courtnek

It's tomorrow in my neck of the woods - DONE!!

:evilbat: :evilbat: :evilbat: :evilbat:

all right you guys - I WILL do this without consensus... any opposing votes - speak now or forever hold your peace.... tomorrow is the day!

hhmmmmm.....no takers? I'll do it if everyone agrees.... hehehehehehehe :evilbat:

I tried to post this before and the site went <poof> on me So how is it pronounced? bah-CHEE-oh maybe? or BOTCH-ee-oh? How did I do? LOL congrats on your new pup! :D

Insects dont bother me except for roaches - those give me the screaming meemies...I lived in an apt that had them and I moved out FAST.... My neighbor had roses growing, and had bought some mantis' to keep the aphids and stuff away. I found one in my yard one morning. It was staring Jarvis down. He was barking at it, and it wouldnt move (scared, defiant?) I came out to see what was up, and found this huge bug staring down my dog....I busted out laughing. It let me pick it up (that really surprised me) and return it to it's garden.... Why would a mantis let me pick it up? Scared of the dog maybe?

OH Daisymom! I am SOO sorry..... I have the ashes still from all my pets. In decorative containers. It is hard at first - you might want to put them "out of site" for a little while. Eventually, a time will come whe you will want to put them where you can see them. When my first dog, Taurus, died (the Golden R) I was devastated, I also had a cat at the time, Isis, who loved Taurus as much as I did. Isis and Taurus slept together every night - Isis would curl up next to Taurus' belly and they would sleep that way. I had Taurus cremated, and brought the ashes home in a sealed decorative can. I put them on the bookcase headboard on my bed. The following Monday, I came home from work to find the can on the floor in the living room, and Isis sleeping next to it!! (True, I swear!) Somehow he knew his friend was there. It didnt matter where I put the can, he found it and dragged it out. Since it was sealed, I eventually gave up and let him keep it in his kitty bed. When he died, I had himn cremated and now both of them are on the bookcase headboard. It makes me smile to think of how much two "natural enemies" refused to be parted from each other. My thoughts are with you - this is hard, I know. Know that you are doing what is best for your pup - that's our job as pet owners. You will always remember; and so will your pup.

Someone sent me a quote once, and unfortunately I cant remember who said it, but I have it pasted to my PC at work. "If dogs dont go to heaven, then when I die I want to go where they are". Amen to that!

ok the natural troublemaker in me has come out again...... Maybe we should copy/paste our firemen stories into an emal with a title of something like "How It Should Be Done!" and fire it off to Cookeville..... hehehehehehehehe....... :evilbat:

Greetings and Welcome! :D :D :D :D :D

My Malamute/BC mix had on of those extra claws too. The vet said it was a "dew claw" and was used in the working dog breeds for extra traction. He had one on each foot

you did fine. you werent going to get her to agree with you anyway - her mind is fixed. as far as her story - you were correct. The dog that bit her and Blake had issues of some sort. It could very well have felt threatened by her putting her hand towards it's head; although that's not usually enough to make it bite without warning. There could be things she didnt point out as well.... It's more likely this dog had problems. I dont agree with the breeder/wolf-dog mix part either. I think there was something wrong with this particular dog. I have a problem with the thought that the dog felt threatened when she got too close to to it's head, did nothing, then let her pet it on the back - THEN bit her. Usually, if they're gonna bite, they let you know that at the beginning, before you ever get close enough to touch; at least in my experience. The wolf story tho - I dont buy it as told. Wolves tend to stay away from people in general, especially if they're on a loud machine, unless they feel threatened; are rabid, like you said, OR you have just gotten way too close to the den. Wolves have been known to both warn and then attack if you get too close to the babies....they key word here is WARN - So the only way I can see thiss happeneing is if he was warned, either didnt know it or ignored it, and blundered directly into the den area. Wolves are pack animlas, so unless this particular one was a loner, there would have been more than one seen before any attack happened. They are actually more afraid of us then we are of them, except in certain cicumstances they try hard to stay out of our way and unnoticed.... All in all, I have to say both of these stories just dont ring entirely true as told...Either there are facts that have been left out, or the story has been embellished. And reading back over this, I just realized I have fallen into my VERY bad habit of thinking out loud....sorry if it seems kinda convoluted. Yes, I do argue with myself, and sometime out loud too, whilc I'm getting my thoughts in line. I will try to stop doiing that... :oops:

Thank you Behle - I copied that story and sent it to some people at work. Freebee cant stand to see people sad, even those she doesnt know. No one beleuves me when I tell them she is like that. My Golden, Taurus, was like that too. Beckett did something wonderful for that man - br reminding him that Dogs love is forever.

Bensam, you are in my thoughts....this is SO hard....I have had to do it as well. I wrote a post on it. They are always with you (I sound like the Pet Psychic...) but mine have never faded. Know that you gave your pup the best of you, the best of your heart, and know that your pup appreciated it and loved you. A dog is the only love money can buy.... I am SO sorry... Will this help? My son has Jarvis' collar in his room...and still believes that Jarvis is looking after him, like he always did when he was alive.. I still believe that Taurus is here as well. I probably shouldnt say this. but Alex is so much like Taurus I see him every day. Even the facial expressions are the same... do they "come back"? I dont know. I'd like to believe they do... Sometimes, things turn out a certain way..we dont know why.. Dont let this deter you from gettng another dog - yours would want you to.

:D :D :D :D I liked the one about communicating - they do seem to try harder, dont they? LOL

I gotta agree. I come home from work, the dogs greet me at the door, give me puppy kisses and wag tails so furiously it could clear tables (lab trait, that). My kid says "hi mom" and goes to his room.... LOL :D

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: was that from the "Far Side"???? thanks for the giggles

I have two lab mixes, I'll do what I can. 1. They like to run, including escapism. They arent trying to run away, they just like to move around in the world, but you gotta keep an eye on them. 2. They need good training and exercise. They are very obedient when trained, and reliable, but they are a hunting dog breed and need the stimulation of training. 3. Unfortunately, they will eat ANYTHING - some of them need to chew as well. Get them good chew toys to keep them content. Diet should consist of a good dry food, and then combine in a SMALL quantity of canned food or oil, to keep their coats glossy. They do not develop much of an undercoat in the winter, and keeping the coat glossy helps keep them warm. It waterproofs the coat and provides protection from the winter. 4. They often tend to be "one man dogs" - they like everybody (not the best guard dogs) but they will bond with one person and everyone else comes second. They are marvelous with children. 5. They like to work. I have read that in Australia they are the number one dog chosen for people-assistance dogs. This goes along with the training note from above. They need to feel useful. 6. They want a lot attention....a good run before bed will make them a little less itchy to do something. 7. They tend to be very friendly and loving. They have given their hearts to people and are completely happy o do so. Hope that helps some. If you have specific questions, let us know.

by the "little pads", do you mean the toepads that line up in front of the bigger pad? On both my dgos they're in the same place. little ones at the front of the foot and big one towards the back. Alex's nose is always wetter than Freebee's....hers is black and his is pink - correlation? As far as bristly or smooth, I would think they might be more bristly after a walk, cuz they're being worn...I'll have to check mine after they come in from their next run. didnt help much, did it? :-?

I talked to her tonight. She doesnt understand it either.....they were all doing so well, and then this.... We have agreed to watch each other and make sure Freebee and Cody are not out at the same time until spring, when I can get the new fencing up. Cody is a rescue, and has not yet been fixed. That's due to be done this weekend....maybe that will make a difference... The funny thing is that when she moved in. she was afraid of the BC being able to leap the fence and get in my yard,,, I would take the BC in my yard anytime. I'm sure they'd all get along fine. I just dont want a fight with Cody.... I think Cody and Freebee are just "notright" in each others company... maybe after he's fixed that will change. I'm still doing the fence reinforcement tho...

Prong collars work well with strong dogs who have become desenstiazed to the choke. But the same issues apply - the dog will become desensitized to the prong as well, with out training. Mei's suggestions were all VERY good. Your pup needs to be trained to pay attyention to you - NO MATER WHAT - and a little bit of dominance training wont hurt either. Dominance training involves making the dog understand that YOU are the alpha.... they do NOT walk ahead of you, ever. especially during training. The prong collar will help in the begining, as yuu already noticed, because it curbs them from pulling. As simple as it sounds, teach him to heel. Under those circumstances, he never walks ahead of you. In a pack situation, no one walks ahead of the alpha. He leads, they follow. In the heel mode, you can use your 180 degree turn tactic to youR advantage during training. When he tries to get ahead of you, stop, order him to heel, and turn 180 degrees and go the other way. The prong collar will help in this situatin because it makes it harder to pull. EVERY TIME he tries to get ahead, order him to heel and turn. Eventually, he will realize that his world will be turned upside down every time he pulls ahead. Once he understands that, the rest is easy. It's just getting THAT down that takes time. Once he has learned "his place" you will find the prong collar unnecessary. A simple leather collar will do. I have web collars on mine, to cut down on fur displacement (web collars breathe) but I had to train them using chokes...

How big is your kitchen? There isnt a lot in there they can destroy (put the garbage up) and a baby gate should be fine. Put a bed and his kongs in there for him - he;ll have room enough to move around, and if he has an accident it's easy to clean up. Would it help if you put his crate in your room? At least until he gets over the seperation anxiety? When mine were puppies I always put the crate in my room until they were housebroken. Then they dont feel quite so alone

I'm allergic to bee stings - my throat will close up inside of minutes if I get stung. I have a syringe with a special "adrenaline" type solution in it that I have to carry everywhere... as far as the dogs - Alex will watch bugs go by and not move. Freebee will leap off the floor and try to catch them. But the funniest thing is the cat. He will kill them, then go get Freebee to eat them. He wont eat them under any circumstances, but he'll kil them for her... :D

Thanks Newfiemom! Like I said, outrageously curious... I need to know everything about everything!! please put up with me.. :D

Thats the problem, and probably my fault - I ddnt watch them closely because everything seemed fine - until today.... they were playing all along - no problems - and then today I went to call them in and Freebee wouldnt come - on the third call I went out to see.. Labs are notorious runners, but they usually come back from the yard... she was running along the fence as usual; except this time she refused to come in and her hackles were up..and no command would bring her back. She's usually good about coming in when called... I had to use the emergency call - "get IN now" to bring her back... Her hackles were up high, until she got in the house. She settled then, but it disturbs me..... I have nothing against PB's, but I dont want my laid-back labbies in a fight with them....and she's so sure of herself she would probably fight, and lose......