better question: what is YOUR daily routine? more info about the animals in question? are the cats free fed? we can help tweak if you share. 🙂
She is doing good, still eating and drinking. Using the bathroom. Very protective of pups which is good. Panting still but I also have the heat turned up for pups. I’ve tried taking her to the vets but no one is accepting new patients and are refusing to help. I cannot travel due to weather and car problems. I’m just worried a pup came two days later
Hello sorry to bother you but i am concerned about my dog. And wanted to get a quick opinion. Lastnight I noticed unusual behavior in him. He was very clingy he was getting up on furniture and bass he normally would never get up on. If I tried to leave out the door he wouldn’t allow me to without trying to force his way out with me. And then his eye looked weird too. Then I woke up to the front bag window covered in blood and teeth marks from him trying to lift it to get out. I noticed he has a broken front tooth he broke off doing this and there’s another side big tooth that looks like an old broken tooth and is yellow. The bleeding has stopped but he still is having seperation issues do you have any suggestions. If so they would be very much appreciated.
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When I wake up in the morning, all 5 of my pets are crying for their needs and I don’t know what to do? What is the most efficient way to take care of many pets in the morning? What is your personal routine?
I have 2 dogs and 3 cats. The dogs whine in their crates and the cats yowl their heads off..
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Anonymous -
Annie Yang-Shaffer Well I guess I have to be honest then. : Don’t be too harsh on me.
I wake up around 8 am to 10 am. I take my dogs outside to pee as soon as I can, but I often can’t, because they cry and I can’t respond to them until they stop crying. I then feed my three cats, the female ones first, then the male one, and this takes about an hour, more or less, because I’m trying to train the cats to stop yowling. The dogs are still whining after this, so I wait for them to stop. I have to wait because every single step I take, every single door I swing, they are very sensitive to, so they start or stop whining according to those sounds. I try not to reinforce the whining. Once the whining eventually stops, I stand up and start walking, but they usually start whining again before I even get to them. I make my large dog lie down and stay in his crate and he doesn’t get it until he does, and I just give it to Coffee since her crate is too small for her to stand in it. I give them water on top of their kibble. It’s the exact same process to wait for the cats to stop as well.
Back when it was warmer, I used to put the dogs outside until I was done feeding the cats. Since the cats would yowl so much without stopping, I’d usually eat a little something until they stopped. But now the dogs stay in their crates since it’s cold, and it’s become more complicated.
All animals get specifically measured food. I try to wake up at a reasonable time, but I have issues sleeping and issues waking up (at a time the animals aren’t crying). : -
Anonymous oof, that’s tough.
how old are the animals in question? how long have they been in your house, with you? routines can be tough, ESPECIALLY when there’s so much NOISE.
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Annie Yang-Shaffer Bones is almost 2, approximately 19 months. Coffee is about 9 months. Those are the dogs. Callie and Artemis are almost 2. Callie was a stray and is small, so it’s hard to know how old she actually is. Artemis was claimed to be 1 from the previous owner. Loki is approximately 12-13 years old. I’ve had Bones since he was 9 months, but my husband had him for a month before I started living with him. Callie and Loki were the only cats in the house back then. In May 2015, Artemis and Coffee were both added to the household approximately at the same time. Only in the past 4 months I’ve been really getting into training my animals the correct way though. Before this, I’ve never owned cats or multiple animals, just a single dog, and there’s just so much…
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Anonymous oof, puppies. one puppy is tough enough, but your older dog is still pretty much a puppy. i don’t envy you there!
i would ignore the cats until the dogs are dealt with. i understand wanting to make them stay in their crates until they stop crying…but i wonder, do you do any training during the day? do they understand that crate is for settling down? i’d maybe work on that when it isn’t early in the morning.
i’d also ask your husband to help out, if that’s possible.
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Annie Yang-Shaffer Yeah… My mistakes were the /reasons/ I got my pets. Loki and Callie were default for moving in with my husband, those two were his cats. I wanted Bones because I wanted a “dog that would love me since cats are mean,” Artemis because “white cat means marriage” and Coffee because “small puppy needs a good home.” And now I have all these trouble cases because I have so much to deal with lol…
Yeah! I really REALLY overestimated (underestimated?) Bones because I (my husband too) was convinced that he was an adult, he should know better. But when I started to build a closer relationship with Bones, I realized he is completely a puppy… I realized this especially when he wanted to chew my toes…..
That is a good tip! Let’s say I wake up at 8 am, then take the dogs to the bathroom outside. Then what do you recommend?
Well, they stay in their crates because that’s where they sleep. I know some people may find that controversial, but I can’t sleep with them because my husband doesn’t like that, and Coffee also has peed on our expensive mattress several times, and I can’t exactly sleep with them on the couch since it is difficult to stretch out my body. I give them a walk at least once a day, allow them to run around in my 3/4 acre yard at least once a day and try to train some inside manners at least once a day.
My husband works all day and comes home at 7:30 and his excuse for not being in close vicinity of the dogs is that “he doesn’t want to fight with them.” : So I’m kinda (and preferably..) on my own with this one.. -
Anonymous so, here’s my thought.
your husband should handle the cats’ breakfasts…especially if he wants nothing to do with the dogs.
you should handle the dogs’ needs, absolutely, and i would put a lot of work into making them Good Dogs…dogs your husband might want to spend time with! i won’t knock you for crating – i used it for my girl until she was 18 months old because i had a geriatric cat i didn’t want her stomping on in the middle of the night. i also do not sleep with any of my pets, so i won’t knock you there, either.
you didn’t mention breeds, so i’m going on generalizations here. with breed info i’d be able to tailor this a little better.
here’s what i would do: get up, take them out. back in, breakfast. back out for a bathroom run. back in, training time! work on basic obedience for now. my favorite thing is “puppy push-ups,” which are sit-stand-down, rinse and repeat for a good 15 minutes or so. randomize it so they don’t start anticipating. after a good 20 minutes or so, i’d start working on a Place command. it’s a way to send them to a bed, a towel, whatever…and stay there. this is HARD for young dogs, and helps them learn when it’s time to settle down. i’d do more training throughout the day – little stuff, here and there, but enough to help them understand what you expect of them.
what do you mean when you say your husband “doesn’t want to fight with” the dogs? that’s a little distressing, but something that should be fixable with work!
exercise really depends on the breed, here. so does housebreaking…if Coffee is still urinating in the house, he’s not housebroken and needs some attention in this area. i’d also make sure he is clear of any UTIs.
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Annie Yang-Shaffer Ah, sorry, you didn’t ask. Bones is an American Bulldog mix. To be more specific, his previous owner said “half White English Bulldog and half pit” but considering he said he was a “lab and pit breeder” makes me think he wasn’t exactly trustworthy. He looks like an American Bulldog because he’s large (approximately 80-100 pounds) and he’s got those side lips that stick out. He’s also neutered.
Coffee is a rat terrier chihuahua mix. She might be mixed with more, as her previous owners claim she’s half shih tzu as well 1/4 of those 2 other breeds, but it’s hard to say. All I know is that she looks exactly like her father, except with drop ears, and her mother looks nothing like a shih tzu, since the mother also had prick ears and was fluffy and brown.
Loki is Siamese and shorthair stray, Callie is a shorthair stray, and Artemis is Himalayan and shorthair stray if any of that matters, but I think they’re all too mixed for that to even matter lol. -
Anonymous hmm, so the dogs are vastly different in their breed intentions, which means you MAY need to tailor training to work on their weaknesses.
i think i’d work on Bones’ obedience. and i mean work HARD on it. bulldogs are stubborn noodges but really seem to excel in rigid structure, based on what i’ve seen. so work on the basics, then increase skills. work on things like rigid heeling. something that might help you here: http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/obedience-courses (i’m a HUGE fan of Fenzi-style training, especially since you can do it at home)
for Coffee, keep working on the basics for now. focus on hardcore basic obedience, work on that housebreaking, etc. once she gets more of her brain in the mail, step up the obedience and maybe work on nosework? i’d even consider doing Barn Hunt stuff if you have any local events. it’s a lot of fun, doesn’t involve a LOT of training, and terriers LOVE THE HELL out of it. more info for that can be found here: http://barnhunt.com/
you didn’t explain the husband’s aversion to the dogs, though. how is he fighting with them?
you have a Siamese. oh god, the noise. i have a Balinese mix, which is essentially a long hair Siamese, and he’s a NOISY boy. you could always try to work on training the cats (yes, they CAN be trained if you use positive reinforcement!), but i really think you need to focus on the dogs for now. cats are fairly self sufficient as long as they’re fed and watered and their boxes are clean.
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Anonymous oh, forgot to mention: i would walk Bones a second time, at least, and i would do more yard play. hell, do obedience in the yard – the distractions help work dogs’ brains! Coffee probably shouldn’t be walked too much until she’s fully grown, but she’ll need a bit more exercise than you’re giving her, too.
i promise, with more frequent and comprehensive training your dogs will be less of a headache for everyone. 🙂
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Annie Yang-Shaffer My husband isn’t /really/ fighting with them, that’s just what he says. : He thinks it is too hard to teach dogs how to learn. It quite frankly is, because I am still a novice, but he doesn’t even try. It’s been many months since he’s attempted anything close to training them with me. He works and I don’t, so there’s that, but I wish he’d at least try. He views methods that reward as allowing the dog to get away with things and doesn’t always work, and ultimately believes that dogs need a “firm hand.” :
Honestly, I still think I need to get a better understanding of heeling, because I’ve taught both my dogs to go behind me (as in to take a step back rather than actually right behind me) so I can avoid tripping over them. But then I realized that might not be actually heeling.
What does housebreaking actually mean..? You mean house manners? Walking and not running, ignoring the cats, not tearing up pillows..? Not really sure if barnhunt is anywhere near me.
Loki actually doesn’t really make a lot of noise. He’s probably less than half Siamese actually, and only meows when he wants attention or food. It’s the female cats that meow for literally no reason all the time. -
Anonymous yeah…i’d ask him to involve himself in the cats’ care, and you take over the dogs. if he doesn’t want to be involved with training the dogs, so be it, but i wouldn’t LET him do anything with them henceforth, either.
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Anonymous oh, and to answer your questions:
“Honestly, I still think I need to get a better understanding of heeling, because I’ve taught both my dogs to go behind me (as in to take a step back rather than actually right behind me) so I can avoid tripping over them. But then I realized that might not be actually heeling.”
— as long as you’re happy with how they’re walking, that’s good enough.“What does housebreaking actually mean..? You mean house manners? Walking and not running, ignoring the cats, not tearing up pillows..?”
— housebreaking involves eliminating bowels and bladder in the house. the rest of that is manners, yes, and something that definitely needs daily work. for the record, my 2.5 year old dobe bitch can’t have pillows or blankets without destroying them, so i don’t allow her to have them. i’d work on a strong “leave it” with both of them, especially if they’re going after the cats. running…good luck stopping them from doing that.“Not really sure if barnhunt is anywhere near me.”
— check the website, you never know. 🙂 it’s a fast-growing sport and trials are popping up everywhere. -
Annie Yang-Shaffer So now that we talked about my situation, how is your morning routine like?
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Anonymous mine is NOWHERE NEAR as chaotic as yours, as i have one dog and one cat. when i had two cats i had some excessive noise from the feline brigade, but felines in my house are free fed so the dog takes up 99% of my effort and time.
she gets a quicky around-the-block morning walk and about a half hour of mental work. if i have to leave for the day, she gets another run outside in the yard before i leave, then she’s back out the second i get home. back in, train for a half hour, back out for a longer period of time (this depends entirely on the weather. today she got 20 minutes outside and was DONE after that but we were staring down a blizzard at the time). back in. free time for however long i deem appropriate, more training. because it’s cold we’ll do nosework in the house or my favorite, a fairly free-form game of “find it!” (where i’ll hide things around the house and make her find them). until yesterday we were also in a weekly class. we’re doing some table and tunnel work in the yard right now – i want her to understand what those words mean when she’s faced with different types of the same thing.
this is enough to keep her happy, but the first year and a half were tough ones. she’s insanely intelligent and needed a LOT more work to keep myself sane. we were in obedience classes almost constantly the first year she was home with us, and i had her in a weekly drop-in class for show training. when she was the age of your younger pup she was in a minimum of 2 classes a week, sometimes 3.
i need to look for more drop-in classes so i can pop in and out at our leisure…looking for Rally classes as i’d like to start competing in that.
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Traci VanScyoc I let my dogs out as soon as I wake up. They usually pee immediately and run in. While they pee I get their food in the bowls. As soon as they finish eating I put them right back out. Then while they are out there running around and pooping or whatever I feed the cats so the dogs aren’t bothering them. I have coffee and by the time the cats are done eating the dogs are ready to come in.
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Traci VanScyoc Also, we take the water bowl away a half hour before bedtime so they don’t chug water and then they don’t have really full bladders all night
My rat appears to be choking/urging. What could this be & what can I do to help him? His airway appears to be clear.
Some have hair loss on back and by tail. Could this be food allergies or something in soil?
fish
i tested my fish tank what does it mean if the ph strip is white
my dog snoopy has recently had a hacking cough which i believe is kennel cough. I looked up dogs with kennel cough and he is making that exact same noise. My parents can not afford a vet so, i cant take him. He is also now vomiting little portions of white stuff, and he bites his paws a lot, no particular one but both vigorously. Can someone please help im scared he might die he is kinda acting tired,and staying under my bed all day, he used to be really energetic jumping everywhere
My 1year old cat isn’t acting right. He is not eating. But is drinking water. Now he is normally real food aggressive but last two days and now into today he hasn’t really eatin. I took to vet and they gave him an anti-inflammatory as well as some ad hills can food to maybe draw him in. He ate just a little last night off my fingers but not interested really. And just laying around. No energy, kinda dazed look. But when at the vet was more interactive but as soon as we got home nothing changed… i have 3 other cats that are healthy and fine. Please help with some insight.
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Cymantha Seeley We have all our cats on Revaluation for Parasites. Up to date on all shots too. Our normal vet is closed today and yesterday so when we took him in it was an “emergency” visit at a new vet. They said he wasn’t dehydrated, temperature wasn’t elevated and that he looked fine. But i know he isn’t. They gave him the anti-inflammatory to maybe help relieve gastric pain or discomfort. Then that ad food. I would really like to wait until he can go to our vet Monday because they know him and the emergency vet is super expensive and I’m on a tight budget. But I’m not sure if that is wrong…
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Cymantha Seeley We have all our cats on Revaluation for Parasites. Up to date on all shots too. Our normal vet is closed today and yesterday so when we took him in it was an “emergency” visit at a new vet. They said he wasn’t dehydrated, temperature wasn’t elevated and that he looked fine. But i know he isn’t. They gave him the anti-inflammatory to maybe help relieve gastric pain or discomfort. Then that ad food. I would really like to wait until he can go to our vet Monday because they know him and the emergency vet is super expensive and I’m on a tight budget. But I’m not sure if that is wrong…
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Cymantha Seeley He is drinking water no problem. Thats whats throwing me so off. Im just keep offering him that wet food when he starts licking himself and it kind of tricks him into licking some up. I think we are going to ride it out for now, but if he starts drinking less and what not I will definitely be taking him back. Thank you so much for your insight. Blood work tomorrow for sure. Oh, one more symptom is hes not pooping but is peeing. And hes know to chew on things like shirts and towels and boxes. Im just so baffled by it all and want my babie back to normal
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Cymantha Seeley Took him in to my vet that Monday and he was very disturbed with the size of the steroid/anti-inflammatory other vet gave him. And the lack of antibiotic. Said he had a virus or cold and should had been given that first not the other shot, which is why his behavior didn’t change. He received some fluids and antibiotics and three days later doing great. Thank you for the insight. It was very comforting at the time.
hello, i just had bought puppy diamond dog food for my puppy but im unsure if i should feed it to him, how do i found out what dog food is safe for him to eat?
Friends, I have another concern in regards to my beagle Abby. My mom said her tummy’s a little bit hard and she gets a little fussy when people tries to give her belly rubs, however she is drinking, eating, peeing and pooping normally.
Any advice?
i would get him checked out – it sounds like something really is wrong, and he should see a vet first, especially to address the teeth.