eric

She is 100% adorable.

If the by-laws are lax and the owners don't want to take action, the short answer is no. The dogs are barking because they are bored/lonely, which is not something you can change. However, with the case of the dog barking at 3 am I find it hard to believe that there are no laws regulating this. Most places will have an 11-7 noise law. I really sympathize with you. Barking dogs is one of my pet peeves,and I have 3 dogs. One of my neighbours at our cottage lets his dog out at 7:30 - 8 am and it pretty much barks non-stop for 45 minutes to an hour. Fortunately, we have very strict bylaws where we are and this fellow is going to be getting a visit from the police soon.

That one brought tears to my eyes. Your dog's expression is priceless. God that's funny. [quote name='pLaurent']"Mommy, mommy, my hood is too TIGHT!!" [img]http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL320/1047157/1960669/42316503.jpg[/img] Disclaimer: This Chloe dog was not abused in the making of this pic, other than the humiliation of wearing a tacky coat. Her eyes are not actually bugged out. Her owner was inept at using Photo Editing. :oops:[/quote]

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/06/29/dog.abuse.fireworks.ap/index.html[/url] It is my strong belief that people that do this kind of stuff, if caught, should seriously be reprimanded. People who lack the ability to empathize to this degree are basically sociopaths who end up elevating this type of behaviour to people. Look at the number of serial killers who started with animals. On an another note, give me these kids, a box of firecrackers, and a tube of anal lube.

Follow up article to this: [url]http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040625.wgunma0625/BNStory/Front/[/url]

3 whole days. Yeah, that's plenty of time. Why even wait? Let's just set up a wood chipper outside every shelter - that'll save tons of money. [url]http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/06/25/Schwarzenegger.strays.ap/index.html[/url]

All I can say is "wow". Maybe there are no coincidences. [url]http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040624.wxtshoot0624/BNStory/National/[/url]

Anybody see that new SPCA commercial - I think its the Toronto SPCA. Its young kids maybe 6 to 8, saying things like "If you won't play with me, who will?", "Will you make me sleep outside" and "If I have an accident inside will you put me down?" Bunch of things like that. Then at the end, some text comes up saying: "If its not ok to treat them that way, then why is it ok to treat your pet that way". Very powerful commercial.

That was tough. Our first dog's name is Sam, he's a lab-shepherd mix (though he's all black). I still remember what he looked like as a puppy - little fluff ball of love. Its not right.

I dunno, when I see breeder ads saying "Winner of XXXXX dog show" it seems to me that while breeders are doing the deed, judges are providing the direction, rewarding breeders for going extreme.

Sorry, could someone explain to me what this being "down on the pasturns" thing is?

You bad-mouthing my dog!? Just kidding. What exactly does this mean, being down on his pasterns? I assume it means his "wrist" is close to the ground? He does have really big and long feet. As you mention, Travis is purely a companion. We adopted him from the humane society 5 yrs ago not because he was a GSD, but because he was the quietest pup there. I could care less about how well he does or doesn't meet the standard. I guess that my point is that, at least in my eyes, he seems alot healthier/stronger/more robust than 80% of the purebred GSDs I see at the local dog park.

Here's my big boy. 120 lbs, 29.5 inches tall at the shoulder, wide chested and very muscular . This is what I think GSD's should look like. The GSDs I see at the dog park are all like 4 inches wide with these horrendous slopes. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0WQAbA!kc7lEI*388CBHlkc3gnsLcjAlLfsd3IbSVXflktfPVY3Mencdv0cbrDcMlj4dy2euRqmqzjgOd30Z0zn4CnVD88JeqSSFvHfTp7y6ceiMENKY3kBSU1ekgJbK03W4ja3EplLI/travis_looking.jpg?dc=4675475457406218511[/img] [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0WQARA*IciVQI*388CBHlkZ4lOxtSUKCwkAkw6brbVsfpnl3vN1YwuTsUBOrN1QZLQp*L84zZnEIHo4kqT64IPoUXcYU*jZLv9i9TWP3BxVRMosSRV4ps7tHnhwxrQFEi2Biuqff!OIE/travispic_test.jpg?dc=4675475457410095117[/img] [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0VgArA5sbfuAI*388CBHlkdM6SJubF590MPIuBxqrgatbvRv4MIo7dOxsRDdVbelCvezVyKj!SnAcIJZxCtKxje!dhdpOsMna1uE5CB9Kqp!c1hth*yWjQgW6ac0bM1yw/travis_side.jpg?dc=4675475457407979447[/img]

This has come up a few times in debates on purebred vs. mix and there are some strong feeling on either side. I am in the same boat as you. I have a gorgeous GSD that basically doesn't meet any of the AKC/CKC standards; too big, no slant. He wouldn't win an AKC/CKC dog show in a million years, but he's a big, healthy (no displaysia) boy that can walk and run normally. I firmly believe that the AKC/CKC has taken/is taking the GSD breed down a bad road. Pick up a dog magazine and look at the breeder ads and you'll see comments like: "GSD, like the ones you remember from your childhood" or "GSD's, the way they used to be". Clearly even the breeders are recognizing this fact. The issue, in my opinion, is that AKC/CKC standards are more concerned about the look of the dog, the right pose, than they are about the actual ability of the dog. German standards, on the other hand, firmly require that the GSD be able to "do" as well as show. In Germany, GSD's must be Schutzhund certified in order to show/breed. This ensures the dog has the right temperment and physical ability.

That must of been a real "Oh S$%t!" moment for that guy. :D

The worse sometimes is that Sam sleeps on the bed "backwards" (his head at our feet, his bum at our heads) in between us. It'll be like 6 am, I'm half awake, hear the dreaded "pffffff" sound, gag. Sometimes its so bad I turn on the ceiling fan above the bed to max.

Every fart you make, Every wind you break, I'll be smelling you. What did you eat Was it those treats? Oh for God's sake, I'm going to suffocate! Now I can't think straight, Need to ventilate. Every fart you make Every wind you break I'll be smelling you.

Great! Now I've got that song in my head. [quote name='"xavierandreaThat is tooooo funny!! Free and Asim do the as Eric would say " PFFFFFF" and Patti is really loud every step is a fart.... Reminds me of the song from " The Police" Every step you take... Every move you make... Patti will be Farting too.....[/quote']

Man, our dogs fart all the time. Sam and Travis do the silent but deadly kind - you might hear a faint "pffffff", then suddenly get nailed by an olfactory assault. Zeke is the funniest though - he makes these short but fairly loud farts - when he's doing something physical. The funniest is when he's going up the stairs - he basically farts once for each step.

When we moved into our first house, we were repainting most of the upstairs so we were sleeping on the floor in the spare bedroom. Being first time dog owners - we only had Sam and the time - we thought this was a good time to change Sam from puppy food to adult food. Not gradually - just all of a sudden. I awoke to find Sam in the spare bedroom with us (we had this stupid rule that he wasn't supposed to be upstairs, lasted like a month), licking my wife's face and this God awful smell. Poor Sam had gone to basically every room in the house looking for us to be let out; explosively releasing internal pressure in each one. Kitchen, livingroom, master bedroom, the other spare bedroom - the stuff was as high as 2 ft up on the walls.

Uh oh. I've been a bad, bad boy... :D

Visual image of K in a dominatrix outfit, riding crop in hand... [quote name='K']:D I have been advised that I may be too lax...so I am tightening the reins...zere vill be no furzher deviations from ze rules!!! :evilbat:[/quote]

Rule #1: You do not talk about Fightclub. Rule #2: You do not talk about Fightclub.

We had to put "Invisible Fencing" up because our yougest dog, Zeke, is too much of a wanderer. We live on six acres and there isn't any "traditional" fencing, just old log fences to define the property line. Understandably, with six acres, putting up a fence is not financially feasible. It made it very unpleasant to be outside because you were constantly looking for him/calling him back. We'd turn our back for two seconds and he'd be gone. The final straw was that he started taking off barking at our neigbours when they were outside, running across the property onto their property. This would get our GSD Travis going, who would bark and charge with him. When they got there they'd be all wagging tails, but it was clearly unacceptable. So we bought the invisible fencing, which consists of a small eletronic box, wire, and a collar. When the dogs get within a certain range of the wire, the collar beeps to warn them. If they keep going, they get a zap and the closer they get to the wire the more intense the shock. The results were mixed. Zeke is EXTREMELY sensitive to the collar. He basically screams, and he's not tiny (about 70 lbs). The first time he set it off my wife and I were in tears - we felt so horrible. However, after the first few zaps he clued into the fact that when he hears the beeping, its time to stop and turn around. He never gets zapped anymore. Being outside now is much more pleasant - we don't have to be constantly vigilant, and we don't have to worry about him charging after people. He got to learn his free area, which probably amount to amount 2.5 acres, and he seems content to run around in there. We also got a collar for Travis, our GSD, and it basically didn't work. He's a big boy, 120 lbs, and he's got a fairly thick coat. The collar did come with longer contacts for thick coat dogs, but it didn't seem to matter. He'd whine a little bit and just run through the "fence". At one point, we were all outside and I kept hearing this beeping. I was wondering where this noise was coming from, so I'm looking around. Here's Travis, lying practically on top of the wire (of his own free will) getting zapped over and over. Fortunately for us, Zeke really was the instigator in the charges. Travis doesn't do it on his own, so we only collar Zeke. Having said this, this is only for when we are all outside or when its time for them to go to the bathroom. Otherwise, our dogs our inside.

Pretty sure it was blackflies - they were out yesterday. I got bit a few times and the welts I have are similar to what Zeke has.