DogPaddle

:lol: With two dogs and two cats that both seem to think my water MUST be better than theirs (it is in fact from the same source) I finally gave up and keep my bedside water in a glass bottle I got from some nicnac store - it is very pretty but the key thing is that it as a bottle neck. :wink:

Way to go Abker - Being reliable in agility class and some of the time on lead is great progress. May I ask what methods you used, I am still working through some issues with my boys? Zaphod and Kavik both are much improved but seem to take a disliking to certain dogs - maybe 1 in 5; and of course they never go off on the same dog - I have almost no idea what causes them to make these decisions. :roll:

Try looking at this site for shelters and foster groups to start with: [url]http://www.uexplore.com/directory/txnokill.htm[/url] However, I strongly encourage you to find a group that does foster only if possible because this dog needs the indoor experience for a successful adoption into a good home. Train the dog while it is still in its current home - you will be helping the process greatly, giving the dog a better chance and the people who adopt her will greatly benefit from it. Also check out [url]http://www.petfinder.org/[/url] they allow the dogs to be posted continent wide and there is a spot for a pic and you can keep the dog where it is while the adoption process progresses. This has the added benefit of the family seeing the whole process which may teach them more about pet ownership and the concequences. to make the process easier see if the owners will allow you to work on training lots and move the dog inside "to make the adoption easier", many people are leary of taking an outside only dog and having her indoors may calm her some. Good Luck and Good Job!

Jumping and spazzing - sheer joy at seeing people, relief from boredom - being left in yard, needs some obed. training. Chewing everything in yard - BOREDOM - being left in yard. Barking at strangers - territory thing, contributed to by being left in yard also may be plea for attention. Leash thing - unfamiliarity??? Either see if the dog can become an inside/outside dog and work on obedience and make sure it has plenty of daily excercise and intereaction and "good" chew toys or contact a local dog PLACEMENT group in your area and see if they will foster the dog with someone who will work on the dogs socialization, training and will keep the dog indoors while having it posted for adoption somewhere. Sending this dog to a shelter will only enhance its behaviour issues and possibly make it difficult to adopt out so that is why I suggest a placement group or animal resuce group - also look into Petfinder and maybe convince the current owner to do what a placement group would do to make the dog more adoptable.

I agree, also: If your just letting your pup out in your yard no worries - it'll probably do its business and ask to be let in when its getting cold. If your dog is out for longer you should be with it and you can watch for ANY favouring of paws. Start short and slowly build time, just like peope dogs benefit from time to acclimate. Until you get some idea how long your dog is comfortable with don't go to far from warmth. Once a dog has had frostbite on a paw that paw sometimes will sensitive to cold. All in all though you sound like you have a fairly cold resistant cross of breeds so your pup will probably just love playing in the snow.

Sadly we also have no snow, yesterday I was out in a sweatshirt and unzipped vest, its unreal how warm it is. :( Glad you have snow for your pups, mine love it too.

I said yes although "spite" isn't exactly it but I have seen them . . . be less than well behaved when they are peeved at someone. My mom's Abby would pee beside here doggy litter boxes EVERY day my mom missed taking her for her morning walk. They do communicate their "feelings." And yes I do think they have feelings, well, as much as we do anyway. Do I think they know "right" from "wrong" - you bet - I taught Kavik that taking food off of an unattended plate was "wrong" and he knows it and will even discipline Zaphod if he heads his nose toward an unattended plate of food. I am Kavik and Zaphod's society, I set the rules and decide what is right and wrong and they believe it and as in any society will enforce it amongst themselves so long as they believe it. Personally, I don't think "right" and "wrong" amongst people is any different. Now good and evil - that's another discussion.

Personally, I'm after pitchable suggestions. So the ideas have to be fairly simple to implement, not too expensive and something I can convince municipalities to actually implement. I think its going to be very difficult to pitch some of these ideas. (Not that I wouldn't like to see some of them implemented but I just don't see some of these otherwise excellent suggestions being actually implemented.)

Border Collies can be black and white, brown and white or tricolour. They might also be all black, all brown or all white but that might be a fault or have related health concerns - not sure. The brown might look red/brown. The dog you saw might have been a Brittany Spaniel - see [url]http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/brittany.cfm[/url] or [url]http://animal.discovery.com/guides/dogs/selector/profile.jsp?id=1630[/url] or an Australian Shepherd of unusual colour - see [url]http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/ausshep.cfm[/url] or [url]http://animal.discovery.com/guides/dogs/selector/profile.jsp?id=1020[/url] please bear in mind there are concerns with Australian Shepherds with unusual colouring and blindness and/or deafness please research if you are planning on getting one. There is someone here who knows more about it, post a thread about Australian Shepherds and Blindness or Deafness or maybe double merle? if you need more info.

I agree that starting with the breeder's is a good way to go - licencing, guidelines etc possibly a mandatory course would all be great as would increased enforcement of existing laws and an improvement of current animal cruelty laws and massive public education. I don't know if it would solve the problem but this would be an ok way to start.

Shara - Does it affect working ability??? I myself don't know but its an excellent question. Hope someone does know.

Good for you Kendalyn, I worked with Big Sister's too, I did drives at the college to get Big Brothers/Sisters for kids in the area (we only took people who were beginning a two year course or longer so we didn't get tons of people.) I also had a Little Sister but the match was difficult - we had some excellent fun sometifmes though, one of the other women in my dorm also had a little so we often got together to do stuff. As for the training idea - awsome! If there is anyway you can do it and make it fun for everyone it would be great, it would build some confidence in both your Little and the dog.

SOME canned can definately be just as good perhaps better than kibble. Some people suggest that if you feed only canned that you brush the dogs teeth more often. You may be interested in [i]Dr Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats[/i], expecially pages 10 and 11.

Courtnek . . . I have experienced this . . . does your kitty ever get stepped on . . . mine always split when the dogs freak out. People think the "chill" command is a very clever thing I taught the dogs but really it just seemed to happen, they picked up on it and when I noticed it worked I blissfully used it.

[quote]You could get one of the trash cans with the locking lid...the metal wire thing that slides over a slot on the top. I've never seen a dog be able to figure one of those out yet.[/quote] That is an excellent suggestion Courtnek except then my two (male) roomies would have to figure one of these out too. I don't think the trash would make it into the bin very often. :lol: I got some bitter apple like stuff from my mom for Xmas, she knows me so well. :lol: I try that and see how we do.

[quote]If the dogs want to lie in your lap, either accept it, or tell them to go lie down. they understand "Lie Down"... [/quote] :lol: I don't know how many times I have had to tell REGULAR visitor's something like this. It is such a painless and simple solution to tell the dogs "down" or their special command "chill" which means they can hang around as long as they don't wriggle and climb and paw and nuzzle the person to death. Oh well, it took me two years to train my freinds to use the foot peddle to get out of the rear seat in my two door car, I'm sure they'll catch on to the commands thing soon.

I like the idea of purely positive training but I just don't think it works with all dogs in all cases. HF, I think you did right, try the purely positive first and if it doesn't work, move on from there with caution. If anyone can do it all with purely positive then awsome, I'd like to see it too.

:( They get themselves into such trouble sometimes. Zaphod is a counter surfer and has recently learned how to open the garbage can lid - time for some creative training I guess. Good luck to both of us :lol:

Really? That's interesting. We have at one point had three dogs on Canidae and they did not show any tendency to eat poop. Maybe its dog specific?

Thanks Abker, my mom has a horrible time with this - she can only wear gold earings . . . poor her :lol:

[quote]I would prefer to try to talk them out of it, for humane reasons, and while I know I probably wont win the argument, at least my views are known and I wont back down from them. . . . And yes, if I knew who the person was, and knew where they were, I would turn them in in a heartbeat.[/quote] Definately, agreed. I did at one point pm Snow and suggest she stay for just these reasons if she actually felt that strongly about it.

What's the buckle on Ben's collar made of? Some metals can cause allergic reactions and if the irritation usually starts around the neck . . .

Does ben usually wear a collar?

Oh, I do understand that having the breed you care for attacked all the time, and having to fight a PR battle is hard paticularly when many other owners of your breed are not working with you. Don't loose heart, those of you doing true good need to keep on going if your going, you might say you will need to show unparralled determination :wink: , to win for your doggies.

First, I admit I am a bit torn on the pit and LIMITED BSL or LIMITED all breed legislation or enforcement of exisiting laws issues. So maybe you wont be interested in opinion but here it is for what its worth. If someone comes here upset about pit bulls and you tell them or imply to them that they are ignorant, that they aren't educated in this issue, that they can't possibly understand pits as well as you or in other ways dismiss them quickly - you will not change their minds. Don't give them the standerd arguments right away, hear them, address their concerns - Goo, I was always reassurred that there was at least some good pit owners out there when I heard about how you cared for your dog and how you understood the specifics of your breed and their potentials both good and bad, how you ensured that your dog would never be running loose both for others good and for its. Starting with stuff like that would be much more effective in my opinion, then follow up with a reference to stats and pits being sometimes dog aggressive (not that dog aggression is permisable) but usually not human aggresive. I know people who post negative things about pits are sometimes trolls but sometimes they aren't they are people who have legitimate concern or a bad experience with the breed. If they have had a bad experience it is possible for you to begin to change their minds.