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gooeydog

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  1. I went to Target with my aunt the other night and they had those little remote control mice for cats for 9.99, so I decided to get one and see how the cats liked it. Well, that was a complete bomb, one isn't the least interested, the other is afraid of it. However, Haley and Annie are both entirely too amused by it. Haley goes completely into "critter mode" when she hears the wheels whirring, and Annie seems to think its a motorized ball for retrieving. I've had more fun in the past week playing with them with this thing than I have in a month :lol: And they can chase it around in the house, so I don't have to spend all evening out in the freezing cold exercising dogs... love it! Here's a really poor quality (but funny!) video clip of Haley with the mouse... it's pretty dark, but if you have Media Player, you can go to "video settings" and adjust the brightness to see better. I'll try to get some better ones tomorrow when it's light outside. [url]http://home.comcast.net/~twobullydogs/MOV07075.MPG[/url] Also, please ignore the crud on the floor, our yard is nothing but mud right now and with my nephews here full time, it's wasted effort to try and keep the floor clean :oops:
  2. You can see the collars on some of his dogs in the show. The eps I saw were between 17 and 22, and I noticed the collars on several different dogs on different eps (even replayed it to be sure). The walking a dog aggressive dog thing, he knew that the dog he was working (I think a rotty?) with hated his GSD, and was walking the two of them together, both on short leads so that they were right next to each other. The dog aggro dog just turned around and snagged the other, nothing he could do to prevent it, and all it takes is one good bite and shake to cause serious tissue damage. It's different when you have one dog and someone else has another, but he was walking both himself. That'd be like me walking Haley and Casey together, and surely if Haley turned around and grabbed Casey, I'd be getting a good lecture about what an idiot I was for trying to walk two dogs that don't get along by myself. Dumb is dumb, no matter who you are.
  3. Just a few things I want to toss in here, then I'll be returning to my "under rock" home :) First, I've noticed that several of Cesar's dogs at his compound have on e-collars. Granted, they could be bark collars, but the fact that a dozen other dogs are also barking makes that seem unlikely. The issue I have isn't even with him using the collars for control if that's what he's doing, but that it's never mentioned, and if that is something he's doing, novice pet owners won't even notice. They'll be thinking that with enough assertivness, they can run packs of aggressive dogs, and we all know what that can lead to. Second, I haven't even seen many of the shows, but I've seen at least two occasions where one of his personal dogs got nailed by a dog he was training. During one, he was walking both dogs on lead... who walks a dog aggressive dog with another dog you know they don't like? And why would you risk your own dog being attacked to do so? One more thing... [quote]Ive done the same thing with a pit bull who was showing aggression towards Duke, the crazy boxer. I brought her to him put her in s it and corrected her with the choke chain when ever she showed signs of aggression.[/quote] The problem with doing this is that you're only correcting the signs of aggression, and with a smart dog, they'll just forego those next time and skip right into beating the snot out of the other dog. By the time the dog is showing aggression, you've already missed the best time to correct, and you'll have to correct twice as hard to get their attention, if you can get it at all.
  4. [quote]I dont get it. I only read a few posts, so correct me if I am wrong. You guys are advocating taking aggressive dogs to Petco, as long as they are on-leash and "under control?"[/quote] I don't think they mean screaming, lunging dog aggressive dogs (I have one who occasionally engages in such things, and she doesn't go to petsmart. Ever), that sort of behavior is scary for the general dog owning public, annoying in the respect that no one wants to have a dog lunging and vocalizing at theirs as they try to shop, and paints whatever the breed of the dog acting that way in a bad light. I don't see much reason however, for the other two under control, (reasonably at least) well trained, and human friendly dogs we own not to be able to go. One would like to snark any dog she meets on sight, but knows there are better options, and generally restrains herself well even if other dogs invade her space. The other is not outwardly dog aggressive, but has some prey drive directed at smaller dogs (just mild interest, though I wouldn't trust her still), and would pick a fight with most larger dogs if given half a chance. They're walked on normal collars (unless we're there to work on a specific behavior, for which I expect them to need corrections, in which case they may have on a prong collar) or harnesses, and generally on a loose lead, if we see another dog, we either turn and head back the way we came from, or I put them in a sit and let the people know that my dog is not dog friendly, and to give us some room when they pass. I am extra vigilant in watching for out of control dogs, but have never encountered a situation where I couldn't put adequate space between them and my own dogs. You (general "you", not you personally) probably wouldn't know they were dog aggressive unless I told you they were, most people don't guess it by their behavior. Even when told, they generally take the explanation that they do not like other dogs, but are fine with people well, especially after seeing Haley's numerous methods of human magnetism. After all, many dogs of many breeds are or can be dog aggressive. Anyone who owns dog aggressive dog(s) takes a risk anytime they allow their dogs in a situation where they may encounter other dogs. I could just as easily have someone walking their dog on flexi lead down our street let their dog run up and get bitten by one of mine (granted, in 12 yrs of dog aggressive dogs, they've maimed exactly 0 dogs while out in public). Should I forsake their walks, since I can't guarantee that other owners will exercise common sense? Or skip vet visits since you never can tell if some fool will think its a good idea to let their dog roam in a room full of strange dogs? It's even a risk to let them interact with your other pets at times, but that doesn't stop many people from owning multiple dog aggressive dogs. It's all about measuring and weighing risks and deciding what you feel safe doing with your own dogs.
  5. Do you know if that grinder can handle bones as well? That's my main concern since I was hoping to avoid the issues with balancing calcium by feeding meat with bone already there. The grinder I was looking at was about $190 (shipping included), but if this one can do what I need, I sure don't mind saving the money :)
  6. I've decided to take the plunge into mademade food, as I'm tired of trying various foods and never having one with exactly what I want, plus the way I figure I could be feeding decent meat/veggies (not sure if I can afford the organic/free range route right now, though I have been checking out some places) for about the same cost as all the stuff I'm feeding now. I'll be picking up a few books on the subject when I get my next pay, and also have had several people recommend a nutritionalist in case I run into any problems tailoring things to my dogs (actually, if I play my cards right and can get the meat cheap enough, I may even be able to convince my mom to feed her dogs it as well, which would be great for Haley since she's diabetic and I have no doubt that the grain heavy crap food she's currently eating doesn't help that in the least). My plan is to get a meat/bone grinder and vacuum sealer so I can grind and package my own meals for easy prep, and I will be cooking the food (not incinerating it, just lightly cooking it), at least for a while after starting, so not every raw food book will have info that I can use. So, my current plans are: Little to no grain Will feed veggies/fruit, etc Ground to keep my food bolter from killing herself, and to make it possible to cook the meat/bone Lightly cooked Which brings me to the question, what books would best help me out in designing their diets? So far I'm planning on getting Dr. Pitcairns Complete Guide to Natural Health and k9 Kitchen by Monica Segal, also the site I was checking for the books had a booklet of cooked food recipes by the latter that I'll probably get as well. Most of the other books I saw seemed geared more toward raw feeders, so I skipped over them, but if anyone has any other recommendations, I'm open to them.
  7. [quote]but I do have to point out that I frequently see BSL being equated with a BAN, when all it is, in fact, is Breed Specific Legislation.[/quote] BUT, when one breed is singled out and labeled as "dangerous" or "vicious", that label has implications beyond those in the imposed legislation. For example, insurance companies aren't going to jump at the chance to insure a dog already labeled as "dangerous", it just isn't smart for them. And when BSL often includes special insurance clauses, and owners can't get the insurance because of the label, you may as well just ban them outright, since you can't get the insurance and can't legally own the dog without it. Or, spay/neuter laws, if you alter all existing dogs and forbid new ones from being brought in, they'll be just as extinct in a few years as if they had been banned outright. In either case, and in that of outright bans, the problem is still never actually solved, since the person who thinks their human aggressive dog is the best thing ever likely won't care to comply when that dog is illegal or put under restrictions, since after all, they could care less about the dog, so long as their image is intact. And even if they did, the problem would still exist since A. bad owners are a universal problem, and those currently owning pit bulls would simply find another breed to suit their needs, and B. any breed of dog can and will bite, and seriously, and none of these bites should be occurring. [quote]If it stopped all of the dog fighting and torture, baiting, unwanted pit bulls in shelters, took the breed entirely out of the hands of irresponsible, stupid, and/or cruel people, while still allowing responsible owners to have them as pets... then would you support it?[/quote] For their own good... the same argument was used in the past for many "lesser groups" of people (mentally challenged people, for example, many of whom function fine these days with certain accomodations made) to be warehoused or otherwise treated in ways that are considered unfair today. By this line of reasoning, we could also lock all children away in a room until they're 18, since child abduction, molestation, etc is a very real concern, it would be for their own good. Instead, we've chosen to address the real problems at hand (people who do these things to children), and educate children of the dangers involved. Considering that many other breeds are just as abused (look at all the small breeds used in puppymills, left to rot in cages all their lives, in sickness and malnutrition), I think that the "for their own good" argument is often (and not in this discussion, in general) just a handy excuse for trying to make a quick fix on a problem... bandaid on a broken arm if you will.
  8. gooeydog

    National news!?!?

    I did. And while I'll admit the thought did cross my mind that it was an understatement, it was the most simple term that came to mind when trying to label the event (actually, dog attack would be more fitting, but my point remains the same). The point I was trying to make is that someone being maimed in this event is somehow more newsworthy than say, the tales of the hundreds or even thousands of peoples who are maimed or killed in car accidents every day. There was a bad one near my house last week, several people seriously injured, but it didn't even make local news, nevermind national. Why? Surely their tale held some greater lesson, whether it was because their vehicle was defective, or they were not being sensible, or someone else caused it. What exactly makes this story worthy of National news over so many other events (even some in the past involving dog attacks) that have occurred? And further, why weren't the real issues, like maybe human aggressive dogs being improperly contained, or people breeding dogs without regard for temperament, addressed? These sort of concepts are pertinent to all dogs, and would be useful to far more of the audience than the implication that the only reason this incident occurred was because pit bulls were involved. You won't get any of the standard "couldn't have been pit bulls" responses from me (though I do think their labeling is completely useless and distracts from the more important issues), because it's possible that these dogs were pit bulls, you get bad dogs in every breed, and with pit bulls as common as they are, there are bound to be some out there. I just don't see the point of sensationalizing and dramaticizing the story to gain ratings rather than just giving the facts and if anything, ways to prevent history from repeating itself.
  9. gooeydog

    National news!?!?

    I don't know which is worse, that a "pit bull rampage" makes national news because it was pit bulls, or that the situation is such that a dog bite makes national news.... [url]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051106/ap_on_re_us/pit_bull_rampage[/url]
  10. Of course it's entirely your choice as to what you want in a dog, however I think the idea of crossing four breeds know on various levels for having breathing/heart problems, bad hips, and bad elbows in order to get a "healthy" dog is not among the smartest. All of the breeds involved have high incidences of hip and elbow dysplasia, and the dogs shown as Titan Bulldogs have the same brachycephalic muzzle that causes breathing/cooling problems for other breeds with the same. Couple that with the fact that those developing the breed seemingly do no health clearances, and it makes it even more plausible that the whole "trying to make a bulldog type dog without the health problems" line sound like a bunch of BS.
  11. Research? Pet stores? Could be most anything.
  12. Thanks guys, this is helpful :D [quote]I take it you're switching from kibble to raw/cooked?[/quote] Well, she gets some fresh cooked meat in with some of her meals, though I haven't done it much lately because she'd been having some digestion issues due to food change, and it seemed the fresh meat on top of that was just not helping. I'd like to eventually get a bone/meat grinder and use that to grind fresh meat that I can feed, either raw (not likely to begin with that, as one of the dogs is senior and I worry about her adjusting- I know it shouldn't be an issue, but she's already prone to belly issues, and her age on top of that makes me like all of these put together :o :-? :drinking: ) or lightly cooked as I'm doing now, along with other fresh foods. The time before last that I added any substantial amount of fresh chicken (one of the meats she does well on in foods, and I've fed both with her normal meal and 12 hrs from, makes no difference), she had the runs for several days (and was reluctant to eat during that time, which led to her losing some weight when she's already pretty scrawny), the pumpkin usually helps, but it didn't work at all that time, I had to give her actual meds for it, which I hate to do. The most recent time we've done meat add-ins, I added less meat, and mixed some pumpkin in with her food as I added the meat, so as to stay ahead of the game, and we didn't have any problems, she was eating the food without pumpkin within a few days and had solid poop. I was only feeding that meat to get it used up so I can buy more, but I think that when/if we do make the switch to all fresh foods, it'll be a gradual one, as I worry about her being able to tolerate that sort of thing again, and the worst incident occurred when I gave more chicken than usual without gradually working up to it as I had before, so I can only imagine what it might be like switching cold turkey :o I do have another question though, [quote]many people i know use a mix of canned pumpkin and cultured yogurt as a filling for frozen kongs.[/quote] Doesn't freezing the yogurt kill of the bacteria? So would this be counterproductive since the reason for feeding cultured yogurt is for the probiotics? Just wondering, as I sometimes end up with the dogs' yogurt going bad (Goo doesn't like it, and will refuse her food if I put it in there for more than a day of two in a row, so I have to feed it on different days to fool her), and it'd make it a lot easier if I could just freeze some of it. One more, when I do start adding veggies and fruits, should I feed combos of different things every day, or only one type per day? I'm planning on blending and freezing the veggies/fruits, so either way would be no problem, just curious as to what's considered the norm. I'm thinking a variety, but not quite sure.
  13. I'm in the market for a meat grinder (have to get a better paying job first, as I'm poor at the moment), so I can make the dogs' food, but in the meantime, think I've found a way to switch them from kibble while keeping my nerves intact. They're currently getting soaked kibble with canned food mixed in, occasionally with some fresh, lightly cooked (small-ly cubed and poached) meat in place of some of the kibble. The canned food is Neura 95% meats (made by the people who make wellness), and I've recently upped the amount of that from 1/2 can to 1 can, decreasing their kibble amount. I realized last night that the amount of meat in the canned food isn't that far off from what Goo'd be getting on fresh food (she's right at 50 lbs, so going by the 2% rule, around 1 lb meat, she's already getting 12oz), and that I could probably manage (financially) to feed the Neura food only with fresh veggies, etc, cutting the kibble completely out of the picture. I just don't know if this is an acceptable way to feed, am I right in thinking that I could just substitute the Neura for real meat for now, at the same amount, or is there some other way to figure this out? And is there a concern with too many vitamins/minerals from the food already having "fake" ones in it, then adding real ones from fruits/veggies as well? I'm thinking that if I can pull this off, it would work out well anyway, as I can't see myself packing dead chickens to take on vacation :lol: nor my mom cooking for the dogs when I go away, so even after they're switched, I can keep a few cans around for emergencies when I can't feed them the "real" stuff.
  14. As others have said, improper use of a shock collar can easily cause more problems than a dog started with (how'd you feel if you were being corrected for something and didn't even know what it was you were doing or where the correction was coming from?), you need to have good timing and a good trainer to demonstrate when/how to best use it or you can really screw up your dog's head. I think your expectations are a bit unrealistic (out of 5 dogs, we have ONE that will only go out a door when invited, though the others are usually not door bolters, if they see what they perceive as an invitation, they'll go) with the way your grandfather is behaving. It's your responsibility to keep her safe and out of trouble, irregardless of how you must do it. As an example, I can't leave Goo loose in the house with any windows/doors open when I leave due to her animal aggression, so I either close everything up, or put her in my room, in which windows are opened only from the top, and not enough for her to get out, and the bottom panes are covered with grates in case she should decide to try to go through one again. There are times when she'd probably rather stay lounging on the couch, but if she got out and into trouble, she'd be in a 1000 times worse situation than snoozing in my room waiting for me to get home. This doubly applies to you, as not only is Sassy at risk of being hit by a car, but due to her aggression, other people and their pets are at risk too when she gets out. One of the responsibilities of owning a dog (or human for that matter) aggressive dog is making sure that they're always contained in a manner to keep them from being able to harm others, whether that be kennel, secure yard, room, crate, whatever. Unless you can make absolutely sure that she will not escape from the yard (grandfather?), I would keep her in the kennel, with locks both on it and the gates for the yard, to prevent her from getting out and others from getting in.
  15. I'm one of those who doesn't let their dogs out when I'm not home, and several of them not alone outside at all, so I may be a bit biased, but here's my thoughts anyway. I think the idea of having the door for the room mate to open when he's home and close when he leaves sounds like a pretty good plan, so long as he remembers, and doesn't mind doing so. I too would be concerned about someone tossing something harmful over the fence (even unintentionally, ex: trying to make friends by giving chicken bones), so IMO, if they're going to be out all day long, I'd feel safer with them in an enclosed area out of reach of objects thrown over the fence, could you fence an area around where the door would be? Or even put up a kennel for them if you don't use the door frequently?
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