Peng1zrule

PETA has been for the destruction of pitbulls for quite some time. I am strongly, very, very, strongly, anti-PETA. Along with having virtually no idea about what REAL american pitbull terriers are, a recent study shows the majority of PETA members don't even like animals a whole lot. Along with this, PETA is for gradually turning dogs into animals like deer or foxes--enjoyed from a distance with little to no human interaction. No, they are not advocating going into people's homes and setting thier pets free...their plan is to "wean" dogs and cats from being dependant on people until they are running wild in a "natural" state. By the way...PETA has a special savings account to cover the court costs of anyone who attacks a person or orginazation that they feel has harmed animals...they are paying the court costs of the young man who attacked and beat a college professor as he walked to his car.

I would suggest just keeping him far away from the pool. he is a golden...goldens love water. I take mine swimming at this out-of-the-way river that no one else goes to, and she likes to wade in up to her chest, hang her mouth open, and just swish her mouth through the water...she just adores the water.

you can either keep the dogs seperate, which takes some work. you can keep puddles on a lead and just not allow her to charge buffy. Or, you can stop the behavior that leads to the bullying--the charging. put up barricades and know where both dogs are at all times. I have one that charges other dogs when they come in the house. To solve this, I put her in the bedroom, let the other dogs in, and leave her alone for a few minutes. when it's time to let her out, I carry her to where the other dog is and sat her down. she is also under command until she calms down--she is forced to go and sit on the couch if she bullies, she is made to sit down if she is dominant. I have rolled her for being aggressive to the other dogs. with time, she learns that she is not allowed to be aggressive and she learns to accept that the other dogs are there. in fact, she has stopped this behavior almost altogether.

I had a dog with mange, demodex mange. (this is the kind humans cannot get) I held her and gently pulled her head back, told her "don't do that, you'll make it worse." of course, I had the luxury of staying up all night to keep an eye on her...if you can't, you can make an E-collar out of a stiff peice of cardboard, like from a box. measure the circumfrence of your dog's neck, give him enough cardboard on either side that he cannot turn around to get the tail, and cut out the circle (try to use a box cutter, not scissors, and don't cut through the box to get to the circle, just put the cutter down on the cardboard and move it. cutting through the cardboard makes it weak and foldable, and easy for the dog to slide off) Slide it over his head and see if he can reach the tail--he should have enough that it collides with his side when he twists around to chew his tail. never leave him unsupervised with this on.

[quote name='lewelle']Hi all , i am a new mum to a pyrenean mountain dog puppy and would like some advice on the do's and dont's concerning the large breed dogs. I have been told about the light excercise and not going up or down stairs, and to feed on large breed puppy food but are there any very important facts i should know about. Thanks[/quote] I don't have a whole lot to say as my biggest dogs are seventy and seventy five pounds...just that, with any behavior, if you don't think you'll appreciate it when they are an adult, don't encourage when they are a puppy. that is, jumping up on just about anything should be discouraged, and NOW is the time to teach him not to pull on the leash--not when he's bigger and stronger. teaching him about food aggression (not allowed) and introducing him to all kinds of people and animals right now would be ideal--it should try to be ongoing, as it will be a lifesaver to have him calm and in control in every situation.

bad breath can be the food you are feeding, an internal problem, or bad teeth. however, if you mean he is just losing puppy breath...dogs seemingly go through three breath stages--puppy breath, which is nice enough, regular breath, and dog breath. if it's not horrendous, I'd assume he's just getting older.

Hello. Recently, I started thinking about showing dogs. I am leaning toward the golden retriever, as I admire everything about them--their size, looks, and temperment. I own a golden retriever mix and adore her. However, I really have no idea on how to get started. I think I should know as much about the breed as possible, but have a hard time finding literature on them. I went to the akc site and they don't have a whole lot of info on getting started showing. Can anyone help me?

don't muzzle her, this doesn't teach her not to mess with things, it just prevents it. It stops, not solves, the problem. Teach her to "leave it" and take her for a short walk, even just around your yard or in a straight line, if she doesnt go, take her back in and leave the leash on her, keep it either in your hand, attached to you, or just keep her constantly in your sight. after ten or twenty minutes, take her back out and walk her. when she gets in position, say a command and praise--"go potty! good girl!" say it calmly but cheerfully. When she stops going, stop praising and prompting. Soon, she will "go" on command and it's quite easy to make her "go" in a quick situation. To teach her to leave it, have a treat in your hand and tell her, "leave it" and pull her away, holding the treat where she can see it. when she goes to it, (the treat) praise her and lead her out of reach of the object. I taught my dogs to "walk" which means just keep walking, so they hurry on by whatever they were eyeing.

I don't beleive he can stop you from seeing your dog. However, he may feel your presence would strain her. I was not allowed to be with my dog when she was anesthesized for her spay, I was informed that if the owner is there, the dog will try to stay concious for the owner. If I were in your shoes, I know I would be down there raising cane until he allowed me in to see my dog; if she is truly fading fast, you have a right to be by her side.

granted, I am not well-versed in mollosser breeds, but I beleive many mastiffs do not live longer than ten years, I may be wrong. I had a friend who couldn't get financial help for her seven year old rottweiler's surgery because "he was near the end, anyway" A smaller dog would be better for longevity, and if you just want an alarm system, any dog would do. Very few people are responsible enough to actually own a dog that roams the property, unsupervised, trained to take down a human intruder. Many people get dogs to protect the family in case a crazed killer comes through the door, a dog would not be an adequate deterrent for someone who truly wanted to kill a family member. I think it is best to choose a dog as an early alert, and to train yourself in how to handle a gun and self-defense.

some methods i have used: try a covered litter box with the mouth facing into a corner, pulled back just enough to allow the cat into it. if you've got two bathrooms, try putting the litterbox into the bathtub--pup can't climb over it. watch the pup and keep a squirt bottle in your hands at all time. when the pup goes to the box, spray the pup but don't say anything. this is to make it think that the litterbox and water are connected. or try a shake can for the same effect.

Snipped up only to answer what you said that bothered me the rest was pretty good advocacy for neutering. Spaying early does not cause infections - that is a problem with the dog or with the surgeon botching the job. Surgeons also can botch the job on older females - it happens. I'm sorry you misunderstood me, I should have been clearer, I didn't mean not to spay early because it would cause problems, I only meant that the only drawback I had ever knew of was one dog who was done at eight weeks and had chronic UTI's. I don't know how common it is, but I've only heard of one dog having this problem, so I imagine it is not a rampant danger.

[quote name='GizmoRedNosePit']Well yes I know certain breeds do and dont crop ears and dock tails.... I was just wondering and Tankyou!! for answering!! I also had another question -- Do pitbulls use their tails for balance?? I heard this from somewhere and I dont know if it is true?!?!??! And yes I know there is a pic of a pit with cropped ears....I never said I dis agree.... I actually agree because it is better for hearing and health reasons but I love my puppy ears so they are gonna stay..... but I am having the hardest time with getting my puppy pic on here....I cant figure it out!!!! HELP!! :wink: Thankyou again!![/quote] Personally, I have never seen a dog use it's tail for balance, but maybe I'm just not looking at it right...I've seen my cat take corners and you can tell without a doubt that the tail is for balance, but I've seen my dog go sliding on linoleum in a U-turn, and what comes into play is her legs and body weight as she manuevers around quite like a speed-skater! (i'll watch her tail next time and be sure for myself) I have never thought that dogs with erect or cropped ears heard better...maybe I was wrong...all but one of my dogs, including my apbt, have drop ears and they all seem to hear about the same (except for the oldest one, but that's because of age, not ears) I have talked to apbt rescuers and breeders who say having the natural ears doesn't make the dog's ears any unhealthier than they would be anyway, I think this idea comes from the fact that cocker spaniels and other spaniel breeds have heavy dropped ears and many have ear infections.

I have heard that dogs tails were originally docked to show a working breed in some countries--I'm thinking germany and the like. Doberman and schnauzer's ears were cropped because they were both used for protection from humans and the breeders did not want the ears to be able to be grabbed...maybe the tail too, as a human may try to grab a tail, but dogs don't fight by grabbing tails, so the apbt still has a tail...I have never heard of someone actually docking a tail just because the dog keeps knocking things off the coffee table! I got rid of the coffee table, lol...

I have had two wonderful vets in my lifetime--Dr Robinson SR and Dr Yarborough. I cannot beleive that any vet would tell anyone to wait to nueter for the money. I beleive older vets, vets who have not been keeping current on new medicinal developments and procedures, might still adhere to the fears of anethesizing a young or small animal--that is is extremely dangerous. I know of a female that was spayed too early and had chronic infections as a result. However, I have never heard of any problem with a male. Some people tell me that if you don't nueter the males, they get very big and aggressive....many things affect growth and temperment, even things like feeding a wrong food! So I beleive nuetering before problems start is the best thing. You can consult another vet (or two) over the phone for free--a simple phone call asking if it would be better to nueter now or when the dog is grown. I beleive you will find that most vets tell you to nueter sooner rather than later.

i agree with the last anonymous...I can't imagine how many people all said, "if your dog ever has pups, let me have one!" (or, if asking before hand whether my females are spayed, which they are) "i wish she would've had a litter--i would love to take one like her!" i've got to the point where I just dismiss those comments because every time I heard about a pup similar to one of mine, who needed a home, I would call up the quoted, and they would say, "well, gee, I can't really have one right now..."

sixjollydogs, i appreciated your statistics, and they seemed optimistic statistics, to me. right now, at my local shelter, fifty dogs go in every week (forty cats, on average) I read the paper every week for a month, as it has the weekly turn ins. Out of all the pets turned in over a month, ONE dog was adopted out. just one. and not a single cat. two hundred dogs went in, one came out...it was heartbreaking...and partly because dogs can and do get pregnant through fences.

the cheapest is white vinegar. if the spot is old, don't use this trick, but if it's a fresh, wet spot, go ahead. First, lay down several layers of paper towel, then stand on it until as much urine as possible is soaked up. then pour white vinegar all over the spot, then soak that up as best as you can. Allow it to dry. The dogs may still be able to smell it, but you won't...I have tried this and it works! if the spots are old, you may even have to change carpeting and carpet padding as that smell will really get in there! Oxyclean is said to dissolve the organic smells and stains...if it does or not, i don't know...but I know I have clean carpets...be prepared to use much more than reccommended, however, as the reccommended useage is very weak. Jessica

My 'pound puppy,' only five years old, was unnuetered and had cancer. So PERSONALLY, I have known a dog that had cancer from being intact. He is not a breed known for cancer. And my groomer has seen dozens of dogs with health and behavior problems from it.