Big Paws Only Dog Forums

A guy is driving around the back woods of Tennessee and he sees a sign in front of a broken down shanty-style house: "Talking Dog For Sale." He rings the bell and the owner appears and tells him the dog is in the backyard.  The guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever sitting there.  "You talk?" he asks.  "Yep," the Lab replies.  After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says, "So, what's your story?"  The Lab looks up and says, "Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA.  In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country,sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running."  "But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in."  "I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.  I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired."  The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.  "Ten dollars," the guy says.  "Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?"  "Because he's a liar. He never did any of that stuff." 

As I was visiting my friend Stacey this past weekend I noticed that there were valentines on her counter for her daughter to give to her classmates at school. That gave me a sweet idea.  Gracie will also be in class (obedience class) on Valentines Day and I thought it would be a nice treat to give a valentine to her classmates as well.  I remember seeing before a recipe for dog treats.  I was wondering if any of you had some fairly easy and delicious recipes I could whip up for the other puppers in her class from Gracie? Thanks guys.

This is Ivy.  She is the 3 year old daughter of two friends of ours and my boyfriend Aeryk and Gracie had the pleasure of spending the day with her.  Gracie absolutely feel in love with Ivy.  I only wish I were there to watch them get to know eachother.  So by boyfriend decided to take some photos to show me how well the two of them played together.  Here are a couple of pictures from their photo shoot..  hahaha.. 

I have a question for all of you BPO'ers and thought maybe you could help. My friend who introduced me to this site told me about someone whos pups used a bell to let thier human  know they have to potty.  Here is my problem. Gracie doesn't have an "alert" or "signal" that tells me she has to go. Basically I just walk like crazy all the time.  We walk when I get home, wake up, 20 minutes after she eats, and every two hours in between and even on my lunch break.  She's never crated longer than 5 hours max.  My point is after 2 months I still can't seem to understand her potty language.  I pay very close attention to her signals which just don't seem to exist.  She goes when and where ever she feels the urge.  Of course she never gets a negative response and is quickly corrected as it happens. Basically I interupt her and we quickly go outside.  Though she is is only 6 months old I do feel like there should be more consistancy from her and I do know that is my job to teach her.  Obvioulsy I am not helping her to learn the 'house rules' as well as I could be.  Does anyone know how to train using the bell at the door method?  I thought maybe if she could associate the ring with going outside to potty  it would help us both. Any advice at all would be very helpful. 

Hi everyone.  I was told about this site by my best friend, Tonka's mom, Stacey.  I love this idea.  I especially can't wait to see all the cute pics of all these giant puppies.