Luka-pop

I totally have to agree with eggrolyn and anne. johnny, I don't know if you're saying this cuz it wasn't your dog or what, but if you were a really loving owner that cared about your dog, I don't think that the idea of euthanasia can be decided upon so quickly, before training, consulting, or any other forms to actually help the dog. You just seem to be all "go for it!" with the euthanasia. Putting a life down shouldn't be decided upon so impulsively. Of course, there is no choice but euthanasia for dogs trained for illegal dogfighting (I watch too much Animal Precinct and Animal Cops on the Animal Channel :lol:), but if it was accidental, especially at an early stage, it can be changed. And meehs, good luck :thumbs: with everything. If I were you, I'd be frantic. I'm an easilly stressable and worryable person, so I would be researching :user: about the laws and regulations of your area, getting documents about your dog, getting witnesses to say that your dog is friendly, etc. If you ever do need to testify to the police or whatever, be as polite and calm as you can, while being really upset and sorry :modla: . Your attitude can play a big role in things like this. It would look better for you if the pizza man was yelling and out of control. Just don't annoy the people, because even the officers and the lawyers, and the judge all want an easily sellting, peaceful case. It would look good for your part if you acted like the adult, and the pizza man didn't. If he's rash :madgo: , he'll prolly think that he's faking and overdramatizing it :flaming: . I hope everything works out for you, but I guess you'll just have to wait to see what kind of action the "attention-seeking, pathetic, pizza deliverer :diablotin: " takes. Hopefully, this will all be settled peacefully :chaos: .

I'm originally from Japan, and I go back every summer, so before getting Luka, I had to look in through a lot of flight stuff. It would probably be better to in either the spring or summer, because airlines don't allow dogs to fly in really hot (85+) or cold weather. It would prolly be OK now, cuz if Taiwan is like Japan, it doesn't really get too cold. Plus, you would be going to CA and TX, so it would be warm. However, the sky is really cold, and the dogs are left in the cargo, where it's a lot colder. Each country embassy has different rules about quarantine, but they quarantine a dog for two weeks in Japan. This is because in Japan, rabies in dogs don't exist, and they want to keep it that way. I'm pretty sure there isn't one in the US< but I'm not sure, and it may depend. You also need a REALLY recent vet check-up before a flight (obviously). In your case, it's a 15 hour flight, but to go to Japan, it's 22+ hours! Well, if you ever want any other tips about flying, lemme know. I haven't actually flied with a pet yet, but I research a lot about long flights. This isn't like the cases where people bring their dogs on flight for a vacation in Florida or California or something (although I wish it was that close), so there's obviously a lot more stress for the dog. If you can, let Duck out for a walk in CA. You can always freeze water and put in in his crate for him to lick at. Dogs can also get flight sickness and ear aches like humans do. Makes sure you put a lot of ientification tags on your dog and on the crate. Make sure you have enough on, just in case some fall off during the transportation. Make sure there is no confusion about the identity of your dog, because I have actually heard of a couple of people who didn't properly ID a dog, and the dog got sent to another place. I've read about very rare law suit cases where a dog was never found or injured during a flight because of the lack of care. Try to ask people which airline they used, and how the outcome was. Little fact: Japan is the second farthest country to travel to from the US. The farthest is Australia, by about 3 more hours. GOOD LUCK! :laola: :banan: (I love this banana!)

Sure you can! Just make sure you put Peggy Wilson's name with it. I'm glad you lliked it! :D :Dog_run:

[b]Puppy Mill[/b] Day after day.. each one the same, another year older

A new dog for a playmate would be great :P , except I don't think my family would be willing to get another dog, a week after our first-ever dog. Maybe doggie daycare or a friend's dog would help. That's the exact problem I have! I don't wanna crate him cuz he'll prolly commit suicide or something! :o That's how bad he is. Would bitter stray work on the crate bars maybe? We have a pretty big furnished basement we use as a playroom, where we could dog proof and keep him there, if worse comes to worst. The only problem with that, is that we don't train him in there, so it would be a totally new surrounding that he knows that that isnt where everybody hangs out. I'm going to try to tire him out with execise before we leave, throw a kong and my socks and lots of toys in his crate, spray the crate bars with bitter spray, and turn on some classical music (and put him on valium if the vet recommends it) :) Do you think that would be the best solution for him right now? I mean, he has gotten better, from 10 seconds, to 30, to 45, to 60 minutes right now, but he's far from the time it takes my mom to do the grocery shopping. We can't stay home all the time, so besides the training, he's going to have to learn from experience that we're not gonna abandon him. Some people may think that this is irresponsible as a pet owner, but what would you do? At least I saved him from euthanasia in the nick of time. :cry:

Thanks for everthing everybody! And definitely thanks for cheering me up. It deffo helped after a stressful and depressing week at school. Hey mcobbin, that sux for being unable to adopt a dog that needds you. What's up with the dog and situation? I really felt like I needed to give Luka a home, because the longer a dog stays at a shelter, the more unpleasant they become, most likely cuz of all the stress on them. That's how a lot of the dogs I REALLY became attached to got put down - Joplin, Nick, Dennis, Fletcher... just to name a few, just in about 10 mos! It really sux, cuz it's not their fault. Hey Poofy, I don't think that this was entirely the shelter or our fault. I have pretty good hunch (even though I'm not positive), that the surrendering owners didn't tell the whole truth about Luka. They didn't mention why he dislikes alcoholic men, whether this dog was a first for them, whether the dog was born with severe SA, or if they even did anything about the SA. This dog was a very shallow historical record. Oh, and I'm pretty sure they said that they adopted Luka from a shelter at the age of 4 mos, so who knows where this dog was before then? Times like this, I really wish there was a time machine to go back into time... to Luka's puppyhood... :-? Oh, and I deffo don't think that he's more difficult than un untrained puppy. Maybe not easier, but definitely not more difficult. It just takes time and patience, and a lot of advice. *(Thanks y'all)* :D By the way Poofy, what kind of dog do you own? I can't really see in the picture (It's not your fault, I just have pretty bad eyes). Hey Meehs, so did your sister's dog get better with the SA? Thanks again for all your replies, and I'd definitely appreciate more! :P

What are the best kinds of toys for a dog, especially if they have EXTREMELY severe separation anxiety and are going to be left alone? :( Rawhides, kongs, squeaky toys, tennis balls, safe stuffed animals, chewing toys, toys that record the owner's voice, toys a dog has to work at to get treats (like a yuppy puppy), etc. Are there any specific toys that would catch a dog's interest and get his teeth away from the crate bars and would keep him occupied while we're gone? And for kongs, how much peanut butter or cream cheese can you use in a day? I'm sure over feeding it is very bad, but I want it to last the duration of our absence... What to do? I mean this dog can't even be left alone for 5 minutes yet, :o which I guess is more a training problem, but we have to leave the house at some point or another... Yeah, I also have a message about his separation anxiety... somewhere. :-?

By the way, it's me again, but do you think that it was our fault for bringing home a dog with such separation anxiety as first time dog owners? I think it's a lot better than getting an untrained dog that's all over the place, but the first thing a couple of people said was "Why did you get a dog like that if you have no experience with dogs?!" Having not owning a dog definitely doesn't mean that I don't have experience with them. I've seriously been working with dogs for the past 1.5 years at a shelter. It makes me feel as though adopting Luka (saving Luka from euthanasia) was a bad choice. I need some cheering up. :cry: Plus, how can anyone guarantee that he won't be a good dog for first time owners? All it takes is time, patience, and support, right? I'll try to put some pics of him up soon, as soon as I learn how to on this site. Somebody help me!!! :o I'm such a computer klutz.

Those are great advice everyone! Thanks! Gooeydog, have you had a dog with separation anxiety before, because it sounds like you know quite about the problem. Poofy, do you have a dog with separation anxiety. Your reply was quite intimidating, about all the destruction he could do and how he prolly won't get better. Although we really are concerned with his issue, we don't want to keep piling up the cons about it, and we definitely don't want to add on to the ideas of why we should return him to the shelter. We're trying to look in to the possibilities of trying to get him out of the behavior, and thinking about the worst is a good warning, but worrying about it won't help. I'd like to hold on to even the slightest chance that he has. We're going to the vet's for advice on motion sickness, valium, doggie daycare, training sessions, a therapist, or a behaviorist. Although this problem could be related to his personality, no dog is born with such bad separation anxiety. The people had to have something to contribute to it, not to mention that he may have been abused by an alcoholic man! You don't understand how sweet this dog is. I can't explain it. It may be easy for other people to say to return him to th shelter, even if he gets put down, but I've actually lived with this dog for four days now, and I've known him since December. Plus, how can you give up a dog that trusts you and follows you around everywhere? Does anybody know whether his problem is more of a personality thing, or his past trauma? And does anybody know whether valium is something a dog needs to be on constantly for the rest of his life, or just when he's alone, or what? :-?

You know what else? If you go to a shelter and see what they call a "pit bull," it may not be. Shelters usually don't make a distinction between pits, staffies, etc. There was this one dog they called a pit, but I could have sworn it was a staffie! Just his larger size, completely white body, and... it just looked more like a staffie than it did a pit.

Hi! That's my dog that everybody's been so helpful about! Thanks! Let me clarify what cheetah said, cuz it's not all correct. You see, at the shelter, we were screened and accepted, but nobody actually knew the severity of his problem because at the shelter, there were so many different volunteers taking care of him, that he never got attached to one person. Makes sense, right? Anyways, he will willingly go into his crate when it's time for bed, but the crate needs to be by my bed. I'm moving it farther away every night, and i'm at about 4 feet right now. His training has moved on from 10 seconds of separation, to 30, to 45. He'll leave my side and wander off these days. Now that he's getting used to us, he's more playful and mischievous. He'll follow me around everywhere when I'm home, but when I'm at school, he'll follow my mom. Today, he was left alone with my dad, and he soiled the house. He was prolly nervous cuz it seems as though he was abused by an alcoholic man (no, my dad's not alcoholic, but he growled at my dad and two alcoholics who visited him at the shelter, and he ran away from my mom when she sprayed perfume with alcohol in it). By the way, he didn't live with an elderly, but with a lady and her husband. We all want to have some freedom outside of the house, but we're afraid he'll hurt hiimself during our absence. We're going to the vet's on Wed, so I'll ask about the valium and his motion sickness. I was thinking about pet therapy or an animal behaviorist, but I don't want it to be a waste of $. If he absolutely will not stay home alone, we won't give it back o the shelter cuz he'll get put down, but we may give him to a nursing home. He's gentle and quiet enough, and with a little trining, he could be a therapy dog for tthe elderly. Still, any help with this dog to weaken the velcro attachment would be great! Always appreciated!

Thanks for your replies! Poofy, we did adopt him from a shelter. We passed several screening processes and was then selected, but no one knew the extremity of this problem. He wasn't this way at the shelter, prolly cuz he had no one to really become attached to. Although we may have to rreturn him, he will never get adopted. With every unsuccessful owner, it will get worse, and who could stay home 24/7? By the way, we would take him with us to places, but he gets very car sick. Mickey, I totally agree with you. He will willingly enter his crate when it's time for bed. however, the first night, even though I had the crate in my room with me, he would not stop barking. Even now, he has to be right next to my bed. We are moving him away farther nightly, and we are at about four feet now. The previous owner slep with him in her bed, but I heard that this only strenghthens the bond between dog and human, making it harder for the dog while separation. he is becoming a lot more mischievous and playful, so I think he's getting used to us. He will wander off from my side now, which is an improvement. He's fine when I'm at school and when he's with my mom, but when he was alone with my dad, he soiled the house. He was prolly nervous cuz of his "alcoholic man" trauma. But I guess he didn't barn or anything. The nursing home is a good idea. I would never use drugs on him, because there has to be some hidden problem with it that would throw of his chemical balance, like all drugs do. Our training is progressing from ten seconds the first day, to 30, to 45 yesterday. he must have had a very traumatic experience about being left alone in his past. And to think, that this happened just during his first year in life :( . We wouldn't mind leaving him alone, except for the fact that he may break his teeth or get injured in some other way!!! :cry:

Hi! I just adopted a new dog and I'm also a new member. You may already know about me because of my friend cheetah. This is very long, just cuz there is so much to explain about my dog. Well, my dog is a male red and white lab cross named Luka. He's one years old. :D He was given up by his previous owners because he had separation anxiety that they couldn't deal with. As a first time dog owner, I need some major help with this dog. We can't even leave him alone for a minute yet. He will start barking and will be self-destructive in his crate. Every where I research says the same thing - leave him alone for a while, come right back, and repeat it with a longer abscence each time. Does anybody have any tips besides this one? At this rate, it would take an year! IMy mom can't even leave the dog alone to go grocery shopping! And for some reason, he's so attached to me that he will follow me around everywhere and will not leave my side. He growled and barked at some alcoholics at the shelter and to my dad, so I think he was abused by the owner's husband, who may have been an alcoholic abuser. :x Other than his separation anxiety problem, he's great! He know sit, down, wait (for food and toys), and paw (kinda). He knows not to jump up on counters or tables, and he won't jump up on the dining room table while we're eating. He's a great dog, but if he still can't be left alone in two weeks, my mom wants to return him to the shelter, at which point he will probably be euthanized. :cry: She says that she wants some freedom outside of the house, and that we can't chenge our lifestyles to accomodate that of the dog's. So basically, if anybody could be generous enough to give me some good advice, I would really appreciate it. His problem needs to improve ASAP, before he gets put down. :o [/b]