Cheetah

A bitter apply spray gun! BWAHAHAHA! That would sure keep the dog away - although it might not be very effective unless you get it in his mouth. Then he would probably run home shaking his head and sticking his tongue out and the owners would probably think you poisoned the poor thing! :lol: Only thing is it would be kinda expensive to be standing there squirting bitter apple - you'd run out quick....water might be a better idea. I have no idea about vinegar but I don't think it would be harmful; however, it might make the dog reek of vinegar and I don't know if the owners would like that (not that the owners would like bitter apple any better...but maybe if their dog comes home soaked or covered in vinegar they'd think twice about letting him over there anyway...At least you'd make the dog think twice!

I live in New Hampshire - USA (just bordering MA). I have a dog, a cat, a rabbit, a guinea pig, 6 rats, 6 mice, a few frogs, and two brothers! :D (a little bit of everything..) My dog, Roxie, is a four year old Pit Bull/Shepherd mix. She sleeps indoors, gets a walk a day, and has a fenced in yard to run around in. Roxie knows all the basics (sit, stay, down, heel(rusty on this), leave it)along with a couple of other commands (ask nicely(same thing as beg), catch, watch me). I tend to use a mix of "soft" and "hard" training methods. When I first got Roxie the trainer we had taught us how to properly use a choke collar (negative reinforcement - "hard training"). I used to be very impressed with the trainer we used; however I didn't have any other impressions to go by as she was my first dog trainer. Ever since i've come to this board, i've realized that a lot of her training methods were very old school (she was the kind of trainer that would say don't allow dogs on the bed b/c they'll try to dominate you and always feed yourself before you feed your dog) Being that I didn't have any experience with dogs before then I didn't see how one sided a lot of her training was. However, I did go online and find that there are many methods of training - her's being one of the more "textbook", closesided viewpoints. Just recently, i've started to use clicker training (more positive reinforcement - "soft" training) because I want to start agility with my dog. The training place (All Dogs Gym - biggest in New England) only uses clicker training with a gentle leader and therfore I have to learn clicker training to do agility. I've found that it is much more effective and I wish I had been using it since Roxie was a puppy. She seems happier to learn with a clicker for some reason. :) Wow...I went into way more detail than I meant to but basically I'm kind of a soft training "convert" or whatever you want to call it. Anyways...that's about it. ~LiL*Liz~

People like that really piss me off! They have a totally backwards way of thinking and their reasoning doesn't make any sense. What annoys me about people like this is that they always have to be right, even when they're wrong the majority of the time. No matter how much you try to reason with them they won't listen and tend to twist your words around so that you look like the bad guy and they always come out in the right! Worst thing is that they're neighbors...making neighbors mad can be a very bad thing because you have to live with the results. If I were you I would try to call animal control and ask them if the complaint can be anonymous or at least not give your name out. This dog is most likely going to get worse and worse and eventually hurt someone if it isn't stopped. I definitely think something has to be done - its just a question about how you go about doing it.

:cry: *sniffle*sniffle* I just read "I was there" and then this post - geez, I'm a sopping mess!

hehehe I love the pic of Duck with the broom, she looks so adorable and innocent :angel: I also love her coloring. She looks like a happy dog :) From the pics I don't think I would mistake her for a 3 month old either, but what do I know? All I can say is that from the pics she looks healthy and happy. :D

If this person can't cough up $180 to save their dog's life, they shouldn't have a dog! In fact, that's actually exactly how much my dog's last vet visit cost (she needed to get a booster on all of her shots and an extra $80 for heartguard) These people should be thankful that their dog's condition is still at the point where it is treatable for a relatively small sum of money (small compared to how much surgery and more extreme conditions would cost)

wow, everything right down to this guy's user name doesn't make sense "A person that lives next"...huh? :crazyeyes:

I hate the way so many misinformed people blindly discriminate as soon as they heard the word "pitbull". One incident that really pissed me off was when a woman was planning on adopting two adorable, extremely sweet 8 week old American Pit Bull Terrier (to be specific) puppies a few months ago at my local shelter. Everything was set up, she had filled out the forms, and was checked out as being a suitable home for the puppies. Right as she was about to adopt them, she asks "Oh, by the way, what breed are they?" As soon as she heard "pitbull", she was just like "Forget it", and then she just kinda walked out and refused to take home any pitbull puppies. When asked why this was a problem, she said that although she knew pitbulls could be nice dogs, she didn't want the hassle that people might give her for having a pitbull, and also, they could grow up to be vicious dogs. In my head i'm thinking "A second ago you were cooing all over the puppies, telling them how sweet and adorable they are!" The woman obviously didn't know a thing about pitbulls, especially considering the fact that she couldn't even recognize for herself what breed they were. So many people have the same attitude as this woman and so many are misinformed about what kind of dog the real American Pit Bull Terrier is. I guess we can all thank the media for that.

LOL! :lol: pathetic!

I wonder if some breeds (such as the lab) are more prone to snow nose than others? I'm in New Hampshire and obviously, its pretty cold up here (nice Christmas blizzard we're having right now!) but my dog's nose stays black year round. Or maybe some dog's tyrosinase enzyme is just more unstable than others...whatever, either way - snow nose is harmless, but hopefully Willow's neck injury isn't too serious!

ugh...that picture really made my stomach turn...and it pissed me off :evil: Made me want to rip out those soldier's insides myself! :mad: :mad: :mad: But I am greatly relieved to know that they're not practicing this form of torture..err..."war training" anymore!

By the way, Olaf is adorable! :D

Wow! That shelter sounds great! :D The indoor walking track sounds really nice to me because its hard at my shelter since all we have is a path going through the woods that gets really icy in the winter. Also - FREE food, litter, and treats from a grocery store - how much better does it get?!?! My shelter isn't even funded by the government - so everything is donated. Sounds like a fun place to volunteer :)

The first year I had my dog, she totally demolished a whole assortment of ornaments. Since then, we've only put ornaments on the top half of our tree (however, we put lights on it anyway so it doesn't look too bad) and it hasn't been too big of a problem since then, although there is the occasional slip! It seems as though as long as the ornaments aren't at her eye level, she doesn't go out of her way to get an ornament. However - the bitter apple idea was a good one, as most people don't like the idea of only decorating the top half of their tree!

I like that poem, it makes a good point about irresponsible ownership, sadly, this poem is probably a true story in many cases. However, i'm not sure how a child would interpret it without a parent to explain.

(long, but cute poem - make sure you have some time before you settle down and read this) The Night Before Dog-mas 'Twas the night before Dog-mas, when all through the pound not a puppy was yelping, or playing around; Our leashes were hung by our kennels with care, in hopes that St. Bernard would soon find us there; Chihauhas were curled up all snug in their beds, while visions of doggie treats danced in their heads; Max in his collar, on someone's lap, had tucked in his tail for a midwinter's nap, When outside the room there arose such a clatter, my ears perked right up to hear what was was the matter. Away to the window I jumped up with glee, and barked at the shadows that were cast by a tree. The glow from the moon changed night into day, and started me thinking, "Woof, woof! Time to play!" When, what with my puppy-dog eyes did I see, But a splendid dog-sled, led by doggies like me, With a regal furred driver commanding, not stern. I yelped to the others, "That must be St. Bern!" More rapid than greyhounds our saviors they came, and we barked and we howled, and called them by name: "There's Duchess! There's King! fat Chance, and bare Buffy! On Fido! On Scooter! On, Rover and Scruffy! Go by the red hydrant and run past those trees! Nothing can stop you, not even some flees!" As puppies at play chase after a stick and race to their masters so lively and quick, So out in the field his canines all flew, catching the frisbees, that St. Bernard threw. And then in an instant, I heard at the door the scratching and clawing of each little paw. As I pulled in my nose, and was turning around, Through the door St. Bernard came in with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his tail, his wood cask adorned with an icing of hail; A bag of chew-toys he had brought in with him, and his mouth was turned up in what looked like a grin. His eyes - how they twinkled! his ears flopped, how merry! His coat shone like crystal, his nose like a cherry! His big sloppy mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the fur on his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a bone he held right in his teeth, and his collar encircled his neck like a wreath; He had a large face and a furry, round belly that shook when he barked, like a bowl full of jelly. He was fluffy and plump, a big, cuddly old pooch and I laughed when I saw him and gave him a smooch. A wink of his eye and a wag of his tail; we knew right away we'd have homes without fail. He howled not a howl, but went straight to his deed, and took down our leashes that soon we would need. He opened the door, and families stood there, with children, all smiling, and much love to spare. He leapt to his sled, to his team gave a call, and away they all flew as if chasing a ball. But I heard him exclaim as he chewed on a bone: "Happy Dog-mas to all, and to all a good home!" Cute poem huh? There is no way I wrote this, it was written by Arlene Greco. One of my friends gave me this poem (its written in a cute itty bitty book) a few years ago. Hope everyone liked it, just wanted to spread some holiday cheer! :)

I got them all right!! :D My dog makes a similar expression to #2 when she's first meeting someone, and also the fact that everyone was getting #2 wrong hinted to me to look at it a little closer.

arrgghhh!!! these images won't post - I know why it didn't work that time, because the [/img] went to the next line. But then I tried again and put the [/img] on the same line and when i went to preview there was NOTHING there, just blank space- really really weird, well I give up unless anyone else can help. The pic that sashagirl put up was really the best one anyway...but if anyone wants to view the othersm just type in the URL's that didn't work.

oh okay, I didn't realize that it really even mattered if you say pit or pitt, but I'll try to say pit from now on!! lol Also, this is really weird b/c immediately after I posted the pics they were there, but when I just came back to look at it now - NOTHING was there, not even broken images. WEIRD. Well, I'm going to try one more time to get the pics to post. Here they are: (I hope!!!) [img]http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/1107835.jpg [/img] [img]http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/1107836.jpg [/img] [img]http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/1107835.jpg [/img]

Thanx mcobbin - your advice to use the EZboard URL worked! :) And sashagirl - I didn't know that pitts could be that small, most of the ones that i've seen have been pretty large, but I guess the size must vary a lot. Also, thanks for posting that pic of Roxie. Here are all 3 pics of her, tell me what you guys think (remember - 19in/45lbs - any other breeds besides pitt and shepherd?) adorable huh? [img]http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/1107835.jpg[/img] [img]http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/1107836.jpg[/img] [img]http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/1107837.jpg[/img] hmmm....what's up with pittt pitt pitt.......lol, u guys are whack :D

grrr...I can't get my images to show up. I think it's because the question mark after .asp? makes everything go to the next line, so the image doesn't work. Can anyone help me??

I've always wondered what other breeds Roxie is made up of besides Pitbull and Shepherd. (I assume Pitt b/c of her wide chest and head, Shepherd because of her ears and black nose). I don' t think that she could purely be a Shepherd/Pit mix because of her size - about 19in. at the shoulder/45lbs...seems a little small... So here are a few pics of her, i'm interested to see what other people think! [img]http://www.villagephotos.com/viewimage.asp?id_=1107835&selected=118154[/img] [img]http://www.villagephotos.com/viewimage.asp?id_=1107836&selected=118154[/img] [img]http://www.villagephotos.com/viewimage.asp?id_=1107837&selected=118154[/img]

hmm...I missed the second page, so maybe the response isn't totally "unanimous", but I'm still fairly well convinced that the smart thing to do is just avoid feeding cooked bones so that I don't even have to worry about problems like internal tears, choking, blockages, and all that fun stuff! :)

Thanks for all the advice everyone - it seems the response is pretty unanimous that feeding cooked bones is bad. I'll be sure to pass all the info onto my dad and hopefully he'll listen. :) I've actually never fed my dog rawhide bones because i've heard all the problems that can happen because of it; however, I do give her the compressed rawhide sticks which she loves. Pig's ears every once in a while under supervision, and I throw out cow hoofs once they start to get too small. Thanks again. :)

Thanks - that's very good to know that cooked bones are dangerous for dogs. If it was up to me, I wouldn't feed my dog bones of any sort - just to be safe. However, my dad is harder to convince. But i'll tell him what you guys said and hopefully he will listen. :)