The pet culture in Hungary

We've recently acquired a dog.

Here's are representative costs associated with it:

50K HUF for the dog itself (pure Gold Retriever)
30K+ HUF for vaccinations (compulsory rabies) (guesstimate)
18K HUF every say 5-6 weeks for giant bag of food (mail order from Slovakia)
40K HUF for spaying
5K HUF for dog chip
25K HUF for other mutt stuff

That's over a period of about 5 or 6 months.

I love seeing all the little apartment dogs in Budapest . Usually being carried by their owners.
when I feel settled enough I might have one but alas that might never be .
I will make mine walk tho

anns wrote:

I love seeing all the little apartment dogs in Budapest . Usually being carried by their owners.
when I feel settled enough I might have one but alas that might never be .
I will make mine walk tho

"Apartment Dogs" - seen that movie, was a sequel to "Reservoir Dogs".

I don't know why people have those sorts of yappy little dogs. 

Seems hardly worth it as they aren't proper dogs like dogs with jobs.

I do appreciate that some people find them a friend and comfort.

I also LOVE dogs, working dogs to me are the best.
I also  feel bad for "city dogs" they need to be able to dig into the earth and feel that they have a purpose in life other then being " arm candy". They need to ground with the earth, can't do much of that in the city.

I resisted having a dog when we had a house and yard but finally broke down and got one.
A working dog, a Doberman who I made sure used all his mental and physical abilities by placing him into classes and giving him a large yard to guard, he had a mission in life.
My older sister has 3 tiny house dogs, yappers I call them.
She loves them but to my mind they are a waste of space.
Humans have pervered dogs into "things"to show off rather then respecting that they have a natural purpose in life's cycle and need a mission of their own.
In our house many people have their "dog slaves" which get to feel the asphalt  when their "owners" think it is time to allow them to get outdoors.
Sick stuff really, more like they are alive to make their owners feel good about themselves then to live a life worth living.
Animals need to ground with the earth daily by walking on soil and being allowed to run free and walk  within boundaires.
When we moved to HIlo and had 40 acres of land we let our beloved Dobbie run free.
Yes, I was worried he may be in trouble or hurt at times but as long as he came home for dinner every night all was well.
Cuts, scraps and minor injuries happened due to his exploring but we knew he was living a dogs life and enjoying every moment of his freedom.
City dogs are prisoners of their owners.
Our friend became a house dog in his twilight years not because we wanted to limit his experience but that was the situation we could offer him.
I think it's a crime to have a young wild healthy pet in a small apt.
Sad, they just smell up the city and live a life that only pleases their masters.
I would love to enjoy having another healthy free animal but not at  the life stage .Getting too old myself to give them the most they deserve to have.
I instead got myself a " stuffed pet pig" serves the same purpose of "comfort" as a house /apt. city dwelling slave does. At least he doesn't squirm when he is packed in a suitcase.
Can't really put a price on freedom. as a pet ages though the costs rise to the sky if one is actually giving them the best they can give.
Animals suffer the same sorts of issues that elderly people do although it happens allot earlier then in humans.
I personally can not take the emotional pain every 10 or so years of seeing them suffer and pass away.
Perhaps someday sometime if I ever own a large ranch, there would be a place for a few working dogs.
I believe pets have their own level of intelligence and need to be of good use to be happy, sitting around waiting for a walk and treats is not using all they can give or be.
My cousin has 3 dogs and all are in the Purina Dog Agility Comps.
They have a purpose to show how dogs can interact with humans and  reach goals.
My cus often posts her runs online and her dogs are having even more fun then she is.
Every pet needs to be more then just an accessory .
Rant over..
Oh yes, back on topic.
My MIL lived years in Erd. 2 of her dogs were poisoned by a sicko neighbor and one died by eating a bone.
Several of her cats were also murdered by the same neighbor with poison.
No one ever confronted that old witch other then me. I called her out face to face but unfortunatly we didn't speak the same language.
( side note: this "women" "witch" or demon also had a husband who died with some sort of odd stomach condition...hmmm... talk of the then village, crazy I know! People were uncomfortable going further with this issue.)
I did call her cat killer to her face and wondered why her expression dropped...
Whatever, no one would translate for me, guess not everyone wishes to call a spade a spade.
I also had my husband stop our car when he noticed a group of Gypsy boys drownding a kitten in a back yard tub. After I told them to stop and I was going to call the cops I noticed about 6 to 8 grown men standing near by, they all turned and ran towards me. I hopped in the Audi and off we went. I asked my husband to look for the kitten who had run away druing the maylay but he said no way, I asked him to call the police in Erd but he said on a rainy Sunday no cops were going to come out over a kitten.
I also kept tabs on a few chained up dogs in Erd that I ntoiced crying in back yards, nothing good happened and no one would listen to my cries.

I forced my elderly MIL to get 2 of her cats fixed and I sat up all night long with one of them after surgery.
Not great here at least not from my old experience of 14 years ago here.
No way would I enjoy subjecting my pet to the medical care here, just would never feel right about it, bad enough from my own personal experiences in Hospital in HU, can't imagine how pets are treated here.
There is a Vet school near our flat, not sure what care is offered there but I have heard they have a clinic open to the public for medical care of pets for low cost. It is located off of Rottenbiller in the 7th district.

Pets are a treasured family member in much of Budapest, and more often working dogs in rural areas.  Budapest also takes into consideration dog owners as there are plentiful dog parks in most kerulets.  I literally have 5 dog parks within a 10-minute walk of my house.
Dogs are not inexpensive if cared for properly.  I have seen some mistreated and nearly abandoned dogs in both rural and urban environments and it is awful.  I can only hope it is pricing that prevents the owners from taking their dogs in for care.  Fluffy has listed some prices that are typical. Something to note is that the rabies vaccine is mandatory yearly. In the US, you can get a 3-year rabies vaccine, in most of Europe a 2-year vaccine, but Hungary says that since they border some countries where rabies is more prevalent, they have a yearly vaccination schedule.
Many restaurants in Bp are very pet friendly. Some will bring a dog bowl of water out with my order. Sensitive to other patrons, I try to only bring my dog to outdoor cafe areas.  But some restaurants don't even mind bringing my dog inside.
Perhaps my dog is on the special side as she is a basenji who cannot bark, does not shed much, and is only 9kgs of attitude and love. She presents herself well.  I can't see Fluffy sitting at a table in a restaurant with his fully grown Goldie sitting on his lap, patiently waiting for food to be passed. :-)

Vicces1 wrote:

Pets are a treasured family member in much of Budapest, and more often working dogs in rural areas.  ......... I can only hope it is pricing that prevents the owners from taking their dogs in for care.  Fluffy has listed some prices that are typical. Something to note is that the rabies vaccine is mandatory yearly. In the US, you can get a 3-year rabies vaccine, in most of Europe a 2-year vaccine, but Hungary says that since they border some countries where rabies is more prevalent, they have a yearly vaccination schedule....  But some restaurants don't even mind bringing my dog inside....
Perhaps my dog is on the special side as she is a basenji who cannot bark, does not shed much, and is only 9kgs of attitude and love. She presents herself well.  I can't see Fluffy sitting at a table in a restaurant with his fully grown Goldie sitting on his lap, patiently waiting for food to be passed. :-)

Never seen a basenji before. Interesting looking dog.   I always liked the Kuvasz but I think it would be too much of a handful.

I didn't actually know about that rabies vaccine being each year so that' something to do.  Our dog is not even 1 year old so that's something to get Mrs Fluffy on to in about 6 months.  Mrs Fluffy is the dog administration/paperwork expert.   

I think many people simply don't bother with caring for the animals properly in Hungary - especially in the countryside.  They are just objects either running wild or chained up.  If it dies, then they just get another one.  And country vets, no, culturally I don't think so.  If the dog had value, like a cow or horse then yes, get the vet.

I've never been to a restaurant in HU that allows dogs inside but many have bowls outside for water which is a nice thought.  Even though I like dogs, I would object to dogs without jobs (guide dogs fine, comfort dogs, no) being inside a restaurant.   Dogs aren't humans and they have no qualms about rifling through piles of garbage or even other animal waste and then trying to lick you or worse passing on diseases to your very young children.  We even saw our dog eating horse dung! Bit risky as dogs can carry eye blinding worm larvae Toxocara Canis.   

One thing we have done which others in Hungary should do - and many don't despite the opportunity and ease of doing simple stuff - is to train their dog.   It doesn't even take that long to do.  Most dogs are easily smart enough to get the idea quickly and can obey basic commands when motivated - usually by food and other play objects like a favourite ball.  A trained dog with a job is going to be a happy dog and certainly a much happier owner.  Knowing the rules is going to mean the dog can concentrate on what it does best - helping humans.

We've trained our dog at to a certain level so far (commands in mixed English and Hungarian and we can also do some hand signals). Motivation is bribery (using small pieces of biscuits - too much, too fat) or playing with a ball.  Our dog sometimes really gets it and even now anticipates what's coming next.   It always gets it quickly if there's food.  It might just be bored following "the rules" so needs motivation.

Quite surprising to me is that this particular dog looks like it currently sees it as buying into the cooperation rather than an alpha dog (human)/pack member arrangement. It doesn't seem to appreciate pointless activities or tricks. 

But nevertheless, we're working mainly on getting a vocabulary we can build on.

So far we can get our dog to:

Sit (command in both English and Hungarian and hand signal)
Lay down (command and hand signals)
Walk in a circles (command and hand signals)
Shake hands
Bark on command (and also go in and out the house)
Ask for food (just barking really sitting next to bowl and barking)

We're working on:

Stay (partially she gets it)
Roll over (she hasn't got this completely)
Fetch (this is proving rather difficult outside - gets it inside for some reason)
Come (also by whistling, selectively listens currently)
Walk to heel with and without lead (proving difficult but getting better)
Stop at junctions

Plans for future:

Find person or object (for example by scent) (should be easy)

Distant future:

Tackling obstacle courses

Your comment about dogs inside restaurants is exactly why we prefer to stay outside. It is unfair for me to force my dog on others inside. She is fine sitting on my lap outside.

Tons of dogs here in Budapest walk with their owners without a leash. I only do that in large grounds with no cars -- Varosliget or Margit Sziget because my dog is intensely curious and would have no hesitancy to run after something -- right in front of a car.  But again, tons of owners do that and the dogs know not to venture into the streets and stay with their owners.

A Goldie is very focused on its owner and is very food motivated. My basenji always asks, "What's in it for me?" if I want her to do something. She almost couldn't care less about what I want unless she gets a treat.  Tons of personality!  Difficult to train...

Vicces1 wrote:

Your comment about dogs inside restaurants is exactly why we prefer to stay outside. It is unfair for me to force my dog on others inside. She is fine sitting on my lap outside.

Tons of dogs here in Budapest walk with their owners without a leash. I only do that in large grounds with no cars -- Varosliget or Margit Sziget because my dog is intensely curious and would have no hesitancy to run after something -- right in front of a car.  But again, tons of owners do that and the dogs know not to venture into the streets and stay with their owners.

A Goldie is very focused on its owner and is very food motivated. My basenji always asks, "What's in it for me?" if I want her to do something. She almost couldn't care less about what I want unless she gets a treat.  Tons of personality!  Difficult to train...

I don't think many dogs can walk next to the owners without a lead and stop and sit down at junctions.  I have seen dogs doing it but I think they are heavily trained or really old and don't want to chase cars.   Most dogs I have seen out my way are throughly misbehaved and don't even obey basic commands.   You see them all pulling their owners around on the lead.

I agree, the "what's in for me" seems to be a personality trait with some dogs.  Others will do whatever the owner wants without complaints or even rewards.  Not sure who is smarter, the dogs wanting something or the very obedient ones trying to weedle their way into the owner's affections.  Golden Retrievers really do want to hang out with everyone.  They beg for attention all the time.   

Problem with too many treats is that it means weight gain.   The thing I  believe to do is reinforce by food every so often but put in a substitute like a rubbery chewy bone so the dog is keep on its toes (or paws) - so it's not sure if it's biscuit or rubbery toy.

Different breeds do have different personality traits and need to be trained according to their breed.
My cousin has 3 dogs now in AKC runs.
One is a newbie young pup and they have already had her in a AKC novice "Trick" class and a grad novice comp as well.
Their other two are in the Purina Dog Challenge shows on Animal Planet all the time.
One of her kids is Pippa Rose, suppose people in the dog world would know about her, she has won allot of shows, probably going to get old soon and slow down a bit.

She and her husband have a trainer they work with and they also work their "kids" all the time. Their entire back yard is a AKC standard run.
They do not have "human" children, their dogs seem to be their life.
That's an extreme though, not many people have to time energy or means to go that far with training.

I worked my Doberman with the very strict Willam Koller training classes.
Was really strict , used to make me cry at times following the rules.
Once a week classes with a tough Rottie loving women who wore "nurse shoes" you can imagine how strict and hard she was with those nurse shoes on, all business.
Then it was 5 days of home training for hours with one day off a week.
Was a 2 month class followed up by a grad novice 6 week get the kinks out class.
My Max could walk off lead, sit when I came to a stop, lay down on command and not move but I still didn't 100% trust him on a busy street without being on lead.
He was sweet but goofy for a Dobie, they do say pets pick up on their owners personalities...guess I can be goofy at times as well.
Some breeds need treats and some need a good choke chain to learn.
My trainer once took my beloved Max by the throat and held him so tight my his neck that he got sick to his tummy afterwards, he tried to take a bite out of her when she had corrected something he did in class. ( she held him by his choke chain which we had to use for training in her class)
He had broken his command and was trying to mate with a female dog from class..oops...
I was brought to tears but let it go because she knew her stuff and I was paying for her expert training.
He never tried anything like that with anyone ever again.Biting that is.. had to get him "fixed" for the other issue.
She was worst with another dog in class and was tough with her own 3 Rotties.
I'm glad he went through that strict class because he was a large dog and I needed him to think I could control him, little did he know he could walk all over me if he tried to.
He once ran after a cat when he was only 6 months old and half way dislocated my right should because I refused to let him go, he pulled me down a busy street for nearly a block before I grabbed onto a tree limb to stop our mad run.
I enrolled him into training as soon as I got a bit healthier, had many doc visits because of that run of his.

Hurts to this very day, one needs to have full control or it's not fair to the pets or the public.
I can't stand to see people walking their dog with the dog walking the owner on a long lead.
Just not respecting how smart their pets could be and how well they could act if they had some training.
It's like a child, if you love them you teach them how to act and behave for their own good.
If you see a small human with a large dog you can count on that dog having been well trained, hope so at least. They have to know you are the boss because some dogs are so strong you wouldn't believe they could take down a 200 lb. man if they wanted to.
I get upset when seeing dogs walking out of control because you know the owner has no way of holding them back if they get over excited. Dangerous really to have a untrained powerhouse dog.
I just looked online about that Purina Incredible Dog Challenge.
Guess my cousin's Pippa does the agility challenge.
Weird how into this stuff some people can get.
Perhaps later they can breed these winners and recoup some of their investment or it's just one expensive hobby. Hotels, sign up fees trainers, my cousin even posts 30-40 at a time professional photos of her "children" some with their ribbons and some in custom made outfits. Sort of nutty to go that far but suppose one shouldn't judge.
A good obedience class is enough for most people to do.For the dogs at least.

The William Koehler training method.
Misspelling his name, old style and hard core way of training.
He trained the Disney movie dogs.

Saw allot of dogs at the city park this past Sunday.
Such a beautiful day for a stroll in the park.
Most dogs were on their leads but one mid sized , about 45 lbs puppy gave me a tiny bit of a surprize.
So much construction going on in the park where we had to weave in between a wire fence with turns.
Came around the bend and that dog was right there almost ready to jump up on me.
He was off lead and his owner/parent was a good 15 feet away.
I could tell it was a friendly dog but still sort of a shock with his teeth barred and tongue hanging out right there in front of me.
The young man had the lead in his hands, allot of good that would do if the dog decided to go rogue.
All good but the young man didn't even say a peep , didn't call his dog or say a word to me... weird...
I don't trust any dog I haven't trained myself, sorry witnessed my friend being torn apart when we were aged 6-7 years old by a pit bull... Not a good memory.
100 stitches later I guess perhaps even she has gotten over it more then I have.
We sat in the shade for a spell and watched a nearby dog obedience class being held in Hungarian.
Looked like there was more dogs pulling their female owners about then actual obedience going on .
It was a treat based lesson,I always wondered what to do if you don't have treats on hand, will your dog not listen?
It defo was not a William Koehler class.

After seeing that rather dis organized obedience class yesterday in the park, I looked back on the Koehler style of training that I learned in 1986.
This training is over 70 years old, Mr. Koehler has long since passed on .
He trained many of the dogs for Disney studios and for major movies.
I remember we were also being trained as pet owners from the moment we gathered in class.
Not once was any dog allowed to break a command or pull without getting corrected that second on the spot.
We started out be using a 30 foot long lunge line of rope with a choke chain.
Nothing was said to our pets we just walked, if they didn't learn to take our lead and not their own ,then their poor necks would get a huge tug.
Over time they learned to watch us and not the other way around.
The line was weekly shortened until we put them on a 6 foot leather lead.
Always had to have slack in the lead, if the pet started to pull we would turn fast the other direction and take their heads with us.
Was strict but effective. It was a bit hard to watch at first, lots of people would look twice because the dogs were held into account and from the outside it almost looked cruel, I figured it was more cruel to have a dog that could possibly run into the road or jump on a stranger or worst yet, bite someone.
My dog never did learn to fetch anything, he was a guard dog and his personality wasn't that sort of playful. Every single toy he had became tattered into nothing.
Throw him a ball and he would just tear it to bits.
He could of course heal, walk on and off lead, drop on recall, sit stay lay down. stay while I walked out of his view without moving and most important he learned to not try to hump female dogs when the mood hit him. He really couldn't roll over, Dobbies are very deep chested dogs and they just aren't rollers.
I was thinking of going much further with is training because it became allot of fun for both of us over time.
I soon realized that it could soon turn into a sort of cult thing, so many people were so into training that it got to be more then a hobby but a lifestyle, like with my cousin and her 3 dogs in shows all the time.
It was good enough to not have him dislocating my body whenever something caught his eye and he would try to grab it by running off. He loved trying to catch cats.
I hardly ever allowed him off lead unless we were at the beach or a large park, his breed often scared people and I wanted to protect my pet from overly aggressive humans.
He walked like he was glued to my left side, was perfect, would sit when we stopped at a light and get up on call.
One word only had to be used for each command, no over talking, begging or trying to be his friend when we went out.Hand signal was for stay but all other commands were verbal.Stay was both verbal and signal, important to make sure they don't move when they shouldn't.
Play time was at home and in public he was trained to behave and to always take my lead.
Miss him, don't think I have the willpower or energy to train another dog like he was trained.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

After seeing that rather dis organized obedience class yesterday in the park, I looked back on the Koehler style of training that I learned in 1986.
This training is over 70 years old, Mr. Koehler has long since passed on .
He trained many of the dogs for Disney studios and for major movies.
I remember we were also being trained as pet owners from the moment we gathered in class.
Not once was any dog allowed to break a command or pull without getting corrected that second on the spot.
We started out be using a 30 foot long lunge line of rope with a choke chain.
Nothing was said to our pets we just walked, if they didn't learn to take our lead and not their own ,then their poor necks would get a huge tug.
Over time they learned to watch us and not the other way around.
The line was weekly shortened until we put them on a 6 foot leather lead.
Always had to have slack in the lead, if the pet started to pull we would turn fast the other direction and take their heads with us.
Was strict but effective. It was a bit hard to watch at first, lots of people would look twice because the dogs were held into account and from the outside it almost looked cruel, I figured it was more cruel to have a dog that could possibly run into the road or jump on a stranger or worst yet, bite someone.
....

Interesting technique with the lead length. 

I was wondering about using a choke chain.  I don't know if it was really cruel or not.  Mrs Fluffy and I have thought about it and I think we'll just have to do it despite my concern there might be another way.   

As I've alluded to before, our dog (like your Doberman) I consider as a dog with job(s) - guard the house and make a noise, play with the kids and supervise security for our other livestock - including our future alpacas.   In fact all dogs are dogs with jobs even if the job is keeping a human company while being dressed in silly clothes.  No excuse for bad behaviour really.

The dog needs to know what it cannot do and I cannot think of another way for it to make sure it walks to heel other than a choke chain.  I think it'll get the message in 5 minutes.

Choke chains were mandatory for the classes I had my Doberman enrolled in.
I later was told by the instructor that in my case, I needed a pinch collar!!
My dog was far too strong and big for me.
It didn't hurt him one bit if he was not misbehaving.
Like I wrote, it looked cruel but it really wasn't.
He had to learn to walk with slack in his lead or else..
At home he was free as a bird ( I used to let our bird fly out of his cage inside).Just needed him to act "normal" in public and not act the fool.
You could tell he was proud of himself in the end.Dogs are smarter then we give them credit for.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Choke chains were mandatory for the classes I had my Doberman enrolled in.
I later was told by the instructor that in my case, I needed a pinch collar!!
My dog was far too strong and big for me.
It didn't hurt him one bit if he was not misbehaving.
Like I wrote, it looked cruel but it really wasn't.
He had to learn to walk with slack in his lead or else..
At home he was free as a bird ( I used to let our bird fly out of his cage inside).Just needed him to act "normal" in public and not act the fool.
You could tell he was proud of himself in the end.Dogs are smarter then we give them credit for.

Yes, sure if it's slack then it's fine.   I am not sure what a pinch collar is so I'll have to look that up.  Probably it does the same as pinching when puppies try and bite too much.  In the normal puppy play, the offended puppy would nip the offender back.  So that's just normal socialisation.   

Dogs are funny creatures. I don't know if they feel proud in the same way we might.  I think they really just want to be in our pack.  If they are "in" and comply with the norms, then they are happy whatever they are doing.

A pinch collar is like a choke chain on steroids.
has rather sharp ends that go into the neck if under pressure.
My big Dobbie once broke his choke chain, that's how thick necked and tough he was.
I measured his neck a few time to buy him new leather collars, got up to 22 inches and all muscle. Had a 38 inch deep chest, was 108 lbs.
I was not more then 20 lbs heavier then he was, no muscle either. skin and bones mostly.
One tug from him and I would go flying.
I needed some way to control him because he was much more powerful then I was.
He got off the pinch collar after he was trained better.
Of course a choke chain is only used while in training, never to be worn full time.
Yes, some dogs cop an attitude about themselves. My sister had an Afgan Hound and my friend has 2 of them, they are very vain.
Dobermans like to show they know what is going on but then they decide to not let you be the boss, it's a game with them.
Always have to earn their respect as pack leader.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

A pinch collar is like a choke chain on steroids.
has rather sharp ends that go into the neck if under pressure.
My big Dobbie once broke his choke chain, that's how thick necked and tough he was.
I measured his neck a few time to buy him new leather collars, got up to 22 inches and all muscle. Had a 38 inch deep chest, was 108 lbs.
I was not more then 20 lbs heavier then he was, no muscle either. skin and bones mostly.
One tug from him and I would go flying.
I needed some way to control him because he was much more powerful then I was.
He got off the pinch collar after he was trained better.
Of course a choke chain is only used while in training, never to be worn full time.
Yes, some dogs cop an attitude about themselves. My sister had an Afgan Hound and my friend has 2 of them, they are very vain.
Dobermans like to show they know what is going on but then they decide to not let you be the boss, it's a game with them.
Always have to earn their respect as pack leader.

That's a big heavyweight dog.  Sharp ends into the dog's neck sounds horrible.  I think we'll have to get a choke chain first before upping the discipline to direct pain.

Probably the pack leader thing is simply jockeying for position.  I think all dogs would do that given the chance.  It's really such a competitive environment at such a basic and animal level.   

My own dog is a creep. It wants to be your friend and it tries to weedle its way into your affections to confirm the relationship. 

If you sound annoyed with it, it immediately lies down and rolls on its back to be subservient. It does it whenever it meets a person or another dog that's more extrovert and keen on dominating. It gives up immediately, even with the smallest dogs.

It's almost pathetic!

My Dobie looked mean and tough but was a silly baby and afraid of small dogs.
Dogs his size he would growl at but tiny dogs made him afraid.
One neighbor had a super tiny dog named,"killer" barely was 6 inches tall.
One day he came up close to my big Max and barked at him.
My Max coward  in fear and moaned, so embarrassing!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

My Dobie looked mean and tough but was a silly baby and afraid of small dogs.
Dogs his size he would growl at but tiny dogs made him afraid.
One neighbor had a super tiny dog named,"killer" barely was 6 inches tall.
One day he came up close to my big Max and barked at him.
My Max coward  in fear and moaned, so embarrassing!

Haha, well, seems like our doggy is not alone.   

We've got a kind of musical doorbell and our doggy goes absolutely bananas when someone rings it. I could explain it by saying it's a sudden noise and possibly has ultrasonic noise in it which is very disturbing for her.

Our doggy is also really afraid of szikvíz/soda water bottles.  She goes bonkers and runs around in a panic when we show her the bottle.

No explanation for that I can see  other than the myth that dogs and cats don't like plastic bottles with water in them.  People leave them on their lawns and around their cars.  I don't see how it can work.  My neighbour has them around his car to stop the martens chewing his pipes.

I was not aware of dogs disliking water bottles.
Of course it's been ages since my Maxi checked out.
Dogs are silly lovely beings.
How could anyone not like a dog?
I personally don't always like the owners but that is not the dogs fault.
ATM my Max is still doing his job, guarding our storage unit in Vegas.
Had him cremated... In spirit he never left us.
I know, that's a bit weird.
We used to have a "doggie door" in our old home in S. Ca.
Max would barrel through the door at break neck speed at all hours of the day or night.
He had a room of his own in the house with a 90 degree view of our property, if he heard anything or thought something was up, he would run outside in a flash.
Didn't matter if it was 10 am or 3 am, he was out the door.
Have to give him credit for leaving his warm bed in his own room to check out what noise was going on in the middle of the night.
We had one issue with him, he would bark his head off whenever we went into our swimming pool.
He was afraid we would get into trouble in the water.
When he was still a pup it was fall season.
We had a cover on our swimming pool.
We all were getting dressed to go to the park and take him with us.
He was in the back yard ,
I heard a noise but thought he was playing with one of his new toys.
Finally I looked out near the pool.
He had fallen into the pool and was barely hanging on for his life on the edge.
We pulled him out, poor puppy, his  paws were bleeding from all the effort to hang on.
After that he never liked anyone near the water.
He was terrified of the water but still came close up to try and pull us out.
I had to always put him indoors when we swam just to keep him from freaking out.
Sweet how hard he tried to warn us of water danger.

BTW, I just looked in the pet shop (Fressnapf) and a choke chain - more like a choke collar - costs just over HUF 3100. 

They are quite "soft" compared to other versions I've seen in the past.

Not at all like I remember them to be.

Our doggy was swimming in Balaton yesterday and now it smells of wet dog (it's dried out) but still smells a bit. 

Any advice from furry friend lovers on de-ponging the dog?

I used to overwash my Dobbie by giving him a warm bath in the tub.
He wasn't insane about it but went with the program.
Not sure but maybe a dusting with baking soda might kill some of the "aroma" without having to give a full on bath?
I used Paul Mitchell premium shampoo on my Max followed by a cream rinse..., poor guy ,,smelled great though until his next romp in the park.
I also bought a toothbrush for dogs and brushed his teeth so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I also trained my dog to wait to get his feet washed and dried after a muddy walk before coming into the house.
he also knew which room he was allowed in and which were off limits to him.
Once he was running in the house and he went into a skid when he stopped, his front paws hit my living room carpet and he made a loud noise like to say," Sorry, couldn't help myself".
He was a inside dog as well as having access all the time to his back yard, couldn't live with those tiny black dog hairs all over in every room so he had to learn where he could go and where he couldn't go inside.
Only on "special" holidays he could go into the living room and he never went into our bedrooms,he had his own room in the house.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I used to overwash my Dobbie by giving him a warm bath in the tub.
He wasn't insane about it but went with the program.
Not sure but maybe a dusting with baking soda might kill some of the "aroma" without having to give a full on bath?
I used Paul Mitchell premium shampoo on my Max followed by a cream rinse..., poor guy ,,smelled great though until his next romp in the park.
I also bought a toothbrush for dogs and brushed his teeth so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I also trained my dog to wait to get his feet washed and dried after a muddy walk before coming into the house.
he also knew which room he was allowed in and which were off limits to him.
Once he was running in the house and he went into a skid when he stopped, his front paws hit my living room carpet and he made a loud noise like to say," Sorry, couldn't help myself".
He was a inside dog as well as having access all the time to his back yard, couldn't live with those tiny black dog hairs all over in every room so he had to learn where he could go and where he couldn't go inside.
Only on "special" holidays he could go into the living room and he never went into our bedrooms,he had his own room in the house.

I always thought human shampoos would wash out any oils in the dog's coat and make it less waterproof or protected in some way or the dog will lick shampoo off.   Baking soda might be aggressive but it'd certainly kill any smells.   

Doggy is moulting as well which is a nuisance. 

I think choose a good sunny and warm day,  do a good brushing, possibly a pre-wash hoovering, then a hose down warm rinse followed by a shampoo with something dog suitable then another rinse and let it dry naturally.    I don't think the dog will stand still long enough to dry it with a hair dryer. 

I'm thinking of taking it to a kutya kosmetika?

Goldens probably need more brushing then a Dobbie.
I used to purchase special doggie shampoos but after reading the contents they are also full of chems. I used a baby shampoo from Paul Mitchell.
When we first got our dog he was suffering with skin issues. He had mange which I was told he picked up through his mother's milk.
Had to buy a shampoo from the vet made to kill mange, was very expensive but it worked. He also had kennel cough when we took him. Had to get him well before we could train him etc.
At the time he was very costly, could of bought a Dobie with papers for what we spent on him.
He was a rescue Dobbie so not a lot of info on where he came from. He was found alone at age 4 months old in the hills, just dumped there.
Losers who did that!!
He was beautiful but not of show quality, he looked great but was too tall and large for breed standards and his eyes were a lighter shade of brown then standard AKC. We all guessed some breeder just wasn't happy with him, he may of been the runt of the liter but for us he was the best we could hope for.
There might be some dry dog shampoos on the market for next lake day.

I'm sure they have a formula with natural items found in the kitchen.
Corn starch  with baking soda or something like that. Rub it into the fur and then give a good brushing to remove odor and dust, dander and such.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Goldens probably need more brushing then a Dobbie.

Goldens shed a lot. I have a hand loop brush (that is a brush with a loop that I slip over my hand so the brush becomes the "palm" of my hand). And since my dog loves getting petted and stroked, I just stroke him with that once a day during the major shedding period and it is good.

Then I vacuum up the ton of hair all over the floor, all around the house, that I miss from this method.... Oy vey.....

klsallee wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Goldens probably need more brushing then a Dobbie.

Goldens shed a lot. I have a hand loop brush (that is a brush with a loop that I slip over my hand so the brush becomes the "palm" of my hand). And since my dog loves getting petted and stroked, I just stroke him with that once a day during the major shedding period and it is good.

Then I vacuum up the ton of hair all over the floor, all around the house, that I miss from this method.... Oy vey.....

Those kind of brushes I think are used for horse grooming.

The house is not such a problem for the vacuum cleaner but the car, definitely Oy Vey.   The rear of the car is a hair magnet. 

We're using sticky clothes bits removers but it seems to be non-stop.

They have different brushes for different sorts of coats.
A German Shepard has a double coat and so do many other breeds, they require more brushing to get to the thick undercoat which they shed in warmer months.
I had a glove that fit over the hand like a mitten and was made with soft rubber pads, Dobbies are pretty easy care not allot of long hairs to remove.
Any good pet shop should sell the right brush for the right job.
Brushing helps simulate their natural oils to protect the skin as well.
My poor Max used to run free in Hilo on the large plot we rented .
They had the old C&H sugar plantation near by with no fences.
He used to run and chase wild mongeese  at a break neck speed and cut up the top of his head and chest from the sharp cane.
It got bad, had to take him to a vet that only did dermatology on dogs. He would fly from San Diego once a month for his skin clinic.
Cost an arm and a leg just to get into see him.
They took skin samples and did tests because my dog had a skin infection from the cane. He had a staff infection which was so hard to cure because he wouldn't stop running in the fields.
Didn't clear up until we left the Island.
I had to soak him in medicated baths etc.
Easy care coat on him but not a lot of protection from the elements with short fur.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

They have different brushes for different sorts of coats.
A German Shepard has a double coat and so do many other breeds, they require more brushing to get to the thick undercoat which they shed in warmer months.
I had a glove that fit over the hand like a mitten and was made with soft rubber pads, Dobbies are pretty easy care not allot of long hairs to remove.
Any good pet shop should sell the right brush for the right job.
Brushing helps simulate their natural oils to protect the skin as well.
My poor Max used to run free in Hilo on the large plot we rented .
....

Yes, I think this is the way forward, a nice mitten with a bit of a scratch aspect to it - dog loves a good brushing with a stiff brush.  I was worried about the natural oils in the doggy's skin. I didn't want it to be too astringent such that it didn't have any protection.

I'm having trouble with the dog jumping up now with visitors.  It shouldn't be doing that.  It jumped up and knocked over my MIL and she bumped her head.  Need a fast 100% solution on that!

I bought a choke collar in Fressnapf and we also have a 5m long reel lead.   

Works really well.

The dog is learning super fast. 

I should have done it before.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I bought a choke collar in Fressnap and we also have a 5m long reel lead.   

Works really well.

The dog is learning super fast. 

I should have done it before.

That's great. In time once he gets used to his "Limits" you may be able to wean him off the choke chain.
My boy was far too strong and wild for me to wean him off , even my husband had a hard time walking him with all his training if he got wind of a cat . I had to learn to keep slack in his lead and if he started to pull I had to turn fast on my heal and run the other way to pull hard enough to get his attention.
With my 2 bum knees now,I'd never be able to do that.
My first cousin who I have not seen since I was 4 lives in N. Ca. we FB each other. His litle white dog passed away recently after a lot of medical attention and posts of him trying ways of giving him his meds etc.
Just yesterday his wife post photos of herself at the airport waiting for their new puppy to arrive from Indiana state. Then photos at the vets for a well puppy check up the same day.
This new puppy looks exactly like the one that passed away... Sort of strange to me, I could never replace my Doberman so fast, been 19 years and I'm still not ready to replace him.
Not sure which attitude is stranger, my cousins or mine.
In any case, wonder why they needed to spend so much time and money to find a new puppy, not like there isn't thousands of dogs in need of a home.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

......
That's great. In time once he gets used to his "Limits" you may be able to wean him off the choke chain.
My boy was far too strong and wild for me to wean him off , even my husband had a hard time walking him with all his training if he got wind of a cat . I had to learn to keep slack in his lead and if he started to pull I had to turn fast on my heal and run the other way to pull hard enough to get his attention.
With my 2 bum knees now,I'd never be able to do that.
.....
Just yesterday his wife post photos of herself at the airport waiting for their new puppy to arrive from Indiana state. Then photos at the vets for a well puppy check up the same day.
This new puppy looks exactly like the one that passed away... .....

That last bit reminds me of a news story I read once where someone's child had died and then they had another one and called it exactly the same name as the deceased one.  I found that a strange thing to do. 

But I digress.  The choke chain has saved us already.   We were walking in the street and the dog rushed over to a jogger unexpectedly passing.  Doggy was in almost running when suddenly the lead pulled taught and the choke collar pulled tight around her neck.  She was mega surprised and the jogger wasn't inconvenienced.  Taught her a lesson.  And me.

I've now resolved to keep Miss Doggy on the lead and choke chain when walking around here.  Be different in the forest but even there, she's got to learn as it can get surprisingly busy up in the forests.

Choke chain, yes those are great, my dog needed a pinch collar but was weaned to a choke chain. My dog trainer believed in choke chains in public, never leave them on though when the dog isn't going out, they could get hooked up and actually strangle the poor pup by accident.
I learned to keep slack in the lead, a 6 foot lead, do a quick drop, pivot and run the opposite direction of where the dog was running off to.
That way they learned to keep slack in the lead and stop pulling all together.
Weird to name a dead child after another, my cuz got one of those white big headed Bichon dogs. Known a few people who loved that breed, I don't know anything about them but they look like lap dogs to me.
Spoiled dog for sure, new photos today of it on the sofa with the grandkids... Seems my cousin has more money then he knows what to do with, not going to show the dog so why import one from another state for a pet?
Oh, my great-niece is named after my deceased sister, her granny but that's not the same as after a sibbling.At least I hope it isn't too creepy for my great niece.