courtnek

I wonder if this applies to runners as well though....basically a metal wire strung between two surfaces, like a house and garage or garage and shed, about 5 feet off the ground, that you can attach a leash with a clip ring to. The dog has room to run around, mostly back and forth but if the leash is long enough from side to side too, and it doesnt have anything to get tangled on. I used one of those for my dog in my old townhouse, that had no fenced yard, and here when I was repairing the fence and moving it to a different location to make the yard bigger.... I wonder if they would consider that "tied out"? It's not quite the same, but still....I dont think runners are bad. For people who cant have fences, it allows the dog some running room on their own property. you have to watch them, of course, but still they can run and play....

well, "in the beginning, there was Heaven and Earth..." seriously, all of today's purebred dogs were bred for a purpose. not for looks, show or stud. They had jobs to do, thats why we bred them in the first place. If not for needing a dog to do a specific task, we would have no purebreds today. Herding was one of the big ones. Think about it. How many "herding" dogs are there today? that started out as herders? Collies (of all kinds) Shepherds (of all kinds) those two classifications probably include 10-15 different types of dogs! then the guardians, the vermin chasers, the hunters, and the various sub-classes of each. Would it surprise me that at some point in its history Bully dogs were herders? No, it wouldnt. they were changed over time, to do different tasks, just like Labs no longer drag fishnets to shore....

I agree with most all of this. Parents are too lax and the schools afraid to do anything about it in most cases. Here, it is exactly the opposite. The school Kyle was in (H.S.) had a "no tolerance" policy - TO EVERYTHING. One of their rules was "NO fighting" - which I can agree with. To me that means control your temper and work it out. To THEM it meant that if someone smacked your kid, and he defended himself, HE was in trouble. Now, IMO, if your kid starts a fight, he should be in school suspended. All day in homeroom. or community service. Their policy was that if your kid got INVOLVED in a fight, both parties got a home suspension. My son was suspended twice, because he was attacked by older and bigger kids (and there were plenty of witnesses) and yet, even with the witnesses (some of them teachers) he got suspended as well as having to go to the hospital because the kid knocked him over and his head hit the cement. He came up fighting, and I dont blame him. He was attacked from behind. I would have come up fighting too. and IT WAS THE SAME KID BOTH TIMES!!! His parents couldnt care less...they were never home to take care of him anyway. My kid had to pay the price of defending himself from attack, so yes, I was one of those parents who was in the principals face. My comment to her was "you can take your policy and put it you-know-where.....my kid is NOT going to be a punching bag for a KNOWN bully you cant seem to do anything about....."Kyle was not the only kid on this kid's sh*t list....he had injured others as well, but his parents refused to do anything about him. They never even showed up for the conferences. Kids fight. Especially teenage boys. But this kid was nasty, not a fair fight, usually a sneak attack. a typical bully.

[quote name='xavierandrea']Boy, you handled that well. I would have been a little less humane! Just goes back to my beliefs that some people shouldn't have pets![/quote] some people shouldnt have KIDS.....this guy seriously needs to be plucked out of the gene pool.... :evilbat: :evilbat: :evilbat:

Free has the hunting instinct. Laurel was trained to fox, its pretty funny. she will watch Free chase down squirrels in the yard, without moving. but give her fox scent (and I didnt intend that, although I knew there are fox at the river) and she's GUNG-HO!! oh well. the fox was ok, and the dogs had fun... :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have two dogs, both female, and 2 cats, one male, one female kitten. All are fixed except for the kitten, she's still too young yet. When she gets old enough she too will be done. thank you for asking. we care very much about the unwanted cat/dog population in our world. we wish everyone would take the time to try to find out, like you did. :D

[quote name='K']Can you imagine if somone saw you going back?..you look all flustered...one dog is baying like an idiot and the other is pulling at the leash back to where you were coming from...a suspicious person would be off looking for the body you just dumped in the woods!.... :o :lol:[/quote] :o :o :o :o :o I never thought of that! You're probably right!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Laurel is a field trialed hunter. for 6 years, I adopted her after she was retired. Freebee? she hunts naturally. never been trained or encouraged. how do I get these dogs? LOL I dont hunt... some people will object, but I do not stop Freebee from her natural hunting instincts. She has caught and killed critters in the yard all her life. I firmly beleive this is their nature, so I dont stop her. :D :D

I am not voting. One of my dogs is a breed that never gets recognized, so I am going to be pigheaded and not vote!! does no one know what a Foxhound is??? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I took them both down to the river today. It's been very cool here, so the bicyclists and the runners and such are less then numerous. I took them way back away from the bike trail, into the wood area. and let them go. they wre running around happy as can be, sniffing things out, when Laurel bolted. I paniced, calling her and running, telling Free to find her... suddenly, Free took off as well. Now I was really panicked...suddenly, I heard Laurel bay. I headed off towards the bay and found her, and Free, with a FOX trapped under an area of brush and tree limbs, downed by storms. Free was trying to find a way to get in at it, Laurel was doing her job of alerting the "hunter" that the prey had been found. sitting on her haunches, baying her fool head off. Free was not happy, this particular Fox had wedged himself in pretty deep into the brush, and she couldnt get at him (thank God) but was still trying when I got there. Leashes went on, Laurel bayed the whole way back, and Free pulled trying to get back to the fox... it seems there is a definite disadvantage to hunting dogs, if you dont hunt... 8) 8)

"sex" for a dog is not the same as "sex" for a human. Very few species (except us, and dolphins, yes dolphins, believe it or not) have sex for "pleasure". Most animals have sex to mate, and reproduce. they dont "choose" to have sex cuz their mate is particularly lovely that night, or wearing an erotic perfume. They mate,because the female is in heat, and sends out pheremones announcing the fact. the males dont get "aroused" until they encounter that smell. they are NOT people. Most of the erotic perfumes actually try to emulate the smell that pheremones give off. Something we cant actually "smell" by the way, although if it is a true "pheremone" it is said we can detect it, without knowing it. your dog does not need to have sex, and in fact, there are so many cancers, illnesses, drawbacks to NOT being fixed that we here believe it is in the best interests of the dogs to get them "done". Unless you are show breeding, or field breeding, there is no reason to breed your dog. And as said, its in both yours, and the dogs, best interests, health, behavior, demeanor and stress-wise, to have them done.

I agree. If you adopt from a shelter (check Petfinder. you can specify a breed in there and it beings up a whole list of available dogs with pictures and personality profiles) you will stay have to pay the adoptio fees. at least though the dog has been checked out by a vet, usually fixed, and his personality has been tested and approved. If your parents approve this, they must understand that the dog will need shots every year, health checks, food, toys, etc. good luck.

even identical twins (nature's "clones") are never exactly the same. If raised together all their young lives, they may be remarkably similar, but their personalities could be as different as night and day. I had twins as friends when I was young. they really were identical, and hard to tell apart, but their personalities gave it away. so as K and Cairn6 have said, you will never have another dog exactly like the one you love so much. Please go see the shelters. The personality you want may be there just waiting for you.

so I let the dogs out. they do their business. I let them in. 15 minutes later there is a bark fest going on, all the neighborhood dogs are barking. Freebee is bitching, wants to go out. Laurel is whining. Something tells me "no, you were just out. I KNOW you dont have to go..." I ignore them. 10 mintes later, I smell SKUNK...the neighbors dogs now reek... yee haa...gotta love wildlife in the neighborhood.... no wonder the rabies laws are so strict around here... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

thank you Izzy...again. :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: in God's book, you are a trooper. In mine, too. :wink:

Just on a side note - some people have commented that it's irrational to expect parents to not bring their kids to PetWhatevers. I never stated that should be the case. Take your kids anywhere you want, but CONTROL them, even if that means a harness and leash. Some people dont want to be bothered. that's what annoys me, not the kids themselves. and yes, I have told parents off when I've discovered who was NOT controlling the kid. I expect my space, and my dogs space, to be respected. The neighbors got a major talking to when one of the neighborhood kids was caught by me trying to climb the fence into my yard, to retrieve a ball. both dogs were out there. Would they bite? probably not. If they did, guess who's liable. Its the "swimming pool" law for dogs. If you have a swimming pool, and its not covered up/locked down/totally inaccessible, and a child or person drowns in it, even if they had to climb your fence to get to it, YOU'RE liable. It's considered an "attractive nuisance"....

prayers to you. HOPEFULLY it is nothing. some dogs act weird when a dog friend goes. they know so much more then we DO...'

[quote name='DivineOblivion19'][color=indigo]Ok ok I'll say!!!! BOSTON TERRIER! A Boston is an excellent choice for you. They are little, don't shed much and darn sure aren't fragile. Heck, it'll probably put your big dog in place. :lol: But they are happy little dogs that don't shed much and (usually) get along with other dogs. :wink: [/color][/quote] :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I was WAITING for that... but think a minute. A Golden is a 75-90 lb. dog. your Boston is what? 20 lbs? While Goldens (again, if TRUE TO TYPE) are very gentle, and usually very tolerant, they are also, (in my experience) blunderbusses. They dont MEAN to step/stomp/trip over little animals, but it happens. My Golden was a big, lumbering, loves-evething-that-moves baby, who stepped on my cat repeatedly. Didnt mean to, just kinda happened. The cat would sqwack, the dog would try to lie down and look contrite, and usually ended up lying down on the poor cat...how much clumsiness can a Boston tolerate? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I agree with Cassie to quite an extent. Our "purebreds" as we know them all started out as mixing different types of dogs to get the one with the best working ability. That was the whole purpose. Looks werent the issue, shows werent the issue, they needed a dog to do a specific task. That's why Doxies are long and low, to crawl through holes. That's where the "Eye" of the BC came from. That's where the water resistant double coat of the Lab came in...... we can keep our purebreds more "pure" by introducing different strains of DNA to the breeding process. With a small gene pool, more genetic defects pop up all the time. Nature did not intend this, we are making our own rules, and the dogs are paying for it. While I dont really agree with creating more "breeds" (with a few exceptions, like the "Golden Lab", but we've been over this already) I do think breeders should make a concious choice to crossbreed other strains into the litter, to keep the dogs healthier. IMO.

I wholeheartedly agree with HF, Pumplin and Sasha. I'm a mom. I NEVER allowed my kid to run hog wild anywhere. The mall, restaurants, McDonalds, didnt matter. Kid was expected to sit down and shut up and behave. he was given crayons and coloring books, toys to play with, etc, but he was required to sit still. In a grocery store, he rode in the cart, not running down the aisles. When he got too old for that, he was required to walk next to the cart, on my left, with one hand on the side. when that failed, he got leashed. yes, leashed, same as at the mall. they have harnesses for children, and I always have leashes. When he wouldnt obey, the harness went on, and so did the leash. When he complained that I was treating him like an animal, I responded he was acting like one. After four or so of these incidents, he decided it was just better to obey. no more problems. I cant tell you the amount of crap I took from other people when they saw him in harness. But would it be better to let him run around wild? in a parking lot? in a pet store? in the mall, where he could get lost, kidnapped, God knows what else? I didnt think so, and still dont. you can still get child harnesses for the little uncontrollable lovelies.

very cute! more pics please... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

thank you HF and Newfiemom. we expect our dogs to be well behaved out in society, I, for one, expect CHILDREN to be well behaved as well.

I pictured the same thing you did. Jed Clampet and Granny...but it is unfortonate that people dont realize how gentle and loving these dogs are. Bloodhounds will literally lay around in the sun with you, rifle or not, and just go with it. they can hunt, or they can sleep. Mark says they prefer sleeping...they are just gentle giants.... 8)

sit on the floor with her, and have her put her head in your lap. talk slow and soothing. put the peas on her eye, and tell her what a good girl she is in soft, soothing tones. dont get angry if she gets up, just call her back and try again.

Free doesnt bite, and she never has. she does warn. In a store where pets are allowed, I believe people should be more aware of what their kids are doing. because even the best, socialized, non-aggressive pet could react to a kid teasing or tormenting. there is NO WAY TO KNOW. I perosnally hate people who let their kids run wild in restaurants and stores. the stores are NOT babysitters, keep control of your kids! I have a kid. I NEVER let him run wild in stores or restaurants. He was MY responsibility, not the stores....