Can Allergies Coexist with a Rescue Dog Like Duke?

[Borek]

We can proclaim Duke to be the unofficial PF mascot

 

[Moonbear]

Duke has had a busy day. We visited neighbors this morning, so he could learn his way around the neighborhood, and we visited his new doggy-friend Max again. This afternoon, my brother visited with his 20-month-old daughter Hayley. She LOVES Duke and was all over him. Here, he is trying to relax in the sun while she used the carding brush on him. Earlier, she was eating a fudge-sicle and practically had it up his nose a couple of times, and he was so good and patient. Never tried to take a lick of it, even. I think Duke is an alien, not a dog. I can't imagine that someone had made the effort to train him so well, only to abandon him.

Wow! That's amazing how calm and relaxed he is around a little tot. It really does leave you wondering why someone gave him up when he's such a wonderful sweetie! Maybe the shelter staff did a lot of the training, or maybe it was a hard luck story of someone not being able to afford to care for him, or couldn't handle the puppy chewing stage. You say he's only 2 years old? Is it possible he's older? He just seems so calm and mature...usually 2 year old pups are nearly as rambunctious as 2 year old kids!

 

[waht]

One more gratuitous "happy dog" picture. You'll all get sick of this mug if I keep posting pictures of Duke, but I'm like a proud new papa.

never enough, more pics please of Duke.

 

[turbo]

I wanted to drop off some food for my father this morning, so I thought it would be a good time to get Duke used to riding in my vehicle. He wasn't too keen on getting in, so I had to load him in stages - first the front-end, then the back-end. All the way up there (about 20 minutes or so) he kept fretting and whining - I think his previous trips had been to places he didn't like or people who he didn't like (vet's office, picked up by animal control, and drop-off at the shelter). He brightened up when we got to my father's place, and he got to explore the property and meet my father. His tail was always in motion, and he acted like he didn't want to leave, though he had a big doggy grin all the way home, and seemed happy to get back here.

I have to get him acclimated to higher-grade dog food than he was getting at the shelter, so maybe a couple more days of that until the flatulence subsides - already he's better today than yesterday. The loose stools of yesterday seem to be improving, too. Until he's used to his new grub (Iam's Lamb and Rice), most of treats are going to be praise and ear-rubs.

 

[sas3]

wOOF ARf GErrr rUFF oooo WoOf

(He will know what it means)

 

[Norman]

Congrats on the beautiful dog! Glad to hear he is well behaved. I miss dogs a lot, so its nice to read about your experience and think hopefully soon I can get one for my family. Maybe once our youngest is out of diapers.

 

[turbo]

Wow! That's amazing how calm and relaxed he is around a little tot. It really does leave you wondering why someone gave him up when he's such a wonderful sweetie! Maybe the shelter staff did a lot of the training, or maybe it was a hard luck story of someone not being able to afford to care for him, or couldn't handle the puppy chewing stage. You say he's only 2 years old? Is it possible he's older? He just seems so calm and mature...usually 2 year old pups are nearly as rambunctious as 2 year old kids!

I'm afraid it may be the hard-luck story, Moonie. Lots of manufacturing facilities in central Maine have shut their doors, and if people are going to have to move to try to get another job AND pay to feed a fair-sized dog, AND try to find a cheap rental that allows pets, that's a lot of deal killers. It had to be something really heart-breaking.

On Saturday when we were waiting for my brother to show up with his little girl, my wife had frozen up a large batch of biscuit dough (See Food Thread for details) and had some dough left over, so she baked up an oversized biscuit for me. I was sitting on the deck with Duke, scratching his head, eating a hot fresh biscuit slathered with butter and washing it down with a cold beer. He never begged or even gave me that hang-dog sad-eyes look that Labs are so good at. He just leaned into my legs enjoying the ear-rubs and attention. I have never seen such a well-disciplined dog, especially fresh out of a shelter, when you might expect to see some problematic behavior after 4 months of imprisonment, and who knows how long living as a stray after getting abandoned.

The lady at the shelter told me that they have had a lot of abandonments being brought in by local animal control officers. Normally, if somebody drops off a dog at the shelter, they try to collect a fee for caring for the dog and trying to find it an adoptive home. In recent months, she said they concentrate on studying the registration records in the region where the dog was found, so that they can identify the former owner and get them to voluntarily relinquish "ownership" and they forget about trying to charge them a fee. If people have lost their jobs and perhaps their homes (especially with kids to take care of), the Humane Society doesn't press them for a relinquishment fee. I would guess that Duke was brought up in a home with small children, simply because he is so good with them. Sad.

 

[dlgoff]

... maybe a couple more days of that until the flatulence subsides...

Nope. You can't take the Lab out of him. It's their trait.
But you might be able to train him to ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5wSnekHx8Y"

 

[turbo]

Nope. You can't take the Lab out of him. It's their trait.
But you might be able to train him to ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5wSnekHx8Y"

Air freshener would put me in the ER very promptly. I'll just have to pretend that I'm at "deer camp" and remember that Duke is a whole lot nicer than the guys I used to hunt with.

Duke met my father for the first time today. My father loves him already, and says that if we have any problems with Duke, he has a home (like we need to be concerned about that). My wife and I both love the dog, so he's staying, but a hardy mix like this would be great for my father. He's 83, but he lives alone, takes care of his place, his apple tree, grounds maintenance, gardening, etc all by himself, and he walks at least 3-4 miles a day for his own fitness. A nice dog like Duke would be a great fit for someone like him. Big enough and hardy enough to walk every day under some adverse conditions, big enough and loving enough to be a great home-defender should the need arise, and still loving and sweet enough to tolerate all the great-grandchildren.

Saturday, my 20 month old niece Hayley visited and she was playing with Duke's nose, ears, tail, etc, and lifting up his jowly lips to look at his teeth. Duke just sighed, rolled his eyes, and tried to enjoy his sack-out time in the sun. I don't know who trained this dog, but whoever it was could earn a very healthy salary training dogs for the wealthy, who just don't have the time to invest in their pets. Duke is a perfect red-neck dog, but you could drop him into a wealthy urban environment and he'd fit right in. The guy has manners and temperment.

 

[lisab]

Duke met my father for the first time today. My father loves him already, and says that if we have any problems with Duke, he has a home (like we need to be concerned about that). My wife and I both love the dog, so he's staying, but a hardy mix like this would be great for my father. He's 83, but he lives alone, takes care of his place, his apple tree, grounds maintenance, gardening, etc all by himself, and he walks at least 3-4 miles a day for his own fitness. A nice dog like Duke would be a great fit for someone like him. Big enough and hardy enough to walk every day under some adverse conditions, big enough and loving enough to be a great home-defender should the need arise, and still loving and sweet enough to tolerate all the great-grandchildren.

Sounds like it may be time to go back to the shelter and find your dad a good dog .

 

[turbo]

Sounds like it may be time to go back to the shelter and find your dad a good dog .

We got really lucky with Duke. Can I hope to get equally lucky with another shelter dog? The first day here, Duke refused to beg for food, refused to steal from a baby when he should have been tempted, and he let her violate his personal space in so many ways. I can't think of too many shelter dogs that I'd roll the dice with in respect to a 20-month-old toddler. I watched his body language, as did my baby brother, and we just laid back. Hayley could have started nibbling on his nose and Duke's response would have been to avoid her and to come to me for "cover".

My father was really good with the family's late dog Lady, but the sad truth is that I (as a little kid) trained that dog and taught her everything she needed to know. We got her when I was about 7 or so, and I tried to keep her up to speed for the next decade or more. I knew nothing about training dogs, but whenever Lady did something that I asked her to (not just things that I liked) I would praise her, and that was enough to ensure her absolute loyalty and trust. I don't have time to train another "Lady" for him, although it seems like someone has abandoned a beautifully-trained, patient, and empathetic rescue-dog that we stumbled onto.

 

[turbo]

A little update. Duke is training me. When he's on-leash, he'll pull like crazy, especially when we're going to visit his pal Max, so yesterday I got a heavy chain slip-collar and took him for a walk, and he heeled perfectly. What a dummy I am! Whoever trained him used a slip-collar for training, walking, etc, and that nylon collar for casual wear, tags, etc.

Max defers to Duke, now. When I'd throw a toy or a ball for them to fetch, and Max got to it first, he'd either watch the toy and let Duke get it to retrieve, or he'd drop the toy in front of Duke and let him have it. As long as Duke is on-leash, Max is pretty possessive with his toys, but when Duke is loose, the whole dynamic changes, and he let's Duke have first shot at the toys. Max is a German shepherd/pit-bull mix and Duke is boxer and chocolate Lab, and they are very similar in size and build. Apart from some non-contact wrangling when they first met, the two dogs haven't had any conflict, but they seem to have some kind of understanding between them.

 

[turbo]

A little set-back today. Duke and I had a fine day until this afternoon when Max's owner and his daughter and her children showed up to bring Duke some gourmet dog-biscuits and a hand-lettered sign (Yard Protected By Duke) that they bought at the Fryeburg agricultural fair. I went outside with Duke (off-leash) and we mingled and visited with our guests until Duke got the notion to run out into the road and explore another neighbor's property. I hollered "Come" and variations thereof that normally work just fine, and he ignored me until I ran him down and hauled him home by his collar. I shunned him and didn't speak to him or praise him for a couple of hours. He laid at my feet looking at me with really sad eyes, and never let me out of his sight. Even now, when I have "made up" by scratching him, praising him for little things, and giving him small treats, he is lying at my feet and acting a bit hang-dog. Shame might work over time when he misbehaves, but how can I stop him from doing something very dangerous in the short-term?

The last time I trained a dog was when I was a kid, and that dog was a pup and we were soul-mates. This dog loves me, but he is already 2-3 years old and I want to accelerate his training and make him safe around roads, vehicles, etc. Anybody have any favorite training regimens for adult dogs?

 

[lisab]

Was this the first time he's been out in the yard off-leash, with your attention diverted (to your visitors)?

 

[turbo]

Was this the first time he's been out in the yard off-leash, with your attention diverted (to your visitors)?

Yes. I have had him in more spacious places off-leash, exercised him, and got him to come to me, put on his training collar (with leash) and then walked him back home.

Our house is very close (maybe 50-60') to the road, and people travel this little country road at very high rates of speed. The road has a weight limit of 60K# GVW and a speed limit of 45mph, yet fully-loaded log trucks (110-120#, I'd bet) sail through here at at least 50mph routinely. It is a short-cut between Rte 43 and Rte 201, and little savings in fuel for truckers make short-cuts very attractive.

 

[physics girl phd]

I'm glad Duke's safe... and appearing to be very sorry.

I'm not sure what to do. The one outside cat we had as kids just trained herself to "look both ways before crossing the street"... presumably by watching us. We also fortunately lived on a side road, not the main route or an attractive cut-through.

 

[turbo]

I'm glad Duke's safe... and appearing to be very sorry.

I'm not sure what to do. The one outside cat we had as kids just trained herself to "look both ways before crossing the street"... presumably by watching us. We also fortunately lived on a side road, not the main route or an attractive cut-through.

Hard to tell what's the best way to go. I don't think that the Woodhouse method is that attractive - dogs don't have to be made submissive by firm treatment to make them behave. So far he has made tremendous strides with gentle, consistent treatment.

 

[dlgoff]

Anybody have any favorite training regimens for adult dogs?

My daughter and I were given an 7 year old dog that hadn't been trained too well but he did know the word "NO!" and was able to learn what we didn't want him to do. Just keep looking for the things he understands. And be patient.

 

[turbo]

My daughter and I were given an 7 year old dog that hadn't been trained too well but he did know the word "NO!" and was able to learn what we didn't want him to do. Just keep looking for the things he understands. And be patient.

Thanks. Duke understands what I want. He has issues when he is out of my firm control and wants to do something that conflicts with my commands.

He knows when I want him to sit or lie down, and compliance is pretty good. Today, we firmed up his performance on "stay" and he's got a good grasp of "roll over". I don't want him to do tricks for the sake of doing tricks, but I want to use the training to reinforce the idea that he should be paying attention to me.

When my wife is home and I am there, and she issues even the simplest command, like "sit", often Duke looks in my direction as if to ask for confirmation. I have to find a way to transfer his attention and respect to my wife, as well, so that he will be safe when he is with her but off-leash. On-leash is no problem. He's as good as gold. He has only been with us for 12 days or so, so more acclimation may be necessary before our training is "transferable".

 

[turbo]

I think that I may try using his name and a hand-gesture toward my face as a cue for him to focus on me so that I have his attention for the next command. Eventually, the cue could be entirely vocal, but he is a pretty dedicated eye-contact dog, so this may work. When I talk to him, he doesn't always turn his head to me, but he always looks at me.

 

[lisab]

I think that I may try using his name and a hand-gesture toward my face as a cue for him to focus on me so that I have his attention for the next command. Eventually, the cue could be entirely vocal, but he is a pretty dedicated eye-contact dog, so this may work. When I talk to him, he doesn't always turn his head to me, but he always looks at me.

Many years ago, I had a friend who competed her dogs (standard poodles) in obstacle courses. She swore by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clicker_training" .

I was having a hard time with my young dog at that time, a chocolate lab (she was all beauty, no brain ). I tried it (I used a Snapple drink cap as the clicker!) and had good result.

At first, I would give a treat after the click, rewarding good behavior. But soon just the click was all I needed to let her know she had done something good. This worked well for us because she was so, so active, I couldn't always "catch" her doing something good with praise or a head scratch, she was so fast. But I could click quickly, and she learned to associate that with reward.

 

[turbo]

I'll have to try that. Duke is REALLY attentive most of the time, and he really appreciates getting getting little morsels one-at-a-time that are even smaller than his Iams dog-food.

 

[turbo]

Duke is getting very good at visual commands, once I get his attention. Arm up with hand trending down is "sit". Hand pointing to ground is "lie down". Palm facing Duke is "stay", and he transitions from upright lying down to lying down with his hind quarters sideways. I walk away with my back to him, but in the house, I can hear the click of nails on the Pergo flooring if he is trying to cheat and I can get him back into the "stay" position quickly by showing him my palm. He needs to learn that "stay" might include my walking away from him, walking back toward him, walking away again again, etc. It's all good.

 

[turbo]

Here is Duke on our back deck after I wore him to a stub chasing tennis balls, and Ruffin-it frisbees yesterday. He's a bit lame today, but that is not surprising after he spent 4-5 months confined in a pound. Panasonic pocket camera shot - no processing at all.

 

[GeorginaS]

That pocket camera takes a very impressive photo, turbo.

And your love for your new companion is one of the sweetest events I've witnessed in a long time. Plus, Duke's very cool.

 

[Borek]

New dog & new camera - you don't need more

 

[qspeechc]

I can't believe no-one else wanted to adopt such a handsome dog!
His brown nose, is that unique or what?

 

[turbo]

Thanks, all. Duke is a sweet dog. My wife stopped in at the neighbor's last night to drop off prints of the grand-daughters, and his first words were "Is Duke with you?" He loves visiting with Duke.

aspeehc, Duke is 1/2 chocolate lab and 1/2 boxer, though the chocolate lab comes out more strongly, thus the brown nose (and the big webbed feet).

 

[dlgoff]

Have you had him swimming yet. Would love to see a picture of him in the water.

 

[turbo]

Have you had him swimming yet. Would love to see a picture of him in the water.

Not yet, and our daytime temps are currently high 30's, low 40's. He's pretty happy about going for rides, now. If we get some warmer daytime temps, I might load him into the Forester and hit the lake. He loves getting toweled off, so getting him dry shouldn't be too much of a problem. Maybe I could take him over there in the Nissan pickup (vinyl seats)... we'll see. My mother-in-law's camp has a fairly sudden drop-off, so I might take him to the boat ramp or to the (now empty) public beach on the lake so he can progress at his own rate. I'll have to take a toy that floats, like a tennis ball, so that he can have an objective and some training/play time.

 

[dlgoff]

I bet he will jump in right away. But be warned; you might not be able to get him out once he's in. I remember going fishing (from the shore) with my Duke as we both had a few beers. He kept wanting to get in but I would say "Duuuke" and he would sit back down. Well by the time we drank all the beer and it was nearing dusk, I toasted in a 2 liter pop bottle and said "okay Duke; go on"... splash. Every time he tried to pick up the bottle, it would slip out of his mouth. I thought he was going to drown; feeling good from the beer and being all excited about going in. After a half hour or so (well after dark), he managed to grab it from the cap end and made it back on dry land.

 

[turbo]

Hmm... I can't let Duke drink beer on such outings. One of us has to drive!

BTW, my wife was walking Duke out on the road tonight, and our neighbor was headed into work on his shift on the paper machine. He saw them out there, pulled over, and got out to visit/play with Duke by the side of the road. His whole family (wife, daughter, 2 grand-daughters, and their own German shepherd/pit bull mix) loves this mutt, and they come piling out of the house whenever we show up. When they went to the Fryeburg agricultural fair recently, they went to lots of displays and competitions, listened to bands, etc, and they brought back presents: gourmet dog-treats and hand painted signs (Lawn Protected by Max/Duke) for each of the dogs.

 

[Equate]

Here is Duke on our back deck after I wore him to a stub chasing tennis balls, and Ruffin-it frisbees yesterday. He's a bit lame today, but that is not surprising after he spent 4-5 months confined in a pound. Panasonic pocket camera shot - no processing at all.

Adorable!

Now, something completely unrelated: I have built quite a few decks in my days but I have always left a 1/4 inch gap between the planks to allow for expansion. How come you didn't do that? Ever had any problems with this setup?

 

[turbo]

Adorable!

Now, something completely unrelated: I have built quite a few decks in my days but I have always left a 1/4 inch gap between the planks to allow for expansion. How come you didn't do that? Ever had any problems with this setup?

We have had lots of rain since we re-decked with no problems. We used northern white cedar, and it's pretty stable.

 

[turbo]

Here's a Duke update, about 3 months after rescue. My wife took him to the vet on Wednesday, and she said that Duke is underweight. Huh? He's 52 pounds, and he gets 3 cups of Iams dry food/day along with dog-biscuit treats, etc. 3 cups is Iam's recommendation for 70-80# dogs. Duke gets at least 4-5 walks a day, some of them 1/2 hour or so, and he pulls on the lead like a sled-dog, so he's been "working out" and packing on the muscle. He's shaped like a wedge, with the "jaws of death" (that black rubber bone is the only toy he hasn't destroyed), muscular neck, massive shoulders tapering to a slim butt. I hesitate to increase his food intake just because a vet thinks he's under-weight. He has probably put on at least 5# of muscle since we brought him home - maybe more.

In an early post, I said how Duke stopped pulling on the leash when I started using a chain slip-collar. That didn't last. As he beefed up, he became less and less bothered by that collar and resumed pulling. Then I got him a pronged pinch-collar and that slowed him down a bit until he beefed up even more, and now he pulls while wearing that, too.