Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Happy July 4th to all who may still be looking in! Maybe I should light a firecracker for the occasion to see who jumps. It would be great to get this once number one forum cranking again!
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

I sure do agree with you, Bob! It's become rare to find a post here.

All is well with us, although we are home without Murphy tonight. He's so upset by fireworks and thunder and this long weekend has been rough on him. We had loud thunder Friday night, fireworks Saturday and Sunday nights, and more fireworks started up fairly early this morning. Since we were going to be away for the afternoon and into the evening, we opted to send Murphy to doggie camp for an overnight. Large, well insulated building, with tunes turned up, and not near any parks or other places apt to have fireworks displays.

We are SO glad to have made this decision, as we've had loud, loud, LOUD fireworks tonight, and they are still continuing now, at 11:00 PM!
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

Happy 4th of July to you too. Poor Casey & Ellie have had a hard time with the fireworks. They have been up for the past 2 nights shivering and crying!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed that all the fireworks are over with. LOL

Hello to All,

My Beni and Kari survived the 4th better this year than any other year. We had a lot of heavy breathing and excess energy but no scratching or biting of furniture. But after all the fireworks were done (1:30ish), Kari couldn't be found. After searching everywhere we found her behind our bed...after about 5 minutes of coaxing she pulled a Shiba, turned her back to me, curled up and went to sleep for the rest of the night in the safety of the back of the bed area!
Happy Belated 4th to all of you out there!!!

Patty, Beni, and Kari

Yeah I'm right there with you both as far as the fireworks go. Both Beni and Toshi did not do well with them this year. In the past it had always been Keiko but this year it affected the other two.

Hopefully this forum will pick up again... hard to believe there isn't any news at all from anyone.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

So far my Standard Poodle assistance/service dog (for my mobility disabilities) has not shown any fear of noises. We didn't hear any fireworks this year. A real blessing. We have been so short of rain, it would have been a terrible fire hazard, too.

I'm on a strict sleep schedule due to my health, and it was far from dark when I (and dog Worthy) went to sleep. The drought has made the weather very, very hot. So I've been sleeping with a fan blowing on high across the bed. Worthy loves that. Part of his job is to help me sleep by sleeping on the bed. He is very content to do that!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

KDD... that's good that Worthy hasn't shown any signs of being afraid of loud noises. This is really the first year that my two remaining Shibas have shown this behavior. I can understand Beni due to his severe sight restriction from the effects of glaucoma but Toshi is the one that really surprised me. I'm sure that Worthy does love being on the bed with the fan blowing. Hopefully your hot weather will subside soon and become a little more comfortable for all of you.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Yesterday when I had Worthy on a walk in the shopping center, we were right in front of a store when a worker arrived and unlocked the door. Obviously he didn't do it right, because a loud alarm went off--and kept on and on and on going. I just stood Worthy still in place and kept praising him and giving him treats. He didn't react to the very loud alarm going on and on, at all.

Fear of loud noises can unfortunately develop later in a dog's life. But for Worthy, so far so good.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

I'm out here, but behind on everything! We live in the boonies, so we barely heard any fireworks.

I've been taking the Whippt to obedience classes. She's the smartest one there!!! She learns fast and then gets bored. After 30 minutes, she's through, and refuses to move. The first night, the instructor took her leash and drug her a few feet. I will not let him touch her leash again. He has not dealt with sighthounds before...he trains hunting dogs...mostly labs.

My daughter's Pharaoh just won her Grand Championship...I'm really proud of them!

Asher and the other Pharaohs are doing great. I hope everyone's dogs are doing good too
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Winona

Home of Asher, Bari, and Ginger (waiting at the bridge: Caspar, Karma, Greedy, and sweet Tifla)

Worthy, my assistance/service dog for mobility disabilities, is the first Standard Poodle I've ever had. I did a bunch of reading. They are the second most intelligent breed of dog, after Border Collies. But they have a WAY different temperament from Border Collies!

I learned that they have a nonstop sense of humor. That made me understand that a lot of the things Worthy was doing was telling me jokes! I had brain damage from bacterial spinal meningitis, and God knew he what he was doing by matching me up with a dog who would make me laugh--a lot!

I also learned that Standard Poodles quickly get bored and you should not use a lot of repetition in training them. For example, maybe two retrieves at a time--not three!

I had Belgian Tervuren for 20 years and they are SO different from Standard Poodles! One thing to look for in a dog training instructor is one who understands your breed of dog. And also knows a lot of different ways of teaching--because there are a LOT of DIFFERENT kinds of dogs!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Winona I'm sure it was frustrating to you to have the instructor grab her leash like that. It's the same with this breed in the ring... they are hunters and keep their nose to the ground yet when shown they always have to move with their heads up.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Thanks! Chloe does so good at classes and keeps her head up. When she heels, she constantly watches me. You are so right Kay...the instructor needs to understand the breed.I was so upset on the way home, thinking he had undone the work, I walked her a little on the driveway and she was fine.

My daughter took many long hours of training with her dog...the instructor has sighthounds and understand them. After 20 or 30 minutes her dog was bored and sat down.

After the instructor pulled Chloe, she was a quivering mass of dog. Then he used her as an example of a dog who had shut down and would learn no more at that session.

I an training her with a Volhard collar which is recommemded by The Monks of New Skeet. I love it...the instructor doesn't understand how it works.

My vet had asked me to tell her what I thought of this trainer. He did not get my recommendation
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Winona

Home of Asher, Bari, and Ginger (waiting at the bridge: Caspar, Karma, Greedy, and sweet Tifla)

I'm glad to see that Chloe bounced right back after you had gotten home. I think I would have been a little angry with the instructor for using her as an example for a dog that had shut down when the reason for the behavior was him.

I hadn't heard of a Volhard collar and had to look it up and it looks very familiar to the collar that Beni had on when I first picked him up 8 years ago. It isn't quite the same but very close.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.