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Topics - Ali

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16
Mixed Breed Pictures / Kai pics - her first week home!
« on: March 15, 2008, 12:39:41 am »
Kai has settled in great this week. We couldn't be more pleased with her and how she has fit in to the family. It's a lot of work with the puppy and all four kids, so I'm rehoming MY KIDS (ha ha) next week for spring break! My dad and step mom are taking the kids for almost the whole week so I get to be alone with my pups and, well, myself! An actual "vacation" for the stay at home mom! But, I digress...

This is about Kai, who is awesome. Tani has become very protective of her, and was very grouchy at the dog park today to any dog that came too close to Kai! She wasn't agressive, just vocal. It was kind of cute, but kind of not, because people thought she was one of those vicious dogs, y'know? But they had fun. Someone brought an enormous intact male pittie into the dog area, and when he started tearing it up with a boxer in a sort of almost unfriendly way, everyone forgot about Tani's "leave my sister alone" noises.

Kai is doing great with potty training, and responds really fast when I correct her for mouthing or jumping. She sleeps all night long in her crate without a peep, and she has gotten much, much better about playing rough with my 2 year old. Things are awesome!

17
My Ball Python, Tasia, is having problems, and it's too late to reach a vet now, but I'm freaking out. Her history: she is about 1, I adopted her from the H.S. about three weeks ago or so. She came home from there getting ready to shed. She also came home from there with mites.  >:( I bathed her in betadine, disinfected the cage, did everything for mites. I then followed up with the H.S. vet and he saw her and gave her an injection. By then, the mites had already affected her shed, and it was patchy. I gave her some plain water soaks to help her along, per vet instructions. Her belly skin was the last to be ready - I didn't force it or pull it - I just left it all ragged, figuring she'd get it off herself. I fed her one week ago and she ate with no problems. I then left her alone to digest and finish her shed. Today, after a week, I took her out to clean her enclosure and OMG!! Her underbelly scales are mushy and brown, some are crusty and scabby looking and it is horrible!!! I don't know what is going on! Skin infection? Burn? She doesn't have a hot rock and I've been really careful about keep her enclosure safe from burn sources. Her under the tank heater has a carpet substrate over it and she doesn't get under the carpet (velcro). Any suggestions? I will try to photograph the areas, but she balls up really tighly and flinches when I try to get a look.  :'(  :'( Help!

18
Remembering those no longer with us. / Sidney, 1995-2008.
« on: March 12, 2008, 10:19:33 am »
 :'(

My brother in law just had to have his 13 year old aussie, and best friend, PTS. She had a huge tumor in her abdomen. She underwent extensive surgery to remove it, but it was malignant and pervasive. She was a sweet, loving puppy. Here's an excerpt from his e-mail to us last night...

"It was so hard to see Sid looking up at me while she sat on the vet's blanket, looking like she could get up and run around.  I was consumed by guilt, wanting to leave, but stayed to comfort her to the end.  This is a dog, my companion for the last 13 years."

I know Sidney will have a bunch of buddies to run with where she is now. Rest well, Sid. You're missed.

19
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / I need puppy 101 refresher!
« on: March 11, 2008, 10:52:12 am »
Kai is roughly 12-13 weeks old, and is an Aussie/Dobie mix -both smart and easily trained breeds, as far as I understand.

1. whining in crate - ignore it, or say comforting things like shhhhh? If I say comforting things, am I reinforcing the whining?

2. potty training - is there an average length of time this should take? Tani was a sssssllllooooo wwwww learner, maybe because she was already about 6 months when we found her as a stray. Just wondering what to expect with "normal" puppy development.

3. Best way to teach Kai that my 2 year old is not her puppy brother? She grabs his hands and knees and pulls him down to the ground. He's all bruised up and less than thrilled! How do I teach Kai that my son isn't a puppy and still keep my son interested in being with her without fearing puppy attacks?

4. Is she too young to start learning commands like sit, etc? She seems to be really super bright, and is taking to potty training well. She knows her name, too, which I was suprised at. I thought it would take longer.

I'll post again if I think of anything else. I just want to do it right while she's young and easier to train! Thanks!

20
We, too, are having one of those brilliant days! I clipped Kai's leash on to take her off to the vet, and the poor baby started crying! I thought the poor thing was scared of the leash or didn't want to go out. I go to comfort her and lo and behold, Mommie Dearest has clipped the leash TO HER EAR! Sweet Mother of Venus, did I feel like a completely horrible mommy!!! I can not believe I did that to my new puppy! So, we go about our day - vet, milkshakes for the (skin) boys, Starbucks for mommy, doggie store to order an I.D. tag. The doggie store is awesome. It's called Pawsarotti's and it's a little pet supply, slightly boutique-ish store. I love supporting local businesses and the owner is super nice. So, I got the tag ordered, picked out a skunk toy for Kai and a Flossie for Tani. Tani is addicted to flossies since her secret santa introduced them to us. You know how they are all curly, then at the very end there's a little loop that connects back to the flossie? Well, Miss Tani is enjoying the heck out of her treat, and suddenly she starts YELPING and hopping around! I freaked out, of course, and ran to her. I had no clue what might have happened! Is she choking? Did it cut her mouth? But she's hopping...not using her front foot...And what do I see there? She has somehow gotten her big fat toe and toe pad stuck in the little flossie loop! Poor sweetie! We are a house of geniuses here!!

21
Mixed Breed Pictures / And her name is....(with more pics!!)
« on: March 09, 2008, 11:46:24 pm »
Kai - meaning "forgiveness"   :D
At the kill shelter that she came from, all they do is give the dogs a bordatella shot for kennel cough, so Kai has had NO medical care. I'll get her in to the vet tomorrow. I'm pretty sure she has worms, and she needs to get going on her shots. Cross your paws that she is heartworm free!

Here are some pics...one of me and Tani (I haven't been brave enough to post my own face on here 'till now!). There is also one of Mika, the spotted kitty enjoying some sun with Tani. The rest are of Kai and my older kids.

22
Hubby and I have been going back and forth for months on getting another dog. I want one, he does but doesn't and hasn't been ready. A year ago he told me we could get a dog if I found a black dog with one blue eye, to match Tani, who also has one blue eye. Ha ha, honey - can you say needle in a haystack?? Then, a few days ago, he said, ok - we can get a dog, but it has to be an aussie female (knowing, probably, that I wouldn't go for it because I don't like all the grooming responsibiliti es!). WELL, on Sunday, I stumbled across - guess what - a 13 week old aussie/lab mix, black, with one BLUE eye and one BROWN eye!! How do I know the aussie part? Because the pup and her brother came in with the aussie mom as strays! They were in a kill shelter about an hour and a half away from us. My hubby said, "She's cute. I'm a man of my word - have a nice drive!" She is so cute, and Tani took to her right away. The puppy was immediately submissive and flopped on her back, and they romped and played for a long time after that! I am so excited!
 
We have a Japanese name theme, so I need to find something I like with a good meaning that goes well with Tani, Kenji, Mika, Nishi and Tasia. Anyway, without further adieu, meet our new puppy, who is not yet named...

23
This is the title of the listing - I swear, I didn't alter it!!

CHIUHUHUWA/MIX NEED APOTION

Whatever they are, note that it's not adoption that they need, but aPOTION! Good lord.

24
Great Dane Discussions / I just responded to this Craigslist post...
« on: February 29, 2008, 08:52:59 pm »
This poor lady has a lot on her plate, and I send her an email and told her about BPO. I hope she joins us!

"I've always been an animal lover, I would rather be around animals than people. I've been a vegan my whole life and I won't wear any animal products on my body. I have rescued over 100 feral cats and paid out of my own pocket to have them fixed, people dump them on my property..it's so sick. I live on a ranch so these idiots think the cats will have a home, what they don't realize is there are MANY coyotes out there who will tear the cats apart..anyway on to the issue at hand. The reason I told you a little about myself is because I want you to understand that animals have ALWAYS come first in my life.

I have a dog that is paralyzed from the waist down, my vet says he is not in pain but because he is so HUGE I can't just make a little cart so he can walk around..he spends his life just laying down. I spend my life changing diapers on him, giving him medications and cleaning him up. I quit my job so I could take care of him full time. I'm exhausted. I have no one to talk to and I am so depressed, I don't know what to do. I know this is not a good life for my dog, but I can't put him down, he's my best friend. There has to be a solution does anyone know of anything? He will play with me with his front paws, he will play tug of war with chew toys, he's so responsive, I can't kill him just because he can't walk..it doesn't seem right.

Regardless I can't physically walk into my vets office and put my dog down, I would probably have a heart attack and pass out. I just watched my mother die of breast cancer and I can't watch my dog die as well.

Does anyone else have something similiar going on right now? He's a great dane and he weighs 180 pounds, I made him a cart out of a wheel chair so he could walk but I can't get him into it by myself.

Please don't bother sending me mean emails, I won't respond. I'm doing the best I can, and you don't know what I'm going through right now. You may call me selfish, but why would I kill my dog simply because he can't walk? It's cruel and it's the easy way out. If my dog is not in pain why would I do something like that?

I've paid for extensive testing on him and my vet has assured me he's not in any pain.

I guess what I am looking for is support or someone who's gone or going through the same thing to maybe give me tips or ideas. Does anyone know of a specialist that I can take my dog to that can help me a little more? I don't think my vet knows what he's doing and he doesn't seem to care about my dog.

I want to triple check to see if he's in pain, because if he's hurting or suffering in anyway, that would change everything, I would NEVER keep him alive if I knew he was suffering.

It's so much work just to change his diapers because he's so huge. I can't leave to go anywhere because he will bark non stop literally from morning till night, I have been evicted and I am not sure what to do now. That's why I had to quit my job and stay home to take care of him.

If you can give me some help ( advice ) I would be forever grateful.

Please don't tell me to contact the great dane rescue, I rescued a dane from them and my dog had a life threatening disease and was near death when I took him to UC Davis, come to find out they knew he had this disease and didn't tell me. This is not the same dane that is paralyzed. I still have the dane from the great dane rescue, I don't believe in giving up a pet, but I won't rescue from them again, this is just MY experience with them, they maybe a good organization but I had a horrible time.

Thanks for your help in this matter."

25
Anything Non-Dog Related / A new family member, but NDR!
« on: February 23, 2008, 09:56:50 am »
When I went to the local humane society to drop off a volunteer application, I saw that they had a ball python for adoption. So, since hubby doesn't want another dog (yet), we are proud to introduce Tasia Ladysnake! Hubby is so happy that she won't poop on the floor and chew on the furniture!

26
This is wierd. About two weeks ago, hubby, kids and I were going out to dinner. While driving, hubby noticed a guy laying on a parking lot next to his car. We zipped over, and helped the guy up. He could NOT stand on his own, and was VERY unstable. He said he had just started a new heart med but we are guessing he washed it down with a shot of something. Anyway, he said he was ok to drive - the meds only affect his "motor skills". HELLO?? He turned over his keys to hubby, and hubby drove him, his groceries and his little paw home while I followed in our car with the kids. We got him inside his house and brought in his groceries, and he promised he'd call his doctor. Anyway, we were proud of ourselves and felt really good about undoubtedly saving lives that night - can you imagine if he had driven himself home? Yikes! So yesterday, I found a lady on line (through Freecycle - don't know if they have it in Canada. It's a message forum for giving away stuff via the "one man's trash is another man's treasure" method) who was GIVING AWAY a 100 gallon aquarium and stand!! It's worth at least a thousand bucks! We are avid aquarists, and our 55 gallon salt water tank obviously was unable to move with us to California from Florida. Anyway, she picked US to get the tank!!!! How awesome is that??

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General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / A chuckle at my expense...
« on: February 16, 2008, 08:37:25 pm »
So, I'm tucking my son in to bed tonight. Lights are off except for a softly glowing night light. I as I move towards his bed, I see all the shapes of strewn stuffed animals all over the floor. In my exasperated mom voice, I say "Mason, why do you have these all over the floor??" He doesn't answer. I huff and sigh, and reach down to pick up some at random. One over on the left - a platypus, and one sticking out from under his bed. Then, I lose my stern mom facade and yelp, because the stuffed animal under the bed is warm, soft and wet (but not like poo - thank god!). Poor Tani - I grabbed her snout!! It scared the bejeezus outta me!!

28
http://www.kninekountry.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=KK&Product_Code=82801-1&Category_Code=RDT

This thing is so fun, and if you check out the rest of their website, they have all different shapes of toys for all sizes of dogs. The prices aren't bad, either!

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General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / I REALLY want another dog!!
« on: February 12, 2008, 06:21:05 pm »
So as you may know, my hubby and I have been going back and forth on this issue. He is on the fence about it, but last week was perusing local shelter listings and sending me links. We followed up on one big boy, a black goldendoodle. Turns out he had just been adopted that same day. Wasn't meant to be - that's ok. So I start telling hubby about three dogs in a shelter about an hour away, and he's back to not wanting to do it right now. I'm still working on him. (Grrr...) Anyway, there's one boy that I really really really want to meet. The shelter said he's super-mellow and laid back. He was a stray and came in all skinny and flea bitten. They said he's the kind of dog that would not care if one of the kids crawled over him. He sounds only perfect!! He's a dane/am. bulldog mix, approximatly 3 years old. I have to get my hubby to come around! The shelter he's at hasn't been a kill shelter in 2 years, but currently they have 87 dogs and are going to have to start PTS puppers due to overcrowding. I talked to the adoption coordinator and she's really upset about it. Anyway, here he is... What do you think?

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General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Um, question for Lorim2
« on: February 07, 2008, 01:45:51 am »
I can't figure out what is happening in your avatar picture! It looks like Marley is being kidnapped by a dementor from Harry Potter!

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