rotten_two

jeez i never knew i was such a tease! i thought about pics half way thru class too little too late. next time i will definitely get pics for ya! you realize we (dogo) are like crack hos for puppy pics (i mean that as a compliment)!

jweissg i promise i am not picking on you but again i have to vehemently disagree with you about the spay neuter issue. i say spay/neuter as early as possible -- some people like to wait until after rabies at 16 wks or whenever but i think you can/should do it earlier -- pediatric spay/neuter. my aspen was neutered at 12 weeks and he still grew to be a huge boy, he doesn't miss man parts, and he is better off for it. 11months is just too long. just a little juicy tidbit for ya -- in our classes we see quite the number of aggressive goldens. lot of factors besides breed go into these aggression cases obviously but right now goldens are hot (in our part of the world) for behavior problems. i am not exactly sure where you got the neutering info but i have some info of my own -- [url]http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/Documents/PedSNVetJournals%5B1%5D.pdf[/url] this one is a summary of various studies and is very technical but you get the jist. here is another rather technical article [url]http://www.danesonline.com/earlyspayneuter.htm[/url] from [url]http://www.ddaf.org/spayday/why/spayneuterqa/[/url] Q: Does spaying and neutering provide any other health benefits? Yes. In both cats and dogs, spaying greatly reduces the risk of breast cancer and prevents various reproductive tract disorders. Neutering often resolves undesirable behaviors such as aggression, spraying, and roaming, and eliminates the risk of various testicular diseases. now unless the breeder who tells me to wait 11 months to alter can 'greatly reduce the risk of cancer' then i don't buy it! just some food for thought. again not trying to be a burr in your butt jweissg!

i have to disagree with jweissg on the tug thing. if you are already having problems -- i think tug is a bad idea. don't get me wrong i think tug is a great game but there are some pre-requistes and very structured rules and it goes beyond 'never letting the dog win.' the dog must give freely (all things even high value) reliably before you can play - this probably needs work. owner must always initiate play. play ceases immediately if teeth make contact with human skin or if dog gets too aroused. if re already thinks he is higher in status he may play rougher and rougher and rougher to keep his status -- we don't want that. sometimes too kids have a hard time identifying and enforcing the rules. heck most of the time adults don't enforce the rules let alone a kid. for now i would say have allen work on training and say please. let him walk the dog (parents supervise) but hold off on tug. that's just my advice use it how you will.

jess that is too bad cause treat toys are way fun. i will share a couple stories. we used to leave gaia in her crate with a meticulously stuffed kong. we purposely tried to make it hard so it would last longer for her. one day i was home and i stuck her in the crate with her kong. then i hear this metal clashing sound. that little smarty had figured out that if she put her kong in her water dish it would get all soggy and she could get things more easily. then she learned how to drop the kong down the stairs. to this day she does it. sometimes we come home and there is peanut butter on the walls or ceiling haha. aspen takes more the shotput method. he put the whole toy in his mouth and shakes his head up and down 3 times while gripping with his jaws then on the 3rd time he lets it go and it bounces all over. always 3 times! it is hysterical.

since dogs aren't born with the innate knowlege that they should chew rubber toys you have to condition them to chew appropriate items. this is why toys that use food work better to encourage chewing. have you tried these? [img]http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/assets/product_images/redhavaball.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/assets/product_images/plqack.jpg[/img] you can actually put that poultry flavored tooth paste in the grooves on these to encourage chewing and discourage plaque and tartar :) or how bout these . . . [img]http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/assets/product_images/trickytreat.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/assets/product_images/waggle.jpg[/img] you can purchase these and many more at [url]www.jefferspet.com[/url] hmmm suddenly i feel like vanna white

from my experience dogs typically have this type of problem with rawhides, pig ears, those flavored nasty bones, greenies, etc. for this reason i don't recommend these types of treats and even moreso (or is it less so? :hmmmm:) if you can't supervise pup. there are lots of safe chew toys out there. rubber is probably your best bet. things like kong, rhino bones, any of the interactive toys that you can put food into work well. if your pup is [color=red]not[/color] a power chewer you could give galileo bones or sterilized bones (these can wreck teeth tho so be careful).

i am sore this morning :o -- probably all the bending but it was well worth it.

last night i subbed in for 2 puppy kindergarten classes and holy fuzzbutts batman! these were the wee babes too 12-16 weeks so most still had baby fur, puppy breath and baby belly! we had tons of labs or labX it was hard to keep them all straight. i tried to cue on leash color but it seemed last night it was either red or blue. not a lot of help there so then i tried to put humans with dogs which is much harder than it sounds. i usually know the dog but human names escape me. ok aside from labapalooza the classes were pretty diverse. we had 2 baby beagles, a rough collie, mini poodle, chowX, a goldendoodle :roll:, a havanese, a buck wild rhodesian ridgeback, a teeeny dachsie, and a cockapoo :roll: they were all too cute for words but exhausting!

aww poor baby kes -- those whitecoats can be meanies sometimes -- very good girl to be brave for mommy!

so allen is starting to train with re a little bit right? if the only interaction re and allen have is play then in re's mind allen is nothing more than an overgrown play toy. even if he just makes re work simple stuff (sit down stay) for 5-10 minutes a day this will help elevate allen's pack status. does re know any tricks? that's one fun thing kids can do is pick a trick and try to teach it (under your watchful eye of course).

maybe mention to them that they could have their eardrums removed :evilbat: sorry i couldn't help it. other than when people come over does your dog bark incessantly? does he bark into the wee hours of the night?

sorry more questions: do you or your husband play with re? when allen and re play who initiates that play? allen should always initiate play. how do they play? there should be no mouth play or 'play' biting in my opinion.

i am reminded of one of my favorite songs . . . sing it if ya know it! oh lord it's hard to be hum-ble when your perfect in ev-ery way i can't wait to look in the mir-or i get better look-ing each day

good luck maya girl! good lord if i were a needlephobe i would be long dead! spinal tap, epidural steroids, ivs, bloodwork i have pretty much had it all i am not happy to say!

well duh stop stressing and get more sleep haha! yeah you may go weekly for a while and then you might be able to go less frequently (once your chi is all straight hee hee).

if it turns out you like acu then you should definitely check into it cause weekly acu can get expensive. course i think your migraines are only once monthly so i dunno how often you would go at first.

that actually sounds reasonable. i pay $65 per 1 hour session. first session was a little bit longer but same price. my hunny pays i think $60 so i think $55 is right on. for the dogs we pay something like $40 for acu and $35 if they need chiro. do you have a flexible spending account (pre tax dollars put away for medical expenses) where you work? since my dr gives me a receipt with the actual insurance codes on it i get reimbursed from my fsa (i seriously didn't put enuff in this year tho). some insurance co are taking their own sweet time with including alternative med in their plan.

yes i grew up right above you in the southern part of va (go hokies!) and i would be hard pressed to find a chinese medicine dr in my hometown.

yes jess i have heard you several times say you have troubles with migraines. i think acu could really help make sure you find a good practioner. personally i prefer those who were trained in china (i have more faith that since they studied in the old country they know what the heck they are doing). if anyone wonders the types of ailments treated by acupuncture you can go to this site [url]http://www.riverhillwellness.com/acupuncture/acupuncture.htm[/url] i don't go to jeff millison tho. my doctor is not listed on this page(dr zhang) but he is awesome!

scaredy dog! if you did natural childbirth you would have no problems! seriously the needles are teeny. i have had needles in my forehead, my cheek, my ear and it's nothing. i get acu now for back pain and pinched nerves and it does the trick. sorry JM we jacked your thread :oops:

crystal, oh crystal where did you go? it's just a teeny needle! my whole household gets acupuncture. my hunny and i go to different acupuncturists. my dr is a man and he says that men are by far less tolerant of pain -- not that acu hurts. i don't even feel the needles. scott on the other hand totally tenses up when he hears the needle wrappers and so sticking a needle in a tight muscle hurts. he is a big baby tho. the trick is getting people past their initial fear. honestly a bug bite hurts more. now come out from hiding!

crystal: i know i posted these before but here is aspen with his needles. he really doesn't seem to mind them. every once in a while he will try to get one out but for the most part he is great (better than scott for sure). [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v317/rotten_two/pincushion.jpg[/img]

remind me again, schippsmom, how old is your son allen? when re-run is growling what is allen doing (ie looking at re, minding his own, eating, sitting where re sits?) my gut feeling is that re is exhibiting some resource guarding behavior and you and hubby are the resources he chooses to guard. i think he might also view allen as more of a peer. nilif, or say please, is a good method to remind him what is his place. don't forget tho to address specifically these instances of guarding. have allen sit across the room and see how re reacts. if he is calm praise and treat him. have allen move closer and closer with lots of treats for calm behavior and over time hopefully re will accept that allen can be close to mom or dad. always treat him for good calm behavior when allen is around. does he guard anything else? toys, food, bed? does he ever get rude with the adults or other adult guests?

my dogs get chiro all the time (well if they need it that is). gaia frequently has neck adjustments because she has 2 speeds fast and faster! the last time she was adjusted she was lame in a front limb and it turned out her ulna (bone in forearm) was popped out of place. we heard it "pop" back in and we all kind of held our breath then poof no limp and you could see her expression relax. it's great if you get a good practioner :) they also get acupuncture and we really like the results we see. talk about pampered pets!

oh that's really cool! i like that she included a teddy bear with chaos :)