bk_blue

I'm so sorry. RIP little Billy :angel:

I'm so sorry, how devastating. (I'm also sorry I only caught up on the story about 5 minutes ago... stupid oranges or lack thereof. :x ) RIP Athena and Jewels :angel: :angel:

MARBLE! Hello :D :D

I hope Chico is ok, please update us HF :angel:

Blitz is a shelter dog, therefore he is of unknown lineage. He is most likely a blue heeler (Australian Cattle Dog)/smooth haired border collie cross, with maybe bits and pieces thrown in (Lab? Bull Terrier? Dalmatian?) We didn't really set out with any intention as to what type of dog we were going to get, just that we wanted a medium to large sized dog that was young and smart. And we got him 8) He was 6 mths when we adopted him and now he's 9 years, and he's been the absolute smartest, most frustrating, most active, craziest, most obedient, most personality-filled dog I have ever had the privilege of both knowing and owning. Of course I'm a bit biased. :D

HF read my post in NDR about fragrances! :wink:

Do you think dogs can tell whether someone is a dog person or not? Further, do you think they know how much they can get away with according to the person? Is this acceptable behaviour? BK can tell! When Dad had the painters over to paint the outside of the house last year, the painters were "dog people". Didn't take any melodrama from BK, were firm with him, and he ADORED them and behaved perfectly for them. You just couldn't get him away from them. Luckily for him, the feeling was mutual. He would've done brilliantly as a tradesman's dog. With the different mower men Dad has had, BK would try his bag of tricks on all of them and you could tell they all loved dogs by the way they interacted with him and told him from the outset they wouldn't put up with any of his little tricks, and you could really see that BK understood and behaved really well if they set the boundaries straight away. He really is amazingly well-mannered as long as he knows you're the boss. The exception was one guy who had been mauled by a dog on the job once and asked us to lock BK up in the house or tie him up while he mowed the lawn, which was fair enough I suppose, but fancy being a mower man and being scared of dogs! Besides, this wasn't practicable as people weren't home all the time. BK knew this guy was scared of him and took any chance he had to let him know he knew it. Not by biting or growling (he wouldn't hurt a fly) but just being obnoxious. The guy was just not interested in learning how to handle a dog at all and as a result BK played up just for him, but if we told him to settle down or lie on his bed, he'd do it immediately. Anyway now Dad has a mower man who thinks BK is tops and the best behaved dog ever, and even told Dad that he thought BK was a bit shy. Any of you who know of his exploits would also think that is as funny as I do. :o :lol: Whether or not behaving according to whoever is on the end of the lead, so to speak, is a hallmark of a badly-trained dog or not is debatable. It is arguable a dog should behave the same to everyone, but they obviously don't. Clearly BK is a dominant dog who was quite difficult to train in that respect, and he needs that constant reminder of who's in charge, otherwise he'll take a mile when given an inch. :)

There are a lot of bad kennels around, just as there are several outstanding ones. Everyone has made great points on what to look for. BK and the dearly departed Rinny have been to the kennels maybe 3-4 times in the past 7 years and absolutely adored it according to the owners (all those other dogs to play with in BK's case, and the geriatric facilities for Rinny), though I think the first time BK ever went he got a bit of a shock, going from the spoiled only dog to one of several. :roll: :lol: The kennel was in the far outer suburbs (ie semi rural- lots of room), clean, bright, dry, could drop in anytime, etc etc. It was expensive but worth it because at least we knew they would be well cared for.

Happy birthday to the elder statesman of the board :bday:

Aww she's so pretty :D congrats HF, what would the dog world do without you? :angel:

I'm so sorry HF :( bloat unfortunately strikes the most diligent of owners, please try not to feel guilty. RIP little Rocco :angel: (ps: sounds like you've been struck by the Dobe-addiction bug... :wink:)

Geez, you're not having a lot of luck are ya? Have some of my good luck and best wishes that Rocco will be fine. :angel:

[quote name='Kat']Although I might look a bit short compared to the big tall dutch people here, I have to go for long when I get trousers or jeans because I have 32" legs.[/quote] LOL sounds like my sister. We're the same height but her legs are 20cm longer than mine; we measured them one day. :o Bitch! :lol: And I know what you mean about big tall Dutch people, I feel a bit dwarfed when in the room with my dad, uncle, and grandad, who are all over 6 ft tall... :o

Good luck Izzy. It's not your fault. I hope she is safely returned to you soon.

That's fantastic news! Congrats and I hope everything goes well for you from this point on. :D :D

5ft7 and I stopped growing at about 12- I did a lot of growing in a short space of time. Most of my boyfriends have been about the same height or shorter (except one who was 6ft2). It never stopped me from wearing heels. :lol: And I used to be one of the tallest in my class at school, now I'm one of the shortest of my friends! :(

Court: "You got it" :lol: :lol: :lol:

What's a click? Something you do with your fingers when they're not committing a capital crime? :drinking: There is no clique that you speak of. I will have words with anyone I perceive to have acted in a manner inconsistent with the objectives of this board; whether they have been here for days or years is irrelevant. Speaking for myself, I treat people equally. I know the other mods do as well. K, my spies tell me that the longest, most painfully drawn-out death occurs when one is forced into a windowless chamber and made to listen to Vogon poetry and/or David Hasselhoff CDs. :P

My spies tell me thread hijacking will become a crime punishable by death. So lock up any wayward fingers, people! You have been warned! :roll:

you go K! :D 3ofakind: you may be interested to know that one of the moderators on this board went so far as to do telephone research out of her own pocket and in her own time (I doubt you will find many boards doing that), so as to prove to all and sundry that RnP was being truthful. Alas, she was sorely disappointed. Love the judgemental comment too. That's pure GOLD! Should I dare even mention the other morsels of champagne comedy in your posts? :drinking:

[quote name='coastie_wife']First off Crazy, I think you should have written your age in your first posting. A 14 year old saying nasties about small children is MUCH more understandable than say, a 30 year old. As I wrote, I'm not overly fond of them myself, but as a mother I *get* it better than most who have never had them.[/quote] How is someone's age relevant? Age should and does not have anything to do with one's ability to like/dislike children. I do agree that a seven year old kid should not be even put in such a position. Kid doesn't have a chance if all she's been exposed to is one way of doing things, and that way, which is seen as cruel and unnecessary by us, is normal to her.

Good points Seijun. I understand what you are saying. And no, I do not condone the "euthanasing" of these animals, however it may have been done by this heinously irresponsible person. It is impossible to judge what method of euthanasia is more or less painful to a dog since we do not have the capacity to imagine from a dog's viewpoint, only our own. Anyway, the dumba*s caused his own injury essentially by not getting his animals neutered. Wish it had shot off his nuts instead. :evilbat:

Excellent- a tired dog is a good dog :D

All I can say is WOW! I never realised (having a short-haired dog) how much a) effort goes into grooming and b)what an astonishing difference it makes to a dog. Well done :D

Oh man! HF, sending positive thoughts to you...