DogPaddle

I like Dakota but Kaden is a little more unique and very nice as well so I voted that way.

A major health problem in humans is the tendency to drink things other than water like pop/soda, "juice" drinks etc. I'd be interested in seeing the ingredients.

Kendalyn - My personal suggestions are to bring a crazy carpet type sled that the person digging can be slid in and out on, also spare gloves and sweatshirt for the digger as you will in part be digging snow out from above you which then falls on you and melts as you are working fairly hard. You would also need a large spade for hollowing out and as many shovels as people for the piling up. If you are not sure if you are making the walls the right thickness break a couple sticks to the right thickness and jam them in the pile, when you're hollowing out, if you find the end of a stick stop. We usually find a quincy is great if you want to hike the same area over a few days or the season as you always have a semi-warm place to go. One concern some people have is that, during thaw or warmer weather, some kids could find it and be playing in it and collapse it on themselves and not be able to get out. I find this highly unlikely but when we are done using our quincy for the season we have a big final visit and to end things off we just stand up quickly in the quincy, plowing through the roof and effectively destroying it. (Go shoulders, not head first, if you try this.) Have fun! BK - It is loads of fun. Sorry you can't do it there but on the other hand at least you don't have slush. I hate slush!

A quincy is a snow hut, not an igloo though. You use a shovel and make a huge pile of snow, then you wait two hours so the outside while harden - it does this naturally as the snow under the top layer of snow is warmer and it is softer/wetter, when exposed to air it hardens - no need to pack it. During your two hours you hike or whatever then you come back and dig out the inside of the quincy leaving the walls at least 15 cm or 8inches or so thick - the thicker the better. You pile the excess snow in a semicircle a couple feet from the door to form a wind break. You need lots of snow and the inside can be a bit cramped, the more people you want to put in the larger the pile must be but the most people I've succesfully put in a quincy was 4 sitting or laying down. You can carve nooks for your stuff and for tea lights or candles (it is best to use bee's wax with cotton wicks without a zinc core as there is not tons of ventilation) you need to have thicker walls to do this and ensure that the angle of the wall over the nook is not so great that you're candle melts it. You can also block up the door with a pack and line the bottom of the quincy with stuff - traditionally spruce boughs but as that is a wee bit un-environmental you can use plastic, sleeping pads etc. Inside it gets up to 5 degrees C and then you break out the hot choclate and chicken soup and relax. Because the inside of the quincy is just above freezing and then add up to four people breathing plus hot coca and soup and there is a lot of vapour inside the quincy, sometimes we've had fog. :lol: You can use a quincy for winter camping if you so desire . . . I haven't braved it yet.

Thanks Ellieangel, so she's hooked on the rotties then, must be those big heads, so cute.

I agree that prong collars have their uses with proper implementation and for the right dog in the right situation.

So we finally have snow on the ground and it just keeps coming. :D The boys love it, although Zaphod wants to go in and out around 40 times a day. They tear around the whole yard kicking up snow - I wonder why snow has that effect on them? Anyway I can't wait to go out to the ponds and build a quincy and (once the ponds are frozen) go for a walk on the ponds, the boys will love it!

The majority of the trainers I have encountered in Canada use very gentle methods and do not allow prong/electric collars in class and discourage their use except in certain circumstances. I imagine it is the same in the US, this guy is just a jerk.

That would be good. That way I might be able to afford a kick sled too.

Cool, thanks! The two dog Sacco cart would be great, must start saving pennies now to get for next spring. :D

2 year old Border Collie - Kavik aka OCDDog 1 year old Lab/Chow?GSD?SBT?BC? mutt like thing - Zaphod aka EatDog Also 12 year old siamese - Mroo 11 year old siamese - Eowyn

I'm looking for plans for a two dog cart or sled, can anyone help?

:lol: Oh that would be so horrible, poor thing. Kavik was a big poop eater. I just kept the yard as clean as humanly possible and gave him some yogurt now and then and after a few months the habit was broken, no more problems. Good luck.

Bathe in Bitter Apple? :lol: The only thing I have found to work is to say OUCH and say NO as you walk away and don't play for 5-10 min. If its an inappropriate item that the pup chews on say NO, take the item, replace with good chew toy and praise when pup uses it.

Perhaps the vet will have some suggestions - puppy formulae? Once the puppy is "weaned" or on kibble or canned or whatever you regularly feed weaned pups it should simply be a matter of picking foods that don't cause allergic reactions.

From what I learned in high school: Cooked beef takes a minimum of 3 days to completely digest in the stomache, I find it hard to beleive that kibble takes this long. Additionally the acidic contents of the stomache are fairly effective at fighting bacteria etc. I am not so worried about mixing kibble with meat but I do tend to have seperate kibble and homemade meals anyways. I have concerns about the bones as well and confess to cooking the carbs (dogs not going to eat uncooked rice or oatmeal anyways) I also but the purreed veggies into the cooked and hot carbs so they are easier for the dog to digest. (They also get raw fruit veggies as treats.) I have been feeling guilty about using cooked meat (often I just portion some of our dinner meat to use for the dogs meal) but maybe its not such a bad thing.

I would avoid salt, suger, sucrose, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, unidentified sources or ingredients, ingredient splitting to make the food look better (ie first ingredient is chicken but next two ingredients are rice and brown rice meaning there is likely more rice than chicken.) I personally avoid soy because I'm not sure it is a utilizable protien for dogs. Beef is excellent though, liver is supposed to be excellent in moderation. I'm sure others will add to the list.

Kavik doesn't seem to have any trouble jumping with one exception - if he does a standing jump for a thrown item that is too high he will catch it but over rotates or something and lands unbalanced and rolls onto his tail/back or just lands on his tail/back. I have to be quite careful of this because he will try to catch if it is remotely possible, I either toss in his safe ranger or way, way higher so he won't try it. Kavik can easily jump, from nearly standing, and get all four feet above 4 feet or 1.2 meters - he can land these most of the time but I keep him under 3 1/2 feet or 1 meter to be sure. His horizontal jumping distance seems ok.

Sorry don't know any, good luck though, they are wonderful.

Good luck with the 3yr old rottie. I think if you are going out to shelters and looking for a [i]replacement for your departed dog[/i] you may want to wait because you may make a hasty decision. If, however, you are out looking for a new dog to complete your family/household than you are likely ready. In the end you have to know yourself and decide. Have you had Rotties or been around them before? Are you specifically looking for a Rottie or Rottie cross or did Jedi and Chyna just speak to you/seem like a good match etc.? Oh and good for you for checking the shelters first!

I'm in the call the vet if any of his symptoms persist camp. For the time being make sure he has plenty of fresh cool water (you may need to draw his attention to it or try small ice cubes, most dogs enjoy an occaisional crunch on these) I woudn't feed anything for at least 10 hours and then start with plain cooked rice and a maybe a small amount of boiled chicken if he seems well. However, I reiterate, if symptoms persist see the vet.

[quote]I'm sorry, I don't understand what question is being asked here, but I can give a little advice.[/quote] In retrospect I have to agree with Mei-Mei. Did I just blather on or are we answering what your asking?

Pregnant animals can be desexed. This also removes the pregnancy. The suggestion to check your local animal groups for cheap spay/nueter is great. Do this asap. Even if you can't do them all, pick one, save up, do that one, then work on the next. For the time being are there freinds or family members who can take some of your animals so you can seperate them. If not get or borrow an xpen or two or three and keep males seperated from females completely until they are fixed. Alternate males in pen and females out and vice versa in equal time and provide plenty of toys for the penned animals.

Welcome back Kiger!

OK . . . just now the dog food delivery came and Kavik was freaking out at the door, raised hackles, stresssed. Brother was in other room and came into scold him. After this a noticed some urine dribbled in the area he was in. Fear/stress/submission urination is not something Kavik has ever done and I'm not sure if it was because of the person at the door or because of B scolding him. This is too strange.