Bubblezzz

Singapore is rabies-free. Here's what we pay per year: $14 for a male dog $14 for a sterilised female dog and $70 for an unsterilised female dog

Even when I get all numb from Cosmic falling asleep in my arms, (he's a 16kg cocker spaniel :o ) I try my darnest not to move... until bf comes along and I manage to (desperately) motion him over to [i]gently extract the sweet sleeping dog[/i] from my lap and place him on his bed. :oops: How spoilt is that?!! :roll: :lol:

I've heard stories of dogs chipping their teeth on the Galileo chew. :o HorseFeathers, nothing like that happening with yours right? Mine is still kept away in Cosmic's toy box. :roll: Hmm... maybe it belongs in MY toy box instead... :lol:

I've been using Nylabones since Cosmic was a pup. Once he unstuffs or works the food out of his (numerous :roll: ) Kongs, he simply shows no interest in them anymore! His Nylabone is just about the ONLY chew toy he spends ages on. He gets the hardest (milky white in colour) one and gnaws the teensiest bits off after hours working at it. I'm also worried of the safety level - but there's a real lack of choice! :( Are compressed rawhides really any better than rawhides? I've never given him either - too freaked out after all the rawhide horror stories I've heard. :P

[quote]Aww Abby sounds very sweet. Dogs usually are true to their true personality. However there are occasions when that instinct to protect will show up. My Meg scared me once by showing a different side of protection. My usually very sweet girl chased after a guy who stole my mobile at the park and belted after him and lunged at his back snarling. He dropped my mobile in fright and ran off while Meg proud as punch trotted back with my mobile in her mouth. [/quote] What a good girl!! :angel: I wonder about this all the time - if my dog's 'protective instinct' will kick in IF I'm ever threatened. :roll: I'm convinced that mine barks at strangers at the door cos' he wants to be let out NOW to play. :lol:

This brought tears to my eyes: The little dog arrived at the Rainbow Bridge, and a pack of dogs rushed up to greet him. He braced himself, expecting a fight, but this was the first pack that wagged their tails and kissed him instead of attacking him. It was beautiful here, and everyone was nice to him. None of them had been born in a puppy mill, like he had, and used for dog-bait fighting and left to die in a shelter because he was a mixed-breed battle-scarred cur and wasn't cute. They explained why they were waiting for their humans who loved them. "What is love?" he asked, and God let him go back to earth and find out. Warm, and dark, he squeezed in with the others and waited for the day to be born. Scared, he held back as long as he could, but finally got dragged out by his hind feet. Hands without fur held him gently and rubbed him dry and opened his mouth and guided him to a warm nipple with milk. He didn't get a good hold on it, because one of his big, fat brothers pushed him aside. The human hand moved the other puppy to another nipple and held his body, so he could drink. "Ahhh, that's better," he thought, and drank until his jaws got tired and he curled up to sleep next to his warm hairy mother. "I remember this," he mused. "Too bad I'll have to grow up to be hit, left out in the cold and rain, and used for dog-bait fighting, and die as an unclaimed rescue dog. I remember what it's like, being a dog," he thought sadly. That night, he crawled up to his mother and tried to nurse, but he kept getting pushed off to the side. When they were full, the big brothers and sisters got their bottoms cleaned and he finally latched on to a nipple, but the human hands weren't there to hold him up, and there wasn't any milk in any of the nipples, anyway. He was weak and so tiny. It was even hard to stay upright, and he fell over on his back and couldn't right himself. So he began to cry, and suddenly the human hands were there, holding him up and putting a rubber thing in his mouth. It didn't taste or feel like his mother, but it was warm and made the ache in his tummy go away. He was having trouble breathing. His lungs weren't fully developed because he had waited too long to join the others in the womb. He had taken that one last romp at the Rainbow Bridge. He could feel the heartbeat of the human, who had laid him on her chest and covered him with a soft cloth, keeping him warm, and soothing his bony body with gentle, circling touches. He kept thinking of his new friends who had been so nice to him at the Bridge and asked God if he could go back. God said, "Yes, but not just yet. You wanted to experience Love." So for several hours (it seemed like days, but it was dark and he couldn't tell what time it was), the human supplemented his feeding and let him experience the warmth of his mother's body and tongue, and the pile of warm, soft littermates. He got weaker, and the human held him more often, leaving the littermates to sleep in a pile while he got caressed, kissed, and got to listen to the heartbeat, which was strong and loving. Finally God came back and asked, "Are you ready to come back to the Rainbow Bridge?" "Yes, he responded," with a little sorrow, because the human didn't want to let him go, and was crying. He pushed the air out of his lungs and floated back to the Rainbow Bridge and looked back at the human, who was still crying and holding the limp body that he had borrowed for his trip. "Thank you, God," he said. "Love is beautiful, and I will wait near the Bridge and let the human know, when she arrives, that I loved her, too." After playing in the fields of flowers with all the other dogs, He kept looking back down at earth. He saw many humans holding fragile little newborns that were only to stay on earth for a few hours or days, to learn about love. He asked God, "Must I wait for her? Now that I know what love is, I want to share it with other humans ... for there are many who are down there, crying." "Yes," God answered warmly. "You are learning about love, and I will send you back where you are needed and wanted." So the little dog -- who had once been born in a puppy-mill, only known cruelty, abuse, being used as bait for dog-fighting, and left to die at a rescue shelter -- now knew the meaning of love and was given another chance to give as well as receive. This time, he was born strong and quickly became everyone's "pick" because of his gentleness and outgoing temperament. He gave everyone puppy-breath kisses and bounded out to greet all the prospective puppy-buyers with his whole body wagging his tail. He was looking for the special human, who had taught him the meaning of love, but she was not this breeder nor any of the buyers who came to look at the litter. "Where is my human?" the big, strong puppy asked God. "Be patient, God replied. "She has many other dogs right now, and doesn't need you as much as someone else." This breeder could have gotten a lot of money for him; but instead, she called the national service-dog group and told them of her special puppy. He was now a big dog, and spent his first year in a special home, learning how to be a service-dog. This family trained him to sit, down, stay, fetch, and learn patience -- oh, that was the hardest trick to learn! There was a special little boy who couldn't walk or coordinate his hand-movements. He had only weighed 5 ounces in his previous life as a "fading puppy." He was now over 50 pounds and capable of pulling a wheelchair and picking up keys, pencils, etc., and giving them to the trainer. He loved his trainer, but the day he met the little boy, he knew God was answering his prayers by giving him a little human who couldn't play like the other children. He spent many years with the child, helping him grow. He learned that love comes in different forms ... as a breeder who spends the extra time and love with a fading puppy ... as a trainer who must give up her dog (after many months of close bonding) to the person who couldn't train the dog himself from puppy-hood ... as a child or adult who once was alone and helpless and often rejected by those who made fun of him, because he couldn't run and play and fit in, but could live independently, with the help of his canine companion. He got old, and a little stiff, and was having trouble pulling the wheelchair and fetching things for his beloved companion. The service-dog organization had trained another dog for his human. It was time to retire to a senior foster home, where he learned another lesson of love -- from a family that knew he wouldn't live long. The family knew he deserved the special care of finishing out his golden years with people who could care for him as he had cared for the human for so many years. He closed his eyes and dreamed of his friends at the Rainbow Bridge ... the ones who had rushed up to greet him, the first time, and wagged their tails and kissed him instead of attacking. Suddenly, he was surrounded by his old friends, and he looked back at earth at the foster humans who were crying and holding the limp body that he had borrowed for this trip. "Don't cry," he barked. "I'll be back. You may not recognize the body I borrow, for it may be bigger or smaller -- it may have wrinkled skin or long silky hair or curly wiry hair, or no hair at all. It may be beautiful and win championship titles, or it may be "ugly" in the eyes of many. Look behind the eyes of trust, and you will find my unconditional love. Train me, and help me learn how to be the loyal companion that you think you want, when you pick up that cute little puppy that may grow up to be huge and loud and destructive -- unless guided to be a good dog. ? 1999 Joy LaCaille. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced/transmitted by any means, including electronic, without prior written permission. For more information, write Joy LaCaille, 914 Lake Ella Road Fruitland Park, FL 34731, or call (352) 365-9955; E-mail: [email]lakai@iag.net[/email]. First appeared in Good Dog! Magazine, [url]www.gooddogmagazine.com[/url] Joy LaCaille is the German Pinscher Club of America national breed rescue chairman, and ListOwner/Administrator/Moderator of the German Pinscher Rescue Maillist: [url]http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Farm/5212[/url] Bereavement page of MEMORIES to be rekindled at THE RAINBOW BRIDGE: [url]http://www.iag.net/~lakai/bereave.htm[/url]

[quote]Nothing In Life Is Free. [/quote] Thanks. :)

That sounds unbelivably amazing. :o Congrats! :D (Your Pauly is gorgeous - he SO does NOT look like a timid dog!! :lol:) One question though - could you explain what NILIF is? :oops:

What a bastard!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: RIP poor puppy... at least he's free from his evil owner and running free at Rainbow Bridge... :cry:

I wash mine with dog shampoo. Although his bedding and bandanas get thrown in the washer and washed 'normally' like my own stuff. :lol: Uh, duh.

Oatmeal shampoo helps with our dog who is very allergy prone. She gets dry, flaky, dandruffy and itchy skin - it was really awful watching her scratch away. :( Used together with oral supplements (Omegas 3 & 6), the oatmeal really seems to help sooth her skin. :)

Cute pixs!! :lol: My dog always seems to go for MY pillows instead of his own. :roll: If both our pillows are out on the floor, he will insist on squeezing onto mine... and slowly edge me off my own pillow. :evil: And of course, he wears this long-suffering look that says, "Can't you see that my ass is still on the floor?" :evil: :lol:

Coming from a teeny city-state, just the thought of 'hunting' seems darn exotic to me. :lol: So, I don't know enough to comment on this issue. Although I have to say: as long as the 'hunt' is consumed and used for gainful purposes, it seems pretty ok to me. I doubt the regular US slaughterhouse is any more humane. :-? (Read "Fast Food Nation" a while back. Scary stuff!) I consider myself an 'animal lover' but I love my meat. :oops: I guess I can see how this would seem like a paradox to a vegan. Dogs don't even really classify as 'animal' to me. :lol: I don't know of any other species we share our lives with so intrinsically. Dogs hunt, they seek, search, rescue, risk their lives, provide 'love' and companionship - to millions of humans on a DAILY basis. This partnership that we share dates back some 12,000 years. Some scientists even argue that they might have given us a much needed edge over our ancestral cousins, the neanderthals, and that's why we homo sapiens have thrived. :lol: I think the relationship between man and dog - esp. the understanding we can have we them - is divine. :oops: This doesn't mean that I think of the rest of nature as having a lesser value of course. I think we all have our place, and that no one species deserves less of a right to a good life than another. (Including us humans.) But I also respect that there are necessary 'violent' sides to nature. To eat or be eaten - that's nature. We just happen to sit on top of the food chain. :-? What I find unacceptable, unconscionable and highly disturbing are the human practices of grossly PROFITEERING off plain ABUSE. :x Keeping animals cooped up, penned up, de-beaking, clamping them down to a single fence, injecting them full of hormones, taking away their young - these to me are practices that are truely inhumane. To treat animals like that - that these are conscious decisions made by a human being in power! - that's really freaky to me. :( I think humans can do a lot more - and that there's no clear 'right' or 'wrong' answer. :-? Personally, I think I do my bit best by doing things like buying organic whenever possible, and of course, treating the animals here in my life with as much love and respect that I would like for myself. :-?

I share your view. Using negative reinforcement or worse, positive punishment, on a dog who is responsive to positive training just feels plain wrong. :-? It's my belief that using two methods only serves to confuse the dog. I mean, one moment we're happily playing, learning cool tricks and getting praise & food and the next moment I get zapped because I don't respond as fast or as well as you'd like?!! :o I think negative tools have their place in dog training, but only as a LAST RESORT. :-? Negative training tools are too easily mis-used as it is. With positive reinforcement, the worst mis-use of, say, a clicker, would be ZERO progress in training, a darn confused dog & a frustrated owner. :lol: But because of it's very POSITIVE nature, the dog won't end up the victim of it's trainer's shortcomings. However, with say, an e-collar, repercussions of mis-use might include fear and/or aggression OR WORSE from the dog. :o

[quote] What's REALLY scary (among other things) is this thought... what if your kid realized he had forgotten his medication, oh say, 4 days later and thought, in the way that kids do, that he needed to take 4 days' worth of medication at once to "catch up?" Geez, I reckon it would be all his fault if he got poisoned since, at 7 years old, he should have known better. This gal doesn't need goldfish, let alone kids[/quote] :o I can SO see this happening. :o I think you have to separate your liking for this woman with being truthful. If your letter of recommendation helps with their application, you would be indirectly responsible for the fate of that child. :-? Maybe you could sit her down and tell her gently that it really takes a LOT (of what she DOESN'T have... Lol!) to be a mom and a caregiver? And explain that kids are KIDS for a reason? I wouln't trust her with my pet ant, much less my dog. :-?

[quote] I've also got a checklist of things to introduce the puppy to each week as many times as possible so he gets used to it. [/quote] Aroura, would you mind posting this list here? No plans to get a puppy anytime soon :( , but I remember waiting a little too long to show puppy Cosmic an umbrella... took me almost 2 weeks & treats galore to unspook him. :roll:

I live in a tropical country, so it's constantly hot, humid and rainy. :-? When things get too warm, I've found that giving the dogs blocks of ice and frozen wet towels to slobber over REALLY cheers them up. :wink: But when we sleep with the a/c on, Cosmic actually needs a robe, or he wakes us up, complainig about the cold. :roll: At a mere 23 degrees celcius. I can't imagine how they would take to snow! :o

Courtnek, your parents sound great! What a fantastic idea - throwing you in the farm. :lol:

[quote]My mothers favorite flower was roses. She like a particular peach color, which does not grow in the wild. has to be pollinated that way. anyway, she died in 1999. in the spring of 2000, out of the blue, a wild rose bush appeared in my yard. wild, not planted, I have a completely brown thumb. the neighbors have wild rose bushes, but the flowers are red. THESE flowers were pale pale pink. as close to peach as a wild bush could get. this happened right after my son was diagnosed with diabetes. the bush lived for one flowering, then stopped. I never touched it. Never cut it back, never tended it. it did not come up the next year. in 2001 in the spring my son burned his leg (1st degree burns) which required lots of tending and caused me lots of stress. the bush flowered that year. In 2003 Kyle again hurt himself badly, in a motorcycle accident. Broke both the bones in his left leg, and required titanium bars to be surgically implanted. More stress, more expenses. the bush flowered. This year, in the spring nothing happenend. Then I realized I was majorly over my head in debt, more stress, more expenses. the bush flowered, in MID JUNE.... [/quote] This is pretty amazing! :o :angel: Do you guys feel safer having your dogs protect you from the unknowns? Or would you rather your dog NOT be around at moments like that - ignorance being bliss and all that? On a late night walk once, Cosmic stupped dead in his tracks and started growling at NOTHING I could see in our path. It wasn't the usual "I don't know what you are - so I'm warning you - I'M BIG & FIERCE" growl/bark that he uses on tree stumps, balloons etc., :roll: but a really low, deep-throat growl. His hackles were raised and he just stood there growling at thin air. :o I acted all happy and positive with my hair on end, telling him "Let's Go!", and hightailed it out of there. :oops: I don't know about you, but I'm glad I had my dog with me - even though he 'exposed' the (maybe) ghost! :angel:

I adore Goldens for their huge, goofy grins - and character. :lol: They're actually my favourite breed. Their clumsiness and silly ways are so charming! But I have an English Cocker Spaniel. :lol: I find their temperament very sweetly similar to GRs, and I'm a gone sucker for those silly ears. We made the choice for an ECS also because we live in a flat - they're a little more compact and manageable in our small space. Now my dog Cosmic has a gorgeous GR BEST friend (they are sooooo cute together!) - so I have the best of both worlds!! Yay! :D

I came back here again to have another look. :lol: They are just the sweetest!! You know, if I had an open invitation to "come over and play" I'd be packing my bags! :lol:

AWWWWWWW!!!!! :lol: Look at that face! :o Golden Retriever puppies are THE cutest!! :D

Just wanted to add: One item that I find REALLY helpful on a camping trip with dogs: Neon glow-in-the-dark snap lights. :D We get them in thin snaps (the bracelet style that people sometimes wear to clubs/parties/concerts) and join 2 to go around our dogs' necks. They really help to set my mind at ease since I'm usually worried that they'll go chasing something & I won't be able to see where they are in the dark. But with their glow 'necklace', we can spot them a mile away. :) Have fun! :bday:

[quote]It seems that I run into misbehaved Cockers the most. Never had a good experince with that breed and every single owner seems to think it's ok to let the d*** dog run loose all over the place. [/quote] EVERY SINGLE OWNER of every cocker you've ever met turned out to be an idiot? :o May I ask how many of these awful experiences you've had? I have cockers. And they are total sweethearts. They approach both humans and dogs alike with one singular intent - to make friends in hopes of play, affection or food. :lol: I DO allow them off-leash whenever possible - and only ONCE have they been a bother. (An idiot ran up to hurl an object at one of them. :evil: Thankfully, I managed to call my dogs (blissfully unaware) to me and yell the basta*d off.) I also hang-out with a bunch of cocker owners - while our cockers 'run wild' (all have good reliable recalls), we bitch about irresponsible owners. :lol: Satrfox, I feel sorry that you haven't been given a chance to get to know this darling breed. :wink: Most I know are absolute affection junkies.

Yay! Go Dresden!! Go Marble!! :B-fly: :banan: :banan: :jumpie: Yes, Nancy B is great!! :thumbs: Thanks Nancy B! :D