Kitty and Dog Thread, Show Me What You Got, other critters welcome too

[Anime2lover]

These are better pics of luther.

 

[tizabel_]

No problem!! And if you need any more info or help or anything, let me know. I’m not a trainer but I love training and want to be one so I’ve read a lot of books/articles and watched a lot of videos, researched etc. on all sorts of stuff haha there’s a lot of good resources online and several good books too. Also a lot of trainers are offering online consultations since most can’t train in person atm. That might be something to look into. He looks very young still too so there’s definitely hope!! Are you sure he’s 8 months? And yes the pictures did finally load along with your other animals too!! They’re all so adorable. is the other one Lab/Border Collie?

Most of the pictures are from when he was a lot younger, but I thought I’d show them because they’re so cute.
Kiro’s mother was an Australian cattle dog and we didn’t know the dad. He was a rescue puppy. I guessed that he was a heeler, lab, border collie mix but to be sure we took a wisdom panel DNA test and it turns out that he is a great pyraneese, blue cattle dog, Australian shepherd, husky and Swiss shepherd mix! I’m sure not 100% of it is accurate but we were surprised at the results.
Thanks for offering to help! Ive also researched dog training and considered it as a career. I really want to help Oliver with his aggression but I can’t train him with that during quarentine. Right now it’s quickly getting worse and worse so the longer I wait the longer its going to take to solve the problem. I‘ll have to wait until quarentine ends to re-socialize him. But I’ll definitely talk to you if I need help! Thank you!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Most of the pictures are from when he was a lot younger, but I thought I’d show them because they’re so cute.
Kiro’s mother was an Australian cattle dog and we didn’t know the dad. He was a rescue puppy. I guessed that he was a heeler, lab, border collie mix but to be sure we took a wisdom panel DNA test and it turns out that he is a great pyraneese, blue cattle dog, Australian shepherd, husky and Swiss shepherd mix! I’m sure not 100% of it is accurate but we were surprised at the results.
Thanks for offering to help! Ive also researched dog training and considered it as a career. I really want to help Oliver with his aggression but I can’t train him with that during quarentine. Right now it’s quickly getting worse and worse so the longer I wait the longer its going to take to solve the problem. I‘ll have to wait until quarentine ends to re-socialize him. But I’ll definitely talk to you if I need help! Thank you!

Ahh okay that makes sense. I thought that might be the case but wasn’t sure haha he’s definitely adorable!!

And oh wow interesting results for sure!! Haha sometimes those tests aren’t entirely accurate. They say that Wisdom and Embark are supposed to be the most accurate but I’m not sure even those are haha my brother has done Wisdom for 2 dogs and even Embark for one and I don’t think they were accurate at all haha the one Wisdom one we think was.

Said she was Lab, Pyrenees, Boxer and 25% “unknown” but a heading breed, we’re pretty sure BC, and she acts like those breeds and we think it’s accurate.

The other one came back like half unknown. but said he was like Lab, Chow, Pyrenees, all these weird things and we personally do not see Chow at all and he’s too sweet and gentle for Lab not that Labs aren’t great but his “sibling” is more of a bull moose confident typical Lab personality.

We think he’s Golden, Aussie, Pyrenees instead.

The Embark one on the puppy said he was like GSD, Rottweiler, pit bull, fox hound, Golden or Lab or something, and like all these super weird breeds. Personally we don’t see it at all except maybe some sort of shepherd and golden. We thought he was like a Newfie mix or something huge haha

So, anyway, point being, those things are honestly so hit or miss even on the supposedly “most accurate” ones haha

So I say go with your gut. If you think he’s Lab/Heeler or whatever you think he is, then he probably is. And Heeler is another name for Cattle Dog so it did at least get that part right. But he honestly looks Lab/BC to me too and if you know one parent was a heeler, he’s probably got heeler in him too.

And it’s no problem!!! I totally get that but honestly there’s still a lot you can do to help him even without actually interacting with any people.

You can work on building his confidence, which I think will help with the other stuff (there’s lots of info online on how to do this), and also you can still take him out and let him see people/dogs and different sights/sounds/smells etc. without actually having to interact.

You can do it from a distance. Wear a mask and go to an empty parking lot or the end of your driveway (if you live where people walk by) or wherever and work from there. Start at a distance where he is comfortable and not freaking out and go from there.

You can teach him how to make eye contact if he doesn’t know how to do it already (there’s info online on that too but basically start by just rewarding him for looking at you and then you can put it on cue) and that will help.

That way you can ask him to sit and look at you instead of whatever is freaking him out. Reward him big time when he’s calm and able to do that. If he’s not, move further away until he will take food from you and is calm. Once he’s calm, move closer and closer.

Eventually you can start having people actually interact with him instead of just him seeing them. Tossing treats to him from a distance, etc. then closer, etc.

If he doesn’t react badly to just seeing people and only if they try to pet him or whatever then that’s good but it may still be beneficial to at least sit in a populated area and let him see lots of different people walk by. Learn that it’s not bad.

You can also start doing “scary” things yourself at your house and make them not scary. Things that you know he freaks out over, you can practice working on. Very very small steps at first. You don’t want to overwhelm him.

But there is definitely stuff that you can work on that will help him even with the quarantine. Socialization isn’t always about actually interacting with something directly. Sometimes it’s just slow, gradual exposure to it and positive experiences or working on something else that might help.

I would also recommend getting a book on rewarding calm and/or fear reactivity or fear aggression, which is what it sounds like to me, though of course it’s hard to say without actually seeing the behavior. But I think those would help. I have some book recommendations if you want. I know of a few good ones that might be useful.

But I think he can definitely improve and there’s a lot that can happen now to prevent him from getting worse or even maybe help him improve even though it’s quarantine.

In fact, I would venture to say that meeting a bunch of people before he is ready may just make things worse and it’s actually probably better to start small and at a distance like this. Go at his pace and don’t try to force it. If he’s uncomfortable, that’s okay. Just go back a step or two until he’s comfortable again. Socialization should be a positive experience and if it’s not, it can backfire.

You can also try muzzle training. It doesn’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) a negative experience and in fact, a lot of dogs really learn to love it. It’s also helpful if they ever get injured or something and need one at a vet’s or wherever. That way they are already trained to it and not stressed out by wearing one because it’s been made a positive, fun thing.

This can also be extremely helpful for socialization because you can help socialize him safely without risking anyone getting bit.
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Obviously it is not to force him into something he is uncomfortable doing but if and when he is ready for that step of meeting people or whatever, then it can just be an extra layer of safety to keep everyone safe.

Anyway, I hope this was at least a tiny bit helpful and didn’t come across preachy or anything. And also apologies for such a long post.

 

[DaYooper_Duck]

Layla, the yellow lab
Juno, the floofy 7 month old great pyr mix
(Both outside dogs)
Sadie, the hooded rat
Ari, the siamese rex rat
Panda, the outside cat
And some of my fish

(Sorry, It wouldn't let me upload a pic of panda)

 

[Anime2lover]

We used to have rats, guinnepigs and hampsters to.

Also, we have another rescue dog called sadie, aptly nicknamed the beast.

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

Hello! This is Harley..half guinea pig half sweet potato...she’s pretty much got us trained to bring her veggies if she hears the fridge opening or the vegetable peeler. (She’s on the other side of the house..how she hears us in the kitchen I truly don’t know but she squeals until someone forks over the cucumber )

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

I know they aren't kitties, but...

Eeyore, Anastasia, Shadoe, Bolt

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I know they aren't kitties, but...

Eeyore, Anastasia, Shadoe, Bolt

I love bunnies too. One of mine is named Eeyore too.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

View attachment 2123747
Hello! This is Harley..half guinea pig half sweet potato...she’s pretty much got us trained to bring her veggies if she hears the fridge opening or the vegetable peeler. (She’s on the other side of the house..how she hears us in the kitchen I truly don’t know but she squeals until someone forks over the cucumber )

Your sweet potato is adorable.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Layla, the yellow lab
Juno, the floofy 7 month old great pyr mix
(Both outside dogs)
Sadie, the hooded rat
Ari, the siamese rex rat
Panda, the outside cat
And some of my fish

(Sorry, It wouldn't let me upload a pic of panda)View attachment 2123353View attachment 2123354View attachment 2123355View attachment 2123356View attachment 2123357View attachment 2123358View attachment 2123359View attachment 2123360

I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but your rats are cute.