Puppies

StinkerBell · October 03, 2007, 03:17:48 PM

I got a new one with another on the way. I forgot how tiring it is to potty train. I also can not find the off switch for this little one. Puppies are cute but i am thinking now they are way too much work.

MountainDon · October 03, 2007, 05:10:39 PM

Yeah, it's some work but once you're done you're done. Of course then there's some other puppy habits to break; chewing and stuff.

We've found that most young puppies learn quickly to use a doggie door to go outside. Makes it a lot easier on yourself as well.

Here's 2 from the last batch we fostered. Yes, they're going to grow up a tad large for that door, but we only keep them until they get adopted. Haven't had any over the summer as we were in the mountains most of the time. Maybe again once the mountains get snowed in.

That door leads into the utility room where they have a cozy spot under the sink.

October 03, 2007, 07:21:52 PM

Speaking of puppies... my son's dog had 7 pups - but somehow I'm taking care of them now! Two have been given away - I'm thinking of keeping 2... they are 8 wks now - potty trained pretty good except when I have to keep them in the front porch for several hrs - what's the solution for that? I spent an hour this morning cleaning up pee & torn cardboard - they also knocked down a couple plants while climbing (remember we are underground & have some walls that are made with big boulders)

Plus, dogs like to bark! We have the mom right now - she woke us up barking about 2am last night - Glenn went to look & found a possum in the uphill patio - today we got a call from a neighbor asking if we had a rotweiler & a German shepard/pitbull mix running around - someone must have let their dogs loose - so our mama dog was barking at them, I'm sure; plus the deer, raccoons, possums, skunks, coyotes, bobcats, mtn lions, bears.... she's only been up here in the mountains a few days so not used to all this wildlife

But the pups sure are cute & sweet!

Mtn Don, your puppies are exceptionally cute!

StinkerBell · October 03, 2007, 07:29:56 PM

My new pup eats her poop. Been to the Vet to figure out why, but it is so disgusting.

We got American Rat Terriers. They better live up to their name and hunt rats and other small vermin.

MountainDon · October 03, 2007, 07:44:55 PM

Poop eating, more elegantly called "Coprophagia

My own dog used to eat her feces. She was a Cairn Terrier. I was told that is was a sign of something missing in their diet, a deficiency of some sorts. Or that the dog was bored, anxious or stressed. Or the dog had parasites. Another vet told us the dog saw it as a snack as there was some undigested matter in the feces.

In the end we got something from a vet that we added to her food. It apparently tasted good on the food, but was really bad tasting when digested and passed through... Just reporting what I was told, never tried it myself.

Sandi quit eating her poop after a couple weeks and never did again as far as we could tell.

Don't remember what the additive was. :'(

October 03, 2007, 07:50:00 PM

Those suggestions are the same the Vet suggested. We are going to treat for parasites and plan to start her on vitamins. The vet suggested some pineapple (canned is ok) in her meal. Dogs do not like their digested pineapple poop. I am stil so grossed out by this situation.

Sassy · October 03, 2007, 08:08:39 PM

I don't think mine have coprophagia

because I've shoveled up plenty of poop!

MountainDon · October 03, 2007, 08:15:16 PM

Well, I always wondered whether or not eating it, recycling, decreased or increased the final volume. Have to do a study, I guess. Run some numbers.

Amanda_931 · October 03, 2007, 09:18:25 PM

Thanks for reminding me why I do not need a puppy! Inside dogs came as puppies, outside ones were at least 8 months old when they wandered in.

It seems to be mating season for the coyotes now. Which doesn't do much for the inside dogs, but the yips from up the hill or down by the river drives the outside ones nuts. Typically they each bark seven times. Pause, and start over. Finally, hours later, get tired of it and do a howl.

The howls are kind of fun.

(and then there's dog candy--aka kitty poop)

October 03, 2007, 09:27:24 PM

Hmmm - dogs bred for recycling. When will the green movement end. Oh no -- bad pun there. Green movement. Better get that puppy to the vet.

glenn kangiser · October 03, 2007, 09:31:55 PM

Amanda said.

QuoteTypically they each bark seven times.

Just tried it, Amanda. You are right -- seven times --makes just the right sound.

benevolance · October 04, 2007, 02:00:55 AM

you need some of that sand for parasites... you take a teaspoon of it in a glass of water and it will kill all the parasites in your intestines... Diamteric earth or some such?... It is a type of silica or glass... I know Don knows exactly what I am talking about already

I know it is expensive...5 bucks a pound and then another 5 bucks to ship it

I am gonna go google it...

Found it... wow I am bad with names what I said was nowhere close

http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

Diatomaceous Earth

And it is $16 per ound shipping included... But it kills fire ants... I am getting some... Fire Ants are the worst I have spread filer ant killer here several times and it does not kill them... just forces em to move around my property

glenn kangiser · October 04, 2007, 10:31:39 AM

Someone is getting rich on that stuff. It occurs naturally as the shells of diatoms (dead algae) . I used to hit it occasionally drilling a couple hundred feet or so down. It was a real bear to drill through. slowed the casing way down.

There are large deposits of it near the coast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatom

Diatom pix from Wikipedia

I think they get into the ants joints. Boric acid powder may help also.

benevolance · October 04, 2007, 01:08:36 PM

well if it works on fire ants I do not care if the guy gets rich or not

October 04, 2007, 03:56:18 PM

DE info.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf334696.tip.html

Homegrown Tomatoes · October 17, 2007, 09:32:53 PM

Don, those pups are cute.
Stinkerbell, good luck with the rat terriers. One of our neighbors has one that is great... a really nice dog with an even temper. My Grandma had one that just died recently after about 14 or 15 years, and she was the meanest, nastiest dog alive... I don't get it... Grandma isn't crabby, but she sure had one heck of a crabby dog. I still have scars on my hands from where she would attack my hands when I came in the door. Now Grandma has a little mutt dog that was a mix of our miniature spitz and our neighbor's long-haired chihuahua (?? I think that's what he was??), and he's both adorable and sweet. He's not much bigger than one of those teacup chihuahuas (he was the runt of the litter.)

When I was in college, I got my other dog, a beardie. My roommate was a Chinese Malaysian girl, and my dog absolutely hated her. (She was the ONLY person he's ever disliked.) When he was still a puppy, he'd stand at the top of the stairs and throw his tennis ball down, and then scramble down and try to catch it. One day, the noise got on my roommate's nerves, and so she locked him up in my upstairs, unairconditioned room without food or water for several hours. When I got home that day, he was desperate for water and drank a half gallon before I even took him out for his walk. So, I walked him and walked him, but he really was holding back. I thought maybe he was so dehydrated that he just couldn't do anything, and so I went back. Just as we came up the stairs, my roommate came out of her bedroom and stormed to the bathroom. She left her bedroom door open just a crack, and Grover knew better than to go in there, but he immediately seized the opportunity that was before him and ran in. I called him and he came right back out, so fast that I didn't think he could have possibly done anything. Five minutes later when my roommate went back into her room and began shrieking, I knew I was wrong! He'd run in, jumped on her bed and left a pile right on the pillow for her! I took her sheets and pillowcase to the university laundry to wash them for her, but I laughed the whole way there... I didn't really blame him. In the more than ten years I've had Grover, that's the only time he's ever pooped in the house!

glenn kangiser · October 18, 2007, 01:16:32 AM

That is a good one.

A little tom cat we had did something like that to me the day we took him in to get him neutered - right before -- can't remember but seems he peed on my bed.

Homegrown Tomatoes · October 19, 2007, 02:05:54 PM

I know animal shrinks and vets will tell you that animals don't seek revenge, but I've known far too many animals to believe it. Grover smelled so bad today that the kids were pestering me to death to give him a bath... it's too chilly to do it outside, and so we spent from 10:20-1:20 today bathing and grooming the smelly dog in the bathtub. We decided to give him a much needed haircut, too, and it'll be months before I get the dog hair out of everything! He looks pretty comical... nothing like turning a 4-year-old and 3-year-old loose with scissors and clippers.

I had to tell the above story about Grover because I felt totally left out of the 'poop' stories otherwise.

Naw, really it just cracks me up every time I think of my roommate shrieking hysterically and using cuss words to describe what the dog had done because she didn't know another word like "poop". Puppies are great fun.

Sassy · October 19, 2007, 02:40:03 PM

Yeh, I'm still dealing with 5 puppies - they're about 10 wks old now - I've decided I will keep one. Glenn put an ad in the local free ad site on the internet - only 1 call & they haven't called back after Glenn sent them pix

They are a lot of fun & really sweet but a lot of work! They follow me everywhere. Haven't noticed them eating any poop yet - that would probably be a lot easier than having to clean up all the piles everyday!

Homegrown Tomatoes · October 19, 2007, 07:33:59 PM

Five pups are way more work that five grown dogs... You should charge for them. Every time I try to give stuff away, I can't hardly pay people to take it, but put it in the paper with a price and your phone will be ringing off the hook for a month after they're gone. That's what we did with the puppies our dog had that time... I put them in the paper for $75 each, and got it from all of them but the runt, and I gave him to my grandma because she wanted him. There was a guy calling me for three weeks afterward begging for me to get the little one back from my grandma and he'd pay me $200 for it. And these were just cute little mutts (I think there is a picture of a couple of them on our garden album on our site...) I was amazed. We had one couple drive from Missouri to get one.

October 19, 2007, 11:12:55 PM

QuoteThose suggestions are the same the Vet suggested. We are going to treat for parasites and plan to start her on vitamins. The vet suggested some pineapple (canned is ok) in her meal. Dogs do not like their digested pineapple poop. I am still so grossed out by this situation.

In the meantime, Stink, it would be cool if you didn't let them lick your face in greeting you -- no kisses.

glenn kangiser · December 18, 2007, 12:42:06 AM

Susie is the puppie who gets to stay with me. She likes Sassy's chair when she is not here. We'll - she was too wet and dirty for me so I took her to the shower -- turned it on and got some shampoo and cleaned her off. She's an outside dog when I'm gone nd Sassy is working. Now she can jump into Sassy's chair without me getting into too much trouble..

Hmmm...what was that slurping sound I heard in the bathroom? hmm

Now that I think about it, I think she was lapping up the little bit of water on the shower floor. If not, at least I flushed.

tanya · December 18, 2007, 07:32:13 AM

There are easy ways to train puppies and thent here are hard ways. First of all if you wnt them potty trained you put them outside immediately when they wake up and right after eating every time no matter what in about two weeks they will cry to go out. Never beat a dog or even spank them hard it does no good at all and can make them mean. They don't leanr much as puppies so it is important to only teach them one thing at first the word NO if they are chewing, getting in garbage, pooping, or whatever tell them no! really mean like you mean it. If they stop and come to you pet them and say good dog!. Those are the two things puppies will learn NO and good dog! Dogs by nature want to please so if you keep the directions clear they have a better chance of learning. Don't beat them but if you catch them chewing or inthe garbage just tap your finger on their nose firmly when you say no, they ge tthe point. Rubbin ght enose in the poop or spanking does no good just put them out and even if you had them out and they poop or pee when they come in say NO and put them back outside. I have raised dogs my entire life and thank god the puppies are fixed and ten years old now. they are the two we couldn't give away out of the mother dogs last litter. She is old now too. My daughters Chiwawa behaves perfectly except when my daughter is frustrated with her, never let a dog see you frustrated, they will take advantage of that and keep up their bad behavior at the most invconvienient times. The worst things my dogs do is dog fight amongst themselves and to get them apart two people each grab one tail and pull them back until they stop. They are older so when they start up with their growling at each other I say NO DOGFIGHTING!!! and they sulk off. I have black chow chow and black lab mix so the dogs are very protective but also docile and it works out great the only issue I really have is they don't care for stray cats or other dogs. But I don't feel sorry for them if they can't get along I tie them up or put them in the porch until the company leaves.

StinkerBell · December 20, 2007, 12:11:21 PM

Update on the Rat TERRORS...

Lucy is a very sweet little dog who wants to please. Her counter part Ricky is a mean little nasty dog. I regret getting him but my kids seem to like him. We are about 99% potty trained and the poop eating has not been an issue. They are both terrified of my 3 chickens. Ever since they took on the little mean dog (the head chicken and her friend rolled the little dog and attacked him) the dogs are terrified of them.
They are willing to work hard for a treat. If you have no treat in your hand you do no exist to them. What a breed. Pit bulls are easier.

tanya · December 20, 2007, 02:44:54 PM

That story reminds me of my daughters dog. The dog was a pup and part wolf well my horses will go after dogs but usuallyt he dog has to go after them first not this one somehow they knew she was part wolf (they are mustangs) anyway that darn dog ran to me for protection with three really upset horses after her. Luckily the horses know who is boss but they really wanted to kill her and she is terrified of cows, horses, everything.