katetsai

Looks like I might be the only one that has a bit different opinion. My dog snoopy slows down as she gets older. when she was 2, she was able to run for an hour at the dog park, went home, took a hour nap, and then ready to go. now she is 5 and half, and an hour walk (especially in the heat) tires her out. Before, she use to be at the door when we get home, now half of the time, she'll be upstairs slowly getting up from the bed then come & greet us. I believe that's partly from being spoiled :oops: , and knowing we're happy to see them also instead of just them happy to see us. she got a bit dog unfriendly (growl first to assert domanance, then greet later) when she got to about 3, but never had a problem since i know how she behaves, so i always keep an close eye when she met new dogs. although she's always very gentle with puppies regardless. this latest visit, the vet did recommand glucocimine (sp?) for her minor artritis, so that helps a bit. i wonder if the slow down could be partly being summer & partly getting older. it's a good idea to check with the vet just to be sure. good luck!

alright, couldn't resist. here are some of my scary dobie pics time for a nap. [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UgDxAt8ZJEpx4a2OrF0rjBWVlcL2DtI97Nl!xoujunQn4MZ0mkRL1kjewK4K3c2skFEwCMvUsp*0qaeu*s8oRHBSRgz!fN6R0vt9JUXJtL2vFnaEahnPP8vw4e1N!ZpI/snoopc1.jpg?dc=4675481231596223990[/img] trick or treat! [img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0WQBAA2oc0iUHt2!NZF1MNH0TpeiUOdhzLYWNRLiIM4gKY9F!4reRLY3racQl61Uhs4gOg46IH0fYjHbTrBbggpOXdDrrmnJ30BNSU7IVlYRhyTrbIuBkl9f2i0if9G!jpuNgNOTHdf0/HalloweenSnoop.JPG?dc=4675481231593242965[/img] SizzleDog, I'm a bit late, but the pic of Ilsa all dress up on the first page was awesome :D :D :D . How did you get her into the outfit is beyound me... my princess will be cowering in the corner if I put that thing on. She think it was end of the world when I put a new collar on her after she broke the old one. such a baby.

Frontline & Advantix are the 2 most common/popular one. It's a monthly drop that you put on your dog. Although it does not prevent ticks from going onto the dog, it will kill the ticks once they try to attach to the dog. In addition, I believe they also prevent fleas and stuff of that sort. Don't know if there are sprays that one can use in the yard to prevent ticks tho. At the end, ticks is something one have to get use to with dog in the house. I was not so thrilled the first time when I found one on my dog, I was pretty disguested. Now I've snoopy for 5+ years, and it's no big deal, just another thing that I got use to alonge with picking poop strings out of her butt :wink: .

I'm also here in minnesota, and can't wait till winter is here... mostly because of snowboarding! It was 85 yesterday w/65 dew point... walk for an hour with Snoopy and i feel like i been in a pool. Snoopy hate the hot weather, and can't wait for cooler temp to come back. PitbullEmily, Snoopy got a red cap just like that, she look silly in it and doesn't really care for wearing it most of the time. Although she does appreciate having it when the temp is down to single digits or colder.

I always wanted a dog when I grow (doesn't most kids) but since we live in an apt, that was no go. When my hubby and I move into our first townhouse, we talked about having one, but i was not so sure, thinking about all the time it'll take & stuff. But one day we decided to go to HS and look for a short-hair dog, while we're there all the dog were barking for attention except one. After interacting w/the dog for a bit, we went home empty handed. But the next day we've decided that's the dog for us (short-hair pointer mix), but when i called the HS, he was already reserved. We waited for a day, but no luck... the dog was adopted by another person. So we head back to the HS the next week. Same as the first time, all the dogs were barking frantictly for attention excepted one. She look to be very scary in her kennel, pasting herself to the kneel door so I can pet her. After 10 minutes, I was sold. So we ended up adopting a one year old dobie girl. Although my hubby express some interest in getting a dobie, but we know chances are it won't happen because we didn't want to pay premium for pure-bread. We never though we'll find one in the HS but we did. We brought her home, change her name, got carpet chew-up, found a dog park, and she's been a spoiled baby ever since. She was my first dog, and I am hooked now to dobies. Although i would not mind owning a Rottie someday, Dobie will always be the first choice for me.

if the dog at lots of grass the day before, that might be the reason for green leaf vomit. but to be sure, I would definitly take him to the vet ASAP. hope everything turn out ok, good luck. kate

TDG, Thanks so much for all the great dog food info. I'll probably switch to Canidae after I'm done with the current bag of Wellness. It's cheaper anyway :D . I'll then add egg & cottage cheese every so often to improve her diet.

awesome pic! voted.

After my dog swim in the pond in the dog park, she'll then pee at least an extra 4-5 times rest of the day because of all the water she drank. So I would think have extra bowl movement that same day is no big deal, it's if it continues on for the next few days, then I would maybe bring it to the vet to make sure nothing is wrong.

Guess I'll jump in... TDG, where would you put Wellness compare with Innova, Canidae, and California Nature? I can get all four brands, and currently is on Wellness. thanks again for all the great info and help. Also, what do you think about dog can foods. is it worth the $$ to feed my dog once a week compare to dry dog food?

TDG said: [quote]small side note on wellness: it's also a good quality food, but it only contains about 30% meat, the rest is grains and some other things. that's why some dogs get huge, soft stools from eating it.[/quote] thanks for the info. Part of the reason I picked Wellness is because of it's low calories count for keeping my dog's weight where she is now. I've read other good info from you about dog food. So is it good to switch between 2 dog foods every 6 month or so to give her different varies of nutrition? I'm now leaning towards candidae for the 2nd food to switch between, then Snoopy will get more veg neutriens some of the time, and meats other times. your opinion? thanks for all the info again.

I stop watching Animal Pricint because it's just too sad. Everytime I keep imagine my princess being the dog that's in the horrible condition :evil: :cry: , then I started to tear up. I don't normally watch animal planet anyway, although I did find one good show I sometimes watch on Animal Planet call "Cell Dog". Anyone else watch that?

I did some research about a month ago when I decided to switch too. At the end I came up with Wellness. Although I'll probably be switching between that and another brand (currently I'm thinking maybe chicken soup one but also like Candidae) every 6 month or so just to give it a variety. I was going to go with Candidae because it's cheaper but decided to go a bit higher up with Wellness because of the veg ingredients that's not in Candidae. Here is a website with lots of good dog food info if you have not yet got it. [url]http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/[/url]

[quote]Abby knows what 'go night night' means and she'll go up to my bedroom (where she sleeps) when I say it.[/quote] Cool. I said that too when it's time for bed. Snoopy will follow me upstairs and jump on to her daddy's spot and lay down. Sometimes when I am watching tv downstairs and it's getting late, she'll whine to let me know it's time for bed, then she gets excited when I say "you wanna go night night". My princess needs her beauty Sleep!

One more vote for the water bottle drinking, except Snoopy doesn't slobber (thank god!).

Snoopy will be upstairs, but when Chad (my sig-other) open the fridge door, she'll rush down toward him and make sure she gets whatever he's having. There are times where nothing can be hear except the opening of the shreded cheese bag by Chad, and she'll show up from no where and do her adorable face to get some cheese :) . What a snot!

great article. the sad thing is stuff like this never attract any attention, only the bad & worse gets attention, then people stereo type dog breeds just like people. In the ideal world all dog are created equal, in the real world certain breeds are marked. But it's good to read some common sense once awhile instead of just keep creating new rules that's useless. We got billions masquitos, can chance they can be ban?

Food wouldn't be the same w/o dog hair flavoring :) . Picking out dog hair in my food is exactly same as me picking out mushrooms (yuck yuck, hate mushrooms) from my food, and then continue eating. I sometimes will even eat food that snoopy have a lick but decided she's too good for it :oops: (yah, kind of gross). My friend use to joke that she can only bake cookies for dog people, because dog people's understanding about dog hair in her cookies. As for who's the boss, my hubby gets kick out of Snoopy's spot on the couch whenever she decided she want it.

My dog plays rought too with her best buddy Griffy. As long as the other owner is okay with the rough play, then let them go at it. When Snoopy play with Griffy, they sometimes even make growling noise, although we know it's just how they play. I agreed that always supervise them, so nothing is out of control. Great to hear about all the progress, keep at it!

I use gentle leader on my dobie Snoopy. You're right that many people will think it's a muzzle, but then I'll explain to them it's not a muzzel, but a harness that prevent the dog from pulling. Next time, the same people would know, and not mistaken it for a muzzel. I don't mind telling people what gentle leader is, and it's work great for me & my dog. Good luck!

Good to hear things are getting better as days goes on. Puppy do need lots of work in the beginning, and great to hear you have the patients and love for the lucky pup. When I first got my dog Snoopy, she have no problem with her house training, but she did have separation anxiety. We came home to rip-up carpets (in our brand-new 6 month old townhouse). It was not a pretty sight... we were upset, but what can we do. Eventually we had to put her in a crate when we leave the house, we move from that to just the kitchen, then to kitchen & dining, and on up to the whole house. It takes about 6 month, but no more problem from then on. As for the nipping, it'll take some time, but just be consistent on telling him NO, soon enough he'll stop. As for begging, my dog will forever do that... :) I don't mind them doing it, but I do make her sit/lay down and wait for it. I am bad that I do feed her at the table :oops: , but only if she sit/lay down and wait for it. I do make sure it's only a very tiny amount, nothing that'll stop her eating her own dog food. anyway, some of my own experience and Good luck!

Just recently I switch to Wellness. So far so good... I can already tell the difference between my old dog food & Wellness by the fresh smell.

My dog have done the same thing. Certain dog just doesn't smell right I guess :-? She have also done the same thing to people. Back when I live in a townhouse complex, there is a old mom-pa couple that we will see on our walk. Snoopy have no problem with the mom but will always bark at the pa. Pa is the one who always stand in their front yard across the way and yell at me to "pick up her poop" when Snoopy was just doing her peeing business. Guess dog can sense when the owner is annoyed with certain people :wink:

If a person does not know the situation or the dog, then it will sound horriable to them. but you are the parent and knows best about the whole situation and how things develop. Your child did not even blame the dog, and he knows it just an accident. I see this sort of same as 2 kids playing and one accidentally got the other hurt. no one questions the possiblity of it being an accident, but because the other party is a dog, they assume the worse. I don't see how you could prevent situation like this, becuase this is an accident. Sounds like the Asim know he did something bad, and feel horriable about it. Hopefully he'll get back to his oldself again soon.

Stiches :o .. Ouch! I've not get anything more than scratches. I would still say it's an accident, since you know you were playing with the dog. Be careful next time, and maybe avoid playing the sort of the game which caused you to get stiches.