more questions, once again

[danelvr]

hi everyone,
it is me again ! ! naturally ! ! well i just thought i would hop on tonight and ask a few questions. i am bringing my pup home in 20 days, and i have tons of things already done for him, crate ready, vet picked etc. but there is oen thing that has been bothering me. how soon can i stop crating my dog. my puppy chance, well we did not let him out at night until 8 months old. he was a really hyper dog though, and headstrong. it took forever to get him to realize that night time is bed time.

so i know w alot depends on the dog, but how soon do you guys generally let your dogs outof the crate? for a little while we will be living in VERY close quarters, but after three weeks we will have a normal house. this should not be a problem should it? i know that sounds awful, about the small place, but we had planned on having the house like 2 months before we got the dog. and things have been delayed(GRRRRRRRRRRR).

also, should the pup be good with my cat? i have read that they are usually fine with them, if brought up form puppyhood. but have people had good experiences with danes and cats? becasue if this pup is really hyper, my cat wont play with him. we considered all this before, and the cat is a really good cat, and is very patient, but do you like rude dogs coming and slobbering all over you? well my cat does notlike it either! ! well these q's sounded stupid, but i wanted to know! ! thanks
sarah
good night! !!

[Zoeys Mom]

Well Zoey is six months now, and we still crate her during the day while we are at work. BUT at night she sleeps with us. We never crated her at night. I do have a baby gate at the door of our bedroom, so if she were to wake up, she couldn't go anywhere. Every dog is different. Zoey is a heavy sleeper, and we never even had to take her out at night during the first few weeks! I also have two bunnies, I know they aren't cats, but kinda the same situation. GUESS WHAT? I have a baby gate on the door leading into the bunny room too. That way Zoey can still see and smell them. I take her in the bunnies' room every evening, while on her leash. She still hasn't gotten it yet, though. She is very nice to them, as long as they don't MOVE. As soon as they take off, so does she. CHASE INSTINCT. I have been firmly holding her back, and then I tell her to wait, and she is getting better, but I have a feeling it will be a long time before they will get to 'play together'. It might be a little easier with cats, cuz they can kind of fend for themselves, and bunnies have no defense.

After Zoey is spayed, we are going to try and leave her uncrated during the day. BUT we will start off with small intervals of time and work our way up to the whole workday, even though I pop home on my lunch.

Mandi & the stooges

[Cujasky]

Sky had full run of the house when she was about 4 - 5 months old. I had an advantage many people do not though, I'm a stay at home mom, so I was here just about 24/7. At the beginning Sky was in the puppy alcove (her bed) at night, for potty training reasons. She was also put in her bed when I had to leave to run errands. At about three months old and fully potty trained, I started to leave for 5 minutes at a time, free roam of the house(they really can't cause too much damage in 5 minutes). At this time, I left her favorite natural bone with frozen treats in it.This is because I had always left her one in her bed when I had to leave for any period of time.Slowly I would extend the period of time I was gone, 10 min, 15 min, etc.During this time though, if I had to go for a long time, she went to her bed.I eventually weaned her from the the favorite chewie, leaving it somedays, and not on others. It took almost a month and a half total, but it worked. She had complete free roam of the house, even for extended periods of time. Now, during this time too, she also would come out with me to the school, but when I didn't bring her, it was no problem either. Good luck with your new pup. I'm sure you'll make a great dane mommy! Debbie

[reeds001]

Astro slept in his crate til he was about 8 months. He was crated when I was gone (ie., shopping, errands). About that time, he got night priveledges (and probably could have had that sooner in hindsight). Then it was one room at a time for while I was gone...for daytime house priveledges. We've had very few incidences.

Cats...hmmm. We've got 2 indoor. Never was a problem really. Alway's "No, Kitty" when he was trying to chase...then one day he "caught Kitty" and didn't know what to do with it. :-) Skip ahead, he bathes them and pretty much considers them his LOL

Ally is 13 weeks and will chase the Kitty's...even with a chorus of "NO KITTY!" One stay's clear, the other stands his ground. Again, Ally doesn't know what to do with them so she gets bored and moves on.

I imagine that the cat will be the least of your concerns. Puppy's (ALL puppies) are exuberant, but cats are no slouches :-)

Word of warning...if your cat is indoor....wait for the day that your dane knocks kitty-caboodle out the window, screen and all! :-) Then once your dog figures out how to open the doors and refuses to shut them behind him, well...that's a whole new ball-game. :-) LOL

Good luck,
Susan

[gmac]

Hi Sarah! I think all dogs are different. Daisy spent the night in her crate until almost a year - but she's a little more mischievious than the average dog. Maggie only sleeps in hers at night, which I don't see as too much time, so I am going to leave her in there as long as she is chewing up everything!
As for kitty, he and Daisy grew up playing and wrestling, and he is used to dogs. He doesn't use his claws on Daisy, but Maggie grabs his spine in her mouth, so we hollar "NO!" quite a lot, and he knows now to jump up on the counter or something to get away from her. Still won't use his claws, and I do keep the dogs out of my daughter's room, which is sort of the kitty's safe haven.

[Kristen]

Hi Sarah,

We have three danes, 11yo Sophie, who never slept in a crate, but on her dog bed (or our bed), 18 month Livvy, who was crate trained and slept in it until she was about 6 months old. Now she sleeps in her 8' X 6' area, (we still call it crate) on her double dog bed. We also have a 9 month old pup Daphne, who still sleeps in her crate. Now if I go out of the house for max of a half hour, I can leave them loose in the den with the gate up and they are fine. But any longer period of time, and they all "go Night -Night" for a little while. The crates and dog beds are all located in our bedroom, complete with an air conditioner for hot summer days!

We also have 2 indoor cats, that all the dogs get along fine with. They will chase and play with them, but absolutely mean them no harm. Cats are very savvy, so I wouldn't worry too much, unless you wind up with a dane with extremely high prey drive, then I think you will have to be very carefull.

Good luck with everything! I am sure everything will turn out fine, especially if your new pup and kitty interact right away. You will be amazed at how, at first, your new dane puppy is the same size as the cat, and how quickly your pup grows!

Take care, Kristen

[danelvr]

hi everyone,
well, all f that was really good news, becuase i was worried! ! of course ! ! you know, kristen i think my dane is already larger than my kittyt(shes small, but 2 years old) when i went to meet him last tuesday, he was about as big as squirt(the kitty, her name is appropriate, it looks like someone took a squirt can to her, and but black blobsa on her! ! ) shes an outside kitty though. i hope that that is not a problem. like she is vaccinated etc. but still, she brings home at leasst three mice/birds a day(our little artemis) and obviously some of them carry diseases, will this be transmitted to the puppy. i mean, he wont be eating the carcass, but he will paly with her, im assuming, and could it be transmitted like that?
well, i guess on the crate training, i will have to figure out what workds best. my mom just got a schedule change! ! i am so excited. because i was going to have to leave him in a crate for 4 hours a day, three days a week, in her old schedule. now she can be home four days a week for him! ! YEAH! ! whihc means only one day with 2 hours. im excited ! !! on wednesday, i will onyl have 2 more weeks to go! ! i have been waiting for so long to say that ! ! im sooooooooooo excited. petsmart is going to be my favorite shopping place from now on! ! well thanks everyone! !
night night
sarah
ps. gwenna, i tried to e mail you pics, but my e mail is acting up! ! ! its annoying, but i will try again! ! !
sarah

[rachel]

Hi Sarah, I'm Rachel

Just wanted to say, about puppy playing with a huntress cat - GOOD point! I hadn't thought of that one. My cat is middle-aged, overweight and never catches anything these days except wine corks and her catnip toys, which is my attempt to get her some exercise. She used to be quite a huntress too. But I'll have to be extra-vigilant once puppy's home, I'm sure running away from puppy will make her a bit more lively and possibly more inclined to go back to catching mice and birds.

Thanks for asking the question, I look forward to hearing the replies you get from the experts.

Rachel

[gmac]

HI Sarah,
My kitty goes out "lurking" every night, and nasty diseases like rabies are quite rampant in our area. I was concerned about that since when he's inside, he's sleeping in my daughter's bed. I had asked her pediatrician about it, and he said the only real trouble would be allergy-related. If he's bringing pollen and dust in his fur, etc.
I would think this would hold true with your cat and puppy. As long as the cat doesn't leave a carcass around where the puppy could eat it, I think puppy will be fine.

[danelvr]

hi everyone,
hi gwenna, well you see, what im worried about is taking the dog out in the morning, and all of a sudden, theres this dead birds carcass in the lawn, and i dont notice it. like in the middle of the night it might be harder to see, but i am going to assume tha ti will be watching him like a hawk at 2 o clock in the morning whne it is time for a potty break! ! ! the joys of puppyhood. it took my rottie/aussie months before he wold stop going potty at ngiht! ! thats months of VERY little sleep, and waking up for school! ! oh well, it gets better! !

wow, that was off topic sorry. rachel, well my girl is only two, and she is as fiesty as ever ! ! she brings home about 2-4 mice/birds/moles EVERYDAY! ! ! she even brought one inside once. to say the least, my mom was PO'D. but that must mean shes a happy little kitty.


thats good to know about the cat though. and kitty is a ver ymeticulous groomer, so i think everything will be okay. i just called a veterinarian. i finally picked one out

i have called at least 10 vets in the area, and none of them have dealt with giant dogs. but i finally got a hold of someone that does deal with danes/mastiffs. so i am really happy now! ! ! she even had a bloat case that the doggie lived ! ! so i am encouraged! !

there was one other vet that i had thought about because they had had experience, but yesterday i heard horror storiues about them. apaprently my neighbor ran over her lab puppy on accident, and took it to this vet. they said 500 right then and there, just to look at her, or she could sign the pup over, and have the pup treated, but it would no longer be hers anymore. well this dog had been a christmas present to my freind, and they had to sign it over. it turned out all it had was a bruised lung. they said they could pay for it, but the vet said no, she wanted the dog! !

that made me so angry that they would do that to a ten yyear old girl! ! well anyway sorry about my ramblings, i will shut up now
sarah
ps. thank you eveyrone! ! !

[Zoeys Mom]

>they said
>500 right then and there,
>just to look at her,
>or she could sign the
>pup over, and have the
>pup treated, but it would
>no longer be hers anymore.
>well this dog had been
>a christmas present to my
>freind, and they had to
>sign it over. it turned
>out all it had was
>a bruised lung. they said
>they could pay for it,
>but the vet said no,
>she wanted the dog!

How is that legal???????????????

[gmac]

Jeez, you wouldn't think that would be legal, would you. And a 10 year old girl? What a jerk.

[danelvr]

hello,
yeah i was wondering the same thing, but it happened, so im assuming it is. 500, not including treatment, i was so angry. the poor girl. and her mom pleaded afterwards when they called to find out how the dog was. i mean she even got her daughter on the phone crying, saying she would give them her piggy bank money. but they said no, the dog had a new good home. @$$ wholes, i could never do that, i would gladly give it back, and say he is better, im glad i could help. come of the people these days, they are so self involved. when i start my veterinarian practice, the first thing that is on my list of priorities, besides treating the animal, would be to consider the people first and foremost !! well sorry
sarah

[rachel]

poor thing! After an accident which must have been traumatising enough for ALL concerned.

Sarah my cat is nine. I didn't think that was particularly old for a cat. Recently she suddenly started getting fatter and fatter and lazier and lazier. Also this is the first time she's been the only cat in the house: now she's queen bee instead of mummy. I asked the vet about it and apparently it's common at her age, and she's not overweight enough that we should worry, even though the nurse had trouble lifting her cat-carrier!!! We laugh about it and give her heaps of toys to make her run around a bit plus diet food which she loves. The funny thing is she was always a hunter and spent all her time outside catching things. She used to bring her trophies inside, play with them in front of me and then growl when I tried to take them away. I'm looking forward to our puppy coming home and making her run around a bit. She sounds kind of like a great dane, couchwise. LOL!

Rachel

[danelvr]

hi rachel! ! !
how long do cats usually live? ive never had a cat older than 2! ! ! we had football(my dad hated her, and insisted that we try to dropkick her thus the name), than she had a litter(the person that gace her to us said she was spayed, gues she wasnt) and we kept one of her babies, and we called the vet to get her spayed, and they said they would not becuase she ahd ahd a litter, si that possible? the thing is they sai dhte same things about i dog we brought home from the pound.! ! ! ! !what is that? ! !!!?!?!?!?! and she had another litter, we kept another kitten. than football got mean, and lazy, so we went down south and got her spayed, and gave her to a freind. than my cat, from her first litter ran away.

whew ! ! ! that was a lot sorry! ! but anyway squirt is the best litter hunter. thats why im so afraid. but i guess since she is going to have a new puppy to deal with soon, she will hate us, and stop bringing them around! ! she literally was pissed off when we brought chance home(my last dog) and she would not bring anything home. the day after we put him down, she brought a bird to the door, YUCK! ! ! oneday when she stops chasing and killing, she will still have a home:)

well time for moi to leave! ! talk to you later
sarah::)

[rachel]

Hi

Cats over here (NZ) live to anywhere from 15 to over 20 years! We had one on the front page of the paper last year who was 23. That made me worry a bit. If my cat's acting middle-aged at 9, what's she going to be like at 20?!
I got her spayed about three years ago. I was 13 when I got her and I thought the first litter was really exciting. Then she had one the next year and the next and I started to feel sorry for her, plus sick of kittens, so decided to do it. When we took her to the vet it turned out she was already pregnant again (how embarrassing) but they did it anyway. But then she found a litter to foster! Over here they're so keen on the spaying and neutering of cats that they do it for free one day of every year - at the start of the cat season. I've never heard of a vet refusing to do it (unless the cat is sick in which case they'd just re-schedule). Plus you get a discount on your dog registration if your dog is neutered.

I imagine she will run away for a couple of days when puppy comes home, then grumpily settle back to normal when she gets hungry.
Rach