Different treatment of pets

[TracyTN 237]

1. i totally get you on this if they are alone - The ones I'm talking about are alone.

2. i'm not even ok with it if working dog unless there are other working dogs... i know many farm folks who have only one and bring it in at night. dogs are pack animals and need to be with their pack, whether that is animal or human, whomever they identify with as theirs... soemtimes it's a mixture if theirs a couple dogs and kids in family LOL I guess I was thinking of ones that have other working dogs with them. Otherwise, yes - I would prefer them in with their families at night. Sadly, my own brother in law does not do this. Their dog is a working dog who is outside 24/7 with their goats. SIGH.

3. think of a crate as just a bed that has sides, top and bottom. that's basically all it is, but has a door so when people come over the door can be shut so they can be restricted. the dog cannot be touhced or approached at all and visitors are not at risk of being bitten (i WANT my dog to be mean with ALL strangers... it is only socialized with those people i want in my home). Like I said, I know why people use crates and hey, to each his own. And it definitely is a good idea if you think the dog might bite and you have friends or small children over. They have their use - its just not something we do.

[EvilEmmy 1]

I have two dogs both cavelier king charles spanials.

After having spent my life around dogs 26yrs out of 27ys almost my entire life by on one year between my Lab and my retreiver. A mixture of working dogs and just family pets. I have mixed reviews my father was a dog handler so I knew his dog from the forces as she was still alive when I was a child but lived with my Grandparents after he married my mom.

So I always beleived in feeding my dogs a mixture of wet and dry dog food as that what we have always fed all of our dogs my on when they were sick. Then it would be for the first day of sickness egg milk and whiskey mixed I swear by this method today and still use it on any sick dog we have. Most go urgh but it something thats always worked, then the second is followed by rice and chicken or rice and fish usually haddock or cod as it's lighter then the third day it's back to regular food.

Though my old boy ruxpin (10 yr old cav) was a different story the breeder brought them up on mincemeat and chicken AND I kid you not the stubborn soul would refuse point blank turn his nose up at dogfood for 5 years of his life, we tried the usual weaning him off it we tried mixing a bit of mince with dog food, He would rather have starved than touch it. We once put him in kennels for a week vacation it got so bad they were about to call the vet as he refused to eat. Turns out even though we'd specifically paid extra to have his food likings accommadated they'd been trying to feed him wet dog food! Poor boy we went to McDons for a morning breakfast as we had just arrived back from florida, he was drooling so bad that even though we rarely did this we gave him a breakfast muffin and proceeded to cook him scrambled egg on getting home he was so hungry it was unreal. Well long story short we got Kady (5 yrs old now) and her diet consisted of wet and dry dogfood, no issues there roll forward a month and we caught rux trying the food out her bowl. So he got swapped since he liked it. Now he's 10 and he's currently not well due to old age and health issues he now refuses to eat dogfood again so we feed him a bit of mincemeat, scrambled egg and sometimes chicken. He's coming to the end of his life and we are keeping him comfy.

As for the crate thing we've nnever used that method within the family for my two now we had travel crates but they preferred to be in an empty boot or in the back of the car on seats for reassurence. My fiances family are a bix mixed his cousin does not crate his dogs and they are incredably obediant. His ex stepfather has several dogs due to his wife working in animal shelters and they crate their dogs during the night which was a foreign concept to me as it's something I've never known anyone use here in the uk even my fathers dogs in the forces were not kept in crates when at home.

All my dogs have been kept indoors permitting their toilet time then they go in the garden, during the spring and summer our backdoors (permitting the weather) when we are in the house are left open so they can go inside or out as often as they wish to enjoy the garden, air and sunshine. Kady my girl Loves the sun sooooo much we call her the little sunshine hog.

My fiance is more of a cat person but during my last meet he saw me around dogs and was astounded by my ease with them to the point he went from going i'm never going to have a dog to suddenly going I want a dog! I don't know whether it was because he saw how important dogs are in my life or because he's never had one, I think his perception changed as I explained it truly depends on how a dog is raised mine have all been raised to allow immediate family (brothes, myself and my mom) to touch noses, ears, check paws and all sorts and to playfight within the boundries of not hurting eachother immediatly a soft ow stops any overzealous playing. Same with as we call it blowing kisses we gently blow a soft huff of air at my two same as all my previous dogs and they will gently do the same back it's a respect thing and to accept that above all the owner is the alpha even if they love them to pieces. We are soft with our dogs but we know when to be firm if needed. I guess that's the reason we don't crate our dogs we've never needed to everything my father did with his dogs in the forces has been followed with all my dogs and we've never had issues where they needed crating.

Sorry if I rambled on a bit

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

In Nigeria dogs are either outside for protection and eat scraps or on the table when you can't even afford bushmeat

[aminah 6]

I've never fed my dog canned food because I didn't want her to expect it all the time.

[TwoCats 55]

There was an article I read recently where it was mentioned that "American's don't understand why Australian's keep dogs outside". That kinda confused me because most people I know in Aus have inside dogs unless they're big. And even big come in at night. In America however I've noticed lots of outside "cages" or enclosures. I was told about "crating" a dog as a method of training.. never heard of it before the US.

So, the questions. My in-laws cannot feed their dogs wet food because they never have. Apparently now when they try and feed their dogs wet food (to give tablets etc) they only give a tablespoon size because too much gives their dogs "the runs". I have never seen this. Ever.

They leave dry food out all the time but I've always been told it's bad and causes overweight dogs because they're able to graze all day. I've also never JUST given my dog dry food... seems kinda like bread and water for a human.

So I'm definitely a wet food AND dry food person. I leave the dry out all day (only because she doesn't eat much, if she ate it all the time I'd stop) and at dinner time I give her some wet food.

Anyone else? (please excuse me if there aren't enough options.)

I've found a lot of things depend on the dog.

My first dog, we could leave the food out all day long and she would only eat when she was hungry. The dog my mom inherited after our first died, he had to be on a strict diet, and only fed certain amounts because he was overweight and wolfed down any food he was given. The third dog I cared for was my brother's and he would gobble down anything put in front of him.

The first two dogs were fine on wet or dry, but mostly got dry. The third dog had to be on a specialized diet because anything he ate strangely gave him the runs. He was allergic or sensitive to /so/ many types of food. When he was about one, they had to put him on allergy medication because he was breaking out due to really common things. At first, they blamed it on my cats... and claimed the cats were clawing him, until he was up with them for two weeks and was /still/ breaking out.

We never crated dog #1, or dog #2, but my brother crated dog #3. It didn't seem to do much for dog #3, since he had energy issues as it was and putting him in the crate only served to make things /worse/. He chewed on walls...

As for indoor/outdoor, they have all mostly been indoor dogs. They get taken out for walks, and get the run of a huge backyard, but they aren't kept outside for any great length of time. Dog #2 actually, if you left him outside too long, would pull a houdini trick and somehow manage to escape through a 5" gap of fence (and this was a BIG dog).

I'm glad I have cats.

[UKGirl123 24]

My dog (Emma) is a rescue and I have had her since a pup, I brought her from the UK with me, she weighs about 50lbs and is my baby.

Emma can only eat dry dog food (and only some brands) the rescue center I got her from fed her dry dog food and she gets the runs every time I try her on anything else. She doesn't graze the food, she gets fed a set amount twice daily and I monitor her weight. Sometimes she gets fresh vegtables too. She is an inside dog as she likes her creature comforts like me and it is guarenteed she would chew her way out of an outside home.

I never used to believe in crates. I saw them as cruel. I spent 2 years trying to train Emma not to be destructive (at damage to herself) and to be housetrained whilst I was out. She was perfectly good when I was in, but the second she was alone she would do her business on the floor and destroy anything in site. She would eat walls, door, wood, metal...anything....she can jump and climb high and open doors and cupboards and has found razors and even bleach. I used to worry every day that I would arrive home to a dead or injured dog.

I bought her an extra large crate upon moving to the US. I got the biggest I could as I was worried about being cruel. It is not her bed, just a place she goes when we are out or she is in trouble (she sleeps with me when I sleep, and on a different bed in the living room when I am not). She cried the first few times I left her in it, but I waited outside the house and after a few mins she stopped and she has never messed in the cage or tried to chew her way out. She gets a treat when she goes in and a treat when she comes out. It is full of toys and she takes them out and puts them back. If she feels unwell and needs to vomit she will do it in the crate (bed is machine washable)it is her place of safety.