pei obssessed

I've lived most of my life in Romania, and I don't know that there are any puppy mills there. But there are a lot of irresponsible people breeding indiscriminately... for profit. And there are sooo many stray dogs (they don't even get picked up because they have no where to put them), and not too many people who own dogs in the cities (everything's been paved over by the communists, and everybody lives in little boxes, aka apartments so it's hard to keep a dog), that I don't imagine millers could make a profit. I know puppies are sold in pet shops, but they're probably getting them from BYB.

[size=6][color=darkred]happy birthday everyone! [/color][/size] are the doggies getting birthday parties? :D Is Hippo invited?

[quote name='DogPaddle']You might not be able to stop private citizens from riding horses near there[/quote] Private citizens riding horses in downtown Toronto? :shocked!: :shocked!: :shocked!: Thanks for the suggestion--I was actually thinking about that, but I have to figure now who to write to :stupid:

I LOVED the cat diary.... The dog one isn't that accurate for my monster--this applies to her though: "They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal." And if I made her play ball, she'd be sure to complain to the diary about that waste of time :roll:

[quote name='Mutts4Me']buy a used horse blanket? It may also make your house smell like horses. Is that a problem? :lol: [/quote] oh no, no problem, I love stinky smells :lol: [quote name='kendalyn']Can you just keep taking her to that park but maybe on a leash to help her get used to the horses?[/quote] the horses just pass by, there is no way of telling when they'll be around... [quote name='mouse']is there another dog park you can go to? Thats what I would do[/quote] but this park is right across the street from us, and sooooo big and oficially off-leash and her friends go there too... there is one park relatively close, but I don't drive and we couldn't go there twice a day. Luckychaos, I had no idea about the stables--I'll definitely look into that, thanks. Holz, that's so cool that your dogs like the horses... but these dogs at our park are very urbanized--the only smell they're familiar with is that of car exhaust :lol:

I have seen it before--it is very cute indeed :D

Now I know some of you have horses... and dogs, so maybe you'll be able to help me. Let me tell you the story first... Two days ago we were walking on the dog paths (off-leash paths in the park), and when we got close to dog hill (a hill where lazy people can drive their dogs and sit there and watch them playing), my Hippo took off running as fast as she could toward a small road and on the other side of it. I could tell that she picked up a smell from the way her nose was in the air, and I was calling and calling her hoping she'll stop and look back at me... nothing! I got the fright of my life because she is usually very good with her recall and to see her running as fast as she could in the opposite direction was frightening. I did get her and I was sooo mad at her... I passed through the dog hill area on the way home and found out that there have been some policemen on horses just a while ago--and that definitely explains it. Hippo gets very excited by the smell of horses. Well, today I found out that the assholes on horses on Sunday were quite a few (4 or 5) and came right near dog hill where, because it was on the weekend, there probably were around 25-30 dogs. Some dogs went cray when they smelled and saw the horses and there were about 15 of them who ended up chasing the horses all through the park with the dog owners running behind them trying to get them back :evil: This whole thing ended up with one dog biting one horse, the owner getting a ticket and now policemen on horses patroling the park very often, trying to get people. I have a problem with the idiots who are just trying to get the dogs going to be able to give people tickets (I mean, yeah, you're supposed to have control over your dog when you're in the off-leash area, but bringing the horses so close is just pushing it). And I also have the problem of Hippo getting so excited---and the thing is she can smell the horses and take off before I could see them and leash her. So my question is: is there any way to desensitize her to horses? I guess it's a pretty dumb question considering I have no access to horses that I could introduce her to... I do take her to a small zoo in our park and she has learned not to bark or whine at the buffalos, but she still gets excited, I mean, she's a dog, for god's sake!

As you know, I only have Hippo, but I have wanted more dogs and this is what I figured: right now we live in an apartment, and until we can afford to buy owr own house, we can't have more because it's hard to rent an apartment even with one dog. Biggest pro: Hippo loves other dogs and I'm sure she'd love to have a playmate--but for now, she'll have to play at the doggie park. Another con: my family and most of my friends are in Europe and I'd like to be able to travel and visit them, in which case I wanna know that Hippo can stay with somebody and not in a kennel. My husband's family would take Hippo in, but I doubt they'd take 2 or more dogs. I'm sure k, HF, cassie will have lots of things to say, and will probably say that two dogs doesn't even mean multiple dog household :lol:

hey, I'm a happy person today: after picking at the feathers and evening them out, and then putting my coat in the dryer again, now it's ok , almost as good as new :D But I still think that if I was to be peed on, at least it could have been a Shi Tzu or a toy poodle, didn't have to be a great dane with a full bladder :lol:

that is just horrible! I hope he gets fired. Poor Rowie...

[quote name='courtnek'] Food is one of the biggest reason for dog aggression - people dont understand that it transcends training when it involves other dogs. WE should always be able to take their food, we are Alpha. Another dog, no they wont go there.[/quote] Courtnek, I wanna thank you for clearing this up for me: I never understood why any human can take food from Hippo (which is good, we've trained her for that :D ), but when she is around other dogs who are getting treats at the dog park, she's going after them causing trouble. She's not causing fights, but she growls at other dogs. I wasn't too worried about it because I don't think people should be feeding all the dogs at the park anyway and I'm always telling everybody not to feed Hippo, so all I have to do is call her and treat her for coming... but I was curious why she's so pushy when dogs are involved, and so submissive when humans take her food. Sorry for the digression from DAL's problems, I just wanted to say thanks for clearing up my questions :angel:

I'm pretty pissed off right now: I've washed the coat because it said on its label "do not dry clean, machine wash in cold water & tumble dry low". Now it's gone twice through the dryer and it had clumps of dawn all through the different little sqares--I've evened them out and put it through the dryer again because it wasn't dry yet... but it doesn't look good at all. Problem is that I have another one of these coats which I had dry cleaned and the feathers still cumped. So there is no way around it, these stupid coats aren't made for cleaning--ever. And I'm pretty sure this is the last one of them feathered coats I'm buying! :evil:

[quote name='Cassie'] probably smelt really good since I recently had been sitting with my female Rottie (spayed) and he was ready to pee on me...I was ready for him as I could see the signs...sniffing, really interesting smell on me...and just turning slightly to start to raise the leg... :lol: [/quote] That makes total sense, I'm guessing my coat would smell like Hippo, and I know Harry (the Great Dane) "likes" Hippo and has been after her forever--but the little one keeps him in line, which is quite funny to see :lol: If I saw him, I would have moved away, but he came behind me and peed on my back, sneaky monster!!!!! And I'm not really mad at him, I'm just mad about my coat--it's filled with dawn and might get ruined when I wash it, regardless of what they say on the label... If my coat looks ok after the wash, I'll just think it's funny too :lol:

Here I am at the dog park with my new winter coat (third day I've worn it), and a Great Dane male (fixed) comes over, lifts his leg and pees all over my back! I was sooo mad... his owner was upset too and said the dog never did that before... I really don't understand why a dog would mark a person--I can understand about marking territory, but am I territory to him? :agrue:

Thanks, gals :D I know Hippo doesn't empty them because she's anxious or excited, because she does it when she is relaxed (i.e. in the car, sleeping). I'll try the bran, and in about a month I'll be able to tell if it made a difference...

Hippo has this "problem": she'll express her anal glands in the car, on the couch, in her bed etc. and it's not fun cleaning that up :evil: Talked to the vet about it and he emptied her anal sacs and said that the secretion looked clearer than with dogs that have normal secretions. But the anal sacs aren't inflamed or anything. He said there is a kind of treatment: he'd have to put something in her anal sacs while she's under anesthesia, but that it's not 100% guaranteed, and he wouldn't recommend doing it unless she was under for something else, which I agreed with. I mean, it stinks, but as long as it's not a health concern, we can live with it. Now what I was hoping from you guys... has anyone ever heard of this problem? and if so, do you know any ways of solving it by diet changes/additions, or by using natural products? Thanks.

[quote name='KP']Here is a listing of other stuff [url]http://groups.msn.com/RealityBites-DogTrainingForum/yourwebpage.msnw[/url][/quote] I looked on that page and it lists apples as well--is it true apples are bad????? I never heard of that and I've been feeding pieces of apple to Hippo...

yep, mutts, some people are just like a wall: evrything hits them and bounces off, nothing ever gets through to them. I had a pittie owner just today telling me that Chow-Chow are mean agressive dogs, and when I pointed out that pitties have the same reputation and "it's not the dogs, it's the owners", it sort of did not register with him. Some people have just a few ideas and hold on to them tightly because they don't get them often, their brain only functions rarely :lol:

I've read this post last night and thought I wouldn't answer as everybody already gave great advice. And then this morning I take my doggie out--we live in an apartment, so I have to take her accross the street to a green space to do her business. And we cross the street, get to the green (snow-covered now) space, and Hippo is cowering and trying to run away... For the first few seconds I don't even understand why... well, she's a little one (40lb), and the wind gusts which I checked when we got back and they're 52km/hour, were freaking her out. I did get her to a more sheltered area, and she did go pee-pee after all, but she was scared by the wind... I guess we'll definitely not walk in open spaces today :D So what I wanted to say is that I don't think wind would do any damage to their paws--it's the salt that's very, very bad. If anything, the wind probably makes it unconfortable to walk... and then you'll know. So the rule is: if the dog isn't shivering, isn't favouring a particular paw, and isn't cowering & freaking out, s/he's probably enjoying himself/herself.

very cute, HF :D You can tell we don't feel sorry for you, as we all know how wonderful it actually is to have at least one furry monster always getting in your way. With 9, it's 9 times better, I bet :evilbat:

[quote name='courtnek']WHY is it that when you blow in a dogs face they get mad[/quote] some of them (i.e. Hippo) don't. they just try to jump on you and lick you to death :lol:

How do you study with a dog around? That's an easy one... take one dog out for 2 hours, freeze to death, come back home--dog tired sleeps for the whole day. In the afternoon, take crazy dog out for an hour and a half (because you can't take anymore cold), come back--loonie sleeps for the evening, you have time and peace to do whatever you want :lol:

Is it possible roxy hates the salt they put on teh sidewalks in winter? You could get her booties then... and I saw that most pitties wear coats in winter--so maybe that would make the walks more enjoyable for her... If not, then breaking them off should do it...

Hippo was like that too, and after trying "no", ignoring her, giving her a time out, screaming in pain, etc. (you can fill in the blanks with anything you can think of), finally the spray bottle worked :lol: But for a few months everything that we taught her would go out the window if someone came over--she'd get so excited and try pulling on their clothes with such determination :roll: Thanks Dog those days are over :D

I'm a..... Llasa Apso! :D The Lhasa Apso may be petite, but she is one tough cookie. Always ready to romp, her daily exercise requirements may leave her companions winded. Fond of her loved ones, she is likely to cuddle up with them at night, content to be doted on. Her long coat requires regular maintenance but is sure to turn heads when properly styled. The rambunctious little Lhasa Apso has awell-earned reputation for her lovability.