The Dog Cafe

[Hemlock]

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Best of all, you are astute enough to be aware of what a shock New Baby will be to I Had My Parents All To Myself, and because you understand dogs, you'll be a key player in helping Big Sis to manage her feelings.

 

[JudyN]

Best of all, you are astute enough to be aware of what a shock New Baby will be to I Had My Parents All To Myself, and because you understand dogs, you'll be a key player in helping Big Sis to manage her feelings.

I hope so She's a little angel so far - even when she has a mini-tantrum she tends to lie face-down on the floor, go silent for a bit, and then get up and carry on as if nothing had happened. But that could well change....

 

[JudyN]

I was watching the granddaughter cuddling Koda today - not particularly gently, but then 2-year-olds' cuddles are never going to be gentle. K is absolutely fine with a bit of manhandling, but, as we'll be doing a bit more childcare when Mr N retires at the end of March, I just thought 'There's no way we can take in a rescue sighthound until she and the sibling-to-be are a good deal older' I really should stop following lurcher rescues on Facebook, I fall in love wth at least one dog a day...

 

[JoanneF]

There's always crates, which are great for keeping kids safe from dogs. You could start training your grand-daughter now.

Edited to add - for new members who may be horrified, Judy and I share a similar sense of humour ...

 

[JudyN]

Plus there would be plenty of room for her to stand, lie down, turn around etc. in Jasper's old crate. I could even give her a stuffed Kong with appropriate filling to keep her occupied

 

[Flobo]

I fall in love wth at least one dog a day...

This is exactly why I don't even peek at a rescue site!

 

[JudyN]

Next doors' female Boston terrier (well it would hardly be the male ;-) ) is having her second litter of puppies in about a month I have, of course, volunteered for puppy-cuddling duties. I might even suggest that I can help socialise them to well-behaved 2-year-olds...

 

[Restles246]

Welcome all to the cafe

What’s everyone been up to today?

Hi, I'm a newby, just joined

 

[JudyN]

Welcome to the forum, Restles - do tell us a little about yourself. Do you have any dogs?

 

[Flobo]

Today was a really good day!

Back in January I took on a new dog to walk, a Rom rescue with reactivity issues. She is gorgeous and, for me anyway, her reactivity is pretty well managed other than when a dog comes too close. Where I walk her is usually quiet but today we had 3 different moments where we had no where to go with approaching hounds! I stepped just off the path, she sat beautifully for her treat facing me and on all occasions the dogs passed about 6 foot away from her with no reaction at all, wonderful! All the dogs thank fully were on leads which did help in the moment of course.
We were heading back to the van and a way ahead of us I could see a man with a Staff, off lead, it stopped, clocked us and I knew she was going to come bombing over to say hi I stopped, got my dogs attention and just put my hand up in the air to get the blokes attention(as I was quietly saying poop, under my breath as there was no avoiding this!)in that moment he called his dog and popped her on the lead, very big phew from me!! I went one way round a big bush and he went the other, he did call over to say how friendly his dog was but totally got it when I said mine wasn't. I said a very big thank you to him for noticing and acting quickly regardless and we all walked away happy! A good day indeed and double gold stars for my dog and the staff owner

I do hope, slowly but surely, people with friendly, sociable dogs can start to appreciate just how much of a huge difference they can make just by noticing a situation. It may sound like such a small thing but believe me it is massive!

 

[JudyN]

I don't know what is more lovely - your dog behaving like an absolute champ, or meeting a fellow dog walker who actually gets it

 

[JoanneF]

If only more dog walkers were like you.

 

[Flobo]

Thank you @JoanneF that's very kind.
I've had my mindful dog walking card made into a decal, so it's a permanent fixture on the back doors of my van now, just keeping it out there! They do say change happens one person at a time eh... I do want to say thankyou though to the knowledgeable lot on here, as over the years of walking special dogs I have absorbed many things from this forum that has absolutely aided the way I work!

 

[JudyN]

Equafleece fail today - I thought I'd try putting it on K the cavapoo, aka Mud Monster, so I could return him slightly less grubby than usual. I got his head and a front leg in, but it all seemed twisted and I wasn't convinced I could get the other front leg in without snapping it off I decided to give up but even struggled to get it off again, and K seemed completely immobilised, the poor lad.

I've taught him 'drop', and started on 'kiss' - touching my hand with his nose - and he's been a fast learner. The lead walking is getting there... His only real annoying habit is jumping up on the kitchen units to try to see/smell what I'm doing. Not that he can reach anything, or even see it, but I don't want the paintwork damaged by his claws. 'Down' gets him down again, but that doesn't stop him jumping up again within seconds. Maybe I need to catch him thinking about jumping up, giving him 'a look' and treating him for keeping four on the floor.

 

[JoanneF]

I always laugh at Mr F trying to put an Equafleece on Timber. Honestly, when I do it, he practically puts it on by himself, with me just holding it in place. But with Mr F - I think if anything happened to me, I'd have a very cold dog.

But seriously, there is a bit of a knack. I think there might be videos on their website?

 

[colettedb]

I had to look up equafleece I struggle to convince august that her harness is a good thing so the equafleece doesn’t stand a chance

 

[JudyN]

I think there might be videos on their website?

Yes, I watched one after the event - it made it look very easy! I'll have another go sometime...

 

[Flobo]

I struggle with some harnesses!
If they've been taken off by a different clip, or clips, being undone, they seem to turn into a Chinese puzzle to me... It's a bit easier now a lot of people seem to use the perfect fit ones, though they still can take me a deep breath to work out!

 

[JoanneF]

@Flobo, I have a tip. Ask the owners if you can tie a piece of yarn round the straps at each side of the fasteners, then you can match red to red, blue to blue etc.

 

[Flobo]

That's a good idea! Thankfully all my dogs also seem to be very patient with me and just stand there calmly while I work it out!