threenorns
Well-Known Member
my bff adopted Laddie, a purebred plott hound, from a shelter in florida. she has two other dogs - a purebred chocolate lab she's had from a puppy (one owner only) and a mixed GSD/golden retriever.
gauge is the lab and he's as smart as dandy - show him once or twice and he's got the trick.
abby is the mixed - she's a senior and smart, too, but not as smart as gauge and dandy (or else she has a much better sense of dignity).
laddie is .... well, he ain't the sharpest knife in the block.
all the dogs are on raw food diet - laddie is eating 5 - 6 meals *per day* totalling about six POUNDS of meat and bone. i didn't believe it but i have seen it with my own eyes and he's still a xylophone. we just reviewed the photos from when she first got him to how he is now - he's put on nearly 10lbs and still you can see every rib when you look down from the top. the only difference is that his head looks more proportionate, he's got curvature to his chest and butt, and his pelvis bones aren't jutting out like the old grey mare's. he's got a curious ligature scar on his neck around the back - we can't decide if it was an ingrown collar or if he spent far too much time fighting a tether. he's also immaculately toilet-trained but "sit" doesn't work - he just hovers his butt over the ground.
other peculiarities: if he can get them, he will drink every drop of coffee, orange juice, and beer. if you let him off the lead, kiss him goodbye - the only way to get him back is to set the lab loose (gauge catches up to him in a split second and then herds him back to where he sees the car because if he sees an open car door, he's jumping in - doesn't matter whose). he can also walk up on his back legs like a human - he'll stand up on his back legs and walk the length of the counter to see if there's anything interesting. he follows his mum around like a lost little duckling and always has to have his little piggie (the remnants of the stuffed toy my bff gave him when he first arrived).
the thing is, we can SEE he's smart - but holy hannah, try to get him to learn something (anything!) and it's like beating on a brick wall with a nerf hammer! we're thinking he's too hyperfocussed on the food and likely either was starved for a very long time or else food was used as a sort of blunt weapon ("that's it - bed without your dinner!" kinda thing).
anybody have any ideas how we can reduce his obsession about food and maybe reduce his tunnel vision thing?
gauge is the lab and he's as smart as dandy - show him once or twice and he's got the trick.
abby is the mixed - she's a senior and smart, too, but not as smart as gauge and dandy (or else she has a much better sense of dignity).
laddie is .... well, he ain't the sharpest knife in the block.
all the dogs are on raw food diet - laddie is eating 5 - 6 meals *per day* totalling about six POUNDS of meat and bone. i didn't believe it but i have seen it with my own eyes and he's still a xylophone. we just reviewed the photos from when she first got him to how he is now - he's put on nearly 10lbs and still you can see every rib when you look down from the top. the only difference is that his head looks more proportionate, he's got curvature to his chest and butt, and his pelvis bones aren't jutting out like the old grey mare's. he's got a curious ligature scar on his neck around the back - we can't decide if it was an ingrown collar or if he spent far too much time fighting a tether. he's also immaculately toilet-trained but "sit" doesn't work - he just hovers his butt over the ground.
other peculiarities: if he can get them, he will drink every drop of coffee, orange juice, and beer. if you let him off the lead, kiss him goodbye - the only way to get him back is to set the lab loose (gauge catches up to him in a split second and then herds him back to where he sees the car because if he sees an open car door, he's jumping in - doesn't matter whose). he can also walk up on his back legs like a human - he'll stand up on his back legs and walk the length of the counter to see if there's anything interesting. he follows his mum around like a lost little duckling and always has to have his little piggie (the remnants of the stuffed toy my bff gave him when he first arrived).
the thing is, we can SEE he's smart - but holy hannah, try to get him to learn something (anything!) and it's like beating on a brick wall with a nerf hammer! we're thinking he's too hyperfocussed on the food and likely either was starved for a very long time or else food was used as a sort of blunt weapon ("that's it - bed without your dinner!" kinda thing).
anybody have any ideas how we can reduce his obsession about food and maybe reduce his tunnel vision thing?
