Keep him or find better home?

3493 Views 11 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Annie714, Jan 18, 2011

Jethro

Discussion Starter · Jan 17, 2011

Hey, Guys,
Struggling with whether to keep the Basset Lab (Bassador?) we're fostering.
I'm looking for input on how often people walk their bassets -frequency and duration. Do young ones need more?
How long per day dos your dog spend in his crate (frequency and duration also)
Does chewing/mangling shredding and cat chasing diminish over time?

I want this guy to have the best home for him. His personality is great. He's one-ish.

Not sure I will be able to appreciate over time the shreds throughout house, havign to come home from chores bc I feel guilty he's without us, and going out twice a day for walks to the detriment of my usual activity - running.
I'm wonderign how much better he'd have it elsewhere esp if I get lax about the very regular walking or stay out occasionally more than four hours.
I'm a stay at home Mom and can let him out in yard, walk him, play etc. I don't love the additional responsibilities right now. When I was a kid we let the dogs out in the morning and they got all the exercise and play they wanted all day. We didn't carry around scoopers (should have probably) Not so now, of course.
He gets out often, walks twice a day at least for 20 plus minutes, play and love often.
This is a dilemma for me and I appreciate any input from you more experieced dog owners.
Opinions/ experience?

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LuciaB

· #2 · Jan 17, 2011 (Edited)

I suppose the question boils down to - does the benefit you get from the dog out weigh the inconveniences you mention?

We often joke that it's a good thing our dogs are cute or we would have killed them. Two puppies in two years has cost me a lot of shoes!! I can never stay mad though, when I am reading on the couch and they are all around me, or when I wake my daughter in the morning and a basset head comes out from the covers, or when they are chasing eachother like mad through the house, the comfort and joy they give is invaluable. If you aren't getting that from your doggy relationship than I say let him bring that to another family. If you are getting that then you already know what you want to do.

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Lightning&Stomps

· #3 · Jan 17, 2011

I think Jethro deserves a home where his owner doesn't resent walking him twice a day, which it sounds like you do.

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Jethro

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 17, 2011

Thank you both. Great points.
I actually enjoy walking him, but feel obligated to do so for 20 plus minutes twice a day and I wanted to hear from other owners if this is a requirement (or best practices thing) including play in yard and in house.

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mhvonalmen8908

· #5 · Jan 17, 2011 (Edited)

I don't walk my two. They get plenty of play in the yard and inside that I don't think they absolutely need to go for walks every day. When I do do it, then they really enjoy it. But I don't feel that mine are suffering per se from not going on walks every day. Plus we go over to friend's houses at least once a week and let them run with our friends' dogs. I am also training the dogs in the house which wears them out a well. So they get plenty of exercise I feel.

Also, my dogs spend all night in their kennels and if we leave the house they go up. So they're probably in their kennels about 8 hours a day. This is purely because we don't want them to get in trouble and/or bored. Doppler actually is going to be sleeping with me for the most part of the next two months because my husband is working nights and it makes me feel better. Virga would get to sleep with me too if she would calm down and not try and bait Doppler into playing. But for the most part they're in their kennels if they can't be directly supervised. They both like their kennels so I don't think they mind.

As to the chewing/shredding/mangling, do you have toys for him nto chew on? If he's chewing on something you don't want him to chew on, say a loud "Ah!" or "No!" whichever works for you and then take the non-chewable item away and give him one of his toys. That's what we did with Doppler and Virga and they've never really had a huge chewing problem. If he's chewing on furniture you can get this stuff called "Grannick's Bitter Apple." The bottle says it for fur biting but I've used it on furniture and it works just as well. It didn't discolor any of our wood or fabric. I would test it on a small area though just to be safe.

The fact that you've even bothered to ask the questions you did show that you care for the dog and what's best for the dog. Good luck!

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RachelW

· #6 · Jan 18, 2011

I walk my Maddie once a day or so - some days longer than others, some days shorter. We go outside often for potty breaks - those combined with play inside is enough exercise for her. You might consider taking your little guy to a PetSmart Doggie Day Camp once a week - if he's up to date on all shots and friendly with other dogs, you'll have no problem.

I take Maddie once a week (sometimes more if money permits!) and she LOVES it! There she gets to play ALL DAY with a bunch of other dogs. By the time I get her home in the evening, she is exhausted. She eats her dinner and goes to sleep. I wake her up and let her out once more before we go to bed, and she sleeps like a log through the night as well. Sometimes, we all need a break and letting her go play and play all day is fun for her, and bringing her home only to have her sleeping sweetly is not bad either!

And please keep in mind, the "puppy phase" does end, eventually. Once he's trained you'll be so happy you kept him. As long as you have and are willing to spend the time and dedication it takes to keep up with a pup, you'll be so happy you did!

Hope I was of some help, and best of luck to you!

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Princess Buttercup

· #7 · Jan 18, 2011

I second the doggie daycare idea! Princess Buttercup loves it but seems to tolerate half days better than full days! The last time we did two full days in a row she fell asleep the minute we got home right in the entryway & didn't move!! I literally almost had to check her for a pulse!

Seriously exhausted pup!

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Mikey T

· #8 · Jan 18, 2011

Struggling with whether to keep the Basset Lab (Bassador?) we're fostering.

I'm a little confused because is not the puropse of fostering to find the dog another home rather than keep the dog in the first Place?

That said the pace most walk with a basset is neither exercise for them or the dog, a stress reliever for the human, evironmental enrichment for the dog sure but not exercise. A dog would get more exercise for a 5 minute basset 500 round than most 20 minute walks. So consider carefull the actual purpose of the walk. IF it is exercise you might just find "usual activity - running" perfectly suitable for the dog but you may have to build up its endurance. the recommendation for running with dogs is on softer surfaces only ie not pavement however studies on humans have nor found increased knee damage from running on harder surfaces versus softer ones so it is probably more of a nyth than actual science for that recommendation

Running injury exercises - myths about running injuries

hard surfaces cause more injuries?
Some other myths are equally indestructible. For example, a common belief is that running on very hard surfaces (like concrete, cold Tarmac, terrazzo, etc) creates a higher risk of injury, compared to running on relatively soft terrain. Scientific research actually provides little support for this view (Feehery, RV Jr, 'The Bio-mechanics of Running on Different Surfaces,' Clin Podiatr Med Surg, Vol. 3(4), pp. 649-659, October 1986). In fact, the ground-reaction forces at the foot and the shock transmitted through the body all the way up to the head when running on different surfaces varies very little as one moves from very soft to very hard surfaces. Many researchers believe (and there is experimental support for the idea) that runners are subconsciously able to adjust the stiffnesses of their legs just prior to footstrike based upon their perceptions of the hardness of a surface. When moving along on hard surfaces, runners create 'soft' legs, and when they travel across soft surfaces they do so with 'stiff' ones. As a result, impact forces on the legs are similar, despite the wide differences in surface hardness.

'All running animals coordinate the actions of the muscles, tendons and ligaments in their legs so that the overall leg behaves like a single, mechanical spring during ground contact'

In an extremely interesting recent study (Ferris, DP, Louie, M, and Farley, CT, 'Running in the Real World: Adjusting Leg Stiffness for Different Surfaces,' Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, Vol. 265 (1400), pp. 989-994, June 7, 1998), researchers at the University of California at Berkeley hypothesised that all running animals coordinate the actions of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in their legs so that the overall leg behaves like a single, mechanical spring during ground contact. The Berkeley data suggests that the stiffness of this 'leg spring' is somewhat independent of running speed but is highly dependent on running surface, changing dramatically as an animal encounters surfaces of different stiffnesses. If this were not true, peak ground-reaction force and ground contact time (footstrike time) would change dramatically as an animal ran on different surfaces, but instead they remain fairly constant.

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fred'smom

· #9 · Jan 18, 2011

I also second (or third) doggy daycare! Fred has doggy daycare once or twice a week by us $20 for 10 hours of fun she loves it and is a much calmer puppy for a day or so after. We also have the indoor doggy park (same place as doggy daycare) she likes that too. That's nice because we can basically sit around and talk with other owners while she plays and we have met some nice people there.

Now that it's cold I do not go on walks with Fred and even when it's warm we only walked when I took the kids somewhere, like the park. She runs around the apartment like an idiot all day anyways and plus she does walk around the apartment complex for potty time.

I would think about keeping your foster but not if he feels like a chore. Keep him for companionship for you and your kids. Our Fred may not be much but I do feel safe with her here I always feel safer when I have a dog around. Not that I live in a bad area but you just never know.

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LuciaB

· #10 · Jan 18, 2011

I'll chime in on the walking issue, our dogs get lots of play time in the house and yard but not daily walks. We take them to the dog park on the weekends and they really enjoy that. We enjoy family walks in the spring and fall but winter and summer can be miserable here and neither the human nor canine members of our family want to roam far. I envy those who get to "ramble" with their dogs through the countryside!

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Beverly Anne

· #11 · Jan 18, 2011

Franny usually gets a 1/2 to 1 hour walk a day, either by me or the dog walker. I like it because it de-stresses me. It's my time to be outside and breathe a little and it keeps Francis from harassing me to death. He's an old geezer so it NOT a cardio walk and especially since he went blind, we stop alpng the way to smell the roses, the grass, the garbage cans, the cars, the other dogs.....

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Annie714

· #12 · Jan 18, 2011

Annie and I walk daily. I use an application on my phone to keep track of our progress because I sign us up for walking challenges. We usually go 2.5 miles in 40 mins, sometimes more, sometimes less. And she gets plenty of opportunity to stop and sniff out the "calling cards" left by other critters, and leave her own messages as well LOL.

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