Can we talk about others dogs?

On Mon, 10 May 2010 22:02:09 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:

>I tired of typing about mine (almost but really, this isnt the Cash-pup
>newsgroup) and I'd like to hear more about others besides Muttley, cute
>though he is.
>
>Add your stories please?

I'm not sure what you want to hear, but I'll relate that Nikita, our
newish Borzoi rescue (which I say to distinguish her from our 11
month-old Borzoi pup), has been doing much better with her fearfulness
after being started on a low dose of amitriptyline. The ami seems to
take the edge off her anxiety and give her the boost she needs to do
the things she really wants to - explore the house, get to know the
other dogs, let people pet her. This morning she was not going to let
me approach her, and she sure wasn't going to come up to me, until she
saw a couple other dogs getting loving and decided she wanted some.

I'm glad we decided to try the amitriptyline. Nikita had been in
foster care since November and had hit a plateau, and was with us for
4 weeks with very little (and no consistent) progress. She's getting
less than half the normal dose and is having no side effects that I
can see. In sadder news, one of the Borzoi that was rescued with her
was just diagnosed with bone cancer.
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message

> On Mon, 10 May 2010 22:02:09 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:
>
>>I tired of typing about mine (almost but really, this isnt the Cash-pup
>>newsgroup) and I'd like to hear more about others besides Muttley, cute
>>though he is.
>>
>>Add your stories please?
>
> I'm not sure what you want to hear, but I'll relate that Nikita, our
> newish Borzoi rescue (which I say to distinguish her from our 11
> month-old Borzoi pup), has been doing much better with her fearfulness
> after being started on a low dose of amitriptyline. The ami seems to
> take the edge off her anxiety and give her the boost she needs to do
> the things she really wants to - explore the house, get to know the
> other dogs, let people pet her. This morning she was not going to let
> me approach her, and she sure wasn't going to come up to me, until she
> saw a couple other dogs getting loving and decided she wanted some.
>
> I'm glad we decided to try the amitriptyline. Nikita had been in
> foster care since November and had hit a plateau, and was with us for
> 4 weeks with very little (and no consistent) progress. She's getting
> less than half the normal dose and is having no side effects that I
> can see. In sadder news, one of the Borzoi that was rescued with her
> was just diagnosed with bone cancer.
>

Oh no! Is that unusual with the Borzoi breed?
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

On Mon, 10 May 2010 22:26:56 -0500, "starcat"
wrote:

>
>"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
>
>> On Mon, 10 May 2010 22:02:09 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:
>>
>>>I tired of typing about mine (almost but really, this isnt the Cash-pup
>>>newsgroup) and I'd like to hear more about others besides Muttley, cute
>>>though he is.
>>>
>>>Add your stories please?
>>
>> I'm not sure what you want to hear, but I'll relate that Nikita, our
>> newish Borzoi rescue (which I say to distinguish her from our 11
>> month-old Borzoi pup), has been doing much better with her fearfulness
>> after being started on a low dose of amitriptyline. The ami seems to
>> take the edge off her anxiety and give her the boost she needs to do
>> the things she really wants to - explore the house, get to know the
>> other dogs, let people pet her. This morning she was not going to let
>> me approach her, and she sure wasn't going to come up to me, until she
>> saw a couple other dogs getting loving and decided she wanted some.
>>
>> I'm glad we decided to try the amitriptyline. Nikita had been in
>> foster care since November and had hit a plateau, and was with us for
>> 4 weeks with very little (and no consistent) progress. She's getting
>> less than half the normal dose and is having no side effects that I
>> can see. In sadder news, one of the Borzoi that was rescued with her
>> was just diagnosed with bone cancer.
>>
>
>Oh no! Is that unusual with the Borzoi breed?

No, it's not unusual in any large breed. It's not as common in Borzoi
as it is in racing greyhounds. Oddly enough, after years of greyhound
rescue, the first of my personal dogs to be diagnosed with bone cancer
was a Siberian Husky.
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote
> "cshenk" wrote:

>>I tired of typing about mine (almost but really, this isnt the Cash-pup
>>newsgroup) and I'd like to hear more about others besides Muttley, cute
>>though he is.
>>
>>Add your stories please?
>
> I'm not sure what you want to hear

I wanna hear about 'Joe's Smiths dog, Benji the Mooch' or 'Sara Janes dog,
Flutter-head' or whatever we have out there. There's more of us than me and
Paul (Cash-pup and Muttley) and I feared we were turning this group, though
re-growing nicely, into the 'Cash and Muttley show'.

>, but I'll relate that Nikita, our
> newish Borzoi rescue (which I say to distinguish her from our 11
> month-old Borzoi pup), has been doing much better with her fearfulness
> after being started on a low dose of amitriptyline. The ami seems to

Can you tell me a bit more on this medicine? Reading below she seems to
have almost something a bit like some people have and it's a medication to
help her associate better?

> take the edge off her anxiety and give her the boost she needs to do
> the things she really wants to - explore the house, get to know the
> other dogs, let people pet her. This morning she was not going to let
> me approach her, and she sure wasn't going to come up to me, until she
> saw a couple other dogs getting loving and decided she wanted some.

Grin, then it's the right thing she needs for sure. To use old parlayance,
I can't tell if it's an upper or a downer but it seems he right thing in the
right amounts for her. I *could* google but i think the human interaction
of talking with a real live person and learning what they have learned is
often better.

I did google Borzoi though some time back. Nifty sort!

> I'm glad we decided to try the amitriptyline. Nikita had been in
> foster care since November and had hit a plateau, and was with us for
> 4 weeks with very little (and no consistent) progress. She's getting
> less than half the normal dose and is having no side effects that I
> can see. In sadder news, one of the Borzoi that was rescued with her
> was just diagnosed with bone cancer.

So sorry to hear that.

When I hear the name Nikita, my mind associates it to a lostling Russian
Russian girl who's feeling on the run all the time. As if she's lost and
being chased (or feeling if she is). Probably some movie I watched long ago
improperly recalled.

Thank you!
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

"starcat" wrote

> Remy is a Shar-Pei my son fell in love with at one of the shelters here.
> He hadn't been there long, so the foster hadn't had much time with him.
> His shelter name was Franklin, because his foster thought he looked like
> Benjamin Franklin with the jowls, I guess. He was 6 months old. I had
> reservations of a dog at this point in time, so I advised my son to sleep
> on it, which he did. They put a hold on the dog, and we both went in the
> next day to check him out. I knew it was a done deal when my son said,
> "If you saw him Mom, you'd love him too."

Hehehe, hooked!

> The only experience I'd had with Shar-Pei was they weren't particularly
> friendly with strangers, and they had lots of health problems. The lady
> at the shelter had us fill out lots of paperwork, and she interviewed both
> of us pretty extensively. The gist of it was that he could be a dominant,
> potentially aggressive dog with the wrong person, and training was
> essential.

Thats good to know but as you've seen, training and personality of the
*specific* dog can make a huge variation there.

> Long story short, we brought him home (after he was neutered of course),
> and he is the best dog ever. He's super friendly with everyone, loves
> kids, loves cats, and loves other dogs. He is protective if a stranger
> approaches, but he's trained, so he backs off when given the command. He
> is an awesome dog, and with the proper diet, his health is fine. We
> probably lucked out, though, too, since there are some serious genetic
> problems with lots of Shar-Pei. He's not a particularly "typey" Pei, so
> maybe there's another breed lurking in there, which has helped too. I
> don't care - I'm just thrilled he's healthy.

Grin, thank you so much for your story! Yeah, he may have another breed in
there.

Oh, on that we sent off a sample for one of those 'genetic analysis of dogs'
from Cash. They came back with: 'Beagle, possibly some english hound dog,
English bull dog, mastiff, and possible some American lab'. The labrador
seems wrong. He's too small for that. Dunno if their assessment means
anything at all but it was fun.

> My son named him Remy after one of the X-Men. For those of you familiar
> with the X-Men, Gambit's name is Remy LeBeau - hence the name.

I have a 16 YO, who doesnt do Xmen but Megaman. (grin).

> I adore him, and so does my son. He wasn't the easiest teenager pup in
> the world, but we got through it, and he's a fabulous dog.

Cool pup!

Can you tell me how you trained him to back off on command?

I don't have issues there but am merely curious on the process. My dog will
just lickify an intruder to death (hehehe).
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

"cshenk" wrote in message

>>
> Can you tell me how you trained him to back off on command?
>
> I don't have issues there but am merely curious on the process. My dog
> will just lickify an intruder to death (hehehe).
>

The protectiveness didn't really come out in him until he was about 18
months old, but it became especially apparent with my son. I never really
had as much trouble with him in that way, but then I'm not the one out
jogging with him at 10 p.m., and my son is his primary person. He adores my
son first, and I'm second - or at least it seems he's bonded more with my
son.

We did formal training with him, but the trickiest part was my son and I
getting on the same page with him, since my approach was a bit different
than my son's. My son actually worked with Remy on hand signals and taught
him several of those. With the proper hand signal Remy will stop barking or
wait. I found it worked better for me if I used a vocal command too. Pei
are stubborn, but when they get it - they really get it. They tend to be
quite confident dogs, so you do need to give them guidance.

When he gets too protective he positions himself right in front of you and
starts a particular vocalization that is different than his usual growly Pei
talk. His body language changes too. What works for us is to say his name
and then the word "chill." It's not conventional, but he will turn around
and look at you when you say his name, and then "chill" is the word my son
and I agreed on to always use. At first we would take hold of his collar
too and ask him to sit, but now he will just stop his "I'm the big bad wolf"
routine with "Remy" and then when he looks at you, say "chill." He will
just sit his butt down and wait.

It's not conventional, I'm sure, but it works for us. The big thing was to
take control of the situation and let Remy know the human is in control
before he decides he's going to take control himself and possibly attack.
He's never attacked man nor beast, and I don't want him to ever do so.

The formal training was to help us with the basics, particularly since it
had been so long since I'd had a dog, and my son had never had one. It
helped with the leash training and how to properly use the pinch collar -
stuff like that. It also helped us with the recall, which was harder with
this dog than my first, who was a breeze to train. Then again she was a
Lab-Sheepdog mix, who had the best of both breeds in her.

Again, I'm sure the pros here, like Dogman and S&S have better techniques
for backing off on command, but this is what works for us.
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

On Tue, 11 May 2010 18:36:29 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:

>I wanna hear about 'Joe's Smiths dog, Benji the Mooch' or 'Sara Janes dog,
>Flutter-head' or whatever we have out there. There's more of us than me and
>Paul (Cash-pup and Muttley) and I feared we were turning this group, though
>re-growing nicely, into the 'Cash and Muttley show'.

This has always been more of a forum for discussion of behavior and/or
training than just people chatting about cute things their dogs do.

>>, but I'll relate that Nikita, our
>> newish Borzoi rescue (which I say to distinguish her from our 11
>> month-old Borzoi pup), has been doing much better with her fearfulness
>> after being started on a low dose of amitriptyline. The ami seems to
>
>Can you tell me a bit more on this medicine? Reading below she seems to
>have almost something a bit like some people have and it's a medication to
>help her associate better?

Amitriptyline is the generic name for Elavil. It is a human
anti-depressant which, when used in dogs, helps with anxiety and
anxiety-related disorders such as separation anxiety. Nikita does not
have separation anxiety, she has plain old anxiety resulting from
neglect and abuse.

>When I hear the name Nikita, my mind associates it to a lostling Russian
>Russian girl who's feeling on the run all the time. As if she's lost and
>being chased (or feeling if she is). Probably some movie I watched long ago
>improperly recalled.

It is a Russian name; I don't recall what it means.
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

sighthounds & siberians wrote:

> <snip>
> It is a Russian name; I don't recall what it means.

Googling yields unconquered. Mostly used for girls, but Kruschev, of
course, was a man. I hope it wasn't inspired by "La Femme Nikita".

--
Bill Clodius
los the lost and net the pet to email
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On Tue, 11 May 2010 21:27:24 -0400, sighthounds & siberians wrote:

> On Tue, 11 May 2010 18:36:29 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:
>
>>I wanna hear about 'Joe's Smiths dog, Benji the Mooch' or 'Sara Janes
>>dog, Flutter-head' or whatever we have out there. There's more of us
>>than me and Paul (Cash-pup and Muttley) and I feared we were turning
>>this group, though re-growing nicely, into the 'Cash and Muttley show'.
>
> This has always been more of a forum for discussion of behavior and/or
> training than just people chatting about cute things their dogs do.
>
>>>, but I'll relate that Nikita, our
>>> newish Borzoi rescue (which I say to distinguish her from our 11
>>> month-old Borzoi pup), has been doing much better with her fearfulness
>>> after being started on a low dose of amitriptyline. The ami seems to
>>
>>Can you tell me a bit more on this medicine? Reading below she seems to
>>have almost something a bit like some people have and it's a medication
>>to help her associate better?
>
> Amitriptyline is the generic name for Elavil. It is a human
> anti-depressant which, when used in dogs, helps with anxiety and
> anxiety-related disorders such as separation anxiety. Nikita does not
> have separation anxiety, she has plain old anxiety resulting from
> neglect and abuse.
>
>>When I hear the name Nikita, my mind associates it to a lostling Russian
>>Russian girl who's feeling on the run all the time. As if she's lost
>>and being chased (or feeling if she is). Probably some movie I watched
>>long ago improperly recalled.
>
> It is a Russian name; I don't recall what it means.

It is Russian, Macedonian (masculine)
from ancient Greek :Niketas meaning victory
----------------------------------

Elton John sung:

Hey Nikita is it cold
In your little corner of the world
You could roll around the globe
And never find a warmer soul to know

Oh I saw you by the wall
Ten of your tin soldiers in a row
With eyes that looked like ice on fire
The human heart a captive in the snow

Oh Nikita You will never know anything about my home
I'll never know how good it feels to hold you
Nikita I need you so
Oh Nikita is the other side of any given line in time
Counting ten tin soldiers in a row
Oh no, Nikita you'll never know

Do you ever dream of me
Do you ever see the letters that I write
When you look up through the wire
Nikita do you count the stars at night

And if there comes a time
Guns and gates no longer hold you in
And if you're free to make a choice
Just look towards the west and find a friend
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On Tue, 11 May 2010 20:31:55 -0500, "starcat"
wrote:

>
>"cshenk" wrote in message
>
>>>
>> Can you tell me how you trained him to back off on command?
>>
>> I don't have issues there but am merely curious on the process. My dog
>> will just lickify an intruder to death (hehehe).
>>
>
>The protectiveness didn't really come out in him until he was about 18
>months old, but it became especially apparent with my son. I never really
>had as much trouble with him in that way, but then I'm not the one out
>jogging with him at 10 p.m., and my son is his primary person. He adores my
>son first, and I'm second - or at least it seems he's bonded more with my
>son.
>
>We did formal training with him, but the trickiest part was my son and I
>getting on the same page with him, since my approach was a bit different
>than my son's. My son actually worked with Remy on hand signals and taught
>him several of those. With the proper hand signal Remy will stop barking or
>wait. I found it worked better for me if I used a vocal command too. Pei
>are stubborn, but when they get it - they really get it. They tend to be
>quite confident dogs, so you do need to give them guidance.
>
>When he gets too protective he positions himself right in front of you and
>starts a particular vocalization that is different than his usual growly Pei
>talk. His body language changes too. What works for us is to say his name
>and then the word "chill." It's not conventional, but he will turn around
>and look at you when you say his name, and then "chill" is the word my son
>and I agreed on to always use. At first we would take hold of his collar
>too and ask him to sit, but now he will just stop his "I'm the big bad wolf"
>routine with "Remy" and then when he looks at you, say "chill." He will
>just sit his butt down and wait.
>
>It's not conventional, I'm sure, but it works for us. The big thing was to
>take control of the situation and let Remy know the human is in control
>before he decides he's going to take control himself and possibly attack.
>He's never attacked man nor beast, and I don't want him to ever do so.
>
>The formal training was to help us with the basics, particularly since it
>had been so long since I'd had a dog, and my son had never had one. It
>helped with the leash training and how to properly use the pinch collar -
>stuff like that. It also helped us with the recall, which was harder with
>this dog than my first, who was a breeze to train. Then again she was a
>Lab-Sheepdog mix, who had the best of both breeds in her.
>
>Again, I'm sure the pros here, like Dogman and S&S have better techniques
>for backing off on command, but this is what works for us.

I'm far from a pro, and it seems to me that what you're doing doesn't
need to be improved on. Some people use the command "settle" when a
dog gets out of control - it doesn't matter what word you use, what
matters is that the dog understands what it means and responds to it.
Clearly Remy does. As you said, you or your son take control of the
situation and let Remy know he doesn't need to, and when you tell him
"chill" he settles himself down. It works for you, and that's what
counts.
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

On Tue, 11 May 2010 20:29:04 -0600, William Clodius wrote:

> sighthounds & siberians wrote:
>
>> <snip>
>> It is a Russian name; I don't recall what it means.
>
> Googling yields unconquered.

don't be a traitor ;-)

use

http://dogpile.com
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

On Tue, 11 May 2010 20:29:04 -0600, wclodius RemoveThis @lost-alamos.pet (William
Clodius) wrote:

>sighthounds & siberians wrote:
>
>> <snip>
>> It is a Russian name; I don't recall what it means.
>
>Googling yields unconquered. Mostly used for girls, but Kruschev, of
>course, was a man. I hope it wasn't inspired by "La Femme Nikita".

Well, unconquered is a nice sentiment, given her circumstances. I
didn't name her, just chose not to re-name her.
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs? 

"sonofdog" wrote in message

> On Tue, 11 May 2010 20:29:04 -0600, William Clodius wrote:
>
>> sighthounds & siberians wrote:
>>
>>> <snip>
>>> It is a Russian name; I don't recall what it means.
>>
>> Googling yields unconquered.
>
> don't be a traitor ;-)
>
> use
>
> http://dogpile.com

Go Arfie!!

Paul and Muttley, dogpiling for over 10 years
 >> Stay informed about: Can we talk about others dogs?