Horsefeathers!

So true! Right now, parti and phantom Poodles are still not accepted in the US (yet), but I have full intentions of having one someday! I'd much rather have a throwback from a reputable breeder than some backyard breeder breeding cookiecutter dogs with bad temperaments, bad hips/knees and other genetic problems.

[quote name='courtnek'] I have recently heard that there is a door you can get that is coded to an electronic device in the collar, that will open it when the animal approaches, but wont open any other way.....[/quote] Me being me, I can find the downside of that. :oops: Some of my dogs are pretty friendly and would gladly run out the door to a friendly stranger. All the friendly stranger would have to do is slip that collar off, wave it near the sensor and I would STILL have some thug coming in through the doggie door. :-? I really do love the idea of a doggie door where my dogs could come in and go out as they please. I hope the day comes when we finally buy a house in a better area (and I don't have TEN dogs :oops: ) and we can do that. As it is now, ain't happenin' in [i]this[/i] 'hood. :( Malamum, from my experience (meaning just what I read on various international forums), most nations other than the US seriously frown on leaving a dog alone for very long periods of time, especially crated. It's been particularly interesting to read how many foreigners (for me) think crating for hours at a time is cruel. I guess it truly does reflect a difference in cultures. Then again, in OUR culture, at least in my neck of the woods, it's still perfectly acceptable to leave a dog tied outside 24/7 with bare necessities and little social interaction. It's common enough that most people don't even notice unless the dog is very obviously malnourished or injured or something like that.

Mine have been left alone as long as 10 hours :oops: , but I've recently shifted my work hours so that I'm not gone so long, so now maybe 7 hours, 4 days a week. Some of the dogs go to work with me, some are crated and some are left loose in the house. I generally rotate them around so that no one is kenneled all the time. There is no access to the yard while I'm gone. In my 'hood, I don't want to have a two way entry/exit available when I'm not here. I'm afraid there would be more thugs coming IN it than dogs going OUT of it. :o Also, my dogs can be avid barkers if left alone outside too long and I don't want to give my neighbors any reason to complain or try to harm my dogs. If we ever get to move a bit further into the country with no nearby neighbors, I plan to have a doggie door (then again, I also plan to be working at home by then, so it's probably a moot point).

Good grief, from what you guys say you are paying, I have to admit that I'm very thankful that I get all my Advantage for free. I don't even keep up with how much the stuff costs, but if I had to buy it for all ten of mine, I think we'd have to find another way of controlling fleas. :-?

Sounds like a winner! I don't know of anyone nearby that carries Innova products at all. Canidae and Wellness are hard enough to get around here. I wish I could get more variety, but I guess I should be thankful for what is available to me, though limited it is. TDG, I have a question (or two :oops: )... The high protein... I always thought TOO much protein would be hard on the kidneys especially as they get older? I know a really high carb, grainy food isn't good, but I was just wondering how much protein is TOO much protein. Next question... do you have a cost comparison? How does it compare in cost to, say, Canidae or Wellness? Oh, and this.... sample? By mail? Hmmm? :D

[quote name='Bubblezzz']I've heard stories of dogs chipping their teeth on the Galileo chew. :o HorseFeathers, nothing like that happening with yours right? Mine is still kept away in Cosmic's toy box. :roll: Hmm... maybe it belongs in MY toy box instead... :lol:[/quote] *gasp* :o So far, I haven't seen any chipped teeth and they really give it a good workout. I never would have thought to buy one, but it came in Rocco's goody package when we adopted him. Now that he's gone, the rest are virtually fighting over it. This one is the jumbo super huge sized one and my little dogs can't even carry it. They can darn sure drag it around, though, which looks REALLY peculiar. I think I'll be putting it away if we ever have guests. It's just what I need for my dogs to be mauling on when the inlaws come for a visit. :oops: I still think this thing had to be designed by one very angry woman. :o

This is the 'zact reason I don't waste my money on bordatella vaccines, anymore. They're useless. Without fail, a couple of my dogs would get kennel cough every freakin' year, vaccine or not, and the others NEVER get it, vaccine or not. I think my affected dogs just got something for the coughing and we let the kennel cough run its course (no antibiotics... I think?). I'm not sure, but isn't the worst "threat" from kennel cough secondary infections brought on by a lot of coughing? DivOb? Kat? Someone? Then again, sleep deprivation may be talking here. :oops:

You should have seen my poor husband's face the first time he saw this thing laying on the floor with a dog firmly attached to it. It was kind of like he wanted to ask what it was and where it came from, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. I think he thought I had a secret life. :o If I'd been thinking fast, I'd have picked it up all in a tizzy and muttered something about "d*mn dogs..." while tucking into a drawer. I don't think he would have even had the nerve to ask. :P

Has anyone seen these? Do a search (assuming I'm spelling it right... I dunno) for Galileo chews or toys for dogs. Observe their rather, err, peculiar shape. I'm wondering if they were perhaps designed by one very p*ssed off woman? We have one here that my gang inherited from Rocco and it is the most coveted of toys in our house. My husband says it is disturbing to watch them gnaw on this thing with such enthusiasm. Does anyone know if there is a story behind these? Seriously, I'm just wondering if there's a reason for the, uh, odd design. Is it supposed to be easier to grasp or something? :o

For what it's worth, I use some stuff called Equalizer. I've never seen it anywhere but at my vet's office (so I don't know who all carries it), but it will take out bloody diarrhea that's been simmering on the floor all day until some unfortunate soul comes home to it. That's about as brutal a test as I've given it. It does smell kind of chemical-ish for a few minutes (but doesn't have a "bad" smell, at least to me), but it dries pretty quickly and the smell goes away. Thanks to Equalizer, my 7ish year old carpet still looks like new despite the numerous fosters and permanent residents here and the, errrr, unfortunate mishaps (pee, poo, puke, blood, or a combination of these). However, I can only imagine what the UNDERside of my carpets look like. I'm afraid when we take it up (which will hopefully be soon), we'll have to haul it away in the middle of the night out of shame. It'll probably look like refuse from a crime scene or a wh*re house. Oh well, the top still looks good. :oops:

[quote name='Seijun']We eventually superglued the wounds (I know, that sounds wierd, but it worked). [/quote] Nothing weird about that at all. It's a big part of our first aid kit as well. :D Seij, I didn't know your mom was a vet. That would make a difference in field care indeed.

Seijun, I'm finding your posts to be contradictory and confusing. If you like the docking, fine. I'm just not understanding how the dogs are getting minor injuries that don't require vet care yet are bleeding nearly to death. I certainly don't mean to sound argumentative, but your posts are, IMO, typical of the lame excuses I hear over and over which is that the dog *might* get hurt. From what you're saying, and part of what confuses me, your dogs are getting hurt, anyway, regardless of their tails being cut off. How many of these hunting dogs get split pads? Still, I never hear a push to cut off their feet, or make them work in boots. Again, many times they get hematomas on their ears from injuries, yet we aren't cutting those off. If docking suits you, fine. I'm not trying to change your mind. I'm only saying why *I* think it's pointless as a routine procedure, [u]especially on [b]companion[/b] dogs[/u] of these particular breeds when people do it because they think it looks "right." I can't think of how many times one of my dogs has split a pad and it looks like it would sure have to hurt, but it has never crossed my mind to cut off their feet to prevent such injuries from occurring. When it comes to basic first aid, I'm sure the plantation folk around here are capable, but they spare no expense when actual vet care is needed such as in the case of the rather regular hematomas we see. From what I understand, these dogs are very expensive investments, so these people don't diddle when it comes to their health. Anyone from some of the nations where cropping and docking are outlawed want to come forward and share some input on the type of terrain you have and how the dogs get along? Is it smooth ground, or are your dogs working in briars, brush and such? I always thought they had some pretty thick woods overseas, too.

I'm pretty sure I was generally addressing the issue of docking for asthetics. Still, our clinic handles a lot of different plantations' hunting dogs and we very seldom ever see the injured tails that others are apparently seeing elsewhere since it's almost a "certainty." Maybe dogs in this area are just lucky. In fact, we've seen far more ear hematomas than anything else in these plantation dogs, but I don't see a rush to cut off the ears of these dogs. Again, for clarification, my post was meant in a [u]general[/u] sense and addressed docking for asthetic purposes... because it looks "good." I know that many people who dock their dogs have hunting/working breeds that don't actually hunt or perform any function at all other than companion. They just like the way it looks, but I very often still hear that lame excuse of what [u]could[/u] happen if they didn't do it. To each's own. I just wish more people had the balls to just say they like the way it looks than go about the whole long drawn out excuse of what [u]might[/u] happen otherwise... especially in companion dogs. Something else I don't understand is how it is that other countries are successfully working their dogs with tails, ears and all while we must "protect" our dogs by cutting off their tails and ears. I wonder who has the overall greater welfare of their dogs at heart. Hey, I'm just throwing out food for thought. I'm not as militant about it as a lot of people. I just know I wouldn't do it to my own.

[quote name='desertlady'] could you tell me how to pronounce Bichon frise? And are they always so sweet and non yappy?[/quote] We call 'em Bitchin' Frizzies! *snicker* Seriously, the ones I've known were pretty sweet dogs. I really like them.

What a relief! :bigok:

I always think it's kind of funny when people say they dock tails to prevent injuries whether they've had a problem or not. It's kind of like saying you should decapitate them to prevent head injuries. I work in a vet clinic, and like mouse pointed out, we just don't have folks lining up to have their dogs seen about because of tail injuries... certainly no more so on traditionally docked dogs than other breeds like one Shih who did eventually have part of his tail amputated because it was slammed in a car door twice. Docking his tail would have prevented that injury, right? I guess my point is that it's a weak argument. If people like the look, I'd rather hear them say they like the look rather than using the excuse that it's for injury prevention. If that's the case, we should be docking ALL dogs' tails since any of them can get hurt. I admit upfront that I like the look of some cropped/docked breeds, but I'd never have the fortitude to have it to to them, myself. If they don't come to me already done, I won't be doing it simply for the fact that it IS for asthetics and I have no need to put any of my dogs through it. I would like to see the American breed standards change to accept natural dogs so that at least people can see them in the big shows and get accustomed to that "new" look. A friend of mine recently had her Dane puppy cropped. I LOVED his ears when they flopped over, but her husband wanted him to look like a "real" Dane. I think he looks hideously deformed now, but that's because I was so used to his big, floppy ears.

[quote name='Mutts4Me'] I don't have a problem with CSI's melodrama, but I know plenty of people who do. I just take it as, if I were working around dead people and murderers all the time, I'd be pretty grim, too. [/quote] I don't mind the melodrama a bit. It's what makes the show entertaining to me. CSI is on now and I think it's a dandy show. I just love those faces. Seriously, they make me giggle, grim or not. >> :icon_rock: << *snicker*

[quote name='courtnek']which one HF? There's three of them now.... [/quote] Oh, I guess it would have to be "regular" CSI. The one in Vegas? I'd forgotten they branched out. I really don't get into CSI: Miami and CSI: New York and whichever. :P So now if you watch CSI in Vegas, look at those faces. They remind me of the FedEx commercial where are the guys are standing around saying, "we're DOOMED!" (it was making fun of melodrama, too). I like the show. I just think it's funny how they all stand around with their lips pursed and brows furrowed ALL the time. >> :o <<

I like CSI, but I get kind of tickled at the melodrama. I mean, everyone on that show ALWAYS looks like this >>> :o I don't think I've ever seen one of them crack a smile.

Told ya! :P Seriously, I hope it does the trick. I suppose it's one of those things that if it didn't help, it couldn't hurt. I'm glad she seems to be feeling better, hose and all.

I didn't even realize you could BUY belly bands! :o I've used them (homemade :oops: ) on some elderly incontinent dogs in the past (one was a little ol' dilapidated Yorkie, DivOb :wink: ). They work wonderfully. Of course, it's treating the symptom and is not the cure, but it sure can make life much easier until you find that "cure." :wink: Good luck! 8)

You said: [quote]Unfortunately, most people believe her.[/quote] Have the other people confronted you about it? I'm thinking that unless other people in the neighborhood start giving you problems, it might be best to just shrug it off and let it go. It's possible that others see her for the crackpot she is, too. Sometimes getting really defensive only makes you look guilty. If other people aren't mentioning it, perhaps it's best not to bring attention to it at all. I know it sucks to be blamed for something you had nothing to do with.

Oh, Bmom, how AWFUL for you! I'm so sorry. :(

Let's hope that diet will clear it up. With my Perry, his wonky breath led us to do xrays that showed some deformed "something" (stomach was misshapen as if he'd swallowed a barbell :-? ) and we were sure he had a diaphragmatic hernia. He even had surgery in hopes of repairing it, but the surgery showed nothing except that his liver had a torn spot (totally unrelated). While we were in there, we did have his stomach tacked to one side to prevent bloating in the future since he seemed at increased risk. All this to say that Perry's breath problems were determined to be due to bacterial overgrowth. He gets a very light sprinkling of tilosin powder on his food which does the trick. Otherwise, his breath stinks right through his face. I hope Boonie just needs a good change of diet. :) [quote]how does he chew with 12 teeth missing?? [/quote] We had a little old dilapidated Yorkie that not only had NO teeth, but no bottom jaw. As long as we softened his food, he could "chew" just fine using his tongue to wallow the food against the roof of his mouth. Never underestimate the determination of a hungry dog. :P

It's such a shame, really. So many people are shucking out big bucks for Labs from unscrupulous breeders. I found the perfect Lab at the pound. Beautiful temperament, certified therapy dog and for $65 which included his neuter, up to date vacs, and heartworm test. People just don't know where to look to find a good thing. Meanwhile, some folks I know near me are breeding these horrid, ugly, nervous Labs every time one goes into heat. Horrible temperaments and I didn't know white chest blazes were part of the breed standard. Because of them and people like them, our area is becoming saturated with ill bred, vile tempered Labs. With Labs being a dime a dozen, I don't know why people don't check the shelters instead of buying them at the flea market (quite common here). When I adopted mine, there were plenty more there just like him. I just don't get it.