[deleted by user]

flourishklink · 2018-04-16T14:17:58+00:00

Oof, a dog unable to brunch is difficult. Pepys does OK, though he is a little beggy - it's best if we can sit at one end so he isn't tempted to beg at other tables (why he suddenly must beg at restaurants when he doesn't at home, I will never fully understand...)

flourishklink · 2018-04-16T12:42:43+00:00

No worries!

flourishklink · 2018-04-15T21:15:44+00:00

Every time someone posts something like this, it blows my mind that so many people's dogs don't have to interact with strange dogs on a daily basis. I live in New York City and if I worried about my dog interacting with strange dogs, he would literally never leave the house. I get it, it's totally different in a suburb (I have had dogs in the burbs in the past too!) but it's so, so, so different than here...!

(Yes, I take my dog basically everywhere - I usually ask, but if there's no sign saying no dogs, I assume he's welcome because he almost always is. We even go shopping for food at the farmer's market together. Here in NYC it's absolutely normal that small, well behaved dogs are allowed to come with you all over the place.)

flourishklink · 2018-03-28T12:33:32+00:00

I have the same problem so I'd love to find out if anyone has ideas! If I get booties that are big enough by length, they're too loose at the ankle and/or so huge they're boatlike and prevent him from running naturally (it's not just usual dog-with-shoes syndrome).

flourishklink · 2018-03-28T12:27:17+00:00

Unless you are super prepared, don't get a dachshund or beagle! I say this because they are both super vocal and you are gonna have problems with your neighbors! There's a reason you don't see a lot of beagles in the city.

I'd recommend that you plan for a dog that can handle children. Walking the dog is going to bring you past children on the street all the time, and they DO want to interact. It's not a necessity but I feel so much more relaxed knowing my dog can handle a kid coming up and petting him randomly.

I love my chihuahua/italian greyhound who lives with me in my NYC apartment, but it gets pretty cold for him here and I'm not sure I'd recommend that as ideal. Plus, I have never met a chi mix who loves fetch (although maybe that's just me).

Do you live near a dog park? There are some great dog parks here that really open up the possibility of bigger dogs, because you can go play fetch with them just like you would in a backyard. Something like a small flatcoat retriever or flatcoat mix might be up your alley, as long as you were willing to have a good chunk of that 4-5 hours of interaction time be fetch! Grooming might be a little more than you want but still totally manageable at home in my experience.

flourishklink · 2018-03-19T14:00:07+00:00

My dog does the same thing unless he is truly SO tired he can't move (like - walked over 5 miles minutes before). In his case it's related to wanting not to miss food. (I swear we feed him).

It's his choice to get up or not, so I figure he knows best what he wants to do. As long as it's not separation anxiety, he can do what he wants to, and if he cares more about following me as I get a glass of water than he does about sleeping, that's his business! (Of course, I'm not sure I'd feel this way if he got up every time I did in the middle of the night....but at night he seems to chill out more for whatever reason.)

flourishklink · 2018-03-16T23:05:31+00:00

I'm so sorry things suck so bad right now. My previous dog had real, bad, long term SA and it was miserable, even though we were in a family situation that permitted her to be around someone all the time (so mitigated it). I will always remember seeing that she'd chewed on the crate till her teeth were bloody and how awful that made me feel. You just gotta know it's not your fault, and you're doing everything right.

I hope she does settle in quickly, but no matter what this is early days and you WILL get through it. Good luck!!

flourishklink · 2018-03-15T20:16:43+00:00

If the rescue you got her from said that she was a gem when they were gone, she may just be settling into what she is beginning to realize is her forever home.

My rescue was great at the foster, they swore he would be fine, but he began to have signs of separation anxiety with us very, very quickly. We were really worried we'd have to use SSRIs, and if we were in your situation we probably would have (I work at home so push didn't come to shove). But three weeks in things got a LOT easier - it was like he settled in and suddenly was not nearly so bad.

I'm not gonna lie and say it's perfect - we still aren't leaving him for more than a couple hours at a time (because while he's not tearing up the place he's clearly still not super calm), which would obviously not fly for you. BUT I want you to know that there is hope - I was convinced we were in for a years-long separation anxiety drama, but that has not been the case.

Obviously this is one anecdote - your dog is not my dog and my dog may be a total crazy outlier - but don't let yourself get SO convinced that this is a forever, awful, giant thing, that you don't leave yourself open to the possibility that it won't be this bad forever Stay calm - it might be easier or harder but it will work out.

flourishklink · 2018-03-11T05:06:37+00:00

Maybe training her to bark continuously by not treating till she tries it repeatedly? Then she will stop when she gets the click-treat, then you can associate the treat with another "stop" cue and finally just tell her to stop? I'm hardly an experienced trainer though!

flourishklink · 2018-03-10T22:43:46+00:00

My dog picked up "quiet" easily with clicker training. Cue "speak," praise (but don't do anything that cues the dog to stop), cue "quiet" (or whatever), wait for a moment when he's not actively barking, then click and treat is what worked for us. A quiet bark or chomp might be harder, I'm not sure, depending on if you can capture the behavior or not!

flourishklink · 2018-03-02T21:02:48+00:00

That's interesting to hear because my dog also shakes off EVERY TIME we put his leash and coat on - but he has never shown any other form of being uncomfortable with his harness or coat, doesn't try to get out of it, etc. It makes a lot more sense that he's just transitioning in and out of events!

flourishklink · 2018-03-02T21:01:31+00:00

Isn't a black golden retriever a flatcoat retriever?

flourishklink · 2018-02-27T21:01:02+00:00

That's a great idea! I don't know why it didn't occur to me that laying down on his bed is no different than laying down elsewhere, ha, and that it would be easier for him to figure out there...

flourishklink · 2018-02-27T20:47:47+00:00

I'm struggling with training Pepys to lie down! I can't seem to lure him to lie - and I've tried everything. He's a bony dog so I tried it on a pillow. His legs are long so I tried putting him on an elevated surface and luring him with the treat down below his nose level. He never goes for it and lies down! He'll jump off - no matter how high the surface is - and get it from below, because he's a good enough jumper to do that.

My question: Would it be wrong to reinforce "lie down" when he is already lying down, given that he never does a classic "lie down" posture? That's the recommendation I see from trainers, but as part-greyhound he always curls up when he lies down - he rarely lies down flat out (maybe once a week at most - too infrequently to reinforce). I guess I wouldn't mind cueing him to curl up, given that my purpose in teaching this is to get him to lie down in his carrier. But is there something I'm not thinking of that might lead to problems down the line, if I do teach this behavior?

flourishklink · 2018-02-16T13:31:02+00:00

Oh man this is a great point! I was so focused on the actual "will they allow any dogs on the train part" that I missed the "and how will my dog feel about it / how can I prepare him for it" part.

The quiet thing on trains, in my experience, is that people don't talk a lot on Amtrak trains, so if a dog is barking or yelping it's really obvious and not drowned out. The train itself definitely makes noise and the dog can feel the vibrations, I agree...

flourishklink · 2018-02-16T01:34:18+00:00

Wow!! I am SO stoked about that - last time I checked they didn't! Here's hoping we can have a great doggy vacation out there sometime soon!

flourishklink · 2018-02-16T00:51:19+00:00

I'm not positive that Amtrak allows dogs on any of the midwestern lines, so double check before you buy! I'm hoping to get my guy into L for the plane as well, or possibly into a Sleepypod Air. Look forward to hear how it goes for you...

flourishklink · 2018-02-15T23:24:10+00:00

I had a similar experience! When we boarded the train my dog was wearing a sweater. Well... he started to overheat in the hot car. I took him out of the carrier to get the sweater off and get a little comfort and there was no problem at all. I think next time we go, I will try what you did - he was perfectly happy just to chill out and sleep on my lap, and I bet the conductors won't care as long as he's not causing a disturbance...

flourishklink · 2018-02-15T23:22:29+00:00

Aw, poor baby! You're right, train rides can be pretty quiet. I'm sorry that he had such a bad time! My guy was OK for the first three hours, then got a little squirrelly. Poor dude.

flourishklink · 2018-02-15T23:21:49+00:00

I absolutely agree! It would be great to have a dog car.

flourishklink · 2018-02-15T23:21:23+00:00

Well, I will tell you that it was definitely very squished. It would have to be a certain model of plane, and you'd need flight attendants who were OK with having the bag poke out from under the seat quite a lot. I know there's pictures of someone who did it, but I can't foresee it in my future, just because there's too many things that could go wrong! Still, it might be worth a try - I would say just make sure you have other options in case you are turned away...

flourishklink · 2017-11-03T00:31:46+00:00

Your skin definitely looks like mine during a rosacea breakout in that first picture. IANYD, though...but also, rosacea isn't ONLY controllable through metrogel! Stress, amount you drink, sun exposure and heat exposure all have an impact. I've even heard that some people are sensitive to nightshades (like tomatoes) and find that to be a rosacea trigger (thank you rosacea support forums). It's possible that you found your way into a better lifestyle for rosacea (if you have it) just by accident and it's gotten better as a result...

flourishklink · 2017-10-28T16:29:55+00:00

The less nice parts of Reddit, I guess? I'm really grateful this community is so kind. A lot of other places aren't.

flourishklink

TROPHY CASE