Thread:Crowsoul50/@comment-33229352-20191104060346/@comment-33229352-20191224050326

Alright! Dog time!

We separate the dogs based on size and temperment to make everything as safe as possible. Putting big dogs with small dogs greatly increases the chance of predatory drift. That's when a dog that's playing with another dog (especially chasing them)  has their stalk-chase-kill instinct activated for whatever reason, like if the dog being chased yelps like an injured animal. This results in an urge to kill their "prey", and is very difficult to predict and stop once it happens. Dogs that show no signs of aggression can still exhibit predatory drift. It's very scary. Even a size difference of 15lbs can be enough to trigger it. So as it stands, we have a room for dogs 35lbs and under, and if they outgrow it, they're transferred to one of our two other rooms, which are based more in temperment. One room will have the lower energy, typically older dogs, and the other room has the higher energy dogs, and they can switch between the two depending on how they are that day.

It's pretty flexible, though. We have an 85lb bulldog in with the littles because he's morbidly obese and will only interact with the smaller dogs, and it's easier to keep an eye on him and make sure he's moving around when he's in there. His name is Lewis, I may have talked about him before. I haven't seen him around in a while, but I hope he's doing well. Since he is a bulldog, he has a stubby nose, and it's difficult for him to breathe to begin with, and carrying all that extra weight around can't help either. He's a very grumpy old man, but is very sweet and will follow me around because I scratch all the spots he can't reach. There's also a Wheaton terrier named Lulu who comes in with her labradoodle sister Maggie (not the dog that chomped me) and we separate them. If they were people, Maggie would be a cheerleader and Lulu would wear turtlenecks and be worried about her stocks. She's very fearful and sensitive about dogs approaching her from behind, which is not a good thing when she's first introduced to a room and all the other dogs are trying to smell her. So she corrects, and some of them don't like that and will snap back at her, which elevated her stress. She's better when her sister is with her, but Maggie gets jealous easily and tends to get in the way when I'm trying to make sure that Lulu is okay and that she's not being crowded. So Lulu goes with the littles, and Maggie with the bigs.

A LOT of people in my city have labradoodles. Don't get me wrong, they're great dogs, but a lot of them have issues with mouthing. Labradors are notorious for their "soft mouths" which is their ability to retrieve kills for hunters without damaging the hide with their teeth, and poodles are very intelligent and need a lot of attention. You combine those two together and you get a dog who thinks it's okay to come up behind you and put your entire hand in their jaws. It never hurts, but it sure is annoying when I'm in the middle of breaking up rough play and there's a dog that's half my size that won't take no for an answer right there with me. We think their owners allow it, and it's not something we like because when we ignore them or tell them no, they will mouth harder before they stop. One dog, Cookie, hasn't gotten to the point where she stops and has been in the "I must need to bite harder because they're not responding to me" phase for two months now. Anyone who works a room with her in it comes out with many small bruises all over their arms. We call her Cookie Monster. There's another doodle named Milo who barks for attention. Constantly. Like I will walk into the room and he starts and won't stop until I touch him. But I don't want to reward that behavior, so for at least 20 minutes straight, he follows me and barks. When he gives up, you better believe I hype that up. He loves when you take his face and wiggle it around. He's improving a lot, at least with me, but he still needs work. He's also a very rough player, so he wears a harness so that we can gain control of his body easier. The thing is is that his fur is so thick, It's difficult to find it when you need to grab him quickly before he gets too overwhelming and starts a scuffle. The dude's like a shag carpet. Love him to death tho.