The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

Latatian

Waiting for weather to clear up sufficiently to the old dog's liking. I need my exercise, dog! So she's fast asleep in her bed and I am whining and making meaningful glances at the leash. Oh how the tables have turned.

Aldi are giving 'pet tips'. This is a pic from their latest special buys magazine. I love when they have pet stuff so I was really disappointed to read this pack leader rubbish!

Graces7

Deleted User wrote: »

Aldi are giving 'pet tips'. This is a pic from their latest special buys magazine. I love when they have pet stuff so I was really disappointed to read this pack leader rubbish!

The whole thing is wrong. Play is PLAY.

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

The whole thing is wrong. Play is PLAY.

Yeah the 'tip' to stop play when they're having fun made me feel so sad. What a cruel thing to do. 'Oh having fun are you... Not anymore! Cause I'm the boss!!' What maniacs think of these things??

tk123

Their UK FB page has tons of complaints! Irish one seems to hide visitor posts :rolleyes:

tk123

tk123 wrote: »

Their UK FB page has tons of complaints! Irish one seems to hide visitor posts :rolleyes:

Well I'm glad they're getting complaints. I'm not on Facebook so I just emailed them my complaint.

Graces7

Wee dog just found herself face to face with the merle collie.... There was a big gate between them! They stared intently at each other but no barks or growling. My dog was trembling...

The man called the merle away; but at least they have met!

mymo

I forgot how exhausting a puppy was, toilet training going great, she asks to go out, or if the door is open just goes herself. She's very bitey, working on that, knows her name, sits and gives the paw sometimes. She's getting final vacc on Friday I hope, she really needs to get out and explore. We've been carrying her and bringing her in the car, but she's hard to tire out, and was up at 4.45am

tk123

At least she's small! Lucy was heavy to carry lol

mymo

She hit 3kg today, from 2.4 2 weeks ago yesterday, also being part shark, part worm, she's hard to hold onto
Actually biting isn't too bad when she's out and about, I think she gets bored, she was gardening today and has been asleep 2 hours now, the excitement tired her out

tk123

Lucy never ever bit us! She had big bro for that lol

mymo

tk123 wrote: »

Lucy never ever bit us! She had big bro for that lol

Oh she bites the big dogs too, and tried the cats but that didn't end well.
Its not bad, and she stops when we tell her mostly, Tibetan terriers are known for being a bit bitey when playing

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

Wee dog just found herself face to face with the merle collie.... There was a big gate between them! They stared intently at each other but no barks or growling. My dog was trembling...

The man called the merle away; but at least they have met!

Been corrected by dog expert family.

The term is "vibrating" and is a good sign. Next time i will ask the man to wait a while and let them meet properly.

muddypaws

Graces7 wrote: »

Graces7 wrote: »

Wee dog just found herself face to face with the merle collie.... There was a big gate between them! They stared intently at each other but no barks or growling. My dog was trembling...

The man called the merle away; but at least they have met!

Been corrected by dog expert family.

The term is "vibrating" and is a good sign. Next time i will ask the man to wait a while and let them meet properly.

Do more research

kylith

Graces7 wrote: »

Been corrected by dog expert family.

The term is "vibrating" and is a good sign. Next time i will ask the man to wait a while and let them meet properly.

Sounds to me like stress-induced trembling, which is a sign of anxiety.

Graces7

kylith wrote: »

Sounds to me like stress-induced trembling, which is a sign of anxiety.

Not according to my source of 50 years of training and raising dogs. Sheer excitement and the first stage of getting to know a strange dog.. which I welcome. They stood face to face, eyes meeting..

I know folk here often have different ideas and that is fine but this was the right assessment in this situation. I have seen anxiety in this dog and it was nothing like that. So glad

aonb

One of my dogs TREMBLES with excitement. It might be because he's waiting for his newest toy to be unwrapped, or someone is getting out of the car and wont hurry up, or he sees someone coming down the driveway from his window, or hes on my lap in the car and we've arrived at someones house, or his dog friend is coming to visit and he's seen her arrive...

Graces7

Watching the dog getting used to the hens is fascinating.

The first time we went to the henhouse she launched herself at the sides.. then went round the back and tried there..refused to come in from the garden.

Today we have progressed to her standing alert by me as I feed them and chat to them.. One is fine with that but the other is jumpy.

Dog is half bassett so a hound element runs very strong . Slowly she is calming down . . She was wanting to chase the geese down the lane last week .. they were not impressed :rolleyes:

Hard to believe it is only two days. I did not decide to ask re the hens until Monday early when I had seen the appalling photos of the cruelty of that man which I wish I had never seen. By Monday pm they were here...

em_cat

Sounds a lot like how I had to teach Mr C not to chase the guinea pigs. He now gets a super EPI friendly kong when they come out for floor time.

borderlinemeath

Graces7 wrote: »

Not according to my source of 50 years of training and raising dogs. Sheer excitement and the first stage of getting to know a strange dog.. which I welcome. They stood face to face, eyes meeting..

You do know that face to face with dogs is confrontational? Polite dog behaviour is nose to tail.


And in pretty much every dog to dog situation, relaying an interaction to a third party who didn't witness it is going to get an "opinion" of what might be the case. That's why every poster who comes onto here looking for advice with a problem or issue is told to get the behaviourist to come to the dogs environment to witness the behaviour for themselves. No third party can give "expert" advice without seeing it, no matter how long they have been involved with dogs. And like a lot of skills and vocations, they need updating over time rather than depending on longevity or experience.

Graces7

em_cat wrote: »

Sounds a lot like how I had to teach Mr C not to chase the guinea pigs. He now gets a super EPI friendly kong when they come out for floor time.

Yes, we are graduating to food treats when we visit the hens!

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

Yes, we are graduating to food treats when we visit the hens!

Which is not working as dog wants THEIR food... :rolleyes:

em_cat

Graces7 wrote: »

Which is not working as dog wants THEIR food... :rolleyes:

For a while I was giving Mr C a pea flake and then each guinea pig.

The biggest problem we have is one of the girls keeps stealing his apple slices.:)

Graces7

em_cat wrote: »

For a while I was giving Mr C a pea flake and then each guinea pig.

The biggest problem we have is one of the girls keeps stealing his apple slices.:)

They are funny! Wee dog is very excitable and the addition to the family has her wired and then some. Not sure if she wants to play with them .... When the festival is over and I am here all day will let them out, with dog on lead and see what happens.There was a dog where they were before.

mymo

Took little Sybil down to a regatta today, she had a great time, boats, shouting, brass band, loads of people, dogs, wheelchairs, prams, lots of kids want to pet her (good number of adults too) she sat and watched or waited to be petted. The loud speaker was very loud so we didn't get too close, but she seemed to have fun. Walking pretty well on the lead too (I did have a pocket full of puppy nuts), I'm going to try a cafe tomorrow and maybe a few other places, I carry her mostly, and let her walk a bit when it's not too busy.
Hoping she stays as good and confident as she grows up, but I'm soo tired I may just go to bed now, I forgot how tiring puppies are.

aonb

any ideas/suggestions from you cat-experts: my nearly 100 year old neighbour has a semi-feral female cat. long haired. an outdoor cat. Very obese. The problem is that the cat has huge mats of matted fur on her back close to her tail. Cat is semi-feral, so grooming was never going to be an option - plus age of owner, a tough country woman who wouldnt dream of grooming a cat! So how would you get rid of matted fur on a feral cat? Will it eventually just 'fall' off? Ive suggested to neighbour that with family members she could get the cat wrapped in towels, and clip the matted fur off with a scissors...

Lady Haywire

How feral is semi-feral? Would you know anyone near you that show cattle or horsey folks who clip their horses? Be far easier & quicker to remove the matts off his back with an decent electric clippers & no danger of nipping the skin either.

aonb

Lady Haywire wrote: »

How feral is semi-feral? Would you know anyone near you that show cattle or horsey folks who clip their horses? Be far easier & quicker to remove the matts off his back with an decent electric clippers & no danger of nipping the skin either.

cat will allow elderly lady and the family member who helps feed it, approach, but has never been picked up. cant imagine a stranger with a noisy clippers would be possible...

Fakediamond

What if you offered to take the cat and get it sorted. You could take it to a vet, who would give it a relaxant/light anaesthetic and get the job done. Probably wouldn’t cost too much and you’d be doing a great service to the cat, it could be checked out, wormed etc at the same time.

Lady Haywire

aonb wrote: »

cat will allow elderly lady and the family member who helps feed it, approach, but has never been picked up. cant imagine a stranger with a noisy clippers would be possible...

Ah ok! Only asked cause I had a very old, very grumpy cat to do myself a couple of years ago. I semi wrapped her in a towel, & held her by the scruff between my knees while a mate did her back & legs. Fun times!!