Abby - the dog

[DammitJanet]

I know we love to talk about our furkids on here so I thought I talk about her.

When I last talked about her I was having lots of issues with her pottying in the house. She still has issues with that and I simply dont know what to do about this. She tries hard to not do this but it isnt perfect. I bought a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet to put where she does her business and I use puppy pads there and just change them when she has an accident. I truly think if we had a doggy door she might do better. When we get the fence up, I am going to put a doggy door installed to see if that works. That should be in the next two months or so.

Meanwhile Saturday night I went into the kitchen to get some diet coke late that evening and heard the most god awful sound coming from her crate. The poor thing was throwing up in there and trying to figure a way to get away from where it was so she could lay down again. Her crate is actually too small for her so she had no chance of that. I had to get her out of her crate and clean it out. Thankfully it was only on her pillow but as I was throwing her pillow out she ran to her puppy pads and had a huge accident. She was SICK! It was coming out both ends badly. I have no clue what she could have gotten into because I feed her a pretty strict diet. The only think I can think of is she went somewhere else when she was off the chain and ate something bad. Or even she could have found a cookie and eaten it.

I let her out and brought her back in and gave her half a can of pumpkin. Then I let her sleep in my bathroom for the rest of the night. She made it that long okay. For the rest of this time she has been eating pumpkin, rice and chicken broth. I think she is feeling a whole lot better because she has been acting a whole lot more like herself. Im telling you, she is such a huggy dog. She gets up in our laps and lays her head on our shoulders and just gives hugs. Last night she actually sat on the couch next to me as if she was a human with her butt on the couch, her back against the back of the couch and just laid her head over on my shoulder. Just like a human would.

 

[bby31288]

Hey at least she is on the pad!! My mom trained her dog to go on a pad in the house. He is small though. But she lives in a senior high rise. If the weather is bad she doesn't take him walking. It's the best of both worlds!!

 

[DammitJanet]

I have seen some really cool things for people living in condo's and apartments. Even actual grass mats to go on the little balconies that have a fire hydrant and you can just rinse the poop down into a pan that you pull out and change the water and the grass just keeps growing...lol.

 

[Hound dog]

Janet some of my dogs haven't been fully house broken until 2 yrs old. So I go into training expecting that more realistic view. If they catch on well sooner, fantastic, if not well I take it in stride and keep working with them. You have unusual circumstances due to having physical issues with getting up and around that are complicating the process. A dog does not naturally want to poo/pee where they live / play / sleep. As long as you keep working with her best you can she'll catch on eventually. If I could house train dogs with the most inconsistent children in the world (poor dogs would potty while child is standing there arguing they either just took them out or the dog didn't need to go or just a minute mom...) you'll be fine with Abby.

Maggie is just one of those dogs.........well, her Mommy must've really taught her well that you "go" totally away from where you live/sleep/play......because from the moment she came home with me it distressed her to not know how to reach the outside to go. She was an outside dog, and oddly my experience has been that they learn this faster than pups born/raised inside unless someone is actively helping the process. So Maggie caught on to you don't go in the house almost immediately despite her age.

Worries me that Abby got so sick like that, especially with that darn neighbor of yours. She's such a love doggie.

Maggie is also a love doggie who is even more expressive/emotional than Molly that I know instantly when she's sad or disappointed. Her face is so darn expressive she could be human. She is finally starting to develop into a cuddle dog. I was wondering if she'd ever come around since she had no socialization so early......but now she is. I have to laugh because here she is nearly full grown and she suddenly wants to crawl into my lap to cuddle, yet when she was small enough to fit she wanted no part of it. LOL

A doggie door with a fence would solve Abby's issues I'm certain.

 

[DammitJanet]

Oh Lisa, you should see Abby smile! She curls her lips up like Elvis...lmao. Jamie would never believe what a cuddly and lovey dog this is considering how awful she was when his family was down. Abby is now beginning to latch on to McKenzie and you can see the bond growing there almost every time that child is over. In the very beginning Abby was wary of the baby because she was well...a baby. She just stayed away and watched her from a distance. But over time she has watched McKenzie grow up and now she follows her around. McKenzie always wants to kiss her on the mouth..lol. She wants to pet her and we have taught her to pet her softly. Abby is very jealous when McKenzie is sitting in our laps and vice versa.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Bonehead has two little dogs and lives on the top floor of a condo with roof access. He has a doggie door on the roof access door and placed some turf in a fenced area right outside the door. His dogs go up there! Bonehead goes out and "cleans up" and the pups are happy.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Abby must be a very smart dog to mimic human behavior on the couch like that. I have not seen a dog do that - ever, but I've only had labs and lab mixes and they may not be like that. I would just melt if my dog sat there like a human and put his head on my shoulder! I'm so glad she's feeling better - it's lucky that you happened to be near her crate at that moment. No wonder she loves you so much!

 

[DammitJanet]

Abby is a part pit, part american bull. Everyone thinks bull dogs are so mean but she is such a lovebug. As you can see in my picture she has a narrow head and not that thick head like the big headed pits. She can really smile. I will have to get Tony to catch her cuddling like that with me and snap a picture. I also think she wants me to quit smoking because when I have a cigarette in my hand she will get in my lap and slap at my hands with her paws and try to get the cigarette out of my fingers. She also attempts to steal my lighters. LOL.

 

[Hound dog]

LOL Janet. When I smoke Maggie tries to figure out wth I'm doing. Several times she tries to catch the smoke. But so far no lighter snatching. lol

 

[InsaneCdn]

CJ? We have lab crosses... and yes, they do that too. The secret is... dogs respond to how they are treated. If you expect a 60 lb dog to act like a lap dog, then treat him like a lap dog and you get... a 60 lb lap dog. But be warned... they will not let you UNDO that. They discover it's kind of nice... and there's no way they will give it up!

 

[DammitJanet]

lol...we had a 110 pound rottie who was convinced she was a lapdog.

 

[SuZir]

lol...we had a 110 pound rottie who was convinced she was a lapdog.

That is a breed trait. LOL

Oh, how I miss our 100 pound rottweiler imposter lapdog Of course watching tv is easier when you don't have her parked on your lap. That made a bit limited scenery at times.