"Dog Ownership Rules" that you DON'T follow

[Rachael1983]

1. Keep dog still.. no running/moving/jumping a week after spay/neuter.

Nope didn't follow up with that either because Troy is still waiting to be fixed.

2. Do not switch foods right away! You don't want to shock their stomachs.

I usually will switch the recommended way. The first time Troy did well with 50/50 new and old. But this last time he ate around the old and devoured the new. I was thrilled there wasn't any tummy upset.


3. Never lets your dog sleep on the bed with you/play tug/etc..
Troy sleeps with us. He goes from my bed to my daughter's bed at night. I've been sick so he's been snuggling with me breathing in all my germs!



4. Don't let your dog walk ahead of you on walks

Don't mind as long as he's not dragging me.

5. Never use a flexi!

I have a flexi and prefer it when he's doing his business because he's a roamer when he's pottying. Training purposes I have a regular leash.

6. Don't give your dog junk food

Troy has a thing for french fries. I share. Chips he loves but I don't give them because I think they may be sharp and cut his butt.

7. Do not BABY or spoil your dog!

Troy doesn't like being held like a baby or even talked to in baby speak. But he gets treats, and gifts. He's spoiled in that way.
8. Let your dog adjust for a week before bringing people over to meet him/her as a puppy.

Well, nobody came to visit anyway. So I was okay here.

9. Don't encourage bad behavior.. no matter what.

I encourage begging because I give table food. I let Troy get on furniture and that's about it.


10. Do not leave your dog alone with kids/other dogs alone.
I have a 7 year old daughter. Trust her and Troy together. When she has company Troy is always with me because I don't trust other kids.
11. ALWAYS pick up your dogs poop.

I pick up in public places; The dog park, Pet Supply stores etc. But near my apartment its wooded and no one walks around there so I don't always pick up.

The guy I'm seeing actually said something about this the other day. He hates dogs, but when He lets Troy out he always takes a poop bag. Much more responsible than me.

[katy-yorkie]

Originally Posted by Karebear

How about not fussing over your dogs when returning home and not letting them jump all over you. I personally enjoy their greetings which happen to be the same whether i been gone 5 minutes of 8 hours.

I always fuss over mine when I come home. They are at the door to greet me, wanting to shower me with kisses, how can you turn this down?? I'm not going to.

[YorkieZoo]

1. Keep dog still.. no running/moving/jumping a week after spay/neuter.

- Okay, so we did do this with all of them...yay for us!

2. Do not switch foods right away! You don't want to shock their stomachs.

- We did do the gradual, but not for near as long...it was a 1/2 and 1/2 for two meals, then the full switch.

3. Never lets your dog sleep on the bed with you/play tug/etc..

- Our kiddos take turns in the bed....and Houston would just freak out if I wasn't on the floor playing tug of war with him....yes, I also growl right along beside him.

4. Don't let your dog walk ahead of you on walks

- Ahead of me, behind me, sideways from me....they go wherever they want (that's safe...most of the times trying to race up to the next spot they can hike a leg or smell something....if they start pulling...it's back beside me for a bit.

5. Never use a flexi!

I could be guilty of this, but I have no idea what a flexi is.

6. Don't give your dog junk food

- We are pretty strict with people food, but they do get the occasional french fry, potato chip, cheeto, or when I go to McD's they may get a 6 piece nuggets...we have 5 so it's one a piece and one for me!

7. Do not BABY or spoil your dog!

- I won't even dignify this one with a comment...I'm going to Yorkie hell.


8. Let your dog adjust for a week before bringing people over to meet him/her as a puppy.

- I don't remember....they're all older now!



9. Don't encourage bad behavior.. no matter what.

- Depends on you definition of bad behavior.

10. Do not leave your dog alone with kids/other dogs alone.

- I trust my dogs implicitly...I DON'T trust the kids...so this is always supervised. They only play with dogs they know that have been supervised so now we don't with those furkids.

11. ALWAYS pick up your dogs poop.

- In my yard....nope....if we are out somewhere, yes, except that time we forgot the baggies.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by katy-yorkie

I always fuss over mine when I come home. They are at the door to greet me, wanting to shower me with kisses, how can you turn this down?? I'm not going to.

Uhg my biggest issue with training-Scoobers is still a jumper, well I let him get away with murder because of his social and behavior issues when I adopted him (he's a rescue from a pound that takes in puppy mill dogs so often-the abuse then endure is unimaginable! He was even terrified of grass!) we started training after he was no longer afraid of peopel and his confidence was built up but he still jumps on people it's a continual process-Elvis is adorable he just bounces all over so I actually play into it, "Are you excited Mommy is home, oh you were home alone you are so neglected, jump around Elvie-roo" but Princess not so much I purposely make her wait so she doesn't jump up and stays even tempered-its so much easier to get a dog as a puppy and implement the correct training rather than try to cope with and undo what's been done wrong..

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by YorkieZoo

7. Do not BABY or spoil your dog!

- I won't even dignify this one with a comment...I'm going to Yorkie hell.


.

See you there! I seriously lost one of the M&M's I eating while reading this!

[YorkieZoo]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

See you there! I seriously lost one of the M&M's I eating while reading this!

Hahahaha! Too funny! But how can you not spoil these little ones?!

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by YorkieZoo

Hahahaha! Too funny! But how can you not spoil these little ones?!

I couldn't tell you..it must take an especially evil person not too all I can guess...but seriously I loved how you put it...imagine if that's true we'll be meeting a lot of the people on here in person there...

[kdhawks]

1. Keep dog still.. no running/moving/jumping a week after spay/neuter.

I didn't have Levi when he was neutered, but I can imagine that keeping such a wild little man still for a week was impossible!

2. Do not switch foods right away! You don't want to shock their stomachs.

I try, but I don't switch his food often. When we switched from Blue Buffalo to Orijen, I did gradually phase out his old food.

3. Never lets your dog sleep on the bed with you/play tug/etc..

HA! Levi always sleeps with me. And we play tug-of-war every day. Sometimes I even let him steal my socks and pretend like they are toys.

4. Don't let your dog walk ahead of you on walks

Levi almost always walks in front of me. He generally doesn't pull, so it's fine. I like for him to be in front - easier to keep an eye on him!

5. Never use a flexi!

We love our Flexi. If we are in a situation in which it is inappropriate for Levi to use the full length of the Flexi, I just lock it in a short position. No big deal.

6. Don't give your dog junk food

I generally try not to give him junk, but I also try not to eat junk. I am guilty of giving him the occasional bite of a French fry, but that happens maybe once every few months. He gets plenty of good, healthy treats, like green beans or carrots. As far as junk dog food - no way. I'll occasionally mix in a bit of wet healthy food (like Wellness Core) into his kibble as a treat.

7. Do not BABY or spoil your dog!

Levi is extremely spoiled. My mom frequently uses the word "rotten" to describe him. As far as "babying," I try not to. I'd rather let him walk then carry him around. He's small, but he is very much a "real dog."

8. Let your dog adjust for a week before bringing people over to meet him/her as a puppy.

I didn't have him as a puppy. But he is very well socialized and has always been fine meeting friends/family members in mass numbers.

9. Don't encourage bad behavior.. no matter what.

I do try to correct his bad behavior. He does occasionally "steal" my stuff (like my socks!) which doesn't bother me, so I don't correct it.

10. Do not leave your dog alone with kids/other dogs alone.

When we visit my best friend, Levi always stays out with her chihuahua. They are the best of friends. I'm also comfortable leaving Levi out with some other dogs (my older brother's small dog, my aunt's two small dogs, etc). Levi is very familiar with all of the dogs I would consider leaving him alone with.

11. ALWAYS pick up your dogs poop.

In public, yes. At home, no.

[scrapindee]

I'm bad about letting them sit on my lap while I'm driving or when I am a passenger. I know they are supposed to be in their crate or in a carseat but I never got the carseat.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by scrapindee

I'm bad about letting them sit on my lap while I'm driving or when I am a passenger. I know they are supposed to be in their crate or in a car-seat but I never got the car-seat.

I don't mean this toward you in anyway-I just read what you wrote and thought of this and also what I did.-one of my pet peeves is seeing someone kissing and petting their dog while driving or a dog jumping all over their person while they're driving! Also seeing people with trucks having their dogs on a leash in the truck bed thankfully I've yet to see a dog free in the back of a truck-I'd call the police with their plate number... I love seeing people with crates secured in the bed of their truck and their dogs safe in the crate-my dogs all wear a harness when we go anywhere out of the house and I bought these attachments they clip on the harness and then clip into the seat belt buckle so one end of it is a hook that snaps the harness metal loop and the other is an IN plug just like on the seat belt and clicks into the seat belt handle attached to the seat. I like these best personally because I know in an accident my dogs will be secured and not throw into anything-I used to just have mine sit in the box style car carrier until a friend suggested these and pointed out how they keep dogs secure even in an accident...pretty soon I'll need a mini van (or if I get my way the sig. other will buy the 7 seater Landrover I want) so I have enough seat belt attachments in my car!

[FlDebra]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

I don't mean this toward you in anyway-I just read what you wrote and thought of this and also what I did.-one of my pet peeves is seeing someone kissing and petting their dog while driving or a dog jumping all over their person while they're driving! Also seeing people with trucks having their dogs on a leash in the truck bed thankfully I've yet to see a dog free in the back of a truck-I'd call the police with their plate number... I love seeing people with crates secured in the bed of their truck and their dogs safe in the crate-my dogs all wear a harness when we go anywhere out of the house and I bought these attachments they clip on the harness and then clip into the seat belt buckle so one end of it is a hook that snaps the harness metal loop and the other is an IN plug just like on the seat belt and clicks into the seat belt handle attached to the seat. I like these best personally because I know in an accident my dogs will be secured and not throw into anything-I used to just have mine sit in the box style car carrier until a friend suggested these and pointed out how they keep dogs secure even in an accident...pretty soon I'll need a mini van (or if I get my way the sig. other will buy the 7 seater Landrover I want) so I have enough seat belt attachments in my car!

I see dogs loose ALL the time in the back of pickup trucks here. It always makes me feel so bad for the dogs even though they usually seem to be enjoying it. Still, it is dangerous. The other day, I saw a lab up on top of the tool box just behind the truck cab -- if they had stopped quick, that dog would have been in my windshield! I had to pass them just so I didn't have to look.

Even worse, I see human kids in the back of pickups without any sort of seat or restraint. I actually DID call the police about that a few years back. Guess what -- it is not against the law! I said, well I guess it isn't against the law for dogs either then. No -- not against the law. Dog, adults, kids, they can all ride in the back of a pickup with no seat, carrier, or restraint! Unfortunately, there is a lack of common sense so many do it all the time -- probably moreso down here in the south.

[FlDebra]

I tried to EDIT the ABOVE POST but was out of time -- IT IS NOW IN ERROR!!!!

I just checked to see if that was still the law in FL -- it is not, at least not all over. So thankfully the law HAS changed since I called way back, I should pay more attention! Now FL law says:
"Minors under the age of 18 may NOT ride unrestrained in a truck bed without an installed and approved safety belt.
Persons 18 years and older may ride unrestrained in the bed of a truck.
A child may ride in the bed of a truck with an adult only in a medical emergency.
Each county in Florida may exempt children from this law, with a majority vote and public hearing. In other words, counties could independently allow minors to ride in the bed of a truck. Check your counties rules."

But I still see it all the time here, maybe our county has exempted it, I think I will check into this more. We are so close to AL here and AL has no law against riding in the bed of pickups according to this state-by-state chart:
Cargo area laws Shows 20 states have no law against anyone riding in the back of a pickup!

But I don't think you will find any laws around here against dogs riding in the cargo area/pickup bed. It is unfortunate for sure!

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by FlDebra

. No -- not against the law. Dog, adults, kids, they can all ride in the back of a pickup with no seat, carrier, or restraint!

YES! It is against the law throughout the state of FL and most other states also (I believe Montana and Arkansas are the only states with minimal restrictions on both people in the back of trucks AND DOGS). An unrestrained dog is deemed a hazard to other drivers-as you said it could have hit your windshield-the law is to protect other drivers-common sense would hope the law was to protect animals also! I wish the law went even further and just leashing a dog freely in the back of a truck was also illegal...technically in all states driving while distracted by anything is also a ticketable infraction so having a dog distract you is illegal also but again rarely enforced.
IF YOU SEE AN UNRESTRAINED CHILD ANYWHERE IN A VEHICLE CALL THE POLICE IF YOU SEE AN UNRESTRAINED DOG IN THE BACK OF A PICK UP CALL THE POLICE
The more complaints the more police become aware of the issue and take action.

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by FlDebra

Cargo area laws Shows 20 states have no law against anyone riding in the back of a pickup!

Cargo areas refers to the back of vans, trucks with canopies etc...not open beds on trucks

[Britster]

After being involved in an accident in June of this year where my car was totaled and Jackson was with me, I am so thankful he was okay. Had he been on my lap when the air bag popped out, he would have been dead very quickly. I'm sure of it. He was in the back seat when the accident happened but I have purchased a car seat that he's been in ever since. I admit, I let him sit in the back free if we're driving for short distances (and I shouldn't even do that) but I never allow him on my lap anymore even if he tries. It's not worth it to me anymore after experiencing such a terrible thing.

An unrestrained 10-pound dog will exert about 500 pounds of force in a collision at 50 mph, and in a collision at only 30 mph, an 80-pound dog will exert roughly 2,400 pounds of force.