I Found A Dog.

[Sleeping Dragon]

Raven,

A couple of tips if the park problems continue, and you're faced with large, agressive dogs that are off leash and dangerous.

Take one of those air horns with you, the little ones you can get at any marine supply or most sporting goods stores. A blast from that horn will get any dogs attention. But, use it only if things get completely out of control.

Most pet stores sell sprays that are made just for serious dog fight problems. I think the one I remember is call Direct Stop or something like that. But again, that's a last resort tool.

Most of the time using a coat will stop a fight that goes on too long. Swing it hard, and try to hit both dogs in the face at the same time. It's a distraction that takes the sight of the other dog away.

Like someone else mentioned, if you have to pull them apart grab high on the back legs and lift like you're moving a wheel barrel.

Above all remember, you're the alpha dog. They'll pick up on your body language.

SD

P.S. My Dad and I used to train hunting dogs. The big males can be a real pain in the ass.

 

[Sarg]

Excellent suggestions, SD, I didn't know most of your remedies. There is the problem of small dogs that think they're dobermans. I had to really watch mine around larger dogs cause the little sumbitch would try and start a fight. I'd have to garb him up and set him in the chair to keep from having him be lunch for a Labrador.

I guess it's what they're bred for, cause you have to be one snarling little chunk of tenacity to go up against a badger!

Sarg

 

[Raven]

Napoleon complex?

Also, people tend to be more permissive of a small dog's bad behavior, especially leash manners and pulling and aggression. They think that because of the dog's diminutive size, the problem is "manageable". They instigate fights with larger dogs, who then get blamed because they finish the fight that the other one starts. Not saying this applies to your dogs--especially if they were terriers because they're bred for that attitude--but this tends to be the case with a lot of "feisty" little dogs.

 

[Sarg]

Dachshund. Red, smoothie. Little sumbitch can (once was) a mean little shit. Had him go after a friend of mine once just because he reached down and touched the dog's dish. When he was younger, I could tan his butt and he'd behave for a while, but then act up again. Can't do it now. He's got back problems, cushings disease, nearly blind, starting to come off his feed, so he ain't gonna last much longer.

But I was blessed with him for seventeen years and I couldn't ask for a moment more. He's done his job and seen me through my darkest hours. Can't ask for more than that.

Sarg

 

[Spock]

Good for you Raven! That dog will replay 10 times over...good karma

 

[Spock]

Dachshund. Red, smoothie. Little sumbitch can (once was) a mean little shit. Had him go after a friend of mine once just because he reached down and touched the dog's dish. When he was younger, I could tan his butt and he'd behave for a while, but then act up again. Can't do it now. He's got back problems, cushings disease, nearly blind, starting to come off his feed, so he ain't gonna last much longer.

But I was blessed with him for seventeen years and I couldn't ask for a moment more. He's done his job and seen me through my darkest hours. Can't ask for more than that.

Sarg

We had a red weiner bitch Sarg, called her "Girl." Still consider her as our first child. Trained us on how to work as a team and be responsible for another living thing. She started falling apart on us at 5 yrs old but was rugged as hell and made it to 17 also. So blind and bent. She'd fall just keep motoring to the water or whatever mission she was on. Good memories. Enjoy the final moments with that wonderful companion.

 

[fwduff]

my misses has got 2 Chihuahuas shorty and pheby her dad has got a Chihuahua and rotty they all live together with a huge turtle in the back yard in phoenix.

 

[Spock]

Our whippet was super calm and because of delayed onset and not being properly educated by the military on the subject, imagine that, it was too late before I realized how much he was reacting to my PTSD. Had no clue. He was a super companion but I remember toward the end of his life I was in the rank bottom shit of my beast and he was very nervous. He had cancer at the same time and we had to say farewell to that loyal guy. Damn! I can still see his face when he was not sure what to do because I was so super wound up dealing with the shit. At least when he got to the end, it caught my attention and helped me to focus on him and distract. I would try to comfort him. Miss that guy. Probably saved my life.

 

[Sarg]

Miss that guy. Probably saved my life.

The saga started the day I got him. Newspaper ad in hand, I rang the doorbell. Lady opens the door and this red rocket ran right out and pissed on my shoe. I mentally said, "now this is my kind of dog, defiant as hell".

Our relationship grew, deepened, and widened until he was my life. I lived my live through him. There is no doubt that this dog saved my life. He's slowly slipping away and I have to learn to live without him. Spirits give me strength.

Sarg

 

[woodsie]

Dogs are the shit and so helpful. Always 'some-body' happy to see you. Penny has been adopted, fostered and then to me. This is her last stop for sure. She's more like a big cat if anything. She's border line comatose when she's relaxing or snuggling and one of the most intense frisbee dogs I've ever seen. She's not much of a leash hound, usually run or walk her at night with her light on. And she's happier than a pig in shit. She's been a great addition in my plight with anxiety and ptsd and my dark days.

 

[Raven]

They say dogs are a reflection of their people. Pete's about as clingy with my husband and I as I am with folks I let myself get attached to (and this is why I usually don't let myself get attached). He's like a shadow, and he constantly needs to be touching someone. If I close the bathroom door to take a shower for fifteen minutes, he starts yowling. He's not that bad when we leave the house. He whines a little but then he falls asleep (we had a webcam on him the first few weeks when we left him alone to make sure he wasn't constantly vocalizing or something). It's when we're in the house but he can't get to us or we close him out of a room (he's... uh... tried to join in if you get my drift, lol).

 

[Raven]

The saga started the day I got him. Newspaper ad in hand, I rang the doorbell. Lady opens the door and this red rocket ran right out and pissed on my shoe. I mentally said, "now this is my kind of dog, defiant as hell".

Our relationship grew, deepened, and widened until he was my life. I lived my live through him. There is no doubt that this dog saved my life. He's slowly slipping away and I have to learn to live without him. Spirits give me strength.

Sarg

I left my childhood companion Maggie with my mother when I enlisted. When I was out, my mother didn't want to give the dog back to me. That's fine. They bonded. They needed each other. They still do. Maggie is going blind, going deaf, getting lethargic and achy... She's had IBS the past few years and shits in the house when she suddenly needs to go out and nobody's home. As annoying as it is, you can't get mad at her because she can't help it and she gets as close to the back door as possible. I still consider her my dog and I see her every weekend. But she's still generally happy. A 16 year old standard poodle. Maybe there's an inverse correlation between intelligence and longetivity when it comes to dogs. I love her and she's awesome, but she's dumb as dirt.

Since the summer, I thinking to myself that I need a dog. I got in touch with a few rottweiler rescues. Breed-specific rescues get absurdly picky so failing that, I was going to look into shelters. I wanted to have a dog when the weather started warming up. The middle of the winter is a rough time to get a dog.

Pete showed me just what you can do if you push hard enough and you have a little extra cash to throw around. Though shipping him in the cargo hold of an airplane wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be.