What is the best way to introduce two puppies?
I raise Yorkies so the other adults have to get used to new puppies all the time. Be assured, this is a slow but pretty easy process. First thing is they are both young enough to not be territorial yet. That is a good thing. Next, yes take them to the park or even to your own yard is still fine. The basset put on a leash and keep the terrier in the kennel, let the basset sniff around for a little bit, 15 minutes or so until they ignore the kennel and play with you (have a ball or toy with you and some tiny treats). Reassure both pups with good boy/girl, play nice in a sweet voice . This is very important !! Secondly take terrier out of kennel slowly, slowly, keep both on leash. It may be best to keep new puppy turned away from basset for a few minutes (they will have to check out each others bottoms for a minute or two) you know, the sniff test. Maybe a little distasteful but true, sorry I did not make the dog rules! LOL. Anyway, give both treats and continue with good boy/girl and play nice command. Pet and love on both as much as possible. That way, neither will see the other as threat for the "pack leader" (thats you) affection. Turn both around and carefully let them get close to each other for just a second, then a minute, then a couple minutes. You get the idea, keep repeating the magic words we have said before and keep treating small bites. Look for hopefully wagging tails and erect ears. If you see tails down, or ears flat to head. Move them away again because they are gettng aggrivated with one another. Repeat this process all over again for several days and lengthen the time they are actually close until they begin playing (and they will). Then still do not leave them alone for a few weeks until they come running together tails wagging. This process may seem drawn out to some, but I have raised Yorkies (and had many other dogs) for over 12 years now and this has always worked. Hope this helps!!!
Are dogs bothered by fights or arguments going on around them?
If you are calm - your dogs are calm. What happens around you will be less of a concern. Your dog takes it's cue from you. The more upset you become - the worse your dog will be. The more you attempt to "coddle" your dog - the more justified the dog will be in perceiving their is indeed something to be afraid of. A dog that is raised (for example) with people yelling will not react fearfully if the dog is never actually hurt or punished. In other words, dogs can be conditioned to just accept this is what people do. I routinely say "you are a bad dog" to my dogs...and they wag their tails (and I smile). Dogs understand action - they intrepret what you say with what you do. If you are a confident and fair leader - they will follow - no matter what is going on around them. So, don't make it worse by falling all over the dog. Be calm, have the dog leashed, and in a down stay (so that it is out of harms way) Life is complicated. Most households with humans have arguments.. Its not the end of the world. If its violent or involves throwing things (you mentioned "a punch up") - then you need more help than YA and its not the dog I would be worried about. And yes, dogs that witness violence can react - and as the dog matures, depending on the breed, it may take its own course of action. Hence the reason it should be leashed. If you can leave the house with the dog when and if it becomes violent - then I would. If the dog growls the next day - say in a firm but even and calm tone "its ok" and "leave it". Do not let the dog make decisions for you. Ideally, use obedience to redirect the dog after "leave it" to "go lie down". If the dog does not have obedience training, now is a perfect time to start. PS: I do not agree with re-homing a dog whenever life gets complicated unless the dog is suffering (iie physically being hurt or being neglected). Life IS complicated for most of us. The answer is not to abandon the dog - but deal with the situation and if necessary, get help - which in this case, means counselling for domestic violence for you - not the dog.
Is it cruel to take the puppies away from the mother dog and sell them?
I’m not sure that I’m equipped to speak on the ethics of this but I will say that when I got my current two (they’re brother and sister from the one litter), they were 2 puppies out of a litter of 16, and by the time they were 8 weeks old their mother wanted rid of them.She’d lost patience, body condition and didn’t have the energy. Even though the pups were weaned they were still trying to feed from her and constantly bothering her - she started to lose her temper with them.I’m pretty sure as we drove away, I could hear her sigh and say ‘Thank f*ing god! They’re finally out of my hair!”My two arrived home and proceeded to try the same thing with my 11 year old girl dog Caia (in fact they made her bleed once trying to feed off her - I can tell you she wasn’t impressed, the poor thing).Thankfully it only took a few days for them to get used to being away from mum - they had us to snuggle with instead.This is them at about 9 weeks I thinkUpdate 1: Wow thanks to everyone who’s been reading this. You’ve made it my most popular answer to date!Now I know the key to Quoran success is gratuitous puppy cuteness! Glad you approve!Update 2: Some bonus gratuity to make you smile!Sorry the snaps aren’t great. This is Zana and Sarabi at 4 weeks oldCouldn’t get Zana to stay awake, I had to keep propping her head up!
Are there any problems with getting two puppies from the same litter?
We have two flatcoated retriever brothers from the same litter, 2 1/2 yrs old.There are various things they warn you about when having litter mates, and to be honest - we have seen very little of it with our boys.I'm not a dog trainer, or breeder, just a regular happy dog-owner who like to work with my dogs - but from my unprofessional perspective, there are a few things you need to think about… And some of this is probably not related to sibling status but more with having two pups the same age.We walk them separately, not every time but often enough. It's a little like with my daughters actually - I spend time with the girls together and with each of them separately. Same thing with the dogs, they are not a unit but two different individuals.We needed separate commands for them since they learnt at the same time and had a hard time figuring out who we were talking to. In our case, “Jacksonno” and “Denverno” instead of plain ol’ “no”… etc. Probably took longer for us to learn how to do that than for them to understand, LOL!When we train with them (obedience, rally-obedience) we have “one each”. I always train the same dog, my husband the other. You can't train both of them at the same time, except maybe some basic every day stuff like not pulling the leash, no jumping, sit, stay etc.We have them in doggy daycare, where they run around all day in a pack of approx ten big dogs. This helps with socializing - they have their own “friends” in that pack - and has been a huge benefit when having litter mates.We have two males, and they're neutered. Actually, in my honest /and firm/ opinion - all male dogs should be unless they are planned for breeding.One of our boys is more social with other dogs, the other is more hesitant. He isn't afraid (he's the dominant one actually), he just isn't all that interested and that's okay, we don't mind and don't worry about it.I could go on forever about my darlings, but I'll stop now and just give you my personal bottom line opinion:If it's your first dog - don't do it. Actually, I would advise against getting two pups from different litters too. Get one, wait a year or two and then get another one.If you’re used to dogs and are prepared to put the time and effort into it, then having litter mates can absolutely be great. It certainly is for us.And here are our crazy brothers, Jackson and Denver:
What is something stupid/horrible a client has told at a animal vet office?
I try to love and help all my clients but working with pets and owners is like working with a child and a parent, they want there little baby to be perfect. Someone time I had this guy and his dog was just a mess, it was gagging and coughing and just looked like it swallowed a razor, no it was a vibrator. So guy has his dog and he says he dog probably just ate some bad meat or some cleaning stuff. Now I explain to him why those two reason are incorrect and he starts yelling at me like its the a tie during the Superbowl. Now after this guy is done arguing with me I begin to pick up his dog and he once again yells at me saying “what the hell girl, what you doing with my dog ”. So for some reason this guy now doesn't trust me with his dog even though I'm just passing him off to the guy who does xrays, so he demand a new doctor. Now I'm just pissed off cause now we got to find this guy a new doctor in a busy veterinary center. So Im now I just stay in my office typing this dogs symptoms when his asks, “who's the lady(photo) on your desk” now I answer saying it is my fiancé when he goes crazy on with a homophobic rant. He's swearing at me, calling me a sl** and a f** when finally my boss in the other rooms comes in and kicks him into the lobby. After this I'm just totally pissed so I decided to take a lunch break and me up with the guy from xrays. Now during me and him are just talking and he says they found out the dog had swallowed a vibrator so I laugh and so me and this elderly guy talk about all the thing he's found inside a pet.
Is it normal for a shelter to make you feel guilty for returning a dog that isn't working out?
I recently adopted a dog from my local shelter and after a few weeks of keeping it, it just wasn't working out. I had wanted a fully grown, house trained dog, and after 3 weeks of having this stray in my home it was evident that it was neither. My vet estimated it's age at 6-10 months not the 2 yrs the pound claimed and it was not house broken at all. I proceeded to make it an outdoor dog because of its house training issues and the fact that i do not have time to house train a dog. Then i discovered it was a digger and an escape artist. I called the pound and the girl on the phone told me not to worry because the shelter had a 30 day return policy and that i could bring it back and exchange it for another dog or just return if i wanted to wait and look later. So after much deliberation between my husband and i we took the dog back. Once i got there the lady at the front desk was a complete b*tch to me, proceeded to inform me that if i would have properly trained the dog none of the so called issues i had would have been issues, and then tells me the dog will probably be put down. I proceeded to tell her that i know training is possible i have a fully grown bulldog i trained from a pup who is a gentlemen and perfectly house trained, but that wasn't what i wanted to do i wanted to adopt a fully trained dog and that the dog was also a digger and escape artist who had destroyed my house and yard. They lady was just horrible and made me feel like a horrible person for returning a dog under THEIR 30 day return policy. Later that day i talked to my sister who's best friend adopted a shelter dog as well and ended up having to return it for health reasons and the shelter she went to gave her a hard time for returning the dog as well. Is this a common practice with shelters to bully people in to keeping dogs that aren't a good fit or working for them? It left a bad taste in my mouth and made me not want to adopt ever again. I had mentioned that the dog would be a great prospect for someone with the time to train a pup and the lady mentioned since i had told her all of its issues that she has to write them down on it's potential adoptee paperwork and that it probably wouldn't get adopted now because no one wants a non-house broken dog who digs and is an escapee. I was appalled that she wanted to lie to people about the dogs history , and just get it out of the shelter into someone elses home. Is this a common shelter technique or what?
Will the stigma of owning a staff ever end?
I am with you totally - and to be honest I hate to say it but the more of these "status dogs" owned by young people that are staffies, it has left my breed, the rottie, out of the equation. However I know how I would feel if I saw lots of rotties around owned by these young people that trawl he parks and roads with their "status dogs"...... and there are some. Sorry to say it but you only have to be on here to see just how poplular the pitbull is in the US and to see how young some of the people owning them are -- (not meant to be harsh on young people, but few have the time & experience to play mind games with a dog like this). I am glad for this reason that the pitbull was banned in the UK as I think they would be even more prolific than they are. Even now you can easily get a pitbull puppy. I guess from your point of view, if there were more pitbulls then there would be no or few staffies. This is where we come back to the law on owning rather than any sort of legislation on specific breeds comes in doesn't it. UK law always seems to be about 100 steps behind what is obviously going on..... gees. .... Add on -- I also do not want to lump all young people together in this, however, if I was young now, I would also recognise that it was young people that are taking these dogs onto the streets and encouraging them behave badly, and would therefore recognise that it is the young people themselves making it worse for other responsible young people. My son was the one responsible for getting into rotties, and "we" had our first as his 15th birthday present. But I was ultimately responsible for the dog and I would never of allowed him to wander the streets using the dog in a threatening manner. So where are all the parents of these young people. The conditions of owning a dog when young should be upheld by the parents.
Another day, another Staffordshire Bull Terrier attack ......?
Girl of 7 narrowly avoids losing her eye in the attack while playing in a park. The dog (not owned by the girls family by the way) had got out of its yard and attacked her. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1302747/Girl-left-horrific-eye-facial-injuries-dog-drags-street-head.html What gets me is the replies of 'Its not the dogs, its the owners.' Well that kind of statement is all well and good. But it doesnt SOLVE anything does it? Banning the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and other dangerous breeds would. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to need a dog like this. If they are desperate for a dog, let them get a Collie then.