Horsefeathers!

The Bichons I've known have been pretty good natured dogs. I have one lone Bichon client that bit his owner to the bone once. It turned out that the dog's vision and hearing are failing and he was in some pain. He's pretty old. Even this dog has always been happy and easygoing, so it was way out of character for him to bite anyone. Court, I don't know anything about the dog your talking about in particular, but it could be just a poorly bred Bichon. As with any breed that becomes popular, temperament often takes a back seat to a quick buck, so you see a lot more dogs with the atypical (for the breed) poor temperaments. I think it'll be important to learn a bit more before knowing which way to go with this dog. It's hard to know whether the girls have tormented the dog, or if the dog is just rotten, or what's going on. Bichons shouldn't be bad tempered, but some of them don't read the book. I know none of this has been particularly helpful, but good luck, anyway.

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Oh, and I forgot about Capstar. So far, I love that stuff. I was really very hesitant to administer flea control in a pill, but I've not seen any problems with it. Well, I take that back... I have seen two very tiny dogs develop diarrhea and the Capstar was suspected. I love it for a quick fix. It's cheap and very effective. It's not for longterm flea control, but it will sure kill any that are on them at the time. I very seldom get groom clients in loaded with fleas, anymore, but on the rare occasion I do, I give them a Capstar (owner consent). It's amazing. You can sit the dog on a white towel and watch the fleas drop and just form a circle around the dog. I wouldn't use it longterm, though, but for a quick kill, it does the trick. It's how I get away with using Advantage very rarely. We are diligent about keeping fleas at bay here (10 dogs and 5 cats in the house... a flea outbreak would be disastrous). I'd be interested in hearing if anyone knows of any adverse reactions to Capstar.

He has gotten a lot of complaints about the Revolution as well. And to be another wet blanket, I also didn't like Revolution for flea control. That was the most common complaint about it... it didn't work. I know I sound cynical, but if it's that useless on fleas, I don't trust it as a heartworm preventive. Then again, keep in mind we live in rural south Georgia. The fleas here are mutants, I believe. I'm sure there's no one size fits all flea control for dogs. The same dogs that do great on Frontline might not do as well on Advantage. It's just what has the best track record in our clinic as far as effectiveness. The clinic just across town sells the heck out of some Frontline, so apparently it's what's working for someone. :)

Huey would be the sound she's making as she's talking on the big white phone which suspiciously resembles a toilet. :grins: And since you bought it up, Court.... the quickest way to make me want to decapitate someone is for them to touch my hair. I used to have a boyfriend who loved to play in my hair. I must be the only one on the planet who finds that unnerving. He might as well been boxing my ears for the relaxation I got from it. My kid sister always wants to brush my hair. I'd rather stand on my head and pack sand in my butt. Nooooooooo, not relaxing to me at all. Hey, this could be another poll.... :o

[quote name='DivineOblivion19']I would tell you Frontline Plus is the best. We used to sell Advantage but we had a lot of people switch to Frontline because they were not happy, but that

[quote name='ellieangel']Awwwwwww Courtnek........gimme a hug :)[/quote] :drinka: :baddevil:

[quote name='ellieangel']Ok why does this one make me think think of HF............ [img]http://www.ebaumsworld.com/forumfun/misc2.jpg[/img][/quote] Because you're drunk? :drinking: :P

[quote name='TDG']is there any chance something was wrong with the turkey necks? [/quote] Actually, that's what I was wondering. Go figure that as soon as I'm willing to try that, they would get sick. The necks smelled ok and they felt ok (not slimy) and they didn't appear discolored in any way, but who really knows? I'd been very briefly boiling them, but I didn't do it to these. :oops: After the long night, no one has been ill or passed anything nasty today. We are going to try for a light dinner and see how it goes. They all seem to be feeling ok, up running around and energetic. It's just the nighttime diarrhea that's wearing us out. :-? Thanks, guys! :)

Well, neither of us has slept much through the night. We didn't feed them last night, but even more dogs are ill. I don't know what's going on! Surely it's not the food at this point. This is the thing I fear most with so many dogs... an outbreak of some kind. It's also the reason I have such fits when I see people letting their dogs just crap all over the unfenced portion of my yard. I worry about things like giardia and coccidia. I reckon all I can do at this point is have a fecal done with one of the sick ones. Surely what's wrong with one of them is the same that's wrong with all of them. :-? I don't know what to do this morning. I reckon I'll just feed a little canned pumpkin just so they have a little something on their stomachs. Their stomachs are boiling and grumbling and I know they have to be hungry. I just don't hardly know what to do about feeding them. I'm even scared to try chicken and rice at this point, but they can't fast indefinitely. :-?

Thanks, Malamum. I'm not sure if it's a tummy bug, the food, the turkey necks, or what. Even though they were sick last night, they ate this morning, but were still sick today. I just skipped the evening feeding and will resume tomorrow morning. Hopefully, whatever it is will have run its course. I just can't imagine what would have so many of them so sick. One or two, maybe, but at least five of them are sick and spewing from one end or the other. They're going to have Solid Gold in the morning because it's all in the world I have to give them and it'll give me a chance to see if it's the problem. It would just surprise me to see so many dogs reacting aversely to a change in food. I mean, I could see it not agreeing with one or two, but so many? Maybe it is just a bug. If the dogs keep that down, I'll just assume it was some sort of bug. If not, I guess I'll ditch the whole bag of Solid Gold and see what else I can find. :-?

Voted. Gladis is still second, but only by two votes.

[quote name='TDG']just curious what type of solid gold you are feeding? i've read various complaints recently (since SG apparently changed to having their foods produced at a different contractor plant), especially about the bison-based variety, but also about others.[/quote] It's the Hund-N-Flocken. The stuff comes in a vacuum sealed, foil type bag. [quote]is it possible for you to get healthwise (made by the same company that makes innova, karma and california natural)? it's a really pure quality food but less rich as the innova, which seems to cause problems with some dogs.[/quote] I really don't know. It seems like I can get anything for a minute or two and then they start having problems getting it in. I had this problem with Wellness as well. I don't mind driving a bit for food (I drove an hour and ended up with the Solid Gold), but even then it seems hard to find anyone that can carry a good food consistently. As soon as I count on someone having it, they don't. I was REALLY happy with Canidae and it's such a bargain for the amount you get, but it's just my luck for them to shrug and tell me "it didn't come in." It helps me immensely to be able to get something in a 40 lb size since I'm feeding 10 dogs right now. I had even considered internet ordering, but from what all I've seen, the shipping charges would eat me up. I will fast the dogs until tomorrow. They act like they are starving to death tonight and I hate to do it to them, but I don't think I can stand another night of up and down and up and down, letting dogs in and out and cleaning up gross stuff. The thing is I'm stuck with 33 lbs of Solid Gold. When I start feeding them again, I'm wondering if it's going to just start all over again unless I change foods yet again. :-?

Due to my regular and consistently unreliable supplier, I wasn't able to get the Canidae my dogs have been eating. Now, they've been through diet changes in the past with little problem, so I wasn't too worried... just ticked off at the inconvenience. I bought a bag of Solid Gold and did the traditional gradual food change with the Canidae I had left. This is the first time I've ever fed Solid Gold. In the past, I've fed everything from Ol' Roy, Dog Chow, Purina One, Eukanuba and other garbage until I started feeding stuff like Wellness and then Canidae. I've heard Solid Gold was good and it was about the next best thing available to me at the time. Anyway, I've never had a real problem changing over from one food to another. Most of my dogs are having real problems with tummy upset right now. We were up and down all night last night letting dogs in and out and a few times. Some didn't make it :oops: . We've been battling pudding poops in the floor all day and night as well as some vomiting. We've never had such a problem with diet change and don't know what else could be wrong, but could it be possible that so many of my dogs (at least half of the ten) have the same problems with it? They did all have turkey necks yesterday morning. As soon as I get brave enough to try that again, something happens. I don't know what to think. I've been giving out a little canned pumpkin, but I need to know if perhaps I should fast them for 24 hours. I don't know what to do. In all these years, I've never had this problem before. We haven't fed them for the evening yet and I'll just hang around until I hear some feedback. We are considering just fasting them for 24 hours. Help? :-?

[quote name='TDG']one tip tho: do [b]not[/b] use the sound of the clicker to simply get your dog's attention or to call them to you. that way you are going to decrease the effectivity of the click as a marker signal for "what you did JUST before you heard the click was what gets you the treat". [url=http://www.clickerlessons.com/lessons.html]this page[/url] has some good tips & tricks too.[/quote] Thanks! I bookmarked the link. I may have gone a bit clicker happy yesterday because I was so excited that they responded so well to it. Ah well, I'm learning as well as they are. I'm just so amazed at the response. I'll try to curb my clicker enthusiasm. I was even walking through the store last night with it in my hand just click click click clicking away. It's a great people attention getter, too, but they seemed more annoyed than eager to see what I had in my hand. :oops:

Good for Laurel for wanting to get out and go. :D My gang, on the other hand, all noted the nice Spring weather (80's here). Yup, nice weather, grass is growing, flowers, bugs and all that comes with it. Now open the freaking door and let us back inside. We've had enough of Spring. Laurel has some sense about her. :wink:

Actually, I don't care who points and laughs at the dogs. That's not what bugs me. I realize that Poodles aren't for everyone and can pretty much live with that. My problem is with the folks who ridicule the [u]person[/u] on the other end of the leash. The dogs don't mind being laughed at. Heck, my husband didn't even seem to mind. It just gets on MY nerves, I reckon. We have one very sweet little school teacher/old maid looking lady (stereotype... think the image you get when you think of Old Mother Hubbard) that comes through our clinic with a Pit Bull named Snookie. Sure, it looks funny to me, but do I point and laugh and make fun of her? Noooo... [quote name='courtnek']what is it about poodles? Do they have a show cut HF? I know some people think that cut is "feminine" looking, without realizing how strong and athletic these dogs really are......or the original purpose for the cut[/quote] Actually, Perry was recently put into a show trim. Still, Pauly is still pretty short from being shaved down in January. My husband was walking Pauly, the nekkid dog, through the store. Also, Perry was nekkid when the guy told my husband that it looked gay. Some people are just morons. I don't care if they don't know the history, or think Poodles are the ugliest things on earth. To each's own, but some responses are downright offensive and uncalled for. I reckon it would be similar to me going up to someone with a Pit Bull and telling them how stupid they are for having something so dangerous (not that I believe that). We all know how Pit owners feel about that and I reckon I feel that way about breed stereotypes in general. Laugh at the dogs all you want, but don't harrass the person on the other end of the leash.

Da bomb! I haven't begun training with Fifty yet, but I have been doing the click/treat thing. Boy, do they catch on fast! My Schnauzer (Simon) was outside when I first began clicking this afternoon and freaked and backed away (this is a pretty loud clicker, so I've been cupping it in my hand to muffle it). All it took was a couple of click/treats and he was virtually climbing up my leg. Just that fast! If I click now, ALL my dogs come running, all eyes on me. It certainly is an effective attention getter and it didn't take but a minute for them to catch on that click=treat. I did take Perry and Pauly outside today to just diddle around with it. They were SO intent on me. Perry is a very reliable dog and I think he would do just about anything I asked of him, but Pauly is easily distracted and will happily trot off after the first squirrel, truck, falling pine cone, or whatever he sees and conveniently forgets his name at the same time. Not with this clicker! I click, he looks at me, treat... nearly all in one move. I think I'm going to begin working with Pauly more and am just about ready to begin some one on one with Fifty, who is the absolute image of distraction ("hey, what's that over.... ooooooooohhhhh, a stick...! say, is that another dog?? oh my, look! a.... whoa! is that....? wait! let's go check out.... oooohhhhhh, lookie over THERE!!"). I am so optimistic about this just from the reactions of my old hardheads around here. I absolutely cannot wait to learn more about this and get more involved. I just can't describe how excited I am!

[quote name='Lokipups']And really, the saddest part about that? It's that her ignorance is going to be contagious to her kids :roll: , just what we need, another generation wary and afraid of a specific breed. [/quote] OR... Teaching her kids about "bad" dogs, so that when they get older and hit that rebellious stage, they decide they need one for the sake of looking tough. After all, if Mom was that freaked out, it must be a sure enough bad*ss dog and just the thing I need to make me look tough. Urgh! :-?

I may just pepper around the tires then. My dogs aren't too much into tire sniffing and marking. There is no "town" to call and complain. I'm out in the county (which is actually a good thing because if I lived a couple miles up the road, I'd be subject to a two dog limit :o ). Even still, with 10 dogs underfoot, I really do try to be good neighbors even to those who don't. I pick and choose my battles. While I will talk and fume about these irresponsible people, I'll likely just let it slide. I'm not in the greatest neighborhood and, while I don't fear confrontation, I do fear the thought of people doing something like tossing poison bait over my fence. The pepper around the tires I can do, though. :)

Say... that ain't a bad idea at all. We used to use black pepper on the counters to discourage the cats from counter surfing. Thing is... won't it take a lot of black pepper to put in the yard? These dogs were everywhere. I was kind of leaning toward taking my dogs walking through their yard. Perry and Pauly will poop on command. I'm thinking a big poop pile right at the bottom of their steps...? I'm only daydreaming. There was a time I would have stooped to something like that, but now I just fantasize about it. I wouldn't mind sprinkling some pepper around the cars, but I'm afraid it would deter my own dogs from going near and they go with me nearly every time I leave the house. Then again, next time I see those dogs, I may not care. :oops:

I know all it seems like I do lately is bitch and moan, but humor me... You'd think people would see my FENCED backyard where my dogs typically hang out and realize THAT is, well, where my dogs hang out. So why do they stroll in front of my house with their dogs unleashed and just let them roam all over my front yard doing what dogs do? Am I just being anal here? Does this not seem inconsiderate? I went to the door thinking my presence would encourage them to call their dogs back (since they seem to think leashes are useless). Nope, they just let their dogs pee all over my wheels, steps and where ever. As a matter of fact, they actually paused to wait until the dogs were done! I finally went out there and ran the dogs off. One lady gave me a really ugly look and muttered something. I don't care. Keep your beasts out of my yard and away from my stuff. Maybe I AM just anal. It's just that there's absolutely NO WAY I would ever ever ever in a million years just let my dogs roam through someone's yard and look the other way as they peed on their vehicles and house. Oh wait... maybe I'll find out where these people live. See how they like it. I have a dog here that'll pee on anything that ain't fast enough to get away from him. :evil:

Yeah, and why do they have to be so hateful? I'm perfectly content with the knowledge that Poodles aren't for everyone, but I wonder how he'd have felt if I'd pointed at him and laughed and said out loud, "LOOK!! SOME DUDE OVER THERE THINKS HE'S TOUGH BECAUSE HE GOT HIMSELF A TOUGH LOOKING DOG! SEEMS TO ME LIKE HE MIGHT BE COMPENSATING FOR LACK OF SOMETHING ELSE; KNOW WUT I MEAN??" Or would it be better if I put on gaudy costume jewelry, doused myself with cheap perfume, spackled my face with makeup goo and then carried myself like a Poodle snob? One stereotype deserves another, I reckon. It reminds of the time a neighbor approached my husband at our fence and was asking questions about Perry. He seemed fascinated, but then he said, "well, I couldn't do it... I'd look gay walking a dog like that." My husband didn't miss a beat when he said, "how does a dog make you LOOK gay and why would you care?" Some people... :-? I wish some of these Poodle-o-phobes could see some of my best grooming clients. I work in a really rural area, pretty much a farm community. I get lots of big ol' gruff farmer types and their pint sized companions. I'll bet nobody would be picking on them. Nothing funnier than some leather faced man saying, "don't ferget to put them bowz on that thar dawg o' mine."

We went into Petco and Petsmart tonight looking all over southeastern H*ll for some food since our regular incompetent, unreliable store didn't have any, though "it'll be here Thursday" and here it is Thursday and me with 10 hungry dogs and no freakin' food and having to drive all the way into Tallahassee and STILL couldn't find what we were looking for.... ok, another rant. Anyway, so we're walking around Petco with Perry and Pauly. Hubby had one and I had the other. Some young macho junior johnny bad arse had a teeny tiny Pit Bull puppy that looked barely old enough to be away from its mother. Nevermind the fact that the puppy was just wandering loose on the floor, no leash, not carried, the guy had the audacity to look at my husband walking a Standard Poodle and point and laugh almost dead in his face. I can understand where it could be funny, but this guy was outright ridiculing him Now, if this guy needs a particular dog to make him feel like a man, that's his business. It says a lot about his character, though, that he's so insecure as to laugh at someone else. We should have had Peanut with us (the Toy Poodle). Hubby usually carries her. That way, the guy would have had something to really make his day. A real prize winner, that guy. I wonder if it ever crossed his mind that he just might be exposing such a young puppy to all kinds of crap by letting him wander loose where other dogs have been. Of course, he was asking the clerk where the cheapest food they had was. Way to go there, buddy. I hope your dog grows up healthy and happy and YOU get worms. :x

That's encouraging, Malamum. I began clicking/treating with Fifty today. So far, so good (but then, what could possibly go wrong with "*click* have a treat"?). Actually, this is one VERY smart little dog. I'm finding that a lot of the dogs I'm dealing with that were dumped for behavioral problems seem to be outsmarting the people they were dealing with (Devin and Fifty). He catches on very quickly. In only a few days (not clicking), he's MUCH better on leash. All it took was having him understand that I would not be dragged along. That may seem like I'm oversimplifying, but Fifty is extremely eager to please. It was like, "oh, was that bothering you? ok, I'll walk BESIDE you." I didn't have to yank, tug, jerk, or any of that (not that I would). Geez, I only hope the rest of his training goes as well (fat chance :roll: ). I really think this clicker training is going to be the thing for him. I've been eyeballing him... hmmm, maybe I'm shooting for the stars, but I think Fifty would make a great agility dog (for someone else, of course :oops: ). I think that if he could learn to focus and get his obedience down, he'd absolutely rock in agility. Agile doesn't even begin to describe him. I'm rambling.... Anyway, thanks so much for the input and good luck with Kira, Malamum! You are one step ahead in that you already know how to do it. :)