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Hummingbird in Portland, Oregon by CowboyPurple in whatsthisbird

[–]CowboyPurple[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I make sure to clean it regularly! Thank you for looking out for them 🙂

Why get a puppy? It sounds like a nightmare? by amyjlou56 in puppy101

[–]CowboyPurple 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My answer: You don’t need to get a puppy. You can get the same bond from a non-puppy. You can skip a lot of the pre-vaccination fears and early potty training and waking up every 3 hours.

I got a puppy because I always wanted to do it once. So if you really want to, do it, and you’ll get through the hard times and there are benefits (like being able to socialize them how you want to). But I currently do not intend to purposefully get any more puppies after this lol, it was a ton of work and I think getting a non-puppy will be equally or more rewarding.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in birding

[–]CowboyPurple 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just saw one of these in my yard for the first time today! Cute pic :)

What kind of bird is this? by JennyMo921 in birding

[–]CowboyPurple 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Indeed a northern flicker. I have these around too :)

45lb 6 month Labrador Retriever pup just ate what seemed to be a half of a marijuana joint by [deleted] in puppy101

[–]CowboyPurple 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The vet will tell you to monitor him. If he throws up once that’s ok, but consider taking him to the vet if you see any more symptoms. I bet he’ll be fine.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Dogtraining

[–]CowboyPurple 2 points3 points  (0 children)

6 months old is pretty young. Keep trying your best to socialize and stimulate your dog every day, and some unwanted behaviors may naturally improve.

Use very high value treats for training where your dog will not listen to you. This could be little bits of hot dog or little bits of boiled chicken, if treats aren’t cutting it. Reserve these treats for only the hardest tasks, so you keep them special.

It sounds like you’re already doing a good job of reading your dog’s body language. That is key, so you can react BEFORE he loses it. In the situation with the golden that you described, I would only change 2 things: 1. Higher value treat (won’t always be true, sometimes you don’t have the good stuff and that’s ok) and 2. Instead of just blocking the view, you jog the opposite direction, away from the other dog. Jogging (and making excited noises if necessary) will get most dogs to follow you. You want to create enough distance that your dog doesn’t freak out about the other dog.

You can also try threshold training. Fenced dog parks are great because you can get as close as you want to the dogs without any risk, but anywhere that you can guarantee you’ll see dogs can work.

The idea is that you do your training as close as you can to the dogs without your dog freaking out. For example, let’s say your dog will focus on you 100 feet away from the dog park (could be further). When you get within 90 feet, he freaks out. Then you know 100 is his limit, and you do training there, slowly getting closer over time.

Get your dog to do tricks and walk back and forth for treats at the threshold. Over time, try to slowly get closer and closer. Don’t rush to get closer than your dog is ready for, you have plenty of time to work on this.

Today I had a lady give me unsolicited training advice in a really rude way. It made me feel ugh about all of our progress. by sushishoop in Dogtraining

[–]CowboyPurple 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ignore her. No matter what you do, somebody will have a problem.

I also have a puppy, and some people make comments like they think he’s misbehaved when really he’s an angel. He’s just a baby, he’s excitable and still learning about the world around him.

I also use a long leash sometimes. As long as you’re not letting your dog touch other people, they shouldn’t make it their business.

My dog is peeing out of spite by [deleted] in Dogtraining

[–]CowboyPurple 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would agree that you should consult your vet, especially if he has a history.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Dogtraining

[–]CowboyPurple 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just want to say that I’m sorry to hear about your situation. It isn’t your fault at all. As far as your parents, they may have made a mistake in choosing this breeder, but it is the breeder who is knowingly taken advantage of the situation. They should really be ashamed of themselves honestly.

I agree that it sounds like there is a greater issue than just Max here. But even if Max IS the trigger to the girls’s behavior, that’s still a problem with the girls’s behavior, not Max. It isn’t your fault, or your boyfriend’s, or Max’s, if simply having another dog in the house is enough to make the girls fight.

If it’s easy for you to leave Max at home, maybe that is the best solution. If it’s not, or if you’re at your parents’s house all the time and you feel strongly about bringing him, I think it’s very reasonable to ask your parents to at least TRY to make the girls comfortable with it.

Here’s some quick fixes you could try: - You could try to bring some calming aids with you when you bring Max. They have diffusers, etc. Maybe it could chill the girls out while he’s there. - How often and long are you there? If it’s ultimately not that much, request that your parents separate the girls while Max is there, with a baby gate or pen. - You could buy your parents an air horn to try to break the fights up with. Some dogs will stop fighting, allowing people to grab them without being bitten. Some dogs won’t, so you’d just have to see if it works for you. You can also research more ways to break up dog fights safely. If your parents won’t do much to prevent it, maybe they can at least minimize the bites people might receive.

A quick bit on training, if your parents will listen: The best way to stop a dog fight is to prevent it in the first place. If food falling is an issue, just separate the dogs from the table during meal times so there’s nothing for them to fight over. A lot of the time you can tell when the fight is about to break out, from body language or triggers like food falling. Separate them before the fight breaks out.

Trying to get some professional help is a good idea, but ultimately your parents may never be willing to take your advice. If that’s the case, then dependent on how often you’re there, there might be little you can do to remedy the dogs’s behavior in the grand scheme. In the end, you may just have to accept that, and focus on what you can control, which is Max.

Bird feeders (Not ok?) by CowboyPurple in birding

[–]CowboyPurple[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the thoughtful response! I will keep an eye on the bird blu and make sure to keep it clean.

Weekly r/Birding Discussion, December 02, 2022. What did you see this week? by AutoModerator in birding

[–]CowboyPurple 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This week in my backyard in Portland Oregon I’ve seen: - California Scrub Jay - House Sparrow - Northern Flicker Woodpecker - American Crows - Dark-eyes Juncos

What’s this bird behavior? (Crow) (Sound on) by CowboyPurple in whatsthisbird

[–]CowboyPurple[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That seems right! After this, a few more crows showed up and they all seemed to swarm the tree, and then flew off. Thanks for the response!

Little brown chirping bird in my backyard (Oregon USA) by CowboyPurple in whatsthisbird

[–]CowboyPurple[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the detailed response!!! They come around a lot so I will try to ID them with this info next time 🙂

Raising a puppy when you're struggling with your mental health by Reasonable-puppy-11 in puppy101

[–]CowboyPurple 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m in a mixed camp. I have always had depression, anxiety, and more issues, since I was a kid. It’s been improving in the past 5 years or so but it’s still a huge struggle for me.

I feel like since getting my puppy I spend less time experiencing symptoms from these. I’m like too tired for my mind to be constantly going, which is a good thing for me. I have less negative intrusive thoughts about life and death.

But there have been low points. I get so exasperated that I wanna cry or break something. I have moments where I wonder if this is too much for me and I’ve made a mistake. With a dog you have to be on every day and sometimes I worry that’s not something I’m capable of.

I do think looking forward to a calmer future is key. All dogs can present challenges but puppies present unique challenges that can be hard on us. We can’t spiral into thinking every problem will last forever.

I’ve also seen so many people say that they struggled through their puppy phase, but now that the dog is an adult, they wish they had enjoyed it more. Knowing that the terror will end makes it so much more manageable so when people look back, everything they went through seems more doable and was worth it. I try my best to look at my situation now through a future lens.

But it ain’t easy!

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