January Chat!

[LBJ10]

Happy New Year! Chewy, Bun Jovi, Fresno!

How has everyone’s new year been so far? Anything exciting going on?

Not much to report here. Normally I would be shopping on my day off (holiday)… but I don’t venture to stores much these days. I’ve mostly been watching the squirrel hang upside down on the bird feeder outside. I’ll open the door every now and then, but he’ll just look at me like “what?”. 🙄

[Starlightbunny]

Happy New Year to you too! I have been enjoying time off from work and spending more time with my significant other and bunny. 🙂 quite the cute pair they are, I walked the room to find Starlight and the S.O. watching tv together. Starlight seems to really like football. Lol.

[Lindsey]

Hi @LBJ10! & Happy new year to everyone here at BB!

Things have been pretty quiet around our house, not much has been happening (which has sort of become the usual now of course). I have still been feeding the birds with feeders I have right outside our large picture window, it’s a bit harder to keep them fresh and stocked in the winter (I’m in Michigan and we have snow that’s sticking now) and there’s a lot less action on them, but certain days we still have groups of birds that fly around out there and enjoy the selection. I know it’s a small thing, but I really enjoy having the feeders and getting to watch them be used.

Leo (my mini-lop) has been doing well. Since Ollie and Leo were never actually bonded, Ollie’s passing hasn’t affected him that much, which I am actually grateful for. He’s for sure been wonderful to have around during these winter days, as they can seem long, dreary, and blah in Michigan, mostly due to the fact that we rarely get good amounts of sun during this time of year. So I am grateful to have a warm & soft friend to love on!

[DanaNM]

Hoppy New Year!

The buns are doing great, Bonnie and Cooper are bonded and getting a bit closer each day (woohoo!), and Bun Jovi and Myra are doing great. The boys are in a determined poop war, but what can ya do? The girls are perfect and so tidy! Maybe someday I will try again for the quad, but seeing as my own bite wounds are still healing I think not for a while.

Things are very quiet down here in with my in-laws. Been spending a lot of time with their 14 month old pup (Buddy, a German Shorthaired Pointer), working on some basic training with him. He was starved for attention so he’s showing so much improvement with just regular walks and positive reinforcement.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Had 2 different kinds of woodpeckers (downy and red-bellied), some doves, and some finches today. This was after I chased 2 squirrels away. I don’t mind feeding the squirrels, but the hog the feeder so no birds can visit.

Dana – I can’t imagine a sporting breed dog. The ones I have known were over-the-top rambunctious, but I don’t think they were trained very well either.

[Hazel]

Happy New Year everyone!

@DanaNM : How nice that you can work with the gsp, I’m sure he’s so happy to have you around! Would love to see a picture of him. It sounds like you’re making great progress!

[DanaNM]

Here’s some pics of the good boy 🙂

We discovered a great way to exercise him… put a “da bird” cat toy on the end of line on a fishing pole and he will go nuts chasing it!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Well, he certainly looks like a happy dog. Such a big smile.

[Hazel]

Buddy is adorable! I love the ticked colored ones, Otis is so dark that you can hardly even see his patches. Looks like Buddy has a little kissy spot on his forehead like Otis. 😉 Considering how much progress you’re making with Buddy, maybe your in-laws will ask if you want to keep him. 😀

Otis is from hunting lines too, and while he definitely has the energy you’d expect, he doesn’t seem to be a born hunter. He doesn’t really care about birds and he doesn’t point. The only thing he’s really into is the neighbor’s cats outside. The cats usually make a quick getaway if he runs into one in our yard. Right now they have kittens though, and I’m kinda worried what he would do if he caught one. The other day one of the kittens was in the backyard and Otis treed it. The kitten had trouble making it up the tree though, if Otis hadn’t been on a leash I’m sure he would have gotten to it. 😯

[DanaNM]

He really is a beautiful dog and is so smart! He does have a super strong prey drive and points naturally, so I don’t think he would be a good fit for us at all. I do think he should go to someone who will hunt with him… it’s just what he really wants to do and I think he will be amazing with proper training. I think now that he’s getting some ground work down my father-in-law is getting more motivated to work with him, but at 77 how much more hunting is he realistically going to do?

In any case, I’m happy that the dog is happy for now. Now I’m trying to re-train the humans of the house so that when I leave things don’t just go back to how they were.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Hazel]

Did they get him to hunt with or was he supposed to be just a pet? Has he shown a particular interest in the buns? Otis is very good with Oscar, he doesn’t look at him as something to “hunt” but as I said, he really doesn’t seem to have much of a hunting instinct to begin with. 😆

[DanaNM]

My father in law does intend to hunt birds with him, and he hunts with the dog’s mom. The mom (Cali) is about 8 or 9 so doesn’t have too many hunting years left, so the idea was to have Buddy (her son) to hunt with after that.

So far we haven’t let Cali come in contact with the buns. We tried introducing her to the cat and it didn’t go well (she just started barking and lunging at him and didn’t listen to us at all), so we are just going to keep everyone separate since we aren’t staying her permanently. Right now when Buddy sees something he’s interested in he doesn’t listen, but then again I’ve only been working with him a couple weeks. He is mostly interested in birds but will try to go after wild rabbits too. He just overall has a very strong hunting instinct.

Overall I just have a hard time seeing how he is going to be able to hunt with him without professional training. I don’t think my father in law has the right temperament or experience to really train him (he’s also an alcoholic… so that complicates everything). I’ve really been losing sleep over this dog… ugh.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Hazel]

Well maybe sending him to a professional trainer might be the thing to do then, after you’re gone. Are they planning to get him neutered? That might help him calm down a bit too (although I can’t say that I noticed much of a difference in behavior with Otis after his neuter). Was Cali trained by someone else?

[DanaNM]

They are planning to neuter but prob not until he’s 2. And yeah I think they were thinking neutering would be this magic bullet that would calm him down but it won’t be.

Cali was trained by someone else. One option could be to see if one of his hunting friends could help, but I know they all use e-collars. I am not totally against e-collars, but my father in law has a temper and doesn’t know what he’s doing, so I’m sure it would do more harm than good in his hands. The situation is just complicated and is stressing me out a lot. 🙁

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Hazel]

You’re doing such a good job with him, I’m sorry the whole thing is so stressful. 🙁  Maybe they can find a trainer that works without an e-collar, but like you said, it seems to be the go-to training method. I don’t use the e-collar the “normal” way, Otis is too soft for that. But he knows the beep means “come” and the vibrate means “stop what you’re doing”. Of course I only use either if he decides not to listen to verbal commands. Our experience has been mostly positive but again, I’m technically doing it wrong.

How big is Buddy by the way? Otis is more of a pocket rocket at 50lbs, Buddy looks bigger to me. 🙂

[DanaNM]

Thanks, yeah my husband has been trying to get me to just do the best I can while I’m here and not worry too much about it… but like all of you I just really want what’s best for the animals around me! He just had a check up at the vet and I think he was 55 lbs? I think he will fill out a bit more, he is so muscly!

I actually took him to my sister’s place a couple days ago to visit with her and let him play with her dog in their yard, and he was amazing. Just super chill (for a gsp!) and really well behaved, got along great with my sister’s dog (who is really good with other dogs so we knew it would be fine). It really solidified in my mind that he should be rehomed…

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[prince dorian the bun]

Happy belated New Year everyone and their buns too.

DanaNM that sucks about Buddy. I have no idea about training hunting dogs, but tempers never help in any animal training. I hope somehow it all works out.

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