The dog musing/vent thread

Have you talked to the breeder about this?

I would be exploring a behaviorist and/or anxiety meds if you want to try to continue working on it. But if you what you need is a service dog and that's not gonna happen with him... well, there's also nothing wrong with deciding he's not the right fit for you.

I know he's still pretty young but I also feel like you've been having these troubles with him since day 1.

Playing with a dog is tiring.
I mean REALLY playing WITH a dog.

The newest lecture in my Fenzi class was about personal play. Which is something that I have a hard time engaging in with Cajun, unless she's already really amped up by something else. But today we decided to try some things at the park. No toys, no food. Just me and her. And she took to it really well!! I was puffing and beat pretty quickly lol apparently I'm not in shape enough to play with my dog It was fun though and she was clearly enjoying it too because she didn't blow me off to do something else. I'm sure the guy sitting in his car eating lunch thought I looked crazy though.

I haven't talked to the breeder recently. The thing is she described him to me as a perfectly normal puppy. A bit aloof with strangers but that's what I wanted. What I didn't expect was a puppy that's completely terrified. And he's not scared of everyone either but I haven't really noticed a pattern. It seems almost random who/what/when he is scared and when he isn't.

I don't know if the flight traumatized him? He did get worse after one incident of a child running up to him and trying to grab at him with one of those plastic pooper scoopers repeatedly even after I told him he shouldn't do that. Both of the trainers I'm working with are telling me that there is a chance that with enough work he could grow out of this without medication. Could the anxiety meds temporarily be used just to help him get past this?

I feel like, as frustrating as he is, I don't want to give up on him yet. I do see potential in him at home and places where he's comfortable

Are your dog secretly my dogs? Gimmick would get the poops from DHA, and actually started gagging when he saw the bottle.

Gambit gobbles them like they're candy. Of course, this is the dog who ate a roadkill possum who had been baking on the road for 2 weeks in July and didn't so much as burp.

ETA: I really thought Rage was a boy!

I haven't talked to the breeder recently. The thing is she described him to me as a perfectly normal puppy. A bit aloof with strangers but that's what I wanted. What I didn't expect was a puppy that's completely terrified. And he's not scared of everyone either but I haven't really noticed a pattern. It seems almost random who/what/when he is scared and when he isn't.

I don't know if the flight traumatized him? He did get worse after one incident of a child running up to him and trying to grab at him with one of those plastic pooper scoopers repeatedly even after I told him he shouldn't do that. Both of the trainers I'm working with are telling me that there is a chance that with enough work he could grow out of this without medication. Could the anxiety meds temporarily be used just to help him get past this?

I feel like, as frustrating as he is, I don't want to give up on him yet. I do see potential in him at home and places where he's comfortable

Anxiety meds can help take the edge off enough that the dog is actually capable of learning and working through things. I put Juno on medication (fluoxetine/Prozac) a couple years ago when her anxiety started getting really bad. I wanted so badly to not have to go the medication route, I tried just using training and positive associations but you know what... none of that training was getting through to her. It wasn't until she was on the meds that I could finally see the training start to pay off.

She was afraid of strangers, especially men. She was afraid of going places. She was afraid of noises. If I stepped on a stick while we were on a walk, it was pretty typical for the sound of it snapping to send her flying to the end of her leash in a panic. The automatic doors at the pet store freaked her out (even though she had been exposed to them since she was a puppy and never had an issue, until suddenly they became an issue). Most of the time, if we were outside of the house, she was frantic and trying to escape. At the height of this, I was working at a pet store and would frequently take her there on my days off for some shopping... as soon as we'd walk through the doors she'd freeze and completely shut down. That store is like Disney World to her now, and my male coworker who she hated hated hated and wouldn't go near or even look at, she freaking LOVES him now.

Choosing to medicate her was by far one of the best things I've ever done. She was on the medication for 2 years, I just took her off it a couple months ago (she probably could've stopped it a long time ago, I just figured why fix it if it ain't broke). She's still unsure around men, but otherwise she is so much more comfortable and happy, taking her out in public is enjoyable for both of us now.

You of course don't have to use medication, but I feel like a lot of people treat it as an absolute LAST RESORT when there is really nothing wrong with using it. It can make the process much easier and less stressful for everyone involved.

UGH! Leo is inexplicably and randomly going lame!

He was fine last night. This morning, he is either:
A) Gimping around the room without putting ANY weight on his back right leg
or
B) POUNCING on his toys and trying to get me to play, all the while moving pretty normally.

I don't understand!
I think I am going to wait at least 24-48 hours before deciding to take him in to the vet for it. I can't tell whether he is actually seriously injured, but then pushing through the pain when he wants to play OR not very injured, but being a baby when nothing interesting is happening. Either way, definitely not going to let him run around today.