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Dogomania

eric

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Everything posted by eric

  1. Sorry, but "blow out" made me chuckle. Sam and a got spot a diarrhea last summer. Luckily he made it outside but it sounded a little bit like that scene from Dumb and Dumber.
  2. I just wanted to say something regarding rescue operations not being legit and that they are turning a profit of some sort. I have adopted from three different rescue operations, two of which are relatively small shelters that subsist exclusively on donations. Far from turning a profit, these shelters operate on the constant verge of bankruptcy. They are run out of a deep love and compassion for animals and are often staffed by volunteers. Rarely will you find organizations that are so financially effecient, and every last penny goes to good use.
  3. Well, Thanks for all the help guys. Came close.
  4. Hey guys, I entered Travis' picture in that same photo contest that Daisymom did. He was doing pretty well at first (in a solid second) but has fallen to 4th place. He only needs 22 votes to regain the lead. Here's the link [url]http://members.aol.com/iluvpwcs/contest.html[/url] Travy's the GSD in the upper left.
  5. Funny, we've talked about something like that too. Win the lottery, buy a few hundred acres somewhere secluded, and adopt 20 dogs. [quote name='JackieMaya']If I won the lottery and didn't have to work any more, I would have a senior dog retirement home.[/quote]
  6. We started off with Sam, whom we bought from a small petstore in our "naive" days :oops: He was our first dog. About 8 months later, we decided we wanted to get Sam a buddy and we had realized that we loved being dog owners. A little wiser, we went to the Humane Society and adopted Travis, our GSD. Things stayed static for a couple years until we moved out to the country onto 6 acres. We started talking about a third now that we had the room and started looking. After a month or so we adopted Zeke from a local shelter in November of 2002. We thought that would be it, but after two years I started getting that "I want a puppy" feeling again, plus rescuing Travis and Zeke had given me a hard to describe feeling that I wanted to recapture. Hard to put into words. Its like, of all the things I've ever done, rescuing these dogs and giving them homes is the one true, pure, untainted thing I've ever done. Started looking on and off on Petfinder. Came across Riley on Petfinder at a shelter near our cottage. Went and saw him with the gang and that was that. Took Riley home at the end of September 2004. People always freak when they find out we have 4, but its really not that big of a deal. I think going from 1 to 2 is probably the hardest part. After that its pretty easy. If I won the lottery tomorrow and could retire, I'd probably end up with another 3 or 4. I agree with the family thing. My wife's side was somewhat disapproving, but like I said to my wife; this is what makes us happy, this is what brings joy into our life. If they can't accept that, screw them.
  7. Travis and Sam are fairly typical side to side waggers. Zeke's tail curls up and the tip nearly touches his back. He does a tight little wag, with the tip staying about his back. Riley we've nicknamed "Whack-Whack" because of the intensity and frequency of his wagging. We'll be lying in bed and he'll be facing me and all I have to do is open my eyes to set him off. Riley does a full body wag; the head, shoulders, and his bum all get going which seems to put alot more force into his wag. Its basically a puppy wag that he never outgrew, and it freakin' hurts!
  8. We don't allow our dogs on our leather furniture at home. Its fairly expensive furniture and our boys are just too big - afraid they would tear the leather. At the cottage however they are allowed on up on pretty much anything, but its not leather - just wooden furniture with cushions. However, leather is great in terms of cleaning up various dog fluids. :)
  9. I don't have any chilling stories, but with regards to being able to tell if its for real, I notice a very distinct change in their barking when they think its for real vs. barking for no reason. Its hard to describe, but we always know when they have spotted something as opposed to barking because somebody said the word "cat" or they're barking at each other because somebody's running around with a toy. There's a different intensity to it. Zeke and Sam intermix quite a bit of growling, whereas Travis basically explodes into barks - kinda of a "Woowoowoowoowoowoowoo". Scares the crap of the deer. BTW, we're very strict about barking outside. Having previously lived next to someone who had a dog that barked at EVERYTHING and was constantly outside, we're quite aware of how utterly miserable life can be when you live next to a barky dog.
  10. We found Riley on Petfinder - will have to fill out the Happy Tails.
  11. Mine too. Zeke will stick his nose under my right forearm - my mouse hand - and nudge up repeatedly.
  12. Maybe its the training? [quote name='Debbie']Well, from my personal experience (hands on) I have to say the super hyper ones are not the norm. :-? Sassy was top of her class in beginner obedience and advanced obedience, and mine don't do any of the repetitive behaviours I'm hearing about in the previous posts. That sounds to me like a ocd. :( [/quote]
  13. The brother-in-law of this collegue I was referring to was over at their place one day and decided that he was going to play with their JRT until he tired him out. So he grabs a tennis ball and heads outside. 3 HOURS later he gives up, basically can't throw the ball anymore, and the JRT still wanted to play. [quote name='AllAmericanPUP']My uncle has a JRT and that boy just keeps going and going LOL. he's great though, love him to pieces! [/quote]
  14. Don't get me wrong, I think Jack's are great dogs but my (granted, somewhat limited) experience with Jacks is that they are fairly high-energy dogs and would not be what I would recommend to someone looking for a "low-energy" dog, especially a first time owner with young kids as this lady was. My wife's collegue has one and everytime we have gone over it ran around us in a big circle for the 20 to 30 minutes we were there. I was starting to get afraid the dog was going to collapse. She couldn't even get him to stop and come over to greet us. The JRT that was in Riley's puppy class was similar. That dog was wound so tight all it did was spend the hour whining and crying at the end of a very tight leash. All the other dogs would settle down after 5 minutes and lay down, but not this guy.
  15. Funny story. My wife is considered a bit of a dog expert by parents and other teachers at the school because, well, we have 4 dogs. So people are constantly asking her questions about dogs. Last week, one of her parents comes up and starts talking to her about getting a dog. Conversion goes something along the lines of "We're thinking of getting something small, low-energy. You know, something that won't be too high maintenance. We'll probably get a Jack Russel Terrier" At this point my wife actually blurts out "Ha!", more from surprise at having "JRT" and "low-energy" used in the same sentence. She then proceeds to gently inform the parent that JRT's are not really low energy dogs, but more like little nuclear reactors on 4 legs. Thankfully, the parent has decided that JRTs are probably not the right dog for her family.
  16. "Dogs with Jobs" is always enjoyable and pretty light-hearted. "Cell Dogs" is another one I enjoy watching, although the "graduation" of the dogs always makes me cry.
  17. That's nothing. Couple of summers ago the boys were out and my wife closed the screen door (but left the patio door open). Travis came running in full blast, didn't notice the screen door was closed, and punched through. Not only tore the screen, but actually bent the frame of the door and ripped it off the track. We had to go buy a new one.
  18. So sorry to hear about your loss DAL. Must of been even tougher without Dogo to go to. Run little dog, run.
  19. Well, its the whole Nature vs. Nurture argument, isn't it. Is behaviour taught, or is it encoded into the dogs DNA? Personally,I believe it is a mix. I think dogs all have "tendencies" which are breed driven but that the owner plays a huge role in how the dog turns out. An irresponsible owner is one that doesn't try to curb the less desirable tendencies. I have a GSD, and have worked hard to ensure that he didn't turn into an agressive dog. I recognized that being a guardian breed, I needed to be extra diligent with his socialization and bite inhibition. However, I'm a little uncomfortable with your opinion that I perceive as bordering on eugenics; that everything is hard-coded and that's that. Nothing can change. A Rottie is a Rottie is a Rottie. Because if that's true for dogs then its likely true for us as well, isn't it? I think when someone says a Golden is as dangerous Rottie, they are making a point that any dog can be dangerous, which I certainly believe. If I was talking to a young child about dogs, I wouldn't be saying "Be cautious around dogs, except for Golden's, because ALL Golden's are perfectly safe." We both know that certainly is not true. The counter argument is that why do people always say that Goldens/Labs are perfectly safe, never agressive, great with children, etc when experience has shown this is not always true. Edited to add: The other thing is that we often overlook is the fact that many of these guardian/fighting breeds are often purchased by people seeking to project a certain image and who are not necessarily the most consciensious owners. Maybe if a Golden was purchased by a rough-tough drug dealer, he wouldn't be such a nice dog. Its like saying that minorities are more likely to commit crimes in the USA, without acknowledging the fact a dispropotionate amount of minorities live in poverty. [quote name='Matty'] I guess what Im trying to say is that is seems people are always saying stuff like Oh a Golden Retriever can be just as dangerous as a Rottweiler. I am trying to get across that the chances of an unsocialized guardian, dog fighting type breed to be more dangerous than a hunting breed or companian dog are really high. When people start classing all dogs in the same level of aggression or same low trigger points then they are not helping their breed very much. If I was out to buy a dog to "protect" my home, or protect my livestock or to be a dog for police work that will attack a person. I am not going to choose a Golden Retriever or a Collie. Different breeds were breed specifically for different things to class them all at the same level of aggression or trigger points is just wrong. It will be interesting what your teacher teaches you. :wink: I am not trying to be stupid :D I am just curious as to what people are trying to get across. Are they trying to say that a Golden can be just as aggressive as a Rottweiler? Are they saying that in an actual attack a Golden is going to do the same amount of damage that say an APBT is capable of? I just don't get this whole every breed is the same and can be on the same level of danger to humans? :-? I just get so many different opionions and Im getting confused.[/quote]
  20. Yeah, Sam and Travis used to do this at the local dog park (Travis protecting Sam). Sam, being the social butterfly he is, would be off playing with everybody and tearing around. Usually, everything would be fine but once and a while one of the other dogs would get a little too rough; growling and nipping at Sam's neck while chasing him. When this would happen, Travis would immediately come barreling in out of nowhere at a sharp angle and chest-butt the other dog going full blast; basically the equivalent of a football tackle. It was pretty bad sometimes, considering Travis usually outweighed the other dog by anywhere from 20 to 50 lbs and that the other dog would be so focused on Sam they wouldn't see him coming. The worst was this fairly big Rottie male that suddenly got very aggressive with Sam while chasing him, enough that Sam yelped. I got concerned and was about to intervene when out of the corner of my eye I see Travis going all out, head low, bee-lining for this dog. A fraction of a second later he t-bones the other dog with an audible "whump!" and the Rottie literally goes flying. He hits the ground and does 3 or 4 rolls, dust flying everywhere and Travis is staying right on top of him. They come to a stop, Rottie on his back, Travis standing over top of him and stayed like that for a few seconds. Finally, Travis lets him up and the rottie takes off towards his owner. Didn't bother Sam after that.
  21. My advice would be to be careful with regards to picking it up. A friend of mine who is a c@t lover found this stray c@t in her yard. C@t seemed friendly, so she picked it up and the c@t went ballistic. Several deep bites and scratches to her hands. C@t bites are also highly prone to infection due to their saliva, so she had to go to the hospital to get some shots.
  22. Funny little story with a picture... While we've had snow for a while at the cottage, we didn't really have much snow at home until we got home this past weekend. So we get home Sunday and let the boys out back for a pee. After a few minutes, I call them in from the back of the house. Well, Riley comes barrelling into the house full blast and discovers that snow covered feet + tile floor = wipeout. His feet go shooting out, body slams down to the floor and he slidesa good 4 feet into the cupboard. Thankfully, he got up and didn't seem hurt. The next time I let them out, I noticed that Riley came to a screeching halt at the door frame, and walked very gingerly and low to the ground until he was out of the kitchen, at which point he was back to running around. I thought "that was weird" and didn't think more of it. Then he did it again the next time I let them out, and again, and again. I finally clued in; he's afraid he's going to wipe out again. Here's a pic of him being very cautious. Its really cute to watch. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0YQAMA9QbOA3vnAy4lbsNuTUg36mNlvdveKGh7PsHNwoYEn*0MgVHgUsrOkP37P2zbYueKzO8ckTGxOytTmVlH0ibA!y4Ud2DQZRAPOoPXeZTuEP6dR6F4XSEjECPo0B*aXyY!ABef2lw1CfpHAP6bw/dec%2015,%202004%20001.jpg?dc=4675501740877822913[/img]
  23. Yeah, we have the doggy pre-rinse cycle too; Zeke and Riley get right into it. They even try to do it after the dishwasher has run!
  24. So sorry for your loss. Don't be too hard on yourself. Hindsight is always 20/20 but at the time things are not always so clear.
  25. Thanks. I printed off their sizing chart got Zeke to stand on it. I'm curious to see how he's going to react. I hope he doesn't just spend all his time tricking to take them off. [quote name='pLaurent'] Very important - make sure you order the correct size, just big enough for the dog's feet. If they are too large, they will twist around and be uncomfortable. My dog prances like a circus pony when she gets them on, but I know she loves not having her feet freeze! :D[/quote]
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