The NEVERENDING Pet Thread

[mendelman]

Ask and ye shall received.

I'll start it off.

Sometime last Monday night our 4 yr old yellow Lab Darcy sprained her tail. It was absurd.

That morning, I take her for her first walk and she was acting groggy and her tail was completely limp, which for Labs is very atypical (their tails are usually fully raised). Well, that morning she was acting like she was dying, so we got all freaked out and had to get a last minute vet appt. Well, my wife takes her to the vet. The vet does a short exam and tells us she's fine. Gave us some meds and Darcy was already starting to act like her usually bubbly self by that evening.

We still have no idea how she could have sprained her tail during the night when all she does is sleep. She must have laid on it wrong.

Below is said silly dog.

[zman]

You've all read about the exploits of the "Girl Dogs" in the Random Thread, so I will simply kick off my posting in the Pet thread with a photo.

The yellow lab, Kalso, is the troublemaker of the two. Kaia (the chocolate lab) is my solid, old girl that is the embodiment of Desiderata: Go placidly amid the noise and haste...

[The One]

Hey Brocktoon! Should I post a picture of the beast? I bet people looking at this thread would fall in love with him? (Note: Budgie I'm not talking about that picture of you in the pool)

[Random Traffic Guy]

Sometime last Monday night our 4 yr old yellow Lab Darcy sprained her tail. It was absurd.

My beagle pup has something wrong in his paw today, limps about every third step. No wounds and nothing broken, hope it is just a sprain or overexertion. We hit the new fetch fun command pretty hard last night before it happened. He was pretty sore last night but getting better throughout the day, I thought. My wife is taking him to the vet tomorrow morning, she was out of town and I was trying to not mention it so she wouldn't worry.

[zman]

RTG have your dog rest. It sounds like a sprain/strain to me, my dogs get them all time. Just keep them calm (if possible) and have them rest through the night. Usually the next day or two they are right as rain.

[Brocktoon]

Hey Brocktoon! Should I post a picture of the beast? I bet people looking at this thread would fall in love with him? (Note: Budgie I'm not talking about that picture of you in the pool)

Yes, you should, Armstrong deserves his moment of fame...the picture needs something to give an idea of his true size...like a jockey on his back!

We picked up a puppy today. It is Mrs. "toons first puppy experience. Good thing I have public meetings for today and tomorrow so I can avoid the fall out.

[PlannerGirl]

Get a beagle to rest? ha ha ha snarf ha ha

They sleep 20 hours a day then they go like crazy the other 4

Proudly owned by a beagle for 11 years



*Next time I'm getting another Rott

[tsc]

Get a beagle to rest? ha ha ha snarf ha ha

They sleep 20 hours a day then they go like crazy the other 4

oh my beagle guy was the same way. Was a nut from 6pm to about 11pm. My other dog I swear is part cat... sleepy and lazy. He is sight hound...very little endurance.
sleeping hound.....

[Flying Monkeys]

I thought this would be a good place to post pics of the cats I got left with,,,,,they are the sillest creatures ever. They do make me laugh now and then.

[Habanero]

Our eldest buddy, Hatcher, had to have over 15 cysts removed on Monday including a little one from his eye lid. He's on the mend but he still won't eat unless I hand feed him (um, spoiled much?). Most of the spots were benign but the vet said two looked suspicious but since he got everything we'll just have to keep on eye out. I'm still amazed our guy is over six, especially since I posted his first puppy pictures here.

[Brocktoon]

I haven't had a puppy in 18 years...I forgot about how little sleep one gets until the dog gets adapted to being away from its mom and litter mates.

[The One]

We picked up a puppy today. It is Mrs. "toons first puppy experience. Good thing I have public meetings for today and tomorrow so I can avoid the fall out.

I've heard a lot of names for dooky in my time, but this one might be my favorite so far.....ha ha ha.... I'll have to go add it to the urban dictionary

tsc, I thought that was a seal when I ran into that picture in the gallery!

[PlannerGirl]

Oddly enough when one of my dogs wants to do his business he gets all serious wandering all over the yard (its small town home lot) and surveys the whole thing. Never mind hes been out a couple of times before and nothing has changed in months he still does such a through job the other half says the dog is preparing his site plan and survey docs for the public meeting. I tend to think that pretty funny that the non planner other half says the dog is looking to rezone land to take a dump...or would that be to place a dump?

Does not matter how long we wait to make him go he still takes forever and a day with the site selection process

[Maister]

Does not matter how long we wait to make him go he still takes forever and a day with the site selection process

Here in Michigan this is a seasonal phenomenon. Typical time for a pit stop/site selection including perimeter search, preliminary sniffing, turning around several times, squatting, and doing that post-poo paw wiping thang during the month of July = 5 minutes minimum. Typical time for the abbreviated process during January when it's 5 degrees out = 30 seconds max! (even more amusing is when the snow is deep enough to go right up to their butt!)

[Shellac And Vinyl VelocitY]

I thought this would be a good place to post pics of the cats I got left with,,,,,they are the sillest creatures ever. They do make me laugh now and then.

Do they also help out with 'vermin control'?

[Rem]

My pet black labrador (Reuben), on the hill behind our house. If you look closely you can see the drool - caused by the biscuit I was using to keep him still while I took the photo. He is very food oriented - typical labrador.

[tsc]

My pet black labrador (Reuben), on the hill behind our house. If you look closely you can see the drool - caused by the biscuit I was using to keep him still while I took the photo. He is very food oriented - typical labrador.

What a beautiful view!!! and cute dog despite the drool.

[JNA]

Nice picture rem - reminds me of the Lab I grew up with, what a big lovable lunk.

[zman]

Our yellow lab, after a couple good days on Friday and Saturday decided to try out my newly installed measures to prevent her from sacaling the fence. Yesterday I cut pvc pipe down the middle and installed them on the fence rails where she was climbing out. The half circles provided by the pipe (as well as the smooth surface) "shouldn't" allow a smart climbing dog the foothold that a normal fence rail would.
So we had dinner with our neighbors and decided to head to the park down the street to practice a little softball at dusk. Lo and behold who comes trotting down the street (after taking a leak in the neighbor's yard) but Kaslo, the smart and troublesome yellow lab of the house.

Scaled the fence despite my "corrective measures" easily and wanted to come down and see what was happening with us.

I was pissed. Now, we'll try some chicken wire along the top (bent back into the yard of course) and I might finish the fence with pickets on the inside so that NO foothold is provided.

[ofos]

You may need to go with an "invisible fence" and shock collar inside the perimeter to discourage your devil dog. Alternatively, visit the local Tractor Supply and buy a fence charger, insulators, and wire to do the fence.

Possible downside: Had a friend who told a story of running a wire from the electrified fence to the family dog's water bowl. The dog took a drink, got shocked, saw him, ran over and bit him. Apparently it wasn't the first time he had tortured the dog and it made a correct assumption of guilt.

[zman]

So in light of my Yellow's escapability, a couple weeks ago, my Dad and I decided to "finish" the inside of the fence where Kaslo was getting out. Essentially, the brain behind this idea was to not allow the middle fence rail as a stepping area aiding in her escape. So we added pickets to the inside of the fence and enjoyed the next couple weeks of having things "back to normal".

So last night, I leave for hockey and then a couple minutes later my wife and then neighbors head out for the game. Apparently (as another neighbor related to us upon our return late last night), Kaslo hopped the fence and was seen milling around in the front yard. Our neighbor decided to grab a leash and some treats and head over to get our dog back home. As she walked down to our house she tried calling out for Kaslo's attention, at this Kaslo took to running away and the jumped! the (6ft, cedar privacy fence) back into our back yard. Apparently she cleared it pretty well... (We're talking a 75 pound, full grown yellow lab here.)

So this morning I looked and my "new" fence was scratched to hell by a dog putting forth a good effort to get out of the yard.

Time to try new neasures, but this whole thing pisses me off. Usually dogs do this if they are bored, neglected, ignored, etc. But that is not us. These dogs have everything and are treated as dogs should be. I walk them, give them discipline, exercise them, all the things I learned from shows like the Dog Whisperer and more. They behave great, don't act out and are all around good dogs. Kaslo just has this wanderlust the cannot be contained I guess.

Granted we adopted both dogs at age 6, without any knowledge of their past. Kaslo we could tell came from a house without discipline and we have worked with her to make her 120% better than we she first arrived. Perhaps we'll go to the dog psychic... to see if there exists any issues from the past... who knows.

Frustrating. I put the wheel barrow back in its spot to deter further action.

[mendelman]

zman, perhaps you need to add from concave features to the top of the fence.

Basically, add a structure to the top that projects at a 45-90 degree (or so) angle from the plain of the fence that would act as an obstacle to climbing.

Something like this.

But if she can jump over the fence than I'm not sure what you can do.

Though, I'm really surprised that a Lab can jump that high. Mine can barely get her back legs off the ground jumping for her frisbee.

Good luck

[PlannerGirl]

I would say try double fencing in the areas she jumps. A friend had this problem with his dog and it worked, costly yes but it saved both on jump outs but accidental escapes from the gates.

6ft wood privacy fence but a few feet inside there is another fence (his was chain link) the dog cant get over the second fence because there is not enough room to get a running start. Offsetting the gates helped when one gate got accidentally left open the odds were strong the second one was closed. I want to say the tow fences were no more than 4 or 5 foot apart, large enough you can mow but not enough for the dog to use it.

or try planting taller shrubs etc a few feet away from the inside of the fence to give that same effect.

Best of luck, sounds like she just likes to do it and the attention it gets her

[zman]

Best of luck, sounds like she just likes to do it and the attention it gets her

She doesn't get too much attention when she does this. Just enough to get her in the yard/house and then that is it for a while. She certainly isn't attention starved.


As for Mendelman's ideas, my wife's coworker sent a photo of what they had to do for their dogs. Essentially, it was along the same lines as your idea, but with lattice work. The lattice work was placed at a 90 degree angle along the top rail of the fence. It could even double as "vine" hangers for landscaping... hmmmm.... maybe the fence in my backyard could look like the outfiend wall of Wrigley Field?

Both dogs were home at lunch, but my mood reflect a very bad walk for the three of us. That and about every cat and rabbit in the neighborhood crossed our path, causing both dogs to lunge and go crazy.

[Journeymouse]

I am currently a two dog household. My own hellhound (Finn, in my profile picture) has been joined by one of my sister's dogs (Evie) who has kennel cough. I've taken her on while she's on medication as my sister has a toddler, a full time job and two other dogs to cope with on her own. Looking after Evie would just be too much.

I'm now counting down the days until I can send her back. She's a (slightly) overweight rottweiler who thinks she's a lapdog and keeps waking me up as she tries to crawl into bed with me. She's learnt how to open lever-handle doors, so shutting the bedroom door only keeps her out temporarily. She snores and she's clingy. Finn, as much as he's not a massive attention seeker, is starting to get fed up with not being able to get close to me. He's starting to snap when he thinks she's too close. I'm trying to keep the peace.

This is, of course, only when I'm home. I snuck in after work yesterday and found them both curled up on my bed. I now have cutie-pie photos to prove that they get on. But not on my work computer.