Had one for nearly 14 years, getting another this December.
A few things concern me, specifically barking, shedding, and ability to climb stairs. Can you speak to that
Barking: They think they are German Shepherds, and will put on a tough guy act whenever they hear an unusual noise. But they are also quite intelligent, so you can train them to the point that they’ll give one quick yap when startled, then realize their error and chill out. We had ours in an apartment for four years and never got a complaint. Around other dogs they don’t bark, they just want to sniff and then be chased.
Shedding: Yup, that’s a thing. We were still finding the occasional hair years after ours passed. Comb them regularly and keep a lint roller handy.
Stairs: They figure it out around 4-5 months. Ours could leap on/off the couch (more than two stairs high) until he turned 13. Our apartment was on the second floor, and he navigated the external stairs before every walk no problem.
1 Like
Awesome, thank you
The stairs talk reminds me of when my dog was a small puppy. She had about a one week period where she could go up stairs but was scared to come back down. She’d run up, whine, I’d pick her up and carry her back down, she’d look at the stairs for about 3 seconds and then run up them again. OH CRAP DAD IT HAPPENED AGAIN PLEASE HELP IMMEDIATELY.
4 Likes
The biggest issue is actually chewing. Corgis looooove to chew. And when they get separation anxiety, they will chew through anything. Ours rendered a plastic flower pot and an entire exercise bike shipping box into ashes. He chewed a hole through a wooden baby gate to jump on our bed at 3am. Rawhide bones are gone in minutes. Even Nylabones get gnawed down to vampire-slaying stakes in a day or two. Rubber Kong toys are a must. Put some peanut butter and a couple of carrot chunks in one and you have relief for days.
I almost always see them in pairs? Do they do better with sep anxiety when more than one?
1 Like
I only ever had the one. I had a far away friend with three. They would move in a pack, like a school of fish. Not sure if it helped with separation anxiety (and giving them a treat as a distraction when you head out the door works just fine), but I think dogs are always happier when they are not alone.
Is there anything more fucking heartbreaking than looking at pet adoption profiles?
I mean really?
6 Likes
That demon would eat your eyeballs if you gave it half a chance.
3 Likes
My dog’s first born child passed away over the weekend. It was his first litter and it was a litter of one. She had a hole in her heart and it was known she wouldn’t make it. She was ~5 months. Her mother was Pepper and her name was Spicey.
She was very sweet, very smart, and very well behaved
12 Likes
handsomest
this cat is funny. been on crutches 6 weeks. she isnt afraid of them even though im often dropping and throwing them and they clang around. no idea why thats the single loud thing in the world shes not afraid of but it’s sort of cute because she clearly really trusts me and I’ve never stepped on her or anything.
so i started walking a bit more and shes been absolutely freaked out by it and weirdly evasive, usually she comes running to me if she even hears my voice. I realized its because i got in the habit of hopping wildly on 1 leg throughout the house to get stuff done and she learned no crutches = get out of the way. gonna have to retrain her lol, so funny. I know its the crutches because i grabbed them and she started paying tons of attention to them and would only approach me if i had them on me. they’re so crazy what they notice.
This post ended up much differently than it started…
Waylon got sprayed by a skunk tonight. Direct hit to his front chest.
Maybe it’s because I’ve never smelled fresh skunk skeet but holy shit does it smell bad. Some demonic combination of gasoline, hot and rotten death, and boiling vinegar.
Remarkably, hydrogen peroxide + baking soda + dish soap got the smell entirely out of him.
Gratuitous Good Boy photo:
12 Likes
my cat used to get blasted by those and it is not fun trying to give a sprayed cat a bath
In my mind, my parents always told me that you had to soak the dog in tomato sauce. As a kid, I always pictured that as a tub literally full of marinara and the dog getting baptized in it. Lol.
In reality, aside from Waylon hating the shower, the actual cleaning process was super easy. The hardest part was finding a store open at 10pm that sold baking soda.
We made him an appointment for the groomer today but ended up cancelling it. He smells completely fine!
Skunk spray and a general “odor of nearby skunk” smell nothing like, I learned with my cat took a blast to the face.