All about dogs - dog breeds, dog training and behavior, news affecting dog owners or handlers, puppy pics, etc.
Rules (Will be refined later on).
Don't be a dick. This should cover most things, just keep in mind that everyone started somewhere and try to be helpful rather than rude or judgmental.
No personal attacks based on training style or tools.
Discussion of balanced training including proper use of aversives is allowed here.
All breeds and mixes are welcome. You can criticize backyard breeding practices but don't pile on people because they own a specific breed or prefer purebreds or mixed breeds.
Do not support backyard breeders or puppy mills. Please do not link to or suggest buying from high volume breeders or those with an obvious lack of standards and testing.
Do not help or support fake service animals. Please do not encourage people to buy fake service dog vest or ESA letters to get around rental or other restrictions & do not give advice on how to misrepresent a dog as a service or support animal.
I have heard people talking completely seriously about their concerns over giving their dogs autism from vaccinations.
Some people should be made to apologize to every tree they come across for flagrantly wasting the oxygen they so kindly provide us.
Seriously. What the hell is dog autism? I don't know a dog out there that is able to understand social cues and most of them don't want to look you in the eye.
You've never heard of it because in the industry it's referred to as "daugtism"
My dog has ADHD (aka being a lurcher). Isn't a dog with autism basically a cat in a more doofus body?
Unrelated to the vaccine conversation: I think my dog might have dog autism, truthfully. He's an awesome sweet weird little guy!
One time he fell in love with a tree for about a week. There was nothing in it and he would just sit and stare up into it rather than play at the dog park.
Earlier today my partner and I ran into him with his dog walker and he didn't recognize us.
He doesn't seem to like most petting but loves his ears gently stroked and thinks everyone else does, too. So if he likes you he will go out of his way to lick your ears. It bothers him when my hat covers mine.
If you put a blanket over his head he will lie down and fall asleep rather than try to get out from under it.
He sounds like a perfectly weird little derp. Dog tax please?
Meanwhile contaminating everything with BPA
Hot take:
Let's say vaccines do cause autism or whatever. Is that REALLY problematic for your dog?
My dog ate something that made her vomit, then ate it again a few minutes later. Then cried because she couldn't eat her vomit.
Let’s say vaccines do cause autism or whatever.
Let's not.
I like that they chose a picture of a pug for this article. If these people really gave a shit about the health of their pets, they wouldn’t choose one that was bred with health problems.
To be fair, some pugs are rescues.
Good point. I already try to remember that when I see dogs with ~~cropped~~ docked tails.
All of the dogs I've ever had have been mutts, but I only ever adopted from a rescue or a shelter. Those are the only dogs that should be adopted and breeders should be stopped. My mother bought a Chinese Crested from a breeder and I was so pissed off at her. She's a really sweet dog, but that should not be encouraged.
My pug was a stray, I gave him a home. I don't feel badly about that. All my pugs have been rescues because people don't understand what caring for a pug is like.
A lot of stupid dog owners out there.
Have you seen the modern fad breeds? Idiots and assholes combined, and then there's the owners, too!
So stupid. Why would I not want to protect me dog to the best of my ability? My dog is a huge cry baby about shots. We do them, dog gets a treat. We go home.
I didn’t realize the vaccine conspiracy theory community moved on to dogs, but I guess it’s not really surprising. Follow the advice of your vet, not your weird uncle’s Facebook posts.
Heck yes. My dogs just got their vaccinations updated yesterday! Easy way to help keep them healthy and safe.
People are stupid enough to take horse dewormer instead of vaccines. Do you really expect to treat their pets any smarter?
53% of dog owners need a better education then.
@FlyingSquid Good read. Thoughts on the vaccinations for things like fleas, ticks, heart worms?
I didn't know you could vaccinate against those. Are the vaccinations effective enough on their own or would you need to supplement? We give our dogs Trifexis, which seems to work really well (they hate it though). Never had a flea or a tick or any heartworm detected. Now our dogs don't socialize with other dogs, which I'm sure helps, but I don't think that's the sole reason.
If my vet recommended vaccinating my dogs for those... well, I go to my vet because I trust her judgment. Or I wouldn't go to her.
@FlyingSquid there are a few I believe. I trust my vet as well. She has always been amazing with all of my dogs and they’ve all had long, healthy, happy lives.
She mentioned ProHeart 12 for heartworm prevention. Doing research I came across the other vaccines for fleas and ticks. And a LOT of people pushing ideas on how bad they are for dogs long term. She was able to satisfy all my questions and I trust her completely, just was curious about community thoughts on it!
Fair enough. I have honestly heard nothing about them, but considering we have to buy expensive soft food and crush the Trifexis into it to get them to eat it each month, that sounds like a pretty good alternative.
@FlyingSquid You might ask your vet and see if it’s a good fit for you! Like you my dogs socialize with each other, other family members dogs - never random dogs and I’ve never really had flea or tick issues, certainly never worms. So it’s hard to speak to any efficacy but from a preventative standpoint it seemed right for us, I had a hard time with my dogs and the oral treatments as well.
I was already planning on asking her next time I brought one of them in. Thanks!
There is a seasonal medication for flea, tick, and heartworm. I just get the medication as part of my dog's yearly checkup. It's just a tablet I need to feed him once a month for the warm months. IDK if they are technically vaccines, but they are preventative.
Yeah, that's how Trifexis works. Not sure if that's what you're using.
I think your general point stands that preventative medicines of all kinds have high value. From a technical standpoint, they are different types of medication.
Vaccines teach immune systems how to recognize and attack diseases and pathogens. These sorts of medications and treatments directly poison the parasites. They're similar in effect in that the pets are defended against unwanted aggressors, but differ in the mechanism.
Flea, ticks and heart worm preventative measures are not vaccines since they don't protect against a virus since fleas, tickets and heart worms are considered parasites. They use a different biological method to control than vaccines.
However you really need to get them and most importantly keep them up to date. Most need to be given monthly for chewables and injectables need to be redone every 6-months or 12-months. You're vet will help determine what is needed