Dogs IV - Drip feeding Pupdates

[Ran]

15 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

She's 7 months old, so we're limited in the exercise she can have, for fear of her joint development.

You shouldn't have her leaping off of great heights or scaling walls, repeatedly doing things that have sharp stops and turns, sure, but long walks at her own pace are absolutely fine. We've taken to running Lancelot  (the most energetic boxer we've ever ownedf) on a treadmill for half an hour at a steady pace pretty much daily on top of walks, training, his play with Winter, etc., and it really helps at times to take the edge off.

Training for obedience and doing exercises as well that make her use her brain can also be very tiring for a dog -- scent work especially, making her really use her nose. It's hard to do every day, for sure, but it might be worth looking into some of those dog puzzles that offer treats and such, something for her to work on, as a way of passively getting her some added stimulation.

She will no doubt have a great desire to chew on things still . We recently bought some Nylabone toys  and Lancelot, who has a very strong drive to chew on stuff, will often settle for that until he's tired of it, and he's less destructive than he was (have some rather chewed up plastic storage boxes from earlier on). And while crating is not something I've ever done and don't think is necessary... blocking the dog off into a less sensitive part of the house might be good.

Do you have any sense of what the other dogs are doing when she decides to do this? Is she trying to play with them and when they refuse she turns to making her own fun? Or is she perhaps acting out in part out of anxiety? Does she show much distress when you leave, as compared to the other dogs?

[Mudguard]

6 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/342790462083346

That's the 7TB hard-drive, with all our films, photos, music, files etc on it - she's ripped out the power cable from the wall, and the USB cable from the TV - both of which are destroyed (hopefully she hasn't destroyed the USB input).

One of the dumbbell weights is destroyed as well.

 

4th dog, 10th if you include childhood. I've never known one this destructive. Every single time they're left alone in the house, something is destroyed, however hard we try to protect stuff.

 

I refuse to crate her, especially with Beli's past. Any other suggestions?

Have you been able to catch her in the act of destroying something?  If not, correcting her when she is actually doing the act works way better than trying to correct her after the fact.

If you have and that didn’t work, you can try getting her some toys to destroy.  

[Spockydog]

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Edited March 13 by Spockydog

[Which Tyler]

9 hours ago, Ran said:

You shouldn't have her leaping off of great heights or scaling walls, repeatedly doing things that have sharp stops and turns, sure, but long walks at her own pace are absolutely fine. We've taken to running Lancelot  (the most energetic boxer we've ever ownedf) on a treadmill for half an hour at a steady pace pretty much daily on top of walks, training, his play with Winter, etc., and it really helps at times to take the edge off.

Also, long walks at her own pace isn't absolutely fine at her age.

She was tired, then she wasn't, but she was destructive.

9 hours ago, Ran said:

Training for obedience and doing exercises as well that make her use her brain can also be very tiring for a dog -- scent work especially, making her really use her nose. It's hard to do every day, for sure, but it might be worth looking into some of those dog puzzles that offer treats and such, something for her to work on, as a way of passively getting her some added stimulation.

As mentioned, doing plenty of training for her brain as well, she has plenty of stimulation, physical and mental. Of course, that doesn't mean that she doesn't get bored when we're not there (working hypothesis, no idea how to address).

The treat-dispensing puzzles we've tried (far from all of them) A] don't last long before they run out of treats, and B] don't last long once she's decided there might be more treats in there if she breaks it open.

9 hours ago, Ran said:

She will no doubt have a great desire to chew on things still . We recently bought some Nylabone toys  and Lancelot, who has a very strong drive to chew on stuff, will often settle for that until he's tired of it, and he's less destructive than he was (have some rather chewed up plastic storage boxes from earlier on). And while crating is not something I've ever done and don't think is necessary... blocking the dog off into a less sensitive part of the house might be good.

She has plenty of toys, including nylabone and kong, rope toys and soft toys, solo-play and play-with-others.

They're already blocked off to the living room and hallway on those rare occasions there's no human around, as they're the least vulnerable rooms; we've also massively reduced the amount of general stuff around, largely as a result of it being destroyed on previous occasions - this is the first time she's ripped things out, rather than, for example, chewed through wires (and all the wires are now hidden as well as possible)

9 hours ago, Ran said:

Do you have any sense of what the other dogs are doing when she decides to do this? Is she trying to play with them and when they refuse she turns to making her own fun? Or is she perhaps acting out in part out of anxiety? Does she show much distress when you leave, as compared to the other dogs?

The interactions with the other dogs is the only other thing that comes to mind to look at (bar removing even more "stuff" from the living room). Beli is 3 years old, and really good at playing with her - though yesterday he was also on the play-date, so may have been too tired himself; or possibly less willing when humans aren't around. I've no set-up to assess this, but it shouldn't be too hard to jury-rig some CCTV of some sort to give us this information. I'll also have to try tiring Nimue out, but not tiring Beli (which is going to feel so mean).

No more distress at our departure than the others, and yesterday, she didn't even see me off when I left (nor the others) - too tired.

8 hours ago, Mudguard said:

Have you been able to catch her in the act of destroying something?  If not, correcting her when she is actually doing the act works way better than trying to correct her after the fact.

If you have and that didn’t work, you can try getting her some toys to destroy.  

Not caught her in the act, and yeah, you kinda have to in order to tell her off at all. She does occasionally destroy things when we're up in bed, but only once or twice, and not this side of 4 months old.

Again, plenty of toys (and yes, she has access at all times), along with 2 other dogs, and 2 cats to interact with (and they all do).

 

ETA: Ali did find this, this morning, which suggests that it may be possible to actually train your dog to cope better with your absence - I've no idea how it would work, but it's got to be worth a shot.
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/dogs/training/leftalone

Should also say, that we already edge into step 4 anyway as part of our standard (and continuing) training. Haven't tried doing a "stay" with a closed door though, or for out of sight for more than a few seconds.

Thinking about it, she is the worst at "stay" anyway (at this age) - so definitely worth trying. Also worth trying to match "stay" with "settle" rather than just "sit".

Edited March 13 by Which Tyler

[maarsen]

 

Well our latest dog, a Puli, is approaching 13 years of age, and while still very active, she is slowing down. My wife has been talking about getting another and on Friday she came home with a 8 week old Puli puppy. She is all black, just like her older sister. except for a white spot on her chest. Like our first she is very affectionate and loves being close to people. She is just adorable.

[Zorral]

How many dogs have government jobs? What about sea lions?

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https://wapo.st/3VlwpnU

Quote

 

As of 2022, the federal government employed 5,159 German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, beagles, Jack Russell terriers and other forms of everyone’s favorite furry friend. Another 421 worked as canine contractors.

The job descriptions for these four-legged feds range from the sublime — 31 help “park rangers traverse Denali National Park in winter” — to the subprime: Others “detect waterfowl feces” infected with bird flu.

We found the work of these politically connected canines described in magical detail in a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which apparently is taking its role as government watchdog literally. The report — which addresses the working conditions of working dogs — somehow escaped our noticed until we were scooped by our friends at USA Facts, a data evangelism and dissemination outfit founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The majority of Uncle Sam’s shepherds (and other breeds) — almost 3,000 — work for the Department of Homeland Security. About 1,100 of those DHS dogs sniff bags and whatnot for the Transportation Security Administration, otherwise known as everyone’s airport security friend, the TSA. Another 1,800 are Pentagon pooches, hard at work for the Defense Department. Together, those two departments account for 85 percent of total federal working breeds.

The majority of Uncle Sam’s shepherds (and other breeds) — almost 3,000 — work for the Department of Homeland Security. About 1,100 of those DHS dogs sniff bags and whatnot for the Transportation Security Administration, otherwise known as everyone’s airport security friend, the TSA. Another 1,800 are Pentagon pooches, hard at work for the Defense Department. Together, those two departments account for 85 percent of total federal working breeds.

Across every agency and other government-adjacent institution included in the database, the most common use for dogs seems to be detecting explosives and drugs — tasks they perform in places as diverse as Amtrak (57 police dogs), the Postal Service (47 dogs) and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (eight dogs). The SPR, in particular, would seem to have an incentive to ask its dogs to detect anything that might blow up — anything other than its 360 million barrels of crude oil, that is.

Dogs also patrol and search hard-to-reach areas, such as federal wildlife refuges; track people on Forest Service land and for the Veterans Affairs Police; and apprehend suspects for law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service. At some agencies, dogs even work to identify currency, firearms, pests and invasive species. ....

 

 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Yesterday I broke my vicious dog. 

My aunt sent my stepfather a cute stuffed husky you can heat to cheer him up in the hospital. However, he didn't want it. So I showed it to Bella. She very much wanted to kill it. I taunted her with it for a while, never letting her quite get it. I also do a great Predator laugh. I put the stuffed dog's head over my mouth and kept doing it at her.

I set the plushy in front of her afterwards and she wouldn't go near it. 

Edited April 8 by Mr. Chatywin et al.