the puppy dog thread

who doesn't love puppies? or any dog for that matter!

lets discuss dogs and puppies, and how they make the best pets and companions.

how many dogs have you owned? what is your favorite breed?

what kind of toys do you like to buy for your pups?

lastly, what activities do you enjoy doing with your dog(s)?

here's my new baby boy, an Australian Cattle Dog (aka blue heeler). he's almost 8 weeks old, and i drive to pick him up in a few days and begin his training.

Blue heelers are without a doubt one of my favorite breeds, probably only matched by Welsh corgis. I've come to realize it's the traits inherent to herding breeds that I seek in the dogs that I own. They love to work (too) hard, play hard, and once you earn their trust, herding breeds almost NEVER leave your side. Their intelligence and willingness to please is unmatched. I once had a pembroke welsh corgi named Donovan who lived to 13 years of age before cancer took him away.

I like Kong toys and nylabones because they're safe and durable toys, and won't break apart presenting choking hazards. Put treats or a little peanut butter in Kongs and they go nuts!

DOGS!

link approves of this thread

her favourite toy is her wubba

I used to have a stray terrier. She was so mental that eventually we had to give it away to a family in a less urban area.

Loved that dog though.

ahhh, kaini! really cute dog! :)

is that a jack russel?

i was considering a wubba for when Taki gets older.

haha, i'd probably play with one myself.

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:34 PM, fiznuthian said:

ahhh, kaini! really cute dog! :)

is that a jack russel?

 

i was considering a wubba for when Taki gets older.

haha, i'd probably play with one myself.

yeah, she's about three now... at the 'insolent teenager' stage, lol. super-smart, too.

our wubba is green, thing looks like cthulhu

before that i had a half irish wolfhound, half mongrel sorta thing... sweetest-natured dog i ever had, but the size of a truck and as dumb as a post... i was heartbroken when she died

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:28 PM, chassis said:

I used to have a stray terrier. She was so mental that eventually we had to give it away to a family in a less urban area.

 

Loved that dog though.

yeah, seems some dogs can have trouble pasts that never leave them no matter what you do.. sad :(

i'm considering *cough* buying *cough* the cesar milan DVDs. i don't agree with everything he says

but his methods for establishing pack order are extremely effective.

So fucking cute.

My girls.

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:36 PM, fiznuthian said:

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:28 PM, chassis said:

I used to have a stray terrier. She was so mental that eventually we had to give it away to a family in a less urban area.

 

Loved that dog though.

 

yeah, seems some dogs can have trouble pasts that never leave them no matter what you do.. sad :(

 

i'm considering *cough* buying *cough* the cesar milan DVDs. i don't agree with everything he says

but his methods for establishing pack order are extremely effective.

Well we found her when she probably about 3 weeks old. And I had her for more than a year.

Maybe she was just mirroring my mental state

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:42 PM, chassis said:

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:36 PM, fiznuthian said:

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:28 PM, chassis said:

I used to have a stray terrier. She was so mental that eventually we had to give it away to a family in a less urban area.

 

Loved that dog though.

 

yeah, seems some dogs can have trouble pasts that never leave them no matter what you do.. sad :(

 

i'm considering *cough* buying *cough* the cesar milan DVDs. i don't agree with everything he says

but his methods for establishing pack order are extremely effective.

 

Well we found her when she probably about 3 weeks old. And I had her for more than a year.

 

Maybe she was just mirroring my mental state

most likely! dogs know. ;)

nah, it's likely she didn't see you as her leader. sometimes it can take time to establish just who is alpha in the family.

luckily there's a lot that can be done about it:

- long walks, ensuring they DO NOT lead you around by their leash.. keep the pup behind

- issuing commands before any and all praise/treats are given

- all humans in the house MUST eat before the dog

- never get on the floor below them

- absolutely never use any forms of negative reinforcement AT ALL. zero. zip. none. posi all the way.

and some people get it in their heads that small terriers and other small class dogs are just submissive little bundles of love,

but that can't be further from the truth. it depends on breed more than anything, but more often than not its the tiny dogs that

will dominate their owners in attempts to control the pack. just cause they're small doesn't mean they lost their inner wolf.

small yippy dogs that bark alot, growl at people, run to their owners in fear often, and jump up onto people's laps without asking

are dogs that are showing signs of dominant behavior.. they're literally ruling their owners house.

this thread is so appropriate. i just got two puppies.

white one is castor, black one is pollux. they are lhasa apsos and just seven weeks old. yeah, yeah, i know, too young to be separated from the mom. they weren't living with the mother anyway, so i don't think we did too much damage.

we already have a dog as well. his name is luke, he's 10 years old and he's also a lhasa apso. he's doing pretty well for his age although he has a torn mcl in one of his hind legs (we decided not to do surgery) and he also has bone growth on a vertebre. both of these factors have made him stop jumping around for the most part. he's still pretty active though. we're trying to help him lose weight cause he has some fluid build-up in his lungs. losing weight would help him breathe easier.

admittedly, my family and i kinda fucked up raising him. we spoiled him too much, gave him table scraps, smacked him if he was bad, tied his leash to a chair which made him choke himself and gave him permanent damage to the throat (that last one is pretty fucked up, but it wasn't intentional or anything). with the two puppies we just got, i'm trying really hard to do everything the "right" way. the only punishment they're getting is a loud "no."

i don't want to give the impression that luke is unhappy though. he may be old, but he's a magnificent bastard. i love him to death. here's a picture of him:

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:36 PM, fiznuthian said:

yeah, seems some dogs can have trouble pasts that never leave them no matter what you do.. sad :(

for real. i used to have a lancashire heeler (rico), who was pulled out of the river tied inside a plastic bag along with his brother, and handed over to animal welfare (as an aside, who the fuck would do that do a dog?). for the rest of his life he suffered from nightmares and had a near-psychopathic fear of anything long and thin that looked like a stick - he obviously had the shit beaten out of him prior to this. on one memorable occasion when a mate of mine was on crutches, the second he came in the door the dog started attacking his crutches in a completely insane manner

cute pups squee and hoodie! little furballs :]

  On 12/15/2010 at 2:26 AM, kaini said:

for real. i used to have a lancashire heeler (rico), who was pulled out of the river tied inside a plastic bag along with his brother, and handed over to animal welfare (as an aside, who the fuck would do that do a dog?). for the rest of his life he suffered from nightmares and had a near-psycopathic fear of anything long and thin that looked like a stick - he obviously had the shit beaten out of him prior to this. on one memorable occasion when a mate of mine was on crutches, the second he came in the door the dog started attacking his crutches in a completely insane manner

oh my god that makes me so angry..

if i ever caught someone abusing a dog like that,

i would more than likely hospitalize them for life.

this is my dog stealing some of my dinner

Her name is Sally, 10 years old, Dachsund. Bred in the middle of Ontario somewhere, got her when she was like 2 weeks old.

  On 12/15/2010 at 3:21 AM, halisray said:

Her name is Sally, 10 years old, Dachsund. Bred in the middle of Ontario somewhere, got her when she was like 2 weeks old.

 

awwww man, that's a beautiful dog

from last year, if I find others I'll post

when her ears are up like that it means she's curious about something haha

  On 12/14/2010 at 10:38 PM, Squee said:

My girls.

one of my favorite moments from this summer occurred whilst at the beach. there were a pair of dogs Exactly like yours there with their owner, some woman and a few of her friends. of course they weren't leashed, thank god. they were running all about and chasing people, yipping at their heels like they were the boss of the beach. normally i'm not a big fan of small yippy dogs, but these two little guys were just so goddamned cute you couldn't help but laugh. they would stop and fight with each other before chasing down the next passersby. must've watched them for half an hour, and it was so much fun to just sit there and watch.

<3 dogs

  On 12/15/2010 at 4:07 AM, Deep Fried Everything said:

one of my favorite moments from this summer occurred whilst at the beach. there were a pair of dogs Exactly like yours there with their owner, some woman and a few of her friends. of course they weren't leashed, thank god. they were running all about and chasing people, yipping at their heels like they were the boss of the beach. normally i'm not a big fan of small yippy dogs, but these two little guys were just so goddamned cute you couldn't help but laugh. they would stop and fight with each other before chasing down the next passersby. must've watched them for half an hour, and it was so much fun to just sit there and watch.

 

<3 dogs

while i would say that is not acceptable behavior in public,

that is pretty funny. dogs are hilarious.

i have every intention of teaching my heeler to herd people, not just livestock..

though he will only herd on command, not whomever he pleases. :)

I want an English Bulldog.

Look at it! Awwwwwww

Otis at about eight weeks. His mama was a breeding dog that got left at a dog's home while pregnant. Probably too old to be of any more use to whoever had her. He's blind in one eye, his brothers that we saw also had problems with their eyes too. It doesn't seem to bother him, he still runs in the woods with me and chases tennis balls just fine.

He's four months now and a lot bigger, still a total middle-aged woman magnet though.

  On 11/27/2011 at 2:40 AM, Jonas said:

Django right now .

 

djangolist massif :sup:

my parents have this insanely hyper and super skinny black lab girl named bizzie, she's wonderful. the amount of excitement that dog can muster is just the best.

i am DEFINITELY more of a cat person but i will make an exception for bizzie.