Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Topics - amylynn

Pages: [1] 2
1
Hello! :)

It has been awhile since I have been on here so maybe I should re-introduce myself.  ;D My name is Amy Lynn and my husband and  I are blessed with 6 little girls, a male Chessie mix and a female Saint Bernard.  :D

We adore both of our dogs. We have had our Chessie for 11 and a half years. He is now 12 years old. Our Saint is 4 years old and we have only had her for 16 months. Her name is Isis. She is the sweetest and most gentle dog and we love her to pieces. The problem is that over the past 6 months, we have noticed that she doesn't like kids other than the ones in our family. We had our neighbor boy over and we were all talking and she just suddenly leaned forward at him and gave him a VERY scary warning bark. It really worried me because I had no idea why she would do that. After that we began to notice her barking ferociously at children behind the fence when they are out in their yards. Some of the kids are only toddlers, others are older. Our neighbor boy came in again and she did it to him again. :(  After that incident, we put Isis in our bedroom when he would come to visit.

Just this past weekend, we had two of my nieces and one nephew stay with us. The first night, I was in one of the bedrooms and Isis was lying on the floor between me and the door. She seemed calm and relaxed. I called my niece into the room and Isis went into the warning bark at her and scared her! I wondered if she was trying to protect me and the baby as I was holding the baby in my arms. Later, she did the same thing to my 4 year old niece and she did absolutely nothing to her, or around her. The next morning, she did it to my 2 year old nephew. That time, she also lunged at him with the bark. I was monitoring her and the kids the whole time. They were never left unattended with the dog. I truly have no idea why she is doing this. We ended up having to have her stay with my parents until they went home.

We are so heart-broken over this because we feel like although we trust her completely with our own children, we aren't sure we can trust her around other children. We are afraid to walk her because we are not sure if the warning bark will turn into something bad if we encounter a child.  :'(  Our neighborhood is full of children. 

My husband & I have set up an appointment to talk with a trainer/dog behaviorist, but we have so many people telling us that you can't train out aggression & that we should find another home for her.  :'(  We are so confused & unsure of what to do. We love her & the last thing we want is to have to give her up. Has anyone else ever dealt with this? Can we learn to trust her around other children again? Does anyone have any advice?

Thank you so much in advance for any help.
Blessings!
Amy Lynn

2
Saint Bernard General Discussions / Update on Isis
« on: January 08, 2008, 06:04:20 am »
Hello! :)

I just wanted to thank you all for your kind words about Isis. We took her in to the Vet and had the Heartworm test done and they called today and told us that she was Negative for heartworm!!! :) Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! :) So, now they want to do a chest X-Ray to make sure there was no damage to the heart before we have her spayed. They don't know how severe of a case she had and want to be sure it is safe before they put her through the surgery.

We have her scheduled for the XRay on Jan 18th and if everything looks good then, they will go ahead and spay her then. I am nervous about the appointment. I hope everything will go well for her.

Thanks again for your kind words and advice.
Blessings!
Amy Lynn

3
Saint Bernard General Discussions / I'm so upset! I just had to vent.....
« on: January 02, 2008, 04:31:55 am »
We recently were blessed with a 2 year old Saint Bernard, named Isis. We have had her since November 3rd and absolutely love her to pieces. She has been the sweetest dog we could ever ask for. We got her from a family that was moving out of the country. I shared the long story on here quite awhile ago. :)

Anyway, I have been trying to contact the previous owners to see if they can give me her vet records, or even just the name of their vet so that we can get her vaccines and also have her records. They won't reply to my messages. :(  When they do reply, they won't give us the vet info we keep asking for. :( It has been so frustrating! We were told that she needs vaccines this month. I got tired of waiting for them to give me the info, so I just started calling vets in the area where they lived and asking if they had a Saint Bernard, named Isis in their computer. The first Vet I called was the right one. :) They confirmed that it was truly our Isis that was their patient. They were wonderful in working with me and said they would fax her records to our Vet, without consent from the previous owners, due to the situation of them moving out of the country. The lady from their office told me that she had to mention to me that she saw in her files that Isis had tested heartworm positive! :(  They never told us that!!! We were told that she was healthy and just needed vaccines in Jan. :(  She also told us that they were given the advanced medication and were told to return a month later and never came back in for the follow up! :( So...We have no idea if Isis is fully cured from heartworm, or not. This happened a year ago and I guess you are supposed to have a follow up blood test a year after treatment, so they should have told us so that she would be sure to have her follow up. :( 

I am so worried about our girl. SHe is so sweet and our entire family adores her. I immediately called our vet and they can't get her in until Saturday morning at 8:30am. The results won't be in until Monday. :(  We also have another dog and the lady at the Vet told us to try to keep him isolated from her. We have already had her since Nov 3rd. I am thinking that it may be too late to keep them seperated. I am wondering if anyone knows the incubation period for heartworm symptoms? Our other dog isn't showing any symptoms. Isis does occasionally have a weird cough, but our Vet checked her out for that and wasn't concerned about it. :( 

I'm sorry for the LONG post. I just had to tell someone who would understand. She is our baby and we are so upset about this. We're just hoping they treated her and just maybe didn't get a chance to bring her back in. :( 

THanks for listening.
Blessings!
Amy Lynn

4
Saint Bernard General Discussions / Anyone have an "exited pee'er?" :)
« on: December 08, 2007, 11:51:28 am »
I'm sorry for that subject line. :) I am sure that isn't how to spell that. LOL! :)

I was wondering if anyone else has a dog that wets when he/she gets excited? Isis just started doing this. :( We are just curious if there is anything medically wrong that causes this and if there can be anything done to help?

Thanks in advance for any info.
Blessings!
Amy Lynn

5
Saint Bernard Pictures / Some Photos of Isis
« on: December 01, 2007, 08:00:03 am »
Here are some pictures of our newest addition, Isis. :) Sorry it took me so long to post them. She is almost 2 and a half and we love her to pieces!!! :)
Blessings!
Amy Lynn

6
Medical Conditions & Diseases / Backwards sneeze?
« on: November 27, 2007, 06:27:30 am »
Has anyone ever heard a backwards sneeze? Is this common? Isis had that happen this morning and I called the emergency dog hospital and made them listen to her on the phone. I thought she was dying.  :'( It scared me so much!!! She sounded like she couldn't get any air and she was going to throw up, or something, but she never did.

I was just curious if that was a common thing.

7
Isis has been a dream in the house. She minds wonderfully. She is so sweet! I did find out that she doesn't walk well on a leash. :(  I tried to walk her and she literally pulled me down the street! It was scary because I had absolutely no control over her. She just has a regular collar and leash. My husband is out of town, so I probably won't try to work with her outside of the back yard until he gets home, but I feel bad that she isn't going to get to go on any walks until he gets back.

She minds me so good in the house and out in the yard. She just doesn't have any leash manners. I want to take her to training, but I am now nervous to take her out of the house. :( Any advice on what would give me better control over her on a leash?

Thanks in advance for any ideas. :)
Blessings!
Amy Lynnn

8
Saint Bernard General Discussions / We have a new furry baby!!! :)
« on: November 03, 2007, 03:41:28 pm »
We have been looking for a Newfie, or Saint Bernard for quite awhile and are so excited to finally have found such a wonderful fit for our family! :) We found a family who are moving to Hawaii and due to the fact that they would have to put their dog into quarantine for 6 months and then, once they get her back, they would only have her with them for another 6 months and then they will be moving again and she would have to go back into quarantine. They decided that would be too hard on her so they decided to find another home for her. It was a very difficult decisioin for them. My heart broke for this family to see them have to let her go. Our families are so similar in the ages and the number of kids we have. :)

I am so sorry I am babbling!!! :) Anyway, she is an almost 2 and a half year old Saint Bernard. Her name is Isis and we picked her up yesterday and she is just such a big love bug!!! :)  She loves all the kids and has been so careful not to knock anyone down, or step on anyone. :) We just adore her to pieces. She is an answer to prayer for our family!! :)

My husband had to go out of town for work and he just did some adjustments to our computer before he left and now it won't let me send photos. :(  So, I will post pictures once he gets back.

9
We are so excited! We are going to go and meet a Saint Bernard on Saturday and hopefully bring her home with us! :)
We found her on Craigslist and I talked to the current owner and she just sounds so sweet! We can't wait to meet her! Here is a link to her.
http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/pet/452854916.html
Please pray that everything works out. :)
Thanks!
Blessings!
Amy Lynn

10
I am so sorry to come on here and vent, but I am SOOOOO UPSET at our neighbor boy right now!!! :( He has been taunting our dogs for quite awhile now, but he is one of these kids that can do things without getting caught in the act and I think his parents would never believe he did anything like that anyway. :(

A couple of days ago, he was spraying our puppy with the hose! :*( Today, I heard Cooper, our Chessie mix, outside barking REALLY ferociously! Cooper is a big love bug and NEVER barks at kids. He adores kids. Well, he doesn't like this kid. I looked out the window and saw that the little boy and his friend were up at the fence and Cooper and the puppy were at the fence. The kids were standing too close to the fence for me to see what exactly they were doing to the dogs, but I could hear them taunting them. Three of our children were outside and one of them called the dogs and put them in the house right as I was gettig ready to do the very same thing!  I continued to watch this kid with his friend and I saw him with a gardening hoe!  :o His friend accidentally hit him in the ear with something and he got mad and started swinging the gardening hoe at his friend!
 :o Then, he got a rake and was threatening to hit him with that, too.  >:( I called my daughter in and told her that if this kid is outside, our dogs have to be in the house. I asked her if she could see what they were doing to the dogs & she said that they were calling them to the fence and trying to hit them with gardening tools!!!  >:( I was SO MAD!!!

About two months ago, one of the boards in the fence between our house and this kid's house came out and we had the board leaning over the hole in the fence and the boy had knocked it down. I was inside with our kids and I heard Cooper do that ferocious bark. I was really alarmed because he never barks like that! I saw him at the fence and the little boy was standing there acting all innocent.  ::) I knew he was up to something, but I didn't see him! It is a tricky situation because I am really nervous that he will bite this kid if he continues to get provoked. With this incident, because I didn't see what he was doing, but my daughter did....it is my child's word against their child's word. So, I am not sure how exactly to handle this. The dad is a police officer, so if their kid does taunt him long enough he does get bit, he will have Cooper reported and quarantined.

My husband thinks that we should videotape him taunting our dogs and then approach them. That way, we have evidence.
I'm sorry. I just felt like venting! THanks for "listening."
Please pray that we can move out to the country. :) REALLY SOON!!!  Thanks! :)
 

11
Newfoundland Discussions / My heart is BROKEN!!! Polly Update!
« on: October 19, 2006, 10:03:30 am »
Hi Everyone!

I just thought I'd update you on Polly. We got her home late Sunday night & our entire family fell in love with her! She was the SWEETEST girl!!! She was quite a bit overwhelmed with all of us when she first arrived. We completely understood that & gave her some space & she began to warm up to all of us really quickly. The breeder didn't get a chance to brush her out before my husband picked her up and she had some mats, so I thought I'd try brushing her...which was not the smartest idea. I thought it would relax her because she was so use to being brushed. She did wonderful. She just sat there and let me brush her and was really sweet. I got to her chest and she bit my hand. It startled me because she didn't growl, or anything like that so there was no warning. I honestly just chalked it up to her being stressed and not trusting me yet, so I let it go. That night, my oldest daughter, who is 12, gave her some hugs and she LOVED her right back. It was really sweet. She leaned into her like she was hugging her back. She did that with me quite a few times as well. Later in the evening, my daughter hugged her again very gently & as she was releasing the hug, Polly growled at her! My daughter was very gentle, so I know it wasn't that she hurt her.

After that, I became a little nervous & continued to make sure that every interaction between our children & Polly was supervised closely. (She was not raised with kids, so I knew that it may take her some time to adjust to them). She was an absolute angel with them. She mother henned them. She would check on each one of them to see what they were doing. If any of the kids were upstairs, she would look all over the house for them & sit at the gate to wait for that child to come downstairs. Once she would see her, Polly would relax because she knew they were all OK.

We took her on a couple of walks & she walked wonderfully on the leash. I let my oldest 3 children walk her & she was extra gentle as they walked her. She was wonderful! That second evening, she growled at my 6 year old. She was just petting her on the head! Later that evening, I was petting her & she was snuggling up to me on the floor. My 4 year old came over to see me & to Pet Polly. She is about the same height as Polly, so they are at eye level. I don't know if that was the reason, or what, but Polly, without warning, bit my daughter and JUST missed her eye! She left blood and it swelled and bruised! We decided that, although she is good with kids, she is very unpredictable with really small children. We are all so heartbroken because we talked to the breeder, who was as upset and shocked as we were. She told us that Polly has NEVER even growled. She couldn't believe that she did that. The breeder took her back and is going to keep her. She adores Polly and I am glad that Polly will be with her. She will get a lot of love with her, too.

My family is just heartbroken. We all adore Polly and to be honest, we are all just devastated. I don't know what we will do now. I have a ton of pictures and am just clueless why I can't get them to show up. I think they need to be smaller. I will keep trying.

My daughter is doing much better. She keeps telling me that Polly loves her and didn't mean to bite her. She said that Polly was worried about her because she kept coming up to her after that.  :'(

Sorry this is so long. I just wanted to update everyone & also to apologize for not posting photos. I wish I wasn't so computer challenged.


12
Newfoundland Discussions / Immediate Grooming needs for Newf?
« on: October 14, 2006, 09:07:58 am »
Hi!

We are so excited!!! We thought we were going to have to wait until NEXT weekend to pick up our Newfoundland, but we just found out that we get to pick her up tomorrow! ;D
We weren't entirely prepared yet because we thought we had this week to pick up everything we needed. So....what would you say would be needed immediately in regards to grooming gear? All I have here is a slicker brush & nail clippers for Cooper. He doesn't require much more than that. I remember with our last Newfy using a rake, but I can't remember what else.

Thank you in advance for any information.

13
Newfoundland Discussions / Getting Ready to Bring Home Our Newfie Girl!
« on: October 01, 2006, 08:53:03 am »
I wonder if I should re-introduce myself. My name is Amy Lynn and my husband John and I have 5 little girls and a sweet, Chessie mix, named Cooper. We have been looking for an young adult Newfie for quite some time and found a wonderful breeder who is about 5 hours away from us. We were looking into getting one of her males, who was about 1 year old, but she recently called us to see if we would take her 3 year old female, who was expecting a puppy. She is a REALLY sweet girl. This is her second litter and with the last litter, she only had 2 puppies. The breeder felt that she just wasn't as fertile as a couple of her other females. Her and I have been talking for about 6-7 months and have developed a friendship. Anyway......sh e called me a few weeks ago and asked if we would take her. She said that she would give her to us!  :o We are so excited! The interesting thing is that at the time she called, I was pregnant and as I mentioned, so was Polly. (That is her name). Anyway....a few weeks later, on what was supposed to be Polly's due date with her puppy, sadly, I had a miscarriage. I let the breeder know because she was always asking how the pregnancy was going. She told me that Polly also lost her puppy. So...I feel that we were meant to be together to help eachother heal. I already feel a bond to her and can't wait to give her a great big hug! The breeder is going to have her spayed on Tuesday and we have to wait about 10 days while she recovers and then we can pick her up! It will probably be the weekend of the 15th! :) Our 5 daughters couldn't be more excited to bring her into our family and neither can my husband and I. We just can't wait!  :D I just thought I'd share with all of you because I knew you would understand our excitement. A lot of people don't understand why we are so enamored with Newfies...my inlaws can't get past the drool. :) We just love them to pieces and it is true that once you have owned a Newfie, you never want to be without one.

14
Newfoundland Discussions / Drool Bibs
« on: September 22, 2006, 02:02:18 pm »
I just found a lady that makes cute dog drool bibs. She is a sweet, Grandma. She has an embroidery business and she started making these for a friend who shows her Newfoundlands so the samples are both Newfies, but she makes them for all breeds. They are really cute and she can make them any color, or put whatever you want on them. I just ordered a pink one for our new Newfie girl that we are going to be bringing home at the beginning of October. :)
Here is a link to her site. You need to scroll all the way down to see the bibs.
http://www.embroideryanddesigns.com/Crafts%20For%20Sale.htm

(edited to fix link)

15
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Cocoa Mulch Warning
« on: May 07, 2006, 05:37:09 pm »
I apologize if this has already been posted. I guess it checks out. This is a good thing to keep in mind when doing yard work.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp


Pages: [1] 2