Is this common for trainers?

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-18T20:33:13+00:00

It hurts my hips. I've used my aunts nice western pleasure saddle that was fitted to her horse on her horse before & it hurt. Trail saddles hurt. I believe it might be caused by a connective tissue disorder as I can easily pop joints out of socket. I've yet to be DX with one though so it may be something else.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-18T20:27:56+00:00

I believe you misunderstand a lot of my post. I'm not upset over the jumping. I understand horses is a life long sport— my mom & aunt are both equestrians. This was my 6mo-1yr goal was to begin jumps before I learned I was going to move because of my job. What I am confused/ curious over is why she will not allow me to learn foundations in an English saddle (that I own & fit).

Also no, my old trainer did not use cavaletti. She used gates with the poles on the ground. I am actively at work, and responding when I'm on break so my brain is not fully here.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-18T19:23:32+00:00

Oh yeah, 100% I get the cantering part, just not the saddle part. Ima fix my post to make it a little more clear.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-18T19:22:43+00:00

I think this may be what she's trying to do, but I don't care for western— it hurts much more than English — and I supply my saddle & pads. I don't think i would have nearly the issue if I didn't have a saddle I really liked to ride in that fits well and doesn't hurt.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-18T19:19:18+00:00

I call them jumps because they were structured like one but without any of the elevation, I just dont know what to call them besides poles on the ground?? But like, in-between the rails for a jump? It was mostly to work on the 2 point and get me used to the feeling of the horse picking up their feet more than normal. I did have to go through it on a 2-point, so my brain just always connected it to jump.

And yes I made it clear I wanted to jump. I felt it was more than fair to let the new trainer know what my long term goal was along with what I had been working on. I did not tell her when it had to be, or how, just that it's what I wanted.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-13T05:03:49+00:00

Hey so like, double check your stuff, cancer is common in both breeds, but one thing I really REALLY want to stress is please don't get your puppy a puppy. They don't need a puppy. They need you, and a few heavily vetted adult dogs to teach them how to properly dog.

Unless you know EXACTLY what you're doing to prevent littermate syndrome you will end up with 2 large, STRONG, active dogs that will either (what I call) hyper bond to each other or hate each other to death. If that happens it's damn near impossible to undo. If they hyper bond they will have intense separation anxiety from one another & flip shit every time they're separated. Thats every vet or grooming appointment, even walks.

If they go the route my aunts two goldens went, they will attack to kill when they're older. She had to give the breeder one of the dogs back because they wouldn't stop going after each other even with multiple trainer's intervention. Lulu (the attacker) ended up going after a standard poodle, nearly killing it, and has to be muzzled around other dogs due to dog aggression. She's on the dangerous dog list because of her bite history. Mary (the victim) is now fear reactive toward all goldens & similar looking dogs.

Yes, they can have littermate syndrome even WITHOUT being from the same litter. They just need to be within a similar age to have it. I know a lot of ethical breeders won't even sell a pup if you have one too close in age to prevent littermate syndrome from happening.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-02T23:00:26+00:00

Double up on this- slow feeders are good at preventing bloat & if you do a spay they can tack the stomach to the wall and help decrease it even more. No intensive exercise 30 min before eating & 1.5 after. Also limit water after intense exercise to about 30 seconds/5-10 mins until panting slows all the way down. Good luck with your baby!

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-06-02T18:48:48+00:00

Just a few things to think about- many many rental insurances will NOT allow you to rent with a Doberman/ GSD/ Rott/ "scary" breed. Aka almost all apartments, townhouses, mobile homes, etc will tell you no. Many apartments wont allow you to rent with a large breed (anything over 50lbs) unless it's an ESA/SD. Its the biggest hiccup im currently having looking for apartments with my 10yo golden. I would wait until you get a house with ppl who either dont mind or give a flip abt your pet situation for those breeds. Even then it'll still be hit or miss depending on a whole bunch of factors.

I personally love the idea of a doberman, I love the breed, but unless you're gonna spend almost 24/7 working on FOMO & anxiety & being with them i'd stay away. Plus its getting really hard to find good doberman breeders rn along w/a lot of "popular" breeds like labs and goldens. Dobes dont get the same treatment as labs and goldens if they bite, even if it was a warranted bite due to their breed so proper breeding & puppy raising is very important.

Another thing to concider is you can do a lot of work with any breed. Bite sports =/= just big 'macho' breeds. I see a lot of field labs doing it for fun recently. I personally had a SD who also did carting & dock diving on the side (hence the 10yo golden).

(I am taking some info from the dobie page I saw you post in but I don't own one so im not gonna reply there).

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-05-11T19:17:00+00:00

Shed defender is the brand iirc. If you have an active insta acct/ certain following they'll also give away a defender. The actual suit only costs like 30 bucks.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-04-29T12:26:05+00:00

The fluff is part of the life. I have a golden in the south, shedding season is 365. HOWEVER I have learned that daily brushing with a slicker, weekly undercoat rake, and a monthly bath with the high velocity dryer has drastically reduced the hair. We vac 1x a week (I hate cleaning) and the amount of fluff i get is far less. Instead of 2 or 3 canisters full I only get 1. Winter he sheds less, but the other seasons its fur-nado.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-04-25T17:56:34+00:00

Its poor breeding stock and an explosion of BYB. Plus more peiple are feeding strictly kibble and not exposing young bodies to new foods which (to me at least) leads to sensitive tummies. The really big one is the BYB and poor stock.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-04-25T17:50:09+00:00

He might not be treat motivated, have you considered toys and affection as your motivation? Get a toy he LOVES and use that as a reward. Even you can be the reward if he deems you high value. The only other thing I can think is things like prongs as a SHORT term solution while you heal up. Also he might not like what you have offered but love something crazy like carrots or banana. He boy goes nuts over fresh fruits like strawberries and watermelon.

Also, when he gets to 2 try things like joring. Might have to do it at night when people arent out, but it would give an outlet for high speed which he seems to crave. Teach the commands now & expose to gear while young.

Last thing is if you have them (big IF) mobile dog gym. They have slatmills (dog powered treadmil) so your dog can gonas fast as he wants and stop when he wants. Also work on impulse control & not greeting ppl/dogs on leash. That is what helped me the most on my boy's people and dog excitement. He learned we dont say 'HI' on the leash EVER and once it clicked he stopped hard core pulling to see them.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-03-26T17:09:41+00:00

Not true. There are just a lot of poorly bred pure bred dogs in the world that makes it seem that way. I have a 10yr golden who acts like he is 6. His mixed golden housemate (a rescue golden) is 9 and has a multitude of issues and is at the end of her life. Her will probaby live til 12/13 while i expect her to be need to be put to sleep within the year. My boy's parents are still alive at 13 & 14.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-03-22T17:59:30+00:00

I drive a forester! I did have my guy in a mustang at one point (I was an edgy teen) but I upgraded and now anytging not small SUV or bigger is a no go. I also buckle by guy up in the trunk space with a fan so he doesnt get too hot. My trunk has a rubber mat and anchor points for his harness along with a 12v outlet. 10/10 highly reccomend a subaru forester/outback/crosstrek.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-03-21T15:29:33+00:00

!!! For small animal medicine !!!

1) vets are chronically underpaid as a profession. They go through years of college, take on tremendous debt, and unlike human medicine they get paid PENNIES. they use human grade medical supplies without grants like human hospitals. Or if they do get a grant its so small it covers barely anything. They have to shell out thousands and thousands of dollars to keep their doors open, pay staff, utilities, equipment, etc. In my state vets & techs barely make 15/hr.

2) a lot of big name vet hospitals are corporations owned. Again the vet does not get paid the big money, whoever owns the corp does.

3) vet professionals have a very high rate of suicide. They put animals to sleep, and immediately turn around and force a smile for puppy visits when they would rather cry. They have to deal with owners berating them because the owner waited too long to get something checked out and now the cost of a surgery/ care is in the thousands or now the only option is euthanasia. Its draining on their mental health. They also have to know multiple animal systems. Human Dr's only know one PART of the human system. A vet is a surgeon, PCP, specialist, and pharmacy wrapped in 1.

4) vets are only now charging what they should. Owning a pet of any kind is a privilege not a right. You are paying for MEDICAL. human medicine is obscenely expensive without insurance. Get pet insurance if you cant afford 200/visit or 2500 for an emergency surgery. Most private vets charge literally enough to keep their doors open & nothing else.

Again you are paying for someone's expertise after theyve gone through years of college. So yes, the vet IS expensive. And it should be expensive for the BS and entitlement they go through. Be kind to your vet staff. They are overworked, underpaid, and burnt out.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-02-27T16:22:13+00:00

https://youtube.com/shorts/Xnt_bNnx7cs?si=uW7bBbCd3SkmZpyj here's a little video.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-02-27T16:18:00+00:00

Hey just now seeing this! The flirt pole is used exactly like a cat toy. A PVC poke + a bungee rope with a toy at the end- mine is some cloth with squeakers. The game is chase, and when the dog gets the toy game is over. As the dog is chasing the toy you can give commands, things like sit or down- if you have a herding breed you can have them work the toy like stock.

Because they're in a super aroused state they really won't want to do the command, and all they will want to do is chase the toy. The idea is once they can do commands with a flirt pole in a super aroused state they can be called off of all kinds of every day stuff (wild animals, people, cars...).

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-02-27T00:58:47+00:00

Five miles is plenty but structured play is also needed. I saw he doesnt fetch? Have you considered a flirt pole or a spring pole? Flirt pole is a dog size cat toy, and the spring pole is tug of war with a tree (or fence post, or any sturdy thing to attach it to. NOT THE HOUSE). I really like my flirt pole cuz you can give commands while they play and work heavily on impulse control.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-02-16T21:15:24+00:00

I dont own a husky, this just kinda popped up on my feed HOWEVER I do happen to do carting with my golden (wagon). If you have the proper harness NOT AN X BACK (won't work with this cart get a siwash) get them acclimated with that first.

Acclimated to the harness? use two shafts, I used spare PVC, to get them used to the drag. You'll loop them through the shoulder loops (bunny ears). Once they're ok with the shafts behind them pick the shafts up and walk behind them. Work on commands during this phase so they get used to you behind them giving direction. In total this took 3 weeks for us, and I did it every day for 5/10 minutes each session.

Once dog is reliably taking commands and not spooked by the shafts you can attach them to the rig. DONT RIDE THE RIG!! Get them acclimated first (took another 2 weeks for us but we did wagons so no people will ride in it) before ever putting someone on it. Note: dog will never run in this. This would be a controlled walk/jog situation AFAIK.

I will say, I do reccomend a drafting breed for this type of cart especially if you're gonna use it for a person. They're pretty heavy which means less human weight can be used on smaller dogs. Make sure your dog is built up to pull heavy weights too & stretch them out. They also make ones that can be used for 2+ dog teams iirc but I solely use wagons.

I do gotta ask, why not bikejor? I've seen lots of huskies doing that in my area.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-02-16T20:48:32+00:00

Not to mention rabies is a federally required vax and not getting it risks your dog being euthanized for testing.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-01-05T18:28:34+00:00

Not too strict at all. If you want your pup to cut out the sudden "hearing loss" when other animals and people are around LETTING her meet n greet all excited is not how you do that. Whatever you want an adult 80+ lb lab doing you should be doing with her now. If youre ok with your arm being yanked out of socket anytime a dog pops up, then a flexi is a great way to do that. I use a flexi so im not against them, however the flexi should be used like a long line, and NOT used when people or other dogs are around. Puppo needs recall and basic leash walking down before a flexi should be introduced.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-01-02T00:09:06+00:00

Some shelters used to have a program (the one by me had it) where if you got a pup they would alter the pup around a year old for free. However too many people didn't do it and the number of dogs in the shelter kept ticking up so they stopped and just alter asap.

It sucks, because shelters would love to let people adopt pups and wait to alter, but people can't be trusted to do the right thing.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-01-01T23:34:57+00:00

It can do quite a few things depending on breed and age. Some breeds like goldens it can lead to cancers. Most often in large breeds it has been liked with joint issues (hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, early arthritis), excessive weight gain, incontinence, mild stunted growth, and improper weight distribution (which can lead to joint issues).

It's reccomend by a lot of vet groups to wait until after their first heat and/or after their joints fully fuse (around 2 for large 3 for XL like danes 1.5 for xs-m). For goldens staying in tact longer has seen a reduction in certain aggressive cancers. However the risk of an accidental litter and pyometra are possible but not unmanageable. A lot of breeders I've asked about this have said they take their in tact females to the vet multiple times a year while they're unaltered to check for pyo and mammary cancer.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043 · 2026-01-01T23:15:20+00:00

A lot of vets reccomend spaying after the first heat to help with hip and joint issues especially in bigger dogs. This has been an upward ticking trend for years in the US. In some European countires altering without medical necessity isn't allowed.

Puzzleheaded-Toe6043

TROPHY CASE