Well we had a good day today! I made sure to give Simba a nice stroke and a "good dog" when he was snoozing throughout the day. We had our walks throughout the day. A young lady came over with my daughter after school and made a big fuss over him ( probably too much) and he started to get in her face and grabbing her leg to mount. But I had the leash attached so was able to pull him off and say "no". He tried a few times but soon settled. Tonight after his walk I left the leash on again so I could deal with a jump on the couch. He was definitely more restless and wandered around the house and I gave him the bone to chew for a bit - I held it for him : but it was fine. Then I basically ignored him and he wandered a bit then flopped down and is now snoozing ... Flat on his back after a nice chest rub. Other than the deteriorating cone things were good! My biggest fear today was two unleashed dogs I encountered on our walks - one at midday and one this evening. I didn't even hear the one this evening but I saw Simba get all alert and then saw this largish dog slinking towards us with lips pulled back and hackles raised. I've actually never seen a dog approach like that and it gave me a cold shiver! Thankfully the man it was with called it back and the dog listened. Otherwise I don't know what would have happened. Glad to have had a more peaceful day!
Re: Phew! A good day! lisa i feel for you, you are working so hard doing everything you possibly can.....should he be walking yet after his operation ?
Re: Phew! A good day! Glad you had a good day!!!! Does seem to be the case that over-stimulation is what sets him off on the path of naughtiness. Great that you are helping him to learn to stop and relax when it's all getting too much.
Re: Phew! A good day! Well done Lisa! I'm sure he's going to be a super dog - he's certainly very, very handsome!
Re: Phew! A good day! Thanks all. He does seem to be settling better, but this cone is driving both him and me crazy. If it's not one thing it's another! Re: walking after surgery. The vet said no jumping around, or off-leash walks (no problem there :-\) but that on-leash walks were okay. He's healing fine, so I'm not too worried about it. We can't do much else to entertain him - no tuggy games for now, no fetch, no chew toy (too hard for him to grip, although I have been holding it for him for a chew now and again), etc. He has to be able to do SOMETHING, right? With all the trying to fix cone/put new cone on, he's snapped at my daughter a couple times as she was trying to help me. :-[ It seems to be the reaching for the collar in attempts to stop him from doing something that is the trigger, I'm suspecting, as he doesn't snap when you touch his collar when it's not those conditions. In this case she was not reaching for the collar but trying to put duct tape on the inside seam of the cone to protect the seam from his chewing on it (while he was trying to chew at the seam and I was trying to distract him with his chew bone) and when her hand got close to the collar he snapped at her (made contact, but no broken skin). Any tips on collar de-sensitizing? I would like to address this problem if I can.
Re: Phew! A good day! complete novice. just a thought have you tried to hold his fur at the back of his neck, how his mother would ?
Re: Phew! A good day! I'm sure others will have more experience we've only used one once but our vet told us to put Riley's collar through the cone and then slide the whole thing over his nose and head and have a treat waiting for him once is head is through. Are you putting the cone on like that already? If not it might be worth a try, it also meant our hands were outside the cone and out of harms way if he wasn't keen. I would try and only make adjustments or add tape when he's not wearing it to avoid stressing him anymore than he is already. Hang in there
Re: Phew! A good day! Yes we got the cone on fine originally. But I truly believe if we took it OFF to fix it we would Never get it ON again. A case of "fool me once..." So had to fix whilst he's wearing it. Sigh...
Re: Phew! A good day! It's so tricky when he needs it to save him from himself isn't it. You may need to take it on and off to do some desensitization, perhaps when you're around to make sure he doesn't scratch. Alternatively tough it out til he's better and do some when you can take your time in case he needs to wear it again. In the mean time time is ticking away til he doesn't need to wear it any more
