Postings by Haven, SDiT

Food & Nutrition > (Gross question) Mushy stool no matter which foods I feed

Haven, SDiT 1282509     Barked: Thu May 9, '13 2:47pm PST  Haven's Stools have pretty much always been mushy. When I first got her, I had her on Purina puppy chow for about 3 weeks, just because of worse than usual issues with money that month. I transitioned her off of that, and fed her Actr1um puppy food (sold at Walmart in Canada). It's a good quality food, no corn, etc. but not super high quality either (probably about 3.5 star rating food). I thought maybe it was the food causing it, and also wanted to switch her to large breed puppy food instead of regular puppy food. So a few weeks ago, I transitioned her to Acana's Large Breed Puppy food. Even on the Acana, which I know is a very high quality food, her stools are still mushy. It's rarely actually diarrhea, but yeah, just mushy and gross. She isn't eating any other kind of food mixed in, nor do I feed her people food, so I've ruled that out as a cause. Does anyone know if there's anything I can do so her stools firm up? Maybe something I can add to her food... Or...? Well, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Haven, SDiT 1282509     Barked: Sat Jan 19, '13 9:14pm PST  Yeah, I have started off with obedience. Currently working on sit, off, lay down, leave it, not walking out doors before me, walking nicely on a leash and also eliminating biting and training her to go outside. Also trying to get her more used to the sounds of cars, seeing people and dogs on walks, etc. She's very friendly, but gets SO excited! She's doing well with some of those things, so I'm working on those with her for a while until everything is pretty much perfected. Next on my list after those is working on heel and maybe a few more complex things (wave, shake paw, etc.), as well as maybe teaching her some very basic things that could help me out (probably would start with teaching her to find my phone and keys for me). Sorry to hear that people pet your SD, I know it can be very frustrating, as my best friend has a guide dog. People pet the dog and distract her by talking to her all the time! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Service & Therapy Dogs > At what age can a SD candidate become a service dog in training?

Haven, SDiT 1282509     Barked: Sat Jan 19, '13 5:53pm PST  I'm not planning on my puppy being a SDiT anytime soon, as she's only three months. But could anyone tell me what the age range is for a dog to start training to be a service dog? Mine is definitely far too young, but I'd just like to know for sure for future reference what age is acceptable. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Service & Therapy Dogs > Can a SD in training only go into pet stores?

Haven, SDiT 1282509     Barked: Fri Jan 18, '13 2:26pm PST  Hey all. I just got the puppy who is going to be trained to be a psych SD for me (I'm doing basic training, commands, etc. and maybe a few of the smaller task training things), and a friend who is very experienced in working with and training service dogs is going to REALLY train her starting in the summer. I know she's too young right now (three months) so I'm not going to bring her in anywhere anytime soon, but my friend said that once she gets a bit older and is definitely housebroken (she has a good temperament, so no worries about barking, aggression etc. in public), I should get her a vest that says service dog in training and take her into stores with me. I do want to get her a vest soon, because probably within the next month or two, I want to start teaching how to walk without interacting with/being distracted by dogs and other people. I don't want to start that right away because I think she needs to learn how to interact with people and dogs so that when she's not working, she can kind of be a normal dog. Wow, this post is turning out to be really long... but basically, I'm wondering if as a SD in training, if she's only allowed in pet stores or can go other places. Some people have told me that she can go in places with me provided she doesn't cause disturbances, etc. And others have told me she can only go in places if I have permission from the owner... other people have said she can only go into pet stores. I live in Ontario, Canada and I'm not sure if my location makes a difference in that or not... my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Puppy Place > 3 month old Lab Mix won't stop biting, no clue what else to try!

Haven, SDiT 1282509     Barked: Fri Jan 18, '13 12:25pm PST  I wasn't expecting her to stop biting in one day. That would be impossible. I was just looking for advice to get her to stop biting as soon as possible, since I have tons of bites all over my hands and arms, and she also keeps biting my elbows really hard, so I wanted to be able to teach her to not bite fast (within reason, obviously she's not going to learn in a few days). I had already tried giving her a toy to chew on instead, which was only working maybe 5% o the time, but hadn't tried to tell her off first and then give her the toy... maybe that will make a difference. I also tried the yelping thing tons of times to no avail, she just keeps biting hard. I'll try the toy and off thing, and also ignoring her, hopefully that will help. Thanks for the advice! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Haven, SDiT 1282509     Barked: Thu Jan 17, '13 7:09pm PST  I just got my 3 month old lab mix today, and she is eventually going to be trained as a service dog for me. She bites like crazy and really HARD too. I have tried NO and NO, that's bad, holding her muzzle shut for a few seconds, getting her to go to her bed (she just barks and keeps trying to bite me)... nothing is working. She has plenty of toys and plenty of things to chew on (like Greenies or whatever they're called). I hate to use a muzzle on her, but I bought one today... unfortunately for me, I got home to find that the muzzle is too small for her, and I can't exchange it til tomorrow. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have bites all over my hands and a few on my arms and this is getting painful and exhausting... my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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