Good way to depress a dog

[SkyHog]

I gave my dog a swimming pool ball a long time ago, like 6 or 7 months ago, and he loved that ball. Played with it all the time. As time went on, he chewed pieces off the ball and it got smaller and smaller.

Piper is in the playing mood today, and he brings the ball to me. I notice it is now small enough to choke him if he chose to swallow it. So I threw it away. He's been moping around, looking for the ball ever since. He lets out a whine every few minutes or so too.

He's so human childlike its uncanny sometimes. Poor dog.

 

[etsisk]

sounds like a trip to the store is in order!

 

[kevin47881]

Nick, we use to buy a sleeve of tennis balls for the "kids". When one was destroyed, another was at hand.
​

 

[HPNFlyGirl]

Buy some in bulk next time. Heh.

 

[SkyHog]

he's got some other toys, but yeah, I need to get him another pool ball. maybe that will help

 

[KennyFlys]

I was just wondering... is there any truth to the idea that some pets emulate their owners?

 

[etsisk]

Nick, we use to buy a sleeve of tennis balls for the "kids". When one was destroyed, another was at hand.​

​

Kevin, do keep an eye on their teeth - the covering for tennis balls is mighty abrasive stuff, that can cause inordinate tooth enamel wear on some dogs (not all). May not be a problem for your guys, but it's worth keeping an eye on! Ain't nothin' sadder than a toothless dog!

 

[kevin47881]

[/left]
Kevin, do keep an eye on their teeth - the covering for tennis balls is mighty abrasive stuff, that can cause inordinate tooth enamel wear on some dogs (not all). May not be a problem for your guys, but it's worth keeping an eye on! Ain't nothin' sadder than a toothless dog!

Appreciate the heads up as I never heard that before.
Besides, if the dogs did go toothless, we'd just move to...ah, nevermind

 

[ScottM]

Isn't it amazing how you can pick up on an animal emotions when you spend a little time with them? I am convinced that they all have 'feelings'. Maybe not the exact same emotions as us but they do seem to feel happy and sad as well as others.

 

[Frank Browne]

Isn't it amazing how you can pick up on an animal emotions when you spend a little time with them? I am convinced that they all have 'feelings'. Maybe not the exact same emotions as us but they do seem to feel happy and sad as well as others.

It is amazing. I have two dogs, a Golden Retriever and a Siberian Husky, they both express emotions.

 

[Ken Ibold]

I like using racquetballs instead of tennis balls for dog toys. You can rinse them off so they don't get quite so nasty.

 

[gkainz]

Our dog loved the Kong stuff - got her a football with nooks and crannies that we shove a little peanut butter into for an extra treat. She's been playing with the football for two years now with no degradation. Tough stuff!

 

[ausrere]

I've got two malinois that can destroy just about any toy you give 'em in about a minute. The don't call 'em maligators for nothin! The kong toys and the tuffie toys are the only ones that seem to last. They love tennis balls, but they can pop them within minutes.

 

[judypilot]

I was a behaviorial biology student for awhile, and the big thing at the time was not to anthropomorphize animals because it could interfere with the objectivity of your observations. I was studying elephant seals in the wild from blinds. If you don't know anything about elephant seals, the females gather in big groups to bear their pups, and the groups are called pods. The pods are patrolled by dominant males (called alpha males), who spend much of their time fighting and chasing off the lower-ranking males. The main pod I was studying got larger and larger every year, so it was hard for the alpha male to keep an eye on everything. One time a very low-ranking male managed to sneak into the edge of the pod, find a female in estrus, and start mating. He was happily going at it when the alpha male spotted him and started bearing down on him. I'm sorry, but anthropomorphization or not, the look on the face of the lower-ranking seal could not have expressed anything other than the elephant seal equivalent of "OH S***!!!!" I've never seen such surprise and terror.

I switched to geology, where I don't have to try to maintain the delusion that animals don't express emotions.

Incidentally, seals apparently don't express pain very well, but he must have been in excruciating pain. In his haste to decouple, he broke his baculum. Look it up.

Judy

 

[fgcason]

I've got two malinois that can destroy just about any toy you give 'em in about a minute. The don't call 'em maligators for nothin! The kong toys and the tuffie toys are the only ones that seem to last. They love tennis balls, but they can pop them within minutes.

My friend's red healer was popping soccer balls near instantly. Tennis balls and such lasted maybe an hour. So we bought him one of the huge pop proof horse balls with a handle. These things are made for HORSES, not dogs. He loves it and hasn't manage to pop it yet though he only gets it when he goes to the park or on hikes.

Walmart green alien squeaky toys....SQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAK until you go screaming bonkers. He LOVES them like a little kid with a teddy bear. He even sleeps with the thing between his front feet. They usually last a few weeks but they're easily replaced when he's not looking.

 

[Chache]

I was a behaviorial biology student for awhile, and the big thing at the time was not to anthropomorphize animals

One time a very low-ranking male managed to sneak into the edge of the pod, find a female in estrus, and start mating. He was happily going at it when the alpha male spotted him and started bearing down on him. I'm sorry, but anthropomorphization or not, the look on the face of the lower-ranking seal could not have expressed anything other than the elephant seal equivalent of "OH S***!!!!" I've never seen such surprise and terror.

Incidentally, seals apparently don't express pain very well, but he must have been in excruciating pain. In his haste to decouple, he broke his baculum. Look it up.

Judy

As a mammal, I have to say I've never broken that!.....
although I've been in the same "OH S***!!!!" situation a few times....
Sheesh!...... Talk about terror.....think of the Xray damage!!


.

 

[ScottM]

Incidentally, seals apparently don't express pain very well, but he must have been in excruciating pain. In his haste to decouple, he broke his baculum. Look it up.

Judy

OUCH!

As a mammal, I have to say I've never broken that!.....
although I've been in the same "OH S***!!!!" situation a few times....
Sheesh!...... Talk about terror.....think of the Xray damage!!

No sweat, primates don't have them.

 

[Chache]

OUCH!

Prime Eights???

 

[JohnR]

SQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAK until you go screaming bonkers.

Our dog toy rule was it had to be silent. No squeak toys.

I've tried to extend that to my daughter, no toys with electronic noises, but it ain't easy. (Especially the toy airplanes and helicopters with electronic noises . . . )