Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Pets

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Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 01-07-2012, 07:13 AM:

I have never been an "animal guy". Growing up I had an Australian Sheppard and when she died, I never got pets again. For some reason pets are afraid of me. My brother had a beagle which i could make pee on demand just by pointing at it. One day it chewed something up and I yelled, it ran and was shitting and peeing while running, funniest damn thing I've seen (I was laughing and pissed at the same time).

Anyway, my nephew said his mom is going to put his dog to sleep. She has done this too many times to count. She gets the kids a new pet, then after a year or so gets rid of them. I told my nephew not to worry, I would take her. I have no idea what breed, I saw her once. I think it's something like a 50lb bulldog, all muscle.

Anyway to teach a dog new tricks? I want to be able to just open the back door and let it out. No fences and I don't want it roaming the neighborhood, I want it to stay in the yard. There is no real traffic, dead end streets, very quiet.

Also, any advice on food? My brother and his son are paying, but I was wondering what dogs prefer these days (I see too many commercials). If it was up to me, it would be acorns, grass, dead birds, toilet water, squirrels, road kill, cats, peanut butter...etc..

Rick "The Dog Whisperer"

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 01-07-2012, 07:43 AM:

I have neighbors who have had excellent results using a buried electric fence. The dogs will run to the boundary and no further. After a while they turn it off and the dogs still stay in boundary.

Pet food; go with what your pet will eat and avoid the overpriced and over-hyped stuff. Dogs will eat the same thing day after day. They really don't care about variety. They are just dogs. [Wink]

Thank you for rescuing this animal!

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-07-2012, 10:57 AM:

Wait... she was going to have a perfectly healthy dog euthanized? I guess she's never heard of rescue shelters.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-07-2012, 01:36 PM:

quote: Richard Hamilton
I want to be able to just open the back door and let it out. No fences and I don't want it roaming the neighborhood, I want it to stay in the yard.

This is a disaster waiting to happen. Dogs are roamers by nature. They need to be walked and they need to be trained.

This dog needs to go to somebody who will give it the attention it needs.+

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 01-07-2012, 03:15 PM:

Thanks for the thumbs up there, Mike buddy. I'll just give it a good kick and make it sit in the corner. I thought I was doing a good thing and was only asking for advice.

quote: Chris Slycord
she was going to have a perfectly healthy dog euthanized?

Chris, sadly...yes.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-07-2012, 03:24 PM:

Funny I don't seem to recall any issues with you and The Dude.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-07-2012, 06:09 PM:

Y'Know, just from how I picture you via the internet, I can imagine that a bulldog would be your type. You should name it "Meat Head" or "Brutus." [Wink]

However, I'm in the middle. While you can't expect a dog to act like an automaton, yes, I agree that they should be able to go outside to go pee without having to be monitored at all times. That will take some training. Even if you use an Invisible Fence, there is still some training involved. You have to train the dog to know where the border line is.

I don't think training a dog is hard to do. It's just a matter of time and attention. A lot like teaching kids. The one thing that is different is that you need to be absolutely consistent in your training. For instance, if the dog gets spanked for peeing in the house one time but not another time, it won't learn anything except to resent you for punishing it.

If you decide that the dog should not do something, "Bad Dog" should always be paired up with the unwanted behavior. The same thing goes for "Good Dog." Whenever the dog does what you want, praise it and pet it or give it a treat.

Just consider that a dog has about the same mentality as a two year old kid.

I agree with Rick on food. Don't bother with the designer brands. They are not better than the regular brands.
My father raised dogs since I was born. At times, there were as many as 10 dogs in the kennels, not including puppies. They never ate much more than Purina Dog Chow and fresh water. In the winter time they got meat scraps to fatten them up and keep them warm. Other than that, the only thing they ever ate was beef jerky as a training treat. Almost 20 years and I never saw a dog have a problem from that diet.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-07-2012, 06:09 PM:

Someone should slip up and euthanize the mom! Now thats a disgusting kind of person. Good for you Rick for taking the dog! I think you and a bulldog would be a perfect match...

Anyway, just take the dog to Pet Smart or Petco and let it pick out what ever it wants [Eek!]

. Note that dog food is typically based on the type of dog and the dog's age. The kids out to be able to tell you what kind of food he's been on and what treats he likes. Oh, and make him earn his treats!!

Beware that sudden changes of food can cause them to get sick. Lean hamburger cooked and drained mixed with some white rice will get them flowing back to normal in a day or so.

We had to put down our Chocolate Lab about 6 months ago. Vet suspects he had a stroke in his spine which is what caused him to loose any control of his rear legs. He was 12 years old though. We put on a video of him today while I was going through sorting betacam tapes and our little Shitzu whom we got about a year ago saw him on the TV screen and sat mezmerized watching him for the entire time... she definately remembered!!

Mark

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-07-2012, 06:23 PM:

Mike is 100% correct. If for whatever reason you don't have the ability to regularly monitor the dog, do what the owner couldn't and give it up for someplace that does adoptions. Just leaving it in a fenceless yard is going to be failure.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 01-07-2012, 08:31 PM:

God Damnit, I only meant I want to be able to let her out and run free. There are a few acres of land out back and I just want her to return to the back door when I call her, or when she's exhausted. Maybe I'll put her out back in the shed with my kids

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-07-2012, 08:42 PM:

You made it seem like your yard literally has no physical barrier for it, which is why him and I said what we did. You asked for advice and got it based on the information you provided.

Because, trust me as someone who's had multiple dogs that can run fast... if they are left to run free, they'll be far away in no-time.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 01-08-2012, 01:41 AM:

I guess some of the issue would depend on the breed of dog and its level of intelligence. Some dogs will naturally stay close to home while others will run away as far as they can taking dangerously stupid risks all along the way.

My parents have a few dogs. When they first moved to their rural house 20 miles NE of Colorado Springs it didn't take long for their chocolate Labrador retriever, Hershel to run away and never return. They don't know if the dog was shot by a neighbor or eaten by predators in the area (mountain lions, wolves, etc.). They lost one other dog, a small mutt named Shorty that my dad loved. One of their other dogs led him to the end of their property and he just stupidly wandered out into the road the way some dogs do. He got hit by a car. Most motorists will do anything they can to avoid hitting someone's pet. A few others will get orgasmic with joy when running over an animal.

My parents' other dogs, a couple German Shepards, a Jack Russel Terrier and a bird dog mix named Crinkle that just turned 18 knew well enough to stay away from the road. But one of the German Shepards didn't know well enough to stay clear of horses. So now he has a rig featuring two bicycle tires to hold up his paralyzed back end so he can get around on the property.

At night, all the dogs must be indoors. They could be eaten otherwise. Even the most bad-ass pit bull that ever lived could be food out there. My parents' 4 cats never leave the house. They had 1 which bolted outdoors during daylight. Linus got captured and eaten by coyotes before my parents could get him.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-08-2012, 08:48 AM:

Yes, you can yard train your dog but the active word here is "TRAIN."

I don't know the temperament and intelligence level of your dog so I can't tell you how long or how hard you will have to work to train it but I am certain that you can train it.

When you first get the dog, you will have to go out with it and teach it where its boundaries are. Take the dog outside, walk around with it and play. Teach it to chase a Frisbee or something like that. The play time is important. Play teaches the dog that you are a friend and that you are its "first human" and that you are the one who gives the orders.

While you are outside and playing or just walking around, teach it where the boundaries are. If the dog tries to go out of the yard, yell at it. If it doesn't obey, grab it by the collar, haul it back to its yard and yell at it again. I am not a big proponent of spanking a dog unless it has done something really bad like biting or running out into the road but, if necessary, spank the dog to get it to obey.

Everything depends on the dog. It could take a couple-few weeks to yard train the dog. It could take months or even years. It all depends on how smart the dog is, how much you work with it to train it and what the dog's propensity to roam is. Some dogs are territorial and want to stay home and guard their property. Other dogs will want to roam and expand their realm.

Smaller dogs have less tendency to roam. Females roam less than males. Dogs that have been kept indoors or in a yard when they were puppies may be more willing to stay in their own yard than dogs who were allowed to roam.

The short answer is: Any dog will be what you make it. To make a dog be what you want it to be, you have to train it.

Yes, you can teach the dog to stay in the yard but not without training.

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 01-08-2012, 01:13 PM:

You don't train a dog; it's the master who must be trained. Almost everyone can be a "dog whisperer" with a little effort. See Cesar Millan

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-08-2012, 04:17 PM:

Here's another good site for info. You can look up whatever breed of dog you like and it tells everything you need to know about the breed -- training, personality, and so on.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 01-11-2012, 09:36 AM:

Well...it looks like today is the day. When I took my nephew to school this morning, I asked when do I get the bitch (pun intended), my brothers ex is dropping her off today. My nephew doesn't want me to "re-name" her. I really thought Brutus was good [thumbsup]

. Oh well, Tess is her name. I can yell at her and say "kick that cats ass 'Tess'" Photos will come later [beer]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-11-2012, 10:57 AM:

Tell everyone the name is short for "Testicles." Then make up a story about how she had a sex change as a pup. Instant conversation starter.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 01-11-2012, 12:15 PM:

Mike, if I yell "testical, come" (which would be funny as hell), I think the neighbors would look at me strange. They probably wouldn't say anything, but they would think it! I think testical it is, it will be my own inside joke. [thumbsup]

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 01-11-2012, 01:08 PM:

That's a cool site, Mike. Thanks for posting that! [Smile]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-11-2012, 02:11 PM:

"Tess" is a good name for female a bulldog.
One syllable, starts with a hard consonant. Easy for a dog to understand and remember.

"Daisy" would be a good name for a female bulldog.
A little bit ironic.

If the dog already has a name go ahead and keep it but it's your damn dog. Name it whatever the fuck you want! [Wink]

You could just keep the name long enough to satisfy the nephew then gradually change over time.