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Don't let her glamour pose fool you: she's a filthy beast at heart...

Updates: we're having fun at obedience training. The dog park idea was a total fail: it's like a doggy meat grinder. Tried three times, never, ever again. It's a real eye opener what happens to dogs with "dog walkers" though. So no dog park unless it's pouring rain. Fortunately, she has no problem with city noise (even the subway rumble under the park, after looking to me for reassurance), so we do long leash work at the other park, and her recall is really getting good. She's Miss Popularity still with all and sundry on walks, but now that she's learning to heel, it isn't as big an issue. Still, I kind of wish we had a Cloak of Invisibility when we go out, because sometimes you just want to be with your dog, eh?

I tried to search up "spay" on this site, but the search function is wonky. Hopefully it will straighten out soon, or maybe one of you sages can just pop in with a quick age comment. Don't need to start a controversy on that, but can't access what controversy there is, and the vet is asking.

So Carmen's just swell! She's a love bug, sometimes full of beans, but we're having a great time!

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Most people (other than rescues, and I understand their reasons) recommend that you wait till the dog's done growing so that the growth plates have closed.

More and more though, people are starting to realize that hormones play an important role in the long term health of dogs. Studies have shown that intact dogs are prone to fewer health problems, e.g. less incidence of some cancers.

If I'd ever have another dog where I was in charge of the decision making, I'd definitely opt for vasectomy over castration for a male and an ovary sparing spay for a female, even if I had to travel. (I was dismayed to learn a couple years ago that Cornell doesn't even teach those procedures!)

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2016/07/27/neutering-spaying-effects.aspx?utm_source=petsnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20160727Z1&et_cid=DM112154&et_rid=1590108461

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/09/30/neutering-health-risks.aspx

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/age-to-spay-or-neuter-ovary-sparing-spay-vasectomy-cancer-links/

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/spay-neuter-and-joint-disease/?inf_contact_key=0b504c1a0fe6c089b3ecf4530f3389d0a4f7b2bfbaababa80b876d14a40bf5f5

 

 

Edited by GentleLake
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 What an eye-catching dog.

I knew someone who had the most gorgeous standard poodle anyone ever saw. Unusual color,  built large and powerful, had an impressive "look at me" way of carrying himself, and was never groomed in a silly way. It was impossible to take that dog anywhere without having people cross the street to ask about and pet him. His owner said it was like dating a rock star. You may find that having this dog is like dating a movie star.

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Thanks for that info, GentleLake! I've never heard of that procedure before, but there's someone about an hour out of town who does it, so I'll look into it for sure. I'm so grateful for this site and your help.

And yes, D'Elle, she's practically trained to respond with clownish rollover antics to squealing teenage girls. Just like the Beatles. :lol:

 

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D'Elle

Oh my gosh YES. I took my dog to a coffee shop recently, and sat outside with her. Several people wanted to pet her which she was thrilled about, wagging her whole butt, rolling over for belly rubs, all that. Then a waiter came out with a cup of water and held it for her while she drank, and asked if he could bring her a piece of sausage. I said yes, a small one. He brought her like half a sausage but she is a garbage gut so I thought well okay that's fine. Everybody just had to pet her. I felt bad because there was another dog there and no one even noticed him. And we've gotten the same reaction at other places too. It's like going out with a celebrity. She's a charmer I guess. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Quick Mom Brag: Carmen made the trainer blurt out, "holy shit" then cover her mouth at class last night when she learned a new move on the second try. She learns tricks/commands so quickly, everybody just rolls their eyes. #bordercolliebrains #donthatemebecauseimbrilliant

She's 7 months now. She has hand signals for sit, down and come, she can stay in a group of other dogs off leash while I leave the room, her heeling and recall is really good. She's my shadow and my work buddy, and I can't remember life before her. My husband and I do long-lead fetch at the big park with her every morning, and we still gasp when she does the occasional jump/catch in the air. Can't wait until she's old enough to start on Frisbee!  Now that the kids are back in school, I'm going to start teaching her the names of her toys (which are piling up from her Barkbox deliveries.)

One challenge: she has water phobia. Serious...serious...water phobia. She doesn't even like being splashed with a water bottle. I've watched Youtube videos on how to deal with it, but honestly, we just don't live with easy enough access to bodies of water to train it up. Maybe next summer? Hope that's not too late...

But as far as anxieties go, I think we got off pretty lightly. That's really the only one. She's fine in the city, doesn't pull the lead, no longer lurches for attention with people, is unmoved by cars and trucks and even the subway that you can hear under the park like thunder. Oh yes, and she's okay with thunder and fireworks, too. Not thrilled, but she's not terrified.

Sometimes when she's running hard after the ball (usually on the return) she coughs a little. I was thinking of taking her to the vet, but anybody have ideas on what this could be? Could she be allergic to grass? It's gone on for some time, and she really only does it when she's running hard at the park.

Ugh, this was supposed to be quick. But you all know how it is when you start talking about your dog...:rolleyes:

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:lol:She sounds amazing! (And those eyes...) What move did she learn so fast?

We taught our dog to love water by plopping the ball really really close to her in the water so she could reach it without having to get her feet wet. We slowly moved the ball further and further in and now she just races after it she loves it so much. Silly idea: maybe you can try this in a bucket of water at home? That way she can associate fun stuff with water touching her. No idea if this works, though. 

 

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:D The move was, "go around."

Sometimes it feels like she knows what I'm going to say before I even command it. Like I think it, then she beats me to it before I can say it. (Times like this make up for the times I know she knows what I want, but she decides to be a brat...haha) And then there are the times she teaches herself things...like how to open the back door when it's not locked (the cat really appreciates this one.) For some reason, that's the one that impresses our guests most. :lol:

And thanks! I was thinking of getting one of those plastic baby pools and putting toys in and seeing what happens. I really think she'd avoid the entire area, though. She acts like it's kryptonite! This may be the route we go next summer, as it's already cooling off, and nobody likes cold water when it's chilly...I'm probably not doing myself any favours, though. She hasn't needed much more than a sponge bath (when she got into the BBQ grease---ughhh) but she will eventually, and I'm not sure what I'll do then.

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16 hours ago, GentleLake said:

My experience has been that noise phobia doesn't start till about 2 years old, and I just saw that mentioned in an article recently too.

So you're not off the hook with that one yet.

 

That's interesting. Well, here's hoping all the garbage trucks, construction noise, lawnmowers and sirens she's learned to ignore every day will insulate her a little and see her through... Either that, or she'll be the one who goes out to the country and freaks out because it's too quiet. My husband's like that. (I am not. I prefer quiet, but this is the way life rolled out.)

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23 hours ago, coffeegirl said:

:D The move was, "go around."

Sometimes it feels like she knows what I'm going to say before I even command it. Like I think it, then she beats me to it before I can say it. (Times like this make up for the times I know she knows what I want, but she decides to be a brat...haha) And then there are the times she teaches herself things...like how to open the back door when it's not locked (the cat really appreciates this one.) For some reason, that's the one that impresses our guests most. :lol:

And thanks! I was thinking of getting one of those plastic baby pools and putting toys in and seeing what happens. I really think she'd avoid the entire area, though. She acts like it's kryptonite! This may be the route we go next summer, as it's already cooling off, and nobody likes cold water when it's chilly...I'm probably not doing myself any favours, though. She hasn't needed much more than a sponge bath (when she got into the BBQ grease---ughhh) but she will eventually, and I'm not sure what I'll do then.

Phew, bathing is a whole different ball game. My dog looks at me like I am torturing her... But it must be even more difficult if she doesn't even like to play with water. :) 

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3 hours ago, coffeegirl said:

Well, here's hoping all the garbage trucks, construction noise, lawnmowers and sirens she's learned to ignore every day will insulate her a little and see her through...

For her sake and for yours, I hope that's the case.

There's something different about thunder and fireworks, though. I'd bought a recording of thunderstorms years ago in the hope of desensitizing the very noise phobic dog at the time. He never reacted a bit to it and no thunder phobic dog I've ever had since has either.

Just last night there was a thunderstorm on TV. Bodhi didn't even twitch an ear, nor does he if there are fireworks on TV. Just doesn't phase him a bit. But a real thunderstorm or fireworks definitely set him off, often even when they're too far away for me to hear them enough to register them. And he's not at all phased by sirens or construction noises, etc. He's stood calmly right beside a fire truck blasting it's siren at a community event he attended as a therapy dog.

I don't know exactly what it is about the thunder and fireworks that's different. I suspect there are frequencies we mere humans can't hear that bothers them. And thunderstorms create charged particles and radiation that could make it more than just the sounds that the dogs are reacting to, though I'm not entirely sure just how that ties in with fireworks -- or with gunshots. My first thunderphobic dog would hide either behind the toilet or in the porcelain bathtub, which is thought to perhaps dampen those effects, though he was the only one of my dogs to ever do that.

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43 minutes ago, GentleLake said:

There's something different about thunder and fireworks, though. I'd bought a recording of thunderstorms years ago in the hope of desensitizing the very noise phobic dog at the time. He never reacted a bit to it and no thunder phobic dog I've ever had since has either.

I believe there is something physical that we experience w/thunder, fireworks, any very big real-life sounds, in addition to hearing the sounds. By physical I mean feeling, for example, the actual result of the displacement of the air around us, or even the vibrations in the land/structures around us as the sound waves travel. It doesn't bother us humans, mostly, because we know what it is. But the dogs and other creatures just know that the world is unexpectedly moving under their feet and all around them. It would freak me out, too.

I don't know exactly what it is about the thunder and fireworks that's different. I suspect there are frequencies we mere humans can't hear that bothers them.

This, too. 

Ruth & Gibbs

 

 

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2 hours ago, GentleLake said:

There's something different about thunder and fireworks, though. I'd bought a recording of thunderstorms years ago in the hope of desensitizing the very noise phobic dog at the time. He never reacted a bit to it and no thunder phobic dog I've ever had since has either.

@urge to herd

This is all cool to think about. Especially the part about his reacting to ones you couldn't hear, and what that might mean. Because I'm sure the reaction of the humans plays some part, consciously or subconsciously, too. A human knows what's on TV or recorded isn't real, so isn't moved, and dog isn't moved. I happen to adore thunderstorms (having been raised in a part of Florida where they were a frequent thing, they just remind me of being a kid). My husband gets pretty nervous, though, and doesn't sleep well (whereas I love being in bed for them!) I think the last one we had I just crated Carmen to be sure she didn't feel vulnerable (her crate's covered in a secluded corner), and she was fine with that.

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I don't really enjoy the loud noise of fireworks, so I could accept that the dogs might sense my reaction, but I adore thunderstorms. One of my fondest memories growing up is of my father getting a blanket and taking me out to the front porch to watch the thunderstorms. So they've definitely not gotten any negative vibes from me about them. It's actually been pretty disappointing to me that for the last 36 years I've always had at least one dog who was frightened of them so that I haven't been able to enjoy them like I used to.

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