One tip re: 50 foot leash is donāt take it to the dog park. Some people like to train their dog by bringing it in a 50 foot leash to the dog park, ensuring every leash reactive dog will have the opportunity to get annoyed, and also ensuring the dog and its leash will entangle humans and dogs alike as they zigzag around. Good for solo training, not good for being around other dogs with!
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Teeth cleaning at the vet today! She didnāt need any extractions but she was anesthetized.
She is doing just fine now.
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How often do you take her for teeth cleanings?
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Sheās had 2 total within her lifetime (actually, maybe 3? I can definitely remember 2) and she is turning 8 in May. She had great teeth pretty much right from getting her adult teeth, so she didnāt really need dental work until she was around 4 or 5. So, at that rate, I guess itās around every 2 years.
She has had 2 teeth total removed, two of the same I think bottom middle-ish molars or pre-molars or whatever on either side, and seems to have been missing 2 or 3 pairs of certain teeth from birth, which is apparently not uncommon, and probably contributes to why her teeth have been so good overall.
My old lady has had 4 total rounds of dental work, spread out over I think 6 to 8 years. So, similar rate I suppose, but she was a more special case, as her teeth were awful. At each round of dental work, she had first I think 7 teeth extracted, then a staggering 22 (that number was buoyed a lot by all of her little front teeth all coming out but still), then 4, then her last 3 the last time.
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1000% matter fact i donāt think you gotta take your dogs to the dog park at all.
DEFINITELY donāt do it when theyre young. Thatās not how socialization training works.
And honestly yeah it can be a good place for your dog to play with other dogs but so many of those dogs are unknown quantities in terms of temperment and importantly health.
Iām sure if everyone who brought their dogs to the dog park only did so if they had exceptionally well socialized dogs thereād almost never be a problem, but I would bet that 9 times out of 10 where a dog has maimed or killed another dog at a dog park, one or both owners would have insisted their dog would never do that. And, that could easily just be because the owner(s) were assholes who were negligent, but it could also just as easily be a dog who in all other circumstances is exceptionally well behaved, but the owners underestimated their dogās capacity for aggression, fear based or prey drive motivated or whatever it might be.
Dogs are animals, they barely have intelligence, and they certainly donāt have morality. If theyāre sufficiently agitated and caught in an aggressive feedback loop with another dog, they wonāt practice restraint to defend themselves. It could be something as simple as one dog getting spooked by another one coming up on from behind for a sniff when theyāre not expecting it, and then a fight can start. Then if both dogs continually choose fight instead of flight, dogs instinctually try to maim and kill things explosively.
Letās not even get into the kinds of assholes who would bring young children to a dog parkā¦
But yeah I donāt know if I would say ānever bring your dog to a dog parkā but Iām pretty close to that opinion. My opinion is probably more like āonly bring your exceptionally well trained and well socialized dog that you are strong enough to handle properly to a dog park and watch them like a hawk every second you are there and definitely also administer continuous vibe checks on all other ownersā
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For me dog parks are exceptional socialization toolsā¦ as long as your dog never interacts with other dogs. Take em there and let your dog watch from outside the fence. Let em sniff but never get close enough for actual contact. Dassit.
Doggy day care occupies that exact same space but Iām less ānever!ā About that one bc of the realities of work/life.
Anywho heres Bu in out latest scootering adventure
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