Postings by Clyde

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Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Wed Jun 19, '13 3:30pm PST  An adult (3-5 yr old) American Staffordshire from a foster home/ breed rescue might fit your needs. They tend to be calmer as adults and you know whether or not the dog will get along with kids and other animals. Prey drive, dog aggression, and public image are the only concerns I can think of with the breed and when you get a puppy it is a toss-up as far as DA and drive will turn out when it reaches 2-3 yrs old. Getting a low-key adult rescue would solve the prey drive and aggression issue and there are always plenty who need a loving home. A large deer chihuahua/mix might be up for consideration, too. While they are small, at around 15-25 lbs at the largest, they shed very little, adore children, love to play, and are quite trainable. A little on the intelligent side, though. It would be difficult to come by, but I am sure there is the occasional freakishly large deer chihuahua mix weighing in at a lean 30 lbs in animal shelters. Again, best to go with a foster situation so you know exactly what the dog will be like when it settles in at your home. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Wed Jun 19, '13 3:16pm PST  Our chihuahua does something similar while off-leash. It is basically an under-stimulated, bratty teen puppy behavior. No dominance, just being a little pain for some giggles. That would not warrant such an extreme measure as sending the dog to boot camp. It certainly wouldn't in a human child. Just show him an exaggerated "I'm ignoring you because you hurt my feelings, you meanie!" kind of motion as you stop and show him your back for up to 30 seconds after he stops acting out (it should vary based on the severity of offense). Then continue walking and reward with calm, happy voices to show him that you want him to give you good manners. It works for us. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > "Those kind of people" rant

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Wed Jun 19, '13 11:04am PST  I am really sorry all this is happening to you at once, but you really are very, very lucky. Accidents happen. Pit bulls are still dogs and will get loose. In fact, almost every dog we have owned, except Clyde and Louie, has gotten loose unsupervised at some point. But when your pit bull gets loose more than once, you are being labeled as "One of those people" by everyone in your community. Way too many pit bull owners don't give a care and let vicious dogs run at large, terrorizing the neighborhood. Thank God I don't have any of "those people" in my neighborhood right now. I know you probably aren't "One of those people" in reality, but that is an image you have to fight constantly just by owning a pittie and recent events justified it in the minds of your local government. That is why they got all up in your face about late registration. "Not one of those stupid, lazy pit bull owners, again!" was likely the thought behind it. The fact that your dog was not euthanized for biting once is a blessing. Your animal control is clearly doing the right thing by not killing him based only on breed, which is all too often the case in most parts of the U.S. You are also fortunate that he did not get shot by a neighbor or worse, stolen by dogfighters. I cannot even begin to count how many sweet family pet pitties have been snatched from the yards of their owners in my neighborhood. I would imagine a loose dog would be even more of a target for thieves. Be thankful your situation was not worse, because it very well could have been. Use the opportunity to learn the lessons needed to prevent this from re-occuring and you are golden. I would advise only letting the dogs in the yard if you are supervising them so no more escapes can happen. If you cannot keep them indoors when you are not there to watch them, build a kennel or put the escape artist on a chain. Chaining is not too big of a problem as long as the dog spends less time on it than off. Again, accidents happen. But when we let our sensibilities supercede our emotions, we can learn from our mistakes and become better owners in the end. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Behavior after a bite

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Tue Jun 18, '13 10:42pm PST  Sounds like your neighbor is a cuckoo! I would strongly recommend carrying a can of pepper spray and a good pocket knife to defend yourself while out and about if you don't already (It would also be a good idea to find a self-defense trainer if you feel threatened enough). She sounds like some serious trouble. You should also look into getting some kind of restraining order if the stalking keeps happening. All too often, stalking will escalate to the point where it becomes law enforcement's problem. Also, keep the dogs under constant supervision if possible. If she is targeting your dog, she may try to do violence to him or even try to kill him in retaliation if she is low enough. edit:I don't know if the people in your area can behave as as horridly as what I'm worrying could happen, but stuff like that does happen occasionally in many parts of Sacramento, CA where I live so sorry if it scares you... it may just be because I hear too many horror stories about angry cuckoo neighbors and dead innocent pit bulls from friends/acquaintances. It is not the nicest city and there are lots of pit bulls and lots of crazies here. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Small Dogs > Picky eater!! How do i get her to eat her dog food?

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Tue Jun 18, '13 10:14pm PST  My advice is less gentle, but it has worked with every picky eater we have owned. First, do not give any more treats between meals than is necessary for training purposes, etc. Feed her two or three meals per day and let her eat until she is full or until you need to control portions to prevent obesity. Place the food down in front of her and walk away for 5-10 minutes. Since I see you have another dog, upon returning after the set time, let him eat the food she did not eat and the bowl goes up. She skips a meal if she eats nothing. Do not change the food until you run out of it. Jealousy is a powerful motivator for dogs and it may be all you need to get her to start eating. You could also try putting the food in a treat ball to make eating more fun for her. If she goes days without eating, she is fine as long as she is drinking water and isn't looking emaciated. You need to nip the pickiness in the bud or else she will learn to starve herself to death to get her way... not a good scenario. If you're really worried, I believe there are mixes that can be added to the water to put some extra nutrients in her body during the "hunger strike". We did it with our puppy, Louie. He was picky with the breeders and when we got him, we simply left the food out all day and never did anything to encourage him to eat other than placing the food in treat balls and letting Clyde gulp up any rejected kibble lying on the floor. He would go 2-3 days without eating except for the occasional snack. This happened for a month or less and now Louie will eat almost any food we give him for his meal. He still picks through his food, but will eat everything if he is still hungry after picking. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Tue Jun 18, '13 2:31pm PST  I'm pretty sure shock collars hurt, but so do a lot of other things. I've never used one before, but I would imagine a collar with 100 levels to choose from could deliver some very small shocks that would be barely noticeable. Why, as a tiny lady with a big 4x4, if I'm wearing an ankle-length skirt and slide in and out a few times over my truck's static-ey seats, I can deliver quite the zap to Clyde when I go pet him. If he hasn't been traumatized by that, a low-level zap from a shock collar probably wouldn't, either. Gotta watch those truck seats and ankle-length skirts, they are making me accidentally do some doggie torture. Most people I see do seem to use them inappropriately, but when used correctly, they should be no less acceptable than any other training tool that causes discomfort/pain. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Why use 'leave it' instead of 'no'?

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Wed Jun 12, '13 11:54am PST  Dogs are not as good at complicated thought as humans. By saying "no" this, "no" that, "no" to all kinds of things, the dog will get confused. "No" could mean "leave it", "no" could mean "stop peeing on the rug", "no" could mean "don't go in the kitchen", etc. To a dog (or child) hearing such a word all the time, it gets pushed in their minds to the realm of background noise and empty chatter. I do use "no" as a generalized "stop it" command, but only save it for when I am unable to speak in an emergency situation. (I have moments where I literally blank out on my entire spoken vocabulary) The dogs tend to blow off a "no" from my parents because they always use the word, but a stern "NO" from me means they're in huge trouble. "No" is a word I feel should remain in the human-dog vocabulary, but it should be rarely used. By using "no" as a generalized "stop it" command for every little thing, the word loses its power. I try to do it like my parents do to me. The specific command is like the first name, "AAH-AAAH-AAH" is like first and second name, and "NO" is like mom saying your whole name, middle one(s) and all. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dogs & Travel > Keeping The Vehicle Clean?

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Tue Jun 11, '13 1:03pm PST  We usually use an old trashed comforter or a tarp and cover the floors the dog will be on. It works perfectly for Clyde, but he is really good about staying still in the back of my SUV. I have seen a canvas floor cover specially designed for dogs inside cars/SUVs. It looks a bit like a tarp. I believe I last saw one for sale at Bed Bath and Beyond but that was months ago. It hooks onto the seat and tailgate area so a dog can go bonkers back there and not slide it around like a tarp. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Laws & Legislation > Police search wrong house and kill pit bull

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Fri Jun 7, '13 8:25am PST  Place your dog in a fenced yard and it gets shot, chain your dog in a fenced yard and it gets shot, keep your dog inside and it gets shot, restrain your dog inside the house and it gets shot. It seems to be increasingly impossible for innocent neighbors to protect their dogs from police these days. I'm just waiting for a story where a dog gets shot while locked in its own crate inside its own house by police at the wrong address. /endrant my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Clyde Ice cubes? YES- PLEASE!     Barked: Wed Jun 5, '13 8:03am PST  Micro dogs are so creepy! Even my mom who originally wanted a teacup breed because she thought they were cute (I convinced her not to) found pictures of micros very disturbing. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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