Poor Cubbe is having a bad week.


First it was her Frontline medicine. We've never figured out her
objection to it. Last month I figured I'd get it out nonchalantly, go
up to her when she was on the couch, and put it on her back before she
knew what was happening. Except she wasn't in an accessible place on
the couch when I got there. She figured out what was going on and had
run under the futon before *I* figured out what was going. Jim and I
had to pull her out and tackle her.


Last week I nonchalantly closed the door to the computer room with the
futon AND the bedroom doors before nonchalantly approaching. This time
she knew something was up from the moment I opened the drawer with her
meds in the bathroom. It was back to tackle.


So she already didn't trust us when it was time for her annual bath. We
try to choose the hottest day of the year. Of course, that means that
we're sacked out and don't feel like moving. Really it's not that bad.
She makes a few shows of trying to avoid the garden hose, but she's
stopped fighting during the lathering up process and even seems to enjoy
it now. Rigging up the hose through the bulkhead makes the biggest
difference. We can wash her with warm water.


She then gets a wet walk in the neighborhood so she can shake off a few
times before being allowed back in the house. It's cool for her, baking
hot for me.


She doesn't mind fireworks as much as thunder, and we've been getting
thunder every afternoon. It's real Miami weather. She's not exactly
phobic, or she doesn't express emotion well. She hears the noise and
gets close. Normally in the summer, she likes anyplace cool and
comfortable. Add thunder, and she prefers to lie down behind the
computer chair as close to her people as she can get.


--Lia

In article ,
Julia Altshuler wrote:

This time
she knew something was up from the moment I opened the drawer with her
meds in the bathroom. It was back to tackle.

I don't use any of that stuff, but if I had to approach a dog like this,
I would put it in my pocket when she was outdoors/away from me, and just
keep it on me until an appropriate time happened. No big deal that way,
no going to a drawer.


So she already didn't trust us when it was time for her annual bath. We
try to choose the hottest day of the year.

Why?

She then gets a wet walk in the neighborhood so she can shake off a few
times before being allowed back in the house. It's cool for her, baking
hot for me.

See above - why the hottest day? Especially if you're able to wash her
with warm water? Why make yourself miserable?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Julia Altshuler wrote:
Poor Cubbe is having a bad week.


First it was her Frontline medicine. We've never figured out her
objection to it.

Huh - that is odd. Pills I can understand. Maybe she had
something painful happen once when you were applying it? Phobic
conditioning is hard to extinguish.

She then gets a wet walk in the neighborhood so she can shake off a few
times before being allowed back in the house. It's cool for her, baking
hot for me.

You could wet yourself down too. Wet dog, wet walker - who
knows, you might start a hot-summer-day trend!

FurPaw


--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.

To reply, unleash the dog.

In article ,
Janet Boss wrote:
I don't use any of that stuff, but if I had to approach a dog like this,
I would put it in my pocket when she was outdoors/away from me, and just
keep it on me until an appropriate time happened. No big deal that way,
no going to a drawer.

I've used it when I've seen more than two or three fleas or
on more than one dog. No sense letting them take hold. I'm
like you - make sure it's no big deal. Also, do it fast and
get it over with quickly. I've had dogs object a couple of
times but again, don't let it turn into a fight. If the dog
really isn't cooperating I've found that moving him (or
her!) into a corner (head pointing into the corner) and
again, DOING IT FAST gets it over with quickly and minimizes
the struggle. I just can't see letting things escalate or
allowing anybody to be frustrated over something as trivial
as putting a couple of dots of medication down their back
(and yes, I'm dealing with getting coats parted, too).
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

FurPaw wrote in
:

Huh - that is odd. Pills I can understand. Maybe she had
something painful happen once when you were applying it? Phobic
conditioning is hard to extinguish.

Both my recent dogs object(ed) to having any type of top spot
applied. I assume it just smells and feels obnoxious to them, which
seems reasonable to me. I don't let it turn into a big deal, though.
I've never had a dog struggle or try to hide, but I also don't let
them get a chance to do so: A) I'm quick and B) they never see it
coming.

I saw a couple of fleas on Harriet last week. I didn't want a repeat
of last fall's infestation (aieee!), so I put top spot on her (then
the next day I sprayed with Siphotrol). Harriet barely had time to
register a "WTF?" before I was finished.

And yes, I realize she's naked. Elliott wasn't, and it didn't take
any longer to apply it to him than it does to her. The trick is to
start at the base of the tail and work backwards up the spine,
letting the applicator part the hair.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

Janet Boss wrote:
- why the hottest day? Especially if you're able to wash her
with warm water? Why make yourself miserable?


It's for her comfort. She shivers. She's fine with water coming from
the sky. Her coat has a natural water-resistant quality that means she
never gets wet down to the inner dog except when it's bath time. Then
we wet her thoroughly. If she's going to shiver with cold, we want to
make sure she dries quickly and doesn't stay cold for long.


Also, while the heat makes us not feel like getting started, it's more
comfortable for us too. We bathe her in the yard with the garden hose.
She shakes. We get wet. We don't want to get soaked unless it's warm
enough for us too.


I don't know why Cubbe doesn't like topical medicine. All I can figure
is that it's related to not liking baths. I don't think she likes the
sensation of something wet next to her skin. I don't think it's phobic
conditioning. It's possible, but we got her when she was 11 months old.
I don't think she had any bad experiences with drops of something on
her back during the months before we got her.


--Lia

On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:41:50 -0400, Julia Altshuler
wrote:

[...]
I don't know why Cubbe doesn't like topical medicine. All I can figure
is that it's related to not liking baths. I don't think she likes the
sensation of something wet next to her skin. I don't think it's phobic
conditioning. It's possible, but we got her when she was 11 months old.
I don't think she had any bad experiences with drops of something on
her back during the months before we got her.

I think it may have to do with your own behavior. I'd wager a few
bucks that when you think you're acting "nonchalant", you're really
not. At least not to your dog, who can probably read you like a Marvel
comic book.

In other words, I think you're somehow making a big deal out of it;
and considering what you have done in the past, e.g., pulling her out
from beneath the futon, etc., it's somehow become a big deal for
Cubbe, if not for you.

Have you ever tried putting the applicator (all ready to go!) in a
shirt pocket, sitting down on the sofa, or the floor, say, while
you're watching TV, and then just waiting for Cubbe to come to you?
http://frontline.us.merial.com/fleas/fleas_videoLG.asp

Also, you might want to try desensitizing Cubbe to the process by
using an unopened applicator as, say, a grooming tool, several times a
week. Just rub her down with it, like you would use a curry brush (you
do groom Cubbe, right?). Heck, use the entire cardboard package.

Just be calm and matter-of-fact about it.

If you do this correctly, Cubbe may start to actually look forward to
those applications.

--
Handsome Jack Morrison

Barack Obama's racist rant.
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/20...tey-audio.html

20 Deadliest Plants on the Planet (for humans and dogs).
http://www.purpleslinky.com/Trivia/S...-Planet.145297

On 2008-07-05 11:44:22 -0400, Julia Altshuler said:

We've never figured out her objection to it.

Bella has a problem (as do we) with the way that stuff smells. If we
use it, we vowed to apply it outside, where she could air out for a
while.

We will never apply it indoors again.

In article 2008070515261916807-montana@wildhackcominvalid,
montana wildhack wrote:

On 2008-07-05 11:44:22 -0400, Julia Altshuler said:

We've never figured out her objection to it.

Bella has a problem (as do we) with the way that stuff smells. If we
use it, we vowed to apply it outside, where she could air out for a
while.

We will never apply it indoors again.

All of this makes me very glad I don't use it (and don't have a need
to).

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

On 2008-07-05 15:29:10 -0400, Janet Boss
said:

All of this makes me very glad I don't use it (and don't have a need
to).

It's a rarity for us, but when ya gotta, ya gotta. We don't use it on a
preventive basis.