Trick For Hot, Hot Days.

[tigerlily46514]

Ha, my Buddy likes ICE way way more than he likes water. We have an icemaker in the fridge door, but this trick could work for those who use icetrays in the freezer, or, for those who keep a bag of ice in the freezer, also.

I have always just had to GUESS when Buddy wanted/needed a piece of ice. NOW, Buddy can tell me when he wants a piece of ice on these hot days of summer.

I took a magnetic picture frame, and made little sign: " BUDDY WANTS ICE " and stuck that into the magnetic picture frame, and it now hangs low on the fridge door.

If Buddy touches his nose to that sign, he gets a piece of ice!!
Plus, it is cute to our friends when he does it spontaneously, as if he can read or something.

I thought about having him use the icemaker directly, would not have been too hard to show him, but then i thought, nah, i could foresee problems there...I thought about having him paw/point to the sign, but i imagined scratches all over the fridge. so i settled on having him 'nose' the sign.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
For any beginner trainers (ha, i say that like i am not, bah ha ha!) I took the picture, rubbed a piece of ham over it so it'd smell interesting, held it in my hand, and clicked and treated if buddy nosed it. I moved to the fridge, and continued this. I put it ON the fridge, and continued to click and treat if Buddy nosed it.
Then i switched over to the pieces of ice, several times a day i would encourage Buddy to touch the picture, and i said "ICE?" as my cue, and soon enuff, Buddy came to understand, whenever he noses that picture, he gets a piece of ICE!!!

[szecsuani]

Lovely!

[good_doggie]

im imagining it now. .. . love it!

[tenniskitty]

Good trick, but ice causes bloat in dogs... So that one may not work. It's a really cute trick though!

[tigerlily46514]

Really? ICE CAUSES BLOAT?!!! ARE YOU SURE? Omigosh, i've been givng him ice all along!!

wow, i just googled it, there are sites that agree, that ice causes bloat. Does this also mean those who feed raw, frozen meat may also be putting their dogs at risk for bloat? I know some folks feed their dog frozen raw meat...

[tenniskitty]

It's ok, it's rare, but I thought I'd let ya know. Hold on, I'll find an article if I can... BRB.

[tenniskitty]

Ice Causes Bloat?

[tenniskitty]

There's the article. :-)

[tigerlily46514]

THANK YOU FOR THIS INFO!!!
Geez, i guess i will stop giving Buddy ice? Too bad, he LOVES it, just LOVES ice...

I wonder about letting him eating snow, he loves to eat snow, too. And frozen treats?, he loves those, too. (i make HUGE batch of homemade treats, and freeze leftovers) In the comments under the article, that one owner says even her vet did not know this, either.

I wonder if all the raw feeders who use frozen meat (some do) know about this ? wonder if it'd be same risk, frozen meant vs. frozen water..

[tenniskitty]

Hmmmmmm... I don't know either! Does he like ice because of the crunching or cold feel? If he likes the sorta, crunch, he gets when he bites into it, maybe getting him one of those water bottle buddies would help? They are sold at Wal*Mart. They are like water bottles in a protective sleeve to keep from hurting your dog's mouth! They're pretty cool!

[tenniskitty]

Oh, and btw, I don't think that raw meat would hurt, as long as there's no ice on it... but it might! I dunno, LOL

[cindyv]

I have worked at veterinary hospitals for 15 yrs and have never heard of this - ice giving dogs bloat. It is always recommended for sick dogs who won't eat -

[cindyv]

Don't believe everything you read!!

[cindyv]

It would be caused by swallowing air while chewing the ice, not the ice itself.