Dogs and other family pets


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We’ve had our share of shoes, window sills and kitchen chairs chewed over the years by our dogs but our Jack has been a nightmare during ‘firework season’ these past few years. He was perfectly fine until he was about 7 years old, not bothered by loud bangs at all. Then one NYE we foolishly nipped out for an hour over the midnight period.  Came back to find he had left a trail of destruction around the house. Duvets on the floor, carpets dug up in several doorways where we’d actually closed the doors, spots of his blood everywhere because he’d pulled a tooth and a claw out while going around on his wrecking spree.  We could really do with new carpet throughout the house but it would be crazy to bother while the lad is still with us, he’s 12 now!  We don’t leave him at home alone if we think there will be fireworks going off.  On Wednesday night, my husband’s birthday AND Diwali, Jack went to his dog-sitter!! 

A neighbour’s Airedale has a passion for spectacles and has found and crunched up 4 pairs of their 5 year old’s specs in the past year, over £400 worth.  

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My two boys cut their teeth on my then kitchen table legs. Got them all sort of chewy things but the table legs were the only thing they chewed. One of them did get hold of my new bank card as it came thru the door a few years ago. It did still work luckily, just had a full set of dog teeth marks on it much to the amusement of the local supermarket. NonnaB could she be nesting as in a phantom pregnancy? 

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Lizzie, your neighbour should go to the pound store and stock up with cheap glasses and keep them round the house. Maybe the dog would leave the expensive ones alone then. He's obviously got a fetish for glasses.!

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Wow your lot make my  Jake sound very well behaved.  He used to rip up his bedding and any  stuffed toys.  He seems to have grown  out of the bedding thing, but we still can't give him toys.  Most of his entertainment these days seems to come from snatching food from the kitchen counters and grabbing any item of clothing left within reach.  He doesn't tear it up, just wants you to chase him.

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For a number of years I always seemed to be buying curtains. Kittens are very hard on curtains and Tarquin was an absolute b*gger especially during the early hours of the morning when he and Crystal used to chase each other up and down the sitting room curtains and I would often come down in the morning to find the whole lot...plus the curtain track...on the floor.  Thankfully, they grew out of it.

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5 hours ago, Stavertongirl said:

NonnaB could she be nesting as in a phantom pregnancy? 

Doubt it shes naturally distructive . Like you they have all sorts of toys but much prefer things that she shouldnt have. Tonight I had 2 x 5 yr olds for english so make sure they have no distractions I put the dogs in another room. When I went in to let them out there she was chewing on a piece of cardboard. Goodness knows where she got it from. She kept biting and snapping at me because I wanted to take it off her. 

 

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6 hours ago, LizzieM said:

We’ve had our share of shoes, window sills and kitchen chairs chewed over the years by our dogs but our Jack has been a nightmare during ‘firework season’ these past few years. He was perfectly fine until he was about 7 years old, not bothered by loud bangs at all. Then one NYE we foolishly nipped out for an hour over the midnight period.  Came back to find he had left a trail of destruction around the house. Duvets on the floor, carpets dug up in several doorways where we’d actually closed the doors, spots of his blood everywhere because he’d pulled a tooth and a claw out while going around on his wrecking spree.  We could really do with new carpet throughout the house but it would be crazy to bother while the lad is still with us, he’s 12 now!  We don’t leave him at home alone if we think there will be fireworks going off.  On Wednesday night, my husband’s birthday AND Diwali, Jack went to his dog-sitter!! 

A neighbour’s Airedale has a passion for spectacles and has found and crunched up 4 pairs of their 5 year old’s specs in the past year, over £400 worth.  

Lizzie I hope I dont have to wait that long. Deborahs dog chewed a new pair of designer sunglasses twice. The first time the optician was able to repair them but the second pair were a write off. She also chewed a pair of my sunglasses fortunately also ,repaired. But the " best " one when Deborah bought a new phone. She was in her bedroom looking at the phone and reading leaflet when the door bell rang. When she went back upstairs to get the phone it was destroyed completly. € 600 down the drain.

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19 hours ago, nonnaB said:

On my return this morning I found her bed full of paper tissues and my husbands slippers and my shoes. Any advice will be welcome.

 

I'm not sure it's the dog? Sounds like a bit of discipline is needed, when my kids where little we had to limit the amount of time they spent with their grandma, when they came home they where uncontrollable, took a few good bashes to get them back on track.    

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I'm with RR on this. I would never tolerate such bad behaviour from my dogs. All the dogs I have had have been trained - a cousin was a pro. dog breeder and trainer who taught me how to train my pooches. It's not difficult (or cruel) when done properly and the result is a well behaved, lovable and loving animal. One of the big secrets is consistency in the way it is done. Another is not to give in.

 

Are there any dog training classes where you are, nonna?

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I think all dogs have a mischevious side, I have been lucky and only had one that peeled tennis balls. Just got him solid rubber balls instead which cured the problem. 

Pleased to say Kai is back to his normal self, he is just having his afternoon nap after playing with his squeaky pig. Such a relief to have him back to normal. Vets again next week, they want to do xrays. Don’t think I will have them done, will see how he goes on. 

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Ive had dogs all my life and know what to do to train them . She just needs to calm down. Before I was married we had 4 dogs at home and never had problems with them. They all knew their places and were well behaved. This one is only a yr old and is lively, she plays with her " sister " ( one week between them) is inclined to get over excited and is slowly learning to " leave."  When she's called to heel she  comes unless she is interested in the cats next door or chasing a fly etc. She sits in front of me without a command. She sits before shes fed. I have confiscated all her chewy toys that are full of holes and replaced them with rope toys. She is possessive and jealous and takes them both into her bed. Today the 2 little ones are playing tug o war beside me . Shes a very affectionate pup and doesnt like anyone coming near me. If they do she intervenes. She has to be near me 

Unfortuately there isnt a dog training centre near us. we do have an obstical course for dogs but it is for large dogs only. Shame really.

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10 hours ago, radfordred said:

 

I'm not sure it's the dog? Sounds like a bit of discipline is needed, when my kids where little we had to limit the amount of time they spent with their grandma, when they came home they where uncontrollable, took a few good bashes to get them back on track.    

In my experience RR it is the dog. She has a lot of discipline when I'm at home with her but unfortunately I have problems with my back and am having problems when shes is too lively.  I' m not quick enough to follow up my orders. She an angel when shes finally quiet. Very protective when the other dogs come near to the tiny one.

Yes grandmothers do have a negative effect on grandchildren. They never had a chance to spoil their own children. You love your own children but you love your grandchildren a lot more. Thats how it goes.

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Likewise, I've currently got six cats from various neighbours visiting for biscuits and treats. I'm sure they rely on me for tit bits other than their owners.

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I got up this morning with great trepidation as Kai didn’t have his medicine yesterday and wasn’t sure what to expect. My sister and I did take both boys on a walk on sunday, although the vet said it could make his “arthritis” painful. He was fine being busy as normal, sniffing and enjoying a run about. He had had his medicine but thought he might be stiff on Monday. He was perfectly normal so didn’t give him his medicine on Monday, he should have gone back to vet but I was under the weather so we didn’t go. Got up this morning and he is fine. His eating is back to normal and he is alert and noisey as usual. Judging by this I don’t think it was arthritis (surely it is a gradual thing that would have been noticeable, not him being okay one day and having it the next) wonder if he had pulled a muscle or strained something. When they are playing they do tend to jump up at each other and I had found a thistle in the foot of the leg he was having trouble with, had to cut it out they have such hairy feet. I did tell the vet this but they seemed fixed on arthritis (don’t know if that is the right spelling!) Bit of a quandary really as he is supposed to go back but I am more inclined to see how he goes on this week, don’t want him to go thru the trauma of having X-rays if he doesn’t need them. Am I doing the right thing?

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Be guided by kai. If he seems fine and there is nothing obviously wrong, hold off. As you say, there is no benefit in putting him through the trauma of x rays if he seems normal.

 

I have great respect for vets but, these days, they do seem to have a tendency to rack up the fees for tests which are not always necessary.  If kai needs attention, he'll let you know.

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I’d wait and see how Kai is as the week progresses Stavertongirl.  All animals have episodes when they’re not feeling 100%, (and you say you were under the weather yesterday too).  Our dog is quite a hardy little lad and we rarely take him to the vets, just an annual check-up and a  booster jab for whatever it is.  However he does have his ‘off days’ causing worry.  Recently we were away and felt the need to visit a vet with Jack as he didn’t want to go out for a walk and seemed to have something stuck in his throat.  After examination, she rammed her hand down his little throat, temperature was fine as was heart etc she said he’d probably got kennel cough.  Prescribed antibiotics,  £110 thank you very much!   A couple of days later he was fine, no ‘kennel coughing’ either.  He’s getting old, I am too, there are days when I can’t be bothered to go out!  The xrays will cost a bomb, if I were you I’d wait and see. Hope you feel better today too. 

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I will see how he goes on this week, nothing the matter with him at the moment, he is chasing a fly round the garden! I must admit I miss my vet from Doncaster, he had looked after many of our dogs and I trusted him. This new vet you end up seeing a different person every time. The first one said he had good movement in his back legs and didn’t say anything about arthritis, then the second one did as she had his leg extended fully backwards saying he wasn’t comfortable with it, don’t think I would have been either to be honest. I sometimes think the pet insurance is a two edged sword, covers you against the very high vet fees but sometimes think once they know you are insured they just throw everything at you. It has cost (the insurance company) nearly £300 up to now. Don’t get me wrong I will pay whatever is necessary to make sure my two boys are okay but just dont want unnecessary things done just for the sake of it.

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We were watching ‘Yorkshire Vet’ on Channel 5 this evening.  He operated on a poorly cat and removed loads of elastic hair bands from the cat’s stomach. It was unbelievable and gross, this cat had a real passion for his owner’s hair bands! Our dog is really naughty and eats the elastic bands that postman drop everywhere. We try to spot them on the pavement before he does but it’s obvious we miss a few and we don’t realise they’ve gone through his system until they come out the other end. Yuk! 

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I am pleased to say Kai is fine, glad I didn’t go back to vets with him. Have started both my boys on flexi joint (they are 8 years old) just to make sure. Only way to get tablets down them is to get wafer thin ham and break tablets in half and wrap them in ham, any other way and they clench their teeth so even a pill popper isn’t an option. If they start to sniff the ham suspiciously I change to wafer thin chicken although I get the feeling they still know what is going on.  I do have to check after they have had them, (1 and a half each) to see if any have appeared on the floor as they seem able to carry them in their mouths and spit them out when I am not looking. When I do occasionally find them I just get “the look” from both of them, neither look guilty, they don’t sprag on each other and no one will own up that it was them. 

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We always adopt retired racing greyhounds. Jimmy is our fifth one to date. They come ready trained to the lead and house trained but have limited recall skills and highly developed prey/chase instincts so he's never off the lead except on our garden. He behaves beautifully and is a confirmed couch potato for 22 hours a day. Funnily enough the ones we've adopted don't go upstairs. They don't seem to know what they are. They watch us go upstairs as if wondering how we disappear into the ceiling but don't follow us. Wouldn't have another breed.

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