Postings by Tatonka

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Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Thu Mar 14, '13 12:32am PST  Given his age, it might be another tumor. My family had a lab when I was a kid, and when she got around that age, she developed a fatty tumor in the same area. It did grow to the point where she eventually had issues getting up, but it was able to be removed with no problems, and she was back to her normal self within a few weeks. Like the previous poster said, your best bet is to get him checked out by a vet and make sure it isn't anything serious. I hope everything works out well for you and Rocky my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Tue Mar 12, '13 8:38pm PST  I've posted on Dogster a few times about Blue, despite the fact that he has no page(Yet- I WILL get a good picture, darn it!), and this post is about him as well. We finally got Blue's vet records a few weeks ago, and upon flipping through them, I found out that Blue has lumps in his throat. He can still breathe and eat with no problems, aside from the occasional gagging and coughing up phlegm, although where he's older(14/15ish), removing them surgically isn't really an option, so if he eventually has to be put down, this will likely be why, although that won't be for a little while still. We gave the vet a call to see what we could do for Blue, and he just told us to make sure he has plenty of water, which of course we always do. I'm wondering, though, if anyone's had this experience before, and how they handled it? Also, are there any foods that would be easier to swallow(We feed Blue Purina Dog Chow Senior blend), or any foods we should avoid feeding him? We know that just with his age, we'll probably only have Blue for another five years at most, but we want his time left to be as long and comfortable as possible. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Constant Barking- Nothing Seems to Help

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Wed Feb 6, '13 12:12pm PST  A little while ago, I posted about a dog who's staying with us, Blue, and his manners regarding our new cat. This is copied and pasted from the first post: "At the moment, my fiancee's parents dog is staying with us. He's an older dog, though they've only had him for about two years, and he came with many bad habits(stealing food, constant barking, occasional nipping, never listens, etc.) and they're fed up with his bad behavior. My fiancee's mother wants to get rid of him, but his father is convinced that Blue should just be put down, as he's old and with so many undesirable traits, he doesn't think Blue would be able to find a home. To keep this from happening, we're working on teaching him some better manners. Blue's progress is slow, but he's old, somewhere around 12, so we're trying to be patient." His training is going fairly well, he and the cat are getting along better now, and he's making great progress from the bratty, anxious dog that he was into a calmer and I think happier dog now. There's just one thing we can't seem to get a handle on: his barking. I've had beagles before, and those little guys can be stubborn barkers, but Blue takes the cake. He barks at everything- a passing vehicle, a person out the window, an animal in the yard, animals on TV(a cute quirk at first, but it's become rather obnoxious-we watch a lot of Animal Planet), people who are trying to talk to each other, a person who's trying to talk on the phone, and occasionally, it seems, nothing at all. I'm going to be having a baby next month, and I really would like her to be able to sleep without being woken by Blue. Getting rid of him isn't an option anymore. I found out he's closer to 14, almost 15 years old, so he's most likely to be staying with us for the rest of his life. When my fiancee's parents had him, their solution was to just yell at Blue until he lost interest in whatever he was barking at. I, however, have had enough experience with dogs to know that if you yell at a dog, especially one like Blue, he's likely to yell back. We've been calm, but there's a certain tone of voice that will send Blue to the safety of his bed, and even from there we'll hear the occasional soft woofs. I don't want to scare him into behaving. When I had the beagles, teaching them a "speak" and a "quiet" command usually did the trick. With Blue, though, he won't listen to us unless we have a treat to give him, and I'm already concerned about Blue's weight. His first owner kept his bowl full of food for him, and when we got him he was dangerously overweight. He's getting down to a more decent wight now, but I'm afraid that if we continue feeding him treats, he'll start to put weight on again. He's a pretty smart dog, too, and I don't want him to start barking as a way to get treats. The barking while people are talking is really getting to be a hassle. We know it's because he wants attention- if he gets ignored long enough he'll shove his way in between the people talking, and if that doesn't work he starts nipping. We've tried giving him toys to entertain himself, and we've tried having someone else give him attention while the others are trying to talk, but he ignores the person petting him and continues to act like a brat. We asked around amongst our friends to see if anyone had any ideas for us. One suggested a muzzle, but he doesn't need a muzzle. He doesn't bite, he barks, and any muzzle that's going to keep him from barking is essentially going to keep his mouth forced shut, and I'm not leaving something like that on him all the time. Another suggested an electronic collar. Not a shock collar, one of the citronella spray collars. Blue barks enough that I'm afraid he'll just end up sticky and miserable if we use something like that. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips for what we can do for Blue? I know that if he didn't bark as much, it would just be a better situation for my family, Blue himself included. Thanks in advance! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > What on Earth does he want from her?

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Fri Jan 25, '13 10:13pm PST  Kali- Thanks for the hint! It was very helpful. We got some Pup-peroni- Blue's absolute favorite. Tobi sneaked up to the main level of the house a day ago. It was a very brief visit- she hid behind the couch but poked her head out every few seconds. While Blue was definitely interested in the cat, his attention ultimately came back to me and the treats. Smokey- That's exactly what all his bad habits are- puppy behaviors. His first owner admitted that she kinda just let him do absolutely anything he wanted, even letting him eat food from her plate. I knew that immediately after my fiancee's parents complained to me about him. What you said, "If you put nothing into your relationship with your dog, you get nothing back", that's exactly what I tried to tell them, that with some training he'd be an excellently behaved dog before they knew it. I was appalled when his father just kinda said Blue wasn't worth the work. That's exactly why we took him in- underneath all those puppy behaviors he's a great dog. He's made great progress with us so far. We were going to start with leash training, but to our delight, he already has excellent manners on a leash(That was extremely surprising, however-his first owner never took him for walks, and my fiancee's mother might have taken him once or twice ever). Blue also had a habit of getting overly excited when someone came through the front door. He would grab a shoe(we take them off at the door and keep them on a mat there) and when someone would try to take it from him he would run to his crate and chew it. The solution was very simple-whenever someone came in, we'd give him a Kong toy filled with peanut butter in place of the shoe. Within a week he no longer cared about stealing them. That showed us that he's willing and still able to learn, despite his old age. Honestly, if my fiancee's parents don't take him back, we'll probably end up keeping him. And for miss Tobi- I don't really think it's prey drive. As I said, he's never been this way with a cat before, and he's been around quite a few. The dog-dog communication sounds like more what it would be. The second he saw her, he stared at her, and his tail didn't stop wagging until she swatted him. It might possibly be that he's expecting her to be like Bandit, our last cat. He was rather dog-like and would even play with Blue after given the typical cues. At this point, I think we're going to cross our fingers and take things slow. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Rescue, Adoption & Happy Endings > Interesting Results of Highest/Lowest Ranked Pet Ownership States

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Wed Jan 23, '13 10:27am PST  No surprise Maine is on the top ten list- I live up here and see lots of hunting dogs, especially all those lovely beagles my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Wed Jan 23, '13 9:52am PST  At the moment, my fiancee's parents dog is staying with us. He's an older dog, though they've only had him for about two years, and he came with many bad habits(stealing food, constant barking, occasional nipping, never listens, etc.) and they're fed up with his bad behavior. My fiancee's mother wants to get rid of him, but his father is convinced that Blue should just be put down, as he's old and with so many undesirable traits, he doesn't think Blue would be able to find a home. To keep this from happening, we're working on teaching him some better manners. Blue's progress is slow, but he's old, somewhere around 12, so we're trying to be patient. That's the backstory. We recently rescued a cat, Tobi. The first day that she was here, she hid under the couch, and Blue tried to get under there with her. Understandable, she's a new addition to the household and he wanted to check her out. Tobi has been hiding in the basement for the past few weeks, and Blue doesn't like the stairs, so he's more-or-less left her alone. For the past two days, Tobi's seemed to find her courage and has been exploring more of the house. She was upstairs and finally met Blue nose-to-nose. While she was a little nervous at first, she came around eventually, even going up to Blue for a sniff. Blue sniffed back. And sniffed her. And sniffed her. And sniffed her. He now won't leave her alone. She eventually got tired of having him in her face, so she started running from him. Blue ignored her hisses and ended up trapping her in the bathroom, and Tobi, thoroughly fed up, swatted him on the nose. His response was to growl at her. We managed to drag him away from her(he's a big Weimeraner and wouldn't listen to us when we told him no- too focused on the cat) and Tobi has now taken to hiding downstairs again. Blue now paces at the top of the basement steps and barks at her if he sees her. This is not fair to her(It's cold down there!) but she's too annoyed by or scared of the dog to come back up. Blue has never acted this way with any other animal, not even cats. When he met my fiancee's parents' cat, he simply gave her a sniff and was done with it. Not even his first owner knows why he's harassing Tobi like this, and I'm at a loss. Does anyone know why he would be acting this way and any possible solutions to the problem? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dogster Crushes > Woof?

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Tue Mar 27, '12 9:55am PST  Hello, everyfur. I'm Tonka. I'm new here. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Health > Can anyone help?

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Fri Mar 23, '12 8:59pm PST  Thanks you guys! Lucille - I'll talk to my mom about it, but her reaction to the vaccinations was so severe she gets nervous when Pika has to go in for shots now. I'll see if I can convince her to at least get a second oppinion, though. Mika & Kai - The Kong idea sounds great. We don't have any right now because if Tonka gets ahold of them, he chews them to bits, but if we can keep him away from it, I'm sure Pikachu would appreciate something. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Health > Can anyone help?

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Thu Mar 22, '12 6:01am PST  Hey, guys. I'm not here asking about Tonka, but my mom's dog, Pikachu. Pika's a pekingese-chihuahua mix, around five or six years old. When my mom took her to get her first round of shots, we had to take her back to the vet. Her shoulders hurt so bad, she cried when she walked. She was also vomiting and lethargic. The vet told us that our poor little Pika is allergic to the vaccinations. He also said that Pika would very likely be allergic to the anesthetic that they would use to spay her, and if she were to be spayed it's possible that she could die. Pikachu has to be given benedryl before every round of shots now, but my mom is too scared to get her spayed. Pikachu got out during one of her heats and bred with the Pomeranian we had at the time. All the puppies found loving homes, and we've been careful not to let it happen again, partially because Pika was a miserable mommy. She stayed away from the puppies as much as she could, wouldn't play with them, and as soon as they were 8 weeks old, she was done with them. Pika's also miserable when she's in heat. She mood swings, trying to play one minute and snapping and growling the next, and she spends a good majority of her time in her crate - not because we put her there. Her crate is her safe spot, and she goes there during the day when she wants everyone to leave her alone. Do any of you guys know of anything that we can do to help Pikachu be a little happier while she's in heat, or maybe know of a way to get her spayed that wouldn't risk killing her? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Tatonka Walk until your- paws drop off     Barked: Mon Mar 19, '12 5:35am PST  Thanks again everyone for the help! We ruled out food allergies as a possibility because we've fed him a wide variety of foods throughout his life. However, is it possible for dogs to develop allergies, like humans do? Tonka's also had very bad gas lately and has also had two ear infections in the past few months. Wouldn't a food allergy explain all of this? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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