Marble

Thank you for your help :) I sort of looked into Rotties before I adopted Dresden but then I saw her at the pound... It just seems like the good ones are fairly laid back cool dogs. I would probably adopt a puppy from the pound though. It kills me to see all the dogs there and I think if I was with a puppy enough and checked it out I might be able to get a reasonably one. Hopefully I would be able to take Dresden and see if they would get along... :) I have an awesome rottie book back at my house I need to reread...

I'm thinking a rottie or a rottie mix might be best... I grew up with labs and they always ended up with really bad health problems that broke my heart and it was really painful. Do rotties generally get along with other dogs if raised with them from a young age? Are they generally easy to train? As a single female I really want a good watch dog too... My house got broken into with Dresden in it a few weeks ago while I was at work, they scared the heck out of her, poor little dog. I felt really badly for her. Do you have suggestions for how to check out temperments of rottie mix puppies for any potention problems? Anything I should look for? Thank you :) Marble

I'm thinking about another dog but I'm just starting to research... I probably won't actually get one till next summer. If you can think of a breed that meets the following please let me know :) I'm probably going to adopt another mutt but might find a rescue.... Big- 60-90lb Great watchdog Good with other dogs-especially bitchy older female dogs :) And, not dog agressive Fairly short hair Not extremely hyper Easy to train-Dresden has been extremely difficult-worth it but I don't know if I want two difficult dogs at the same time... I'm still perpetually reinforcing with her because she's got that Doberman/Cattle dog mixture and enjoys being provocative :) Gentle with people/kids I know this is asking a lot from a dog but if you can think of something please let me know... I'll actually have internet access for a few days. Thanks, Marble

Dresden does that too :) She's an ACD/Dobie mix and sheds a TON off her back end......

THANK YOU SO MUCh for the Olive oil advice, I decided to try that before a trip to the vet and Lady's skin is all healed up and beautiful again :):):) YOu all are awesome :)

[quote name='"Mutts4Me"'][quote name='Carolk9s'] Somehow, the mutt that chose us had all the characteristics I look for in a dog :)[/quote] :) That's what Dresden did. She definietly chose me :) I read about all of these cool personality/temperament tests, did them, knew she was wacko, and I deliberately ignored all of the info because I KNEW she was my dog as soon as I laid eyes on her. Something that is very odd for me as I am very analytical and research oriented. I'd say she's definitely my ideal dog. Tall, slender (which I love because I have this idea that she won't have all the joint problems of the heavy boned dogs we've owned), shorthaired, smart, funny, friendly but very protective and loyal, and absolutely gorgeous :) Dogs I wouldn't own....This is terrible but there are a lot of them. I love labs but have had my heart broken by three with terrible major health problems. I've always heard about nice poodles, dachsunds, cockers, chows, dalmations but have never met a single one........I love rotties and English Mastiffs but don't know if I would have one because I've heard about major health problems...Not big on tiny dogs except I met an awesome Havanese (? sp) spanial that is awesome and I like Papillions...Don't like small untrained yappy dogs that get away with a lot of crap that no one would dream of tolerating from a bigger dog, that ticks me off. And I love mutts, always will, the two I have are the coolest funnyest, smartest, healthiest dogs I've owned so I'm really biased now :)

Thank you :) She's an American Eskimo mix and she does have longish outer fur and soft downy underfur....Definitely double coated ..... Will take her to the vet and see what she saus, we have a very nice vet here who the dogs love so that's cool. I need to start doing the olive oil thing with both of my mutts, they both have dry skin but I think that because Lady's fur is so light if her skin is dry or flaky it just blends in, whereas with Dresden it shows up really well because she's dark brown....... Thank you for you help :)

Hey, I just got back to my parent's house for Christmas break and discovered that my little mutt Lady has some sort of something on her back. Whatever it is, it's small and scabby and in very small spots on her skin just on the very top part of her back--from below the base of her neck to the base of her tail. IT's pretty weierd looking. The spots are about 1/8th inch in diam, irregularly shaped, some are scabby, some are just rough skin, and some area little bloody looking :( Poor dogs, they've had a rough couple weeks. Does anyone have any idea what this might be? My mother has apparently washed her with human shampoo (won't do it again though) but only once a month or so....SO that doesn't seem like it would be the cause, plus it's only on the top of her back. I'm thinking I need to get her to the vet. She's not seeming to be bothered by it, she's not scratching or anything like that..... Thanks for any help you might have :) Have an awesome Christmas :)

Yeah, Dresden (and my brother's dobie) get that innocent doe eyed look :) they are gorgeous. Do your Dobie's always come up to you and rest their chin on you and gaze at you like that when they want attention? Dresden does that all teh time........Little kiss up :)

THANK YOU :):) Just want to make sure I had it straight.......

You all are awesome :) Thank you for all the infor, I feel TONS better now. Dresden's her crazy self again which is great :) So let me get this straight: A dog has to actually EAT/INGEST an infected flea to get tapeworms right? So if a dog's bitten by a flea can they get them from the flea that way too? I'm trying to figure out how Frontline is supposed to prevent tapeworms if a flea has to bite the dog to die. Seems like thatt bite, even if it kills the flea, could transmit the worm eggs.....Does that make sense? Kat, that's funny :) I'm having trouble eating certain things still......

Isn't it awesome to see them happy and feeling better ? :)

Behle, how do you know when they're gone? I mean they said (vet) that they'd be dead within about 24 hours but... Do you just keep checking their pooh? That worries me because I poked through her whole pooh yesterday and only found them in the last little bit (I was using a stick, dont worry :) ) Courtnek, maybe that explains why I am always hungry and only weigh 110lb at age 27....:) Actually it's probably because of my bad eating habits... Dresden was all slow and sleepy/groggy yesterday and now today she's already bouncing off the walls again like her old hyper self :) It's so nice to see her happy again :) Thank you ALL again so much for your help and reassurance, I really really appreciate it tremendously! Sorry about the three separate posts, I tried to respond liek five times at home and my computer wouldnt' work so now I'm at school.... Marble

Mutts, yeah, the vet walked away before I could ask him any of hte questions I had, then the lady at the front blew me off. Wouldn't even talk to me after she had my money! And they both acted like they thought it was no big deal, the vet thought it was pretty funny. I hate doctors and miss my nice vet back home.

oh, computers stink. I've tried to reply about four times and every time it wouldn't work!!! I feel really really bad now. I'm wondering how long Dresden had them before I finally figured it out! She's been sleeping more for the last severall months but everyone told me it's just because she's about 2.5 yrs and they alwasy start sleeping more then. She's beeen eating grass for mont and months but she's always done wierd things like that so I thought it wasn't a problem. I asked the vet about her weight in Sept and she said Dresden looked GREAT! Man, this is sad. So do you think she'll be able to catch back up to where she should have been wtih her physical development by now??

[quote name='gigishiba']Sorry, makes my butt feel funny just thinking about it.[/quote] Yeah, I know it's all in my head but my head and arms have been itching since last night. The vet did say they can only infest dogs adn cats, I hopw he's right!!!!!!

[quote name='Kat']with adult tapeworms though they usually establish themselves along the intestinal tract and are passed when the dog is given a wormer to kill the worm or to relax it (paralyse it) enough to detatch the scolex mouth parts and expel it. They give me the heebie jeebies totally :o[/quote] Lord help me! Does that mean she's going to be pooping them out for a long time or they'll keep coming paralyzed??????? Do they get paralyzed and die or can they come alive again after being paralyzed? I can't not let her sit on my lap for that long, she'll be so sad... :cry: Do you think they'll just be paralyzed? I was thinking DEATH To the tapeworms and they'd all just be completely dead in 24 hours.... I need to post more pictures of her, she's gotten to be absolutely gorgeous.....And her behavior has improved 5000%, although we're still working on a number of things.....

[ Only saying that I have seen tapeworms like this. It's quite disturbing to see these little beasties come poking out of some dog's butt like it's saying hello. :-? [/quote] Yeah, try having one ON YOUR HAND when you're half asleep after having final exams all week. I grew up with seven brothers (yes 7 :) and I usually am not grossed out, but that was too much. You all are awesome! Thank you for all of your help. I just got back from taking a stool sample to the vet.....You were all right, tape worms, I had to sift through her pooh with a stick and almost didn't see any and then I saw two, a live moving one and a rice looking one. I know dogs get them from fleas and am puttin Frontline on her TODAY. But do they just show up like this ? I'm starting to think back and make lots of connections.....Dont' know it's all from the worms, but she's always eaten a lot of grass (which I thought was weird, but she's always had weird habits like that so I didn't think it was an issue), she's always been pretty slender and the vet just told me her weight was fine in Sept, but she's 2.5 years old and should have filled out more probably (she's also part Dobie and definitely built like one)......So now I'm wondering how long she's had them for?????? The weight thing is wierd because I feed her twice a day, she usually doesn't touch it for hours, and she never acts like she's really hungry (unless I'm eating something and then there are always instant drools all over the floor :) )........Then there's the fact that she licks her rear a fair amount, but I thought she was just a clean dog..... Wow...... At any rate, the vet said the meds should kill them within 24 hours.....Sweet relief....

geez, why can't the stuff kill tapeworms too??? Thank you again for your help......I'm going to sleep now.....:)

Yeah , I definitely need to chiill out. It is just so wierd. Teh Intervention box says it's suppposed to prevent heartworm, control adult hook worm infection, and remove and control adultt roundworms and hookwworms in dogs. Thank you so much for you help!

Okay I"m about to totally freak out. It's 11:00pm, Dresden's sitting on my lap while I'm doing homework (she was there for almost an hour). She gets up and leaves and I look at my hand and there's WORM on it. Not garden worm, a wierd shaped yellow-white worm. About 1/2 in long but longer when stretched out. Hammershpaed head when it stretched out to move and it's back end it sort of pointed!!!!! IT IS SO GROSS. She's on heartworm worm preventions meds (Intervention), gets them teh 14th of EVERY month! I know I need to take her to the vet but does anyone have any idea what it might be????? I don't know where it could have come from except out of her! It really looks like an internal parasite type of worm (its in a ziploc bag right now) but I couldn't find a picture of anything taht looked like it on the internet. AND it's too late to take her to a vet so I have to wait until the morning to do anything!!!!!! I can't believe this. So wierd! Unless there's a better idea i"m taking her tothe vet tomorrow but if anyone knows what kind of wormt this might be please please tell me. Watch it be human contagious too.....I"m itching all over.

Dresden can tell for sure :) If someone a woman is scared of her she's almost always very sweet and gentle. If a man is scared of her she terrorizes him, stares, barks, growls, etc...If someone doesn't like her she generally ignores them completely. And if someone likes her she tries to get them to play with her and wants to climb all over them and lean on them to get them to pet her.......She's working on the climbing part....She's doing really well and maturing beautifully....

bearing in mind that she was incredible with everything alive......we had a black lab growing up and always had finches, parakeets and a cockatiel. i remember one time when the dog was lying on the floor the cockatiel (who was quite fiesty) came up to the dog and when my dog tried to smell the bird (very politely) the bird bit her on the nose! my dog just walked away but i have always remembered how tolerant she was....our next lab was very animal aggressive though, very different story.

hey, just wanted to say hey while i had a break :) sorry i've been gone so much, sorry to hear about ellie and ickle and bk and all the others who have lost pets recently :( as most of you know dresden is a little crazy, mostly in a good way at this point. however, every so often she starts some funky phase of new behavior, sometimes good sometimes bad.......her most recent source of entertainment is chasing her tail. she runs in circles grinning like a maniac and trying to bite her tail, and she does it for a long time....often switching directions and only stopping when she is about to fall over :) i am not exaggerating, i promise. it is very entertaining but is this anything to worry about? i think i may have heard an old wives tail that it's a sign of something bad, can't remember what.... anybody have any comments? other than to laugh with her? PS i might not be able to respond for several days so don't be offended if i can't reply right away :) thanks

i can't say i've had too many stupid questions about dresden, she's so crazy looking that most people won't come near her :) partly probably since she looks very dobermanish and mixing in the cattle dog gives her a very unusual look, which i think is gorgeous...usually if someone is brave enough to meet her they ask me what she is and if i say dobie/acd mix they get really nervous.....since they are non-dog people that's fine with me. i was walking her one day on the sidewalk and this guy was coming so i moved like four feet over onto the grass...well when he got close he moved four feet the opposite direction into the street and (it was someone i am aquainted with) i asked him what the funny look was for and he said he "did not want my dog to tear him to pieces" :) it was funny, i think he' had some bad experience and is afraid of dogs........... people have asked me if she's a greyhound but it's not such a stupid question since she is very tall and thin with funky colors and because she has not filled out yet.