[Thad E Ginathom]

I read into k88k's posts that directly reaching ground level from his balcony would probably be fatal, even for a cat. So those nocturnal wanderings are not really going to be a possibility. At least the cat will get the fresh air.

I wish my cats would spend more time indoors. Our previous last cat was an outdoor semi-stray anyway, but even so, he died of a serious injury (my theory, dog) and if I had made him more domestic :(

From cars to bikes, and between dogs and cat-eating tribal catnappers (Curses on them, however politically incorrect that may be), there are too many horrible ways for cats to meet an untimely end. But my cats have the choice, and the choice they make is to spend the majority of their time outdoors.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I wish my cats would spend more time indoors. Our previous last cat was an outdoor semi-stray anyway, but even so, he died of a serious injury (my theory, dog) and if I had made him more domestic :(

My cat leaves home at 8:30 am and comes back somewhere between 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Most of the time he is within the apartment complex compound running around or chasing something or climbing trees. But occasionally he crosses the road and goes to the nearby buildings.

I am not sure he can be domesticated! The amount of exercise he gets out wouldn't be possible at all at home. And inspite of all this, he has some half hour playing & running around inside the home in the late evenings.

But I fear for him all the time. Even inside the building - since there are cars and bikes coming in and out of parking.

<Fingers Crossed>The biggest incident till now has been a few weeks back when he didn't come home one evening at all. Next morning, I went around searching for him & he was in a neighbouring building stuck on the parapet on the first floor - he wasn't able to climb down & was stuck there whole night. He ate 3 meals after I rescued him.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I read into k88k's posts that directly reaching ground level from his balcony would probably be fatal, even for a cat. So those nocturnal wanderings are not really going to be a possibility.

I won't underestimate a cat's capability in scaling heights. A long time ago, I was a contract engineer installing satellite dishes in star hotels. In one such building, I gingerly climbed the tall building through a steel ladder and reached the top - only to find a stray cat sitting on a narrow parapet wall - equally shocked to see a human. Once he decided that I was not a friendly neighbor, he began his act of jumping from walls to walls until he reached the ground floor - leaving me speechless.

I have read that they use their whiskers to detect the direction of the wind and the force of the wind. Coupled with this information and their acute vision, they can walk on narrow parapet walls in high rise building without falling. Felines are not only graceful but extremely agile.

[k88k]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I agree infinitely. But cats love their nocturnal excursions while we humans are asleep. That is when they are likely to get lost.

Can't agree more. But the problem here is the limitation of real estate. So the precautions and concerns.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I read into k88k's posts that directly reaching ground level from his balcony would probably be fatal, even for a cat. So those nocturnal wanderings are not really going to be a possibility. At least the cat will get the fresh air.

A cat might survive a jump from 1st to Ground floor based on what I have witnessed, but even that depends on the exposure/exercise/experience the Cat has been through. My home is on the 4th floor and hence the nocturnal wanderings will be strictly limited to the flat.

Originally Posted by carboy

The amount of exercise he gets out wouldn't be possible at all at home. And inspite of all this, he has some half hour playing & running around inside the home in the late evenings. But I fear for him all the time. Even inside the building - since there are cars and bikes coming in and out of parking. ...stuck on the parapet on the first floor - he wasn't able to climb down & was stuck there whole night. He ate 3 meals after I rescued him.

Cats are too curious/ignorant to perceive danger/things which can cause harm. An incident I can share here: Our laundry bag has a loop for closing the bag. Our kitten usually jumps into the bag and keeps playing with the clothes. I keep putting her out. But this one time when we were having Dinner, I heard her meow'ing strangely. I thought that something was wrong and went near her, only to find that she had managed to get the loop around her neck and it had become quite tight and twisted. I had to cut the loop to free her. Can 't imagine if it had happened when we were not at home!

Our cat keeps jumping between Sofas, hides below the bed, chases/plays with the ball, loves playing the cloth clips (have easily lost a bunch of them..), considers the bed as a playground, catches you unaware as she pounces on your leg and so on. Given the limitations of living in a city and in a flat kind of a setup, i guess this is the best exercise a "safe" cat can have.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by k88k

Our cat keeps jumping between Sofas, hides below the bed, chases/plays with the ball, loves playing the cloth clips (have easily lost a bunch of them..), considers the bed as a playground, catches you unaware as she pounces on your leg and so on.

My cat does most of this after he comes back home after spending 8-9 hours outside. The energy seems to be limitless.

[shashanka]

Kluso & squeaky toy - still inseparable (occasionally), tho' he's well into senior citizenship!

[14000rpm]

there are a bunch of different ways to potty train a puppy. All have their own success rates. I share my method as taught to me at the local pet training center and it has worked 100%.

Crate Training

Logic of this method :
Dogs, have been cave dwellers in the past and it has been observed that they don't like to dirty their place of sleep. They are ok to dirty a small distance away but never where they sleep.

Keeping this logic in mind, I totally believe in the concept of crate training esp since I have potty trained my 3 month old puppy effectively.

how does this work?
the crate I have is big enough for a full size Golden Retriever/Labrador. It comes with a divider that can be moved to make the sleeping space grow as the dog grows. I have currently kept it to as much space as necessary for him to sleep and wiggle around a bit. mind you, he can still stretch his limbs sufficiently and can still chase his tail therefore it is not torture. I have put a crate mat as well for his comfort.

This method uses the fore-stated logic. I take him out on periodic schedules (more on this later) and he whines when he has to relieve himself out of turn. When out in the yard, I give him a treat and compliment him whenever he does his pee/poo and I put him back in after this. This has worked out brilliantly. these days I don't need to give him treats at all.

However, I have restricted his outside crate time till I am comfortable that he doesn't start peeing all over the carpet in the living room.
I do take him on long walks in the neighborhood twice a day and make him run around the yard in the eve's.

To let him be free inside home, I still have to go to part 2 training.

what is part 2?

When the dog is fully trained for pee/poo outside, next step is to let him be comfortable
inside home. but then, this also means he doesn't have to whine when he has to relieve himself...he can just go dropping his droppings around...right? Well, that is where Bell-training comes.
When you take the puppy out for his duties, take some bells along (like smaller cow bells). when he/she does the duty, jingle the bells and then give him a treat. then hang the bells inside home at a place where the dog can see and touch. continue the process for a few weeks. it is expected that the dog will jingle the bells when he/she wants to go out. Thereby no accidents at home.


Note : I am not sure how popular this method is in India and the availability of a Dog Crate.

Periodic Schedule for Potty :
Untill completion of 2 months, puppy's can control their bladder for 2- 2.5 hrs max. They HAVE TO relieve themselves..else, we force them to relieve where they sleep and they won't sleep there again. double trouble.

3 months and later is a +1 concept. 3 month puppy can hold for 4 hrs, 4 month puppy for 5 hrs and so on. When grown up, they need to go once in the morning and then in the night.

I am not a dog-whisperer nor do I have anything to do with animal psychology. These are all the Gyaan I have been hearing while training my little pup.

[esoticoreventon]

After a gap of a year, I took Caesar back to the beach. It was a better experience this time. He didn't refuse to walk on the sand, but still refused to go anywhere near the water, but this time he had no problem letting the family go to the water. last time he created a ruckus and didn't let anyone go near the water!

Most people like going to the beach for the water, for the fresh fish or corn, but for Caesar? It's the wet cool sand. Attaching a picture of him enjoying the cold sand, the moon in the back ground just adds to the drama.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

After a gap of a year, I took Caesar back to the beach. It was a better experience this time. He didn't refuse to walk on the sand, but still refused to go anywhere near the water, but this time he had no problem letting the family go to the water. last time he created a ruckus and didn't let anyone go near the water!
Most people like going to the beach for the water, for the fresh fish or corn, but for Caesar? It's the wet cool sand. Attaching a picture of him enjoying the cold sand, the moon in the back ground just adds to the drama. ....

That is one savvy dog! - for some reason they seem to love cooling their belly/hindquarters the most and Caesar's doing just great!
I feel embarrassed to have to admit this but I would like some feed-back on this odd trait that both Kluso & Pearl possess. Both are deeply attracted to garbage & rubbish heaps on the roadside (our neighborhood in Lucknow has enough of both, despite regular garbage collection by the Nagar Nigam - this is Lucknow). The more malodorous the garbage heap, the deeper seems to be the communion between dog & heap - at times requiring huge effort to drag Kluso away.

I'd very much like to know if other members face this issue with pets during their walks.

[Abhi_abarth]

Originally Posted by shashanka

I feel embarrassed to have to admit this but I would like some feed-back on this odd trait that both Kluso & Pearl possess. Both are deeply attracted to garbage & rubbish heaps on the roadside (our neighborhood in Lucknow has enough of both, despite regular garbage collection by the Nagar Nigam - this is Lucknow). The more malodorous the garbage heap, the deeper seems to be the communion between dog & heap - at times requiring huge effort to drag Kluso away.

I'd very much like to know if other members face this issue with pets during their walks.

Thanks for this post. I have a similar embarrassment to share but much complicated than yours.

My 5 year old Lab is attracted to carcass. We stay on the greener part of Hyderabad where my residence has acres of empty green space around. We leave him once or twice a day for his nature calls and that's when he comes home with all the stuff rubbed if there are any carcass (usually dead dogs or pigs). Cleaning him is a big task as the smell will take 2 days a minimum even after using his dog shampoo. The bigger problem for me is when he comes home and my parents won't be able to detect sometimes as he runs straight under our sofa. Hygienically it's even more worrying as I have a 2 1/2 year old kid at home.

I keep a close watch when i take him for walk and i can detect changes on his body the moment he is going to fall in the carcass. He starts urinating on that spot continuously and brings his tail close to legs. That's when i call his name with a angry tone so that he knows it's wrong. He would then walk back to me. I haven't heard such behavior from other dog owners but online read says this is a common trait among canines passed on by the wolves.

Any other member experienced this with their pet ?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

My 5 year old Lab is attracted to carcass. ... ... ...

We had a golden retriever, long-haired cousin of the Lab, when I was a child. She was attracted to the most revolting things, and I had to suffer the smell when sharing the back seat of the car with her.

It is a trait of this family of dogs.

Another is assuring strangers who are eating, by the look in their eyes, that they have not been fed for a week and are on the point of passing out from starvation.

But it's all worth it: they are wonderful dogs!

[Abhi_abarth]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

But it's all worth it: they are wonderful dogs!

Absolutely Sir ! All is forgiven for these wonderful creatures. My doggy has started inching towards the 'Senior citizen' age and sometimes i shiver on thinking what would my life look like without him around.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

Thanks for this post. I have a similar embarrassment to share but much complicated than yours.

My 5 year old Lab is attracted to carcass. We stay on the greener part of Hyderabad where my residence has acres of empty green space........I haven't heard such behavior from other dog owners but online read says this is a common trait among canines passed on by the wolves.
Any other member experienced this with their pet ?

I sympathize with your predicament which I agree is rather more serious than mine! But as you say, this is a common canine trait - and all the domestication cannot wash out the genes! The only direct remedy I can think of is doing what we do - never let them off the lead when going out of the front gate! The only time we let them roam free is in the park opposite our house where we usually take them for a run. It is securely hedged & fenced in & only residents' pets - accompanied by the humans adopted by them! - are allowed in.

[esoticoreventon]

Originally Posted by shashanka

I feel embarrassed to have to admit this but I would like some feed-back on this odd trait that both Kluso & Pearl possess. Both are deeply attracted to garbage & rubbish heaps on the roadside (our neighborhood in Lucknow has enough of both, despite regular garbage collection by the Nagar Nigam - this is Lucknow). The more malodorous the garbage heap, the deeper seems to be the communion between dog & heap - at times requiring huge effort to drag Kluso away.

I'd very much like to know if other members face this issue with pets during their walks.

Caesar had an attraction to the alcohol in the plastic glasses thrown on the streets by drunks. Which, more than anything, was embarrassing to a family of teetotalers. Alcohol isn't good for dogs and so I made sure to tell him very sternly that it was bad behaviour and he hasn't been having that problem anymore. With your case, it might not be the garbage as such and it might even be the urine from other dogs that they find attractive! Or else, it must be the food!

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Another is assuring strangers who are eating, by the look in their eyes, that they have not been fed for a week and are on the point of passing out from starvation.

But it's all worth it: they are wonderful dogs!

A neighbour was feeding biscuits to a couple of stray dogs and Caesar was on his walk. When he saw this, he pushed both the strays aside and stood infront of the person begging for biscuits. This was after he had his food! Would I trade this creature for anything else in the world? No way!

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

Absolutely Sir ! All is forgiven for these wonderful creatures. My doggy has started inching towards the 'Senior citizen' age and sometimes i shiver on thinking what would my life look like without him around.

I am 27 years old, I have had my dog for just 5 years now, but I honestly don't remember much of my life before he came in! It's like he has always been around in my life! He has started aging, and has grey fur on his face now, but his heart still shows he is a 6 month old puppy!

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

I am 27 years old, I have had my dog for just 5 years now, but I honestly don't remember much of my life before he came in! It's like he has always been around in my life! He has started aging, and has grey fur on his face now, but his heart still shows he is a 6 month old puppy!

It is unlikely that the grey fur has anything to do with his age. Generally dogs live about 10 years or more depending upon their breed, feed and environment.

I need to find a kennel to care for my dog when I am going out of station. Problem is living in a kennel is a stressful affair for dogs - even for short period. They might even pick up diseases from other ill-kept dogs there. I have a new GSD puppy who cries when I am not around. Stress can hurt animals as much as they do humans.