My Animals

it's a blog about all the animals (but especially my crazy dog) I have, or had and the crazy experiences!

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

10 things you do not know about glitch

1. He is a German shepherd (although you could probably tell already)

2. He is not castrated, for half a year he was chemically castrated but that didn't help the infection. So after half a year he is a man again.

3. He has HD (hip dysplasia) quite severe

4. His birthday is 12th of April 2017

5. I bought him when he was nine months old

6. He is afraid/fearful of dogs that are bigger than he is

7. He adores attention but only on his own terms

8. He can not be left alone for more than 30 minutes at a time.

9. My brother hates him

10. When I bought him he was 25 kg (this is underweight) it took a while but he is now 35 kg. Still not fat but healthy.

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

These photo’s were taken a couple months ago when we were out. He totally loved it and happily played with every dog he came across 

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

terrible news

So last Thursday I heard some terrible news. I went to the vet to make some X-ray photos of his hips expecting him to have some form of hd, well he had... So bad that he has a dislocated tight bone. Plus there is a big possibility that his other tight bone will dislocate over time. It isn't even possible to put it back because his hip bowl isn't round. So it will dislocate again immediately. The cost of removing his whole hipbone and reshape his thigh bone is freaking high and thus undoable. I made the decision to have him on medication for the rest of his life. I really hope that he will live and enjoy life at least till he is two but right now I doubt it. He is 1.5 years old.

these are the photos of his hips

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

how my boy changed. From twenty-five kilograms, all skin and bones not able to walk longer than two minutes to now. Where he can run and walk for about one and a half hour and looks a lot better. Don't know what his weight is at the moment.

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

last Saturday glitch went for the very first time to the beach. And he enjoyed himself immensely.

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

That Face.

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

Water fun :)

So this was the second time he went for a swim, and man did he enjoy it! He just couldn’t keep out of it for long. He was jumping like a dolphin! It was so fun and heartwarming to see, if you consider his past. He has much to learn not only in obedience but also with all the new experiences. He will go to the beach at the end of August.

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

The story of Glitch part three

My dad wasn’t all that thrilled to have him home. At this time Glitch had learned that it was okay to grab whatever you wanted and destroy it. Most of the time he jumped around and grab papers, towels etc. and tried to rip it up. The biggest problem wasn’t that for my dad, no it was the scratches on the floor that he left every time he chased one of our cats or when he had one of his “crazy hours”. At this time he was able to walk around 7 min. (I don’t know if I told you in the beginning but at first, he wasn’t able to walk for longer than a handful of minutes before he started walking on three legs) The ex-host family told me that I needed to extend his walking with a minute every week, doctors orders, just as the fifteen minutes out of the crate. I told them that I would not put him in the crate except during the night or when he really needed rest because most of the time he slept on one of his pillows or the ground. The crate is there to force him to take a break in case he oversteps his limits, not when you are too lazy to watch over him. That’s what they told me when you get tired of him just put him in the crate. yeah not happening. They couldn’t let him go after they were quiet for a week (the first week I had him back) they told me that yes they were still there. I also told them (obnoxious as they are) that I would not work with the one minute extra every week method. I said that if I saw that he walked badly I would not walk 15 minutes just because of some schedule. They didn’t agree with me but hey it’s my dog and he is with me so back off. 

I had a rough time getting him to stop grabbing shoes and other stuff that wasn’t his. He could play with his toys or run around crazy. He was so used to getting his way. The thing he had learned that when he broke something that he would get a treat. Not happening here, not that he wouldn’t get any treats, just not when he grabbed something that wasn’t his. 

I tried their eating method; his normal food drenched in water. (the smell should be irresistible) I put him in his crate with his food but nope. only after hours and hours and I mean he got 250 grams at 6 am at that was gone at 2 pm while he got his other 250 grams at 7 pm. So yeah not ideal. 

on top of that, his poop that had always been a bit soft had taken a turn for the worst. He had spray poo. It was a disaster. somewhere during this month he also pooped in his crate at 4 am and it was everywhere. on the wall, his pillow, his paws ,everywhere.  

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

the story of Glitch part two

exactly a month later (02/03/2018) I picked him up and not without reason. you see he should have stayed there until we had found ourselves a home where he was allowed and no friends or family wanted him. 

So I got an app saying that he had ripped off two strips of the floor. it was linoleum and apparently a pretty cheap one. the man was at that time with him in the room but hadn’t noticed (something I really don’t understand) after that message I got another one that he also broke two headphones, wool, a towel, a phone and he had damaged the couch. Excuse me? You tell me when you already have him with you in the house that you refuse to educate him in his behavior and you tell me that he will only be out of his crate for 15 min at a time. So how in the world was he able to destroy the floor?! Honestly I’m missing something here. Because of the long list they gave me I decided that it was time to pick him up. however, there was one little problem, I had no place where he could stay. We still hadn’t found a home. After a lot of emotional distress and talking my dad reluctantly agreed but only if I came back home to take care of him. Not a problem. So me and my dad picked Glitch up. I had told them over the app that to make sure he wouldn’t destroy anything else I would pick him up. They didn’t understand at all. they told me that the only thing they were concerned about was the floor and that they didn’t care about the rest. They simply forgot about the fact that they had said to me to not tell the insurance yet because it could happen again in the blink of an eye. I was done. They were saddened to let him go and didn’t understand why? I think they were mad that I directly picked him up. 

They called him their prince. (I really hate that nickname especially when people say that about someone else's dog/animal)  

when I got him back he weighed 28kg they put him in the bench when he needed to eat and then suddenly it was gone. They did not pay attention to him at all. At the beginning they were supposed to get to the vet to check on is ear and register the chip. They went but instead of only doing that, they brought back medicine because he supposedly had no cartilage. When I told this to my vet she asked if photos were made I said no. And peeps you can’t know about the cartilage without photos. So instead of a bill that said 30 bucks, I got one that said 83 bucks. Like that was not what we decided on plus I had asked that if it was going to be expensive I wanted to know beforehand, jerks.    

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

The story of Glitch part one

02/02/2018 Friday, after me moving in with my boyfriend I decided that I wanted to make one of my childhood dreams come true; a dog. One of the reasons was because I always loved dogs and the other one was because circumstances had made it necessary to give my horse away. I was feeling pretty hopeless. 

So on that fateful day, me and my boyfriend went to a kennel. They had over 90 different dog breeds. Yes I know I should have walked away... this couldn’t be a good place for a dog. But I just wanted to see the dogs. 

I probably should have known better especially because I had called them beforehand if they had any female german shepherds. they said yes. But when one of the staff members walked me to the shepherds it turned out they only had males. not one female... even though I had called three hours ago and no they had not sold any shepherds. Anyway, I looked. they had two boxes, one with pups that were 5 months old the other box housed two shepherds and two other breeds that were 9 months old. I decided then and there that if I didn’t buy a pup I would go for one of the older two. One had such a pointy nose that it looked just a little bit less friendly than the other so I decided for the other one to be brought out for a walk around the grounds and meet my bf’s dog. He wasn’t interested in Quay (the other dog) at all, he just walked around and sniffed the ground. But man what did he look bad. At first, I just thought that he had a severe case of hip dysplasia, and I fell in love. I knew full well that he wasn’t a 100% healthy but I wanted to offer him a better home anyway. So I bought him and brought him with me.  It was his first time in a car plus we were strangers, but he was totally fine with it! back home he wasn’t strong enough to walk the stairs to the apartment so we carried him. the next day he had pooped in his bench and when we let him out he immediately sat down and pooped again. mind you, he had diarrhea. Later on, he gave him something against worms and man a whole fistful of them came out! It was truly disgusting. after that, his poop started to get better a bit. At Monday we brought him to the vet to get checked, he was healthy, as in he had no illness, he did have an ear infection and was malnourished. he weighed 25 kg! 

He had a very hard time eating. His intestines were most likely a bit damaged because of the worms and needed time to heal. however, because of this, he refused to eat. he only ate when you kept putting his nose in it and even then it took him up to 2 hours everytime.  In total, I had him for a week before I had to give him away temporarily because apparently it wasn't allowed to have pets (something we hadn’t checked because my bf had a guide dog, I know stupid) a middle-aged couple took him in. 

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

shady guy

well, what to tell ya? he behaved rather nicely these past weeks so.

One of the things that I quite strange is that I have seen a guy with a gun walking on sports fields around 8 pm. I think he’s there to shoot bunnies but I’m pretty sure what he’s doing is illegal in the Netherlands. Plus it’s a place where dogs are allowed to walk off leash so he could easily hit a dog that’s running after a hare. not comforting at all. I love walking there it’s a 45 min walk and it’s a 2-minute drive from my house. 

But damn it that guy makes me uncomfortable. 

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

Why oh why is it such a big problem to leave him alone in the house? So last night I left the bench open (we were home just upstairs sleeping) I reasoned that if I did this while we were here he wouldn’t stress so no ruining stuff.

7 am, I am awake and waiting till he starts crying like he normally does when he’s in the bench. He doesn't start. I get suspicious and decide now that i’m awake anyway I’ll get up. and what do i find? No no stinky poop thank god and the house is pretty much still intact, so what is wrong you might think? Well my dear boy snatched the sunflower oil and drank it or at least a bit the rest he spread around the room. very. nice. NOT. So yeah that was a nice wake-up. I cleaned the floor first with a towel and after that with a bucket of warm water and another towel. luckily he was in no rush to go outside so I had all. So after an hour I’m finally done, the floor is still squeaky but not as bad as before.

[all-kin-haven]

[ Nature German Shepherd Kinboard for anon​ ]

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

love all these gorgeous pictures of a German shepherd

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

counter problems

So we kinda stopped with the barking, thank the heavens. But there is a catch, or a price we have to pay for that fact. (drum rolls) He decided that everything on the kitchen counter up was for grabs. As in EVERYTHING. A tea towel, frozen macaroni, you name it. The good news with this is that he feels like his hindquarters (do you name that the same as with horses? I don’t know) are strong enough to carry that weight. So I’m happy and frustrated, especially because he does this when I’m sitting on the other side of the room. 

[glitchthegermanshepherd]

Barking

So I have the odd feeling that this blog is getting more and more dedicated to my dog Glitch, probably because he does the most stuff.

Yesterday we stumbled upon our first real problem with him. Barking. Around 11 pm we went to bed and he was back in his bench with Quay right next to him on his own pillow. Just like normal. while we were upstairs he started barking like crazy, I checked on him thrice even let him out of the bench and going for another walk. The weirdest thing was that he was fixated on our front door but nobody was there, not even the automatic light (sensory) was on. After the walk, I put him back in it because we do not trust him to not take a shit somewhere during the night. Anyway, he started again. and again. In the end, we all ignored him and eventually, he slept. During the 1 1/2 months, we have him he has never done this. Today he started again, barking at absolutely nothing/everything. That person walking past the house? bark. A vehicle riding past? bark. 

I have no idea why he just started doing this now. My biggest concern is the neighbors, in our contract, it is mentioned that there are no pets allowed. Our two dogs are an exception. This makes me damn nervous because if we can’t figure out how to get him to stop barking then there is bound to be someone who starts to complain. Like what if I have to bring him to a shelter because we can’t get him to stop. 

I know you may think that I’m overreacting because he only started this yesterday but right now I’m still living with my parents where pets are allowed and the neighbors are super nice. But there? I have no idea who our neighbors are! So maybe they start complaining the moment he barks. I have literally no idea. That scares the living shit out of me. I do not want to lose him. 

For your info we are planning to move in about two weeks. So we have to do something about this now. 

[esjuustuff]

Accident

today something unexpected happened. No, it wasn’t particularly funny.

Glitch now almost a year (12 April 2017) has done it again. He peed on his blanket! So before you start judging him or me, let me remind you of the fact that I only have him since February. Even that is not totally true cause he went to stay with some folks for 2 ½ week. Before that, he was stuck in a kennel, no bigger than a horse’s box, with three other big dogs. He had absolutely no training.

Anyway, he was playing with Quay, just like always when suddenly my mom says to me: “Can you check that out? He was standing weird and I have a feeling he might have peed.” And yup that was totally the case. I have no idea why he did that, it was 8:00 pm, for your info he went for a walk at 4:30 pm, these days he goes for a walk at 5:00 pm and after that 10:30 pm. That is a much bigger difference. Maybe it was the excitement, I don’t really know but it sure as hell wasn’t fun.