Introduce Yourself

[gayle]

Hi, I'm Gayle. About April 14 I adopted a rescued Shih Tzu from the Wilkes County, NC Humane Society. We were told that he (Toby) was about 3 years old. Had been used as a breeder in a puppy mill for some time, was neglected, his hair was long and matted to his skin, One of the foster parents with the local Humane Society had had his hair cut off very short and she took him to our local animal hospital for sheering, etc. When it was time for me to take Toby to the vet for his remaining shots (she had had him castrated), I got the shots and had his ears cleaned out. Then after a short time, he developed a very bad, bronchial-sounding cough. I immediately took him to the vet. When she picked him up, she noticed a heart murmur, took a radiograph and found his heart to be enlarged and enflamed, and that his lungs were filling with fluid - thus the cough. The doctor told me that dogs don't get this heart condition before they turn 8-10 years old, so she predicted he is about 10 years old. She put Toby on two kinds of heart medicine and a diuretic to remove the fluid in his lungs. His cough went away very quickly and he seemed to be better. I was giving him four pills by pill plunger twice a day. Toby has had a very hard life - maybe he was physically abused before we knew him -- after the first few times of giving him medicine by pill, when I started to pick him up to get him on my kitchen counter to give him his pills (and while my husband was holding his head still), he started biting and swishing his head from side to side. He was vicious and we have the scars to prove it.
Then I went to another vet at the hospital and he said we should give him liquid medicine, so he ground up the heart medicine and put it in liquid so I could give it to him just between his teeth in syringes. They also gave me a small cloth muzzle to put around his mouth to stop the biting. That worked about a week, then he knew when he'd get his medicine and was totally prepared to tear me apart! Now I give him all the liquid medicine in his food. Please tell me if there is any way to keep him from biting us so viciously even when we try to pick him up. Gayle

[dontpugme]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

I could take a looooooong time until he is even a little bit comfortable with humans again. Fortunately, positive reinforcement can lessen that time, and you have come to the best place online for positive training advice.


You should post in the Dog Training Advice section of the forum. You will get more help and support there!

[Devilish103]

Hi,
I'm Shaan, I'm 26 and I live in the uk and I have a 1year old Siberian husky called Jackson and he's my little prince I have recently moved back in with my mum and brought Jackson with me, he's settled in really well and is no longer using his crate on a night and only uses it if we go out and no one is in the house. I have registered on here as I love watching 'it's me or the dog' as I love to get tips to use with him. He's generally a really well behaved dog, rarely chews anything he shouldn't and is super playful, my main problem with him at the moment is he constantly teeths people hands, which I put down to a trust thing as the rougher you play with him, the rougher he teeths, but it's gettin beyond a joke now as my arms are covered in bruises so any tips on how to minimise this would be super greatful, he has squeaky toys and a teddy that he has to play with but he doesn't like rope toys. Another problem I have is, and I know he's a husky and they howl, but he constantly talks and whinges, even when asleep, this is puzzling me and frustrating my mum and brother as we cannot get him to quietened down, any words of advice are hugely welcome!

Jackson and I have recently moved away from his birth mum and sister that he was with since he was roughly 6 months after getting him back from his owner that bought him from us as a pup. I was worried that he would struggle adapting but he has done really well, but with his recent constant talking and his repetitive teething, I am wondering if this is separation anxiety creeping in or whether he's just being a normal pup. Can anyone please help?

[dontpugme]

Hi,
I'm Shaan, I'm 26 and I live in the uk and I have a 1year old Siberian husky called Jackson and he's my little prince I have recently moved back in with my mum and brought Jackson with me, he's settled in really well and is no longer using his crate on a night and only uses it if we go out and no one is in the house. I have registered on here as I love watching 'it's me or the dog' as I love to get tips to use with him. He's generally a really well behaved dog, rarely chews anything he shouldn't and is super playful, my main problem with him at the moment is he constantly teeths people hands, which I put down to a trust thing as the rougher you play with him, the rougher he teeths, but it's gettin beyond a joke now as my arms are covered in bruises so any tips on how to minimise this would be super greatful, he has squeaky toys and a teddy that he has to play with but he doesn't like rope toys. Another problem I have is, and I know he's a husky and they howl, but he constantly talks and whinges, even when asleep, this is puzzling me and frustrating my mum and brother as we cannot get him to quietened down, any words of advice are hugely welcome!

Jackson and I have recently moved away from his birth mum and sister that he was with since he was roughly 6 months after getting him back from his owner that bought him from us as a pup. I was worried that he would struggle adapting but he has done really well, but with his recent constant talking and his repetitive teething, I am wondering if this is separation anxiety creeping in or whether he's just being a normal pup. Can anyone please help?

Hi and welcome to the forum!
If you haven't already, you should post in the Dog Training Advice section of the forum. You will get more help and support there.

[Devilish103]

Thank you for your help and of course the welcome