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Advice please RE: pet sitting
Ok, I mostly lurk over here, but sometimes post. My issue is that we are pet sitting my BIL's dog while he is away (will be gone until next Wednesday). Rambo is a nutcase. He is almost a year old, intact, and highly energetic.
We want to take him on a nice long walk (but due to our work schedules the earliest we can do this is tomorrow afternoon), but we need some ideas on how to contain him.
Our dogs are highly anxious that he is around and the beagle (Benny) in particular hates him. Benny has never growled or bitten a day in his life, but has growled almost nonstop and bitten Rambo at least twice an hour. We don't want Benny to do this around other dogs (he is pretty sociable now and we will be starting training for his CGC test soon), but we also want Benny to not be the doggie equivalent of a doormat. Buddy (pug mix) seems to be fine with Rambo (he is a dominant dog to begin with) but I can tell he is showing some signs of anxiety. His behavior is just off.
Is there anything you all can think of for us to try to make it through the next 6 days? Thanks.
Re: Advice please RE: pet sitting
Rambo is crate trained (as are our boys); ours live in the bedroom and we have Rambo in the bathroom. We already separate them for feedings (Benny is a pig and likes to eat everyone else's food).
My husband and I have been pretty good at trying to give him some human interaction (BIL works 10-12 hour shifts, so Rambo is usually crated that long on a regular basis--7 hours max at our house--so we know he is lacking in that area). And he isn't socialized At.All. He has no idea about dog body language and (said with love) is dumb as a box of rocks to how it all works.
He's just so full of energy. Even when our boys were puppies, they never had this much. He seems to tire out for 45 seconds then he gets his second (and 3rd, 4th, 5th, nth) wind. We also put him in his crate at night last night (but I feel so bad putting him in there after being in it during the day). I'm usually pretty good at this dog behavior stuff, and Rambo has me stumped.
Me: 32 | He: 35
TTC since Sept 2011
DX: Unexplained
1st round of clomid: Jan 2013 BFP - M/C 8 weeks
surprise BFP Apr 2013 - M/C 9 weeks
IUI #1 clomid Jul 2013 = BFN
IUI #2 clomid Aug 2013 = BFN
IUI #3 injects Oct 2013 = BFN
IUI #4 injects Dec 2013 = BFN
IVF #1 March 2014 - 12R/12F, one perfect day 5 blast transferred
BFP!! Beta#1 = 431 Beta#2 = 914 Beta#3 = 2207 HB = 166!!
I agree with PP - your pups need to be separated from Rambo, definitely for feeding, and perhaps 100% of the time if one of your dogs has already bitten Rambo twice and shown serious discomfort around him. How did you introduce the dogs in the first place? If you will be caring for Rambo in the future, you might want to go back a few steps and re-introduce your dogs to Rambo in a non-confrontational manner (go for a walk together) in a neutral location (meaning somewhere other than your house, your yard, BIL's house, etc.).
In addition to physical exercise, I would definitely work in mental stimulation for Rambo. Training (which it sounds like he could use anyway), treat dispensing toys, games, etc. can all help. I also do what PP described, which is using walks as training time (sit at every curb, practice "watch me/look," etc.). GL!
We introduced them out in the yard at my MIL's house. Oustide Benny doesn't seem to have a problem with Rambo and the few minutes he is calm, Benny can deal. It's just the jumping up on him and in his personal space that wigs Benny out. I've been bending over backwards to try to curb Rambo's enthusiasm. And I think once BIL gets home, we may just reintroduce them somewhere, just to be on the safe side.
He definitely needs trained, like yesterday. H & I are actually working on sit, down and leave it. Leave it is actually working out really well, surprisingly. My mother is supposed to come over today to help me walk the dogs, so I'm thinking of taking him to the park and letting him run around after a ball. Hopefully I can wear him out enough so that Benny doesn't try to figure out how to hold a shovel without opposable thumbs!!
Thanks for all the help!!
ETA: I almost forgot! We did get out our Mind Games toy for him last night and he loved it. So, I think that will definitely stay on the agenda for the rest of the week!
Sounds like you guys are doing what you can, especially given that this isn't even your dog! Benny sounds like my two pugs - they enjoy other dogs but only other dogs who are polite and understand doggy manners. They do not enjoy a rambunctious puppy/dog leaping all over them! If you can't separate the dogs 100% of the time, I would leash Rambo in the house or control their interactions some other way. For example, what has worked for me is that if either of my dogs is harassing/bullying the other, I step in immediately so they understand that I will make and enforce the rules. That way, they don't feel like they need to defend themselves by biting, etc. If they need to settle down (rather than just get a quick reminder of the rules), I send them to their own beds (their "places") for 1-10 minutes depending on how riled up they seem. HTH!
RE: the bolded; I've been doing that as well. Glad I'm at least on the right track with the little guy. I try to let Benny growl a bit (hoping that maybe Rambo will start picking up on Benny's body language and learn to leave him alone), but if Benny gets to the point where he gives me the eyeball, I step in and make sure Rambo knows it isn't appropriate.
Also, I think I may start a time out with them as well. We have a baby gate to keep Rambo from going upstairs unattended, so if they get too rough, I'll gate him in the kitchen so I can keep an eye on him but they have their own space.
And a quick update: the walk helped a LOT more than I expected it to. I have a double leash and since it was just me and my mother, I had B&B and mom walked Rambo. On our way home, I let Benny walk on his own leash for a bit, then had Rambo and Benny on the same leash and they did very well walking together. Since we've been back he has been much calmer. Benny has only growled at him once in the last 2 hours. Huge improvement!
I really appreciate it all, ladies! Thanks again.