The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[sharron]

Was that an ice hole? There was an article today of two people dying rescuing dogs...That got out on their own after the owners drowned.

Stay safe!

no ice, just water, probably knee deep on us but over bella's head since shes a short legged bulldog

 

[sharron]

I don't think they have any freezing conditions in Florida right now....but couldn't pass this one up!
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now thats funny

 

[sharron]

Sean you must be having a good day - hope you can string more good days together.

x2

 

[rjohns39]

x2

X3

 

[N F C]

X3

Ok, I'll do it...

x4

 

[ShrekDawg]

I finally got round to watching these. What smart little doggies. Is the Havanese on you short (or not so short) list?

Our dog loves learning tricks but with 2 kids 'helping' (plus foodie treats) she gets a little over excited so sessions need to be short and sweet. She picks things up really fast though. I should do more as it's good for her brain. She would love agility but she'd be terrible at it on account of the fact that her ears stop working when she's excited (and it doesn't take much).

I've always wanted a Saluki. They are such beautiful dogs. Everyone says you can't train them but there's one on YouTube that knows lots of tricks. I think people fall into the trap of thinking they are untrainable so don't even bother to try, and because they are naturally quite well behaved dogs (other than wanting to chase small critters as sighthounds do) people don't see the need. And I was constantly reading that sighthounds won't come if off lead and you must never have them off lead if off your property, but I found a sighthound organisation that explained the process that needs to be gone through to ensure they do have perfect recall. It won't happen overnight but with the right training they can very reliably come when called, even if they spot something they'd like to chase.

After reading all that I may have changed my mind about what dog I want but if I did go down that road a Saluki would have to be the very last animal to join the family so it could be well socialised with all our animals as a puppy. Apparently the Bedouin train them to chase and catch rats initially before they move onto bigger prey and one person said their sighthound was better at catching rats than her terrier. There must be a way of training them to hunt specific animals.

Yup! I wasn't sure because I didn't know if they would be smart enough to learn tricks or fast enough for agility but after finding those videos, it proves that they are! Although that little Havanese was fast, there's one video where one goes really slow but they can do it. I've been YouTubing every breed tricks amandd agility videos to see if the breed I want can do it lol other contenders right now include Golden, Aussie, and Poodle. So those 3 are kind of the main ones right now but also considering basically the entire Bichon family of dogs (Havanese, Bichon Frise, Maltese). They all seem smart enough and fast enough to learn tricks and agility and they are small but I do kind of worry about their size with Franklin and especially Libby (rough, pushy player) as well as on hikes. They could probably keep up but I would have to lift them over rocks or whatever. Plus of course the grooming costs of poodles and the bichon breeds. But tbh I think I would prefer a little smaller dog and to pay a groomer rather than have to brush/comb out all that fluffy undercoat by myself which is why I'm somewhat reconsidering Aussies and Goldens. Labs are possible too but I think they shed more than a Golden, it's ridiculous how much Labs shed. Plus they're big. But Havanese are so small. Idk. Maybe there is a more medium sized breed but I'm having a hard time finding one that fits what I want. None is quite perfect. But I can't get a dog until after Gator passes and I get a better job anyway.

Your dog sounds great! And teaching focus/impulse control/listening with distractions is relatively simple if you want me to give you some suggestions. If not that is fine too. She is also still very young right? And how much exercise? High energy dogs tend to focus better after some exercise and/or mental stimulation to take the edge off. But I've got lots of ideas lol

Anyway Salukis are definitely beautiful dogs and like rj said, I think any dog can be trained. You just have to find the right motivation for that particular dog. And some dogs might just be a little bit slower and take longer to train but it can be done.

Jae, I think all dogs are trainable. Their desire to please us is the key. I haven't got the vaguest idea what I'm doing with Todd, but I've walked him on a long lead in the areas I want him to patrol (I'm pretty sure he's thinking, this guy doesn't have a clue). And every time I let him out I tell him to "go patrol." After a half hour or so I'll whistle and call him back and when he returns I praise him for doing a good job. Yesterday was especially nasty, cold and rainy. We walked out at our normal 4:30 and when I said "go patrol" he looked at me with this "are you serious look" and then went on patrol. He patrols the areas he thinks are important first and then the areas I think are important. Yesterday, he was back at the door, covered in mud within 25 minutes. It's easiest for me to gauge in the mornings as I can hear his tags jingling from pretty far away, which gives me a hint as to how long it will take him to return. On the up side, I haven't lost a bird since he's been patrolling. On the downside, we're going to experience our first bath this weekend with skunk remover shampoo. After which, the carpets get cleaned.

He sounds smart

Oh my, he sounds like he is trying Bob. Maybe he is sorry about the skunk and won't do that again.

Hopefully

I'd rather have a smelly dog than a dead bird, so all is good. Just wasn't prepared for it.

Good point.

Well said Bob.

X2

Poor Todd, hopefully he won't mind a bath too much (our Honey loves swimming, loves playing with the water from the hose, but a bath is such torture). I know the "are you serious" look very well. It's fantastic that you haven't lost a bird since Todd came to live with you. Makes it well worth the effort.

Glad you are back in one piece @N F C . Yikes to a ceiling full of gravel!

Libby hates water so naturally hates bathes too but is pretty good and will stand once you get her in the tub. Poor Franklin is terrified of bathes and can be hard to pick up (he goes limp/leans into Libby) but once you get him in he's good but he's so hard to get in and tries to run out of the room at first. But oddly he loves the blowdrying part lol and I think he likes water, he's tried to swim and stuff, he's just totally terrified of baths. Won't even take treats which tells me he's truly terrified and anxious. Tail down too Libby will eat treats so she's definitely not scared lol she's just like why must you do this to me?

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think @KDOGG331's "short list" has about 200 breeds on it!


You know, most people don't really WANT the road on the car! Usually travel is easier the other way around.


Time for the hardhat!

Yup! Probably! I think I want every breed there is

 

[JaeG]

@KDOGG331 I'd love some training suggestions. I'm always looking for different ideas (and went through many when she was a puppy, figuring out what worked for her - thank goodness for the internet).

Honey is 6 years old but still a complete puppy brain. She's very much got the personality of the English Pointer but luckily the laziness of the Lab meaning that when she's on her bed she's happy to sleep. But she would go all day if we needed her to. She needs a hard game of fetch before she can walk nicely on the lead though.

Unfortunately she inherited the Lab shedding and it drives me absolutely mental. She leaves a trail of white hair wherever she goes and it gets stuck most annoyingly in the filter of my stick vacuum (which is specifically for pets!) so I have to haul out the big, old, heavy Dyson. I'm by no means obsessive about having a clean home, but all that white hair. . . and it's constant. It never let's up.

She really is a lovely dog though and trustworthy will all our animals which is awesome. But the next dog will definitely be one that doesn't shed much.

We've just been teaching her to go through a hoop but if we raise it off the ground she forgets she has a back end! Having 2 assistants that fight over who is doing what and whose turn it is doesn't help Honey's focus either!

 

[rjohns39]

Well, Todd is on patrol right now and just found a potential predator. What ever it was he apparently ran it off. As he's now quiet. He doesn't eat or kill them, but rather runs them off. During the early morning hours he patrols for about a half hour. At night he tends to go for a couple hours.

 

[DigMyChicks]

Beautiful tree DMC! Nice for you that the cats aren't bothering it. There's a whole thread I've been following on cats & Christmas trees...you're certainly lucky compared to some of those members



Beautiful avatar Cap, love the look of your cabin with all the snow!



We'll enjoy all the Fee photos you can share B! She's so cute with her Linus blanket



Isn't that a nice way to be greeted! How's Todd doing with the animals now Bob?



Congrats on the new bulldog Sharron! Have you named her yet?


Off to finish catching up...only about 60 more messages to go!

Thanks Debby! I put the cats in the basement several nights cuz I didn’t trust them but they’ve been pretty good so I’ve let them take over the house again.

Here are a few pictures from my last trip to Casper:

Kitchen post demo (cupboards gone except for the kitchen sink part, popcorn ceiling gone, trim gone). Notice the lack of any insulation...
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Hallway after removing popcorn and molding (I took out the trim, getting pretty good at that!)
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Living room before the ceiling came down (that happened after I left yesterday). See how rough and big all that popcorn texturing is? DH referred to it as stalagtites)
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Looks like my ceilings. I hate it!

I don't think they have any freezing conditions in Florida right now....but couldn't pass this one up!
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