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Once again, the conversation has been lively enough to fill two pages of the previous "anything goes" topic. So here you go. Chat away.
Dog Blog
The Dog Blog is a community of ordinary dog lovers who have come together to discuss our extraordinary dogs. Each Monday, a new topic is introduced. If you've got an opinion, share it. If not, look for the current "anything goes" topic and introduce a discussion of your own. On Fridays, weigh in about your training questions and successes.
Your host: Mike Lewis is a little-dog nerd and the proud owner of Eddie and Jillian, a pair of Yorkies who think they're huskies, and Lucy, a sweet Chessie. R.I.P., Rusty. Contact mlewis@adn.com
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Parks and Rec Committee approves fenced dog park - 1/10/2013 3:33 pm
AACCC Adoption of the week: Meet Scout - 1/9/2013 12:12 pm
Kitty and K9 Connection: Meet Nano - 1/4/2013 7:04 pm
What are your New Year's resolutions for your dogs? - 1/2/2013 4:29 pm
AACCC Adoption of the Week: Meet Rudy - 1/2/2013 4:14 pm
Take extra precaution with dogs on New Year's - 12/31/2012 11:58 am
Friday training talk -- what's up with your pack? - 12/28/2012 11:09 am
AACCC Adoption of the Week: Meet Chris K - 12/27/2012 12:27 pm
Anything goes: A clean slate for chatting
Anchorage Daily News
Posted: November 15, 2007 - 9:29 am
6 November 19, 2007 - 11:34am | purplepanther3579
coupon
Hay everyone,
I have a coupon for $5.00 off any 1 package of Purina One dog or puppy formula 4lb or larger, any variety if anyone uses it. it is good till 11/27/07.
I don't feed Purina one.
flag this »5 November 16, 2007 - 6:56pm | Minornewsdaily
A little more Sammy girl
O.K. I have had a few setbacks in my efforts concerning Sammy girl. Animal channel will not release in whole or in part any footage made of Sammy at Pet Emergency the day she was shot. The lawyer turned out to be a major flake. Only one of the local papers so much as e-mailed a reply to me- sorry ADN wasn't you.
I figure going to the Tuesday night assembly meetings is my next effort. It seems like a good place to start an effort to get us out from under the pile as far as animal rights go.
flag this »November 17, 2007 - 9:17am | riverlee
Thank you
What you are doing on behalf of Sammy Girl, you are doing for all of us. Sometimes it's like trying to swim upstream against a hard current to get anyone to listen, to find answers, and find ways to change things. All your efforts are not in vain, because you have been willing to share what you've learned with the rest of us, even though some of your ideas may not have met with success.
I, for one, appreciate all you have been through, and are going through, and I hope that you are finding some healing. I am sending good thoughts your way.
flag this »November 18, 2007 - 3:57pm | Minornewsdaily
Thank you riverlee,
I don't know what I can do or what kind of possitive effect I might have at an assembly meeting but I do know I can be an increadible pain in the butt with very little effort ;-)
flag this »4 November 16, 2007 - 10:52am | kariabre
BARF
Does anyone use the BARF diet? I have been thinking about it but worry about what will happen when we are on vacation.
Our dogs go to boarding/daycare since they have never needed to be crated all day (there is always someone home). We tried having someone watch them but they threw a fit about being locked up all day.
flag this »November 16, 2007 - 11:31am | kurushimeru
I'm going to switch to it
I'm going to switch to it soon. I've been researching it a lot, not enough to know it completely though.
Here's some resources.
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
http://www.perfectpooches.com/b_a_r_f_.htm
http://www.courageouscaucasians.com/nutrition.htm
And a helpful quote.
"In order to get the right amount you have to add the 60% RMB and the 40% veggies to get the 2% of the dogs body weight. This dog at 70 lbs will eat 1.4 lbs of food a day or 22.4 ounces (13.44 + 8.96= 22.4) at 2% of their body weight (divide 22.4 by 16 to bring it back to lbs). hth"
I'm going to buy a few chicken backs/necks to see how well my pup does with raw, just use them as a treat for now.
And since she'd developed an allergy, I'm hoping this will take care of that completely.
During the vacation, there's some raw packaged meals that you can buy to give to the boarding place, as long as you know they'll keep them fridgerated/frozen. ( I haven't checked into any sold here in AK )
Or, there's dehydrated food that you can see if they will prepare.
http://www.leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm
You could also just put the portions for the meals into ziplocs, and have them pretyt much ready for them, with less work for them to figure out.
Hope that helps.
edit :: Another great resource, but a big file.
http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/feedingrawdiet.pdf
flag this »3 November 16, 2007 - 8:48am | kurushimeru
I love being reminded my girl is still a puppy.
Selene had gone into the kitchen at my parent's house, because that's where her water is, and she stopped, started barking, looking at us, looking back, and barking.
I thought she was barking at something outside, because the other night she had chased two moose out of the backyard at midnight..
But that was until I seen her walk back to me, then creep back to the kitchen, peer over the corner slowly, and started barking again.
So I figured something was in the kitchen. Inspected, and found that she was afraid of a big white styrofoam box.
I laughed, and then brought it down off the counter, knelt by it, as she stared between me and it from the other side. She inch forward, then growl and back up.
Brought treats into the mix, and eventually had her take a treat off from on top of the far end of the box. ( very gingerly, I might add, which was pretty funny too. )
After that, she was still unsure of it, but wasn't too bothered to take a quick drink and run out of the kitchen.
flag this »November 16, 2007 - 9:47am | sondrals
haha too funny...
Kane did a similar thing to a stack of tires in the backyard, they previously hadn't been there, so when I let him out, he stopped dead in his tracks and started growling at them.... finally I convinced him they weren't out to get him and he went and sniffed them. I guess just the fact that they hadn't been there before startled him... My other dog was deathly afraid of helium baloons and fur hats
flag this »November 16, 2007 - 10:57am | jarnold
Scary things
I had my youngest at a National Specialty (big dog show for all the same breed) in 2006. There was a man there who, to Chip, seemed to be 10 feet tall and very loud. (OK, he was tall, wearing a cowboy hat, and talking passionately about something.) Once I realized what Chip was reacting to, I told the man what was happening. He instantly dropped to his knees and made nice with Chip. After that, Chip would seek him out in the crowd. The cool thing was I had no idea who the man was, but if he was at a Samoyed dog show, he would take care with my dog. I found out later that he is a long time breeder and knew someone of the people I knew.
flag this »November 16, 2007 - 11:48am | akvalleygirl74
I think it's great when
I think it's great when you're at a "dog event" like that and it's a given that the people there are sensitive to the dogs. I wish that were the case everywhere, don't you? :) My pup is startled by kids that come over wearing hats. For some reason they don't look like themselves and it freaks her out until they take off the hat. Silly girl.
flag this »2 November 15, 2007 - 10:01am | dogblog
Bad Dog Blog!
So I took the two Yorkies and Lab to the store last night around 10. I got the truck plenty warm beforehand because Yorkies have a single layer of fur and aren't built for the cold.
When I returned to the house, my 4-pounder, Jack, was yapping. So, as I have been doing lately, I made him wait until he stopped yapping. First, I let Eddie out my door. Then I walked around and let Rusty out the back passenger door.
As I was walking back to the driver's side door to let Jack know I would let him out if he'd stop yapping, Rusty and Eddie uncharacteristically made a beeline for the neighbor's house. I made chase because I couldn't take a chance of one of them running into the street.
Rusty was cooperative and followed me into the house. It took another trip to catch Eddie, scoop him up and carry him into the house. All was well. Finally.
Except one thing: I'D FORGOTTEN JACK.
Compounding matters is that the phone rang as I was entering the house. My wife was on her way home. I sat at the computer for a few minutes, then my wife arrived home and we sat down to watch some TV, the all-American family: Rusty lying by my side on the floor so I could pet him, Eddie on my wife's lap. And Jack...
JACK!
I raced outside barefoot to find him, still yapping, in his car seat. He'd been out there alone for about an hour. Remarkably, the truck still felt relatively warm even though it was about 29 degrees at the time. His body was warm and he seemed fine.
Needless to say, I excused the yapping this time and kept him under a blanket on my lap feeding him treats until long after he wanted to be there.
This is a horribly embarrassing story, but with winter upon us, I figured it couldn't hurt to share it. I got lucky and learned my lesson without a catastrophe.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:44am | kurushimeru
I haven't left Selene in the
I haven't left Selene in the car before.. but I put her in the bathroom with her crate ( opened ) since I couldn't put her in the backyard or let her roam while I went to the movies. Thought she'd be fine for a few hours.
I got a lovely warning to never ever ever do that to her again. Lets just say she thought she was Picasso all over the floor. All. Over.
That was enough to have a mental note of never to forget her.
This was quite a while ago, and while we were still fine-tuning the housetraining. I couldn't be mad at her for it.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 3:38pm | sondrals
oh my...
i had almost the exact same experience with Kane when he was younger... had to run to the store to pick something up, figured he'd be fine out of his crate for oh 15 - 20 mins, wrong! came home to... yeah.. ALL OVER. Granted neither of us were too happy about it. He even gets upset if I take the trash out without bringing him along.. acts like i was gone for months instead of minutes.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:32am | akvalleygirl74
Me too...
Pepper is such a quiet car rider that I totally forgot she was in the car when we came home and I pulled it into the garage. MUCH later that night, like 5 hours later, I realized I hadn't seen her in awhile! I felt SO bad.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:18am | sondrals
Not the only one...
On returning home from college one christmas vacation, my dog was let outside while we packed in bags and presents, back then we never leashed him as we lived in a rural area and had about 5 acres of property and never had a problem with him running off. Well as we put presents under the tree... unpacked my bags, sat down at the table to chat... we realized Chase was still outside and had been for about an hour! Frantically I opened the door to him looking at me disgustedly and you could see the path he'd made between the front and back door trying to get someone to let him in ANY door! poor guy
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 10:09am | mwolf
Don't beat yourself up
The good news is that Jack has probably already forgiven you! My husband left our GSD in the car (parked in the garage) overnight. He found her when he went to work the next day. He felt terrible. She just hoped out and went inside. At least she had a comfy blanket to lay on. Poor girl.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:04am | dogblog
Forgetful
Thanks for the sympathy! I guess even responsible dog owners can make a mistake.
flag this »1 November 15, 2007 - 9:44am | kurushimeru
Some dog owners irk me.
Last night we had a knock on the door while we were eating dinner and watching TV, and Sean answered the door.
It was a girl asking for the old tenant, who moved next door, which is cool and all, but her dog waltzed right in and was exploring through our living room.
What if my dog had been with me? I don't know how she'd react to strange dogs on her, err-- my turf. I don't know how her dog would have reacted to my dog being there.
It seemed like a nice dog, but there's a difference between a human aggressive dog, and a dog aggressive dog.
I was just thinking on how bad that situation could have got. I don't leave my dog on a leash in my own home, but I do when we are outside, the only exception is in my parent's fenced backyard.
Meh.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 9:58am | kariabre
My neighbor's dobe does the
My neighbor's dobe does the same thing! (I have nothing against dobes, this one is super sweet). She and Baily would play when Baily was just a puppy and since then if the door is open she waltz's in.
My dogs still try and get into other people's cars when we are at the dog park. I have worked with them on this and they respond very well to a stern command but were still able to do it once and a person with an open vehicle asked to pet my dogs and proceeded to play with them for a while. My two assumed this meant they were to get into that vehicle. Luckily we all had a laugh about it.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 10:16am | kurushimeru
I think I'm just making a
I think I'm just making a bigger deal about it than it really is because I didn't know the person, and I didn't know the dog. If it was someone's dog I knew, and someone's dog my pup knew, then I wouldn't care so much, since I know how the interaction would go.
meh. I was frustrated with a lot last night anyways.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 10:21am | dogblog
Don't blame you
That would be scary. You're in a new apartment, a knock comes on the door and in charges a strange dog. I'd be upset too. Selene likely would have acted aggressively.
Hopefully, now that they know their friend moved, they will leash the beast.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 10:47am | kurushimeru
She likes to act tough, and
She likes to act tough, and she's pretty alert when someone's at the door, ears held high and erect( only time she does that), a certain gaze she has when she listens, and eventually standing at the top of the stairs looking down at the doorway. But if it became an altercation, I don't think she would hold her ground just yet.
And I want to keep her from having such an event, which will more than likely scar a dog into a dog aggression.
I'm more glad it was a visitor's dog, and not one of my neighbor's dogs. The neighbor on the other side has a shitzu I think, and they keep the little one leashed while outside.
We do have a fenced area around the building, so it does keep straying dogs from our area.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 10:07am | dogblog
Wandering dogs
Ha, that reminds me of a story about my first Lab.
I was in a wet parking lot at the time, and he was about 6-9 months old, following me, as I did back then, unleashed. I looked over and saw a woman with a green Ford Fiesta identical to mine. She had her door open. And Alex was racing toward it.
I had just enough time to shout ALEX, NO! before he hopped into the back seat of her car, wet, muddy paws and all.
As I was sheepishly retrieving him from her car and wiping the mud as best I could with my shirt sleeve, I heard her say: "Alex doesn't mind very well, does he?"
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:57am | Beth_451
Titus too
Titus was a bit of a pill when a puppy and used to run my parents five acres, but sometimes wouldn't come back to us. He didn't run away, he just would run just out of reach and sit and watch us. Agh! But what he couldn't stand was the idea of us leaving HIM. So, we'd just climb in the car and act like we're going to drive away. Never failed. He'd always come flying across the driveway and jump into our arms. Caughtcha!
Now, unfortunately, we have to keep him constantly on a leash around our apartment and anywhere except at my parents where his orneriness is a lot weaker than his loyalty to us and his love of pats and treats (most of the time). If he bolts from our apartment door, he'll make a bee-line for any person or dog or open door to find someone to play with. I was mortified when my husband chased him out the door only to find him in the next apartment building, in someone's apartment, excitedly getting to know a baby in a carrier on the floor. It's parents were not too pleased.
*Sigh* Is it too late for obedience classes? He's turning 3 January 8.
flag this »November 19, 2007 - 12:26pm | imapackage2003
TITUS
Titus is more than welcome to have a free day of Doggie Daycare with us at Alaska Pet Boarding & Daycare...First day is always free to give us time to evaluate if he's able to fit into the "pack" on any given day. If nothing else, it would wear him out..and give you a day where you don't have to worry about a thing! You don't mention what type of dog Titus is...But it sounds like he has a lot of energy! He could be frustrated living in smaller quarters than he was used to. Running and playing from 7 am to 7 pm might be just what both of he needs. If you are interested, give us a call..while our daycare dogs are with us during the day, we do teach basic obedience. Hope this can be of help. Weekdays only...868-PETS (7387).
flag this »November 26, 2007 - 11:12am | Beth_451
Thank you
That is a really neat offer.
Titus is a Pug. He has an infectious love of all people and animals. He plays well with large dogs, but his enthousiasm has overwhelmed frailer dogs his size. He sits obediently for his breakfast and dinner and to go out (and for any random treat we have or he thinks we have). He will lay down for treats, stay for up to a minute (until we release him), and responds well to "down" to get off of furniture or stay off of people. However, he is not consistant on "come". Freedom is much to sweet for him.
This semester, we only have to crate him two days a week for about seven hours each. Next semester, my husband will be working and going to school, and I still have my day job. Someday, I hope to be a stay-at-home dog mom, but that won't be for at least a year. I would be interested in some place for Titus to go to play at least one or two days a week. Our budget doesn't have a lot of flex room right now, but it would be neat if this worked out.
The other issue is location. Where are you located? We live in Peterscreek, so my husband would have to be the good sport to take him into town to the university or Dimond area. It would be fun to try for one day and see if it works out.
flag this »November 19, 2007 - 1:08pm | dogblog
Nice offer
That's so cool. Thanks.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 12:34pm | purplepanther3579
Neiko also
When Neiko was about 18 months old and taking over the service dog responsibilities from my previous svs dog, (I was at work), thier was a guy we had play dates with his dogs, came into the store at almost closing time, nice summer evening, just as a joke he told Neiko to come on (had removed Neiko's svs dog jacket to get petted), and Neiko happily went with him out to this vehicle and jumped into the front seat of the truck. He would have happily gone home with him.
Now the real problem was getting him back out of the truck. he hopped in the back seat and would not come back out (lots of great doggie smells/treats back their).
Sonya Smiley
Purple Panther Dog Training
purplepanther3579@yahoo.com
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 12:30pm | purplepanther3579
it is never to late
It is never to late to teach a dog. I have trained a 13 yr old dog to do obedience work and leave stuff alone enough in one month that he won first place in a dog obedience competition against much younger dogs.
Sonya Smiley
Purple Panther Dog Training
purplepanther3579@yahoo.com
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 12:00pm | kurushimeru
It's never too late for
It's never too late for obedience.
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:39am | riverlee
Don't feel bad, dogs aren't the only ones
Dogs aren't the only ones who make mistakes with vehicles. Last week I was parked in front of a quick-stop store, and when I came out, I opened the back door on the driver's side to put in the purchases. I remember thinking at the time, what is that piece of carpet there? Did my husband put that in there?
Well, then the real owner of the vehicle was putting his purchases in the front passenger's door while I was in putting stuff in the back. Man! Was I ever embarrassed! I apologized profusely when I realized we both had the exact kind of vehicle, same color and style and everything, parked next to each other. Duh!
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:16am | sondrals
Wandering People...
on the flip side of this... we had a unique experience with our springer spaniel... evidentally our car looked enough like someone else's that they attempted to get into our truck while parked at the store and my other dog was in there. They came back out about as fast as they went in though, my dog didn't like strangers getting in the car lol. The guy had a sheepish expression on his face when he realized his error :-)
flag this »November 15, 2007 - 11:28am | kurushimeru
I've totally almost done
I've totally almost done this a few times. Someone has a little chevy truck like mine at my work, and I walk to it, keys ready, then I take another look and then think.. "... I didn't park here.."
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