courtnek

I'm ALL FOR the testing theory, and have said that for years. All of the shelters in this state are required to "match" the dog to the potential owner, making sure they have the time, space, and education to raise the dog and care for it properly. Most even require you bring your other pets and family members with to meet the dog, so there is less chance of a problem. And if the shelter doesnt think it's a good match, they wont adopt the dog out. Unfortunately, breeders are not required to do that. Nor are pet stores. A good breeder will, but there are a lot of unscrupulous ones out there as well. Gather up all the information you can on dog bites/attacks in your area, and the kind of dogs that were involved, and make up a spreadsheet. Then send it to the newspapers. ANY dog can and will bite if given the proper provocation....

:( Well, it didnt work out. I see a pattern forming here. The shelter told me he was good with "some" dogs, (even tho on the website it was checked off "Y" for good with dogs)and Freebee wasnt one of them. Freebee is a dominant animal, since until Alex the only other pet here was the cat, and so she wants to retain the dominant lead in any pack. However, Karma was also very dominant and neither would back down, so it was a no-go. Alex allowed her to be the lead, and so they settled in nicely. I need to find a dog willing to be subservient to her, that's I think what the issue is. I wonder if another female would be better? Though I have heard of female agression in dogs before, so I dont know.... Any suggestions? thanks

Rotties are guarding breed dogs...and how they are raised is very important to their behavior. They need to be trained, disciplined and DOMINATED by their owners. Any dog that is allowed to be Alpha in the household will become dangerous and can bite - Rotties tend to be very dominance-orientated and large, a bad combination if they're not trained right. That's true of most of the guarding breeds, like German Shepherds. This sounds to me like a dominance issue - she had the food, he wanted it, and feeling that it was his place as Alpha he snapped for it. Another cause can be bad breeding, which causes mental instability. Either way, the dog has taken charge and needs to be demoted from his top-dog position. But Rotties trained and treated well are loving, slobbering masses of hugs and kisses. It depends on the owner and the training the dog gets.

evil bastards is right. Cripes, I dont wear any kind of fur, even the animals "farmed" specifically for that reason...... It makes me so sick.... :evil:

Freebee wont eat Iams. Alex wouldnt either. or Science Diet...

J.C.!!!!! they couldnt just do X-rays to determine bone growth??????? I didnt know about any of this. I am really PO'd now..... :evilbat:

Grab it close to the mouth (right by the skin where its attached) and twist clockwise. This forces it to let go, and keeps the sucker-thingy's (so technical, I know) from staying imbedded in the skin. I use frontline for fleas and ticks. It has the advantage that it not only kills the bugs on the dog, but it somehow manages to kill the ones in furniture and carpet so they cant spread.

Rosebud, you may have something there.... humans acquired AIDS from Monkeys. So there are diseases that animals can give us, and if it is a viral infection, I would guess it is possible to get it by consuming the animal. I remember reading a story once about the Black Plague in Europe. Local tribes ate these large, rodent type animals (cant remember what they are called) and used to inspect the lymph gland under the arm on the animal before they would eat it. If the gland was swollen the animal was burned to a crisp, When asked why, they described the horrible sickness that people got if they ate one of the infected animals. Hundreds of years later it was discovered that the sickness they were describing was the Black Plague. So I would guess it is possible for an illness to spread by eating the infected animal. Right now they are saying that SARS is spread airborne, but there is also a version of the plague that spreads airborne; a mutation from the original virus....

cant update until Saturday - that's when I want to go look at him. I didnt get an answer back yet to my emails, but he's still on the site so I hope they keep it updated current. I just hope Freebee likes him - that's the important thing. I'd take him in a heartbeat otherwise. :)

If they are "gaseous" then their food is not agreeing with them. Just likepeople/ Rott, you might want to try a different food for awhile. :D

If my dog was too quiet I would definitely be suspicious.... She raids the garbage and chews up paper....

geez leave it to me to leave out all the details... he's 3 years old, lab/shepherd mix, male, neutered, supposedly good with other dogs, his name is Karma, which makes me think this may be a good thing. I wasnt able to save Alex, so maybe this is my "Karma".... there was just something about him that made me jump up and say "I WANT this dog!!" I dont want to get too excited in case it doesnt work out.... :o

[img]http://www.1-800-save-a-pet.com/shelter/picture-serve.tclb?animal_id=84824&smallheight=1[/img][/img] He's at a shelter near here - they say he's good with dogs so I am HOPING that I can get him vefore he's gone, but I wont be able to see him til this weekend......I emailed them and asked if I could bring Freebee to meet him.... wish me luck!

[quote]It looked like real barf, but he hoovered it up like it was chateaubriand. [/quote] What is chateaubriand? Sounds French.... My dog eats pantyhose if you leave them where she can get them.... YUK..... :o

As far as dogs go, yes, I think so. She was applying human characteristics to the dogs....they wouldnt breed because that's incest...do they care? Nooooooo....... Hell, there are people who commit incest on a regular basis...what made her think that because they were siblings the natural inclinations wouldnt take hold? It amazes me sometimes.... :drinking:

I can believe it!!! :D

My heart smiles for my puppy girl (and my cat) all the time. I couldnt imagine not having pets....they are so special, and bring so much joy, and ask so little in return.....If I have to cry, I cry on Freebee (or PushyCat) I dont call my sister, I dont go to my son, I cry on them.

[quote]Oh no! We don't breed our dogs. But don't worry, they won't because they're siblings." [/quote] There was a bit I read about that a while ago - A lady brings her two dogs to the vet (in a baby carriage of all things!) complaining that the female is getting fat. The ver examines her and pronounces her pregnant. The woman gets all huffy and says "That's impossible! She hasnt been near any male dogs!" The vet looks at the other dog and says "He's male...." and she responds "Are you insane? They're brother and sister!!!" Makes you wonder, doesnt it? :o

You got that right Behle..... 18 lbs. of PushyCat, and 17 1/2 of it is attitude.....LOL They've made up and are laying on the floor together. It just cracks me up.... :lol:

OK this is going to sound really goofy, but what type of heat do you have? Is it radiant with pipes running under the floor? the reason I ask is that if there is air in the line, it hisses and makes a "squeaky" sound, which sounds like an animal to the dog. He may be trying to catch the "critter" he thinks lives under the floor. Early in the morning is when the heat would come on. If that's your scenario, bleed the lines to let the air out. Freebee tried to dig through the floor because of a wristwatch that was in the basement. A beeping alarm would go off every day at 2:00 p,m, but since I wasnt here I never heard it until one Saturday.... It was accidental that I caught it. I was doing laundry when it went off and I heard Freebee start to try to dig up the floor again. Getting rid of the watch solved the problem.

Poor Goofy Freebee - she was jumping up and down all excited about something outside, and she landed one foot on the ill-tempered old PushyCat.... who promptly bit her on the leg and then swatted her across the muzzle.... She ran downstairs with this look of panic on her face, with the cat following her tail-swishing and very PO'd.... That always amazes me - she could take him out easily but never does....Alex never did either.... :o

Freebee knows my routine by heart. I get up, take my clothes and go in the bathroom. She lays down on the floor just outside. I brush my teeth, get dressed, curl my hair and then put my makeup on. When she hears the drawer close when I put the makeup away, she jumps up and runs to the kitchen, because my next step is to feed her. I find that hilarious. She has learned that the closing of the drawer means breakfast is next... :D I am WAY too predictable....lol

Get 'em done. They dont remember things the way we do - in no time at all he will have forgotten the whole incident - and he'll be much better off (and less irritating) after he's been snipped....

Well, Freebee gets to sleep on the bed in the mornings, after I have gotten up and getting ready for work. She tends to be dominant so I dont let her sleep up there when I'm there. She loves the tail back section scritched. she gets belly rubs. and yes, I let her lick my feet. My son thinks it's gross too, but she loves it and cries if you dont let her. She has to lick my face when I come home too. Actually, the foot licking feels really good, like a foot massage, and since I take showers at night instead of in the morning it's not an issue. (my son, and everyone else in the neighborhood, shower in the morning and there's never enough hot water and water pressure for my likes. I have a shower massaging head, but you have to have good water pressure for it to work. And I like LONG HOT showers.....)

that's exactly why I did it this way. A 16 yr old boy isnt always easy to handle, especially when he is taller and outweighs you. The punishment is it's own reward (for me). He knows I know he went there, and he cant do anything about it. It was a solution without a big conflict.... LOL 8)