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On Caregiving
Front-Ranger:
Coincidentally, there was a story on NPR today about a dog flu virus that was going around. The story ended with the recommendation to have your dog vaccinated only if he/she goes to indoor doggie day care often.
serious crayons:
I wish I could put Charlie in doggy daycare. He's a very social, high-energy Jack Russell terrier, and although I'm lucky enough to often work from home, at least two or three days a week I leave in the morning and don't return until (at this time of year) after dark. I feel so sorry for him, sitting around all day, alone and bored.
In nicer weather, I at least take him for a walk pretty much every day, at least 30 minutes and often 60. But in winter, I wimp out. It's cold, dark and the sidewalks are icy.
If only I could afford to take him somewhere where he could play with other dogs all day! He'd be in heaven!
Plus, on days when I am home he constantly wants to play "sock chase," a game in which he grabs one of the fuzzy socks I've given him to play with and runs around the living room with it and I chase him around the chairs or wrestle it away from him and throw it for him to go fetch. Let's just say he's entertained by this for longer periods than I am. I indulge him now and then throughout the day, but I've also got work to do. And in between he frequently perches on the chair next to my desk, at best looking at me longingly with big sad eyes, at worst barking in my ear.
Front-Ranger:
R. has a high-strung border collie and the vet advised day care for him one or two days a week. That way, R. can get things done and the border collie gets time with his buddies, gets all tired out playing, and gets some training. But if that is not in the cards for you, you can do things like off-leash dog parks and a dog run in your back yard. Also, herding dogs and terriers need to have jobs to do, or else they develop neuroses from boredom. The simplest thing is a bone that they can chew on. You could also give them a place where they can dig (terriers are bred to ferret out rodents). Fetch is good but requires a lot of your time too.
CellarDweller:
you could get one of these things.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDTsDxhmNVY[/youtube]
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 30, 2016, 12:59:05 pm ---R. has a high-strung border collie and the vet advised day care for him one or two days a week. That way, R. can get things done and the border collie gets time with his buddies, gets all tired out playing, and gets some training. But if that is not in the cards for you, you can do things like off-leash dog parks and a dog run in your back yard. Also, herding dogs and terriers need to have jobs to do, or else they develop neuroses from boredom. The simplest thing is a bone that they can chew on. You could also give them a place where they can dig (terriers are bred to ferret out rodents). Fetch is good but requires a lot of your time too.
--- End quote ---
It's not so much the exercise -- my backyard is fenced, so he can run around there if he likes. But he doesn't do that much, because what he really wants is social interaction (dog or human). Every few weeks I take him to stay overnight at a friend's who has two dogs and he gets so excited that when I open the car he dashes to the front door and starts flinging himself against it and barking, and when the door opens he scurries inside and immediately begins to play.
--- Quote from: CellarDweller on January 30, 2016, 03:15:51 pm ---you could get one of these things.
--- End quote ---
It looks like in most cases, it still needs a human sitting there feeding the ball into the funnel. And the actual throwing of the object is really not the biggest part of the problem :laugh:
But that dog that stood there dancing from one leg to the other with excitement was cute.
The temperature right now is above 40, so I'm going to take him out for a walk.
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