Since we discussed leaving Oscar’s harness on all the time or taking it off, I’ve been taking it off for bedtime. I’ll take off after I take him out for the last time. The Dachshund Delights harnesses have a lot of very grippy velcro on them and, with Oscar being afraid of everything, he does not like the sound of the harness strips being separated. If Oscar doesn’t like something . . let’s just say he is quick to make his feelings known. The first couple of nights I was taking it off, he thought about snapping at me but thankfully, didn’t. The first morning I went to put it back on, it took about four tries and that was a lot of velcro being separated. Vince said “We just can’t do this every day!” I told Vince the more we do it, the easier it will be.
I’m not going to say it’s easy but he no longer almost bites me. He is so afraid of everything. It isn’t that he’s being mean . . he’s just scared. I don’t give him a treat (kibble) when I take it off him but I do when he’s still for me to get it back on him.
It’s easier on me to stick him in the bed to put the harness back on. If I hold him, he’s trying to get away. I usually have on shorts and his nails dig into my legs. He seen very nervous about the edge of the bed so I don’t have to worry so much about him jumping off the bed and his nails are not digging into my legs so our routine is that as soon as I get up, even before taking him out, I retrieve him from the crate, put him in the bed, put the harness on and then we go out.
What’s funny is that on his back, just towards the back from his front legs, he has some longer, curly, almost wiry hair. There was at least one long haired pup in his litter so it looks like in that one spot, he got some weird hair.
When we first got him, his hair was so soft – really like a cotton ball. I guess that’s normal for puppies. Everyone who touched him commented on how soft his hair was. Then, it seemed like overnight, he had regular dog hair. It isn’t hard or wiry but it just feels like normal dog hair . . except this one spot.
Some of Speck’s white hair was longer than his dark hair too but his all had the same texture.
The weirdest thing Oscar does has to do with his water/food bowls. They’re in a little stand so they’re raised up a bit. I keep them against the wall at one end of the room. He’ll get to playing and chasing things and at least half a dozen times each day, he’ll knock something into those bowls and it moves them away from the wall a bit. He barks in the loudest, most shrill voice . . non-stop . . til I get up and push those bowls back against the wall. Why does that bother him when they’re in the wrong spot? Wish I had a little of that OCD when it comes to keeping things where they belong! 🙂
Arrowhead Gramma says
When Oscar’s harness is taken off at bed time, does he have a regular collar with an ID tag to wear? Reason being, if there was an emergency during the night and you had to get out of the house ASAP, Oscar would have no ID if he happened to get loose. Just a thought.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s a very good point. No, he doesn’t have on a collar or any ID without his harness. Our dogs have always kept their harnesses on all the time. It didn’t seem to be bothering Oscar at night so I may just leave it on him all the time. It’s more like a little jacket than a traditional harness. Without a collar, I’d have no way to get a leash on him during the night so . . harness is staying on. Thanks for pointing that out.
Cilla says
Or, when you have him neutered chip him at the same time
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I think I will do that. I’ve never had a dog chipped before but I’d never forgive myself if he got loose and wasn’t chipped.
Cindy F says
Dogs are so funny about some things and it’s interesting to hear about Oscar’s quirks. Our lab has many, one of which is he doesn’t like having a fly in the house. If one comes in he heads down to the basement and hangs out there. Silly to see an 80 lb dog hurry away like that….lol
judy.blog@gmail.com says
It’s so funny that a lab would want to get away from a fly! I guess they all have their little quirks.
Nelle Coursey says
Our dogs love it when we put their harnesses on them. One thing Bella loves to do is watch TV. There is one U-Tube channel that she hates, and she will scratch until we let her out or until it goes off. That is Mike Fisher when he does the “Fish Report” on the Dallas Cowboys! So far that is the only one she dislikes! Guess she doesn’t like the Cowboys! I think there are a lot of people who agree with Bella!
Adrienne Cleave says
Don’t have a basement but our lab goes tearing upstairs if a fly gets in the house AND we have to prove to him that we’ve killed it before he’ll come down again
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That is too funny – probably not for him or for you but just hearing about it and having a vision of a big lab running to get away from a fly cracks me up.