DogPaddle

Mouse - I have also seen parents and dog owners call there kids/dogs stupid and worse and definately sound like they mean it and that is reprehensible. There is a couple in our complex and the father is constantly shouting proganities and derogatory comments at his children - I can't stand it. What chance do these kids have of being polite adults with good self esteems? :cry: I can't stand him - he is an angry nasty evil man.

:lol: [quote]"you're so stupid... yes, you are! and you're ugly, too! my goodness, you're just the silliest dog I've ever seen in my entire life! *gush*coddle*coo*" [/quote] I have seen my brother do this, the dogs love him to death, they get all wiggly but when he is telling them - If you eat my shoes again I'm gonna drive you way out in the country and drop you off with them or some other such. As long as he says it freindly like they don't care, also he'd never do it. I really do think its all in how you say it and mean it. It's not like you don't like the dog, you love it, you love its wrinkly squashy ugly/cute little face, you love its head tilting utterly confused . . . limitations.

[size=7][color=red]w[/color][color=blue]E[/color][color=yellow]l[/color][color=green]C[/color][color=orange]o[/color][color=indigo]M[/color][color=red]e[/color][color=blue]![/color][/size]

PTS - put to sleep And I thought coyotes were lone animals or seasonal small family group type animals too.

I see your point Allicat. I'd read your dogs tag if his body language was positive/non aggresive/not fearful but that's me, alot of people would be afraid to even approach a dog that large. I have really only been afraid of a dog once (which may be a sign of stupidity rather than bravery or maybe just good luck) - I was 10 it was an Irish Wolfhound that was alone and galloping full tilt, right at me, down the road at a campgrounds - I wasn't sure it would be freindly but figured with its weight and speed, things might not go well even if it was freindly. I had never seen an Irish Wolfhound before but I knew it looked big and grizzley and was moving really fast. I was well trained so I didn't run, turned towards it, (braced myself cause I felt the collision would send me flying) and kept my hands at my side. It reached me, still moving very fast, abruptly flopped on its back and waggled for belly rubs :lol: , we got along fine and the owner was there shortly after apologizing because he'd slipped his collar - I've wanted an Irish Wolfhound ever since!

The GL was possible suggested over the halti as a GL will actually close the dogs mouth but a Halti will not. That in combination with the dog dragging a line around the house will enhance your contol over it and therefore reinforce your dominance and its subordination (thereby letting it no its not its place to correct or dominate other dogs) and allow you to stop it before it attacks other dogs. Smart vet, best of luck.

Awww poor little coyote, bet she misses her freinds. Still at least they didn't have her PTS.

Info summed up from animal planet: Brussels Griffon used to be a gaurd dog for carriages, they are very confident or full of themselves and have lots of gusto - they may be a challange for inexperienced handlers. Can be described as spunky, saucy, bold, playful, sensitive and mischevious. Usually good with other dogs or other pets. Is a barker and a [color=red]climber[/color] and may be an escape dog. An active breed, needs action. It needs daily mental and physical stimulation, stimulation possible with a robust indoor game. It also enjoys a short walk on leash. Cannot live outside, although time in a yard is good. Needs combing two or three times weekly, plus shaping by stripping every three months. Also: Energy level 4/5 Playfulness 4/5 Affection 4/5 Freindliness to strangers, other dogs, owners etc 3/5 Trainability 3/5 See animal planet for more info but sounds like a dog that would would lots of time and play and dedication to obedience training.

Congrats Courtnek! A troll is someone who says things just to p*ss everyone off :lmaa: , they have no legitimate questions they need help with :nono: , nothing to offer in the way of useful info :nonono2: and doesn't have stories they want to share unless it will get everyone going :agrue: . When you respond to a trolls posts they get what they want, and they keep coming back saying dumb things and flaming people :flaming: , hence the statement: [color=red][size=7]DON'T FEED THE TROLLS[/size][/color] In this case - What kind of dumb*** actually SIGNS UP at a dog site and says, essentially - dogs suck?! :stupid: Obviously someone who was dropped as a baby, making them ugly :tard: and maladjusted :crazyeyes: . This therefore lonely and querulous person sought out our site to say something obnoxious :bad-words: .

[quote]she is atleast enjoying her meals (not that she didn't before, she's a LAB of course - - EAT - EAT - EAT [/quote] Labs are enthuastic about everything they do but eating adds new meaning to the word. :D We are all pulling for you.

It will take a couple sessions for her to get used to it, try just putting it on her for random sessions in the house but give her treats and play so she associates it with good stuff.

HF - I can see using dumb or stupid as a term of endearment, strange though my mother never could when I explained it that way when refering to my little brother. :angel:

The tag is a light aluminum or something blue tag, bone shaped, 2-3 cm by 1 1/2 to 2 cm, its engraved so the letters show up well on the blue as they are the colour of the underlying metal, it all fits (no address), I figure if someone is going to bother to read the tag they won't have any trouble. I agree with the tags come off thing - Kavik's has come off and I can't find the darn jump ring. I have thought of embroidered collars but my dogs are a muddy lot and I think no one would be able to read the collar after the first month :oops: Still considering chipping though.

Kavik is making great progress with his halti - I always put it on him for obedience and never go for a walk without it, if he starts to pull I put it on and he is great, the more we work the less he has to wear it - I think he knows now if he pulls the halti is coming out so there is no point, he just gets excited and forgets sometimes. Tyr does not do well on the halti - true he does not pull, he spends all his time trying to get it off, Kavik will do the head drag and paw once in a while but Tyr never stops, we are thinking of trying a Martingale or correction chain or seeing if a GL is more comfortable for him. Until recently Zaphod was not a puller, last walk it started so we will have to see with him.

We have the same problem with a rare black bear encounter here once in a while. Most black bears can be scared off by standing tall, waving arms, making noise and in general making an idiot of yourself. Some require more forceful deterent like stone throwing and a very rare wack on the nose with a stick. Black Bears are smart and aren't much interested in food that fights back. Small unnattended children, the extremely elderly (and feable) and someone pretty injured might be at risk but otherwise its the standard rules, don't get between a mother and her cub, don't go pestering them and no - you can't get your picture with one (safely.) People see a bear walking through their campsite and freak out (its not like their Grizzlies.) There have been cases of individuals bringing guns into Prov. Parks (illegal here most of the time) to "protect themselves from the bears", they cause alot of problems (the people not the bears.) Bears will raid coolers, cars sometimes, improperly kept campsites, food containers, fishing sites and compost bins (not much composting in many bear areas for this reason) but they are mostly harmless. More people have been killed in Algonquin Park by lightining than by bears in the last 10yrs, but some tourist looses his "big fish" (near his improperly discarded fish cleanings) and thinks he was about to be killed and everyone makes a big fuss about tracking down and killing the dangerouse bear! :bad-words: Doesn't happen with wolves here really as they are exceedingly shy of people.

Kavik is tattooed but we are thinking of chipping as his tattoo is unreadable. My cat is tattooed but I think it was a mistake - she's too skinny the chip floats about and is very noticable, sometimes it is near her spine. For now the boys have custom tags that have all their info on them Rabies vac # and tel# of vet License # and city spca # name and my # all on one tag - less jingling that way

I think there are merits to showing and conformation but this community does not always do what is strictly best for the dog or its functionality although great improvements have been made lately. I am refering to what happened in the past to GSDs (slopey back end and bad hips) and many Pug faced dogs (pug snout accentuated until the animal can't breath.) Granted improvements have been made but I can see the argument for breeding for function and working ability before show or conformation.

To teach the dog to open the fridge and pull or slidding doors etc, get a pull toy rope or a durable cloth, fairly long and flexable. Play tug repeatedly. Tie rope or cloth to fridge door, wiggle it till doggy tries to play dog, say OPEN or whatever as the dog tugs and praise when the door opens. Note it is much harder to teach them to close it and if you teach this you should have a very secure yard and no indoor only cats. Also it really sucks to have the fridge open all night or to find the dog with its new skills of fridge opening has realized he doesn't need to eat dog food anymore. :o

Wellness, Wysong, Mmillenia - Solid Gold, California Naturals Line?

How to Make Your Dog "Smarter" Daily interaction. - play Exposure to new environments, new people, new dogs (where possible) Daily interaction. - snuggle Toys that stimulate the mind or work drive like kongs or dog puzzles etc. Daily interaction. - ecxercise Regular training, many short sessions often work better than a few long ones. Daily interaction. - just spending time with you What do you do with Duke now, what specifically do you want to be able to do with Duke?

We have no plan at all :( but all the stuff going has got me thinking. We live in a fairly eathquake free area, nothing big since history recorded as far as I know, although the Niagara Escarpement apparently presents a small risk. We are at the very northeastern tip of "tornado alley" but very little damage is ever done. Also don't see much chance of war coming here but who knows. I think we should get those "pets here" in case of fire stickers. We always have water on hand as we have a water cooler and a few 18l bottles, we have our water filter from canoeing and our canoeing stove but not much in the way of other supplies. I wonder what is happening to peoples pets in Iraq, at least there is not likely to be many pet dogs, many muslims will not keep pet dogs.

Ah the vacuum - the evil roaring house monster nemisis of Kavik. There is no way I could get Kavik to vaccum. Kill the vac maybe but use it no. We are still working on desensitizing him to the vac. He will even protect the other dogs from it, he growls and warns them away if they get to close to it. It's like he's saying - "My God man, get away from that thing, don't you know how dangerous it is!"

There is a tutorial in the pics section and Mouseatthebustop seems to know how to post pics but I :oops: have not succesfully done so yet.

I have really enjoyed watching Zaphod develop his personallity as he is moving out of puppyhood. I am fascinated with my dogs and love them to death so just ignore me if I bore you. Each of the dogs has such distinct personallities. Zaphod is like the archatypal dog - he is happy. He is always incredibly pleased with everything he does. "Hey look, I walked over to you when you made that noise! :D " "Hey look, I ate some food! :D " "Hey look, my tail wags! :D" He's a chewer and can be a bit dominent but he'd be walked all over by the other dogs if he wasn't. He does zoomies and chases his tail. He has loads of confidence and trust. Tyr is the nappy bipolar dog (sometimes he's a snugglebut, sometimes he wants his space.) He is either napping, napping outside, playing outside, eating, lying causually with the kong in his mouth letting Kavik or Zaphod tug madly away, drinking or mooing for snuggles, especially when any of the other dogs are getting them. He is stoically tolerant of the other dogs pranks and games and nearly as good about all the silly things people want dogs to do. He has a stubborn streak though and is determined to obey only hand commands, he can hear just fine, we checked :niewiem: . He is still stressed and paces alot, still tries to escape our tiny yard, still feels hemmed in by our small townhome though :( Kavik is extreme in most things. He is desperately snuggly, plays/works intensely (its hard to tell the difference between play and work for Kavik, all his fav games have a goal), he must be the alpha amongst the dogs and lets nothing pass even if he secretly could care less. He has a bit of cat in him in that he likes to climb and be groomed and sit there incredibly proud of how pretty he looks. He is often serious and the first to alert when there are people near the doors (near means within 10 blocks :lol: ) when he is very concerned about something outside he will look out, look at me, pace, repeat until I go look, then he can relax some. What about your dogs, what are their dominent personality traits?

The general rule for crating (and therefore being able to hold it as well) is one hour per month, never exceeding 8-10 hours (I personally wouldn't want to exceed 9 ever unless it was just overnight and the dog wasn't crated alot during the day as well but everyone has to work and people know their dogs best.) Most puppies can make it "overnight" starting anywhere from 2-6 months, although the puppy's definition of morning may differ from yours quite a bit (ahck - I hope never to see another 5am again!) Oh one other thing - you may have shredded cardboard in the morning, depends on the dog. If you can a more durable material may be better but I think my friend, who has a Czech GSD, used cardboard.