DogPaddle

I understand, I've only had one foster and it was really hard. He got returned to us once and the second time was that much harder because we had him back. It was the best thing for him though and he is terribly happy at his new home. I have been psyching myself up for another foster, took me over 6 months but it may happen - that's another thread though. I think, in my limited expereince, its worth it.

I understand, I had I clerk basically tell me I was an idiot for being concerned about switching protein sources (from chicken to lamb) and brands of dog food all in one go. Wether it was a groundless concern or not it is not good business to insult your customers. I don't shop there now.

I don't get the dog always outside thing either, really makes no sense. I think that if you don't have a fenced yard and can't fence or can't fence at this time that tieing the dog out, properly, somewhere safe to have its pee and a bit of air is ok. Not for long and not in place of some real excercise but it is a passable solution when done right and when other options aren't available. I HATE the heavy chain thing.

It seems ok but I also find it is just a little overpriced for what's in it. There are brands I'd go with first. I feed Innova for one of the dogs meals a day right now. (Finally some store in my city carries it.) But I really like Canidae too - tons of different protien sources, good ingredients, excellent price, however, its short on fruits and veggies. Innova has one less protein type but has the fruits and veggies.

I thought golden retriever or lab and poodle cross. How old is the dog "goldiepoos" and "labradoodles" have been becoming popular in the last 5 years I think.

[quote]I'm all for cropping[/quote] Any paticullar reason you advocate cropping? (Aside from aesthetics.) Like prevention of future damage or infection or something?

sigh . . . I have a load of "regular guests" who feel too much at home here. They seem to feel that their shoes belong in the entrance way not on the shoe rack and their coat belongs on the ground beside the chair they are occupying and their bags and electronics spread all over my house. Today one git tossed his plastic cd cover on the ground and when the dog retrieved it he said "God, why do I bring anything over here!" . . . I'd be just as happy if they didn't.

K wrote: [quote]but I cried for him (supposedly with him ) when he told me his dog was stolen and he suspected fighters or breeders were behind it[/quote] I'm with you here K. I was shocked, (instantly distrustful) and hurt when I saw pictures of "Snow" on that site. Everytime I pop in just to read a few posts I have checked RnPs posts for word of Snow White. This is what makes me sad about all this. As for the rest of it: RnP has the right to stud and breed and sell his dogs. I don't see why he lied or mislead folks, there are breeders here. The only reasons I can think of is that RnP would know people here would dissaprove of breeding dogs that had not had proper health certifications and we would be hurt by prev. stories/lies about neutering or stolen dogs. Or possibly suspect RnP of being a serial puppy owner? I'll leave off voting, haven't been around much and I trust the mods decisions. Would like to have heard RnPs explanation though.

Pugsley it sounds like you are doing everything right. Some dogs are just more challenging than others. You could look at crate training if your current methods don't produce results. You may also want to pop into the vets to ensure there are no infections. My mum's dog started urinating in the house when she got bladder infections.

Sorry that was me, it appears that Dogo logged me out.

I had thought his hackles going up was no big thing with him, thanks for the info that helps. Of course, other people seeing my yappy, 60lb, [b]black[/b] dog, with his hackles up are not so understanding. Guess I can't blame them though, eveyone has got to use their own best judgement to keep their dogs and themselves safe.

I have few times seen this one guy at the dog park do this, recently I saw someone else following his new trend. :roll: These guys drive their dog to the dog park. Park. Open the door. Let the dog out. AND . . . [color=red][size=6][b]Sit in their car reading with the heat on![/b][/size][/color] This is a problem for so many reasons. They are not in control of their dog. They are [b]so[/b] not scooping. Their dogs tend to play not to far from them, hence they play around the parking lot. This lures other dogs to play around the parking lot. Arg!

OK, update. Zaphod's recall is wonderful, better than Kavik's now I think. Kavik will recall but needs to be told "down" to stay after recall. The both run up to be leashed at the end of play time so that is no problem. Kavik can now be told to leave it for a whole loop of the park and will obey - this is hard for him because he is an obsessive fetcher. Zaphod is doing very well with other dogs I just have a few behaviour interpretation questions. Here is how he behaves: Lots of barking, seems like excitement barking to me. Hackles up often, sometimes when he is playing happily, this happens sometimes around the house too when he is tearing about with Pik or I. He has once turned tail (tucked) and run when a new dog he ran up to greet barked/growled/charged. He will sometimes run around the action, keeping his side to the other dogs, barking. He is very eager to play and chase with the other dogs, he is more gentle with them than with Kavik, whos neck gets fairly damp from Zaphod. He has sometimes moved away from other dogs barking again with his side towards them. He has shown his teeth to other dogs that chase him and go for the back of his neck, he makes no noise when he does this and then often plays with a different dog after this. He has been mounted and seemed to ignore it. He only gets a bit riled (barking, bouncing about, bouncing into the other dog, not biting, showing teeth) when Kavik and another dog have an exhuberant tug competition on some stick. Do you think he is afraid, excited, posturing? Do you think, he thinks he is protecting Kavik? Do you think he is ok out there?

Pugsley - Nice to see you here. Sorry you are having such problems. Re-training can be so challenging. K is probably on the right track though, what if anything has changed?

Sounds like my boys are much like your Hailey was. Thanks Science_Doc, you give me hope, I shall persist.

Kavik does it as well, he also will toss his kong on a rope up slightly to catch it in a better place to carry it at - the rope will drag on the ground as he runs if he doesn't. Zaphod kicks/pounces/bounces things for himself to chase.

Can't wait for those pics. When Kavik was a puppy I could not wait till he was older so we could start things. I contented myself with romps in the woods and some wading and a some low, slow fetch.

Kavik is not so bad but Zaphod has SuperLoudSuperLongLick Mode, he is such a freak, I try to tolerate it but eventually I have to tell him to knock it off.

I do like Animal Precinct they really work hard to give any dog a shot, Animal Cops is not as good but Animal Cops Houstan is pretty good though. Animal Cops Miami is the worst - they do feild euthanasia on inured animals without tags or chips, in fact a don't recall to many good endings at all, plus their commentating sucks.

That's wonderful, I wish it would work on my boys. I stop they eventually get bored and stop pulling, I move, they start pulling, took me an hour to go a block and back and still no luck.

Are there by-laws in your area regarding the number of dogs you can have in a residence? How do you think a new boy will affect group dynamics? You could go with one of the Seven Dwarfs with a D name as a tribute to Snow White - Dopey or Doc.

:lol: That must be it. :wink:

Sorry things aren't going well for you right now. Hope the docs and vets come through for you.

I like the idea of "leaving" and peeking in the window on him - give the window a good rapping if you catch him. I couldn't do it with my dogs though, they would know I was there. If you have the same problem you could make a "trap." Take an empty pop can fill it with nuts, screws or something, tape the top closed and attatch fishing line or thread to it. Set it up so if he disturbs the plant the can falls - it should make plenty of noise. Pre-train him by shaking the can and saying no very firmly when he does something wrong prior to doing this. You could also try covering the around the base of the plants with tinfoil - this seems to work for some cats and dogs.

Thanks I wish I could say it was me but its not. Kavik is just very eager to please, sensitive and smart. He pick things up. When I took him to the dog park some guy was really impressed with his retreiving but in truth I didn't really teach him much, he just knows that the only way to get me to throw something again is to bring it back. Pretty much anyone could do well training Kavik. Zaphod on the other hand . . . he is so enthusiastic, active and unfocused he is difficult to train - still a puppy really. In part the problem is that he is so cute, enthusiastic and snuggly that its hard to be firm with him. Fortunately having Kavik around as an example helps.