Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dogtraining

Dogs domestication and cats

Mutant — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:28:51 -0800

Long time since I owned a dog. This is a two parter. First, is crate training the norm? Second, advise on breed that will fit in with two cats. I've got the blond, the flat, the time and the big ass park across the road. Now all I need to consummate one of my life images is the dog.

First query: I haven't had a pup since I was a kid growing up in the country, and I've read about crate training. Is this the generally accepted way to domesticate a pup these days? What are the pros & cons, and alternatives? I'm especially interested in the views of folks opposed to crate training.

Second query: we've already got two cats. We were thinking of a Labrador as a dog thats good around kids, seems like a pretty docile breed but does anyone have views on the propriety of a Lab pup with two nineteen month old kittens? Would the dawgs sex make any difference in breed?

Training a Welsh Pembroke Corgi

rikhei — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:31:48 -0800

The corgi I am adopting on Saturday is already crate-trained, but not house-broken. Leaving her outside while I'm at work is not an option. How should I start training her not to go in the house? Yesterday, I met a very sweet, 1-year-old Corgi girl who I will be bringing home on Saturday. If I understand correctly, she lived with Amish people who decided not to breed her, and that's how she ended up at the rescue.

Unfortunately for me, she's not house-trained. However, she is crate-trained. Currently, she spends most of the day outside with other dogs in a fenced kennel area, and goes into her crate in the evening.

My ideal future would be that I would walk her in the morning, leave her alone with my 6-year-old cat during the day (I have a 9-5ish job), and then come home and walk her again. Then some quality lazy time on the couch with her and the cat. :)

I'm definitely willing to come home and take her out at lunch time for the first few weeks - I'm guessing that will probably be necessary - but I am hoping that once she is trained, she'll be able to hold it a bit longer.

I haven't had a dog since I was quite young, so I have little idea where to start. I get the impression that training is not something that would come naturally to me, from my interactions with her and the foster mom yesterday, so I'm definitely planning to start a training class as soon as I can.

My question is - what should I do in the meantime to get her house-trained? Where should I start with her, since she's not exactly at square 1? What other things should I start training her to do or not do?

(I have looked at some similar questions, so I'll definitely be picking up some of the books you folk have recommended to others regarding dog training.)

Thanks in advance, and I'll be happy to clarify or further explain, if I can.

Train a dog - QUICK!

yet.another.boston.question — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 07:39:12 -0800

Help me train my friend's dog in one afternoon! I am watching my friend's labradoodle for the whole day tomorrow, and I really want to teach him how to fetch. He is about 2 years old, and will chase sticks and such, but he doesn't bring them back to me. Any tips?

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?

I'd like some tips on clicker training my new dog.

lysistrata — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:13:27 -0800

I recently adopted a 2 yr. old Shih Tzu from the pound. He's been to the vet and has a clean bill of health. He's settled very well into things here and I'd like to start working on training him. After reading about several different methods I find clicker training the most interesting but I've never done it before. Anyone have any suggestions or tips? My new dog Ernie is a very smart, very sweet young Shih Tzu. He's outgoing without being hyper or over-excitable. He is inquisitive, curious, gentle and quiet. He's not scared or timid nor is he aggressive in any way toward other animals or people. But he doesn't appear to have been trained. He doesn't even know how to sit at this point. I want to start training him on the basics and I think clicker training looks like a good way to go about things.

Has anyone ever used clicker training? Are there any tips you might have for making the experience a fun and effective one? Anything you wish someone had told you about clicker training before you started that you learned along the way? Do I need to "charge" the clicker (teach the dog to associate it with rewards) before starting to shape behavior? I've read conflicting opinions on whether this is necessary. Any good books I should look out for? Can I do this completely on my own or should I also get us into a class together?

Despite having had dogs for most of my life I've never taken part in any formal training program. My last dog was sort of a little miracle and just seemed to magically learn what I wanted her to do so she spoiled me a little, I suppose. Still, training looks like a lot of fun for both me and Ernie and I'm eager to get started. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

How to get pooch to get enough sleep

fructose — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:06:11 -0800

How do we get our (adult) dog to sleep more? My boyfriend and I (who live together) adopted a 3-year-old lhasa apso mix about 6 wks ago from a rescue group. He has some issues with growling when petted and has become aggressive on a couple of occasions--but almost always at night. He's usually fine during the day.

He was abandoned and possibly abused, but since he's nice most of the time and only cranky at night, we think he's not sleeping enough.

He sleeps on the bed with us for most of the night (we've started trying to keep him off, but he'll hang out on the floor and get up there when we're asleep and don't notice). At around 8 every night, he gets really antsy to go to bed, and anytime we go near the bedroom, he runs in there, but runs out once he sees we aren't coming. I go to bed around 1, but my boyfriend stays up later, and we keep the dog out there with him because we're trying to get the dog to bond more with him since he has become very protective of me.

Right now one of us is home nearly all the time, and if we're home, he wants to be in the same room as us, awake. For a while he would go sleep under the bed from daylight until noon or so, but stopped doing so. He won't really nap at all like most dogs, and even during the night, almost every time I wake up in the night, I look over and his eyes are open.

He's like a child that gets cranky without enough sleep/daily naps, but we can't make him sleep.

How can we get our dog to sleep more? Other than making sure to be out of the house for hours each day. Would getting him a crate be helpful? We were considering this as a method to keep him from sleeping on our bed, but are worried he'll get even less sleep if he's upset.

We want the old Moxie back!

Grither — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:46:55 -0800

Why is my dog suddenly aggressive towards other dogs, and how can I try to reverse this recent trend? My 3yr old half beagle half mutt female dog has recently become rather aggressive towards other dogs. We used to take her on walks with no problem, and she used to enjoy going to the dog park for a good run.

Now however, she often lunges at other dogs and growls and the hair on her back stands up when we're walking her, and we are afraid to take her back to the (finally) renovated dog run near us. She is perfectly fine with some dogs in the neighborhood (even lying on her back and exposing her belly to them when she sees them!), but with other dogs she will go nuts! We did have one experience at the dog park where a rather large dog was quite aggressive towards her, but there was no immediate change in her behavior following that little rumble. So we're not really sure what caused the change, or how to fix it.

We have been trying to make sure that when another dog is crossing our path we hold her close to us, and if she doesn't growl or lunge, we will praise her a lot. This doesn't seem to be having much effect, though, and I was wondering if any Mefites might have had similar problems and have been able to solve them? We are considering going to doggy training again with her to try and fix this problem, but I thought I'd ask here first. Thanks in advance!

What Do Dog Owners Want?

freshwater_pr0n — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:11:12 -0800

Help me to be the best dog trainer possible to my clients! Tell me what you look for in a dog trainer, and what you hope the experience will be like. Tell me your best and worst experiences. I teach group classes in basic and advanced obedience, work with owners whose dogs have serious behavior problems like aggression and anxiety, and everything in between, so all feedback is helpful. I was inspired by ebellicosa's excellent askme. I give my clients a feedback form, and often hear their thoughts either firsthand or secondhand through colleagues in the dog world or through friends of friends, but that's mostly positive. I'd like to hear what doesn't work, too.

Do I really need to take my puppy to puppy classes?

Twinedog — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:40:37 -0800

Do I really need to take my puppy to classes? Can you recommend a good one in Los Angeles? I have a 4.5 month old lab mix rescued puppy. She is already house broken ( thanks crate training). She has learned what she is allowed to chew on and what she cannot. She walks great on the lease and socializes very well at dog parks. She sits about half the time I tell her to but we keep working on it. She understands "no" thanks to a squirt gun.

What am I really gonna get out of puppy classes if she is already housetrained, knows how to walk on a leash, socializes plenty at dog parks already and is already learning sit/heel/lay down/ stay/ and come?

Can you recommend a good puppy class or group obedience class on the Westide of Los Angeles?

What is it what is it GIVE IT HERE GIVE IT -- oh God it's gone now hope it wasn't chocolate

Countess Elena — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:34:51 -0800

How can I train a deaf dachshund to Drop It -- without hand signals? I have a deaf dachshund, and she is my pride and joy. She is deaf by birth, and is three years old now.

Like all dachshunds, she loves to eat. Unfortunately, the vet considers her to have a sensitive stomach by nature, and has put her on a strict I/D diet. I'm sure he's right. I took her in a year ago because she had been vomiting clear liquid every day, and the vet said that she just can't handle anything but bland food. So she spends her life trying to get anything else.

I live in a city, and twice now I have had to take her to the vet because she was scary sick from something she ate on one of our walks. It's often too late, especially in the early morning or evening, for me to realize that a light-colored object on the ground isn't a dead leaf but instead a piece of torn bread or half a muffin, before Short Round can inhale it. People around here throw a lot of crap from the nearby Dunkin' Donuts on the ground. These things just make her throw up, which doesn't require a vet visit. What's worse is that she likes things that make her really ill, like woody objects -- nutshells, pine cones -- and, just recently, sidewalk salt. Those symptoms were fun to wake up to at 3 am, boy howdy.

Clearly, she has to learn to Drop It. But how can I get through to her?

-- Hand signals? They worked briefly when she was a puppy, in a specialized class situation until she learned that she didn't have to look at me. She's too short to be forced to look. By the time I manage to grab her attention, often physically, she's eaten whatever it was. When we walk, her attention is strictly on the many smells of life.

-- A laser pointer or flashlight? She's agitated by strange lights. Car headlights or garish Christmas displays give her barking fits. I don't know that I should associate this reaction with something I do (should I?) Besides, a laser pointer could damage her eyes.

-- The water bottle? She associates this with being a Bad Dog, and it is almost never used, because she runs and hides and is quiet when she sees me pick it up. I feel terrible about this -- I've squirted her maybe once. Is it healthy to associate this with our walks?

-- A vibrating collar? Are these healthy for 12-pound dogs? I'd hate to think the solution costs $250, but if it's safe, it may be the best option. Still, I don't know anyone that's used one on a pet.

-- The "Here, have a treat instead" method? She'd have to finish eating the thing she's already got before even considering the proposition. Nevertheless, this may be worth a try if I can find some hypoallergenic treats for her.

I'd appreciate your ideas. (And by the way, don't be discouraged from the idea of having a deaf dog. She loves everyone, she's smart as a whip, and she was very easy to housetrain.)

Hire Me!

freshwater_pr0n — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:17:38 -0800

Tell me some great, effective ways to market my dog training business. For example, how do I promote myself to veterinary clinics who don't know me yet? What will really help me get my name out there? Right now, my clients are my best marketing tool. Nothing is more effective than making a client so happy, and training a dog so well that people on the street will come up to them and ask them how they wound up with such a great dog. I want to build a larger pool of people like that.

Radio ads were a disaster. I got calls, but mostly from nutjobs. For this reason, I'm wary of print ads. I'm the sole proprietor of my business, and I don't have time to talk to people who want free advice.

Most of my non-referral clients come through Google Ads, and I'm happy with my campaign.

What else can I be doing?

Sweet jesus the pain -- help my dog stop scratching

InnocentBystander — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:56:23 -0800

How do I stop a 2 year old Old English Sheepdog from scratching us all to death? We've had our huuuuuge Old English Sheepdog for about 6 months. She's always done this to some extent or another but lately, it's ridiculous. She doesn't jump on people (unless they're on the couch, but that's cool with us), but she likes to put her paws up and scratch the everloving shit out of my legs, my husband's legs, my housemates' legs. She's otherwise an incredibly awesome dog, and it's clear she's doing this out of affection, not anger. The local training classes all use choke chains, which we are not cool with for various reasons, so those are a no go.

The scratching hurts so much that it's basically impossible not to pay it attention. I'm not a Buddhist monk or something, I can't deal with my legs being bruised all to hell while I stay totally silent.

Turning around and crossing arms was something we tried for a while, but she was PERSISTENT and it was literally a matter of giving in or having black and blue bruises on our entire back calves (yes, she will scratch the back of your legs, too, sometimes getting right into the crook of your knees, which is awesomely painful. We're all at a loss as to what to do, and my legs hate hate hate me. HELP. I do not want to be angry at the dog. I like the dog. I know the dog likes me. But it's very hard to keep being nice to something that hurts you every time it sees you.

Help me train my dog in Brooklyn

lassie — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:40:07 -0800

Does anyone have a glowing recommendation for a dog trainer/obedience school in Brooklyn? We adopted an approximately two year old beagle mix from the shelter about two weeks ago. She's a really great dog, very smart and affectionate, and seems to be adjusting well to the transition. She's responded very well to the minimal training I've already tried with her -- I can walk her without a leash for short distances, so long as there are no seriously delicious distractions nearby, and she sits and comes most of the time when I call her (although not when my partner does).

What I need now is for her to come all the time when we call her, to heel when we walk, and to not beg at the table. I think her previous owners were not well off, and encouraged her to fend for herself in the house as far as food went. I understand that, being part beagle, she has a mind of her own, and I don't want to break her of that necessarily. So, I'm looking for trainers/obedience schools in the 11226/11215 zip codes that would work well for her. Has anyone here used a trainer in this area they'd like to recommend? Thanks.

How to stop my sister's dog's newly aggressive behavior towards his new roommate?

Dr. Lurker — Tue, 08 May 2007 21:25:18 -0800

My sister and her dog just moved into a new apartment with a new roommate and "new" dog last weekend. Now her never before aggressive dog is attacking the "new" dog. What do we do? My sister's dog is 1.5 year old neutered male black lab. The "new" dog is about 2 years old and a neutered male lab/border collie mix. The "new" dog has been living at the apartment as an only dog his whole life. My sister's dog and the "new" dog had never met until this last weekend because my sister and her dog moved from out of state.

My sister and her dog had been living with me and my 5 y.o. spayed female lab mix ever since we got him as a stray about a year ago. He has been a bit of a hyper active lab puppy, but he has never been aggressive towards other dogs. In fact, my dog was the dominant dog and was aggressive towards my sister's dog from time to time.

So, the "new" dog has not been aggressive at all towards sis' dog, and they seemed to get alond swimmingly at first. Then my sis' dog started snarling and growling at the "new" dog--mainly when sis' dog was sitting next to me or my sister (I helped them move) and "new" dog came near. The "new" dog didn't really respond. Sis' dog has lunged at the "new" dog a time or two, but hasn't bit him, yet. Though he has bitten me once when I tried to break up the fray and now my sister when she tried to break it up (at the expense of five stitches). I want to make it clear that he is not intending to bite us, it is our own stupid fault that we got bit. He has never been aggressive towards people

My gut feeling is that my sis' dog is freaked out from driving 800 miles and the new surroundings, and will settle down once he gets adjusted. My sis' gut feeling is that my dog's dominance over her dog has caused him to now be aggressive towards a mild mannered dog now that he has the chance. All the information I have found deals with the already established dog being aggressive towards the new dog, not the other way around. How does she put an end to this behavior quickly? Bonus points for any recommendations for affordable dog trainers in the Long Beach, CA area.

Lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick...

printchick — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:19:21 -0800

How do we keep our dog from obsessively licking the floor? I have looked online for answers, and our vet seems puzzled as well. Anyway, the dog is a 4-5 year-old beagle mix. He's very friendly, loves walks, loves lazing around with us on the couch, etc. Last January he had a couple of siezures which led to him going on the anti-siezure medication phenabarbatol. That stopped the siezures, but after that, the licking began.

The vet seems to think this may be connected, that there's some sort of short-circuit in the dog's brain that makes him do this. He licks our wood floors and the marble floors in the bathroom. He hasn't done this at any other houses, like my mom's or my in-laws. He does this constantly when we are getting ready in the morning, sitting to eat breakfast, and sometimes when we're at home at night and settled in (it's not like he senses we're leaving and gets nervous.) He can do it for an hour at a time or so, or maybe it just seems this long to us.

He gets two 20-30 minute walks a day and is home alone from about 9 to 4. He doesn't destroy anything in the house while we're gone, but may tip over the occasional trash can. He gets lots of attention and love when we're home.

I'm not sure if spraying bitter Apple spray or something like that on the floors is necessarily the solution, (that's a lot of spray for a lot of floor) and when we tell him to stop, he just acknowledges us with a tail wag and keeps on licking.

Ideas?

Give a dog something to do!

COBRA! — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 07:25:55 -0800

This doggy-dog needs a jobby-job! 8-month-old German Shepherd/Australian Cattle Dog/X mix. She's a good dog, very trainable, but my wife and I have been thinking she'd benefit from having a job around the house (being a working dog, after all). But we can't think of a good household job for a dog, other than herding the cats, which we'd actually rather avoid.

I'm assuming we're just not approaching this from the right angle. And AskMe is full of angles, especially when it comes to pets. So does anyone have any suggestions for dog jobs?

Wake up and smell the dogshit!

Methylviolet — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 10:44:15 -0800

Every morning, there is a puddle of pee and one or more piles of poop on my kitchen floor. I think it's the dog. Please help me. Yes, every single morning. For the past month or so.

The dog is a golden retriever, and we live in a tiny apartment. She spent the first two years of her life in a house with a yard, but she did not poop or pee in the apartment the first eight months we were there (except very occaisionally, when she didn't get taken out). I think my daughter (whose dog this is) had not been taking her out consistently over a period of a few weeks, and so the poor dog had no other option, and got into the habit.

Now I am taking the dog out twice a day, fifteen minutes or so in the morning, and a 30 minute walk in the evening, and she has not stopped doing it. I figured she'd need some time to get back in the habit of refraining in the house, but Jesus Mary and Joseph -- how long?

She does it in the middle of the night -- somewhere between 2-5 am. We never catch her at it.

What can I do?

What commands do you give a dog in Spanish?

nebulawindphone — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 22:13:15 -0800

Hey Spanish-speakers: what commands do you use with your dog? Just to be clear: yes, I can look up words like "sit" or "stay" in a Spanish-English dictionary. But my dictionary lists 10 Spanish synonyms for "stay." I'd like to know which of them an actual dog trainer would use. I'm pretty sure it matters. Wouldn't you think it was strange if you heard someone shouting "remain!" or "persist!" or "dwell!" at his dog?

Same goes for "sit" and "come" and all the rest. If you know where to find a list of Spanish-language dog training commands, that would be even better.

Border Collie Training Tips

MarvinTheCat — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 21:37:14 -0800

Casting a wide net filter regarding border collies: I have a 3.5 month old purebred border collie puppy and am soliciting answers and advice regarding her training. She starts training this Thursday and I've consulted my vet and breeder, as well as Google, but would appreciate any advice here also. I've read The Ultimate Border Collie and The Dog Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Lifetime Maintenance prior to receiving the dog. I have also raised Schnauzers from puppies, though I realize that's an entirely smaller ball o'wax. Our local dog trainer is known affectionately as the "dog nazi" so I'm sure we'll learn a lot, but I hope there are a few BC centric tips I can glean from this audience. Specifically I'm looking for the best way to curtail jumping and approaching everything with her mouth first. Thanks in advance.

Transitioning from a Citronella Collar

duck — Sun, 13 Mar 2005 19:09:14 -0800

I have a dog who loves to bark at one household member. Nobody knows why. I bought her a citronella collar and this has helped greatly. But now she barks to her hearts content any time she's not wearing it. How do I train her to not bark even when she's not wearing the collar? So the backstory: Starting about 5 minutes after we first brought her into the house, after adopting her at the humane society, she barked at one member of the household. She has barked at him ever since. If he's sitting still, that's fine, but anytime he walks from one room to another, she runs behind him barking.

The fur along her spine stands straight up. She always seems to want him to pet her -- she sidles up to him when he's sitting for him to pet her. But if he turns his head and look at her, she hides.

Since this began the instant she came into the house, it was not caused by his doing anything to her. He has tried bribing her, betting her, etc. etc. and she's just not interested in being his friend.

Fine, they don't have to be best friends, but the barking everytime he moves was driving us all bonkers and attemts at standard behavious modification techniques had no effect at all. So I bought her a citronella collar. This actually worked quite well.

However, now a few months later, she knows that it's the collar that sprays her. So when she's not wearing the collar she barks everytime he moves. When she is wearing the collar, and he moves, she seems to do a little calculus and decide that a few barks are worth the spray. So she barks a couple of times, clearly knowing she'll be sprayed. It's barking at him particulary that's worth it -- if someone rings the doorbell while she's wearing the collar, she doesn't bark.

So my questions are 2: First how do I train her to not bark even when she's not wearing the collar. I was thinking something like a clicker whenever the collar sprays, but since she barks loudly, she wouldn't even hear it. Any other ideas.

2) I would like to refill the collar with water instead of citronella. (she hates water, and the smell of citronella irritates the rest of us). Can I do this? How?

Keeping the Dog Off the Bed

boomchicka — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 08:43:50 -0800

Training the dog not to sleep on the bed … [MI] My husband and I have set a bad precedent by letting our dog sleep on our bed. It wasn’t a problem at first because he stayed in one spot at the foot of the bed, but over time he’s begun sprawling. Now we find ourselves waking up in an “H” formation, with the dog stretched out horizontally, paws in the air, and the two of us clinging to either edge of the bed. Yeah, it’s adorable, but it’s killing our sleep.

I know, I know, close the door. Technically, that would solve the problem, but I’d like to try to teach him the skill to stay off the bed voluntarily so that the solution isn’t dependent upon a barrier (the closed door). He’s a smart dog, and trains pretty easily, so I’d like to give it a shot. The problem is that training involves reinforcement, and we can’t reinforce it when we’re asleep. What can we do? We’ve tried making it more appealing to sleep elsewhere, but he doesn’t seem to want his bed at night, and while he’ll curl up with his favorite blankie for a little while, he always finds his way back onto the bed at some point while we’re asleep. Any suggestions?

How can I stop my dogs from stripping our tree? And how can I save the tree?

RustyBrooks — Sat, 16 Oct 2004 06:43:08 -0800

How can I keep my dogs from pulling large strips of bark off our tree, and how can I keep said tree from dying now that it's missing much of it's bark? We have a cypress tree in our back yard. It rained for like a week straight here (Dallas Texas) last week and so a) the dogs were all cooped up all week and b) the tree's bark was soft and pliant. The dogs discovered what fun it is to tear off 4 foot long strips of bark and play tug-of-war with them.

So now the tree is missing about a 2' wide by 5' long patch of bark. it's about a 20-30 year old cypress (just a guess, may be older). I'm afraid this will kill it.

Is there something I can treat the tree with to protect it's insides without the bark? Will this thing, or something else, keep the dogs away?

Doggy Depression?

vito90 — Wed, 21 Jan 2004 09:53:23 -0800

I'd like some help with my dog please. [more inside ...] I have an eight and a half year old basset hound, she has mostly enjoyed good health and right now appears to be physically strong and sturdy. She is not overweight, which is a major concern for the breed.

About one year ago she contracted a urinary tract infection. The vet prescribed antibiotics which cleared it up, only to return a few months later. New antibiotic regimen, cleared up again. Repeat two more times. So in the last year, 4 UTI's treated with 4 different antibiotics.

Last week she was panting and short of breath, I took her in and she had a high temperature. 103, dogs average about 101. She has always been a voracious and enthusiastic eater of any and all food. At the same time as the fever she lost her enthusiasm to eat dog food, now she will only eat if I make her some meat.

There have also been some behavioral changes. She is a bit more lethargic and mopey, but will go for walks if I take her. She doesn't play with the cat quite as much as before, but doesn't ignore him either. I do have a new girlfriend who spends the night frequently, so that could be contributing to some of the changes.

So to sum up, what I have is a dog with some clear, but not yet significant actual physical maladies which could possibly be explained away by advancing age. And I have some behavioral changes that could possibly be explained by changed stimuli. But both simultaneously has me very, very anxious, especially the off-her-food part.

She is at the vet right now getting X-rays.
Any advice, thoughts, experience on what could be the problem?
Could it be doggy depression?