Luka-pop

Did anybody else read the recent article about racing greyhounds? Behind a track (I'm not sure where), people found a pile of dog bones/skeletons. It's under investigation, because the dogs are supposed to be PTS in a certain manner, not throwing their carcuses in a heap (possibly burnt?). I hope the people who did that and thought they could get away with it are brought to justice. Rgggggg! :evil:

The roaches here are tiny! They're about an inch long, aren't they? Japan is the kingdom of roaches, and those are the one species of creepie crawlies that I dislike. The ones in Japan are at least 2 inches long, really oily, hisses, scatters, and multiply in days! They're found in most houses in Japan. They're just everywhere - yuck! The only "interesting" creatures I've seen here in NH are squirrels and chipmunks, opposums, hawks, owls, mice, garter snakes, frogs, salamanders (I caught a black one with yellow spots on it!), woodchucks, turtles on the roads, and a raccoon. No bears or deer or moose.

No reason. They're just my favorite animals - I love their stripes. It's like, do they have black stripes on a white body, or white stripes on a black body? I just thought that it might match my quote, you know, flaws and weaknesses and the zebra's hind end.

Japan is the place to go if you like bugs (well, besides Africa and the Amazon and stuff like that). There are praying mantises everywhere. Up to when I was 9, when I had to move here, I used to catch them all the time, with my bare hands, and my record size was 3 inches long! There are also all kinds of cicadas singing during the summer. I caught those too. And stag beetles, I caught every summer at our cabin, and horned beetles, and snails, and snakes, and frogs, and toads. At the cabin, in the backyard, there would be so many frogs hopping around, and once, my cousin and I saw a snake catch one, in front of our eyes! I used to catch snails and keep them ina little critter cage. one day, there were thousands of white eggs in there, and a couple of days later, thay all hatched, so I had thousands of baby snails. Too bad I had to let them all go when I moved to the US. The mother snail was pretty big, with about a 2.5 inch shell. I miss Japan :cry:

Oops, sorry, the first folder is of Luka and dogs, the second is for horses.

I just realized, that I'm [b]Addicted[/b] and with three paws!!! Yeah! And I also have pics at [url]http://www.villagephotos.com/pubgallery.asp?id_=97216[/url]. The second folder is of Luka and dogs, and the first one is of horses. Anybody know how to change the folder name from "Photos" to "Dogs"? I'll put more pics up as soon as I get them developed and scanned :D .[/b][/url]

I use Bag Balm for the calouses (chestnuts) on the horses' legs. After a while, they either fall or or become smooth. They sell them at supermarkets. They come in a green tin can (square).

Interesting... Luka has a black nose, always really wet, and he always has discharges from his eyes when he wakes up, you know the kind we wake up with too. As for his bristles, the ones on his front pads are lined up so that they run from the front to the back, and on the back, they are lined up so that they run from the back to the front. Yeah, after a walk in the snow, they are smooth, but while he's sleeping, they'll be really rough and bristly. It's one of those things I realize and think about randomly.

Just some random things I noticed... How come some dogs noses are wetter than others? And with Luka, the little bumps off his pads on his feetrun from the front to the back on his front feet, but from the back to the front on his back feet. Is this with every dog, and why so? Also, how come sometimes his pads are really smooth, and other time it's all bumpy/bristly... you know what I'm talking about? Has anybody else ever noticed anything else that's random?

Yeah, you can't just barge in as an unknown Guest and start causing trouble. If you wanna disagree with us, do it with an identity.

Okay, well you know how everybody says that their skin are like paper and rips easily. Well, how rough is too rough for them? Would their skin puncture if they were playing with other dogs and the other dogs bit him playfully (rough doggie play)? My dog will bite on to Cheetah's dog's neck and will pull and twist and stuff (wrestling). I really want to bring my dog over as a playmate for my friend's greyhound, but I don't want to cause any injuries to her dog.

Hey Marble! Wow, that was quite an emergency you had. You experienced an anaphyletic (sp?) shock, which is when the body produces chemicals to fight against the poison, except it's way too much for your body to handle, so parts of your body start panicking and "shutting off" I'm really glad you were okay. Some people may die, fall into shock, or become paralyzed in parts of the body, etc. I've never come in contact with a poisonous animal, but I have a natural interest in medicine. Actually, when I was younger, when all the girls would be freaking out about bugs and reptiles and amphibians and what not, I would be the "odd ball" mixing in with the boys, wanting to pet them. I'm still like that :lol: . I live in NH, where there are no poisonous animals as far as I'm concerned, but I lived in Japan, where there are lots of poisonous insects and snakes, where I just kinda picked up all my information.

I would wash it with salt water and/or dilluted soap or an anti-bacterial agent. Peroxide is helpful, especially if there's a lot of pus in the wound. A wound could get infected and it's slower to heal with embedded pus, but the peroxide will bubble the pus out of the wound. Then, I would probably apply Neosporin or other anti-bacterial creams and would cover it up to shield it from the outside air-borne bacteria. However, after a while, make sure that it is aired out, otherwise it would be too moist and would start molding, producing bacteria, rotting, etc. The key is to prevent the contact of bacteria to avoid infection, but to keep it aired out with good ventilation. (I treat wounds on horses and I have a friend who's an EMT)

Luka will eat anything! Carrotts, celery, meat of course. But he will not eat cooked spinach. Wonder why... I don't think moths will hurt your dog, although there are some moths that are poisonous. It's caused by the little hairs and powders on their wings, and when humans come into contact with them, they can get an ugly rash. Itchy, but sore, at times bubbly, like poison ivy. They're not as rare as people think either. I think that with the amount your dog's eating, he'll be fine, but I would watch out. Although moths are the main diet of frogs... Maybe they know which ones are poisonous and which ones are safe :-? ... Maybe animals are naturally immuned to their poison :-? ...

A really good friend of mine just adopted a retired greyhound. He's fawn colored, 2 years old, male. I could ask her about her dog. They're supposed to be sensitive, sweet, elegant, brave and loyal, but willful. I heard that the smallest things can be challenging for them, such as learning to climb stairs because most of the retired dogs ar at least 2 years old, without ever seeing stairs in their entire life time. This is a description from [url]http://www.dogbreedinfo.com[/url] The Greyhound is very [b]intelligent[/b], but its character is often undervalued because of its [b]reserved behavior toward its master and toward strangers[/b]. [b]Socialize them at an early age to prevent timidity[/b]. As a rule, they are [b]gentle[/b] and [b]even-tempered - both racing lines and show lines[/b]. Most Greyhounds have a

It is from excitement, but he's getting better by the moment. Now, he won't even jump up on us and get all excited when we come home. He'll just greet us, and that's it. We even left him ALONE for 40 minutes, twice, and he was fine! Of course he had his Kongs with him. Our goal is five hours (a long way to go), but I think crating him would be less safe and more stressful for him. He seems to be getting the clue that as long as he's at our house, he's not going to get abandoned. :D

I'm sorry horsefeathers, for offending you, coming down hard on you, and what not. I've jsut had a bad day at the barn. You wanna hear about it? Well, the 13 year old has been addicted on pot since the summer, and she's been getting into inappropriate chat groups and failing school and stuff like that. She owns a horse, but she hasn't come to the barn to ride her since June. Well, she finally came yesterday, and the horse was perfect for her. The horse was really bad for the trainers who tried to excercise the horse for the no show owner. I was really p!$$ed that the horse was soooo good for the girl, even though she's been neglected for 6 months! And she wants to keep the horse cuz she likes to brag to her friends that she has a horse. She sends her boarding fee in the MAIL every month! And, the worst part is, that she's trying to get another 11 year old from the barn to smoke some pot with her! Anyways, I think it's cool that your sister's only 9 and she's already working, with straight A's. My sis gets straight A's too, and I'm pretty good in school, with a 3.9 GPA. I volunteer at a shelter and I work at the barn, but with no pay :( . My sis and I aren't really close though, prolly cuz we're total opposites. Horse versus Dance, quiet versus outgoing, doesn't mind dirt versus ewwwww, that's gross! See what I mean. I think she finds out enough about the dirty world from her friends, just my parents don't know about it. At first, when we moved to the US, my parents didn't even know what a swear was cuz they've lived in Japan all their life, and there are no such things as swears over there. Kinda weird huh? Anyways, it's a cultural difference, and I guess I was just in a "let it all out" mood. Sorry :oops: .

Okay, so maybe my sister is a bit on the shelterd side, but trust me, nobody in her class would enjoy watching the humty dance. She and the rest of the world knows what the dogs are doing, and they don't think that it's offensive, but it's just that she's not too pleased by the sight. I mean, I'm a total barn girl, spending most of my free time riding a horse and mucking out stalls and grooming horses and rolling in the dust and hay. But my sis, she's a dancer. She's been dancing since she was 5 years old- ballet, jazz, and tap. She's actually pretty good, considering she's been recommended by the founder/director of her dance school to join many of their classes, and considering that her dance class has a better young dancer's program than the Boston ballet does, but anyways, I'm going off topic aren't I. Anyways, my point is, that my sis may be sheltered, but little kids that are over exposed to that stuff aren't benefiting from the "experience," and my sis definitely isn't not benefiting. Why do you think the drug abuse cases and premartial sex age rates have lowered over the past 20 years? I'm not saying that anybody's yonger sib is gonna become a druggie (actually, I know a 13 year old girl from the barn who's been neglecting her horse because she's addicted to drugs-poor horse), but I don't see what the big deal is that she doesn't find all this pleasant. It is a culture difference, cuz although a lot of people in Japan do get into trouble, the age rate is a lot higher than it is in the US, prolly at about 17 years old or so. By the way, nuns are weird, but private schools actually have way better education than public schools do, at least where I live. Nuns are so strict about rules, although that's not all of them, just the ones that grew up in the 40s and 50s. Actually, now that I think back to my nun days, I can't remember why I disliked them so much - I don't thing there really is a reason... By the way, we're not even Catholic... we don't even have a religion! And by the way, my parents don't need to lighten up any more than they are now. They've never grounded me for anything, they never get mad about grades, they'll drive me wherever I want to go, and they literally spend hundreds on my sis and my lessons every month. I think I'm thankful enuff already... Okay, I'm done.

No, but you see, I don't think you get it. Picture how J.M. and her sister would react if they were witnesses... If they were a 10 on the scale, and really careless people were 1, my sister would be at around a 7 or 8. And lets not forget that we've been living in Yokohama most of our lives. And to top it off, my sister goes to PMA, a school run by nuns (although I must say that it's WAY better than the public Memorial). My parents wouldn't have gotten upset if it hadn't happened in the middle of the LIVING ROOM! She said that they should have stayed downstairs. Oh by the way, I've been humped by so many other dogs at the shelter, along with the other workers and volunteers, but my mom didn't care, cuz it wasn't in her carpeted LIVING ROOM! Lets not forget that my mom hasn't owned dogs before in her life, and that she's a PIANIST MUSICIAN, not some barn girl like me :D .

No, but you see, it's a bit different over here in NH. First of all, my sister and I both go to a "sheltered" Catholic school (ask Cheetah). Second, do you think that my parents appreciated my 10 year old sister witnessing the event? Not really... My sister's so sheltered that a couple of weeks ago she asked me, "What's a h*@r?" Not to mention that there are no swears or anything like that where we came from 6 years ago... It wouldn't be a big deal if it were just me, but it shouldn't be litoted as "it's just the humpty dance," for a 10 year old. I know it's not that big a deal, but it should be avoided if it could be, for the viwer's sake.

Luka has very severe separation anxiety. Anyways, he's gotten soooo much better, and while my mom's out and my little sis and I are at school, my dad hides up in his room and Luka stays downstairs, alone. He's perfectly fine then. But when we come home, because all the pressure of being alone drains him, he will go to the bathroom inside the house. At night, he will whine and bark while in his crate. It's not the crate he dislikes, but rather being left alone ih his crate. If we do have to leave him alone, what would my best bet be? Leave him in the crate, or give him the house to wander through. Ofcourse all of the doors to the bathrooms and bedrooms would be closed, but he would basicaly have the entire downstairs to himself. I don't want him going to the bathroom all over the place, knocking anything down, tearing apart the couch and carpet, or scartching on the walls, doors, furniture, or piano. If I leave him in the crate, there's a chance of him being self-destructive (knawing on himself, crate bars, etc.). For his safety and for the least damage to the house, any ideas? He likes Kongs, but they would never last more than an hour tops. He would lose interest in them after a while. I don't want to give him pizzle or anything like that while he's alone... What shall I do? I need to be able to leave him alone sometimes! By the way, the vet said that it would get better with time, and that he wasn't going to recommend valium.

In Luka's case, I doubt that it's a dominance issue. When Cheetah's dog takes his toys, he'll actually back away and let Roxie have it. He's too submissive. He'll actually cower away when Roxie barks. Would a spray bottle work? A squirt at Luka when he gets too "excited."

Cheetah and I joke that Luka's giving Cheetah's dog hikkies, cuz he'll always start biting onto her neck :lol: .Then her dog would be all wet and slobbered around the neck. The problem is SO VERY embarassing :oops: . Don't they know that, well, it's pointless?

Luka's scared of other dogs at first (he'll cower and his hair will stick up), but he played with Cheetah's dog and they really got along. It's great that he has a play mate. But one thing did disturb my parents greatly, especially with my younger sister around. Cheetah's dog is spayed, and mine's neutered. Well, every time they get together and start getting all excited, well, they act as though they haven't been fixed yet, if you know what I mean :oops: ... Because my parents did't exactly appreciate this happening in the middle of their living room, I was wondering... Doesn't he know that they're both already FIXED :o !? Better yet, is there a way for Luka to stop doing this? I'd love Luka to have some canine friends of his own, but he needs to stop disturbing my parents and everybody else, for that matter! I know that this is a problem with some dogs, but not for others. What do I do??? HELP!!!!!!!

I know what you mean about the hair taking up so much space. There was a dog at the groomers once, that literally had a back that was the size of a small coffee table or night stand. It must have been an Olde English sheepdog mix or something with LOTS of hair. His size was about that of an Olde English sheepdog. Well, two hours later, the same lady came to pick up the dog, which I didn't even recognize as the one before grooming! After he got all his hair clipped, he was about the size of a large shiba! I was like whoa! He wasn't even as stocky as a shiba. He had really slender legs and a slim body. By the way, I think the lady said that she clipped him because the dog was really prone to heat stroke and it was the middle of summer. She said she didn't want ticks and fleas in his coat cuz they live near an open field.