The dog musing/vent thread

[*blackrose]

Proud of Abrams. While we still really need to work on things, he did a long distance sit and a long distance down with only mild encouragement from me, and held a stay and waited to be released to fetch the ball we were playing with with absolutely nothing more from me than just telling him to stay. He stayed, he kept his eye on the ball, and when released he retrieved it with intensity even though it wasn't moving any longer. Good boy.

As an added bonus, he's now laying down being good instead of driving us all bonkers. LOL

 

[PWCorgi]

I think I might be turning into a person that plans on having more small dogs...I'm not sure how I feel about that.

 

[Southpaw]

I apparently suck at dog ownership and turn dogs into neurotic weirdos. While out on a walk with Juno and Cajun, a group of kids came out and asked if they could pet them. I said sure, expecting Juno to be shy but figuring Cajun would be fine with it. Both dogs actually happily approached the kids and started sniffing them but as soon as one of the kids put their hand out to pet them, BOTH dogs were like OMG WHAT SMALL PERSON NO.

I actually lucked out that this was a pretty cool group of kids lol, once the dogs backed away they were like "oh no, they're shy" and stopped reaching for them. I had my treat bag on me so I gave them all a treat and they held their hands out for the dogs to take them and that was okay, and then the kids were like asking me what training I was doing with them, if they were mine, how long I've had them etc :lol-sign:

But anyway, I just don't know why I am horrible when it comes to maintaining my dogs' social skills. I am their universe, they will approach someone else on their own terms, but don't you dare make any moves toward them.

 

[Paviche]

If you refer to my dog as "that dog" in a tone that reminds me of Aunt Sarah from Lady and the Tramp, I am significantly less inclined to be sympathetic and want to help you.

 

[Southpaw]

I need an a-frame for my yard. Cajun was introduced to it in agility today and she says it is BEST THING EVER. Which I love because Juno thinks it is the WORST thing ever.

I didn't really even have to lure her or reward her at all. She just ran right over it and was like YEAH RUNNING. She has no body awareness at all so one time she got to the top and mis-stepped and fell off and was totally like don't care, I'mma do it again. And anytime we walked anywhere near it she would just take off up the darn thing and then I'd have to jog after her because once she committed I couldn't just stop her lol.

She's having a blast in this class.

 

[Beanie]

Woke up to poor Payton having had a poosplosion. Poor guy tries to be good, it happened right in front of my bedroom door, he WANTED to get out. He just doesn't think to bark or scratch the door or anything... he just stands there (while I'm asleep) staring (while I'm asleep) until he inevitably can't hold it anymore (because I'm asleep.)

Of course it smelled horrible so I woke up right away. Most of it was on the wood floor but he had some on his butt still so it got on the dog bed when he tried to climb into one. Had to lift Auggie over the poo to the hallway, then lift Payton over the poo to the hallway, step over poo, let boys out. Get the bleach and wipes and start cleaning. Got that all cleaned up so I could let Pepper out (dumb-dumb would have just gone DURRRRR and run straight through the poo before I could have lifted her over it, I just know it.)

Realized he also got a few little spots on my area rug, so... drug that downstairs to roll out and use the carpet cleaner on. Took the bed downstairs too and while I'm doing that, might as well do the other one and the crate beds - SURPRISE looks like at some point Pepper pooped in her crate too. So pulled the crates out to clean. Might as well wash the towel that the crates sit on. Also since that's all out I guess I'll take my drapes down (the crates are in front of the drapes and the drapes get kinda hairy as a result) and wash those...

WASH ALL THE THINGS.

Ugh. Wasn't really planning on doing massive amounts of cleaning and laundry today but I guess that's what I'm doing.


Note to self... if you think "this steak is still pretty raw" it's PROBABLY too raw for Payton to handle.

 

[SpringerLover]

I think I might be turning into a person that plans on having more small dogs...I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Define "small" and what breed types...

 

[Sekah]

So I went to an Aussie meetup yesterday. One of the other people who attended was a local breeder of show Aussies. I chatted with him a bit and picked his brain a bit about conformation, breeding, etc. I asked him for his opinion on Cohen. He pretty much told me the opposite of any of the feedback that I'd received online. (He felt it was her front that threw her off, where I'd always been told it was her rear.)

I asked him where he might suggest I go if I (hypothetically) wanted another Aussie as a sports/performance prospect. He went off on a tangent about how structure is more important than drive and how he breeds for type, how I should get a dog from a show breeder [ie, him] and pick the driviest pup, blah blah blah and then eventually summed up his point by saying that I should just get a Border Collie.

His dogs looked lovely, but they were the epitome of showlumps to me. Steady temperaments, probably lovely pets, but kind of boring and with too much bone. Also they were HUGELY overweight. Why are Aussies supposed to be lumps now?

I came away from the conversation pleased to have made another contact, but a bit dismayed as to the state of (at least local) Aussie breeding.

 

[Laurelin]

Summer and I tried rally in the first time in around 2 years now. I am pleased she remembers heeling sort of. It went better than expected but man, heeling wears her out so fast! She was pooped.

Also, I should not be allowed to have clippers at my house. I clipped Mia down SHORT (it looks pretty bad but she loves it) and Summer got trimmed a lot too.

And when I trimmed Summer, Mia wanted to get shaved again. She LOVES it.



Sekah, you should look at working line aussies imo. They're very different.

 

[Dizzy]

I really want a French bulldog. Irrational want! I want a lap dog that's a actually lap sized.

 

[PWCorgi]

Define "small" and what breed types...

15 and under pounds? Min pin, Toy Manchester Terrier, TFT...

No hairy, no brachy.

Essentially all the small dogs on the MARS site. (would never adopt through them, but they have some **** cute dogs)

 

[sassafras]

I am SO proud of Pip and Squash I could cry. As some know, we have to do some gate/rotate with the boys in the house and Pip is a resource guarder. We've been working SO hard on both management and behavioral modification and they are getting better over time... they can all be outside or on walks together safely at this point. But this took the cake.

The youngsters were out in the yard and when I let them in I suddenly realized I had forgotten to move Pip behind his gate AND he had a RMB. Pip threw down furiously, Squash was sending off appeasing signals trying to diffuse like mad, and Pip... backed off and I got everyone where they needed to go without incident.

What got us here at G&R is that in the past Pip has ignored appeasing signals and just escalated slightly tense situations no matter what Squash did. I'm so happy that I might just forgive myself for making such a boneheaded mistake.

 

[JazzyTheSibe]

I am SO proud of Pip and Squash I could cry. As some know, we have to do some gate/rotate with the boys in the house and Pip is a resource guarder. We've been working SO hard on both management and behavioral modification and they are getting better over time... they can all be outside or on walks together safely at this point. But this took the cake.

The youngsters were out in the yard and when I let them in I suddenly realized I had forgotten to move Pip behind his gate AND he had a RMB. Pip threw down furiously, Squash was sending off appeasing signals trying to diffuse like mad, and Pip... backed off and I got everyone where they needed to go without incident.

What got us here at G&R is that in the past Pip has ignored appeasing signals and just escalated slightly tense situations no matter what Squash did. I'm so happy that I might just forgive myself for making such a boneheaded mistake.

So happy for you.That's just so awesome. Congrats Pip,& Squadh.

 

[Bunny82]

Finding a rental that is in my budget and will allow me to bring Jet is very frustrating. Giving him up is not an option and I know I will find a place but breed restrictions suck.

 

[SpringerLover]

I am SO proud of Pip and Squash I could cry. As some know, we have to do some gate/rotate with the boys in the house and Pip is a resource guarder. We've been working SO hard on both management and behavioral modification and they are getting better over time... they can all be outside or on walks together safely at this point. But this took the cake.

The youngsters were out in the yard and when I let them in I suddenly realized I had forgotten to move Pip behind his gate AND he had a RMB. Pip threw down furiously, Squash was sending off appeasing signals trying to diffuse like mad, and Pip... backed off and I got everyone where they needed to go without incident.

What got us here at G&R is that in the past Pip has ignored appeasing signals and just escalated slightly tense situations no matter what Squash did. I'm so happy that I might just forgive myself for making such a boneheaded mistake.

YAY! That is so darn awesome! Good job.

 

[Laurelin]

My poor dog

ilp4 by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

DSC_1393 by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

 

[Ozfozz]

I brought Josh along to our show this weekend and Rigby was AMAZING.
Total turn around. She was social with the team, approaching people to get pets (which she typically never does unless she thinks there's food in it for her).
She only really snarked at one dog, which is a dog that has taken issue with her previously so I don't entirely blame her.

Even the today when Josh wasn't there, she was still better than usual. Not great, but better.

 

[crazedACD]

So I went to an Aussie meetup yesterday. One of the other people who attended was a local breeder of show Aussies. I chatted with him a bit and picked his brain a bit about conformation, breeding, etc. I asked him for his opinion on Cohen. He pretty much told me the opposite of any of the feedback that I'd received online. (He felt it was her front that threw her off, where I'd always been told it was her rear.)

I asked him where he might suggest I go if I (hypothetically) wanted another Aussie as a sports/performance prospect. He went off on a tangent about how structure is more important than drive and how he breeds for type, how I should get a dog from a show breeder [ie, him] and pick the driviest pup, blah blah blah and then eventually summed up his point by saying that I should just get a Border Collie.

His dogs looked lovely, but they were the epitome of showlumps to me. Steady temperaments, probably lovely pets, but kind of boring and with too much bone. Also they were HUGELY overweight. Why are Aussies supposed to be lumps now?

I came away from the conversation pleased to have made another contact, but a bit dismayed as to the state of (at least local) Aussie breeding.

I looked at Aussies as an option before I got Fi (very briefly), and this is what I found as well. If the Aussie breeder was doing confo, they weren't doing anything else. Confo aussie breeders have these websites "Here is my show string!". Performance was "Oh yeah, some of the puppies we produced are doing xyz" or maybe a CGC or novice agility titles.
The "working" breeders I looked at, had their dogs out there doing more than just working. SAR, agility, obedience, rally. But they do fall short in their appearance and structure..well, for the confo ring at least.
They are a versatile breed, but breeders aren't breeding for versatility.

I went to a herding trial one weekend, and to a lure coursing event as well. Spent a lot of time just observing. There were some dogs that could not perform, especially in like the basic herding instinct test, and a few sighthounds that had no interest in coursing. I've touted this before but watching it up close this season, I really firmly believe dogs should be able to perform their intended purposes. I just got this immense sad feeling watching someone who shows and breeds her corgis, not be able to pass a simple instinct test with her dogs. If a corgi has no natural instinct to herd sheep, it should not be bred. If a Saluki will not course..it should not be bred. But this doesn't happen..everyone makes excuses "Well the dog has excellent xyz, it's ok if it doesn't herd". If we want to separate dogs to the point of having show and "field" lines, fine, but ideally everyone would work hand in hand for versatility. I know there are a handful of "show only" ACD kennels, and more than a handful of "working only" ACD kennels, but so many of the larger ACD breeders do everything with their dogs. Confo one weekend, agility the next, obedience at the end of the month, and working cattle in between. They make it work, why can't other breeds?

Wow...I really went off didn't I?

 

[Laurelin]

There are breeders breeding for versatile aussies though. I haven't looked into the breed as much as some but I know I was really impressed with Keechak's dogs and the kennel they're from.

 

[Paviche]

As much as I have puppy fever, and boy do I have it bad, seeing Rowan around puppies at work this past few weeks has really made me realize just how much he hates them. It really wouldn't be fair to put him through bringing a puppy into the house, so I guess my next dog will need to be an adult.

No big deal, there's always time for puppies in the future and there are definitely advantages to an adult, but it does change things a bit.