boosiebutt

HF, so far, since they haven't learned how to tell me they GOTTA GO!!!, I am getting Peanut all dressed up and out before we hit that stage. Plus, I think even if he is out there and having to go, but super cold, he's not hearing the call of nature in the rush to get back inside and curled up on my nice warm lap! Since I'm still working on the potty training thing, I think he's looking at me going, "Now [i]why[/i] are we standing out here again?" But I'm thinking things are looking up this week, because I have the whole week off, and am really focusing on looking for the signals of an impending potty time. Gigi, whew! It was sooo windy! Peanut got away from me and ran around the side of the house, where it was reallyreallyreally windy, and I did think he was going to get flattened! But on the plus side, I did get to call him Toto, and make an extra lame tornado joke. Which Pixie found very amusing, I assure you! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I took Pixie in to get a puppy shot, and also got both P&P's faces and footses trimmed up. (I SWEAR, I read the other posts, and did not force myself upon the groomers!) While I was waiting to be checked out, I asked to make an appointment for a grooming, just trimming up the face and the pad area (I'm too chicken to try it myself!). The nurse who was checking me out called back to the groomer and asked about when to fit in two partial grooms, and the lady came up and asked if I wanted to wait, or come back. I said I could do whichever fitted in with her schedule, and she said that she'd do it real quick. When she brought 'em back out she said, "You know, we usually need to make appointments." I guess she thought I just walked in off the street and demanded a groom! No, really, I just wanted to make an appointment for whenever they had available, and didn't even think that they'd be able to do it right then! So I tipped, and tipped pretty big, based on the $10 bucks each they charged for the service. I went with $5 per groomer. I totally agree with HF, tipping should be based on a good job, not just because it's the automatic "thing you do." It was super that the groomers squeezed me in like that, so I wanted to make sure they knew I was appreciative.

Darn! I get an error message when I click that link. Is there a search you did to find the puppy?

I actually had the other pup out while training only because I was at puppy Kindergarten, and my mom was sick... so I had the two dogs at once. Not something I'd try regularly! Normally my Mom and I train them at the same time. Thanks for the advice, though! The under-the-leg trick sounds great!

What's a good way for me to teach the kids "Down"? I've seen lure techniques (which is how I started out with "Sit", but since P&P are so close to the ground to start out with, they can just duck their heads to grab low treats, instead of getting down. The puppy kindergarten has us "sit" them then grab their front legs and move them to down. But we're supposed to tap the ground in front of them with one hand, say down, move their front legs out with another hand, and keep their butts down from them trying to get up and back away from us with yet another hand. (That's three, count 'em three hands) Besides which, I have another puppy with me trying to play while I'm trying to get the first one to sit! Whew! Anybody have any other advice?

Small dogs, or dogs with a certain sensitivity to the cold... How do you handle potties when the weather gets super cold and windy? Pixie was ok with her "homemade fur coat", I think because she's so fuzzy the wind can't get in, but poor Peanut's more silky, and so the cold and wind gets right in. He was just shaking and shaking. I put a puppy coat on him, and that didn't do it (left his underbelly nekkid!) then I put a sweater and the coat on him, and the darn sweater came down too far and "belly banded" him. I'm also thinking booties are in order. My friend at work thinks I'm going a little overboard over the puppies, saying "God forbid you should ever have a child." To which I respond, "But I'm ALLOWED to get my kids coats and boots!" :o So, where do people get cold weather gear for their "kids"? Does anyone have customizable homemade solutions? I'd like to get Peanut (and Pixie when the winter gets strong enough to penatrate her defenses) wind and cold proofed, but leave the bits that we're going out to "use" available! :D :oops: Today, I was thinking I would have to set up a "litter station" in the garage. Just fill a low box with dirt and sod (the puppies' preferred outdoor amenities) in the chilly, but at least windproof garage.

Gigi, how did you get in touch with the shelters? Was it just Animal Control and the Cedar Valley Humane Society? Would I be able to bring my dogs with me or would that be a bad idea? I'm also looking at "virtual volunteer" opportunities, where I could help field rescue adoption applications, or maintain websites, or petfinder listings. I sent an email to the CVHS today, but I don't know if the email address on petfinder was good, and the email form on the website was broken. If I don't hear back by Monday, I'll call.

I am wanting to volunteer to help with an animal shelter or charity or rescue or something, but I can't be a foster since my mom would not allow it. I was wondering who here volunteers and have some questions about your involvement. What/ what kind of organization(s) do you volunteer to? Do you (other than volunteering) work outside the home, with a set schedule (8-5 M-F, shifts, etc)? What do you do as a volunteer? Do you see a lot of need for more volunteers? What would they need to do? What kind of volunteer opportunities are there for those who must work 8-5 M-F? Anything else you can think to tell me would be fantastic! Thanks!

I'm thinking about getting some of these as well. Pixie, I think because her fur is more fluffy, doesn't seem to mind the snow at all. She'll be nosing around in it (the one day we've had snow this year!) and I'll have to go drag her out to go back inside. Peanut on the other hand is not a fan of snow. He takes a couple of steps into the snow then whip back around and stand on the doorstep to be let back in. I got some little booties from Petco, but they don't fit well on his eensy feet they end up sliding down and so he walks like he's wearing clown shoes or swim flippers. These look like they'd be more comfortable to wear.

This pretty girl just makes me smile. Hope she finds a forever home soon! [img]http://www.petfinder.com/fotos/IA105/IA105.3720389-1-pn.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.petfinder.com/fotos/IA105/IA105.3720389-3-pn.jpg[/img] Jackie Pumbaa Dog Shar Pei,German Shepherd Dog Mix Size: Medium Age: Young Sex: Female I.D: Notes: Jackie Lips or Pumbaa (she answers to either) is just a funny mixture of breeds. We were told she is 1/4 Shar Pei, 1/4 German Shepherd, 1/4 Rottweiler, and 1/4 Bassett. She resembles the Shar Pei most. She is 9 or 10 months old, and is a medium-large dog, who won't get much bigger. She's good-natured, affectionate and eager to please. She's at that 'awkward age' so she's kind of a goofball, but she's not overly hyper. She's very good with other dogs, and just wants to play with cats, not hurt them. She is very loving once she knows you, but is distrustful of strangers, pretends to be fierce, but has never bitten or even snapped at anyone. She's a big baby who just wants to be loved.

There are two doggy day cares in my area run by the same people, but I don't think they're that well known, because when I got Peanut, I was telling people about enrolling him there and nobody knew what I was talking about. I love doggy day care. I enrolled Peanut in Pee-school, where they help potty train your puppy. Total hooey, at least in the case of the smaller dogs that they don't see having a pee until it's over, but it was SUPER for socializing Peanut to all sorts of other dogs and humans. Now when we meet another dog or human, he is super excited to make friends. I didn't enroll Pixie, because it costs a lot of money to teach your dog it's ok to potty wherever you want to, and I can definitely tell the difference socialization-wise. Plus, as a bonus it wears the little guys out to be running around all day, and they just snooze like anything at night. I was talking to another owner one time when dropping Peanut off, and she told me she brought her dogs in every Friday to let them get their energy out so she could go out. Anyway, good luck!

My dogs are offleash most of time, as I live in a new development without a lot of activity. I don't know if there are leash laws, but there is an offleash park right down the road from me. I put them on leash when we go for a walk, outside of my immediate block.

Pixie is an underwear stealer, but luckily she leaves them in the bedrooms. She does however love to steal my Mom's socks. Mom leaves her door shut, but if one of us goes in, Pixie will run in an grab a sock and take it downstairs to shake the life out it. rrrrr.

Court, I was watching "Airline" (or maybe "Airport") which is a show that follows that stories that happen at the SouthWest Airlines, like having to turn drunks away, getting some guy not wearing pants to put some on, getting another guy to wash himself 'cause he was so stinky. Anyway, one of the stories was about a family with a kid who had this travel dialysis machine, and they were able to take him to Disney World for the first time because they could bring this machine with them. So, they had to check it as it was oversized and (apparently) scary looking. So this kids parents are watch out the windows as the baggage guys are loading the plane, and these guys are just throwing stuff around, and dropping it, and the parents saw them do the same with their luggage, which they had clearly marked FRAGILE. Luckily, they made SWA bring it in, so they could check it, and it didn't look damaged, but that's sensitive equipment, and they would know for sure until they ran it if something had broken. I totally wouldn't want to depend on those guys to treat my stuff responsibly or to get it where I'm going!

Wrapping Presents with Dogs 1. Gather presents, boxes, paper, etc. in middle of living room floor. 2. Get tape back from puppy. 3. Remove scissors from older dog's mouth. 4. Open box. 5. Take puppy out of box. 6. Remove tape from older dog's mouth. 7. Take scissors away from puppy. 8. Put present in box. 9. Remove present from puppy's mouth. 10. Put back in box after removing puppy from box. 11. Take scissors from older dog and sit on them. 12. Remove puppy from box and put on lid. 13. Take tape away from older dog. 14. Unroll paper. 15. Take puppy OFF box. 16. Cut paper being careful not to cut puppy's foot or nose that is getting in the way as he "helps." 17. Let puppy tear remaining paper. 18. Take puppy off box. 19. Wrap paper around box. 20. Remove puppy from box & take wrapping paper from its mouth. 21. Tell older dog to fetch the tape so he will stop stealing it. 22. Take scissors away from puppy. 23. Take tape older dog is holding. 24. Quickly tape one spot before taking scissors from older dog & sitting on them again. 25. Fend off puppy trying to steal tape & tape another spot. 26. Take bow from older dog. 27. Go get roll of wrapping paper puppy ran off with. 28. Take scissors from older dog who took them when you got up. 29. Give pen to older dog to hold so he stops licking your face. 30. Remove puppy from present & hurriedly slap tape on to hold the paper on. 31. Take now soggy bow from puppy & tape on since the sticky stuff no longer sticks. 32. Take pen from older dog, address tag & affix while puppy tries to eat pen. 33. Grab present before puppy opens it & put it away. 34. Clean up mess puppy & older dog made playing tug-of-war with remnants of wrapping paper. 35. Put away rest of wrapping supplies & tell dogs what good helpers they are.

I actually heard on the radio this morning that the number one dog for Xmas presents are the "crossbreeds". Apparently some celebs are buying crossbreed puppies for their friends.

I'm pretty sure that Jessica Simpson's dog is a maltese X poodle mix. But didn't Britney already have a maltese? I'm pretty sure I remember a People article with her and Mr. Spears and a little puppy. Wonder what happened to that little guy? :-?

That thing probably weighs more than my dogs! Together, lol!

treizi, no problem! I always get a kick out of having a topic of mine go to two pages, no matter the reason! :wink: :oops: Also, I've found a good way to get more replies is to do a bump reply, to bump your topic back up top. Just saw this recently on the Which breeder, post, sorry can't remember exactly the title or poster. Pop onto the topic again to ask for more info. Just remember that the squeaky wheel gets the grease! Also, I see that your posts were previously made in the "Care" forum. While I'm sure it's not technically correct to do (sorry mods!), I'd say if you want more advice, to post to the main "Everything about dogs" forum, as I know that's all I might check sometimes when I get on. And HF, when you say the tippies of the ears, I trim around the edges of the ears, but leave the fur on the ears. Does that make sense? I mean I don't shave it down on the top third of the ears, like I've read someplaces to do, but just trim anything that sticks out past the ear. Is that what you mean? He's six months old now, and his ears are pretty set, and I don't know how it'd look to have him with nekkid ears...

HF, thanks for the tip! I had done Pixies feet around, but not in the pads for either of them. I'm kind of afraid that the clippers will pinch or something. I should set the clippers on the shortest setting, yes? We just had our first snow last night, so I definitely need to get that hair trimmed out, so they don't get snow balled up in there.

So, after trimming up Pixie's face all by myself, I decided to go totally wild and trim Peanut up. I went to Target and got a Andis clipper set, with a clipper and a bunch of comb attachments and some shears, came home and got to business... Before: [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/IMG_0154.JPG[/img] [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/BathBefore.JPG[/img] and After: [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/PeanutFrontAfter.JPG[/img] [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/PeanutSideAfter.JPG[/img] [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/BathAfter.JPG[/img] Whaddya think?

Thanks! It's funny, now that Peanut's eyes are visible, his "beard" just kind of pops out at me! I will definitely try the desensitization stuff!

Good point! Before: [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/pixiebefore.JPG[/img] [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/peanutbefore.JPG[/img] And after: [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/pixieface.JPG[/img] [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/IMG_0154.JPG[/img] And a random Pixie-pic: [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/853465/pixiecute.JPG[/img] The fuzz is from the innards of the tent. THAT was a pleasant surprise after setting them up! :roll:

I boarded Peanut and Pixie the other weekend when I went to Chicago to move my sister into a new apartment. I asked to set up a grooming appointment, but they were out of slots through Monday, when I would be picking him up. BUT... when i picked him up, they had trimmed up his face. (I kind of wish they had asked me just what I wanted before they clipped, though) He is super adorable, and he can see! I'm not real good with the clippies and bows with him, because he tries to pull away until he just about scalps himself. Not a pretty look. And Pixie, as an untrimmed 3 month Maltese, was looking pretty shaggy around the face as well. So, with Peanut as my model, I did a little trim on Pixie. Did quite well, if I do say so myself. Problem is, Pixie SCREAMS like I'm trying to KILL her when I get near her with the scissors. :o :o :o Same with toenail clipping. She's fine if I can sneak up on her without her noticing, but if she sees the scissors, or clippers, coming at her she freaks. So, she got somewhat of a trim, but I may have to take her in to a professional with better speed trimming skills to get the job finished up. Anybody else have this problem? Peanut tries to get away when I'm clipping his toenails (haven't hit a quick yet! *swelling with pride* :roll: ) But doesn't get nearly as upset as Pixie. Peanut gets his stitches our from his fix next Friday, and I'm going to call and get the rest of him trimmed up, so he doesn't look so scraggly between brushings, since he likes to rub around in the grass everytime I get him prettied up. :D

Reading up on back posts... Gigishiba, Marion huh? I'm in Cedar Rapids, SW side. Kirkwood is awesome to have in town, huh? I have Peanut and Pixie in Puppy Kindergarten. We've only had the one class so far, but Peanut loooooves it. Pixie, not so much, her butt was gray from us dragging her around. Our very own dustmop!