lkeffect

Here are two articles for you [url]http://www.lakeeffectpets.com/Submissive_Urination.htm[/url] Submissive Urination [url]http://www.lakeeffectpets.com/submissive_excitement.htm[/url] Submissive and Excitement Urination I hope these help :)

I think there are dogs that are definitely afraid/aggressive toward some races of people. It's often times owner conditioning or it can just be the dog has never seen a person of that particular race before and it freaks them out. I just recently trained a Samoyed who's owners lived in an all white community. They are now moving to Africa....the dog completely freaks out when he sees an African American person. I addressed it like any fear aggression situation and slowly increased the stimulus. I started with having the dog in the vacinity of some kids playing and when he finally relaxed I praised him, let the kids get a little closer etc etc. The dog is fine now and treats african americans the same as anyone else now. I'm sure moving the dog to Africa might be a bit of a shock but I think it will be a culture shock anyway you go about it. :)

I have both and it works great. My dogs never test it anymore and are completely contained.

My favorite one that my dogs do is get beer from the fridge. I have other more impressive tricks for clients. But there is nothing like watching a game on tv with a bunch of friends and the dogs bouncing off the walls thrilled to retrieve beer. Then again they are Goldens they love to retrieve anything. But it's a crowd pleaser. Hockey season everyone wants to come to my house to watch the games. :)

Kat gave you great advice. Neuter them all. A neutered dog is a happier healthier dog that is much easier to train. Get a better fence or an Invisible Fence. I'm not personally a fan of choke chains and never use them. Positive training is almost always the route to go. You trainer may however have reasons for going this route but if they didn't suggest neutering first, they definitely aren't the most knowledgable trainer and I'd ditch them.

I too am a behaviorist and have the same what I say goes rule in my household. Mixed signals is a problem. But I've also come across many client situations where the husband feels he knows what's best when it comes to dogs. You have a people problem more than a dog problem and you don't want to turn it into a marriage problem. It's probably a good idea to get a behaviorist in but it will be better if you are both involved. Good Luck, Kara

There is actually a HUGE difference between fence brands. I agree that a regular fence is best because it keeps other animals out. But dogs can still dig under them, climb over them and they are costly. I personally have both. But Invisble Fence Brand is far better. It's the only one I actually condone and endorse for my own dogs and for clients. Invisble Fence is unfortunately thrown around as a term like Kleenex. You may be using Puffs brand but still call it a Kleenex. So Invisible Fence often gets a bad rap thanks to the other guys. The reasons I personally think it's better....they are the inventors and hold patents on it. So the other brands are a good ten years behind their technology. They have things like a battery back up when the power goes out, lightening protection and lifetime warranties. The batteries are only twelve bucks every three months, so battery cost is not a big issue. But also pet safe for a perfect example has a beep zone and a shock zone. A smart dog will stand in the beep zone...collar beep beep beeps until it's dead and off the dog walks. Invisible Fence brand has a warning beep. If the dog doesn't back up it will get corrected. Inivisble Fence has a training program set up by behaviorists. Many of the others have no training program or if they do it's rather basic. If there is no training program people often have the dog almost self train itself and that's when you get dogs afraid to leave the front door. Also if you do have a dog escape problem which is rare it's warranteed and they come out and solve the problem at no charge. I can go on and on but if you want more info I'll be happy to give it to you. For the record, I don't sell Invisible Fence nor do I work for or have I worked for them and I gain nothing if you buy one. I have however had my company contracted to do trainings and help with the training program. I have helped train over a thousand dogs on the fence and not one of those that I have trained, no matter what breed and how much of a prey drive has gotten out. The equipment and the training program which is very safe has ways around every problem imaginable for dog escape issues. That's my two cents. Good luck, Kara

I'm dying to know how it goes! Does anyone know of any reputable pet psychics online or that you can call. We don't have a psychic anything where I live. :(

Kongs are the best toys ever. As a trainer I promote them so much that I swear I should get stock in the company for as many people as I have buy them. And the airlines are a royal pain in the neck. I'm glad they have these security measures but flying these days can be a nightmare. Last week they honestly took my cardboard nail file away from me. What was I going to do file someones nails to death or choke somebody with it. Honestly!

I have always had purebreds....swore by a quality bred purebred dog. UNTIL I whelped a litter of ten Golden Retriever/German Shepherd puppies. They all were solid black....ok I take that back two had little white spots on the chest. They looked as if they were flat coat retrievers. Could have sworn they were black Goldens. I fell in love with them and couldn't part with the one of the males. He has turned out to be an awesome dog. He's got the intelligence and that alert attentive keen thing that GSD's do and that goofy silly Golden attitude. I love him. I actually had one of the puppies shipped from Michigan to California because an owner so desperately wanted that exact mix and had had one before. As far as pets go mixes are awesome.

I am so sorry to hear of your loss.....that is just devastating my thoughts and prayers will be with you, your family and the pups!

I too lost one of my cats by one of my dogs. That is so hard to deal with. I am so sorry for your loss!

[quote name='StarliteSetters'] Maybe that last sentence whould have read "That to intentionally breed in my opinion is irresponsible" since it is ALL breeders who contribute.[/quote] Although I respect your opinion and I appreciate that you have been respectful of mine....I do disagree. If we stop all intentional breeding (which would be nearly impossible) we are going to be left with nothing but irresponsible people who allow their dogs to get knocked up. Breeds as we know them would cease to exhist. And of course neither of the scenarios that you or I stated are ever going to be situations that you and I can control. But irresponsible breeding is what needs to stop not intentional breeding of responsible breeders. I can tell you that the breeders I got my guys from not only made me sign contracts saying that in the event I cannot keep my dog they get them back but the breeder actually calls me every few months to find out how they are doing and that dog is eight years old. One of her "intentionally bred" dogs is never going to end up in the shelter....the woman would die first. Maybe you are bothered by my statement of calling myself a breeder. And I do consider myself a breeder. I have whelped several litters of other people breedings. And I own some breeding dogs. I have NOT however to date had a litter that I have intentionally bred. I actually own both the son and the daughter of the once ranked #2 Golden Retriever. I intended on breeding with them (not together obviously)....I bought good stock....they met the breed standard,....was going to show....get health clearances etc etc. One came back OFA fair one came back OFA poor. By some peoples standards they still would have bred I personally didn't feel with hips that weren't wonderful that they didn't have enough to contribute to an already overpopulated breed to be bred. My not so humble personal opinion is that if the dog you are breeding isn't going to improve upon the breed or make a contribution to it within the breed standard it shouldn't be bred. They are both spayed and neutered and are loving pets. I have Scotties as well....(my two breeds) my one girl showed did well is beautiful from top lines....ended up with bladder stones and a movement issue. SPAYED. My other meets the breed standard great temperament, true terrier type. Beat out the #6 Scottie in the breed ring, finished her championship. Is in great health with all her clearances, from great lines and from a not over populated breed (not to exclude all of the other over populated dogs that need homes) and will be bred to the right stud. So if your concern was that I was some backyard breeder or that any of my dogs would ever end up in a shelter they will not and I am not. You guys mentioned some other doodles out there has anyone seen these huskydoodles, rottidoodles etc. I have personally not. I'd be interested to hear what people say they are like as far as look, temperament and health is concerned.

My 72 lb Golden gets 1 3/4 cup twice a day and 80 lb gets 2 cups twice a day. The Berner puppy is getting so much right now because he is a puppy and growing like a weed or should I say horse :D He's five months 85 lbs and climbing FAST!

I was by no means intending to imply that the shelters/rescues/humane societies don't have pure bred dogs, I see them there regularly and see the statistics. It of course comes down to responsible breeding and pet ownership. I also was not trying to say (sorry if I got on a rant and wasn't explaining myself well....I can get worked up and type slower than my mind is going.) that this woman is going to fill the shelters or even most people who pay substantial money for a dog. The woman I spoke of adores her dog, will do anything for it and has nothing but her dogs best interest in mind. I don't see in the near future that shelters are going to be filled by these designer breeds. My intended point was that there are so many unwanted dogs out there mutts and pure bred alike being euthanized and/or discarded daily. That to intentionally breed a cross in my opinion is irresponsible. That prospective owner may have been just as happy with the 15 lab/pit mixes waiting for homes in the shelter down the road for 65 bucks. (No I'm not saying a lab/pit mix is the same as a labradoodle but the qualities they are seeking may or may not have been found in another mix or pure bred that won't be adopted) I agree that you have a point about all of our pure bred dogs originating as crosses. But when the majority of them were formed/created we also didn't have the dog overpopulation problem. I'm not saying we should never have new breeds. But the motivation shouldn't be money to fill the demand of a fad. Being a responsible breeder is the key element. To be honest the place that the woman I mentioned got her dog from appeared to be genuinely caring and with good intentions and surprising responsibilities in many other areas. There website was impressive and the puppies come home having been fed the BARF diet. These people genuinely care about their dogs. But the majority I've seen are one neighbors lab with the other neighbors poodle scenario with no regard to those dogs original breed standard, health, temperament etc. I'm not sure I'm still expressing myself correctly because I'm super tired but hopefully that clarifies what I was trying to say.

We got a lot off topic here :) TDG I truly appreciate your advice! I am pretty up on dog food brands and contents but I am not even close to being able to say I have a strong background in nutrition. I'm much better with the dogs than I am with myself (If that tells you anything) If money were ever low I'd live off of Ramen Noodles before feeding my dogs a grocery store brand and if only I could add and take off weight on myself like I can with my dogs. Thank goodness for a physical job or I'd be a house....hehe so your advice is great thank you so very much! Do you or anyone else have any additional remedies for hot spots? Both symptom treating and contributing factors advice?

My Scotties are 22 and 17 lbs. They are getting 3/4 a cup twice a day and gaining weight...I'm having the hardest time cutting back particularly when their Bernese Mountain Dog brother is at 4 1/2 cups twice a day. That little bowl just doesn't look like enough and they act like they are starving of course they are anything but starving. But again the food type and your dog will vary greatly. Good luck!

You really don't want to get me started on this because I can get on a soap box like you've never seen before. Granted I'm a trainer, breeder, vet tech, foster home and founding member of both breed and mix rescues.....so I obviously don't support intentionally breeding these designer dogs. But get this....I am currently training a labradoodle (of many in the past). The dog was imported from Austrailia....the dog is very sweet but quite timid. Anyway, I asked the owner about the dog she paid $3000 yes that is correct three thousand dollars for this dog. She told me the dog was a fourth generation labradoodle and came from the originator of "the breed" Granted the dog is very sweet and the owner even sweeter but it just saddens me to think about how many mutts could be rescued for that kind of money. I actually understand how many owners make the decision to go this route...these breeders claim to be selling the perfect dog...."hypoallergenic, non-shedding, intelligence of a poodle with the good temperament of a lab" this particular lady had the choice of size, training, coat type and color from yellow, to silver, to chalk, to red, to brown, to black....red being the most expensive. But for all of these dogs that I have seen not one of them is even similar in coat color or type, size, look anything. So far all but one of these dogs sheds like crazy. All of them have been from timid to fear biters. Don't get me wrong I'm no breed snob and I own a mutt in addition to my purebred guys. He's wonderful but how these people sleep at night intentionally breeding these dogs, the majority of the time purely for the money is beyond me. There are far too many mutts dying in shelters everyday....ok I'm on the soap box which I didn't mean to do and I apologize if I have offended someone.

This isn't addressing all of the issues discussed and thank you for all of your advice. You asked if I have tried Eagle Pack and I have along with many other of the higher end brands and I am reasonably educated about dog food. I too am not a Eukanuba fan and I have never fed the lower end (meaning below in quality to Eukanuba) Iams. The problem that I have is that I have several picky eaters, I also have one Golden that would eat anything you put in front of him. But Bentley (Golden with hotspots) and Berkshire (Scottie) being the worst. They will protest food to an annoying degree. I of course always mix a new food and gradually increase the new product. I've seen these guys willing to go days without eating on some brands (various forms of Science Diet for example). Eagle pack even some of my good eaters got funny about it. I also tried the recently new supposedly all Organic dry food.....totally brain farting right now I can't think of what it is called. While I was mixing that....my dogs were sneaky and literally picking out the pieces of the old food and left the organic stuff behind. Needless to say I never made it over to that one. So far Eukanuba has been the only thing I can get all of my dogs to eat and I hate the food. As for the health issues I don't beat myself up over it. It devastates me when anything is wrong with one of my kids but I'm aware of all the possible contributions to each ailment. And in some cases I just plain know it was hereditary/breeding. These guys are also spoiled rotten from their own room/furniture, to toys, to activities, to land I bought for them, to the pond I put in for them, to 3 24 hour on call vets that know them personally, to training and on and on....I am quite confident that I am doing my best for them and probably then some nonetheless no matter what you do it's never perfect there is always something better you can do and in the diet arena....I would like to do better for them and then in turn hope that it helps some of their unresolved medical issues. Thank you for the link I will check it out. In the past when I very temporarily had them on the BARF diet it went over exceedingly well. I did not follow Dr. Billinghurst's letter of the law and had done some of my own research and deviated a bit. I am curious to know if you aren't feeding the diet from the link or the BARF diet...what natural/raw diet are you doing? I'm particularly interested in something that takes only a half an hour for two weeks. That would be wonderful....I think it takes me longer than that to get all of guys eating.

[quote name='Lina']lkeffect, very nice pup :D[/quote] Why thank you I think he's awesome!

[quote name='TDG'] since both dogs are getting hot spots, it's more than likely that both dogs are exposed to whatever is causing them - it would be too much of a coincidence that two dogs develop hot spots at the same time for different reasons, unless maybe they are of the same breed and related.[/quote] They are different breeds, one is a 5 month old Bernese Mountain Dog (Summit), one is an 8 year old Golden Retriever(Bentley). They both are eating different foods as well. [quote name='TDG']first examine what you are feeding. most of the time switching to a food that doesn't have certain ingredients is a solution already, but that is unlikely in this situation. here i'd rather suspect that the quality of the food could be a problem. what are you feeding? brand and type of food, any supplements?[/quote] Summit is eating Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy. Bentley is currently eating a combo of Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice Large Breed (It's a trial, I belive I am going to switch to the BARF diet). They both get Cosequin DS, Pet Tab Vitamins. Bentley also gets Soloxine for his thyroid. [quote name='TDG']use equal amounts of comfrey, calendula, sage, bee balm, thyme and yarrow to brew a tea. soak the affected areas and let dry undisturbed. if the hot spots are really bad already and the dogs are constantly scratching or chewing: equal amounts of fresh or dried juniper (yes, the common landscaping shrub), calendula flowers and peppermint leaf. combine herbs in a glass or stainless steel pot. cover with water and bring to a gentle boil. simmer for 10 minutes, then cover and let cool. drain the cooled fluid through a strainer. soak the affected areas and let dry.[/quote] Ok I'm all for this however we have very few stores that sell anything holistic, organic, herbal or otherwise. I may be able to locate some of these things but I doubt all. I also completely agree that I'm merely treating the symptoms not the cause which is why I posted. It's really odd though in Bentley's case I have tried countless high quality foods over his lifetime. Everything from Nutro, Science Diet, Innova, California, Eukanuba, (one of my breeders swore by ProPlan and I attempted it momentarily but my dogs wouldn't hated it.) Many more but you get the idea. I also own 12 dogs, 6 of whom live with me. Of those twelve I have hotspots and thyroid issues with Bentley, Cerebellar Abiotrophy and bladder stones (Scottish Terrier - Beatrice) Elbow and Hip Dyslpasia Chronic yeast infections (Golden - Brookstone, hot spots (BMD Summit) Reproductive issues (Scottie - can't seem to get pregnant and they can't find anything wrong with her) You get the idea but I also have several who have never been sick a day in their lives not even thrown up or had diarrhea. I cannot figure out what is going on over here....my house is clean, I have an air purifier, the yard is cleaned daily, dogs all get more than regular vet care and blood panels run yearly. I myself am an animal behaviorist and vet assistant about to apply to vet school so it's not like I don't notice any slight change in health or behavior.....and to be honest I really don't have the time to switch to the BARF diet not to mention the cost of feeding that many dogs. But I think I am going to at least give it a shot because I don't really know what else to do. These guys are my children not my pets.

[quote name='desertlady']I don't know but would like to know too of a natural skin topical - not sure if it's a "hot spot" but Buddy has a spot where they shaved him for the HW treatment that is really flaky and itchy and the hair is not growing back as it should. We're going to the vet Thu. but in the meantime I second this, is there anything good for the "spots"?[/quote] That doesn't sound like a hot spot....hot spots are typically areas that are covered with puss and scabs, sometimes minimal bleeding if the dog has been chewing at it and it spreads like wild fire if the dog can reach it. You can usually find it first because the dog will be constantly licking the area (lots of wet fur in a localized spot) It will come out of no where often overnight it springs up and left untreated it can more than double in a day. After I start treating them and put an E-collar on....my dogs will regularly jump up as if someone just lit a fire under them or something bit them because it's itching/hurting so badly.

[quote name='desertlady']lkeffect "I LOVE what you're wearing, which dogs are those today?" :lol:[/quote] LOL well ironically I have khaki pants on with a black V-neck sweater! Needless to say all of my dogs are well represented :D

I own a Bernese Mountain Dog (not burmese hehe common mistake), I am currently training a Leonberger. I do benefits with Chinese Crested Rescue so I see lots of those. Let's see I've trained many rare breeds. Puli, Komondor, lots of Vizlas, Briard, Shiba Inu, Beauceron, lots of Irish Terriers (Know the #1 ranked Irish and he's awesome), Newfoundland, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Blue Heeler, Besenji, Great Pyrenees, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Irish Wolfhound, Italian Greyhound, Kuvasz, Schipperke (quite popular here), Coton de Tulear, English Mastiff, Portugese Water Dog (two this week), St. Bernard, Shar Pei (my dad owns one), Finnish Spitz, Bull Mastiff, Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Ibizan Hound, Afgan, Bedlington Terrier, PBGV, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling, Clumber Spaniel, Borzoi, Harrier, Norwegian Elkhound, Saluki, Whippet, Dandie Dinmont, Havenese, I don't know if Bouvier, Tervuren, or Malanios count but they are rare here. I've seen many others but those were all at dog shows. Around here we are over populated with labs, lots of Goldens, many GSD, tons of so called pit bull mixes, various Heinz 57, German Shorthair Pointers are common, Bichons, shih tzus are very popular and there is a sudden influx of labradoodles (not that qualifies as a recognized breed) many rotties, newfies, poodles, schnauzers, beagles, Chows, I think ALL of the terrier breeds are represented at different levels of popularity and the sporting group is very well represented around here as well.

I can honestly say if it weren't for labs I wouldn't be able to train dogs for a living. I am coming across so many labs with major behavioral issues it astounds me. I always ask people where they got their dogs from and I have found that many of these dogs are coming from field dog lines or back yard breeders. I have also noticed that many of them are scrawny (particularly in bone) and lanky in build which is not at all what the breed standard calls for. I think it is really sad because of their popularity it's nearly impossible (at least in my area) to find a good lab. So many of these clients just wanted a good family pet and "knew" that labs were great family dogs. They ended up with neurotic, hyper active, aggressive dogs many times. I've gotten to the point that I am surprised when I see a lab the way the breed was intended. :(