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Vickkers

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About Vickkers

  • Birthday 11/21/1981

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    http://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriastead
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    vickkimalan

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    Raleigh, NC

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  1. Have faith... and patience... Finnegan was afraid of EVERYTHING when we brought him home at 9 weeks. Good grief. He was our 4th BC and I'd never had one who was afraid of any new thing he was introduced to. He's turning 3 in September and he grew out of his fear. The one thing I can say is try and keep everything as positive as possible and go slowly. We made a HUGE mistake of introducing him to the 'small dogs' dog park thinking it would be a good way to socialize him since he was so small at 12 weeks old. The small dogs thought they could jump all over him and of course, it freaked him out. Even though he has lots of good dog-dog interactions now, he still gets freaked out if another dog tries to wrestle him... but that could also just be him not tolerating rude behavior... I don't know. Now, he is active in Flyball and Agility and has done a little tiny bit of herding but seemed less scared of the sheep than my other non-scaredy-pants dogs....
  2. oh yeah. Let's see .... I was at a friend's house for a party when I got a call on my cell phone "hi, we found your dog Clover wandering around the neighborhood"... Oh crap. DH had let everyone out to pee while I was out and forgotten Clover outside and she saw people (her most favorite thing in the whole, wide world) and decided to leave our porch to go say hello. Called DH and he went and got her... Next time, it was my fault. Let all the dogs out to potty at night and thought I counted everyone back in...turns out one of my 2 red girls, Zena (the other is.... surprise, Clover!) had gone out and in and out and in again and so I thought Clover had come back in. Our dining table has floor to ceiling windows and there we are eating dinner and I see these sad eyes peering through the window from the porch and a soft "woof". Oops. Came home one day and found one of my males, Zeus, chilling on the front porch. He had decide to stay inside that day when everyone else wanted to be out back when DH went to work. DH had apparently not shut the front door all the way and Zeus decided he wanted to hang out on the porch instead. Neighbor said later that he had seen Zeus hanging out on the porch all day and thought about trying to put him in the back yard but didn't want to accidentally let the other dogs out since he wasn't sure they'd listen to him. Door was not shut all the way but unless he'd gone up to it, neighbor wouldn't have seen it and Zeus is too polite to shove the door open. I feel like a huge asshole, just like RDM said, but it still seems to happen every once in a while. Hasn't happened for several years and I'm hoping to keep that record clean. Feel like I need one of those safety signs (it's been xxx many days since you left a dog outside)...
  3. I feel your pain Katrice. I would recommend a behaviorist as well. If North Carolina is close enough, NC State has a Behavioral Science program <NCSU Behavioral Medicine>. I saw a Resident there but they have a (non student) Behaviorist or two on staff as well. My Resident(Dr Hopfensperger) was excellent but she's going into private practice in the next couple of months and won't be with NCSU anymore... you might be able to find her online. I have one dog who is fear aggressive and one dog who is obsessive like yours. The fear aggressive dog is doing WONDERFULLY on Prozac and behavior modification techniques taught by Dr H. I tried taking her off of the drugs for somewhere around 2-3 months and just working on the behavior modification to see if I could wean her off and get the same results... nope. The difference between her on Prozac and off Prozac when everything else is the same is amazing. Clover (that dog) just completed a beginning agility class a couple of weeks ago and is getting ready to take her second level of classes. I never could have had her in a situation like that before. Clover does not do well with negative reinforcement... however... Zeus on the other hand. Zeus fixates. He gets VERY intense and will shake with his intensity. With him it is about exposure, exposure, exposure...in super small amounts at a time. At one point Zeus regressed to the point where any time he saw another dog that wasn't part of our pack he went bananas. With him positive reinforcement doesn't do squat. A little negative reinforcement or even a preemptive reminder to behave when he starts showing any sign of focusing too much has become the key to keeping his head from exploding. He still can't handle Flyball tournaments (which we do with 2 of our other dogs) but we're going to start doing the beginner agility class with him on Tuesday in hopes that we can slowly work up to more stimulating situations. The nice thing about the agility classes I'm taking is that they accept dogs with behavior issues and everything is on leash so there's no chance of harm coming to any dog and if your dog gets over stimulated then there is a time out area where they can decompress. We did not go to a behaviorist with Zeus but I used the techniques I learned with Clover for Zeus. I had to modify a little when he didn't respond to the positives like Clover does. I also went to a Leash Aggression workshop held at Paws4Ever in Mebane, NC. That was with a travelling behaviorist I believe and that has helped a TON with Zeus. She taught techniques for holding the leash to maximize hand freedom and bracing your arm to calm the dog and keep him/her from pulling like crazy and encouraging the frenzied behavior. That workshop was really helpful with Zeus, who is/was the leash aggressive one. Keep in mind...I've been working with my dogs for YEARS on overcoming these issues. I encourage you not to give up and to definitely explore all of your options. I understand that some people really do not believe in negative reinforcement and I am not trying to push my values or beliefs on anyone but I have found that some dogs, like Clover, only respond to positive reinforcement and will shut down if you use negative reinforcement which does *not* solve the problem and can make it worse. BUT, some dogs like Zeus need a heavier hand and using only positive reinforcement doesn't work. A note about gentle leaders: they work for some dogs. Unfortunately for Clover they exacerbated her fear issues and it took a LONG time to undo the damage that caused. They work great for Zeus though. As far as exercise goes: I agree with SecretBC... a walk is a JOKE to my dogs. We go cross country hiking in the morning through the woods and streams and hopefully go again at night and we play chuck it... but there are a couple of things that I have found that work wonders. Clover LOVES water. She used to play in kiddie pools but she'd burn holes in them digging and splashing and playing so we were only able to get a few play times out of each pool. Now we have horse troughs from Tractor Supply... they have black heavy plastic ones that hold up extremely well and Clover will spend hours playing and getting rid of excess energy there. Zena, Zeus' littermate also loves the trough and will play there too. We also invested in a treadmill from Craigslist. We maybe spent $75 on a cheap treadmill and taught all of our dogs how to run on them. Now in the morning when I do yoga I will put a dog on the treadmill at 2.0 mph while I get my mat set and video in etc... then I turn it up to 3-4mph and have the dog run for 20-30 minutes while I do my yoga and then cool down for a few minutes at a lower speed. I also play with the incline. The dogs have to concentrate or they will fall off so it helps with mental as well as physical stimulation. I rotate the dogs so they don't do the treadmill every day but it's an excellent tool for those dogs that seem to have never ending energy. It's also great for when it's super nasty out and you can't go outside for more than a potty break. Good luck!!!!! You're doing a wonderful thing trying to help rehabilitate that dog
  4. Mine is also boring... my husband and I started dating in High School 12 years ago and it's always been his nickname for me
  5. Yes, pig filthy... as in when it gets nice and muddy and little puddles form....they play "splash and bite" with the puddles... then they love to play "catch the water" out of the hose when we rinse them off on the deck. Luckily they think it's a game and we can get them somewhat clean that way. They usually come up to the deck with all 4 legs, tummy, snout and tail completely and totally covered in mud.
  6. Thanks guys. yes, they do have a nice backyard with lots of things to play with. Usually we leave the dog door open so they can go in and out at their leisure but since I'm hope injured they are outside today. They have dog houses and water and every things so I'm not worried about that...it's just the whole, they're really young (yes, I have 4 and the oldest is 3 years old). You're right thought. At least it's temporary. Our dogs will get off the bed if asked but I can't catch them always before they get up and bound over and have been stepped on a couple of times before we decided to nix that until I am healed. Thanks again and I will talk to DH about after work play/exercise time.
  7. UGH I feel like such a bad "mom" right now. I had abdominal surgery on Friday and so even getting to the bathroom requires help (I have a laptop that is on the bed with me right now). I am the one who is the primary care giver for our dogs and cats and although my husband is doing his very best to take care of me and the animals I'm afraid he's not doing everything that he should for our kids and they're having to spend most of the time outside or in their kennels. We tried having them inside but (since they're usually allowed on the bed) they kept hurting me trying to snuggle. My poor husband was up at 4:30 with me on Friday to take me to the hospital and up with me until 11 last night and then up every hour with me to help me to the bathroom and then was supposed to get up at 6 this morning to get the dogs to the park and running and exercised before he had to leave for work. He couldn't get himself up and said he'd do it after work (although he was supposed to do it before and after work)... I feel frustrated because I know they're not getting the care they need but I also know if I try and grumble at my husband about it that he will think (and maybe rightly so?) that it's not fair and he's doing the best that he can. He had to come home on his lunch break today to help me since technically I'm not supposed to be alone but no one can stay with me. The Dr said I should be able to drive and do short walks by Monday if I'm really careful but I can't hold the leashes because that could herniate my incisions if they happen to even accidentally pull (plus i'm not sure i will be able to walk far enough to even make a difference to the dogs). I can't even throw the ball or anything. we do have a treadmill but that's not a good "only" exercise. Any ideas or thoughts?? I'm dying of guilt over here. . .
  8. after reading the posts and checking out some stuff online last night I grabbed a few empty water (1 and 2 liter size) bottles and filled them with hard treats and let the dogs at them.. OMG it's hilarious... they were at it until I put them up for bed last night and have been playing with them again since I got home tonight. For anyone looking for a laugh I definitely recommend it.
  9. Tammy, check out the link in INU's post...it takes you to the website to purchase both the bouncy bone and tug a jug (both look really cool and I might have to get them... even if it's just for treats).
  10. LOL oh guys... you have me ROLLING over here with laughter! Thank you for sharing the stories. I did originally try a search but I came up with such varied results (and over 500 of them) that I thought a new post would be easier (sorry, guess I'm really lazy...although I did find some neat posts about other things doing that search) I looked at Scootering when I was looking at the bikejoring but like someone else mentioned... I wasn't looking to spend a lot when there are so many other things to do (and I already have a bike). Linda... I checked out the link... but what do you do if your dogs decide to cut behind the bike? Won't that send you sprawling? My dogs know 'whoa' and 'easy' but they do tend to "enjoy" wildlife a lot. . . I could just see myself in a similar <motorcycle-style> accident although lacking the feces I hope!!! Maybe I'll just stick to running with them and enjoying playing ball with them for now... the "weak link" scares me. I'd rather forgo biking with the dogs than lose one to an oncoming car if the link breaks. JUST CHECKED OUT THE DOGPOWEREDSCOOTER website... that trike is AWESOME!!!! not spending $1000 but still totally cool Thanks guys for the advice, info and stories. I needed a laugh tonight
  11. whoops... i think i misread your post. when you said it looked like it was the color of mud and grass I read it as it was grass... hmmmmmm I don't know what to tell ya. Sometimes my dogs also eat mud (not saying yours did) but I think that's because they're a little "unwell" in the head
  12. Does anyone do bikejoring here? I am interested in learning more about it... and I'm also looking into contraptions to add to my bike so I can ride with a dog or two next to me (has anyone used the Springer Dog Jogger)? I love running with my dogs but I also want to be able to get back in to biking with them...
  13. Pepper is the only one who likes a bed in her crate. the others all drag them outside and leave them in our bedroom and then get back in without anything. i think they get too hot.
  14. Tammy, I'm so sorry you're going through this right now. I hate scares like that. My dogs eat grass and throw up when they need to clear out their tummies (that is purely my guess and not a scientific fact but they only do it once in a while <my cats do it too> and seem to do it when they've got upset tummies). I would do what your vet said and not feed him. The fact that he's hungry is a good sign though. Maybe he was constipated and/or had an obstruction that was cleared when he threw up...even if it didn't come all the way up? I don't really have any "advice" for you...just a, "shoot, I hate when that happens" commiserate. Good luck!!
  15. hmmmm.... I'm not sure if people noticed but I was giving them a varied diet (including beef, pork, turkey, chicken, eggs and salmon) but the least stinky they are is when they're just eating chicken and turkey... but I can't just do that so they do also get Salmon and eggs.... I talked to my vet this evening and after also talking to my dh (who reminded me that Clover has always been stinky even when she was kibble-fed) we've been advised to go with rice and yogurt for a few days to clean their systems out... (and then of course the vet suggested kibble again) . The vet said there's probably some sort of bacterial build up in their systems which is causing the stinky gas... but I think what I'm going to do is what several of you suggested and once they're "cleaned out" try small meals 2x a day to see if they just need to better digest their food. and also up the probiotics (got doggy formulated ones from Petsmart tonight). If that seems to work then I'll definitely start adding beef back in. I'm hesitant to add pork back in because of some of the negative things I've heard about it. Hopefully we'll get this under control... obviously something isn't right if no one else has this problem. Thanks everyone!
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