[Closed] Dog - how do they change your life??

They sleep anywhere and at any time.
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They are happy to follow you all day long.
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...and often post on SingleDogWorld
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He has to go to the vets every 6 – 8 weeks to have his anal sacs manually expressed

Anyone been brave enough to do this themselves? I was tempted, but the vet got properly splattered last time he had them done, that put me off somewhat!

mrblobby - Member

He has to go to the vets every 6 – 8 weeks to have his anal sacs manually expressed

Anyone been brave enough to do this themselves? I was tempted, but the vet got properly splattered last time he had them done, that put me off somewhat!

I suspect this is what we need to get done, again. When it was done recently the OH picked the dog up from the vets, when I got home I could smell the dog from the moment I opened the front door...this could be listed as a "con"

Anyone been brave enough to do this themselves? I was tempted, but the vet got properly splattered last time he had them done, that put me off somewhat!

Mr Toast refuses to come to the vets now after the first time, he nearly threw up on the vets examination table...

I should point out that it seems to be relatively rare that dogs need their bum squeezing, certain breeds seem a bit prone to it though. We'd never heard of it before, and Mr Toast grew up with several dogs*.

* I mean his family had several dogs, not he was raised in the wild by West Highland Terriers or owt.

bones and raw food diet.... never had to have the dogs glands done as the stool is a lot firmer, denser, less smelly and as a result the dog has to push it out instead of letting it fall out, means it cleans the glands on the way through 🙂

Never known the AG thing with dogs before we got ours either - but he seemed to need them expressing every few months or else we'd end up with a sudden fishy whiff and find he'd had a tiny bit of bum leak on the sofa (thankfully always keep machine washable throws on them). One of the less pleasant aspects of dog ownership, for sure 😯

Have changed his food recently to [url= http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/lukullus/156066 ]this cold-pressed dog food[/url] and touch wood, there's been no leaks so far. So perhaps it might also be a diet thing.

Back to the original topic - I think the 7 month old would fit in very well with your lifestyle by the sounds of it.
And although all dogs benefit from exercise, I think company, social interaction and mental stimulation is equally as important and it sounds like he might get a good dose of that 🙂

And there was me at risk of buckling to some lunch on my fasting day.

STW, once again you have been of great assistance!

*I would add we feed dry food, and get much the same effect, and also no dog breath, I would never feed tinned food to a dog unless there was a definite medical reason.

Yep, cav's apparently are quite prone to this. We keep ours on a biscuit diet to ensure it happens as late as possible but to be honest, I've had two cav's before and neither of them needed any squeezing.

Depending on breed, you may end up having to clean slobber of walls, ceilings, furniture........houses in the next street!

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EDIT: Oh yes, and on old men as well - here seen kissing me dad

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You inconsiderate bunch of bastards!
Grew up with dogs and desperately want another.
MrsCat is asthmatic and dogs set her off so it's a no go for us.
Seeing the pics and reading the posts makes me wonder though, would the police see it as pre meditated? Hmmmmmm...

Exactly!

My wife can't have dogs (or anything remotely furry), and I'd love to have a dog. Growing up we had a Springer...being a usual teenager I had a few periods of teenage angst and the dog knew when you were pissed off. He'd just come and sit next to you, either on you or leaning against you.

Sure they're hard work and your life revolves around them, but as people have said, coming home to a dog that is happy to see you regardless of your mood is worth the hassle on it's own!

By the way, I used think dogs do know your name, well at least they recognise the sound...so if you said go and get 'blah' the dog would have an idea what you meant and would run off (although 4 times out of 5 it would come back with a stick instead).

Bagstard try these. My springer cuts her paws all the time and these are pretty good.

[url= http://www.innerwolf.co.uk/dog-boots/pawz-disposable-dog-boots.html ]Disposable dog boots[/url]

@Redwoods -

I think company, social interaction and mental stimulation is equally as important and it sounds like he might get a good dose of that

Def +1 to the stimulation thing, that's another place where a good training regime can be a real benefit, if he wants attention, you can make him to a few things and then give a treat. One of those things can be to Stay, and not go until you release him (more tension if you throw his toy out of the room first). Just don't forget you put him on stay!

Ours definitely knew names, the poor thing was the subject of numerous intelligence tests - names of toys, people, 3 identical toys of different colours (guessing he used shades to distinguish) he seemed to love it as much as us. 13 years of psychological experiments on a Lakeland/Poodle cross, I swear he was brighter than most people I have met.

Absolutely agree on on the stimulation, it does sharpen their brains - give them a dull life and you get a dull dog, treat them nastily and you get a nasty dog - not rocket surgery.

He's been dead 27 years and it's still weird walking into Mum & Dad's house and him not bounding through the door.

Bushwhacked, forgive me if I'm repeating what's already been said, but I've only scan read the thread.

We have a wirehaired vizsla. A very slightly larger, scruffy version of that fine looking dog. He's two years and a few months old now and we've had him since he was a pup. It [b]will[/b] change your life as you can't leave the house in the morning and not come back until tomorrow with out some planning. We don't have kids so for us it was a big change, but one we had anticipated and it very rarely causes a problem.

He's going to need at least two 45 minute to one hour walks a day (or one really long walk). If you can find the time to exercise him he'll be a great addition to the family. Ours is now reasonably well trained (it takes time) and can be trusted off the lead (unless it's busy roads). Best of all he loves mountain biking and runs with us when we ride which is great as you'll always have a mate to ride with.

My emails in my profile if you want to ask any specific questions.

Bluebird - Thanks for the input. We're ready for the exercise piece but as mentioned in the post over [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/any-vizsla-owners-on-the-forum#post-5025080 ]here[/url] we're not sure what he'll be like outside of this other than what we've seen of dogs we've had contact with via breeders or other owners.

I'll drop you an email 🙂

Ah! Roll on retirement so we can have a dog. Mrs O won't let me stop work now to take care of one - but to be fair, I won't let her either!

Some simple rules:

Never get a working dog unless you're going to work it.

You'll never wear out a terrier.

Hounds are happy to lie about all day so long as they get a run at some point.

Big dogs are better than little dogs (except Staffies which are bonsai big dogs 🙂 )

You'll never wear out a terrier

+1

For a first dog you will be better off with a bitch as they are more receptive to training and less headstrong. Males usually want to be pack leader so need a firmer hand. Either way pockets full of dog treats works wonders when training. Most important is a solid recall. They need to come back every time. Vizlas make awesome trail dogs coz they love to run, but they need to be 18 months - 2 years old for the sake of their joints before you run them.

Big dogs are better than little dogs (except Staffies which are bonsai big dogs )

No!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My Jack Russell/Patterdale cross is only little but she will take on any dog no matter what size! She's an ace dog and I love her to bits. She's changed my life loads. I got her when I was single and met a woman who had dogs and because Maisey hates anything with more than 2 legs or has fur there's no chance of me and said woman "getting together" so er that relationship was a no-no. Wouldn't change how things are at all though.
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Tragically my best mate has severe hip dysplasia..
He's just an awesome dog but has some very strange habits and fears.
Dogs are the best door bell / visitor proximity alarms, exercise motivators, companions, dish licking toast thiefs. Mine is very much on borrowed time now (8 this year) and a matter of time before his back legs simply stop working. Until then we enjoy every day as we are all here on borrowed time.... just some of us drew the short shift...

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Suddenly you decide tree decorating isn’t just for Christmas?

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My Blue Tick Racoon Hound cross! Well at least that's what I'm told she is? Makes are household a happier place, she really is our daily ray of sunshine.

This sums up my dog, best thing I ever did was welcome a dog into my home, makes a lot of the nuttiness of most days worthwhile

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You'll never wear out a terrier.

And after:
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/62303384@N03/8158234980/ ]IMAG0070[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/62303384@N03/ ]kerystwin[/url], on Flickr