Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The first - does anyone else know a dog that is absolutely obsessed with kleenex and various paper products? Kaiser LOVES kleenex, paper towel, anything like that.. He eats it, and I've gotten pretty good at keeping it from him but when he does get ahold of some there's no prying it from those jaws.. A couple of weeks ago my dad dropped a plate with some pork chop bones and a paper towel. He ignored the bones, and swallowed the paper towel before we could get ahold of him.. It's so strange..

And the second - if you blow on anything at all, it doesn't have to be him, he turns and looks at you, then stays really still for a few seconds, then jumps up and tries to stab you with his nose.. He never opens his mouth or anything, just kind of pokes you.. I discovered it when I blew on his ear once just to see what he would do But even if you're across the room and he sees you making the "blow" face, he'll come running up and jump at you.. The other day I was reading and he was laying on the floor nearby and he heard me blow a fruitfly off of my book.. He didn't like that

I've just always wondered what goes through his head when he does that, whether I've offended him in some way or if he's playing.. Anyone have any idea?

I don't think I can help much but those are some very interesting issues! Pretty funny. I have no idea about the paper towels, but for the blowing thing, maybe someone did that to him a lot in the past and it got on his nerves? Maybe a little kid or something.
I can't believe he ignored the pork chop bones and just wanted the paper towel! That is very funny. Cookie just loves dust bunnies. She's good about not eating them though and very good at dropping something when we tell her too.

Yeah, we haven't had much success with the drop it thing, but he'll usually let us pry it out of his mouth.. There are three things that I guess he considers very valuable and won't let us touch - paper products, rawhide bones, and apples (or grapes, or whatever fruit he has, but mostly apples)..

We're working on it and he is getting better though.. If he has a bone and he growls when we get too close he loses it and goes through obedience exercises.

Any suggestions, by the way, on things to give him to chew on that aren't rawhide? He won't chew on his booda bone, or anything else for that matter that he can't tear apart and eat.. But I've been reading that rawhide really isn't that great for him.. If I don't give him something to chew on he goes nuts and gets so bored (thank god for frozen kongs, I can't play all day long ) I'm at a loss for other ideas, and pigs ears and feet, etc. are completely out of the question. Rawhide is as far as that goes..

Yea it stinks, 90% of dog treats aren't good. Pigs ears and legs and hoofs are really bad. And stay away from Bully Sticks! They're dried bull penises. YUCK! Have you tried any of the nylabone products? They're really good. there are a few different kinds. The edible ones go real quick, but Cookie doesn't like the harder ones for adult dogs, so we go with the puppy bones and she loves them. They take her a few days to go through them, but once the nubs are gone, you should take them away. Hmmmm What else. I am surprised he doesn't like budda bones. Have you tried the other kong products? We got Cookie one that is cylinder shaped and it has slits going down every side and you can put the kong cheese wiz stuff in it and it takes a while for them to get it out. I was suprised the ingredients on the Kong Stuffing isn't that bad. Cookie loves it. There are also lots of other Kong products that you can stuff with various goodies. But for chewies, Cookie really just gets Budda bones and Nylabones. Those are the best, and really the only things that you can let them have unsupervised unfortunately. Have you got him a puzzle ball? I bet he would love that! But if you have hard floors, make sure you get a rubber one, not a plastic one, they make a lot of noise. Cookie's is a rubber ball, about the size of a candle pin bowling ball, maybe a bit bigger, and it has a bunch of craters in it so she can pick it up easy and one if the craters is the opening into the ball. The opening works like a funnel so after you put kibbel in it, it catches around the edge of the funnel so the food doesn't come out too easily. Cookie loves it. She'll play for hours kicking it around and tossing it. And they're great for stimulating their minds and getting exercise. They can't get too much exercise with the kongs. We like it for when she is really hyper and wants to play but we can't for whatever reason. This might be a good thing for him to play with while he is in the Halti.
Thats wicked funny about the fruit! I have never heard of that before. Does he like to eat the fruit, or just guard it?

I've never seen anything remotely close to this puzzle ball you're describing, and believe me I've looked at everything.. I'll have to keep looking I guess.. If all else fails I'll mail order one from the US, I'll bet he would love it.. If I put his kong upstairs he will push it around until it falls down the stairs, then he will go get it, and bring it back up so he runs up and down the stairs 20 times with each stuffing.. If I put it downstairs though he'll stay there.. Almost as if he feels like he has to keep it wherever I put it It's good for exercise anyway..

I might get some more of the mint denta-bones.. They took him a while to get through and he really liked them. I've been having a hard time finding the ingredients though..

I don't know.. It's so hard to keep him entertained all the time I'm sure you completely understand, having a younger one yourself..

Yeah, it's wierd about the fruit.. I've never seen a dog that loves fruit so much. He eats it (but I'm very careful that he never gets any seeds. I know apple seeds are toxic so I don't want to take chances with other ones). Any fruits and veggies I've ever let him try.. If it's one he hasn't tried before he'll put it on the floor and sniff it and push it around before eating it, but once he knows it it's gone almost instantly.. The other day I was making veggie cubes for my birds. I put all different kinds of veggies and a little fruit in the food processor to chop it up really small (bite-sized for budgies) and then put it in a mini ice cube tray to freeze, for the days I just don't have time to chop up the birds' veggies.. There was extra this time so I put it in a bowl and let Kaiser at it, and he just loved it.. I guess it's good provided he doesn't get too much, it should be healthy for him in some way even though he's a carnivore, right? On the raw board they said they feed the dogs some veggies..

For his kong I was talking to a trainer at the local kennel club that gave me some awesome suggestions.. I shredded up just a bit of cheese, maybe 1/8 cup and mixed it with kibble and stuffed his kong.. Then I melted it in the microwave and put it in the freezer until it cooled down.. He went nuts over it! I don't want to give him that one often though because I can't imagine cheese is too good for him..

For another one I used some of the left over veggie-cube mix I made and mixed it with his kibble, then stuffed the kong and froze it.. He loved it I don't know if it would be useful to you but here's the website for the "recipes"

http://www.wagntrain.ca/Adobe/kong.pdf
kong stuffing ideas

Thanks for the link! I will definitely check it out!
I'm pretty sure Veggies are ok for them, I know there are certain ones they can't have. Onions are one of them, but I can't remember the rest. For Cookie's Kong, we usually use a mixture of the kong wiz stuff (they make other ones than cheese, Cookie is having the liver paste right now, and the ingredients aren't that bad), baby food (even the ones with veggies, like Chicken and carrots, and we often get the baby food for toddlers that has chunks in it!), and Nutro treats. She only gets her Kong while she is in the Crate, it's kind of her insentive and now when I tell her to go to bed she gets all excited and runs right in. On the weekends, we make the same mixture and put it in the freezer at night and after we take her out early in the morning, we give her the frozen kong in her crate and we usually get a couple more hours of sleep, and it holds her off because she usually gets a late breakfast on the weekends. But the cylinder shaped Kong she can have all the time, not always filled with the Kong Wiz of course. But she likes to chew on it even if it's empty. And she can have her Budda Bones and Nylabones whenever she wants. We don't usually give her the Budda bones while she's in the crate because she can rip off pretty decent sized pieces that I would rather her not swallow.
Here is a link for the treat ball, this is the exact same one Cookie has and you can order it right from the PetSmart website.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTprd_id=845524441778305&ASSORTMENTast_id=2534374302023689&FOLDERfolder_id=2534374302026225&bmUID=1111171485887

aww.. If only we had the same toys at Canadian petsmarts.. I'm still friends with the staff that works there, and the discounts are great

I never even thought of baby food, that's such a good idea We were using the canned kong stuffing but curiously enough he prefers mixed veggies.. Which is okay with me, that stuff is $8 a can here, which doesn't last long. I'll bet he would love it if I got frozen mixed veggies (no corn), filled the kong, topped it up with water and froze it.. I should try that..

I think I'm going to start feeding Kaiser his meals in his crate. He never goes in voluntarily, most of the time recently I have to physically put him in the crate, after carrying him up the stairs. But if the crate is downstairs he whines and barks and cries all night because he's so far away from us.

He absolutely goes nuts over his kongs so when he's in his crate he gets a kong.. I figured it would keep him busy. That backfired. When he's in his crate he absolutely won't touch it. As soon as I come to let him out he grabs the kong and runs downstairs to chew on it. He only gets it when he's in his crate now, and I take it and put it away when I let him out. We've only been doing that for a few days but it's not working so far.. I'm going to start feeding him his meals in there as well I think.. he's very intensely food motivated so maybe if he learns that the only times he gets food are in his crate or treats on walks he'll start to accept his crate a little more..

I have one of the dental ones too with the ridges on the outside.. But I think we'll save that for summer. It would be so messy in the house and it's still so cold outside he'd freeze his little paws off..

So you can't even order stuff online from PetSmart? I can't believe they won't deliver to Canada! If you want, I will buy one down here and ship it to you.
A friend of mine told us about the baby food, and it is so much cheaper than the Kong filling. And it comes in so many different varieties and you know it has to be good for the dog if it's good for babies! But be careful, the last kind we got was very soupy and messy, still good for freezing, but you have to plug the hole in the bottom with a bit of cookie or something.
When we first started giving Cookie her Kong only in the crate, she wouldn't go willingly for a little while, and then one day out of the blue she followed me with the kong into the living room and I put the kong in her crate and she followed it right in. She has ever since. I still have to pick her up at night and put her in because she doesn't get any food then, but hopefully that will subside soon. Maybe we'll just put a little in the kong and give it to her.

I can order stuff online, I think they'll ship most things to Canada but certain things they won's (like big furniture or something)..

I'll have to look around here a little more closely and see what I can come up with.. A good friend of mine does rubber molds of things, Kaiser has a toy from him already that's a bit like a kong, maybe he could make me something similar..

I'm going to the grocery store tonight, maybe I'll pick up so baby food while I'm there

Ok now that I just read all of your conversation I totally forgot what I was going to say. HA.
Oh when Mya was a pup she ate anything type of paper product from tissues to cardboard boxes. It was a pain. We had to make sure to pick it all up. She outgrow that by the age of two.
That is all I can remember for now.

Well that's good to know.. hopefully it's the same with Kaiser The other day I forgot I left a full box of kleenex on a table Kaiser can reach.. I walked into the room and it looked like it had snowed, but Kaiser was just having a great time

Oh yes I remember those days. Really makes me thing about ever getting a puppy again. Laughing so hard now.

I don't think I could ever handle a puppy any younger than Kaiser, at least not of a large breed.. I helped raise the shih tzus I had growing up and they were fairly easy to deal with, but there's a big difference between a 6lb dog and a 30lb dog..

Oi.. He's also decided that over and above all the toys I've bought for him, an empty 2L pop bottle is best.. He'll roll it around and chase it for hours.. I think he likes it because it's smooth and just big enough that he can't get his mouth around it, so he gets to keep chasing it as it "runs" away.. Then he'll grab it by the lid and trot around the living room proudly displaying his catch

very important: grapes, raisins, chocolate, and onions are toxic to dogs. I know there are some more foods to avoid, but those are the important ones I remember.
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sue, cheyenne-the American bulldog bully, nehi-her long suffering border collie mix, and charlie-our "basic black, white, and brown dog" who is watching from the bridge.

I've done a ton of research on it, and asked the vet, and she said that grapes are fine, where did you get this from?

There is something about the fermentation in raisins however that is toxic to them..

I know about onions, chocolate, alcohol, etc..

>>I've done a ton of research on it, and asked the vet, and she said that grapes are fine, where did you get this from?
>>
>>There is something about the fermentation in raisins however that is toxic to them..
>>
>>I know about onions, chocolate, alcohol, etc..

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I don't understand how your vet could NOT know about the risk of grapes. Dogs have died. The exact cause is still being researched, but it is not just raisins, it is also grapes. They are not safe for dogs. Someday they may be, when the problem is identified, but for now they are not.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

That's so strange.. I'll see if I can find the literature on it, and get some of it from the vet next time I'm there. From what I've read and been told as long as they are fresh enough they're fine. I know some types of grapes are bad though, like concords and any type of wine grape. That's what my vet's research literature said anyway. It was a fairly recent study, 2004 I think. It listed the types that are good and the types that are toxic, I'll have to see if I can get a photocopy of it.

Either way I won't give him any more just to be sure but he's been eating them for weeks.. Not many, just one or two every couple of days, but still.. Heh, that's so strange.. I've never heard that before in my life and now I've got two people telling me otherwise..

I agree,
I'm surprised at a vet that doesn't realize the poisonous foods that are out there.
here's 2 links, they say about the same things, but it can lead you to more places to read.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=grapes
Link

Like I said, it's not that she didn't know about it, she knew very well, she just has some current research that has pinpointed the renal failure, etc. to certain types of grapes..

have heard that Basenji are really bad to shred paper, a breed trait. as for the treats & certain bones that they actually eat, you can stuff one end in the kong so that its a really tight fit & they can't get that last chunk to maybe swallow.

one question - i know that on the microwave dinners they say do not reuse/reheat the plastic bowls so was wondering if I read right? you put the kong in the microwave? apologys if I'm wrong, but it seems that doing that repeatedly would weaken the kong & result in dog being able to break off pieces?

we also mix veggies or fruit/yoghurt to freeze in the cubes, being winter, I'd forgotten, glad you'd reminded me, we did this last summer, when we had dogs out on trails hiking.

That's so strange that you mentioned the Basenji.. It's impossible to see in pictures but if I could somehow put a video on here you might understand.. Sometimes the way he moves and the way he holds his tail really reminds me of a basenji.. but of course it's impossible to know for sure what's in there..

I'm glad that the paper obsession is common though, that makes me feel better..

That's such a good point about the kongs, I forgot to mention that..

Yes, I do put the kong in the microwave. When I was talking to the trainer that suggested these things she said that it's not a good idea to do it repeatedly on the red kongs, because they do tend to harden and eventually crack.. But she said that with the black ones like Kaiser has they're much tougher and can take a lot more.. She said she's been doing this for her dogs for years and she generally has to replace the kongs every 6-8 years or so... So I figured for the entertainment value Kaiser gets from it, I can buy a new kong every half a decade or so..

Also they are made of natural rubber, not the chemical plastics that we know as plastic.. Natural rubber can stand up to a lot more than the plastics and plastic rubbers.. Apparently, according to my biology prof, it has something to do with the region in which the rubber trees grow. The area frequently goes from very hot temperatures to much cooler within a couple of hours, so the rubber trees have adapted to tolerate the fast temperature changes.. Not as fast as a microwave, but the advantage is still there..

I think in the summer when Kaiser will love to have those cubes.. I never thought of putting yogurt in them though, because the birds don't like yogurt.. but for Kaiser that would be great.. Also adding a little baby food or apple sauce to them might help them freeze more solid. Of course, Kaiser just loves regular ice cubes, I wouldn't want to spoil him with the veggie cubes and then have him not want the water ones any more..

Those red Kongs my friend's dog Sadie (American Pit Bull Terrier) used to chew into tiny pieces. They used to say on the package industructable. They no longer say that.

Mya would go chew a knuckle bone to nothing in 3 hours. Man when she was a baby we went had to buy a lot of bones. I have found the best for her now are Spearmint Nylabones-Edible. For some reason these last the longest. She used to get the fruit flavors but they seemed to stop making them.
I also give her pressed raw hide bones once in a while. They are the ones that look like little chunks of raw hide pressed together.
Not sure how good these are for her so I don't give them often. But man she sure loves them.

Oh I know, Kaiser goes through bones of all kinds so fast.. A regular rawhide bone will keep him for less than an hour, a pressed one will keep him for about 2 hours, and the spearmint denta-bones will do for about a day.. I'll have to try the nylabones too..

I'm going home for the weekend soon maybe I'll stop in at petsmart and get a case of the mint dentabones.. They keep him busy for a long time and he really loves them.. He's such a tough chewer.. I wish he would chew on his kong even when it's empty, that would be wonderful..

>>The first - does anyone else know a dog that is absolutely obsessed with kleenex and various paper products? Kaiser LOVES kleenex, paper towel, anything like that.. He eats it, and I've gotten pretty good at keeping it from him but when he does get ahold of some there's no prying it from those jaws.. A couple of weeks ago my dad dropped a plate with some pork chop bones and a paper towel. He ignored the bones, and swallowed the paper towel before we could get ahold of him.. It's so strange..
>>
>>And the second - if you blow on anything at all, it doesn't have to be him, he turns and looks at you, then stays really still for a few seconds, then jumps up and tries to stab you with his nose.. He never opens his mouth or anything, just kind of pokes you.. I discovered it when I blew on his ear once just to see what he would do But even if you're across the room and he sees you making the "blow" face, he'll come running up and jump at you.. The other day I was reading and he was laying on the floor nearby and he heard me blow a fruitfly off of my book.. He didn't like that
>>
>>I've just always wondered what goes through his head when he does that, whether I've offended him in some way or if he's playing.. Anyone have any idea?

>>>>>>>>>>>

The blowing thing would be because that behavior got reinforced. He got some sort of rewarding reaction, maybe people laughing or jumping backward or whatever. He needs to be taught an alternate behavior before someone gets hurt.

The paper eating is very common. All my dogs do it. They will bait for squares of toilet tissue, actually.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

I was telling my boyfriend about the blowing thing, and he made an interesting point. I guess wolves will poke each other with there noses when they are fighting. I think it's a dominance thing, but they will shove their noses right into each other so hard it actually injures the other dog. I don't know why the blowing would rienforce this, but I thought it was an interesting fact.
I will have to check out the spearmint edible nylabones, most of the edible nylabones are like a regular biscuit to Cookie, she can go through one in about 15 minutes. So far the puppy nylabones and the booda bones last the longest. and even those only last a couple days. We spend so much money on bones! And Cookie has a tendency to just chew one side, and you're supposed to take them away after the knots are gone, so so many get thrown away only half eaten.
We chose to stay away from raw hide completely. It's not good for them and if she never gets a taste for it then she'll never want it.
Are apples ok for dogs? They have like apples and beef baby food and apples and turkey, but I get weary of giving her fruit cause I know some are really bad.