[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

Awesome advice! That actually helps a lot and will start working on it asap. Yes, he is def food motivated.

I like that pad with the peanut butter. Might be something very helpful. We have the red toy. Haven't tried that yet.

Thank you!

No worries. Happy to help. I’ll post up a few more things after work today. We have a new rescue puppy that is super high energy, separation anxiety, and needs a lot of mental stimulation. I’ll post some more of what we w done to work through that stuff.

BTW I may have missed it but how old is your Dachshund? Puppy or full grown?

[MoeTE87]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

No worries. Happy to help. I’ll post up a few more things after work today. We have a new rescue puppy that is super high energy, separation anxiety, and needs a lot of mental stimulation. I’ll post some more of what we w done to work through that stuff.

BTW I may have missed it but how old is your Dachshund? Puppy or full grown?

Thanks!

Still a puppy. About 28-30 weeks old.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

Thanks!

Still a puppy. About 28-30 weeks old.

Oh that's good! Plenty of time to change behaviors and teach him how to be a well adjusted, independent dog.

When we adopted our puppy the humane society told us that the first 3 days the dog is pretty much in shock. 3 weeks before they start to settle in. And a full 3 months before their personality comes out. We've had ladybug for 4 months now and I'd say at this point she's fully adjusted, but man, it was a struggle to get here. She would do the same thing where you couldn't be out of her sight for even a second before she was screaming and crying. We have a dog gate at the top of our stairs to the basement and I couldn't even make it to the bottom of the stairs before she was freaking out. I go down there every day to get the mail and it probably took 3 weeks before she was OK with it. I would practice going down there and being out of sight but would still talk to her so she knew I was there even though she couldn't see me. Rescue dogs are like foster kids. They get bounced around so much they have a hard time trusting so you just gotta build that trust.

Also, and this was HUGE for us, puppies need naps and lots of them. We never knew that before our current dog. I'm not sure how we all survived the prior 2 puppies without knowing this. Puppies need about 16 to 18 hours of rest a day. And when they don't get rest, they get wound up, punchy, and cranky. Think of your puppy like a toddler. The key is routine. Ladybug was about 8 months old when we got her. Our daily routine was a lifesaver and was as follows:

6:30 AM = Wake up and breakfast
8:00 AM = Walk
9:00 AM = Crate (covered with blanket to make it dark and cozy) nap.
11:30 AM = Wake up, fun time, lunchtime walk
1:00 PM = Crate nap
4:00 PM = Up and about. Self entertaining with toys. Afternoon walk.
5:00 PM = Dinner
6:00 PM = Crate nap
7:30 PM = Hang out with us. Watch TV. Snuggle on sofa. Play.
8:30 PM = Bedtime in the crate

I cant stress enough how important the crate has been to our success. I'd recommend a book on crate training if you're struggling. We lucked out and our puppy took right to it and loves her crate. Remember, puppies get wicked FOMO so if they hear you or see you, they want in on the action and the more tired they are the more they fuss and want to join. We put Ladybug in a back bedroom and completely cover the crate with a blanket.

Next tip: Mental stimulation is as important, if not more so, that physical stimulation. We play hide and seek with Ladybug. One person holds her on one end of the house in the guest bathroom, and the other goes and hides. The hider will call her name periodically to keep her interested. Of course lots of praise and treats when she finds us. 5 or 6 rounds of that and she's exhausted!

Last tip: Sniffing, licking, and digging all burn off a ton of mental energy and stress. We deploy an arsenal of toys for things for this, all easily found on Amazon or a pet store. Top of photo below is a "snuffle mat" that you hide their kibble in and they nuzzle around sniffing and scratching to find the food. For a solid 2 months we just put Ladybug's dog bowl in the cupboard and used this for her breakfast and dinner feedings. Right side of photo is a wobbler. You can load these up with treats, kibble, peanut butter, greek yogurt, or sweet potato and let them lick away. Bottom of photo is a collection of toys we can load kibble in. Left side is a lick mat. Same idea as the wobbler. Get a spatula and smear on no salt peanut butter, plain (not sweetened) Greek yogurt, sweet potato, or pumpkin. Pro tip: Chuck it in the freezer. It'll take them 30 to 40 minutes to lick it all off! Just watch the calorie intake. If you have a lick mat or wobbler heavy day you might want to skip dinner, for example.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[MoeTE87]

Wow, I cant thank you enough for all of that detailed information! Super helpful and hopefully the wife and I can get our dog, Magoo trained. He gets ALOT of sleep. I work from home and so does my wife and he sleeps pretty much the whole time we are home or either one of us is home, but we play fetch or play with his toys after we are done for the day to get him some exercise and run around the house. Those toys will be a life saver as well for us to keep him mentally stimulated. Right now he licks everything around the house and it drives me nuts.

The cage thing I am worried about, but will make that a top priority to focus on him feeling comfortable in there.

Once again, appreciate the information and I will let you know how it goes for sure!


Thank you!

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

I work from home and so does my wife

Was wondering about that. Do a little Googling on "Pandemic Puppies." Our friend is a vet tech and theres been a massive uptick in dogs with anxiety, fed by the pandemic that had owners working from home. Our dogs just got used to having us around all the time and don't understand when we leave. it's really critical that you get started with Magoo being comfortable with your absence. The older he gets the harder this will be and the less likely you'll be to succeed.

I work from home full time and have for the past 3 years. We are just now talking about returning to the office a minimum of 3 days per week. It's going to be a big adjustment for everyone. We've slowly worked Ladybug up to being alone at home with our 10 year old dachshund, Sophie, for about 4 hours at a time. Working our way up to 8, 9, 10 hours. it takes time, patience, and repetition. Start small. I realized it maybe wasn't the best idea to have both dog beds in the office with me. I loved having the dogs there while I worked but it was creating some dependancies. So now I keep their beds in the livingroom by the fireplace during the day. They mostly snooze out in the livingroom, periodically wandering into the office to see what I'm doing every few hours.

[MoeTE87]

I will talk with my wife tonight and do some research of the "Pandemic Puppies" you mentioned.

If my wife is home working, he lays in his bed next to her or plays with his toys or has a chew bone that he likes to chew on every now and then.

If I am home and my wife is out, he is with me up in my office on the 2nd floor in our house in his bed sleeping and snoring. I will leave to use the bathroom and he is fine because he can still hear me. But will take him downstairs with me to take him out to use the bathroom and I will fix myself a meal or snack..depending on the time of day. Then he comes back upstairs with me and lays in his bed and sleeps until we go back downstairs..

[Nahlem]

Here is our little Perro! Not to happy after a shower ! But thats what happens when you roll in the mud you get the shower!

[JJ 911SC]

Birdies 1, Tiggie 0 and wet paws

[ShopVac]

Sadly, one of the varmints got the best of my boy (who knows, payback for killing a family member?). He cut himself in the paw while digging. House looked like a CSI murder scene with blood absolutely everywhere.

4 weeks of bandages, waterproof booties, and vet bills.

[Wolf 335]

To all the pet owners here, do you have pet insurance?

[Lady Jane]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

To all the pet owners here, do you have pet insurance?

Never had any. (Fingers crossed)

[Lady Jane]

Talii's sister always drops-in for a visit.

Last Summer.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

To all the pet owners here, do you have pet insurance?

No. I'm only vaguely aware that it exists.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by dradernh

No. I'm only vaguely aware that it exists.

I’ve seen some advertisements for it. I’m not interested in monthly payment medical insurance for my cat. She goes to the vet once a year. I’ll take my chances on anything else.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

To all the pet owners here, do you have pet insurance?

Yes. I’m on the fence about whether it’s worth it or not. We didn’t have it on the first 2 dogs and spent a fortune when they got older. We have it through Nationwide for the two we have now and expect they will continue to raise rates as they get older and we will still end up paying a fortune between insurance, deductibles and out of pocket costs. But we are giving it a shot.

There are annual caps on reimbursements and caps of reimbursements for certain costs and I think they have it set up to avoid a situation like human health insurance where claims can significantly exceed premiums. Generally, you also need to pay out of pocket and file claims to get reimbursement, which is a minor PiTA.

If you are considering it, you need to buy it before there are any pre-existing conditions or they will be excluded.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Yes. I’m on the fence about whether it’s worth it or not. We didn’t have it on the first 2 dogs and spent a fortune when they got older. We have it through Nationwide for the two we have now and expect they will continue to raise rates as they get older and we will still end up paying a fortune between insurance, deductibles and out of pocket costs. But we are giving it a shot.

There are annual caps on reimbursements and caps of reimbursements for certain costs and I think they have it set up to avoid a situation like human health insurance where claims can significantly exceed premiums. Generally, you also need to pay out of pocket and file claims to get reimbursement, which is a minor PiTA.

If you are considering it, you need to buy it before there are any pre-existing conditions or they will be excluded.

Yes, I think I remember reading about your expenses so I understand your concern.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Esteban

I’ve seen some advertisements for it. I’m not interested in monthly payment medical insurance for my cat. She goes to the vet once a year. I’ll take my chances on anything else.

Pretty much the same here, I think. Ours is an older cat that sees the vet 1X or 2X/year depending upon vaccination dates. I'm good w/2X as she's 16½ now, and I don't mind her being seen more often in case it turns out to matter.

Fortunately, vets don't cost as much here as they did in New England and the Bay Area. We've only had one cat that cost us a fair amount out-of-pocket. I was perfectly fine spending it on her - pretty much in vain, as it turned out. I really hated losing that one.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by dradernh

Pretty much the same here, I think. Ours is an older cat that sees the vet 1X or 2X/year depending upon vaccination dates. I'm good w/2X as she's 16½ now, and I don't mind her being seen more often in case it turns out to matter.

Fortunately, vets don't cost as much here as they did in New England and the Bay Area. We've only had one cat that cost us a fair amount out-of-pocket. I was perfectly fine spending it on her - pretty much in vain, as it turned out. I really hated losing that one.

I had a 14yo cat with lymphoma that cost us a lot some years ago. Our current cat is 11 now and I expect there will be some expenses near the end of her life.

[leopard print]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

To all the pet owners here, do you have pet insurance?

I’ve had it for the 4 years I’ve had my little guy. Used it once for for procedures totaling around $1k I believe. Thinking about cancelling it since I’ve paid out way more than I’ve gotten back. But knowing my luck, once I cancel something major will happen

[JJ 911SC]

.

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

To all the pet owners here, do you have pet insurance?

Got it this past year for the first time through my wife's company. Sometimes a pain to get a claim paid...but has been worth it.

The Apoquel the white GSD requires is $160 a month alone...much less anything else that comes up.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by ShopVac

Got it this past year for the first time through my wife's company. Sometimes a pain to get a claim paid...but has been worth it.

The Apoquel the white GSD requires is $160 a month alone...much less anything else that comes up.

Are you using the Apoquel for skin allergies / paw licking and biting? We have both dogs on it (much lower doses than a GSD, I presume) and find it is ok. First 10 days when they were on double dose, it worked really well. Still works better than nothing but does not solve the issues for us and wondering if it is worth it (even with insurance partial reimbursements).