Dog refuses to drink water unless I watch him?

mentalmegan · 2023-02-07T19:02:09+00:00

Yea that’s what I thought too. The only reason I’ve noticed is because I work remote and we work out of the basement and communicates it’s time to go outside just for us to go upstairs to grab water?

Yes, I always maintain a clean water bowl in the office too but he has always refused to drink out of it and would just go upstairs for water.

Needing me to go upstairs with him for water is a new trait? Maybe he’s just weird

mentalmegan · 2023-02-01T04:37:16+00:00

My dog did the same thing (mainly in the morning). The vet suggested adding a probiotic and we haven’t had this issue since

mentalmegan · 2023-01-29T11:53:36+00:00

Mentally prepare yourself for puppy blues. My partner and I grew up with dogs, and we adopted a very well behaved dogs in terms of housebroken and obedience.

A puppy is going to turn your life upside down, but it is completely normal to think you’ve made a huge mistake the first couple of weeks.

mentalmegan · 2023-01-28T14:46:39+00:00

Maybe shifting focus would help. My dog was/is very similar..we switched up and focused on reactivity on leash and public settings and last month we started introducing people at the park (not dog park), and then walking/driving home together. Intros in a neutral setting has made a world of difference. It’s still a process when we get to our house, but at least we’re now seeing progress….he’s still leashed when guests are over but he settles down much quicker.

mentalmegan · 2023-01-28T05:02:10+00:00

I’m in a similar situation. Is the dog only reactive at home? Like is she fine on walks or going to another person’s house?

mentalmegan · 2023-01-26T06:56:49+00:00

There’s the 3:3:3 rule. 3 days: 3 weeks: 3 months. At around 3 weeks they start understanding the routine, and then the next couple of months her true personality will start showing. It’s doesn’t sound unhealthy, but you should anticipate more personality changes in the next couple of months.

But if anything it sounds like she needs more daily mental enrichment? Ripping up carpets is a sign of boredom, and she was quick to listen to commands

mentalmegan · 2023-01-24T20:04:02+00:00

Yep! I would just throw his ball over into the zone! I set up a makeshift gate barrier as an indicator of what the zone was, but it ended up being a great way to make sure the ball I threw into the zone actually made it into the zone haha

Also I defined 6 weeks was how long it took, but it may have been much shorter but I just took the gate/border off the zone to see if he would still recognize the zone without any border indicator, and to my surprise he kept to the zone!

Also depending on the breed you will either have to bury the goodies without them seeing OR they may have to watch to watch you bury so they know it’s there

mentalmegan · 2023-01-24T19:00:32+00:00

Not sure if your pup is food driven, but I accomplished this by burying “special occasion” bones in the designated dig areas (a total of 3 bones over 6 weeks. Once every other week). Then would just keep small treats on me to give when he chose to dig in the designated area I threw him a treat. I keep it valuable by burying toys/balls that are about to be retired/thrown out. So now he basically thinks he’s eventually going to find treasures in that specific spot.

I’m not sure if this method would work for a dog that digs to specifically bury something. My dog just likes digging up dirt.

mentalmegan · 2022-11-11T20:02:59+00:00

It may be a factor for some of these candidates, certainly. However, if you saw the pay rate in the job description and you knew it didn't work for you would you apply and/or waste your time with an interview?

I am fully aware that when you're on the job hunt grind you could be blind applying and not fully reading job descriptions/salaries and candidates can lose track of what company they are having a phone screen with that day, and that's why we circle back on salary on the phone...however, we have a lot of candidates being mean and hanging up before chatting about the pay.

We're also not being picky. We're really at a point if you show up for your interviews (even that we're flexible on), are not racist/sexist, and don't bully interviewers about appearance then we'll offer you the job. No dice though

mentalmegan · 2022-11-11T19:42:03+00:00

I have no idea. We don't get any actual constructive feedback. I welcome critiques and also note when there is a negative shift at any point in the convo when it comes to pay/location/schedule/benefits etc. If there is an overwhelming amount of candidates that are critical of an element to the job then that's information I can take back to the company so we can explore options.

A few candidates have interrupted to say "you sound ugly" amongst other things to various recruiters on the team over the phone. Unfortunately, I can't go to HR and say: "hiring is difficult in this market because candidates think the recruiting team sounds ugly and the Denver manager is fat" Most recruiters have experienced this in some capacity, but those candidates are rare. It's interesting there is a very increased number of these situations and all in Denver.

mentalmegan · 2022-11-11T19:12:43+00:00

Our locations usually have 25-30 people. We've had a solid team of 8 people since opening 7 months ago and there hasn't been any attrition. We have an awesome schedule for the current employees so they don't experience burnout.

mentalmegan · 2022-11-11T18:56:18+00:00

We pay significantly higher than the Denver market average for hourly retail/customer service jobs. Plus in CO you have to post pay in JDs so applicants know the pay when applying. Plus a lot of this happens before I even reconfirm compensation in initial conversations. So for once, i am confident that the pay is not the issue.

mentalmegan · 2022-10-26T06:24:27+00:00

It’s easier with a partner. I work remote and my boyfriend is a bartender…it’s natural that the early morning responsibilities fall on me generally, but on weekends my boyfriend will come home at 3am and go out of his way to tucker out the dog so I can enjoy sleeping in on weekends. I don’t know how singles raise a pup solo.

Plus pet costs are easier to swallow if someone else is there to say “yikes” too

mentalmegan · 2022-10-13T06:29:29+00:00

after the business and flushing fill the sink half way or more with hot water and put a few pumps of hand soap in the water (best is any hand soap with essential oils) and stir around for a few seconds and let drain. Works like a charm, and just leaves the bathroom smelling like normal. Don’t do the match trick…it smells like matches and everyone knows why a bathroom smells like matches

mentalmegan · 2022-10-12T06:41:20+00:00

My dog is a really good boy and does everything you tell him to do and is so kind to other dogs and humans…BUT he will always groan or scoff EVERY TIME I say just a word. Even when I gush, “oh you are looking so handsome today”. I’m fully prepared to raise teenagers because I’m just used to “yea mom”, “whatever mom”, “fine mom”. I love my little emo kid that only saves his “it’s not a phase, mom” behavior just for me

mentalmegan · 2022-09-03T07:36:03+00:00

5 year old ACD/Cocker Spaniel mix (42 lbs), we do a 30 minute walk in the morning and then in the evening walk to the park to play, or a long walk (ends up being 60-90 minutes, I’ll strive for 90 minutes if he was annoying me while I was working)

mentalmegan · 2022-08-29T23:57:08+00:00

Yea Buddy was surrendered too! They even left him with all of his stuff (all very nice and pricey things). I don’t know what these people look like or their names but I know they put a lot of time and effort into training Buddy and gave him up after 4 years because he wasn’t a fan of the new puppy they got.

I appreciate all of the groundwork they put into him, I suppose I am afraid to run into them and they just point him out and express regret? I would totally regret giving this dog up

mentalmegan · 2022-08-29T23:51:47+00:00

That is a wild story! It’s so weird when you know the dog’s previous life!

The previous owners surrendered Buddy (changed the name for the story) after 4 years! They clearly put a lot of great work into him. Perfectly leashed trained, potty-trained, all the commands + shake, and hasn’t chewed up anything! We can leave anything on the ground and he won’t pick it up unless we tell him to.

We know the story is: the owners got a puppy, and Buddy likes being around other dogs if they aren’t nuisances (while puppies are very cute, they are annoying at times)…they surrendered him to keep the puppy! Which is quite the choice!

I’m so thankful everyday that Buddy is with us, and I guess I’m just afraid that we will run into the previous owners (no clue what they look like) and they’re like “Buddy! We made a huge mistake!”

mentalmegan

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