Dogs and leatherwork

[Corvus]

How do people manage with their dogs in the workshop or am I the only one daft enough to even try it?

Hobbit is a complete menace, she loves leather and takes anything she can. Sometimes she just wants my attention and so blatantly grabs something I'm using and makes a show of trotting off with it. Some bits of leather she just wants to chew ... fortunately I know basically if she isn't making her presence felt furtling around the tables then she off mauling her latest ill gotten gains. She loves standing on the tables too.

Pharaoh at least attempts swapsies for anything she wants and will shove a toy or chew onto the table right in front of me, usually on top of what I'm doing, she tends not to wait for me to accept the deal but just assumes and then helps herself to whatever it is that has caught her attention. She also loves nice smells so most leather has to be rolled on or have her head/neck rubbed all over it. Polishing cloths disappear all the time to be rolled on.

Dune doesn't generally bother too much but when he does you won't notice a thing until you find a piece of leather thoroughly chewed.

Topaz is thankfully a complete angel!

Long walks only subdue them for a while.

[wildrose]

I'm totally LOL at your tale (tail?) of woe. I don't know if shutting them out is an option? I don't currently have a dog - but my parents do, and she gets into everything, so I feel your pain there. I DO have a cat, and sometimes smaller is not easier: every cat I've had has liked to be right in the center of whatever I'm doing. I have a sliding door to my shop, but this one shoves it open with his paw and makes himself at home.

[Spence]

Mine are large enough that they have an easy time getting at stuff on the on the bench. If I'm working at the bench or at any of a number of surfaces, the dogs have to stay out. If I'm just sitting around, they tend to be well behaved. Would I leave them alone? Not a chance !! I gave up on cats long before I started leatherwork. I went through many years of cats and fancy ropework. Some question my sanity to this day.

[Hilly]

I feel your frustration! LOL! I have 3 dogs of my own that were total spoiled brats when they were young! I used to just deal with the paw prints on sides of leather, and chewed leather, dirty slobber marks, etc. I was almost ready tear my hair out. Since then I've learned that I have to give my dogs regular vigorous exercise each day, an acceptable place for them to lay down (rug or dog bed), and RULES that are always quickly enforced with positive reinforcement in order to have peace and order in my home. They still try and test me every now and then, just like kids. Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.

Good luck to you!

Hilly

[Corvus]

Wildrose; It's the two that would howl in protest if they were shut out that are causing all the trouble! Same as your cats they want to be in the middle of anything that's going on.

Spence; Likewise they are big enough to whisk away anything they fancy, Hobb just likes to get on the tables so she has a good view of the garden. I wouldn't trust them in there alone even for a minute - bad enough when I am there!!

Hilly; Yes, they might be just a teensy bit spoilt I admit . I think I need to work harder on the exercise. Hobbit is an Afghan though and so doesn't give a dam about rules; she knows them and understands them but nothing will persuade her that they apply to her. Pharaohs more the kid that just can't help themselves. Funnily enough they are both stars in their obedience classes

[oldtimer]

Wildrose; It's the two that would howl in protest if they were shut out that are causing all the trouble! Same as your cats they want to be in the middle of anything that's going on.

Spence; Likewise they are big enough to whisk away anything they fancy, Hobb just likes to get on the tables so she has a good view of the garden. I wouldn't trust them in there alone even for a minute - bad enough when I am there!!

Hilly; Yes, they might be just a teensy bit spoilt I admit . I think I need to work harder on the exercise. Hobbit is an Afghan though and so doesn't give a dam about rules; she knows them and understands them but nothing will persuade her that they apply to her. Pharaohs more the kid that just can't help themselves. Funnily enough they are both stars in their obedience classes

Cesar Millan, The dog whisperer might solve your problem ! "I rehabilitate the dogs and trains the owners"

( A mouse trap loaded with goodies on the table will cure a thief immediately)

Edited September 25, 2009 by oldtimer

[Somawas]

My spaniel is known as "The Weekend Tandy Dog." He either lies on the floor beside me, or naps under the bench. People come into the store and speak to him. And, of course, he's usually willing to take a treat. He's a good dog.

[Mike Craw]

How about cats and leatherwork? Carlos has a barn out back with six horses, his own four and two boarders. There are also a (large) number of feral cats. His wife Tonya found this little guy in the hay room last winter and managed to get him into one of their dog cages and brought him into the shop where he wouldn't freeze. Carlos and I started calling him Tigger, not only because he had orange stripes, but because he pinged around like the character in Winnie the Pooh. Every morning I'd reach in there and hold him for a minute or two...until he calmed down...a little. Now he thinks he's supposed to be sitting in the crook of my left arm...no matter what I'm trying to do. I told him the Feral Cat Socitey is going to make him turn in his membership card for conduct unbecoming!

This is last spring when he was still a kitten, helping Carlos draw out saddle parts. When I'm working with the round knife I have to listen for him running through the shop. He'll launch full tilt onto the work table, and I have about half a second to turn that blade down flat to the table before he arrives! If I'm too slow one day, I'll be advertising spare cat parts!

[wildrose]

Here's an old shot of my cat Shmoo "helping" me cut suede.

[dirtclod]

My dog / helper Happy Man goes to the shop with me ever chance he gets. I couldn't find him the other day and he had climbed up in the racks where i keep my leather. He was setting there like he owned the world. Most of the time he goes under the table and sleeps.

[wildrose]

It'd be hard to be mad at that face!

[dirtclod]

It'd be hard to be mad at that face!

He is pretty special. I bailed him out of jail ( the pound ) last December and we have been a team ever sense.

[Corvus]

Mike: Love the way Tigger is watching intently to make sure the work is done right! I once fostered two feral kittens who were also ginger, they got named Hiss and Spit. I was quite relieved when they got homes.

wildrose: Shmoo is my kind of cat - black! I forgot about the way cats have to sit on any flat thing, the more carefully laid out the better.

dirtclod: Looks like he has found himself a nice little kennel there :-)

[TTcustom]

My animal companions are old so depending on the time of day amble in if the sun is coming in the window and amble out to shift to the next room for the best sun bath spot. If I am a little too vigorous with the hammering then I get a disapproving stare.