gooeydog

[quote]I am keeping her on a short lead[/quote] Be careful doing this. It's generally advised (you may already know this) to not shorten your dog's lead when you see a situation they might react to, as your pulling them in communicates to them that you are afraid and are trying to "huddle" for protection.... which in turn makes them feel they need to get rid of the threat for you.

I copy/pasted the URL and saw it. She does look awful comfy ;)

Kiwi, the only thing I can see going wrong with your idea is that people would be able to get probably at least 4 times that for EACH pup they got from the litter... so really a $100 s/n "deposit" wouldn't be enough to deter people hoping to make some cash, or even who are just thinking about casually breeding. I know some breeders hold back papers on their pups until they've reached an age where they can be evaluated to see whether they get snipped or shown, as well as some who keep a co-ownership on the dogs until they reach that point, then sign over the papers once the dog's been fixed. Of course, here in the US, there's a problem with people just forgoing the "real" KC papers and just getting them from any sham registry they can find. I wouldn't think that would be a big problem there though, since you only have one KC?

Now I've always known that dogs fell into schedules, and knew what things happened at what times during the day, what certain sequences of actions meant, etc, but never knew that the "internal clock" was SO well developed. Annie apparently knows her DAYS now :o When we started tracking classes, the trainer said that they normally don't feed to dogs the day before they go out for a "serious" track, so that the dogs are hungry and eager to work for their food rewards. Well, Annie's always hungry, so instead of just not feeding her on Fridays (we normally go there on saturday mornings), I feed her 1/2 her normal rations early afternoon on Friday, and give her a little bit of food when the other dogs eat in the evening, just enough to make her think she got something. I'm going to work with my dad tomorrow morning, so we're going to tracking on Sunday (if they have the classes, I forgot to call :oops: ), and Annie can eat on her "normal" schedule tonight, then I'll feed her early tomorrow. I caught her eyeing me up like she was expecting something earlier this afternoon, but didn't think anything of it. Caught her standing on her back legs peeking into her crate (stacked on casey and joeys') a bit later, still didn't connect it to anything. Took Haley for a walk around 4, came back and Annie had somehow scaled her way up onto Casey and Joey's crate, and was laying up beside it (the door was shut). I got her down, went and took Goo out, only to come back in and find Annie back up on the crate. Put her back down, walked into my room to get Goo's food, came back out only to have to remove her again :lol: I had to put a book up there to keep her down because I don't want her jumping off of it and hurting her back, and now she's just peeking at me through the gate. I just thought that it was amazing that they are so well developed that even if they only do something once a week, they KNOW what day it is that they normally do it, even if there aren't any real "giveaways" as to what day it is (I don't do anything as far as preperation the day before, so I know I didn't tip her off as to what day it is), and will be so insistant on doing what they normally do that day. I can only imagine what she'll be doing tomorrow when I get up early, get all ready, then leave without her :lol:

Just a wild guess, but maybe when she's on the floor, she feels vulnerable, so she chooses flight (or in this case just staying away) over standing her ground when son and friends are around. Then when she's on the bed, she feels "safer" and more ready to stand her ground and scare them off. Does she do this only when you/Freebee are there with her, or only when you're not, or whether you are or aren't? If she's usually only doing it when you and Freebee are there, then I'd say it could be too that she feels that you two are there to back her up, and that's why she's standing her ground and warning them off. I've seen this with Casey and Joey... neither has the **lls to ward off a perceived danger on their own, but if I take all three little dogs out together for a walk or something (or even just Casey and Joey, though it's less pronounced then), they are much more confident, and will willing engage a threat because they have the safety in numbers thing going.

Malamum, I used to take the dogs out running beside me on bike often (only the 3 small dogs), Casey and Joey could do about 1 mile on the road (me holding a 6 ft leash and them beside me) at a fast trot/run. There were days though that I would get up and take Annie to a nearby park, 4-6 miles each way (about 1/2 of that on pavement), depending on exactly which route we took. I took about a month to work her up to longer distances, taking her out for a run every day and increasing in distance, but she handled those runs with no problems at all. When we first started, her pads did wear a little, as did her nails, but I just watched to make sure they didn't wear to the point of bleeding, and they toughened (or shortened in the case of her nails) up as she got used to it. I would stop about once every mile, and check each of her feet/legs for any scrapes or cuts though, just to be safe. While we were on the haul road (a road that was blocked off, so had no cars except for the occasional off-roader who came through a trail through the woods), I'd let her off leash, and while she had the option of running in the grass beside the road (sometimes I even tried to "make" her run in there :roll: ), she preferred to stay out on the road, so it couldn't have bee uncomfortable for her. If you're looking to try biking with your guy, I would start off with short distances, him going at a trot for most of it (a trot will cause less wear on the pads, simply because the dog isn't thrusting as hard with each stride as when they run), and see how quickly his pads adapt to the new exercise. If he seems to be getting used to it, increase either speed or distance, if not, maybe look into one of those pad toughening sprays. I've also noticed that their nails seem to wear less on "regular" road, with a heavier grain texture, than on sidewalks, where the texture is almost "sandy".

Dogs adapt well to having an amputation, much better than people. Within a week after Haley had her leg amputated (it was also horribly infected by the time it was taken off), she was getting around like she'd been that way forever. It is apparently better in most cases to take everything, and not leave any part of the leg, as the dog may try to use it and end up bruising/rubbing off the end of the "stump" in their attempts to use it. It will take some time for her to get the strength built up in her other legs, and until then, she'll get tired easily. If she's overweight, you should also try to get her slimmed down, as the excess weight is really bad for their joints. It's supposedly better for them to lose a back leg than a front, as 60% of their weight is carried by the front legs, so if one of them is lost, that's a lot of weight for the remaining leg. Most rear leg amputees that I've seen seem to be affected minimally from their "disability", they run, jump, dig, play, do everything they did before. Stairs may be a bit of a problem until she learns to deal with her "new" balance, so you may want to buy or make some sort of rear support for her if you have to do steps, I've seen them made out of blankets, towels, pretty much anything soft, and you want it wide to distribute the weight. If they also have to amputate the other leg, you'll probably have to get her a cart to support her back end. There are numerous models out there now, some small and light for the "housedog type", some heavy-duty for dogs who like to be out and about.

I don't train with a clicker, but I do do a lot of "marker training" with the dogs (I use "good!" instead of "yes", just a personal preference), especially Annie (the reason I don't use a clicker is basically because I'm uncoordinated and forgetful, would likely either forget to bring the clicker or click the wrong thing :oops: ). The reason for the marker training over other types is that it makes it easier for the dog to understand when they're doing right, because it marks the EXACT moment when they start to do right. Marker trained dogs will often have better focus on their handlers and be more willing to throw out new behaviors in hopes of getting the "mark". For example, right now I'm tryign to get Annie to do an obedience type retrieve. Clean. We had made some progress before, but I let her slide back into old habits, and when we started working at it again in june, it was horrible. She would come back with the ball, then fleanip the fuzz at my feet for a few seconds before letting me reach for it, then sometimes would try to snatch it back and run off with it... yet she REALLY wanted me to throw it for her. So, I started throwing the ball, then turning my back on her afterwards. She would come up, drop the ball a few feet off, then run over for me to get it. Still I ignored. Then she picked it up and brought it a bit closer. I marked as she moved towards me with the ball. She dropped it a bit off still. I went back to ignoring. She picked it up again and dropped it at my feet. I marked her moving closer, and her dropping it at my feet. We did this about 5 times, and she was bringing it right back and dropping it at my feet, with me only marking her dropping it. The next time we were out, a couple weeks ago, I again only marked when she dropped it by my feet. Then the next time, I ignored when she dropped it. In an attempt to get my attention, she grabbed the ball and nudged my hand with it in her mouth. I marked. The next time, same course of action. Next time, she brought it RIGHT back and nudged my hand. This was in only two lessons, spaced a couple weeks apart, so you can imagine if we worked at it every day for several weeks solid. We went from no retrieve to close to a retrieve to hand. It's not like a food bribe, because the dog will work, food/other reward or not. I train Annie on toy/tug rewards, and only take the toy with me about 1/2 the time (even when I have the toy, it often stays tucked away until she's done some stuff first, because the toy makes her a bit edgy if we work with it for a long time). The rest of the time, she works completely on praise and play with me. What marker training does is to condition your dog to wanting to perform the desired behavior, and once they're conditioned to that pattern, they will almost always try to follow it. Prior to the marker training, Annie was an "eff off, I've got better things to do!!!" kind of dog. She didn't CARE whether I was ready to kill her, it meant nothing to her. Now though, me getting fed up and walking off during a training session is a major fiasco for her because it means the end of "the game".

This may or may not work, but here's what I did with Annie (a dog that I thought I would never get to "down" on command). For about 3 yrs, I tried the various pull the legs gently, lure them down, step on the collar so they're uncomfortable and down after a few minutes, etc methods. None worked. Annie's short little legs were like springs, and as fast as I'd position her in a down (if I managed to do so), she'd be right back up again, before my hands were even away. One day we were fooling around in the house, "hunting" treats, and she laid down to get a peice of liver from under a ledge. Something sort of clicked, so I went outside and grabbed a short piece of lumber (this was a 2 x 4, but Annie's just a small dog, you might need a wider piece if you try). Came back in and sat the board up so that she could stand up and fit under it. The lured her under with a treat. Once she was comfortable with that (only took one time, but she's used to doing things like that), I lowered the board so she had to keep her head down to fit under. The once she was doing that, I lowered it further, so that she had to lay down to be able to reach it. I would say "down", lure her down with the treat, then say "good!" just as her elbows hit the floor. We did this maybe 20 times, then started without the treat, but a hand signal instead (still using the board). The once she was doing that well, I took away the board, and she's been fine since. I'd say she's about 95% accurate when I give her the "down" command, but we've only been working at it for about 2 months, so considering all the trouble we had, I'm happy with her progress. This may or may not work with your girl, but if you've tried everything else, you might try it out.

I'm sorry to hear this HF :( I would probably be wondering the same as you if I was in your situation. On one hand, she was warning you off, and didn't just snap at you as she could have. On the other, she has numerous other issues, and has never acted in this way before, which could signal that as she's aging, she's developing more issues. As you mentioned, the issues with the other dogs are not completely out or the "norm" for her mix, but with 8 (9?, sorry, I lost count :oops: ) other dogs there, you do have to consider their safety as well, and rehoming her is almost certainly not a viable option. It's hard to make a firm decision in a situation like this, especially when it's someone/thing you have bonded so closely with. Only you can decide what's best for her, you, and your family (both human and canine). From what you've posted here in the past, I think you will be able to decide what's best for all involved, though it's horrible that anyone should have to make a decision like that at all. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide.

Since I had to deal with this with Goo, I learned a good bit about keeping dogs out of windows. First, blinds or curtains will not keep out a determined window peeker. They simply become broken blinds and ripped curtains, possible (as you've seen already) pulled down onto the floor if they become too much of an interference. If you just want to keep him from pulling down the curtains, then as others have said, make them shorter (you could even use pins if you don't want to sew them). If you want to keep him out of the window entirely, there are various ways you can try, though not all will work for every dog, so you may have to try a few. The first one, not a good option if YOU like to be able to look out that part of the window, is to cover the part he looks out through with contact paper. It will still let the light in, but he won't be able to see things well, and will likely lose interest. Another is to buy one of those "scat mats" and lay it on the back of the sofa. Some just emit a loud, unpleasant sound, some give a little shock. It would be up to you which to use, though I would try the sound one first. It works by giving the "correction" (either sound or shock) when the dog steps, sits, or lays on it. yet another way is to set up a trip wire type thing across in front of the window, so that when they dog gets up there to peek out, he pushes the wire and sets off a correction of some sort. This is what I used with Goo, I used one of those things that give of a loud alarm sound when you pull the pin out, clipped it onto the curtain, and anchored a string tied to the pin to a hook in the wall. Goo got up there, went to push the curtain open, and set of the alarm, which brought me in to correct her verbally. It took about three times, and she wouldn't even go near the window. I left the alarm up for about two months, then took it off, and she hasn't bothered with the window since. There are a few more ways to deal with this, but I can't think of anymore right now :roll:

Don't mean to burst your bubble, but while their displays might be intimidating, and they might help you out if someone invades your house without your permission, it won't do you any good to have two dogs that have to be put up when visitors come if you invite someone into your home, then they become hostile. By the time you could get to their confinement and release them, you would likely already be in trouble. I also would NOT be pleased if my dogs were acting out so badly towards someone (who I invited into my home) that I could not control them. If I tell someone to come into my home, then the dogs had better respect my authority and accept that person until they have reason to act otherwise. They don't have to "like" someone I invite in, but they DO need to behave themselves. I'm sure someone will bring up dogs' instincts as far as knowing whether people are good or bad.... and if this was a one-time deal, then maybe that's what it was, good for them, but I would definitely be concerned.

Four of our dogs have front dewclaws, none ever had back ones, and Annie had her front ones lopped off as a pup. There's nothing wrong with taking them off at a few days old, like most breeders do, but I'd rather see them left on on older pups/dogs (talking about front dewclaws here, back ones are usually just a flap with a pad and claw, and are much more likely to get caught on things, plus easier to remove), unless they're either flappy, or the dog is involved in a sport/work where there's a high likelyhood of them ripping them. They do use them, ours use them to hold bones while they chew, especially Haley. And when I used to be able to play with Goo in the yard on a long lead, she would use them as leverage to get further up the trees after squirrels. I keep all of our dogs' clipped/sanded down short (Haley's is about 1/4" long, and hers are the longest out of the bunch). It's really just a personal preference, but I lean more towards leaving them on if the dog is older than "normal" dewclaw removal age.

If she can't behave when you let her up on the bed, keep her off it. Keep the door to your room shut if she's going in there before you do and not wanting to get down. In the meantime, keep a leash attached to her whenever you're home with her, so that if you tell her to get down, you can enforce it. Often, dogs that will put up protest at being told to get off the furniture will comply immediately when you clip a leash to them, but will put on a hefty display as you try to put the leash on them, and sometimes will even try to bite. Plus with that way of dealing with it, you aren't enforcing the command immediately, because you have to get a leash, and you're also teaching her that she only HAS to listen when the leash is hooked on. If the leash is always on, she'll forget it's even there, and she'll realize that you WILL enforce commands immediately, so she'd better do what you tell her to. Since you're not feeling well, the easiest and safest way to deal with her for right now is to just keep her off of objects that make her think she's "queen". You might also try a squirt bottle, when she goes up to the furniture and looks like she's thinking of jumping up, say "stay down", and if she does, praise, if she jumps up anyway, squirt her.

Thanks :lol: None of those are quite what I'm looking for, but I did find some things I'll probably get once I have a bit of extra money :roll: . The collar is for her for tracking, so can't tighten up in any way when she pulls on it, and a wider surface will give more area for her to lean against (in case you're wondering, a harness hasn't worked well for her, because she pulls too strongly and gets going too fast). I had never thought about trying Ebay though, I'll check that out later :wink:

I'm looking for 1" - 1&1/4" wide nylon buckle (not those plastic quick-snap deals) collar that would fit Annie the mini Dachshund. The collar has to be able to adjust to fit the top of her neck snugly, which is 9" around. I've seen some places that make bigger collars, and say they'll do custom sizes as well, but it seems a bit goofy to pay more for a collar Annie's size than I would for one Goo's size. I know I've seen collars like what I need on some working JRTs and patterdales, but I can't find any sites with them now. Anyone know where I could find one fo these things?

[quote]Its all in how you raise them... how do you explain dogs that are raised the right way and then one day just snap and rip the face off of the kid next door? its happened on more than one occasion and all that can be said is" he/she was such a sweet dog, it never did anything like that before. I dont know what happened." [/quote] It's not "all in how you raise them", you're right about that. There are dog dogs out there that are unstable, that are that way because of something in their genetics. This can happen even in well bred lines of dogs. These bad dogs occur in every breed. Dogs that, no matter how loved, how well socialized, how well-brought up, will still be unstable. The "he/she never did anything like that before" is a common line. The people who owned the lab x that tried to eat my hand said that after I managed to free myself, then tried to say I must have done something to provoke him. This was a dog that growled even at THEM if they tried to make him do something he didn't want to do. He was an unstable dog if I've ever seen one, and still is an accident waiting to happen. Often people accept things like that (the growling, or snapping over food, etc) as their dog's "quirks", they get so used to it that they don't even realize the dog is being threatening. Or they may be truly ignorant to dog "language", and simply not recognize signs that a dog is giving. It's easy for dog people to forget that not everyone knows how to read a dog. Another thing to consider is how often the dogs that attack are really an integrated part of a family... more often than not, they're kept outside, or shut in one part of the house.... what chance is there for the people living with them to really get to know them and how they are? How do these people really know whether or not their dog has ever "done that before" or not? The last point to consider in these cases has more to do with people than it does with dogs. Owner liability. In today's world, where people can be sued for dog bites, or even go to jail if the bite is serious enough, people aren't going to be so quick to admit that they KNEW their dog was unstable. It's easy enough to play it off with a simple "we never knew he was capable of that" in hopes that the victim, their lawyer, and courts will believe that the dog just "snapped". I think we all saw this with the San Francisco attack case. Both dogs had a history with AC, and reports had been filed before, but the owners still insisted that they had no idea the dogs would act that way. Of course, those particular owners were complete nutcases anyway, but I'm sure they're not the only ones out there :-? That's just a few of the ways you could end up with a dog that had "never done anything like that before" attacking someone, though there are others (both legitimate and not). You are also right about the situation with pit bulls and breeding right now. There are far too many irresponsible breeders out there pumping out pups with no reguard to health and/or temperament. The problem with regulating them is the same as with irresponsible owners. You can put out all the restrictions you want, but bottom line is that if they want to breed, they'll move their operation underground and breed away. Again, only responsible breeders will be punished, and without them, the breed will only go downhill faster. Education CAN help here also. Let people know the dangers of buying dogs (not only pit bulls) from BYBs, or from unknown lineage, untested parents, etc. Eventually the message will get around a bit, and people will smarten up, then there will be less support for the BYBs. Couple that with a "neighborhood watch" type education program where people can learn to identify potentially dangerous dogs, and you'll have much more luck weeding out bad dogs and owners before they can overgrow the rest of the garden. Of course, enforcing existing laws would be a huge help in this effort as well, and I also think that people with a record of owning aggressive dogs (obviously they're doing something wrong) or abusing pets should be banned from ownership. The government has more important things on their minds though than keeping a couple people a year from getting killed by dogs, sadly.

[quote]Once a pit bull starts the attack that great tenacity you guys like so much makes them keep attacking until they are either dragged off by the owner or the person can no longer fight bak.[/quote] Have you ever actually seen a dog attack? Not just a snap or a warning bite, an actual attack? Any dog that actually attacks someone is NOT playing, and is NOT going to stop until they're ready to, or they're dead. They're thrown into fight drive, and when like that, the struggling of their opponent will only make them fight HARDER. This is CANINE nature, not "pit bull" nature. [quote]And as far as that video being a reinactment- NO WAY. the way that woman screamed and tried to pry her hand out of the dogs mouth, the look of fear and pain in her eyes. the dog lunging at her chest and face, that dog had no formal training it was trying to eat that girl.[/quote] You're talking about the film shown on those "when animals attack" type shows where AC comes to a womans house, she opens the door, carries on a bit, then turns her dog loose on them? That WAS a reinactment, the dog WAS a trained actor, and according to the person who owned the (actor) dog, was completely friendly and trustworthy with ANY person. [quote]Okay but if the video was a reinactment and the point was made with a bite trained dog, why then was the dog not biting the forearm where ther are trained to. why then did the woman not have on a bite sleeve and who in thier right mind would allow a pit bull to bite a fully exposed hand? the dog then was hit in the head rather hard i might add with a thick dowel, it hurt so it let go but when the animal control officer tried to run around the guy that was trying to help her the dog renewed its attack. he then jumped on its hind legs and started biting her in the chest and neck area. the dog was struck agian and then the owner finally cgot it back into the house. while the office limped away to her truck moaning and crying. I have seen protection and shutzhund trained dogs, this wasnt one of them.[/quote] There are dozens of ways to make a dog attack look realistic... hidden sleeves and suits, etc. The "dowel" is also a component in protection trained dogs, though it's more often a rubber stick or bamboo. As others have said, you see movies where people are "shot", "beat up", "stabbed", and the like.... do you think they make a trip to the hospital afterwards for their wounds? That's why it's called ACTING.... [quote]I am not looking to have a mass euthanization or anything like that BUt i want rules and guidelines for anyone that wants one of these dogs.[/quote] Bottom line.... if current laws can't be enforced, then any type of "regulating system" isn't going to be. Look what has happened in areas with BSL so far.... Millions of dollars out to "fix" the problem, thousands of innocent dogs killed, responsible owners penalized, and what have they acheived? NOTHING! There are STILL pit bulls in areas afflicted with BSL... they're just kept hidden away, and owned by irresponsible owners who DON'T CARE what the law says. There are STILL just as many dog attacks, because the irresponsible owners STILL have dogs (pit bulls or not) that they STILL don't care for, STILL abuse, and STILL allow to attack people. Places are starting to consider repealing BSL that is in place because they've seen it DOESN'T work. The only way to reduce the number of dog attacks is to educate people to the dangers of ALL dogs, irresponsible owners, and the like. How many people who get attacked by dogs have the least bit of understanding as to why dogs do what they do? How many people have seen "signs of trouble" in the neighbor's untrained, unsocialized dog, but chosen to ignore it because it was "none of their business"? Then when something happens, they're the first to run out screaming at the top of their lungs, "I knew that dog was dangerous, I saw this... and this...". How many dog attacks would have never happened if the people around the dog HAD taken notice of signs the dog was giving off, and taken steps to stop things BEFORE they reached that point? It all comes back to educating people.

I agree with the others on getting a sturdier crate for her. How much exercise is she getting before you leave her in the morning? Try getting up 1/2 hr earlier and running her or playing ball with her until she's about ready to drop, then bring her in and put her in her crate or room. Often when you do this, the dog will just sleep or lounge around most of the time you're gone, and sleep=no ruined things when you get home. Then if you have to run errands later, do the same thing again. They key is to keep her from destroying things for a while, so she forgets what a rewarding thing it is to do, and stops the behavior. At one point, when I had to start crating Goo again (she developed some big problems with windows, and my dad insisted it was either being crated or being PTS, soooo...), I was getting up an hour earlier to take her out running or play catch with her, then come back in and get ready, then take her out again for a walk, feed her, and leave. If I didn't get exercise in for her, she'd pull things in through the bars of the crate and beaver them, even managed to escape a few times and pull things down out of the closet or off the walls to add to her collection under my bed. It wasn't the most fun or easy way to deal with (especially when it was 40 degrees with pouring rain outside :o ), but it was worth it. We worked through the problems, and now she's allowed to be free again. You also have to consider the prospects she has if you put her up for adoption... not many people want a dog who's going to destroy their house everytime they step outside, and if her problems stem from anxiety, uprooting her and puttign her in a new home may make them even worse.

"Dapple and "merle" are coat patterns that occur in certain breeds (and some mixes of those breeds). The merle (or dapple, they're the same, the pattern is just called "dapple" in dachshunds) gene restricts pigment in affected areas, making them lighted. For example, in black and tan dachsunds, dappled areas on the black part would be a gray color, on the tan, a lighter tan. In red merles, the merled areas are a lighter red/tan color... you get the idea. When merling covers the eye, it will be blue. If it covers only part of the eye, the eye will be blue where the merle affects it, but the "normal" color where it didn't, resulting in multi-colored eyes. Merle is a dominant gene, and has to be "shown to be thrown", though there are such things as "phantom merles" where a dog is so lightly affected that it's nearly impossible to tell they're a merle. This is especially common in red Dachshunds, the merle pattern often seems to disappear by the time the pups reach 6-8 weeks of age (in fact, Annie's registration papers list her as a red merle, but I've never found any merled spots on her). "Double merles" occur when two merles are bred. Pups who happen to receive merle genes from both parents will get hit twice by the merling, once from each gene. The link I posted above explains much better and more clearly than I can on this. Merle occurs commonly in the following breeds: Dachshunds, Australian Shepherds, Great Danes (though it is not an accepted color for the breed), Catahoula Leopard Dogs, Collies, and I'm sure there are a few others I've missed. There have been claims of merle dogs of other breeds (APBTs being one of them), but because merle is never "hidden" like some recessive colors/patterns, it is highly unlikely that it just "popped up" like breeders of these merle dogs would like people to think. Add to that the fact that these dogs often look like they've had infusion of another breed... :-? Here are links to some pictrues of merle dogs... Go down to "Gold Star's Iceman", a black & tan merle: [url]http://www.catahoulaleopard.com/swdogs.htm[/url] A red merle: [url]http://www.catahoulas.com/cimmaron.htm[/url] A bit hard to tell, but looks like a red merle: [url]http://www.catahoulas.com/dog.htm[/url] A faintly merled black & tan dog: [url]http://www.catahoulas.com/ginger.htm[/url] The one in the upper left is a blue merle: [url]http://www.catahoulas.com/wilson_and_prowler.htm[/url] And here are some merled dachshunds (along with a brinndle and a couple piebalds): [url]http://www.dachshund-dca.org/Colors.html[/url]

Yes, you can breed two dapple dachshunds together. Of course, the result will likely be a litter with a number of dead or deformed pups, but if you're willing to do heavy culling (killing deformed pups and even adults if problems don't show up until later), and are set on breeding the two, then yes, it is possible. Some of the common defects for double dapples (known as double merles in most other breeds) are immune deficiencies; eye deformities (where they eye either doesn't develop properly and is small or useless, or it can be completely missing) and blindness; ear deformities leading to deafness, etc; skin problems because of the lack of pigment in double-merled areas, and deformed or underdeveloped internal organs. These type of defects are NOT uncommon, and a responsible breeder would cull pups with such problems. Here is a webpage that goes more deeply into the problems double dapples have: [url]http://www.dachshund.org/article_double_dapple.html[/url]

[quote]But admittedly from many pit bull owners mouths the dogs are aggressive and dominant and hard to handle.[/quote] I'm not sure what kind of "pit bulls" these people own, but the traits you listed are NOT at all typical of normal pit bulls. Pit bulls have been bred for centuries to be submissive towards humans, which makes them both non-aggressive towards them AND relatively easy to handle (at least for people who have the least bit of and understanding as to how dogs "work"). [quote]they can be very stubborn[/quote] Often this "stubborness" people speak of is not stubborness, but rather the dog "shutting down" in order to avoid harsh corrections and/or treatment. The handler, of course, gets more ffrustrated, and becomes even more harsh, causing the dog to shut down even further. It's a harsh circle. Most pit bulls are EXTREMELY loyal and eager to please, and will do anything to please those they love (possibly one of the reasons they end up in so much trouble). [quote]in the wrong hands deadly not only to pets and children but grown men and women too[/quote] As ANY dog can be. Unsound temperament does not pick and choose by breed, and ANY dog that wants to hurt someone will do so if given half a chance. [quote]they dont feel pain[/quote] No.... it's not that they don't "feel" pain. It's that they are extremely determined animals, and often will not give up, even though they may be in extreme pain. There's a huge difference. [quote]they have tremendous strength in thier bodies and jaws[/quote] Again, more of a "strength" of the mind. They don't really have "tremendous strength" in their jaws, it's just that they have the willpower to keep ahold of whatever it is they have. [quote]all of these attributes are for the fight. Right or wrong?[/quote] Right. Of course, you forgot the most important attribute "for the fight"... bite inhibition. These dogs had to be so unwilling to bite a human that even when in horrible pain, or in the midst of a raging fight, they wouldn't touch teeth to a person trying to restrain them. [quote]Now i see that you are changing the dogs and utilizing the abilities for good but how hard is it?[/quote] Actually, the dogs that are doing so much good are not "changed"... they are the same as those who fought bears, bulls, dogs, and the like hundreds of years ago, with most of the same traits. Their past is WHY they are so adept at those jobs, so why would anyone want to change it? [quote]there is no way to measure how much they have but it a fact [/quote] If there's no way of measuring it, then HOW do you know it's a fact? [quote]As far as the aggression im not talking abou twhat they are bred for im talking about twhat they are raised for.[/quote] Now, in your last post, you were referring to what they were bred for... which is it? And if you ARE talking about what they're raised for, then wouldn't it be an OWNER problem, since the owners are the ones raising the dogs? [quote]Toss that in with the factor that most pet bites dont occur to strangers and it just makes me that much more nervous.[/quote] Where does this fit in with everything else in your post? [quote]When they do those weight pulls they have 50lb pit bulls pulling as much as 130 lb malamutes. and they are not strong? just think of the strenght that a pit bull of 130 lbs... mind boggling.[/quote] It's also a fact that for the most part, dogs' weight/strength ratio is on a sliding scale... the bigger the dog, the less strength it has per lb. This is not true in every case, but is the norm. And there are no such things as 130 lb pit bulls anyway, when you refer to those, you're actually referring to pit bulls mixed with larger-usually molosser type- dogs. [quote]so what do you think the general concensus is about your breed of choice?[/quote] The general concensus is not always the truth, but yes, most pit bull owners know what the general concensus is on their breed of choice. [quote]lots of people that dont breed for fighting purposes they breed those staffordshiers. the watered down pit bulls that dont fight[/quote] There are a lot of APBT owners that don't breed for fighting purposes also. And just because a dog is an AMStaff, doesn't mean it won't fight. Many AmStaffs and even Staffies are dog aggressive as well. Of course, so are a lot of terriers, so that's not really saying much, is it? [quote]They are from pit bulls the dogs split people who wanted fighting dogs kept breeding pit bulls people who wanted dogs that looked the part but lacked the drive bred the staffordshires.[/quote] Actually, some of the early dogs that were registered with the AKC were either from fighting dog lines, or were fighting dogs themselves. Nowadays, many AmStaffs are conformation-only dogs, but then again, so are many APBTs. [quote]they showed the famous one of the animal control officer and the little old lady that let her dog attack her. That dog was struck in the head VERY hard and immediately let go and came right back.[/quote] You DO realize that this scene was a reinactment, right? The dogs were trained actors, as were the people. I'd wager that the other scenes were also "rebuilt", as the chances of anyone having a video camera with them at that particular time and place to catch a dog attack are very slim. [quote]They also showed another one from the security cameras of a junk yard where two pit bulls killed a man. he hd jumped over the fence trying to steal something and when the dogs got him he couldnt get back over the fence they mauled him for an hour. every time he moved they renewed the attack. they tore out his throat and he bled to death with over 70% of his body coverd in bites. [/quote] These are junkyard dogs. Do you have any idea how junkyard guard dogs are trained??? Most of the time, training involves tying the dog off and doing crude agitation work, along with the not-uncommon abuse coupled in to "make 'em mean". These dogs are usually trained not to stop unless the person stops moving or is dead. As to the article that was posted... [quote]Unlike German Shepherds, which lock their jaws, Pit Bulls move their back molars once they have bitten. Their lower jaw scissors back & forth to sever flesh from the bone.[/quote] Dogs' jaws are like hinges... they don't "scissor" or "slide" like humans' do. That entire article is full of myths and mistruths like the above.

Forgot to mention a little incident we had yesterday, indirectly related to the storm... I was sent out to take pics of various things (mostly the bazillion boats scattered around our yard, only a few of which belong to us) in case we needed them for insurance, so Goo and I set out on our journey (The day was absolutely beautiful, BTW). On the way back up, I stopped in at my grandparents' house, to see if they wanted me to take pics of anything of theirs. They directed me into the living room to get my uncles stereo and speakers, but when I went in, Goo in tow, their old, fat cat was sprawled out on the floor. Something like that is just too much temptation for Goo, so we wandered back out to the dining room, where I tried to convince her to go into the bathroom so I could shut her in there while I snapped the pics, then we could leave. She's normally fine about this, but for some reason, threw a fit this time, doing the stiff-legged bag-o-cement impression again, and I shoved her on in anyway, pulling the door shut. I went and took the pics, then came to let her out... only to find that the door was locked. I guess I accidentally hit the lock (it's just a button you push in on the knob, easy enough to do inadvertantly) when I shut the door. My grandmother had went over to the yard next door to feed the stray cats that live there, and my grandfather was out tying things off in the yard, so I didn't want to bother either. I wasn't too worried, because it wasn't hot in there, and she had water anyway :lol: , so I hunted around for something to unlock the door with, then not wanting to tear the house apart, just sat by the door and waited. A few minutes later, my uncle came in, and I sheepishly explained to him that I had somehow locked my dog in the bathroom, and was waiting for someone to "save" her. He unlocked the door, and there sat poor Goo, looking like a little kid who was being punished :( I wish I had had my camera ready at that moment, because the look on her face was one of such betrayal, and forlornment, that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Of course, as soon as I called her over, she was back to normal happy Goo again, typical drama queen :lol:

Well, we decided to stick around, since the storm took a slightly more western course than originally planned. So far today, it's just been some gusty wind (20-30 MPH constant, with 40-50 MPH gusts, though it's getting a bit stronger now), and rain. The water is creeping up into the yard though. High tide is in another 2 1/2 hrs, and 20 mins ago the water was halfway up to my grandparents house (behind ours). At 8:00pm, it was about 2 ft below our baulkhead(sp?), and at 10, it was just over it, so it's rising at at least a foot an hr. Actually, my mom just checked the water again, and it's come another 15-20 ft further into the yard (it's 11:48 pm now) :o Looks like Goo's "granmudder" and "granfadder" might be coming to visit :wink: :-? I took some pics when we were out earlier, but it was dark, so I'm not sure how well they'll turn out.

It looks like this hurricane (Isabel) is heading towards us (in MD, a bit south of Baltimore City), and officials are already talking about possible evacuations. We're going to try to stick around home, but since we're on a peninsula, with water within a mile on all 3 sides (water on two sides of our backyard; about four houses down, at the end of our block, more water; then on the other side of our block, more water), if we get too much rain or the wind pushes the water in, we'll be in trouble. Anyone ever had to leave home for something like this? Keep in mind that we'd have 5 dogs (one of whom doesn't get along with 3 of the others), a cat (who doesn't get along with forementioned dog), and two lizards, and possibly my aunt's 4 cats and bird (she works in DC, and they'll only let her stay off if the storm hits before she's due into work, so if she gets stuck there, we're in charge of her pets). We have a van (not really a "hauling things" type van though, more for carrying people, the seats don't even come out) and a truck, as well as various crates and carriers (which we're sorting through tomorrow). What should we bring? So far we're planning for food, water, Haley's meds, blankets/bedding, leashes (with a few extras), and everyone will have collars on (everyone but Goo also has a name tag). We've also got vaccs records, and I'm going to get together some recent pics of each, too. Next question... any suggestions for pet friendly hotels? I know motel 6 accepts pets, but their policy says "1 well behaved pet per room", anyone know if it's usually enforced? We do have family that would let us stay with them, but most are either 5+ hrs away, or on the east coast in the predicted path of the storm anyway. I'm still hoping that all this won't even be necessary, and the worst will miss us, but I'd rather know that everything's in order anyway, just in case.