~:~:~:The Doggie Thread!!:~:~:~

HeavyHands wrote:

Thanks so much for the kind words. Those are great suggestions. Now I'll just have to find a way to get to the store to get a bone without him getting all frantic on me.

I'll toss in a few more just because we went through this when we got Chops. We're only lucky that our apt had only one neighbor living or he would've been booted because he barked nonstop. The one neighbor was cool about it since she was gone during the day too, but yikes was he bad. We would sit in the hallway and just listen to him to see how long it lasted... 30-40 minutes plus of nonstop barking.

So things we tried...

1. Leaving a blanket/shirt/something with your scent in the crate (if you use one) or leave it wherever they tend to sleep. Seemed to calm him a little bit I guess just having something with our scent next to him.

2. We recorded an MP3 of us talking and played it on a loop. It was a horrifying experience just having to record talking to a dog (we just read a peanuts book real fast), but it worked I think. We just put it on when we left and turned it as soon as we got home and left it on not too loud. I didn't like it but he did. I think the TV/radio would help too - just some noise so they don't only hear the things going on outside which would get him worked up again.

3. Stuffed bones/kongs/etc as already suggested. If you freeze a kong it can take them a good 30 minutes to get everything out of it which can be enough time to get them off of the 'crap they just left me' mode they get into. This helped except that it made a huge mess when we were trying to figure out what to put in it, but you can find some cool recipes with yogurt, beef broth, peanut butter, etc. But keep in mind what you use since you're trying to get some weight off which is also very important for any large dog.

Hope that helps... it took Chops a good two months before he snapped out of it. What's weird is that its not like he went from barking 45 minutes to 30 to 20 or anything like that.He barked nonstop every time and then one day he just stopped cold turkey. It was really weird- I guess he finally knew we were coming back for him.

drsluggo wrote:

I've been gone a while, but wanted to get back into the swing of things on here. Here's Chops sleeping after I spent a good part of the morning cleaning up four piles of vomit from overnight. I have no idea what got him sick, but it was not a fun morning... bleh.



You can see he feels bad for putting me and my wife through the cleanup, right?

oh yeah....he obviously feels reeeeeeeally bad about it!

imalive wrote:

HeavyHands wrote:

Since having him he's been a real pleasure. He does suffer from separation anxiety, though, when I have to leave and go somewhere. He gets himself all worked up and barks non stop while I'm gone. I've tried getting him as tired as I possibly can, only being gone for short periods of time, and a few other things. Luckily the barking doesn't bother the neighbors so far, but I'm hoping someone in this thread has some advice.

It's really nice to visit this thread again and see all of the pictures.

hopefully, just the fact that you've given tank a better life than he had will cause him to get over his separation anxiety. I'm no expert, but it seems like as he gets more secure the anxiety will fade.

I'm really snowed at work right now so I'm barely here but I just wanted to add that your problem isn't unique and the different suggestions are really good. When we adopted our little rescue, Penny, she would bark and cry whenever we left, even though she had Django for company. We always left the radio on and tried other things, like leaving for a short time and coming right back. It seemed to take FOREVER but eventually she just stopped. She will still bark sometimes if we leave her out in the yard. But after a while (maybe 20 minutes) she seems to get bored with it and will go take a nap.

Good luck with Tank!

someone has been in the garage and got himself a new toy.

Tank and I went to the park this morning. Here he is taking a water break between sets of chasing a tennis ball. I took along a brush. As you can see by the evidence in the grass behind him, I'm still working on getting his coat sorted out. Unfortunately his prior owners never brushed him. That's ok though. He seems pretty happy now.



He's really happy each morning when I go to fill up his food container. Big smiles every day are one of the first things that greet me!



Here he is one afternoon as he is dozing. Nice to see a smile on his face.

HeavyHands wrote:

Here he is one afternoon as he is dozing. Nice to see a smile on his face.

Hi Tank...

HeavyHands wrote:

Tank and I went to the park this morning. Here he is taking a water break between sets of chasing a tennis ball. I took along a brush. As you can see by the evidence in the grass behind him, I'm still working on getting his coat sorted out. Unfortunately his prior owners never brushed him. That's ok though. He seems pretty happy now.

So nice to be greeted with doggie smiles! This picture makes it look like he has a heart on his nose. (Awww!)

About the brushing, yes, it is a chore. With 2 very furry dogs I know all about it! You might want to get a furminator. They are great! You can't use them to comb out tangles but they really do help with the shedding. Somebody on this board turned me on to this source:
http://www.surpluscomputers.com/product ... furminator

Really good price and well worth having. :thumbup:

PJaddicted wrote:

I love reading all your doggies stories, please keep them and the pictures coming. I never tire reading about dogs and their owners, such a special love they share. Where would we be with out our dogs?

i can TOTALLY relate to your experience with petey. EVERY day I worry about Gracie.....at least a little. she had a great day today. she played and played and played with my little niece and nephew while I watched football. she is pretty much worn out.

imalive wrote:

PJaddicted wrote:

I love reading all your doggies stories, please keep them and the pictures coming. I never tire reading about dogs and their owners, such a special love they share. Where would we be with out our dogs?

i can TOTALLY relate to your experience with petey. EVERY day I worry about Gracie.....at least a little. she had a great day today. she played and played and played with my little niece and nephew while I watched football. she is pretty much worn out.

You and I are in this together. I get so angry when people complain about their healthy dogs or others dump them in shelters because they don't have the time. My dog are my family every bit as much as my kids are. We both know we only have today. ox