Pets are good therapy

3jaysmom · May 2011

amen to that,Marybe..!! all of us agree, life w/out a pet is no life at all!!! somedays(like today, maybe) my "little man" is the only man i want around..I also just love that website, ive spent many sleeplees nighs there.. ck the cat that says long john... no ple talking , its really him!!!!! 3jays..

grdnslve · May 2011

had the appt yesterday with the dog trainer. she was actually very encouraging where the buckmeister is concerned. a lot of the things she wants me to do i have already done to some degree with his previous training, so we just need to build on that, then will work on the 'other dog' issue. she said i had made more progress with him than i realize. heaven help us all if i hadn't!!!!

btw--really loved the utube talking dog!!! then found one with a camera shy papillon that looks and acts almost exactly like mine. wierd. have a good day ladies

karen333 · May 2011

great news from the dog trainer, she sounds certain buckmeister can do it. It's just amazing when a trainer can get that kind of results, he sounds like he will easily learn all these new dog rules. Sophie just came in from out of doors, led me right to the bed for a belly rub and is now fast asleep, they train us so well. Most times if she's been out for a few hours,or the weather is changing, I can go out on the back porch and clap for her and she will come running from whearever she is, she knows she gets a treat, it is called Kitty Kavier, it is dehydrated flaked whitefish. Unfortunately my daughters' cats know it signals a treat and everyone comes running. It's fun to watch

grdnslve · May 2011

finally got a nice day here in the mossy pacific nw. the buckmeister can get through the slats on the picket fence, so put up some netting today to keep the little squirrell dog in. finally got the date for my diep, so since i will be incapacitated for a bit, didn't want dh losing the little monster. he is going to be a basket case with me gone for a few days.

karen--bucky gets a treat most everytime he goes out & 'does his business', and our older dog seems to think she should get a treat too. so i'm trying to get her to sit. she is 14 & never felt the need to learn anything before..but i am being sort of firm & she is reluctantly sitting. after all this time didn't think it was possible, but she responds to the hand signal, not the verbal command.

3jaysmom · May 2011

so, as we've learned here, us old broads, as marybe says.. you CAN teach an old dog ticks!!! 3jays

Anonymous · May 2011

I know for sure that applies to Old people dogs, 3jays, but am hoping it works for actual dogs. After seeing a pile of poop in the hallway this AM, I told Tim I am going to try to find that guy who taught Brattie how to use the dog door when we lst got it and have him come back. I do not have the time and Tim just is too lazy and doesn't mind picking up the poop.I don't know what happened...think he must have hit his head when the door was down one night and now he is scared and will on go through it when I lift the flap up and coax him in. I know it was Brattie because I closed the kitchen door off that night so he could not get into the main floor where I just shampooed the rugs and I had Hope and Harley in bed with me all night so it was not them. Ridiculous to have to live this way.

The Quilty One!!

grdnslve · May 2011

maybe he ran into a raccoon one night & got scared.

karen333 · May 2011

Poor Brattie, he kind of looks a little guilty. My friend's dog. a Yorkie, was out on his lead line and began a terrified barking. My friend went out right away, since Max's bark was so different and saw a coyote on the side of the lawn. A neighbor noticed 2 the other night, so Max only goes out with his owner now. The things they cannot tell us, that terrify them, it could have been as simple as the door flap clipping him. Or he was being a naughty dog.

3jaysmom · May 2011

that terrifies me,too,Karen. thank God, we don't have any varints here, and my furbabies only go out on a lead with me, but usually in the house, where they know where to potty (most of the time) i have to watch my "old lady" she's blind, so ANY carpet is where she thinks she's suppossed to go. the only varmints we have to worry about are "skanks" a toothy, lizard here. my little man can smell them on the patio, even if its' been hrs since theywere there. so, he visits me when im gardening on the patio, and promptly goes back in. Toads are the biggest cause of death in S Fla. for the small ones, so im glad they're inside... 3jays

Anonymous · May 2011

The dog is very skiddish and afraid of everything. I know there were some coyotes around here...they took a deer down the the SPCA had to shoot it. Maybe he did see one....I know for a fact something in the backyard scares Harley, but he's the opposite, he would stay out there all night if I let him....I will hear him barking and go haul him in and he's always trembling and I have to calm him down. I guess it says something about the environment here, having neurotic dogs the ways we do.....I honestly think the stray I found in Oct. is the only normal one. Anyway, I contacted someone on Craigslist and tomorrow morning he is going to come and work with Tim and the dog. I told Tim ir really isn't fair.....I come home in the daytime and the other two are in the backyard, but no Brattie because he won't come out the dog door. The only reason I think the flap was closed and he hit his head on it, is because he also will not come back in through it....he wants to come in and he will bark, but no way will he try to go through that door so I hear him and go down and let him in and yell, Didn't you hear the dog?

YamahaMama · May 2011

I know this question doesn't really fall within the realm of "Pets are Good Therapy," but I have a question for all other pet lovers here... It may have been answered on a prior page, but I haven't made it through all the pages yet...sorry... I have a 6 lb poodle who is my therapy baby...content to stay in bed with me all day on those days I just can't crawl out, or to go on long walks with me, or motorcycle rides/car rides with me; anything to be with me. She knows she's one of our "kids," and our "kids" know she's a half-sibling!

Pandy will often lick my arms after I have chemo, and I worry I might be leeching some of the drugs through my skin... Does anyone know if this is dangerous to her? I try to stop her, but sometimes I don't realize she's doing it right away. I would certainly hate for the drugs that should save my life to cause her any harm. Thanks for any input!

Anonymous · May 2011

You may be putting out some odor, but I doubt if it could be harmful to her. I know when you get a bone scan they give you this little paper saying you are radioactive and I think you excrete the stuff in your urine and they caution you about using the same toilet at others.....or is that the MRI contrast, I forget now......but I would think if you were putting anything toxic out through you skin, they would warn you. Maybe she is just trying to be comforting.

YamahaMama · May 2011

Thanks for the reassurance, Marybe! I had tried to find something about this online, but wasn't having any luck with it... As a rule, she thinks it's okay to lick me, so I don't always think about the fact it's right after chemo, and it could very well be her trying to comfort me; she is definitely a "mama's girl." LOL I've been told to put the toilet lid down when I flush for the first 48 hours after chemo, but they've never said anything about using a different toilet...

grdnslve · May 2011

for what it's worth, the dog trainer i'm taking the buckmeister to says licking is also a soothing mechanism when they are stressed. so she is probably trying to not only comfort you, but herself.

YamahaMama · May 2011

That makes total sense! They are so darned smart, and they seem to just know when things aren't right, don't they?

grdnslve · May 2011

the poor buckmeister had his first class yesterday. this is the first time the trainer has seen him with a strange dog. she brought her lovely well behaved calm dog out & as soon as bucky saw it he started screaming....and screaming....i walked (dragged??) him away out of sight & she put her dog away, but bucky continued to scream. he just knew that dog was somewhere nearby. so we worked him by himself on some obstacles to let him regroup & get use to the head collar. she also put a thunder jacket on him to calm him down & lots of treats. eventually brought her dog out again while i treated & distracted him. he saw the other dog at a distance without reacting, so she SLOWLY brought it closer-got nearer than i would have expected before he went nuts again. but that was it. he wouldn't even take a treat anymore he was so upset. so she said he was done for the day. he got so upset the poor baby barfed all over me & even after we got home he wouldn't even play with his toys. so we agreed we need to take it slow with him, do shorter sessions than normal. she tried to reassure me that we CAN fix this. i hope she is right. it isn't that i care if he can go to the park & play with strange dogs..just need him to not SCREAM whenever he sees another dog when we are walking.

karen333 · May 2011

Poor buckmeister, extremely tough day at school. I'll bet he snoozes for half the afternoon and evening hours. I used to be a special education teacher in my former life and that was one of the techniques we would use - breaking things down to a slower, smaller level and ever so gradually work our way up in time. Also the treating to distract, sounds like you have a good "teacher" on your hands. How many days a week does he have school? Karen

Anonymous · May 2011

With my first dog, we quit school....I did not like it when we got to the part where I had to hold his head close to the floor by steping on the leash....seemed mean to me so he was a dropout. Harley and I actually finished school, but I think they only gave him a diploma to get rid of us...he would growl at all the other dogs except for this one female dog he seemed to like. He will sit and he will stay, but when I do the come bit he just looks at me and only comes if he feels like it.

He gets by with a lot cuz he's cute.

karen333 · May 2011

He's a beautiful high school dropout though. How could you possibly get mad at him and stay mad with those expressive eyes of his. They know just how to work us don't they.

karen333 · May 2011

He's a beautiful high school dropout though. How could you possibly get mad at him and stay mad with those expressive eyes of his. They know just how to work us don't they. My dog Sawyer was a high school dropout too, he just got so happy at school seeing all the other dogs, he could absolutely unable to follow any direction for more than a millesecond. I firmly beleive that when he sniffs me coming up to the Rainbow Bridge, he will gallop like a maniac to come get to me. Some furbabies just steal your heart.

grdnslve · May 2011

bucky isn't on a schedule. she wants me to give him a break, but work at home with him on a few commands & also try to get him more comfortable with the head collar. depending on how that goes we will continue classes, but shorter ones & maybe spaced out. i'm scheduled for diep on 6/24, so that will complicate things too. we are going to visit kin in a few weeks, so that will be interesting as they have a dachshund. bucky may spend a lot of time in his crate. poor baby......

karen333 · May 2011

Hope your surgery goes well today, I am sure bucky is waiting at home to give some TLC. Karen

Anonymous · May 2011

Maybe Bucky will get along great with the dachshund...long hair or short? I just found out each and every one of the pets like cooked cabbage tonight....I was eating some and all three dogs and the cat were there begging and they ate it!! Maybe it was cuz I cooked it with corned beef? I did not give them a lot cuz I was afraid they would gas me out tomorrow.

George and I had a real wild time last night....he would not go into the cat carrier....I was shoving him and and Tim was holding it, but not doing a very good job of it, George clawed me and escaped and I was running around trying to grab him, got sooo mad at him and was then swatting at him with a towel shrieking Bad Cat! You are BAD George! So of couse he was not about to come out from under the desk so I had to call and reschedule at the vet's. He is not sick but I want his claws trimmed and want them to look at his eye which I think something might be going on with. He knew something was up before I even got the carrier out...had to coax him down off the shelf and food wasn't even enticing him. Hope Friday goes better, but am sure he has caught on to the fact that the carrier means a trip to the vet.

grdnslve · May 2011

marybe--good luck with that!! my old cat was the same way with the crate. i have buckys crate open all the time & feed him in it. he loves the thing..even will go in there for a nap once in awhile. not sure if that would work for a cat or not.

karen333 · May 2011

Marybe, Sophie runs as soon as she sees the crate, and as little as she is, it takes 2 of us to get a pill down her. I hate it when I have to force a pill down her, she has no idea why I am doing it and fights it all the way. Emma is much easier to give meds to, she just kind of resigns herself to it. That's a great idea about the crate grdnsive, I think I'll give it a try.

Maya2 · May 2011

I once had a cat who was terrified of the carrier and finally I turned the crate so the opening was up and I backed her into it. Then I began feeding her in it too. Shortly, she was napping inside. When I had several cats I called the carriers their offices. Sometimes one would go in and pull the door closed behind them. They wanted to be alone. Divas!

karen333 · May 2011

Maya 2 - I had a two cat family to which I added a Schnauzer puppy. The puppy never bothered the younger cat, but was constantly trying to play with my Siamese, Murphy. Murphy would take it for awhile, then get tired of the puppy's slobbering, he would walk into the puppy's carrier, back up to the door effectively blocking the puppy out, then he would nap, totally ignoring the puppy's antics.

grdnslve · May 2011

cats rule-dogs drool..............

3jaysmom · May 2011

marybe, it might traumatize George, but when you get him, wrap him in a towel.. they're scared at first, but the next time he won't be so scared.. and you won't get clawed... as far as tim, well Jeesh, men! thanks for the chat the other night. as you can see, my family is still "up and goingZ" at the early morning!!! 3jays

grdnslve · June 2011

just finished a great book THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN - am sobbing, it was so good. written by a dog. some of the subject matter was very hard, perhaps a bit too close to home. but it was cathartic. dh thinks i'm mental now, but after all the boo hooing, he grabbed the book & is now reading it. guess he has to find out what got me going so. excuse me, must hug the buckmeister.

Pets are good therapy

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