Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong!

[koshergrl]

I got the big tippy one that you put treats in it, ostensibly for my big boy to keep him from tearing the house apart.

But guess who has fixated on it? THE TERRIER. And guess who minds his manners while she defends the Kong? THE BIG BOY! She's obsessed with defending it, and preventing him from approaching, which means she lays nearby, and keeps him at bay. she forgets to bark at passerby, she forgets to play, she forgets everything.

So he hangs out on the couch and stares soulfully at her. House was in perfect condition 2 days running when I got home!

 

[koshergrl]

And when I go home, the kong goes into the freezer until morning. Because her defensiveness of it is not confined to big boy alone.

 

[syrenn]

Careful with the kongs. They can chew them up and get themselves good and obstructed.

 

[koshergrl]

This is the biggest one they have, and so far, the big boy hasn't had any luck even getting his chops on it. The little one just messes with the treat dispenser aspect of it so far.

That's why I didn't get the smaller ones. They looked to be just about the size of the opening of his esophagus. I know because I'm continually stuffing my entire arm down there retrieving things or delivering pills to him.

 

[syrenn]

yep... just keep an eye on it

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Wow, sounds like somebody really loves their Kong! Or really loves the Big Boy's Kong, I guess I should say! : )

 

[strollingbones]

i use kongs....i have never had any trouble with them being chewed till they broke down......but i have the larger ones....i avoid them rawhide treats cause of that...they do break down

 

[koshergrl]

Mine love rawhide, but they can chew them up in no time, it's a waste of money. The pig toes lasted a little longer, but because they're so portable they get dragged all over and then stashed and forgotten. My terrier can eat a big hambone in about 20 minutes. I don't give her any other kind of bones...pork bones are kind of soft and I know she can handle them, but I'm afraid she'll crack off pieces of beef bones and get them stuck and I'll have to risk life and limb pulling them out from the back of her throat or take her to the vet...not crazy about either option. The big kong is nice because she can't get much of a grip on it, and it sort of stays where I put it...in the middle of the living room.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I give my big dog boiled moose leg bones. Those last a long time and boiling softens them so they don't shatter.

 

[koshergrl]

Sadly, we are moose deficient in this neck of the woods. Or if they are around, they don't venture into my yard. I don't like bones in the house much anyway, they tend to stain things over time if they have any soft tissue left on them or in them at all...and what's the point of an entirely dry bone, I ask you (on behalf of the dogs, of course).

 

[gallantwarrior]

Sadly, we are moose deficient in this neck of the woods. Or if they are around, they don't venture into my yard. I don't like bones in the house much anyway, they tend to stain things over time if they have any soft tissue left on them or in them at all...and what's the point of an entirely dry bone, I ask you (on behalf of the dogs, of course).

True. The dog who gets moose bones is a Great Pyrenees who lives strictly outside. Bones don't make much mess in her world. She's a digger and like to bury the remains. It would be amusing to see the faces of the next occupants here. I recall finding what looked like a human arm in my back yard. Upon investigation, it turned out to be one of those giant rawhide things some dog had buried long ago. Looked damned scary, though!

 

[koshergrl]

Lol...I had two half rotties who used to roam the neighborhood stealing things from neighbor's yards (this was in a rural area and before etiquette, and law, demanded dogs be confined or leashed at all times). We had gloves, shoes, boots...and various and assorted toys in our yard. I would pick them up and sit them on the windowsill on the outside, so whomever saw them could pick them up. One day a boy of about 12 and a much smaller boy came to the house to tell me my son was stealing his toys. I of course said, "I don't think so, that hasn't ever been something he's done" and the bigger kid said "But they're right there on your window".

I explained to him I had taken those toys out of my dogs' mouths myself, I just didn't know where to return them to.

My saint is a digger. If there's a body anywhere near, he'll unearth it. We don't go for walks in graveyards, period.

 

[Truthmatters]

And when I go home, the kong goes into the freezer until morning. Because her defensiveness of it is not confined to big boy alone.

try laying her down allie, forcing her to allow the saint bernard to sniff her while she is submissive.

Yes the first couple of times may take 20 minutes of so before she truely relaxes and you can let her go but it will get better every time you do it.

In the end you may only have to tell her shes going to get laid down if she doenst stop.

 

[koshergrl]

It doesn't work with her. We've gone the Dog Whisperer route. She is one of the worst of the worst...you know when he has one that just won't submit, won't stop the aggressino, and he says "this is the worst that it gets" and then takes them home to hang out with his dogs? That's my dog. We've had quite a few sessions and she never submits. You can force her down, but she fights and never quits, no matter how long you h old her down, and she bites EVERYTHING. I've held her down for a half hour, and she was just madder when she got up, and more rabid than ever, and she turns on the person holding her, and is worked up for the rest of the day and sometimes more than one. She needs flipping prozac.

She is better than she used to be, at least she now has a doggie friend, and she is primarily dominant but I noticed before we got him fixed that he was starting to really assert himself with her and she was walking away from him, which is a first. But then, she weighs about 14 lbs, and he's 110 lbs. She's not stupid. But it doesn't carry over to other dogs.

I don't mind if she's distracted from passerby...that's the whole point. I want her to focus on the kong instead of wigging out at the window. It's when she's freaking out at people walking by that my big dog also freaks out, and things get ripped and broken.

 

[koshergrl]

We did start making her "go to bed", i.e., go to my room and get up on my bed, when she was engaging in the crazy barking behavior...and it worked sort of, for a while...until she just stopped doing it, and would get up on the couch and then she bites if you make her move, and you have to escort her to the bedroom, with her doing her best to get past you and run back to the couch the whole time..and if you touch her she bites. Don't get me wrong, I don't let it stop me from going through with the exercise, and she has the sense not to rip me apart, but the thing is..it doesn't work. She just digs in harder and harder. It's her terrier mentality. She won't give up. She'd die first, and that is part of what I love about the obnoxious ball of muscle, teeth and bone. But I'm NEVER getting another terrier, after this one dies in about 20 years. They live FOREVER. And she's NEVER sick.

 

[Truthmatters]

http://www.usmessageboard.com/general-discussion/115980-the-usmb-coffee-shop-659.html#post3729933

How old it the saint bernard now?

 

[Truthmatters]

Its official now , koshergrl is Alliebaba