Couple of questions about my dog..

Lifeisbutadream

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

have you got a garage where he could shake and get dry then let him in the house just to cut down on the mess in the house and still let doggy be himself?

He goes in the shed at the moment but he looks through the patio door at me with his big brown eyes so I end up letting him in..

Youdontseeme

How about containing him in one room until he has had a "shake" ? I realise its not the most hygienic, but the kitchen usually has the most wipe-able surfaces.

Or (although I have never done this myself and am sure others might say its not possible....) try training him to shake on command, positive reinforcement or clicker training might do this (or not but worth a go!!) let him in a confined space for example kitchen, wait till he shakes then add the verbal command 'shake' and a give a treat. The chances are, as a spaniel, he will be just the right amount of greedy and brainy and learn pretty quick.

After a while, once you have the command down to a tee, you can move it outside.

The above is the ramblings of someone who watched a hell of a lot of It's me or the Dog over Xmas and now believes anything is possible with a bit of chicken,cheese or hotdog, so it might be talking utter b*llocks, but hey its worth a go!!

YDSM

Lifeisbutadream

Youdontseeme wrote: »

The chances are, as a spaniel, he will be just the right amount of greedy and brainy

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: thats really tickled me

lostinrates

Youdontseeme wrote: »

Or (although I have never done this myself and am sure others might say its not possible....) try training him to shake on command, positive reinforcement or clicker training might do this (or not but worth a go!!)

Ours shake when we ask them when wet...but also still shake at will! Our command is ''shakey shakey'':o and is easily taught/encouraged while rubbing with a towel. But yes, they still come in and shake....its just less dmaging when they've shaken and been rubbed down with towels:o

Sid_Wolf

when you can see the start of a shake, scruff him, It usually stop the shake. I do it when I bath my girl, as I do it in the bathroom and like to keep as dry as possible, obviously only do it if the dog is ok with being scruffed, Kira is fine with it and quite likes it when I rag her around by it, but hers is very loose andso it doesnt hurt her.

My boy hates being scruffed, but he's bathed outside so it doesnt matter.

PinkPeach

Hi, I also have a spinger so completely understand about the water/mud/poo situation!

As we're going out for a walk I put a towel on the back doorstep ready to rub him down with really well when we get back which gets off most of the water. When I bring him inside he still shakes but nothing really comes off as I try to dry him as well as I can. He then gets treated to the hairdryer to finish the rest off which he adores - probably feels lovely after wallowing around in a cold river!

How are you getting on with the dry bags? I was interested to know how well they work.

Lifeisbutadream

PinkPeach wrote: »

Hi, I also have a spinger so completely understand about the water/mud/poo situation!

As we're going out for a walk I put a towel on the back doorstep ready to rub him down with really well when we get back which gets off most of the water. When I bring him inside he still shakes but nothing really comes off as I try to dry him as well as I can. He then gets treated to the hairdryer to finish the rest off which he adores - probably feels lovely after wallowing around in a cold river!

How are you getting on with the dry bags? I was interested to know how well they work.

The dry bags havent turned up yet, but I will update you when I get them.

My dog is a bit of a wuss - he is scared of the hoover, so there is no way that I could dry him with a hairdryer!

lostinrates

Another thought....I use infared pig/chik lights a lot....I wonder about one in your shed for colder wet-dog days, won't solve the mud but would keep him warm till he's dry and he'd dry more quickly.

dizziblonde

lostinrates wrote: »

Ours shake when we ask them when wet...but also still shake at will! Our command is ''shakey shakey'':o and is easily taught/encouraged while rubbing with a towel. But yes, they still come in and shake....its just less dmaging when they've shaken and been rubbed down with towels:o

I keep thinking of trying to teach mine to wipe his feet... sounds daft but since we won't let him dig up the local playing field (or indeed our lawn) to bury his poo (evil people that we are) he does this defiant "I'm not digging honest I'm just wiping my feet" semi flounce thing as he walks away from the latest nice steamer he's dropped. I'm sure it must be possible to develop that into an actual command - just for the awwww factor.

lostinrates

dizziblonde wrote: »

I keep thinking of trying to teach mine to wipe his feet... sounds daft but since we won't let him dig up the local playing field (or indeed our lawn) to bury his poo (evil people that we are) he does this defiant "I'm not digging honest I'm just wiping my feet" semi flounce thing as he walks away from the latest nice steamer he's dropped. I'm sure it must be possible to develop that into an actual command - just for the awwww factor.

LOL, I've tried this! Front feet were easy with one dog, but I can't teach her to do the back ones!:o