Big Paws Only Dog Forums

The groomers associated with our kennel do a process called a "shedicure" that really works to get all that undercoat out.  They do a thorough bath, then a high-velocity dry, and then use a series of brushes, one of which looks like a fine-toothed rake that really pulls all the hair out.  Then they finish with a thing that looks like a pumice stone.  Takes several hours and costs about $75 for a big dog, but definitely reduces the shedding and smell to a minumum for several months.

TY. Im in Northern Ontario and have never heard of this breed. When I looked up pictures on line I was overwhelmed by the resemblance. We were told Sadie was pure breed Great Dane but to our surprise she turned out to be too short, too stocky and not slobbery enough. LOL Everyone said she was mixed with Black Lab. It seems much more interesting to think she may be part Catahoula.Sadi e was bought in North Carolina so Im guessing the mix could be correct.
Cuttles

I LOVE Catahoulas, but they vary a lot depending on breeders. Some are smaller like Australian cattle dogs, some are taller and lankier and look sort of like field style Labs.  My asst. manager at work has a Catahoula/Border Collie mix she's a 50lb dog with a short coat, pointy face and merle and white markings.

My Earnest is Lab and Great Dane, I'm sure because I saw both his parents.  He's Dane build, tall and lanky, maybe a little stockier, but with a very Lab face.  I got really interested in this mix because of him, most of the ones I encountered the Lab side didn't reduce the size much.
When he was a pup our vet said she would have sworn he was pure Catahoula, I'm sorry I don't have puppy pics (didn't have a camera).

He's the merle dog in my avatar, here's a black and white that really shows his build, he's about a year in this pic, so he's not quite mature, he's filled out a little and gotten somewhat taller.

What about the BPO logo with a simple "BIGGER IS BETTER"

Or "No, it's a dog, is that a rat?"

Our smoke alarm in the hall goes off if you take a shower and forget to close the bathroom door afterward- so the steam doesn't come out of the bathroom.  Well, the first time it happened Earnest got excited and kept running to me so I yelled "fire drill" and sent him to the back door.  He caught on right away, now I let the alarm go off on purpose once a week or so, and at the first beep he's down by the back door.
He also goes if I yell "fire drill" even if the alarm's not going off.
Phyfe stays in the basement bedroom with my son, he stands at the door at the top of the steps (which is right next to where Earnest is) and barks. 
I figure ALL our kids, fur and skin, should know what to do just in case.

I have another question. If the prong collar doesn't hurt a dog, then what is the theory behind its effectiveness? This is not an attack on anyone, I would like to think that I can post on this board without negativity, I think we can all help educate each other here. I don't think it's necessary for anyone to call someone else's favorite training collar a piece of "crap", so I am not going to do that. But since the prong collar seems to be the preferred training aid for a lot of people, I would like to hear from you guys why you think it is so effective without being painful to the dog. How does that work out? Why does it stop a huge dog from pulling you?

The only corrective-training-aid-whatever type collar I have used with a dog of my own was a choke chain over ten years ago when I took my husky to obedience school; it was the required collar for the class. For the dogs I have now I use my voice and a flat buckle collar, and I can walk two at a time and not get pulled down the street. I guess I am lucky in that I haven't had to use any extra training devices.

I know that none of us would ever put our beloved dogs in a situation that we thought would be damaging. We love our dogs. I am asking questions about the prong collar because it makes me personally feel uncomfortable. I have had someone do a demonstration for me with my sister's dog Winona who was a very strong puller. It stopped her from pulling, and I from what I saw it was because she was scared to death. But I don't think any of you guys would use it if you thought it was hurting your dogs. So I am just wondering how/why it works.

This is the best article I've seen explaining how and why a prong collar works, both physically and psychologicall y:
http://www.flyingdogpress.com/prong.html

She says this, in part:

The prong collar, or any other properly applied stimulus, allows the dog a clear choice. All collars work by creating unpleasantness for the dog---the collar tightens, which the dog dislikes, and therefore he is motivated to act in such a fashion that the collar does not tighten. Depending on the dog, unpleasantness (the collar tightening) sufficient to motivate him may be nothing more than the pressure of a flat buckle collar. Just as some people react dramatically when they stub their toe, and others with just a whimper, dogs, too, display a wide range of tolerance to physical stimuli.

A useful analogy is that of a hearing aid. For a person with normal hearing, a softly spoken request is enough to elicit a response. Impaired hearing requires a louder tone, and some people cannot hear well at all without a hearing aid. To continue to speak to a person who is not wearing his hearing aid is a frustrating experience for both, and to become exasperated with that person for not responding would be the height of insensitivity to the needs of that individual

Read the whole article- and take a look at some of the others on her site.  I found her book to be a really interesting viewpoint on dog training.  She is very in tune with why dogs do things, and how to show them what you want.

Ok, here's another one of my "compare the attitude" questions.
How many of you use a prong collar? Plastic or metal? How many think it's an awful device and wouldn't think of it?  If you use it, is it all the time, just for exciting places, or just for training and you'll use something else later? What about Gentle Leaders or Haltis, and if you use one because it's more "humane" does your dog get happy when they see it or do they try to get away? Will you always use it?
Anybody use any other "devices"?

Whenever anyone talks about a persistent skin condition I always like to tell them about Rachel.  Rachel was a huge black Great Dane I got as a puppy in Utah.  When she was 2 we moved to Florida.  As time went by Rachel developed a horrible skin condition. Her hair fell out, she had ugly sores that started out small and got large and infected.  The vet ruled out mange, and other infectious causes. The diagnosis was "flea allergy" and she was started on corticosteriod injections.
Nothing helped. I discontinued the treatments as she was not improving.
I was in the process of moving, and needed somewhere for Rachel to stay while my new house was getting ready, and asked a friend to keep her for me.  She said sure, but because Rach was so large, she'd have to spend a lot of time outside.  I thought, oh great, put a dog with flea allergy out in the sand- but I really had no choice, so I agreed.  Then we discussed heartworm prevention. Rachel was on Heartguard, my friend's dogs were on filarabits.  I told my friend to just switch Rachel to her dog's meds, and I'd chip in, to make things easy.
A month later Rachel was on the mend- her hair was growing back and the sores were healing.  Turned out it was Ivermectin (the ingredient in Heartguard) that was the problem.  The vet insisted it couldn't be, even after he saw the great improvement in her skin.
Since then I've suggested to quite a few people to change their heartworm or flea preventative when a skin condition did not improve, and enough people found that to be the problem that it's worth investigation.  A lot of vets don't realize that in some dogs these products can cause awful problems.

Oh, the joys of Petsmart! People there are so weird sometimes.
I had a lady who told me what a shame it was that I didn't crop Earnest's ears- 1. he's not purebred, most people only get Dane because he's so big- he has a very Lab face, if you know Danes you can see he's not pure  2. I happen to like natural ears, and even if he was pure, he'd still have his ears. 
I have had more than one person argue with me when they ask what he is- I say 1/2 Lab, 1/2 Dane, and they say "NO, can't be, he's.... I KNOW WHAT HE IS, I SAW BOTH HIS PARENTS.  He can't be Dane because he's merle, he can't be lab because he's not black, he must have some chow because his merle spots continue onto his tongue...
I gave up. Now when some one asks I tell them he's a rare Lochbuie Lurcher imported from England, very expensive.  Cracks me up when the know-it-alls are so impressed.... "Oh, yes, very fine example of the breed"...... LOL!!!