put up a big fight (growling, barking, bared teeth, etc.). When bedtime arrived, Dog would get up on the pillows and throw the same kind of fit. He doesn't like to play; he barks at any outside noise or anything he sees. As he's gotten older--he's 3.5 now--he's mellowed out a bit but mostly I think this is the prozac we've put him on after the most recent incident.

I never had dogs growing up so I've been skeptical but open... at least to the concept of dog ownership, but perhaps not this dog. Because he is so fearful (and because he doesn't see me as being above him in the pack?), he is very aggressive with me. He and I have had three altercations, the last one this summer involved a bite that sent me to the hospital for two nights. Fiance had been dragging his feet on medicating Dog and hiring a trainer but this incident made him realize he needed to do something. So now he's on Prozac, and Fiance also became somewhat stricter in terms of establishing dominance and enforcing rules.

Fiance and I don't live together yet, but we will probably be joining households this summer. I am extremely nervous about living with Dog full time. I am not comfortable around him, and I really fear what will happen when we have children. That is a few years off, so we will have time to work on training him and we have an appointment with a trainer in the near future. However, after reading AskMeFi's similar Q&As, it seems like the general advice is that once a dog has bitten, you can't let the dog around kids. This is my gut feeling, but Fiance refuses to get rid of Dog because a) he loves him and b) he assumes he'll be put down if we have to give him away. I know there are rescue groups so I don't think euthanasia isn't a certainty. Plus I think that Dog would be happier if we could find him a home with people who have time to be with him--Fiance works 60-80 weeks and doesn't have the time or energy.

I am trying very hard to see this situation from his perspective and be compassionate about it, but I have gotten to the point where I dread visiting Fiance because I have to deal with the dog. Is this beyond reasonable or do I need to just get over it?

Dog Training

flipmiester99 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:47:27 -0800

Dog(Pug)TrainingFilter: So....We have this pug which will turn 1 in November. Hes a sweet little guy however he has some very bad habits. CHewing on any and everything, darts out of the door at any chance and then plays a game having us chase him, barks all the time outside, and pees anywhere he likes. Heres my question....Is $850 in your opinion average, above average,under,etc...to pay someone to train him. The women that would train him takes him for Two weeks and then returns him home. I do know she is good because my brother took his dog to her 7 years ago and his dog behaves great. Just an FYI...we would try a class but to be honest the wife and i just dont have enough time between our jobs and having two kids.

DOG PERIOD BLOOD IN BED. CAN I JUST SLEEP IN IT?

defmute — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:15:08 -0800

my dog bled on my blanket (i think mine's called a com-fort-or). can i still sleep in my bed? my dog's been on her period for a while and we always kick it pretty good in bed and i thought her period was over but i guess not and i've actually been sleeping in bed with a few half dollar siezed dogperiodblood spots on the pillows, com-four-door, sheets and mattress. am i okay? do i need to disinfect my sleeping arrangements?

How can I get my dog to stop gulping his water?

MeghanC — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:29:39 -0800

My new dog's gulping water so quickly that he's making himself sick. How can I get him stop? Yes, I Googled, but most of the answers dealt with gulping food and didn't seem to apply.

Last week, we got a dog, a sweet little terrier mix. He was from animal control, and has clearly had a rough time of it--you can count the knobs on his spine, and he's about the skinniest dog I've ever seen. (And that's after three weeks of regular feedings at the shelter.)

Housebreaking is going well, introducing him to the cats is going well... really, everything is pretty awesome, except that he doesn't seem able to moderate his water intake. Put him in front of a bowl of water, regardless of the size, he'll gulp it all down in moments. He's made himself sick on multiple occasions, gulping the water and then immediately vomiting it back up. How can I get him to stop?

Right now, he's on a leash in the house and it's easy enough to monitor his drinking habits. We're hoping to let him off by this weekend, but we can't do that until we're sure he's not going to make himself sick all the time.

Possibly relevant:
He doesn't mind when the bowl is taken away, just goes on to the next thing.
We have multiple cats, and they use a gravity-fed waterer. Only allowing the dog water on a schedule won't work, as he has access to the cats' water and will drink that if his own is gone.
He seems quite happy and healthy in all other regards, and doesn't seem bothered when he vomits the water back up.
He's urinating regularly with no signs of strain or distress.

Badass small dog meets one bigger and badder

Atom12 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:52:11 -0800

Our dog got in a fight and was bitten. It's just a flesh wound, but how should we care for it? I was at my folks' for dinner and let our two small dogs out on their deck. Normally the gate's closed. Tonight it wasn't and Alan, a toy fox terrier, tore off and ran around the corner. There was barking. I ran as fast as I could and called for him. He came running back with a stripe of blood along his side.

Yes, I know I should've checked the gate. Believe me, I've given myself enough of a guilt trip over this as it is. I'd like doggie first aid advice.

I plan to take him to the vet Monday. He was bit once, by what looks like a large dog. It's a pencil-sized hole. I cleaned it the best I could with soap and water, then spritzed some hydrogen peroxide on it. He seems to be his normal old self. I'm going to get some Neosporin to put on the bite mark.

He's current on all his shots (just had 'em in August).

Any help/insight would be appreciated.

My dog's really, really itchy, and my vet hasn't been much help.

shirobara — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:07:28 -0800

My dog's really, really itchy, and my vet hasn't been much help. She's got bumps, sores, and the occasional scab on her underside. Allergy treatments haven't been much help (barring prednisone which isn't really a long-term solution) nor have special skin-treatment foods. And she doesn't have parasites, either. I'm kind of at a loss. (I'm asking this for a very frustrated friend of mine...)

She's a terrier mix. I adopted her from a shelter last January, and she was doing fine for the first couple of months. Then she started to develop sores. They're more noticeable on her underside where there's little to no hair, but if you feel around on her back you can tell that she's getting them there, too. Mostly they look like little red bumps, not entirely unlike chickenpox, but occasionally she'll appear to have a scab somewhere too. Lately it's gotten really bad, where she's actively trying to bite at herself. I go through her hair with a wire brush at least once a week, but lately almost every day - sometimes little flakes of dead skin come off in her hair. If I scratch her, sometimes I even end up pulling what looks like clumps of dandruff off of her.

I've just about run the gamut of tests with her. She's been on cephalexin and prednisone, which cleared up the bumps and the itchies. As soon as she was done with the cephalexin, however, the bumps came back, and as soon as she was taken off the prednisone the itchies came back too. She's gone on the cephalexin without the prendisone, and it has cleared up the bumps, but she remained itchy. And again, once she came off of the cephalexin, the itchies came back.

She's on a monthly Advantix treatment for flea and tick prevention. I took her off of it for a month or two just to see if she was having a reaction to it, but that hasn't helped. (She's back on it now.) Her vet has done skin scrapings and deep skin scrapings as well, and has not found any parasites. I switched her over to Royal Canin Skin Support for a couple of months; not only was it prohibitively expensive but it didn't do anything for her, either. (She currently eats Dave's Naturally Healthy.) I've tried giving her benadryl three times daily, but that hasn't done anything for her, either. I've even tried adding a little cod-liver oil to her food; all that did was make her breath stink.

Is she just allergic to *something* in my apartment? I keep the place fairly clean, trash goes out when it gets full, etc. There aren't any plants or any toxic substances or anything she might be getting into, either. She gets a bath once per month with a basic oatmeal shampoo, and resumes scratching a few hours after she's done. She goes for a ten minute walk every day, and a much longer one once every week or so, and there's plenty of room for her to bomb around in the main living area, so I don't think it's a psychosomatic response brought on by lack of exercise.

She has a great life otherwise, and it makes me sad to see her so uncomfortable. Can anybody offer any advice?