Author Topic: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)  (Read 2440 times)

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IndianInlaw

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Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« on: December 28, 2006, 06:06:08 PM »
My nephew has a dog.  It's a sort of siberian huskie/akita mix.  It's a year old.

My mom has a big old mastiff (someone asked her to baby sit it and never claimed it)

Anyways, big old mastiff is old and sedate.  It is happy just lying around.

Mom has a big old cable that hooks on to the dog's collar.  She'll hook up the dog and let it out to do doggy business, then it comes back in to do more lying about.

Nephew's dog is a different story.  I let it out on the cable and it ran around, chasing it's tail and having a darn good time.  It worked on some major hole it was digging.

I thought to myself that this is not a dog that should be leading a sedate life with old people.  He should be out chasing frisbees in a big field.  It's only a year old, for crying out loud.

Today, I thought, I'd take it for a walk around the block.  My son decided he would take the mastiff and walk with me.  Man, oh man, Nephew's dog went nuts!  He dragged me down the street (semi rural), sniffing everything and just having a good time.

I got to the main road and thought I'd walk past the cemetery and read the headstones over the fence. (I get bored easily).  There is no sidewalk, but a grassy area, separated from the road by a wide shoulder.

This was fine until doggie decided he wanted to chase the cars.  So I went into the cemetery (reluctantly)so the dog wouldn't see the cars and walked back to my street.  The dog still was too much, so I took the mastiff and my son took Nephew's dog...simply because my son weighs more than me and would be harder to drag.

We FINALLY made it home.


I'm going to have to tell Nephew he's going to have to walk  his dog around the block every day.

Plus it jumps on my mom and injures her fragile skin.

dawbs

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2006, 06:18:37 PM »
Akita mixed with snow dog...
that is DEFINITELY a dog that will need a lot of interactive exercise.

and is definitely a dog that will have walking on a leash/prey-drive/dominance issue tendencies.  (not that it will have those issues, but it will have a tendency to have them)

If it were your dog I'd say obedience classes and a gentle leader or halti.

But as it's not, I'd probably rudely give nephew a gift-certificate to local obedience classes for the next holiday  ;D

hobish

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2006, 07:01:02 PM »
Akita mixed with snow dog...
that is DEFINITELY a dog that will need a lot of interactive exercise.

and is definitely a dog that will have walking on a leash/prey-drive/dominance issue tendencies.  (not that it will have those issues, but it will have a tendency to have them)

If it were your dog I'd say obedience classes and a gentle leader or halti.



Yep. Akita mixed with anything is likely to be a bit high maintenance & have dominance issues. Not knocking the breed at all, they're wonderful ... but they do need training.
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dawbs

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2006, 07:20:04 PM »
no, definitely not a knock, they are gorgeous and very smart.  I have known some lovely ones

However, I am not cut out to own either Akita or any type of husky ;)

(of course, I didn't think I was cut out to own a Staffordshire terrier mix either...)

Irish Clovers

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2006, 07:42:04 PM »
Hmmm, sounds like puppy needs some serious obedience training.  He will become bored and (even more) destructive unless drastic measures are taken.  Do you have a training class in your area?  Maybe PetCo or Petsmart?  The dog will take over if this isn't nipped in the bud now.  There is such a thing as doggie etiqette and "Pack" order he needs to follow.

Clara Bow

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2006, 08:28:16 PM »
Is the dog fixed? Sometimes that will slow one down, but it's not a cure-all. I agree with everyone who said obedience classes. I also would point out to nephew that the dog jumping all over your mother is not acceptable at all and that he needs to take whatever measures possible to curb that behavior pronto.
I have finally found the bar I can't get thrown out of....

IndianInlaw

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2006, 09:47:36 PM »
Of course nobody's knocking akitas, they are a great breed for active, outdoorsy people, who have the sense to properly train them.

By the way, Nephew says the dog is part wolf and needs shots each month to keep his wolf tendencies in check :P.

AS IF!!!!

AS FLIPPIN' IF!!!!

IF such a thing existed, this dog most likely has never seen the inside of a vet's office.


On the bright side, Nephew's girlfriend works at Petsmart.  Maybe she'll take it in. 

I feel like telling her to run fast from this kooky family..and take the dog!

housewife2k

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2006, 10:01:22 PM »
Of course nobody's knocking akitas, they are a great breed for active, outdoorsy people, who have the sense to properly train them.

By the way, Nephew says the dog is part wolf and needs shots each month to keep his wolf tendencies in check :P.

AS IF!!!!

AS FLIPPIN' IF!!!!

IF such a thing existed, this dog most likely has never seen the inside of a vet's office.


On the bright side, Nephew's girlfriend works at Petsmart.  Maybe she'll take it in. 

I feel like telling her to run fast from this kooky family..and take the dog!
I have now sprayed my keyboard liberally with my adult beverage. Hubby and I have talked long and hard about the type of dog we will own oneday. as soon as we had kids, any part-wolf was right out being, and I quote "It's not like they can give them an anti-wolfiness shot!"

IndianInlaw

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2006, 10:06:57 PM »
We had a guy in Iowa who owned wolf dogs.  What better breed for a guy who lives RIGHT NEXT TO A SCHOOL!

He needed them there anti wolfiness shots. ;)

ImperfctMe

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2006, 10:31:35 PM »
Why oh why do people insist on getting dogs they have no intention of training and/or properly caring for?! This is just a really sore subject with me. I have seen so many great dogs become "bad" dogs because their owners are clueless & lazy. They get the dogs to be an accessory or a statement about their personality, then are surprised when the dog starts acting like, gee, a dog. Then the dog ends up in a shelter or worse, euthanized. This is one area I am not good at being polite about and would totally have reamed your nephew out already. Male dogs tend to have personality shifts at around age 2 where dominant tendencies become more noticeable. Just wait, this dog is going to develop a bad habit that will then be much more difficult to correct. Definitely have it neutered sooner rather than later, and definitely draw the line with your nephew, i.e., "Mom isn't going to take care of this dog unless you take it to obedience school. Plus you must exercise it for a minimum of 1hr a day. Period." If he's not prepared to handle the responsibility, he needs to find a better owner for it now, before it develops bad habits.

IndianInlaw

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #10 on: December 28, 2006, 11:02:57 PM »
We had an neighbor who was doing her residency at the local hospital.

What better time to get a big old labrador retriever?

She kept the poor thing outdoors all the time because she wouldn't have time to come home and let it out.

Plus she had a stockade fence, so it couldn't look out.  If the fence were chain link, we could have visited it.  It would just dig, dig, dig to get out.


Rach

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2006, 03:11:35 AM »
Why oh why do people insist on getting dogs they have no intention of training and/or properly caring for?! This is just a really sore subject with me. I have seen so many great dogs become "bad" dogs because their owners are clueless & lazy. They get the dogs to be an accessory or a statement about their personality, then are surprised when the dog starts acting like, gee, a dog. Then the dog ends up in a shelter or worse, euthanized. This is one area I am not good at being polite about and would totally have reamed your nephew out already. Male dogs tend to have personality shifts at around age 2 where dominant tendencies become more noticeable. Just wait, this dog is going to develop a bad habit that will then be much more difficult to correct. Definitely have it neutered sooner rather than later, and definitely draw the line with your nephew, i.e., "Mom isn't going to take care of this dog unless you take it to obedience school. Plus you must exercise it for a minimum of 1hr a day. Period." If he's not prepared to handle the responsibility, he needs to find a better owner for it now, before it develops bad habits.

Absolutely!

That type of dog is bound to need the minimum hours excercise.

Argh! So many people get the wrong dog because they are pretty etc, Dalmatians are the worst round here. Fashion accessories for people who didn't bother to find out they are highly active carridge dogs.

Balletmom

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2006, 09:35:39 AM »
Anti wolf shots? Maybe some kind of hormonal or sedative shot? Give me a break. Why have the breed at all?

I agree, dog training or else!

I think I've posted before about my neighbor and their two labradors...they went away to the country almost every weekend, leaving the dogs behind in the small dog run.  :'(

Secret

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Re: Dog Walking Is a Drag (A nephew rant)
« Reply #13 on: December 29, 2006, 10:11:49 AM »
"Why oh why do people insist on getting dogs they have no intention of training and/or properly caring for?! This is just a really sore subject with me. I have seen so many great dogs become "bad" dogs because their owners are clueless & lazy."

BIL and SIL got a dog with a todller and baby on the way.  Never trained a dog before. They yell at her and are always "too busy" to walk her. dog is wonderful, but hyper and jumps up at you.  She gets excited, they send her to her cage.  DH and I are so upset at this.  The dog doesn't even get a daily walk.  This is a golden doodle- big dog.  We got them a dog training book for christmas. Just trying to help that poor dog.   

If you don't have time to train a dog, you don't have time for a dog.