posted by Sun T. on Jan 6
casualty of boredom
It’s funny what my dog will decide to do when he is bored. We decided it was too cold to leave him outside the other night when we went out, so we left him in his new cage in the house. He figured out a way to get himself over the Christmas tree, rip off a few little branches, tear apart the top of his yello toys bag, and rip off the claw of his favorite lobster. Now I can’t find the lobster, but he is still playing with the claw! At least he didn’t do #1 on my tree or #2 and eat it *yech*.
posted by Sun T. on Dec 4
I am looking to get Coby another bed. Well, this is for the large cage we just got him. It’s so slippery in there, and he doesn’t look all that comfortable being in there. Sometimes I use his regular bed from our room for him to have in the crate. I would rather have a dedicated pad for this one. The self-warming thermal dog cushion looks interesting. I wonder if he would like it. The heat might be too warm for him. I don’t really know. Anyone ever used them for a German Shepherd? Feedback is appreciated. I want to get it before we get too far into winter.
Tags: selfwarming+thermal+dog+bed
posted by Sun T. on Jul 9
I have been going through a lot of major changes, but now that our vacation season is over I am back in full effect.
Coby has been doing great. He stopped his nervous habit of going #2 in the house when we leave. He is now much calmer when he is left home alone. He has been staying at the kennel in small spurts when we go away.
This weekend we were in the Poconos, so he went to the kennel. Next weekend we will be in Pittsburgh, same deal. The kennel owner told me that they have noticed a marked difference in his attitude toward other dogs. He is less interested and keeps his cool as they pass.
As far as cats, well, he isn’t yanking me across the world to get to them now. He is able to calm down much faster after seeing one. I am able to talk him through the encounter so that he can concentrate on what I am saying moreso than what he is fixated on.
All in all, he has become a well adjusted addition to our family since January.
posted by Sun T. on Apr 1
Coby had gotten into a bit of trouble this morning while I was out. He decided it was okay to eliminate inside the crate, then he *TMI*… Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Sun T. on Mar 26
I have decided to use the halti or gentle leader on Coby since the incident with him and the pitbull. I don’t want him going off into a tizzy when we encounter other animals. That and the training collar seem to be keeping him in check thus far. I have been using the halti for a few days now. I am glad that the ARWNY group reminded me that I had it so I could use it. Next step is to get another leash that matches the one that I have for the halti. I would rather use 2 short leashes than one short and one flexi…at least until he gets that he can’t just randomly run up on other people’s animals.
We left him in the crate after time for his bathroom break last night and he didn’t go in it. He didn’t try to escape either. I think we are making progress all around.
picture compliments of http://petproductsontheweb.com
posted by Sun T. on Mar 7
Coby doesn’t like being out of his element. I tried to get him to sleep in Taz’s room on his own bed on the floor. What does he do when the door is closed? POOP. I can’t believe he is still not that used to our house. It will be 2 months on the 19th since we got him. He has been in there with the door closed before, but for some reason last night freaked him out.
Needless to say he slept in the crate in the dining room last night. I didn’t hear a peep out of him. He has been spending a lot of time in there of late. He keeps stealing food and doing things he knows he shouldn’t, then acting as if we would beat him with a broom afterwards.
We have NEVER done anything like that to him, but from his actions you wouldn’t know. He is just like a child…getting into things then cringing at the repercussions because they KNOW they are wrong BEFORE they do it.
posted by Sun T. on Feb 19
Last night he was alone for about 5 hours. I did give him 1/2 a melatonin pill this time because I didn’t want him to go ballistic. I found out that my reservations about giving him the pill were unfounded as it is an herbal/natural medicine that will not harm him. Being as we are a mostly drug-free family *exception for hubby with blood pressure issues right now*, I didn’t want to put the dog on drugs! He tore up his mattress, peed in the crate *probably right before we got here at 10:20pm since he is used to going out at 10*, and somehow moved the crate from one side of the room to the other. He didn’t get out, and he only tried once it looked like. The bars were only bent a little, although he hurt his gums a bit this time. They were bleeding slightly. He didn’t break his teeth, only removed a little enamel on one. This is the best response to us being gone yet…especially since he didn’t get out.
posted by Sun T. on Feb 5
SO The dog is an escape artist. This means that he is a clever little boy. The other day when we left him in the crate for 5 hours he got out and tore up my blinds. Last time we left him, my husband locked him in so tight that he couldn’t get out. He did chew through half of a 2×4 and bend the door backwards. Last night we left him for a few hours, but did some things differently. The kennel was reinforced then put into my bedroom with Animal Planet running and the light on. He decided it was time to try another break out and succeeded. This time, instead of pulling the door where it opens he pulled the door where it is hinged and was able to yank the metal back all the way, bending the door over and getting out. He then proceeded to take a look out the window *while ruining the bottom half of my blinds*, wallow on the bed *probably took a nap or two there*, peed on the floor *thank God it wasn’t on my clothes again*, ate some peanut M&Ms, got into my lotion spilling it all over his bed, chewed on the edges of my ironing boards, and did his level best to open the door. The door, thankfully, was locked or he would have been in my living area wreaking havoc.
My husband saw my over-emotional mad state. He then told me if it had been any other dog everything would have been destroyed in his wake. Hubby then posed the question: What did you expect?
I must be honest…I didn’t expect this:
I didn’t get a picture of the door after the second break out. It was bent nearly in half. He kept testing for weaknesses and found them. The doorknob he apparently knew needed to turn because that’s what he was trying to do. He keeps thinking we aren’t coming back but we always do. What are we going to do with this dog?
