Flea Question

[klc]

Either way, there was certainly something sketchy going on with this poor guy. I had the impression that he was a bit of an exception to shelter norms. Why else would he be held with his siblings for so long without being open for adoption? Why would he still be matted, four weeks after being admitted to the shelter?! Other shelters I know shave (or clip really closely) matted dogs, even if they don't want the expense of properly grooming them.

Luckily, his neutering cut no longer looks so fresh. I think all his licking had kept it from healing properly for several days. Thank you e-collar!

He's quite an idiot, though. He is totally incapable of doing his business outside when his cone is on. I resisted taking it off of him for the good part of the day yesterday, assuming (how silly of me!) that once he had to go badly enough, he'd potty with the cone on. But no. He held it for an incredibly long time, until I became genuinely concerned for his health if he'd held it for any longer and so I gave in, taking his cone off. (He pottied as soon as he got to his spot after that, and I could tell he was so relieved not to have to hold it any longer. Gah!)

He also can't figure out a food puzzle for the life of him, even with his cone off. We have a tricky treat ball other fosters of ours loved, and we filled it up with food like we did for them, and he never figured out to roll it for food, even when he accidentally rolled it a couple times and got food out. He just stared at it in puzzlement, then wandered off. 

We're hoping he'll show some unsuspected intelligence once he's cone-free. Sigh. What an easy-going dog, though, in spite of all his hardships!

[Magesteff]

My dog Max is a pet, he walks great on leash and has good off leash skills, is friendly with people, I can take food out of his mouth or tell him to drop what he has easily. He however, doesn't seem to understnad what toys are. After two years in my home he only picks them up and carries them around when extremely excited. He doesn't "play" much with the cats, other than snuffling Spike's ear (Hobbes is the dominant animal in the house hand has whacked him so he doesn't want her thinking he's challenging her).

He sits most of the time on command, is 95% solid on stays, but after two years is still working on "down," and forget any other fun little tricks.

However, he is a very well behaved dog, and I would rather have that than all the fancy tricks in the book. He's not SD material never will be but he is still a great  happy go lucky pet (or ESA).

[Kirsten]

Failure to play with toys isn't about intelligence, but early development.  Puppies need to be taught what toys are.  My pups were all introduced to toys before they left the whelping box.  If it weren't for me giving them puppy sized balls and plushies, both parents were in the habit of dropping "Penny Penguin" on top of them (which was pretty funny because she's the size of my 20 pound cat, but mostly air so doesn't weigh much).  My sister's dog, also a GSD and plenty intelligent doesn't play ball.  She'll go get it if you ask, but after you've thrown it a few times, she starts giving you the "if you want the stupid ball, you should learn to stop throwing it away" look.  There seems to be a window of opportunity for them to imprint on toys.  Of course genetics plays a part as well because some dogs are just born with more prey drive than others and prey drive can definitely magnify play behavior.