Paranoid Owner

[Caution: Long post.]

Oh yay, oh yay! I am sooo relieved!!!

I never realised how much Chassard's biting incident affected me until I took Danny to the vet for his op. At the clinic, he sniffed a Shettie and started growling. Hubby took him to one side, but when a Westie came out of the clinic, he growled and started lunging. Later, even in his drugged out hazy state, he sniffed and then growled fiercely at a Corgi who was minding his own business.

Every other dog was so well behaved and everyone at the vet was staring at him. I started having flashbacks of when Chassard would fight with the neighbours' dogs and people would come knocking on our door with a list of complaints. The vet's assistant said that maybe Danny wasn't well socialised when very young.

I felt like a terrible owner, especially since I read up on dog aggression and knew the importance of socialisation. For that reason alone, I had sent him for puppy class just so he could mix. I knew at 9 months, the window for socialisation had long closed (ideal is up to 16 weeks). I felt that maybe I hadn't done enough, that I should have brought him to the dog run, took him on dog play dates, blah, blah.

I don't like comparing having a dog to being a mom cos I think parenting is 100 times more demanding and sacrificial, but I had a micro-experience of how it's like when the school calls and says your kid was bullying other kids in the playground.

When we hit home, I called Lance, Danny's trainer, and asked if he could bring along one or two well-behaved dogs for his next lesson so I could get his advice on the situation. For the whole week, I tried not to think about it. Whenever I did, I would start wondering whether he would attack the trainer's dog.

The problem with me is that the more I think about something, the worse it becomes. I pictured Danny becoming a violent, vicious dog that had to be locked in a cage and fed with a stick.

Well, his training session is just over. Lance brought along his golden retreiver which has got to be the best dog in the world. And Danny? Danny didn't make one single growl. Instead he kept sniffing the big dog all over and wanted to play.

Lance said his socialisation skills were fine. The problem was that we were pulling on the leash which caused him to instinctively pull in return and growl. For the meet and greet, it should be loose leash, no tension if not, they would sense anxiety. The idea is for Danny to be relaxed to do his doggie stuff.

When left to their own devices, dogs wouldn't fight. Like humans, dogs like some dogs and dislike others. If they didn't like the other dog, they would simply stare at a certain distance and ignore each other. If the owner is there, however, the dog will think that he's got his pack with him and attack. Once a dog gets used to fighting, he will start thinking that every dog he meets, he should fight. (Which is also one reason why dogs need to socialise with well-mannered dogs.)

The verdict? Danny is simply too full of energy and extremely playful.

Still, to be extra certain, next session, Lance will be bringing the naughtiest of his dogs to meet Danny.

"I destroy personal property and reck people's lives, but I'm polite!"

"PS. I need a haircut."

UPDATE: For the last lesson, Lance didn't bring his dog along as he wanted to focus on other areas. But on one of his walks, Danny met a chow chow and a husky...and everything was perfect!

Back to the drawing board

The day I've been dreading has finally arrived.

For the last few months, we have been enjoying toilet-trained Danny. We could let him out all around the house and as long as we have a paper out, he'd go on it like some expert marksman. No more worrying about stepping on ;"something wet", or needing to keep bottles of vinegar handy. It was a dream come true.

And all of a sudden, literally overnight, it was back to square one. At first I thought we forgot to give him paper; then, I realised there was a huge wad on the balcony all nice and dry. He now is back to going wherever and whenever he feels like it, and even when he is confined, he will pick the spot WITHOUT paper.

Why? Well, back in puppy class, Danny's first trainer was teaching us about toilet training. It was about confining him to one area and getting him used to having the feel of paper under his feet to do his stuff. We were all happily taking notes, when she said that unfortunately, despite all efforts, when dogs hit 9-11 months, they will untoilet-train themselves. A huge sigh went up. It is sort of like they hit their teenage phase and become rebellious, wanting to test whatever they've been taught. Toilet-training will have to be restarted and once we win that battle, we would have won the war.

Danny is now a week short of 9 months. For the last week every non-papered place has been fair game. We've dusted off our toilet training notes and geared up for Round 2.

*Ding ding!*

Donations of kitchen towels and disinfectant are welcome.

Post-Op Danny

Danny's back to being all happy and sappy again. A real far cry from the sad little thing on Sunday. He's now having his movement restricted cos the vet said that running, jumping, etc., would aggravate the wound.

He's still not too used to the collar. Just yesterday, he tried to go under a chair and the collar got stuck. He just went ahead anyway and ended up dragging the chair with him.



Still, he seems to be taking it in his stride.

His mouth is wet here cos he was drinking water.

The silver lining for him is that he doesn't need to bathe for 2 weeks. So not looking forward to that!

Groggy Doggy

Sent Danny for eunuch-ization over the weekend. When I picked him up, he was seriously drugged out. He didn't even look at me when the vet's assistant handed him over. After that he totted and swayed his way to the car. It was only halfway home that it suddenly occured to him to check that he was with the right guys. He jerked his head up and took a good hard look at me. Satisfied, he settled back down to sleep.

Back home, he was the saddest-looking thing. I wonder if he knew something was missing. It was also his first time with the collar and he kept bumping into things.

All in all, it was a rough, weird sort of morning for him, and he wasn't in the mood to entertain the camera. He kept looking away and eventually, he made his feelings very known:

The rest of the afternoon was spent in La La Land. Even when he woke up, he was nice, quiet and placid.


For once, I had the best dog in the world...

A dog owner's best friend

By now, I think everyone knows Danny is one extremely hyper dog. He has been officially labelled as "very naughty" by both his trainers, and even under strict training we are just barely lowering the grade to "naughty".

Just yesterday, he snuck into my room, grabbed my brand new chiffon blouse with satin trimming right out of the bag, and dragged it into the living room for us to give chase. Thankfully he didn't do any damage save for some drool, and thankfully for him, it was on clearance.

I recently discovered a way of wearing out some of that boundless energy. And it's all thanks to this:


Yes, the humble tennis ball.

Ping pong balls only last a minute and simple dog toy balls cost a good $5 at the store. I got him a set of 3 tennis balls at Cash Converters for only $1. They've been used before but Friend Dan doesn't care.


Directions for use:
1) Locate a good flight of stairs.
2) Bounce ball to get Dog's attention and then pitch it down the stairs.
3) As Dog scampers after ball, prepare second ball in hand.
4) Just as Dog reaches top of stairs with ball in mouth, send second ball flying down the stairs. Dog should automatically drop first ball and chase Ball 2. (Note: If Dog does not drop Ball 1, wave Ball 2 frantically in front of Dog until Dog released Ball 1.)
5) Repeat until Dog looks like this:




6) After which, you can read the papers, have breakfast, paint your nails, etc., and not have to worry about what Dog is up to.

Variations: For owner's amusement, you may consider releasing three balls at once in different directions.

Side effect: You may experience constant background panting from Dog which you'll eventually get used to. This is normal and indicates that Dog is in operation.

Note: When panting stops, it signifies the need to repeat process. Ignoring this may result in destruction of property and personal artifacts (e.g., chiffon blouse with satin trimming).

Caution: Continuing process after Dog has reached tongue-lolling state may result in Dog producing partially digested stomach contents. This may occur without warning.

This may also result in hubby scolding you for over-stimulating Dog and being a lousy owner.

List of Sins

Whew! The last few months have been busy, busy, busy. My brother's wedding is just over, I came down with the flu twice, and now, things are seriously heating up at work. Still, I had really good fun at the wedding. (My handphone pics didn't come out well but I'll see if I can get some good shots to upload later.)

Incidentally, Danny's been having a great time too. The last few weeks can be summed up in the following list.

1) Stole my lunch off the table and ate it in front of me. Was kind enough to leave behind the mashed potatoes and fries for me though. (He just ate the chicken).

2) Chewed up dad's socks.

3) Chewed up dad's shoes.

4) Chewed up mom's slippers.

5) Grabbed a brand new carton of eggs and ran around the dining room, breaking three eggs in the process. Had eggs for tea.

6) Grabbed a whole loaf of bread off the table and ate everything save for three slices. Kept one slice hidden in a corner so he could bite it and dance in front of us when we appeared.

7) Almost managed to pull a hunk of raw beef off the kitchen counter (which was meant to be our dinner).

8) Chewed up dad's new socks.

9) Chewed up mom's new slippers.

10) Spent several afternoons redocorating the living and dining rooms with rubbish.

11) Jumped on mom's bed and got hold of her eye cushion. Tore it apart in the living room, leaving grains all over the floor and carpet.

12) Chewed up a container of cockroach bait. Thankfully the roaches got to it first.

13) Jumped on the sofa and pulled off all the cushions.

14) Grabbed documents dad brought back from work and made everyone chase him around the house for them - right in front of the trainer.

15) Took off on my leg leaving me with a long scratch and three bruises.

16) Dug holes in the garden and tracked the mud and soil all over the house.

17) Chewed up mom's friend's drawing from Bible study class.

18) Act cute and innocent when we try to smack him.

And right now mom's telling him what a good boy he is.