BS: New dawg in the house…

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 03:10 AM

Thompson, that does sound a good idea, but presumably something else for hard-pressed local authorities to have to take responsibility for, and this is the UK - if **some** dog-owners can’t be arsed to pick up their dog’s poo and put it in a bin or take it home, I suspect they also couldn’t be arsed to walk by the designated poo-area for their dog to do its business. I could be wrong, of course, but that’s my strong suspicion.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Sep 24 - 12:27 AM

I got a wire crate when I adopted the 25 pound pup who is about five years old now (and 40 pounds); she was ~ seven months when I adopted her and needed to be confined at night to not chew everything and before she was trained to the Invisible Fence collar. Once she didn't need it I considered taking it down, but my old 70 pound lab kept looking at it, then stepping in a little, and finally just started settling down in it to sleep. It's not solid like a cave or anything, it's wire, but I guess because he was crate trained as a pup (he lived with the friend I inherited him until he was 3) it had fond memories (and it's within view of the back glass door and the kitchen, so he could watch if he wanted.) It is rarely ever closed, the door is always ajar. When the old lab died I thought I might finally get that little bit of space in the den, but the little one spent so much time cuddling with the Lab in there that she still favors it to sleep in at night. And the door stays open.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Sep 24 - 11:04 PM

Years ago wandering through a French town I got a sniff of something and looked around, to see a railed-off area with a sandpit, in which was deposited a couple of dog poos. I asked what it was, and was told that it was a dog toilet - normally people would pick up the poos, but because it was used regularly, passing dogs' stomachs were stimulated by the smell, and they went in to do their business.
Thought it was the most brilliant idea I'd ever seen. I don't know why every city or town doesn't do this.
My own dog tends to use only one place in the back garden to deposit his poo - a sheepdog, as close to the wild as a dog can get, and a very civilised little love who's always eager to please his humans.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 20 Sep 24 - 03:47 AM

Still too small to negotiate the stairs, SRS, so we’re carrying him down to put him out in the back yard every 20-30 minutes. He seems to have begun to know that we want him to pee and/or poo when we take him outside, but he hasn’t yet ‘got it’ that outside is the only place to pee and poo, so we’re still getting little ‘accidents’ indoors (although I think they’re fewer and further between). Still, it’s only a week, and experience with Baxter, our previous BT, taught us that teaching him would be a slow process until he’s big enough to do the stairs on his own. Patience, in this case, is definitely a virtue! ;-)

He sleeps indoors in a crate, as did Baxter for the first two years of his life. He’s a good boy overnight, needs a couple of trips outside during the night (and he lets us know when he needs to ‘go’ rather than peeing in his crate - he hasn’t peed in his crate at all since we brought him home) and sleeps until 6:30 - 7:00. Not bad for a nine-week old pup.

We also have a ‘playpen’ in our living room, a place to put him when we need to go out or do ‘stuff’ in the house without needing to keep a close eye on him. He’s not especially happy to be left, but he settles down after five minutes or so of whining, so I’m sure he’ll get used to it. Of course, once he’s reliable on the pee/poo front, and we’re satisfied he isn’t destructive around the house, he will have free run and the playpen can be dismantled and stored in the garage.

Hard work at the moment, and I’m carrying the battle scars on my hands, but he has the makings of a great dog. We’re very happy right now…

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 24 - 10:34 PM

How is the progress mastering the stairs and exiting in time to take care of business in the yard?

Does he sleep in a kennel or crate?

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 18 Sep 24 - 05:31 AM

Ha! Sorry to disappoint you! Although I am a Bowie fan since the early days, our pup was named after a beautiful blue-and-tan Border Terrier we met a Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland, whilst holidaying up there in July. He was such a lovely little dog, in every way, we decided that, if we were to get a puppy, he would be named after him.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Helen
Date: 18 Sep 24 - 05:17 AM

I'm wondering whether you are planning to diversify and acquire some pet spiders from Mars.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Neil D
Date: 18 Sep 24 - 04:47 AM

I wonder if you named him Ziggy in tribute to Ziggy Stardust which would be cool because I have a little guy named Bowie.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: The Sandman
Date: 16 Sep 24 - 07:41 AM

good luck with your new dog

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Sep 24 - 12:29 PM

Wishing you many happy years with your new Border Terrier friend.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Sep 24 - 03:24 AM

Our new neighbours have a French bulldog. He's a lovely little thing. Yesterday he was visited by another Frenchie and they were having a great time.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 03:08 PM

Thanks SRS, very much appreciated.

It’s not so much the ‘chewing puppy phase’ at the moment, more the ‘peeing and pooing in the house puppy phase’! Our house is a three-storey town-house, and our living room and kitchen are on the middle floor. Ziggy is too small to negotiate the stairs right now, and is likely to be so for the next several weeks, so it’s difficult to teach him the route from the living room to the back door. We had the same experience with Baxter when he was a pup, so it was up and down the stairs every 20 minutes or so to put him out in the garden for a pee or a poo (or, more often, neither of those)! As soon as he could get down the stairs unaided, he started taking himself to the back door and the ‘accidents’ in the house stopped. I suppose the ‘plus’ side is that going up and down stairs is good aerobic exercise for Mrs Backwoodswoman and me!

Ziggy does seem to like my fingers to chew, as well as the fresh tripe we’re feeding him on (which stinks to high heaven, but he hoovers it up like it’s going out of fashion!).

Very early, and hard work, days right now, but we’re looking forward to the coming months once he’s fully vaccinated, when we can take him out for walks and begin the important work of training him.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 12:08 PM

BWM, the thread has been tidied, and congratulations to you and Mrs BWM for bringing another pooch into the house! You may agonize over the chewing puppy phase for a while before you settle in to a comfortable routine (my youngest was seven months when I adopted her and she demolished garden hoses, electrical cords, even the gas hose on the underside of my barbecue grill.)

I'm considering adding a new dog to this house. We lost the old lab in March and the two remaining are often antagonists (in the classic sense of they can't live with each other and can't live without each other). The lab was best friends with the pit-boxer mix and they often cuddled, especially during the cool months. The blue heeler has never been a cuddler with either of them, but I was looking through old photos of when she first arrived and realized that she did cuddle with my at that time ancient blue heeler mix (who passed away about three months later).

So - look for another airhead noisy blue heeler (they pay close attention to their people and are very good watchdogs) or get a goofball to play with the pocket pit? My current blue heeler is about 10, so in theory the first to go of the two.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Thompson
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 09:31 AM

Give Ziggy some loving pats and treats from me, Backwoodsman, and say "Good boy!" to him from me.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: gillymor
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 08:36 AM

Congratulations on your new family member, BW, though you should probably keep him/her away from Springfield OH. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Helen
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 04:48 AM

Yes, let's just get this discussion back to its happy place.

True confession: I'm a crazy childless cat-lady rather than a dog person, but cats have been in my life for almost all of my life and I appreciate the deep bond between pets and their human slaves and the joy it brings to our lives. Unfortunately I'm now a cat-less crazy childless cat-lady because the last of our cat-clan passed away but I remember them all fondly. I celebrate their lives by painting their portraits and having their photos around the house.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 04:33 AM

That is sad, BWM. I think you should reconsider as it seems to be a case of "taking your ball home" but that is entirely up to you of course. Remember though that not many people who do not love dogs actually hate or fear them. I am one of the many who neither love nor hate them. I am more than happy to stroke and pet them when appropriate but would never own one. It doesn't mean that I cannot celebrate your joy with you.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 04:09 AM

Already PM’d to ask for closure. I’d hoped for a happy thread to celebrate a happy event but, as usual, the pissers, moaners, and dog haters had to ruin things.

Fuck ‘em.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 04:01 AM

No, don't do that. It's a lovely thing to celebrate your new friend and I don't think that many people would take offence at Raggy's diversion. If you asked the team to move irrelevant comments to the other thread instead, this one can keep going :-)

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Sep 24 - 03:14 AM

Congratulations on your new family member Backwoodsman :-) I'm sure he will have the best of lives and bring you great joy.

I didn't see anything churlish in Raggy's comments either, although it may warrant a thread of its own so I shall start one :-)

---

New thread noted, a couple of posts from here transferred, others deleted. Elves also like dogs. :) ---mudelf

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 13 Sep 24 - 04:36 PM

Thanks again Helen, you’re absolutely spot-on!

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Helen
Date: 13 Sep 24 - 04:27 PM

BWM, your use of the name Mrs Backwoodsperson motivates me to go off-topic for a micro-second. When I bought a Sony Walkman back in the day I always referred to it as a Walkperson! :-D

Ok, back to the topic.

Animals as companions change our lives for the better. The loss and grief when one of our companions departs this life is deep but bringing another one into our lives is healing and each one is a different personality, so our sense of family deepens again.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 13 Sep 24 - 02:50 PM

Thanks Doug and Helen, I very much appreciate you kind words.

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Helen
Date: 13 Sep 24 - 02:08 PM

Happy days to the Backwoodspeople, including the Backwoodsdogperson!

Subject: RE: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 13 Sep 24 - 01:34 PM

... the whole world and it's dog, take the dog to the pub ...

Not the whole world!

I have had dogs for most of the last 40 years. My current dog is a one year old golden retriever. I have never been comfortable taking my dogs into pubs, cafes taking or shops. I might consider taking my dog into a pub garden if I can find a table around the edge and would always keep it lying down on the lead. I go into a pub to relax but I find I can't relax if I am spending my time worrying that my dog is bothering other people. As far as I am concerned, my dog and other people's food and drink don't mix. The funny thing is, other people's dogs don't bother me at all

Guide dogs and other assistance dogs are a special case and should always be accommodated.

BWM, I know from all you have written here on Mudcat, that you are a responsible dog owner and I hope you have many happy years with your new companion.

DC

Subject: BS: New dawg in the house…
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 13 Sep 24 - 12:16 PM

Following the death of our much-loved Border Terrier, Baxter, in March, Mrs Backwoodsperson and I took a few months to decide what our next step should be. Today, we brought home our new Border Terrier puppy, Ziggy - eight weeks old and beautiful.

If he brings us even half the joy and happiness Baxter brought us, we will be two very, very contented Backwoodspeople!

Let the adventure begin… ;-) :-)