Luka-pop

Thanks verybody. My finger's healed up quite nicely, because it was sliced, rather than torn up. But I did call the doctors and they did double check on all my current shots and said to just keep it clean and watch it for about a month, because even after the wound heals up, I may start to feel some pain in my arm, if the bacteria had traveled up the bloodstream. And as for the dog, I was P.O.ed at what their comment was when I told them that they had to think of her issues seriously. It was "Well, it's not like she bites all the time. It's just sometimes, once in a while." So I told them "That's not excuseable. That once in a while could be costly. What if she lashed out at a kid's face or something?" That shut them up. So then they asked me what a behaviorist does because it obviously wasn't something that the vet could find. Oh, and as for my shelter comment, at the shelter I volunteer at, a dog that is as aggressive as this Corgi is, would be euthanised before even being considered for adoption. Actually, they would call the specific breed rescue shelters and ask if they would want to try to work with it, before making their final decision.

Hey, I'm back! And I need everybody's advice. I was over at my friend's and they have a 7 year old Corgi, female. This dog damaged her kidneys several years ago because she got into a bottle of aspirin, and thought she wouldn't make it. I had been told that she was food and rawhide and dog aggressive, which, as a shelter volunteer, make me think of what should really be done about this dog. And the owners have no idea about dogs, because they purchased her from a pet store as a cute puppy in the window, and let her get this witchy. The dog chewed on their wall several months back, and the family's mother grabbed her by the scruff and went to go hit her on the nose as a disciplinary gesture, and the dog lashed out at her and bit her, so the mother kicked the dog in the side, causing her to "scream" and scoot away. Well, when I was over their house yesterday, the dog came up to me, pawed me, and layed on her back with her legs in the air, a submissive gesture. I was giving her a belly rub and she was wagging her tail, tongue sticking out, "smiling," and breathing excitedly. I moved my hand farther down, from her chest to her belly, when without a warning or change in behavior, she just lashed out at me and took a chunk out of my finger. I was dripping blood and I had 3 incisions on the tip of my ring finger, and one incision through my nail, where there was blood collecting under my nail. I dunno if it was my body's panic behavior or due to an excessive amount of endorphin "pain killers" that my body created, but I was all of a sudden light-headed, the noise was blurry, and I felt very sick to my stomack, which thank goodness only lasted for about five minutes. I sterilized it with peroxide and Neosporin and bandaged it up, and by toay the wouldhas closed itself up, but... Was it totally irresponsible for them to not have called my parents to mention it to them? My mother was really p.o.ed about that, called them irresponsible and selfish, and then called me irresponsible for not letting them know earlier (I told them 15 hours after the incident, only because I felt no pain, I had my tetanus, and it was healing quickly). The owners took her to the vet's for Xrays because I guess the dog snapped at the mother this morning while she was petting her on her stomack as well, but the doctors found nothing wrong with her, and recommended a change of die and an aspirin based drug for the pain in her hips (hip displasia). Is this something that should be mentioned to the family as irresponsible to keep owning that dog and having guests over? And then the family's oldest daughter said "She doesn't usually bite, just once in a while." That comment threw me across the wall! I couldn't believe that she thought that it was an excusable habit just because it only happens once in a while!!! There is no excuse for a dog that lashes out at human beings IMO. I'm sorry this was a long one, but I wanted to explain every detail leading up to it, this being a serious problem. What are your thoughts on this? They are a very nice family but they are too ignorant about dogs. They actually went to a pet store and was considering puchasing another puppy, and it was one of those mixed "poo" dogs!!!

I asked my friend and she said she'd watch him for me, but she works 8:00 to 5:00 and she's not the type of person that would willingly walk dogs. She's a barn person, so her dogs just run around loose on the property all day. Our dog is quite different from what she's used to.

The thing that worries me most about leaving him at home with a friend or a pet sitter is that neither of them know my dog. He's a very "deep" and complicated dog. lol. I was originally thinking a professional facility, since I'm sure that it is their liability to ensure the safety of all dogs, but accidents do happen. And the vet's office, I was only considering because a vet would be there to help him if he was in a life-endangering situation, but after hearing that horror story, I'm not too comfortable with that option anymore. I just don't want to traumatize him to intensify his separation anxiety in the future.

My fam and I are going to Japan for two weeks in the summer, and we would have to leave Luka behind, and I was wondering what the best way to leave him behind would be. He has separation anxiety and does not do well in an enclosed space like a crate. He does everything (chewing, scratching, squeezing) to get free and has bent his crate completely out of frame. Now he sleeps in the corner of my room on his bed. I am assuming that he would do the same at a kennel. He was at the shelter for a couple of weeks before we adopted him, and he jumped the six feet fence in the outside pen and wandered off to a convenience store miles away. And my friend who works at the vet's boarding place have told me horror stories of doctors finding bloody dogs in the morning who have broken their teeth and nails trying to escape during the night. And I'm afraid that he will do the same at any boarding kennel. And I was going to have a friend live at my house for two weeks, but she works from 8:00 to 5:00, which means that he would be home alone, except the potty break during lunch hour. I don't want to come home two weeks later to a disaster inside our home. Usually, he stays home alone for 6 hours without a potty break perfectly, but I don't know how he would be every day for two whole weeks. And this friend isn't the type that walks dogs. She just lets them out in the yard. And professional pet sitters don't live inside your home, do they? Don't they just come a couple of times during the day, for 30 minute sessions? I was going to take him to a boarding kennel that offeres doggy daycare/interaction twice daily, to see if he would be too tired and focused to be destructive. I am so stuck with this, and an help would be great. Thanks for putting up with a long one!

[quote name='courtnek']Whatever they are dreaming about, in the first few seconds of being woke up they could potentially snap at you.[/quote] Thanks, that's good to know.

I wonder what they dream about? lol.

My dog wakes me up like every night, cuz he barks in his sleep. It's the funniest thing, although quite disturbing. :lol:

Okay, now I'm confused. All this is too deep for my wittle brain. So is IAMS still the bad guys? Or are they okay now?

[quote name='abker17'] Great idea Luka!!!!!! :D :D :D[/quote] Thanks! You realy think so? If enough people want to, we should do one. It'll be fun.

My vet told me that dogs are okay for up to 8 hours in a crate, but I'm not sure if 10 would make a difference. But if it's an adult dog, you might not have to use a crate.

We should have a doggie costume contest this Halloween! :lol:

Those are adorable! I dressed Luka up in some shorts and a Tshirt. I'll post the pic as soon as I scan it (which will take forever). They sell full costumes in catalogs, but they're so expensive! I'm trying to decide what Luka would look good as...

Does anybody here dress their dogs up in costumes for Halloween and Christmas and stuff? If you do, what do you dress them up as (or a pic would even be better!) I was just thinking about what Luka would look good as for Halloween. Plus, they're so darn adorable! Kinda like this famous bunch! [url]http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=1168001&adTarget=468doggeneral&SessionID=3f3fa7877725a359-app3&display=&preview=1&row=75[/url]

Thank-you! Maybe this will convince my dad. I used to give Luka meat and fish too, until my dad came up with this crazy idea. I think he's mainly just worried about Luka's welfare, since when we were in Japan, we couldn't eat any meat or fish that wasn't fully cooked for about a year, because of the 0157 bacteria that killed so many children and the lederly. Then, last week, around where we live, they found ecoli and some other weird bacteria (chloro-something) in the cow meat. So how should I give him meat and fish while avoiding the bacteria? Should I make it medium rare? LoL. And does anybody know where the whole post is about feeding meat and what bones are okay and what's bad and all that shdazzle is? I greatly appreciate it.