eric

A poem that always reminds me of 9/11. Thoughts and prayers to all. Boy Bruised by Butterfly Chase. Someone was laughing at me without shoes, but the grass felt so good, and the day was so blue. Must of tripped, I don't know...don't remember falling away. Nothing that I hold on to, and not being afraid. Down down down, I'm falling, down down down. Its like I was born never touching the ground. Someone was crying as I lay in the dirt. I could hear their hearts breaking, but I wasn't even hurt. Down down down, I'm falling, down down down. Its like I was born never touching the ground.

Actually, the animal By-Law in Ottawa states that you can only have up to 3 dogs without a Kennel Licence. For 4 or more dogs, you need your Kennel licence. Hence, I have 3 dogs :) [quote name='stacer126']No dog laws here in Canada. I have one Weim now but I do hope to have more. I would like a Vizsla and a R Ridgeback next. That will be in about 2 more years.[/quote]

I inadvertently taught Sam to come tearing into the kitchen when he hears whipped cream being squirted out of the can. It all started about 3 years ago at X-mas. We were having pumpkin pie for dessert and I was squirting the whipped cream on the pie. Sam was sitting there watching intently, so I opened his mouth and squirted some in. It obviously made quite the impact on him. To this day, the sound of whipped cream being squirted out brings him running to get his fix, which I dutifully oblige. Its quite amazing, considering we only get whipped cream every 6 months or so (X-mas and Summer). There isn't even a whisper of hesitation when he hears that sound.

I inadvertently taught Sam to come tearing into the kitchen when he hears whipped cream being squirted out of the can. It all started about 3 years ago at X-mas. We were having pumpkin pie for dessert and I was squirting the whipped cream on the pie. Sam was sitting there watching intently, so I opened his mouth and squirted some in. It obviously made quite the impact on him. To this day, the sound of whipped cream being squirted out brings him running to get his fix, which I dutifully oblige. Its quite amazing, considering we only get whipped cream every 6 months or so (X-mas and Summer). There isn't even a whisper of hesitation when he hears that sound.

Yeah, When we adopted our GSD Travis from the shelter he was about 4 months old and was nearly all black. As he got older he grew into the standard GSD coat. Its weird to look at his puppy pictures. You wouldn't even know its the same dog. [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/67857/snoozing.jpg[/img] [quote name='Black GSD']Prairie Gurl, Generally, when getting a pup from a reputable breeder, you won't have to worry about getting a "greyhound" looking dog. We all know genetics is a "cr@p shoot" at best. But generally, the pup will resemble the other dogs in the bloodline. The color can change VERY drastically from the puppy color to the adult color. Again, look at the parents, if they are VERY tan with just a small black saddle, chances are that the pup could end up like that too. If you were hoping for a pup that stays darker, go with parents that are darker (more black than tan.) The only way to know for SURE what color the pup will be as an adult, is to go with solid black (or white). And even with a black, it could still end up with some tan on the legs. With the black and tans, a puppy will ALWAYS be darker than it will as an adult. They gradually get more tan and less black with age. (Not their whole life but up to approx 2 years old).[/quote]

I got some better ones of Sam. Yeah, he's a real killer. This one time he spent the better part of half-an-hour trying to catch this fly that was just buzzing around incessantly in the family room. He finally manages to catch the thing, and I figured its pretty much down the hatch. After about a minute or so, I notice that Sam's got this really funny look on his face, and his mouth is clamped shut. A little concerned, I ask "Sam, what's wrong?" thinking this fly-eating thing has really upset him. So he opens his mouth and lo and behold; out flies the fly - apparently none the worse for wear at spending a minutes in a dog's mouth. I just couldn't believe it. Our newest dog, Zeke, on the other hand is our "Fear-Factor Dog". Beetles, worms, flies, etc. Just gobbles them up like candy. [quote name='pei obssessed']Eric, that's an amazing picture!!!! Is that a real dog, or just a teddybear? :lol:[/quote]

Man, you guys have a bunch of savage killers :) [img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/67857/sam_frog.jpg[/img] [quote name='Rosebud'][quote name='Mei-Mei'][quote]YEP she ate them!..my mum tried to tell me she just tipped over the big, glass aquarium thing they were in to play with them because she could see them and she was bored and that they probably just ran away and hid...but what she did not bank on was me being the first one to see the pile of sick with brown hair and blood and bones in it just outside the back door! [/quote] Ewww. :smhair2: Lhiannon Sidhe did that with a little green lizard that was on the porch. I showed it to her thinking she would chase it. [color=red]Instead she picked it up and started crunching before I could stop her.[/color]Crazy dogs.[/quote] Rocket did that to a frog. Him and the frog were having a stare contest about the time Rocket opened his mouth to get the frog the frog jumped and landed right in his mouth and he started chomping. :angel:[/quote]

Long time no post... My dog's Nicknames are: Sam - Boo-boo, Bubba, Bubba-dog, Buddy. Travis - Travy (not very creative, I know), Travy-Wavy, Big Boy (on account of his size) and Baby Dog, from when he was a pup. Zeke - Zekee, Deke, Dekee, Zekee likes Tatziki, Dekee the Destroyer (on account of how he destroys toys in a matter of minutes).

Sam has rear dew claws and we've never had any problems in the 4 years we've had him. You just have to make a point of trimming the nail as it will not wear. His feel unnattached - they are very flexible and can be bent back. I guess its kinda gross for some people but I couldn't imagine Sam without his dew claws. They are part of who he is.

I am so sorry for your loss, Bensam. I don't think there is anything that can ease the sorrow at this point. Perhaps you will awaken in the early morn to hear the familiar click-click-click - the comfort of the depression of the bed, the weight of a head, on your bereaved heart. Once joined, never separated.

I looked into adopting a ex-racing greyhound but learned that they have basically zero body-fat and cannot tolerate cold weather very well. You basically have to dress them up if you're going to spend any amount of time outside in below-freezing weather. Kinda put a damper for us given its below freezing here 5 months out of the year. Aside from that, I've read over and over again that they are fantastic dogs.

Something I've been working on. Still needs some polishing... In the end, I will see you again, my old friend. Surprised, a question in your mustard eyes;

I think we should institute a ban on stuff like this before noon. Can't handle it in the morning. [quote name='gigishiba']Oh. Crying already at 7:45 in the morning.[/quote]

Not to alarm you, but if you don't see it within a few days I think you should immediately take him to the vet. Objects like this can sometimes get caught in all the loops and what-not. The real risk is that it can cut the bloodflow off to a region of the intestine, which causes it to die. This will then require surgery to try and remove the dead section and try to patch the two healthy ends back together. Don't get too freaked out though. It will almost certainly pass, just keep an eye out for it.

I need some help here. Our new addition, Zeke, is extremely prone to motion sickness. 3 minutes into the car ride he's drooling like crazy and by 10 minutes or he pukes. We like to get the dogs out to the local off-leash dog park, which is 25 minutes, at least once a week, but this is really taking the fun out of it. We tried giving him Gravol, but it didn't seem to have any impact yesterday. We also don't feed him in the morning if we are going somewhere, but he still pukes up all this liquid. So, I'm looking for any suggestions. Its getting kind of tiresome to clean-up dog puke.

I'm in Ottawa and this past we've had a real cold spell here as well. Last week we hit -28 C one night, and the rest of the nights have been dipping to -23 to -25 C with a "high" of -20C during the day. Its been tough on my dogs. We go out for a bit but as soon as I see them lifting their paws up we go in. [quote name='DogPaddle']Its a balmy -23 C or -9 F here right now with wind chill. Last evening it was -31 C or -24 F with wind chill. The boys were making poopsicles in 60 seconds. It is easier to pick up but it is so very cold. Kavik doesn't care but Zaphod goes out, does his stuff and is on his way back into the house almost before he is done. :)[/quote]

So nice. Reminds me alot of Zeke. We should of called him "Socks". Not because his feet are white, but because he loves socks. He's always picking them up and walking around with them. We'll be sitting in the family room and he'll get up and walk off. A few seconds later he comes trotting back with a sock that he's picked out of the laundry basket.

My German Shepherd has this right now. Big pink strip running down between his nostrils. My black lab/shepherd cross doesn't go through this for some reason.

An oldie by goodie Three dogs are at the vet, a German Shepherd, a Golden Retriever and a massive Great Dane - all boys. They start talking and getting to know each other when the reason for their visit comes up during the course of their conversation. "Well", the Shepherd states, "I'm here to be fixed because I'm too agressive and I'm always charging people who come to the front door. My owner hopes that by getting me fixed it will tone down my agression" "Really", the Golden says. "I'm here to be neutered as well. I'm always humping peoples' legs and my owners are getting really tired of it, so they hope that by getting me fixed I'll stop doing this" "Well", the Dane chimes in, "I'm here because my owner is this gorgeous aerobics instructor who is constantly walking around the house naked, and its driving me nuts. Anyhow, she was walking around naked again yesterday. She bent over to pick something up and just I lost all self-control. I mounted her and just went to town." "So you're here to be fixed as well?", the Shepherd asks. "No, no. Just here to get my nails trimmed".

So sorry to hear. Our thoughts are with you.

I'm not sure why you would consider that a citronella collar is a "quick-fix". It is a variation of a valid technique used by many trainers to teach dogs not to bark, namely spraying them in the face with a spray bottle when they bark. It is quite effective on most dogs. Many dogs learn not to bark and before long no longer require the collar. Corgilady also stated that her dog has already learned not to bark when she is around, and therefore needs a way of correcting the dog without her being present. I think saying "Train you damn dog" is a facile answer. It would be more constructive if you could provide some tips and techniques that Corgilady could use to get her dog to stop barking when he is alone outside.

Corgilady, Have you tried one of those feedback collars? I personally don't like the electric shock ones, but they have the ones that spray them in the face. It might work.

Maybe the issue is lack of training on the part of the police officers? I can't imagine that encountering dogs is a terribly rare occurence for a police officer. Yet as far as I know there is no formal training given to police officers (aside from K-9 units of course) on "reading" and handling dogs. The result is that this dog jumped out of the car, the cop panicked because he was never trained on dealing with dogs, so he kills him. It can be argued that we don't know what its like to have to make decisions "in the heat of the moment" as this officer had to. Yet if officers cannot be trusted to make the right decision in the heat of the moment, then there is a serious issue. Even if you're not a dog lover, you have to admit that there is something disturbing about an officer so willing to use deadly force with such little provocation. I'm sure if this officer owned dogs the outcome would of been completely different.

Personally, I would never debark my dogs, I love their "voice" too much. Not just the barking, but all those cute sounds and yawns they make. We've spent alot of time with Sam and Travis (still working on Zeke) to control their barking and to minimize nuisanse barking in the house. They are also not left outside unsupervised and are immediately brought in if they start to bark. Thankfully, none of them are naturally "barky" and will only bark if they see or hear something in the back (i.e.: a deer, or the neighbors kids making a ruckus). However, having previously lived next to someone with two Collies who barked at EVERYTHING (clouds, sun, birds, trees, fenceposts, grass, etc) I can't say that I oppose debarking. When you are on the receiving end of nuisance barking, it becomes less clear cut. I still think its a last resort type thing, but the unfortunate reality is that most people simply don't want to put the time in to train their dogs not to bark. I also think some dogs, for whatever reasons, are going to bark madly despite their owners' best efforts.

On my way in to work today I saw some poor mix breed dog tied up outside at the front of the house in obvious discomfort (holding one paw up, tail between legs, ears back). It dropped to -20 deg Celcius here last night, and according to the car it was only -17 deg Celcius this morning, and that's not even factoring in the windchill. God knows how long the poor thing had been outside like that. I'm always tempted to "kidnap" these poor dogs. [quote name='IlBLisSlI']Isn