PatriciaT

When my husband and I first met, he had two dogs, one male and one female. The female being the male's daughter. My dog is an alpha female. That made a total of three dogs, one boy and two girls...oh my little male cat who is actually the real boss of the house. his male and my female got along pretty well. His female, thank god, is a very sweet-natured dog and tolerates my alpha's bitchiness. We had them alone in our houses with no problems when we were dating. I must say that my alpha girl and I went through many dog training classes and went to the dog park every day, and I do my best at making sure I am in charge not her. Also we take them on long walks in the mornings so they can settle in quite contented when we go to work all day. and Corey's second sweet-natured girl dog went to live with my mother who is a recent widow and desparately needed some love in her house. It is a good thing b/c we had to buy a place in order to keep the pets we had when we got married and it is super small...only thing we could afford. lots of luck...have fun with your potential new addition :)

Maybe your family can make the guy sign an addendum or something to the existing contract that says he will be fired if he does anything to the dog. If he is as young and uneducated as you say he is...the odds of him taking you guys to court for firing him under contract are nil. I'd say go hide when he's around with a camera or video camera and purposely put your dog in his presence and get him on tape or picture so you can show a judge just in case and then fire the guy. I had a roommate that mistreated my pets for months before I realized it. It is a very hard thing to overcome. It's been years and I am still feeling guilty for allowing him in my house. Oh and make sure the next gardener loves dogs. Make sure it is the first thing you guys bring up...if he hesitates or seems just so-so about it...don't hire him.

I go back and forth depending on the situation. I definitely think it is worth it to put my dog on a leash whenever it makes for a more pleasant outing. On the other hand, there is nothing like watching my dogs romp and play in open space...it's like they are getting their "drug" fix. The older they get, the more mellow they are..another big plus. Fenced dog parks need to be huge...most I see are way too small...better off going for a good long walk on leash. When I lived in the city...there were lots of unofficial dog parks and we loved them. My dog did not do so well with other dogs but I always brought a tennis ball and that did the trick perfectly. I loved talking to all the dog owners...it was like happy hour without the alcohol. Now my husband did the opposite..he took his dogs on walks with a leash around the burbs and let them run loose in the school yard but they didn't get to greet too many other dogs. When the three of us got together...his dogs went beserk at the dog park...well Cheif went beserk just seeing another dog walk on leash across the street. Belle thought is was a big "football" game and rushed every dog in sight. Very bad situation...made me tense. So no more dogs off leash when there are other dogs around. Now we live in area where there is a lot of open space. Dogs are supposed to be on leash. I put them on leashes depending on the day of the week and time of day...say like a weekend...definitely on the leash. But on a weekday overcast morning? usually let them off the leash until I see other dogs. They come when called very well.

sounds like things are coming along....even if it is seredipitiously. Good idea about heeling with something along side of him so he couldn't twist himself about. :) OP almost pulled me down on the sidewalk today when she saw the two bratty bull poodles walking towards us. I don't know what it is about those dogs but OP just gets all wound up over them. Anyways...when she pulled me, I lost my balance and started to fall to the ground. OP noticed immediately, stopped her fussing with those poodles, and turned around to look at me and concern herself with me....just enough time to stop myself from falling and gain control of her. Whew...probably a good thing she almost made me trip. Oh yeah....the story of Coaly jumping up to nip you....reminded me of when OP was a puppy cuz she used to do the same exact thing.

You are all in my prayers. Be strong. Soon this black cloud will be gone.

So weird that this guy on the web screens all the posts...what a whacked wierdo. Agree with everyone here...this guy is using totally old techniques. When I was volunteering at the SF SPCA I sadly witnessed one of the behaviorists totally make a dog submit to the point that the dog would not come down off some obstacle coarse equipment. The dog was an airdale mix getting all the other dogs riled up in a doggy day care setting. The behavior guy pretty much hung the dog in the air by his choke chain for a good minute. He was so mean. And after that, like I said, the poor dog just went straight up the big fence thingy and stayed there all day looking very sad. Must insert here that he is a champion with Schutzhund training with Belgian Malanoises. This guy's buddy also was not very nice. He held private obedience classes that OP and I attended until I decided he wasn't very nice either. I was trying to work with OP in heeling and she kept pulling so he told me to yank her choke chain and nothing happened...so he told me to yank it harder and harder and finally when I yanked as hard as I could poor OP threw up...she vomited... and we stopped going after that. I felt so bad. The SF SPCA got a new trainer from Canada and totally changed the school of thought there. Everything was so positive and wonderful. It was a 100% about turn and I liked it. This guy sounds so old school. I hope people don't listen to him. Positive training is so much better for the dog and for the owner....no guilty conscience for anyone. I did stick with the prong collar for OP...she is a big dog with a huge neck....until she got about 3 years old...that was when she started maturing and didn't want to eat skateboards quite so enthusiatically. I still have quite a time with her when a kid goes skating by...but I can control with just a buckle collar. I wished they never invented those things. Better go now...24 is on now...talk about violence...but hubby likes it...so I cover my eyes while he narrates what is happening.

Yes....I named her OP which stands for Obnoxious Princess. Most people think her name is Opie which is fine too. I also call her Opilies and sweet Pea. I adopted her from the SPCA where I was volunteering walking the dogs there at my lunch break. I saw her at lunch time...just 5 months old...rated a 5 which means only certain volunteers could walk her. When I came to get her after work someone had adopted her. I was so sad. I kept showing up at lunchtime to walk the dogs and three days later...there she was again. The couple who adopted her returned b/c she was chasing their cats too much. That was her 2nd adoption. Yeah for me!!!. I was her third "parent" to adopt her and she was only 5 months old. I had a cat too and the two of them got along just fine. rex is a character of a cat. The dog behavior guy at the shelter gave me all these instructions...kind of mean ones like choke her with her choke chain if she gets too rowdy... I never did 90% of what he told me. I did get a crate for her and I took her to two, 3 no at least 4 obedience classes. the first couple who adopted her returned her b/c she cried too much at night when they put her in the garage at night to go to sleep. Poor puppy. Needless to say....she is the love of my life. She still loves to chase skateboards and gets in the middle of ball games like frisbee and people playing catch with a football, baseball or whatever, and she loves to run after surfers at the beach too but other than these things she is the perfect walker on her leash. No pulling or anything..just trots right next to me. Oh...and she loves food... she will do anything for a biscuit or a whole turkey.

Congratulations little Hippo - you look so cute on the couch all spread out like you know exactly whats going on... :D I wished there was a doggie newspaper around here like that. Toronto must be a totally cool place...must go visit someday.

OP went to the vet this morning. She was going diarrhea about every 1/2 hour and when it turned bright bloody red I got worried. The vet said she is going to be OK. She was prescribed metronidazole twice a day and cans of Science Diet Sensitive. Well...since no turkey leftovers...must be off to the grocery store to get dinner. :-? She is definitely living up to her name OP - Obnoxious Princess. Thanks for all your good wishes and funny stories of how our dear pets love food.

Dogs are very keen about human health. What an awesome story...dogs can definitely "feel" things b4 we humans are aware of them. My dog OP would never leave my dad alone when she came to visit him or vice versa....a few months later my dad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and died 6 months later. During that time, OP would lick and lick and lick his shoulder...literally jump on him to lick his shoulder which is where the cancer was. She is such a big dog and this was always a problem for us when we would get together...oh the memories of my dad telling her it was OK and that she could stop her attempts at telling him there was something bad there....By this time we all knew the inevitable was coming, but OP knew before any of us.

We have one boxer/ridgeback/rottie mix, a large handsome black lab I call my "show dog" but he has no papers, and our third is a puddy cat named Rex....who thinks he is a dog but is actually a half-pint runt of a cat. We also have a fourth pet, the daughter of Chief our black lab. She is a mix...half black lab (of course) and her mom was a mix - pit bull mix. Her name is Belle and she lives with my mother as we have a very small townhouse that only allows 2 pets and we are already breaking the rules with three pets. When my husband and I first met he came with two dogs and I came with a dog and a cat...so sweet Bellini stays at my mom's. We bought the townhouse when we got married last year cuz it was all we could afford. Belle lives close and stays with us a couple days a week. My mom loves her and she is a wonderful companion for my mother as my dad just passed away this past summer.

Yup - she always had a nose for chicken and now apparently turkey too. She is an 8 year old Boxer/Ridgeback/Rott mix. I made my first Thanksgiving dinner this year with a 12 pound turkey for 5 people. We carved just a little meat off and then set the whole rest of the turkey in the roasting pan and put back in the fridge. The next day, OP (obnoxious princess) was found stratching the fridge door and managed to take off that grill at the bottom of the fridge. The day after that we went our for breakfast and returned to an empty roasting pan on the kitchen floor. OP's tummy is so round. She has diarrhea now....poor baby. She ate the whole darn thing...bones and all. I hope she will be OK. She seems fine other than the runnies.