Category: Top Dog

As the title say this is just for a bit of fun.

My boy is about 6.5 months cane corso/presa canario (mum) cross staffie (dad) and weighed him today. Hes currently sitting at 28.8kg. What would people's guesses be at what his finished growing weight will be? Im saying around the 60kg mark as in October he was 16.5kg

**Introduction** 1)Will this be your first dog? If not, what experience do you have owning/training dogs? * My first dog! I had two Great Pyrenees growing up, but I don't have any real experience training dogs. 2)Do you have a preference for rescuing a dog vs. going through a [reputable breeder]( http://ownresponsibly.blogspot.com/2011/07/identifying-reputable-breeder.html)? * Pretty strong preference for a breeder since I have two cats and would be a first time owner, but a breed-specific rescue wouldn't necessarily be out of the question. 3)Describe your ideal dog. * A snugglebug who enjoys a good long walk, but also fine to be a couch potato. Fairly mellow, but still smart and fun. (Not sure if these are mutually exclusive traits...) 4)What breeds or types of dogs are you interested in and why? * I've always been drawn to flashier-looking breeds (Dalmatians, anyone?) as well as sporting/hunting breeds (setters, pointers, munsterlanders), but I understand that they might not be compatible with my lifestyle. I know that looks SHOULD be the least important thing, but I do love a cool looking pup! 5)What sorts of things would you like to train your dog to do? * Maybe some agility if I have time? But mostly just to be a well-behaved pal with good manners 6) Do you want to compete with your dog in a sport (e.g. agility, obedience, rally) or use your dog for a form of work (e.g. hunting, herding, livestock guarding)? If so, how much experience do you have with this work/sport? * Agility could be cool, but really depends on if I have the time/energy **Care Commitments** 7) How long do you want to devote to training, playing with, or otherwise interacting with your dog each day? * I work from home, so plenty of time! 8) How long can you exercise your dog each day, on average? What sorts of exercise are you planning to give your dog regularly and does that include using a dog park? * Probably an hour or so daily. I live in a rowhouse in a city without much of a backyard and don't have a car, so we'd be doing lots of on-leash walking. Plus lots of puzzle games indoors for mental stimulation. (Not interested in accidentally training an endurance athlete who's still bored even after running around for two hours a day) 9)How much regular brushing are you willing to do? Are you open to trimming hair, cleaning ears, or doing other grooming at home? If not, would you be willing to pay a professional to do it regularly? * Open to some regular brushing and grooming maintenance for sure. And definitely willing to pay a groomer! **Personal Preferences** 10)What size dog are you looking for? * Medium, somewhere between 25-50 pounds. (I don't want a little dog, but I'm fairly petite and would need a dog small enough that I could lift the dog myself if they got sick and couldn't move under their own power) 11) How much shedding, barking, and slobber can you handle? * Medium amount of shedding, minimal amount of barking, and low to medium amount of slobber 12) How important is being able to let your dog off-leash in an unfenced area? * Not important at all **Dog Personality and Behavior** 13) Do you want a snuggly dog or one that prefers some personal space? * Snuggly but can handle themself when I'm occasionally out of sight 14) Would you prefer a dog that wants to do its own thing or one that’s more eager-to-please? * Eager to please 15) How would you prefer your dog to respond to someone knocking on the door or entering your yard? How would you prefer your dog to greet strangers or visitors? * Politely! No barking, no jumping or otherwise freaking out. (Happy to work on this with training) 16) Are you willing to manage a dog that is aggressive to other dogs? * No 17) Are there any other behaviors you can’t deal with or want to avoid? * Not sure I'm interested in being herded ;-) or in managing a super high prey drive **Lifestyle** 18) How often and how long will the dog be left alone? * I work from home, so not a ton of alone time. I'd still like to be able to go out for a few hours at a time and leave the dog at home. 19) What are the dog-related preferences of other people in the house and what will be their involvement in caring for the dog? * Just me in the house! 20) Do you have other pets or are you planning on having other pets? What breed or type of animal are they? * I have two cats 21) Will the dog be interacting with children regularly? * Not necessarily, but I'd still like them to be safe and comfortable around kids 22) Do you rent or plan to rent in the future? If applicable, what breed or weight restrictions are on your current lease? * Nope, homeowner! 23) What city or country do you live in and are you aware of any laws banning certain breeds? * No laws that I am aware of 24) What is the average temperature of a typical summer and winter day where you live? * I live in the midatlantic on the east coast of the US. The summer can get pretty hot and humid. The winters can be chilly but not horrifically cold. **Additional Information and Questions** 25) Please provide any additional information you feel may be relevant. * Not a huge fan of spaniels, greyhounds, or terriers. Also not a huge fan of curly or wiry coats. 26) Feel free to ask any questions below. Please tell me if I'm being unrealistic in what I'm looking for. I'm weirdly picky about what my ideal dog looks like, but I know that some of those breeds come with specific challenges. I'm happy to put in the effort to train a dog properly, but not sure I'm ready to play on Extra Hard Mode. And if the answer is that it actually doesn't make sense for me to get a dog then that's ok too. 

Anyone use a foxtail mask for a scavenging dog and how was your experience?

I just returned the 3rd muzzle we have gone through for my scavenging beagle. The first one was an Italian style muzzle, too tight and offered no room to pant. 2nd one he broke, 3rd one he was able to take off over and over again. I'm giving up for now. I am not enjoying the constant driving to UPS to return items.

I'm looking into alternatives and wondering if anyone has used foxtail masks on their scavenging dogs? The only thing I worry for is my dog biting a hole through the mesh.

This is very important to me since he got sick last time bc he lunged for a thick piece of bacon he found on the ground while walking. It was awful and expensive

My girl is sleeping next to me and started lightly barking in her sleep as if she was dreaming. Does anyone else's dog do this? (Sorry if it's the wrong flair btw, didn't know what to put this question under.)

Hi all,

Our miniature schnauzer passed away a few months ago under some quite full on circumstances. We have this massive hole in our family now and we're nowhere need ready to get another dog now. He was the best low maintenance dog and was just quirky and funny. But I'm wondering if anybody has only had one breed of dog or had the same one multiple times? I want another schnauzer but for some reason I'd feel guilty to our old dog.

Maybe still just not ready.

My dogs will only fetch these balls, but I'm seeking a safer alternative. The scent and collapsible construction of these make it so some dogs eat them which often causes intestinal blockage.

Criteria:

• Squeak, crunch, crinkle, whistle or something attractive
• ~2.5" so it fits in a medium ChuckIt Launcher. Aka tennis ball sized
• Somewhat squishable, about as much as an older tennis ball
• No added scents or flavors
• Obvious colors to find in green or tan grass: neon pink, neon orange, bright blue. Not green! Why do they even make green fetch balls?
• Not likely to break into ingestible pieces during fetch
• <$10

I do not let my dogs chew balls outside of fetch, but they like to squish them while returning them to me.

Already Tried: Tennis balls, ChuckIt blue/orange, ChuckIt glow in the dark, ChuckIt whistler light blue, ChuckIt Erratic, Kong squeaking tennis ball, Kong Squeezz ball toy

Asked Google if dogs like music. The answer:

Yes, dogs do like music, but their preferences are specific: they generally prefer softer, slower genres like classical, reggae, and soft rock, which calm them and reduce stress, while faster, louder music (like heavy metal) can agitate them; it's like humans having different tastes, with soothing tunes helping with anxiety or sleep.

My aunt is on holidays and left her beagle with our family to take care of. We take him on walks at least twice a day, and constantly change his water. At night, or in the break of dawn, he starts barking non-stop and we don’t know why. When I go visit him and play, he’s fine, other than starting to throw his toys around. Earlier tonight I was playing with him and he suddenly started barking at me too. Any solutions/why?

Do your dogs help out with any chores around the house or out on your errands? I've recently seen a video of a GSD collecting chicken eggs, in older movies dogs would collect the newspapers each morning, etc. Nw I am wondering what else dogs might be doing to aid their people 🙂

Did anybody else’s pup sleep longer than usual yesterday or exhibit strange-like, lethargic behavior?

I know that the Solstice is the shortest day of the year and that it affects the sleep pattern of many, but today was really odd. My dog slept for four hours after breakfast and wasn’t going to wake up until he heard me moving around.

I do know that some dog owners have reported that they notice a change in behavior due to certain astronomical events (eclipse, full moon etc..) and I just wanted to get some feedback from other people.