courtnek

I need to go to bed, I forgot the second half of the correction.... After you have pinched her ear, yell NO BITE loudly, I mean YELL... when she lets go of your hand, tell her to SIT ( a command I hope she already knows) and then praise her lavishly for obeying... she will see the negative side of nipping you (the ear pinch) and the positive side of obeying a command (the SIT) and in time will realize that biting gets her nothing but trouble, but sitting on command is a GOOD THING.... :D

Freebee had a bad nipping problem as a puppy - she would grab your hand and nip down with those razor sharp puppy teeth..she wasnt being nasty, she was just excited....If you pull your hand away, TURN YOUR HEAD so you're not looking at the dog, and make the AWWRRR noise, (like an injured puppy would make) MOST dogs will stop...Freebee didnt. Her solution was to take her ear in my hand, and "nip" down on it with forefinger and thumb... NOT HARD...just enough to make her realize that her behavior was unacceptable (the mom wolf would do this gently with her teeth, it's a warning) dont pull away from nipping her ear until she has that "chastised" look on her face...realized she was wrong and accepts the correction. This brought Freebee into line in three days...she has never nipped since, but I am a STRONG believer in the notion that a dogs teeth should NEVER touch your flesh...for ANY reason...... The lower ranking dogs in a pack will NEVER set their teeth to the Alpha, so it's good for training as well.

[quote]I dont think that puppies or dogs that are not well trained are good on them just because of the lack of a good correction.[/quote] I agree Rott - they are NOT by any means training leashes... a good leather or web leash is better for training. I have a Flexi for Freebee, and I also walk her on a no-pull harness, and she's very good. But I have a standard web leash for training. The Flexi's allow a well-behaved dog to have some "off" time and run a little farther than a standard leash, but the dog needs to be trained to obey on command before using one. I use mine for walking Freebee, and give her commands like "no pull" where you can lock the leash down at any length and stop her in her tracks. It is good for the no-pull command, but that's about it. People with dogs who arent trained are going to have problems with it, cuz a big dog can break them, and an out of control dog will wrap around trees and light poles. The problem with them is that the handle is hard plastic, and cant be wrapped around your wrist like a leather or web leash, so if you're not paying attention and the dog pulls suddenly, he can pull it right out of your hand and be off. OK so laugh at me, but when I first got Alex and walked him on a Flexi, he almost got away twice...... so he had to be walked on the web leash until he learned his commands better....they're not for everyone....

[quote]surely your mom can be swayed by letting her see how well Hale is doing now and how much it would hurt her physically and mentally to go back to a minimum care situation..... [/quote] actually K, "hurt" is by far an understatement - Non-care of Diabetes is FATAL....without her insulin and her diet control, she will go blind, could have to have limbs amputated, and suffer kidney failure. There is NO messing around with this illness, it has to be under constant control.... and THAT's Haley's ticket to stay with you. By not properly caring for her, her original owner was dooming her to a painful and nasty death.

LOL at all of you!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: He was undisturbed by it - walks in, goes to the bathroom, then yells out the door "Mom, how do you get rid of ticks?" His friend was there too, and altho he passes himself off as a tough kid, he wouldnt touch them. I handed him the needle nose pliers and told him to twist it at the head counter clockwise and pull it out, which he did. Then I made him stand still while I checked his back and neck and head and under his arms....where he cant see, that's how I found and removed the other one....his friend was like -God, how gross - you're a girl! how can you do that, girls hate bugs....." which got him a very withering gaze in return.... :D

not real useful, but random.... she's not allowed to sleep on my bed. When the alarm goes off in the morning and she hears me hit the snooze, she jumps up on the end of the bed and curls up - it's like "her time"....then she will hear the alarm "click" before it goes off, and will nudge me to wake up. She has also learned that when I close the makeup drawer in the bathroom that means I'm dressed and she gets fed next. She'll jump up off the floor as soon as she hears the drawer close. :D

My son just came home with two ticks adhering to him - one on his leg and one under his arm on his right side......both small, probably picked up tonight. Where he got them? no clue.... My dogs appear to be tick-free however.... can I use Frontline on my kid? LOL

I was watching Animal Planet - Animal Precinct and Animal Cops. On both shows, little tiny puppies were rescued (no where near weaned) and they cried and yelped when handled by humans.... in both cases, she came running into the room, tilted her head to one side, and then started barking and growling at the TV...she could hear puppies in distress and wanted to defend them, even tho she's fixed and cant have any.... She's such a good girl.....the maternal instincts must remain strong, even tho she cant have them she must understand the sound, the cries, instinctively....I learned this in my thesis on wolves. Even tho they cant have pups of their own, they will defend the Alpha females pups and even develop milk to feed them if necessary....what a wonder nature is! :D

that's their natural instinct - some dogs retain it even tho domesticated... Dont hold it against her - it's an instinct for survival. :D

Freebee wouldnt be crated either - it stressed her out too bad. I put her in the bathroom with a bed on one side and puppy pads on the other. She too would scale and jump over baby gates - the solution is more than one, right on top of each other. You can get the ones that have rubber ends that screw into a wall frame, so are easily removed. just make sure you put a pad of some kind, like I used bandage gauze, between the wall and the rubber grippers or it will take the paint off your frame. I left it about 2 1/2 inches high off the floor and two 1/2 inches down from the top of the frame and she could not get out. Just make sure they're the kind she can see out of, so she doesnt feel hemmed in. crating doesnt work for every dog...unfortunately.

I wonder if they meant seedless grapes, or seeded? raisins dont have seeds, so it might not matter.....and green or purple, did it say?

earlier in this thread I had posted about Golden Labs as guide dogs, and I still defend that post. I didnt know that lab/poodles were being bred as guide dogs (less shedding and allergies, is that it?) but even so, if that's the case I wont argue it, however PICK A DIFFERENT NAME!!! those 'oodle' names are the most pitiful thing I have ever heard - give the poor dog some dignity at least.....

behave Devin and good luck!!!

The emergency vet I called said to put flour on it - it clumps up with the blood and forms a "bandage" of sort over the vein - it worked really well in that case.... I've been scared ever since then tho....

me either - I understand they're wanting to find the good home for the dog, but I feel they are shooting themselves in the foot. I have found this to be very common lately.....but if they are that persnickety, some of those dogs may never get adopted..... this is not a shelter, it's the LEARN society for rescued labs... (labrador education and Rescue network)

I dont clip Freebee's either for the same reason. Most of her nails are black, and I cant see where the vein is.... I accidently nicked one of my dogs veins trying clip them when they were black - all that blood scared the **** out of me, so I wont do it anymore. I let her wear them down in the yard and on walks....

I hope so!!! I'm beginning to feel like a complete doggy loser..... of course, they dont know me, they dont have to believe that I have owned, raised and trained dogs for 30 years...anyone could tell them that.... it's just so frustrating, and depressing....the onyl proof I have is the pictures of past and current dogs, and that doesnt tell them anything.... :(

I dont think it's gonna work out - I filled out the application, they require a home visit, a visit to the foster home, screening, then up to a two months wait to actually get the dog???? They wont let you choose.....they find a dog they feel you are compatible with????? damn it all!! they let you tell them one that you are interested in, but they get the final decision..... I guess I'll wait and see. :evil:

Freebee stands in the front window when I take out the trash, and runs to the backdoor hoping I'll let her out...where I then have to fight her off from escaping!!!!! :D :D

dont know yet - I have to call them tomorrow cuz they're closed... It all comes down to if Freebee likes him (he wants a female dog and owner, I'm thinking men have not been good to him) so he sounds kinda like a beta dog, which would be great for Freebee since she's so Alpha... but only a meet will tell. He's so pretty - I have a black dog and want a yellow one - I think yellow labs are extraordinary looking... I can get along with any dog - a friend once told me not to go near his shepherd mix cuz he was dangerous, and he was eating out of my hand in 5 minutes... the terrier mix next door got off his line and was wandering around, and while he wouldnt come to me, when I called him he followed me back to his house and his owner took him in.... but Freebee is a different story!! so we'll see - I REFUSE to get excited because everytime I do, it ends up in disappointement....

Geez...it would probably help if I told you his name - it's Barclay... :D

please go here and look at him.... do I dare hope? every other time I have been terribly disappointed.... I want another dog, I want to rescue one, and it never works out... maybe?? [url]http://www.labadoption.org/linkpages/Avail.html[/url]

staph can be spread by fleas, mites and mosquito's.... so she may have gotten bug bitten and it spreads very quickly. Any bug that sucks or ingests blood can spread staph..... glad she is getting better!! :D

HEE HEE!! I have often wanted to put an assistance harness on Freebee, wear dark glasses and take her to the mall...my bad, I know..... :lol:

My girls not a real lovey dog either. She likes to be scritched, and we have a specific time when she is allowed up on the bed, but she is not real affectionate - every dog is different - be assured she loves you.... :angel: