Carolk9s

Geez that print is AWESOME! I am drawn back to it again and again, truly it gives me goosebumps. Marvelous capture of the essence of a beautiful, powerful dog dominating the weave poles. Go bids go and good luck to Tasha!

Yahoo Groups has several lists dedicated to BARF or raw feeding. Just go to Yahoo Groups and type in keywords such as BARF or raw feeding. Good luck.

Jesse actually has two bodyguards, me, and now Candy. Candy is MUCH faster than I am! Saturday at the park, walking along, Jesse bringing up the rear as usual. The girls and I passed a man with his dog, a large female looked to be an Irish Setter mix. I've seen him and his dog before, she is not the most sociable animal. I stopped and turned back to get Jesse, he had sped up upon seeing the other dog. He reached her before I reached him and starting sniffing her. After a few sniffs, she had had enough and snarked at him. Didn't touch him, just snarled. Completely within her rights to do so of course. Jesse had already said 'sorry ma'am' and was moving away when out of the corner of my eye, I see a blond blur go by, it was Candy. She SLAMMED into the other dog snarling with all the hair on her back standing up. Nobody messes with HER Jesse. Candy is a good 9 or so inches smaller and probably less than 1/2 the weight of the other dog, didn't stop her from rushing to his defense. The girls faced off, both snarling. I yelled at them both to KNOCK IT OFF, thankfully both decided to do just that. I've seen this before in Candy to a lesser degree. If any other dog even tries to play a little rough with Jesse, Candy will get right between them and either lure or drive the other dog off. She also helps him locate me should he get so far behind that he cannot see me. Now I ONLY let him drop back that far when we have the field to ourselves, usually very early in the morning. The other morning, we started walking, Jesse turned back to sniff something enticing, and I got pretty far ahead of him. When I looked back for him, saw him across the field. I yelled his name and started waving my arms, his eyesight is not as sharp so he needs BIG signals. As soon as I had called his name, Candy raced across the field, circled him, and ran back my way. This drew his attention and he then saw me and headed our way. I have to wonder, does she sense his extra needs due to his age? I haven't seen her do any of this for Brittany. Jesse really did not like her at first and snarked at her quite a bit. He's relented over time and she's finally convinced him to let her wash his face. I have heard of dogs watching out for other dogs, I am so glad Candy has taken this on.

Thanks DO for the smell and taste info. I've actually been to the site and am seriously considering ordering some. It's either that or Joint Max chewables. I've been giving Jesse glucosamine by twisting open the capsules and pouring the powder in his food. Our homepathic vet suggested using 'human' supplements from the local grocery. I am tired of working with the capsules and want to find an easier way to give my dogs their supplement. Even Candy gets glucosamine, vet said any dog that does a lot of jumping should be on it. She does not get as much as the older dogs. I am going to give the Synflex a try. I can always mash a sardine into his food, he'd eat sawdust with fishies in it! My dogs do love their fishies.

I'm sorry to hear that Taurus has HD. No doubt he is in good hands with people who love him and will care for him and manage his HD. Regarding SynFlex, can someone tell me a bit more? I am planning on switching my dogs to another form of supplement. I am considering Joint Max chewables but would also like to know more about this liquid. Main question is, does it have a smell and if so, can you describe it? I once had my dogs on Glyco Flex, initially Jesse would eat it from my hand, then would not but would still eat it in his food. He eventually would refuse to eat his food if the Glyco Flex was in there. It is VERY strong smelling, would wake you right up early in the morning! Brittany would still eat it but not Jesse. He's gotten to be a finicky eater as he's aged and sometimes I have to be creative to get him to eat and keep weight on.

My Belgium doing well! Thank dog I don't have to call him a Groenendael which I cannot even spell without looking much less pronounce. My brother has a Chi-wawa, my sister has a Bagel. I still like to answer the question 'what kind of dog is that' with one word. SPOILED. 8)

[quote name='hillside']Yeah, but would you ever own a Dalmatian? ( I swear, you guys are trying to kill me here.)[/quote] I guess if I ever got a DalmatiAn I'd have to learn how to spell it right? 8) Believe me, I understand. I seen and heard the Belgian Shepherds called BelgiUM Shepherds many many times.

I've learned the hard way to never say never! 8) I have never wanted a Lab or a Beagle, so I found a Lab/Beagle mix and danged if she did not make herself at home! I'm not a big fan of Australian Shepherds, danged if I did not adopt an Aussie mix! I also have this weird quirk, I don't like seeing a dogs, er, um, butt. So both of my girls carry their tails high for a lovely view. I don't want a hunting breed, though many are beautiful and a joy to watch, just don't want one. I don't want a toy dog though Paps are just adorable. I don't want a Pit, a Rottie, a Akita, or any kind of mastiff, I'm getting older and gotta be up to any physical challenges a dog might throw my way. Irish Setters are beauties but I doubt I would want one. I don't care for Dalmations, I know there are lovely, well mannered Dals but so far all the ones I have met have been a bit too snarky. No ACD's, no Kelpies, no Goldens. I like big hairy dogs, prefer them in black. I think Collies are gorgeous, no matter the coat pattern but thats a bit TOO much hair. I like GSD's but doubt I will ever have one. I think I will stick with the Belgian Sheepdog or Tervuren and of course fall madly in love with a shelter mutt and bring that one home too.

DAL, I'm so sorry to hear of Boonie's illness. You are certainly having a tough go of it aren't you? Wishing Boonie and you and your hubby all the best, now and all your tomorrows.

Humping is not necessarily a sexual response though it can go hand in hand with a dominance response. My boy was neutered at 6 months, he has AWAYS tried to hump other dogs, males as well as females. He is 13+ years now and STILL tries to hump other dogs. It's almost funny to see him try and figure out how he will hump Leo the Great Dane. Almost, but not quite. Leo could flatten him to the ground with two paws tied behind his back. Luckily for Jesse, Leo is a mild mannered dog. I do agree with getting your boy neutered if he is not a TOP quality Yorkie that will be shown and evaluated for breeding purposes. I personally find humping behaviour annoying at best and dangerous for the dog at worst. Sooner or later, some dog is going to take GREAT exception to another dogs attempt to hump. Your dog might get away with a warning or might get ripped into. Jesse has been knocked to the ground on more than one occaision, I try to stay very close to him at the park so that I can intervene quickly should he decide he wants to hump another dog. At his age, getting knocked down or jumped by another dog is too risky.

Christmas Peace By Ben Stein Published 12/16/2004 12:09:25 AM BEVERLY HILLS -- Today, I will let other people talk about politics and economics. I am going to talk about something more important: peace. By total coincidence, my 60th birthday recently fell on Thanksgiving. It is perfectly apt though, because my whole life is about giving thanks, especially for still being alive and hearty at 60, and full of fight. But as I was asked over and over again what really makes me happy in my life now that I am no longer a young hippie, I only had to think for about two seconds. Yes, of course, I am primarily grateful that I am in America, shining city on a hill, that I have a great wife and son, that I get to live in peace and prosperity. I would have to be insane not to be on my knees with gratitude to the men and women who fight for us, and I am stupendously grateful to them. But there is someone very close to my heart who brings me the best moments of peace I ever have, and peace is truly God's greatest gift: Brigid, my gorgeous German short-haired pointer. A word about Brigid. She was an abandoned dog. I got her at the Huntington Beach animal shelter. She is my latest German short-haired pointer, the fifth one I have had, after owning two Weimaraners. Every one of these dogs is a heavenly gift. To lie next to Brigid for an hour in the afternoon, to have her next to me all night, to wake up to her soulful eyes and incredible joy, that is bliss. I have worked for two Presidents in the White House, been in dozens of movies, played in one of the best sitcoms of all time, The Wonder Years, won Emmies for my quiz show. I have been married to a glorious wife for almost 40 years and we have a handsome, rugged son. This is all good stuff, even great stuff....But.... None of this gives me the serenity that being next to a sweet, loving big furry dog gives. There is a magical connection between dog and human that offers a glimpse of heaven. It's Christmas. Time for gifts. You can get the best gift there is -- the gift of peace -- for free at your local animal shelter or pound and at many rescue societies. You have not fully taken advantage of God's gifts if you don't do it. Diamonds are nice and so are clothes and cars. But a loving, sweet dog of your very own, or for your spouse or for your child or parent, that's the best gift there is. That is the gift of love -- warm, unconditional, devoted, peaceful love. There is nothing better. Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer in Beverly Hills and Malibu. The present you want isn

Tammy, I'm so sorry to hear that your beloved Smudge has gone to the bridge. I agree with everyone else, PLEASE don't beat yourself up for not being clairvoyant, for not being psychic, for not being God. Smudge was loved and cared for right to his all too soon end. Some dogs are very stoic and you did not have a crystal ball to tell you something serious was happening with him. Any one of us could have made the same choices as you did based on the lack of evidence that he was truly sick. I once took my older girl to the vet for something routine, while there, the vet found a small open wound on her side. I had no idea it was there as her fur covered it quite well. You are not a bad person, a bad dog mom because of this. R.I.P. Smudge and play with all the other puppies at the bridge and be sure to tell them you had a wonderful home with boundless love on this earth.

This does sound like fairly typical teenage/adolescent behaviour. The key is to stay calm, stay on course, ride it out while encouraging him to behave the way you want. Is Scout neutered yet? If not, those hormones might be stirring which only adds to him being somewhat 'unsettled'. Good advice from an earlier post, put stuff away! It's funny but true, dogs teach you to put your stuff away. Silly me, I still 'forget' that nugget of gold now and then. I went searching for my slippers recently, could not think of where I left them. Found them in the back yard, shredded. Rotten dogs. 8) They MUST have mistaken my slippers for one of their toys even though my slippers did NOT have a squeaker. :P They have to remind me now and then to put my stuff away! Scout is far too young to be off leash in an unsecure area, glad you got him back when he ran down the street at your moms.

goto: [url]http://www.tailsinneed.com/gamc_2004.html[/url] Apparently judges have narrowed the choices down to just 5 dogs so you are limited to choosing one of those 5.

There are photos online from a recent agility match I attended with Candy. There is a photo of Candy and me as well as some of her on various obstacles. There are lots of other photos as well, one very cute one of a border collie lying down with it's head between the owners feet. Can't see the dogs face but it's cute. Here is the link. [url]http://www.jff-richmond.com/photo.htm[/url]

Some years ago, Jesse and I participated in a game, sending to the tunnel. There were two tunnels, side by side but not terribly close together. We started fairly close and had to send our dog through the curved tunnel. The handler had to stay behind a line. The line kept getting moved back as dogs successfully went through the tunnel. For each round, the dog that went through the tunnel and returned to his or her handler the quickest moved to the next round. It was a lot of fun and we got to practice those distance handling skills. You could set up a gamble, dog has to take 3-4 obstacles while the handler stays behind a line. Handlers could chose novice, open, or excellent level, the line is closer to the obstacles for novice dogs and farthest for excellent. Handler can run parallel to the dog but cannot cross the line. Good choices for obstacles in a gamble are tunnels, jumps, aframe and table. Candy and I ran a gamble once where as she blasted out of the tunnel, I had to 'push' her out and up for the aframe then 'pull' her towards me for the final two jumps. Another game I've heard of but not played, is no hands agility. Handlers had to tuck their arms and hands inside a shirt or coat and negotiate a course with their dog. Of course there is also mute agility, either NO speaking by the handler at all or the handler may chose just one word to use around the entire course. Could be the dogs name or any other single word. The handler can say that one word as often as they want but no others. If you have multiple sets of weave poles, you can set up your very own weave pole challenge. It's amazing how dogs that normally take an easy pace through the weaves get into a rhythm and pick up speed when there are say 30 poles.

Amber, I agree that the severity of food aggression should be taken into account. I guess when I think of a food aggressive dog, I think of one that is all too willing to lash out and bite, not one that simply growls or shows teeth. However, I personally will not tolerate ANY food aggression amongst ANY dogs in my house. Each dog has their 'spot'. I have to watch my girls, they would sneak in and steal Jesse's food and he would let them! I monitor feeding time and only allow 'bowl surfing' once everyone is done. Both girls make a beeline for Jesse's bowl in hopes that he left them a piece or two. I also watch him when they get cookies or greenies, the girls finish theirs and watch him as he slowly works his way through his.

What's a leash? Just kidding! My pack is offleash in the back yard, fully fenced, off leash in the front yard, they are ONLY out there when I am as it is not fenced. They mostly respect my rule of no leaving the front yard but I am VERY vigilant and constantly look up and down the road for anything that might tempt them to go visit. I take them to a park almost every day for off leash running and playing. I even changed my schedule at work so I can take them to the park early in the morning. It is not an off leash park. I have been going there for about 5 years now. During peak times, there have been as many as 30-35 dogs running, playing, socializing. Most people are very responsible, they pick up after their dogs and rein the dog in if it's getting overstimulated or snarky. For those that are not as responsible about cleaning up, many of us will step forward with a smile and the offer of a baggie. Usually that gets the point across. It almost cracks me up to see the look on some peoples faces, 'oh, you expect me to pick that up?' Er, YES I do. The park is about 9 acres on one side, there is a small grove of trees and brush, then another 9 acres. We stick to the back 9 as the front area has what we call a mosquito breeding facility smack in the middle. My girls LOVE to race back and forth through the mucky icky dirty stinky nasty wetlands. I prefer that they not do this. 8)

Another reality in our 'sue happy' society, if the shelter adopted out a dog know to be food aggressive, even if the people were made aware of it, and the dog savaged a child that got too close, the shelter might be sued. Even if no lawsuits were brought against them, I can understand why a food aggressive dog is not considered adoptable. Too many stupid people out there and sooner or later, someone is going to get bit. Maybe just a nip, or a full out attack. Would you like to see your child or niece or nephew or the kid down the block ripped into because someone had a food aggressive dog and did not properly manage it? If EVERYONE who adoped a dog had the common sense needed to properly manage these dogs, it would not be such an issue. Obviously, too many people do not have these skills.

I took Candy to a so called pet communicater a little over a year ago. The fee was going to the shelter in conjunction with the agility demo we were putting on so I said what the heck. I was not impressed. She said VERY general stuff. Nothing specific that I could verify. She did say that Candy's puppyhood was horrible. As skinny as Candy was when I found her, I can believe that but have no way of knowing really. The one thing that DID stand out in my mind that makes me think there could be something to this, Candy would have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with her. Candy is an extremely sociable girl, she loves going up to people. She would not go to this woman, she actually REFUSED to look at her. She literally turned her back on the woman and stood at the end of her leash as far away as possible. When I called Candy to come closer, she sidled over to me but still would not engage with the woman at all. That was weird for Candy. I still would like to speak with a true psychic with all of my dogs.

I know I'm late on this, I rarely have time to be here anymore. A show-n-go is a fun match. You arrive, enter your dog (most allow day of match entries) show your dog, collect any ribbons, and leave. It is generally much cheaper than an actual trial. Many show n go's offer sub or pre novice as well as other non regular classes. In pre or sub novice, your dog remains on leash for all exercises. Show n go's or matches are EXCELLENT ways to prepare for trials.

I missed the original post. I hope that the person who has Malinois pups for sale is also involved in Malinios rescue. I am, and there are LOADS of Malinios in the rescue system at all times. A high drive Belgian is NOT the breed for everyone. Too many people will get the pup then realize they have NO idea what to do with all that energy and drive. I am not against well thought out, responsible breeding programs. I am thoroughly against breeding dogs just because one thinks they can sell them and wash their hands of the pups once they are gone. Since I do not know the person who posted the link, least I don't think I do, I am NOT saying they are the irresponsible type. I would love to know how you screen potential homes for your pups. I would love to know what guarantees travel with each pup. I would love to know your policy for taking back pups AND adult dogs you have bred. I would love to know what type of support you offer buyers of your puppies and for how long. I would love to know what health clearances the parents of said pups have. I would love to know if your pups are sold on a limited registration or spay/neuter contract. I would REALLY love to know of your involvement in Belgian Rescue?

Jesse is losing his hearing too. I can be right behind him and unless I clap my hands loudly or yell, he does not hear me. I do a LOT of arm waving at the park, though his vision is also compromised, he can still see 'big' movement.

Well said HF. I would imagine that many dogs are better behaved at most pro groomers because the groomer has a calm, competent manner about them. At home, the owner is worried and stressed and scared of hurting the dog or giving them a 'funny' haircut and sure enough, the dog picks right up on all that negative emotion and reacts to it. Many groomers also know that they must be firm as well as kind. Some owners will give in too easily to their dogs protests and the dog learns that if they put up a fight, they win. Just today, I 'scalped' Jesse's rear. He had long breeches or feathering on both hind legs, no more! He has enough hair to keep his butt warm but still looks rather nekkid compared to other Belgians. I have been thinking of doing this for a time, due to his age. While he ADORES being brushed, he does tend to get a bit restless now and I decided in order to avoid having to comb out any tangles, I would just eliminate the source.

gigi, Jesse is doing ok. You know the saying, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak? At least I think that is how it goes. He has a fair amount of arthritis as well as some neurological impairment that affects his rear legs. Sometimes I call him Thumper as that is the sound his rear feet make nowadays. He no longer has the smooth action of lifting and placing his rear feet. Nonetheless, he is still going! I had to keep chasing him back into the carpeted living room at my brothers house as their recently refinished hardwood dining room floor was far too slippary for him. My own house is carpeted pretty extensively for his safety and comfort. He still does the happy dance when I get his collar and he knows we are going out. He LOVES going to the park, he makes his way around slowly but he makes it around! He is still convinced he is the studliest dog around and will flirt and make quite the fool of himself for the girlie dogs. There have been times recently where he has gotten so far behind that he loses track of me. I send Candy to go get him. She is actually quite good at that! She has interceded a few times when another dog appproaches him, she will get right between them and drive the other dog back. All in all, he is not doing badly at all. He keeps the girls in line and they still recognize his status. Thanks for asking! Oh, I also posted the photo to the Belgian forum, apparently that kitten is a Belgian Sheepcat! 8)