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Messages - Vapidfire

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1
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Re: Look what we picked up
« on: July 02, 2009, 01:11:54 pm »
Hi Patrick,

  The term "Lethal white" is a bit of a misnomer. The genes are not lethal. I actually prefer to term "Double Merle" which is what they are. They are a dog that got two of the merle genes when bred.

Which is why you do not breed a merle or a merle or a harlequin to a merle in the dane world.

The term "lethal" came about due to the fact that white puppies were often culled.

As far as health goes the double merle genes effect sight and hearing the most. If I can get these two to put on some weight so they are not dangerously thin then they should grow up to be happy, healthy dogs.

They survived the night and we are continuing to pump food into them.

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General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Look what we picked up
« on: July 02, 2009, 01:01:40 am »
Hello Everyone,

 
  As most of you know I'm very active in giant breed dog rescue. I work for a rescue based out of Washington that is a national rescue and I coordinate things here in Arizona. Rescue work can be wonderful, fulfilling, and a some might say amazing. It can also make you physically ill, cause you to randomly burst into tears and on occasion make you contemplate murder.

Tonight was one of the latter sorts.

We have picked up two "lethal white" seven week old great dane puppies. At seven weeks they are about the size of most 3-4wk old great dane puppies. They are both female, both deaf and both have some vision though our vet will have to determine how much vision they have.

You can find pictures of the sisters here:  http://community.webshots.com/album/573328528otqKmx

I have seen dogs dead for a week that look better than these two girls. It is going to be an uphill battle for these ones and I could really use all the positive vibes you can throw at me.

We are stuffing them full of puppy formula, satin balls, wet food, goats milk, yoghurt and anything else I can think of.  They will be going to the vet in the morning to check for internal cooties amongst other things.

We have not decided on names for them yet. I keep telling myself not to get attached so it won't hurt so much if one or both do not make it. However how can you not? I have already lost that particular battle.


 

3
Helpful Groups & Dogs in Need / Fila Brasileiro for adoption in AZ
« on: July 01, 2009, 05:05:15 pm »
   A few weeks ago we had two male fila's come down from Washington State. They are the brothers of our female Kaylee. We are keeping one of the boys, Keegan. We had thought that a home was lined up for Cathen the other boy but the home has fallen through.

So Cathen is now looking for another home. He is currently in Arizona but we can arrange transport to the Las Vegas Area or the Southern CA area. He will be turning a year old next month! he is neutered, up to date on shots and micro chipped already.  He is good with female dogs, non-dominant male dogs and children. He is very interested in cats! he might be ok with an older cat that won't run from him but would be better placed in a home without feline friends.

He has already started to come into temperament and will need to go to someone who has thoroughly done their research on the breed. If anyone is interested in adopting this boy please send an email to "gnomishridingd ogs@gmail.com"  and we can discuss it.

4
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / New kids in the pack
« on: June 05, 2009, 02:49:04 pm »
Hi Everyone,

 Another day another change! The two young puppies moved into a foster home that has less going on. I would have loved to keep them here but I take in so many problem dogs that they really needed a calmer more safe environment.

They are doing well on goats milk and we will be visiting them frequently.

Today we made the five hour drive up to Las Vegas to pick up Kaylee's two brothers that have been named Keegan and Cathen.

I was really glad to be home and out of the car! introductions are going well though Kaylee is being a jerk like she always is. She is very possessive of her people and tries to "guard" them from other dogs. Mostly she is just a jealous witch.

Both the boys are absolute lovebugs and we are already attached to them. Luckily they are both staying here so it's ok.

Will be interesting walking three Fila Brasileiro's and a Newfoundland every night!


5
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Puppies are cute
« on: May 27, 2009, 08:52:38 pm »
Hi Everyone,

 More changes around here! gosh it's like a merry-go-round lately. Zeier got adopted by a wonderful family before we could really even get to know him. He is going to be the only pet and be spoiled rotten.

 He was a sweetheart of a dog and I always like the older dogs they are just so calm and dignified.

In other news we just got two five week old english mastiff puppies in. So introducing Smith, a fawn male with a black mask and Rose a brindle female with a black mask.

The breeder had an accidental litter where a brother got in with his sister. He didn't want to cull the puppies but didn't want to deal with them either.

They appear to be perfectly fine except for being young of course. Both of them are under socialised but they'll get plenty of that here amongst the cats, kids, other dogs, other animals.

I tried to get pictures of them earlier but none of them came out really well.

You can see some blurry photographs here though

http://pets.webshots.com/album/572528476oiSWdb

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General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Busy Busy Busy
« on: May 21, 2009, 10:40:02 am »
Hallo Everyone,

   Wow it's been busy here. Lincoln went in on Monday to get neutered and did very well - though everyone in the spay/neuter clinic wanted to steal him.

He has gotten better about not going to the bathroom in his crate! we're only having maybe one potty incident in there a week now.

He also seems to be doing better with general house manners, or we're doing better about not letting him have the opportunity to get into trouble.

We took him to the lake this past weekend and he had a blast there. He did think that my roommate was drowning though and tried to rescue him. However being a puppy his rescue attempt just ended up pushing the roommate under water. None the less - it was adorable.

We've placed the last of the "Round and Round and Round" Puppies the roommates kept bringing in. I've told them no more puppies until things have settled down. If they want a sibling for their dog I am fine with that. I'm going to encourage them later on to adopt an older rescue dog that won't need as much work - I don't like having young puppies in the house.

In other news I'm going to be picking up a rescue Boerboel this evening that should prove exciting. We're not sure how he dogs with cats and he may be dog aggressive so it could prove all kinds of fun.

Also Kaylee's two brothers Keegan and Mikhail are coming down from Washington in about two weeks. We are keeping Keegan and Mikhail might be staying here as well. Should prove hilarious to see them altogether again!

Kaylee proved yet again that she doesn't mind biting people. Last night she bit her third person, though all three times that she's bitten someone it was because they had bad intentions. This particular time was the worst though and she *really* wanted to kill the guy. I almost let her but thought better of it.



7
Hello everyone!

 We'll I consulted with an dog behaviorist friend of mine who consulted with a dozen different trainers around the country that she has worked with.

They sent me lots of ideas, some of which won't work. One of the things someone suggested was more exercise. However he's a 5mo old newfie puppy so there is only so much one can do. That combined with the sheer heat of Arizona (already in the 90's here.) it really limits the amount we can do outside.

The two suggestions that I felt might work are a combination of things.

One: Go back to going outside with him on "potty" trips and praise the heck out of him, giving him a treat when he does his business.

Two: If he messes in his crate, drag him out and put him immediately into another crate while his is being cleaned. Then he doesn't get the reward of coming out of his crate or going outside.

Hoping he'll get the idea that pottying outside means praise and goodies and pottying inside gets him no where and makes Mom mad.

8
I wish I was better at telling people off! because it's not just the musical puppies. They also brought in briefly two pet rats, they lost interest in them in less than a week. They've also brought in a ball python that they were interested in for less than a day and two kittens. The kittens are still here but I'm doing all the upkeep for them.

They are giving us $200 a month towards people food and $30 a month towards dog food. At first I was going to have them buy their own dog food but they feed the cheapest stuff they can get. Though neither of them is currently working so money is very tight for them. Now they pay me the $30 and I just feed the dogs all on natural balance.

They are both looking for jobs and I do enjoy having them here for the most part. There has been surprisingly few conflicts and annoyances considering. Really it's just the dog thing that makes me ticked off.

Though I will admit I was glad when the boxer/beagle, husky/lab, beagle/dobie puppies all went out. They were extremely hyper and annoying puppies (I don't deal well with hyper and stupid.) I really like the bloodhound puppy though she's a doll baby. The shepherd is really too young to have a personality though so will have to wait and see on that.

9
Hello Everyone,

  This is sort of on and off topic but I just needed to rant a little.

About six weeks ago we started to watch a dog for some people, a Shepherd mix named Remus. It was only suppose to be for about ten days. I didn't really know the people but they came over several times that first week to visit the puppy. In that week we became friends so I didn't say anything when ten days turned into two weeks and two weeks turned into three.

A couple of weeks ago they moved in with us since they still hadn't found another place to live and could no longer bunk on the floor of a mutual friends apartment.

So far they themselves have actually been really easy to deal with. The annoying situation is the dogs and other animals. Now I don't care what someone brings into the house as long as they take care of them.

They ended up with a bloodhound puppy from a breeder here in Arizona. About a week after that the breeder contacted us again. She still had one female puppy left that she could not find a home for so she offered to just give her to us. Since I'm involved with search and rescue and drug detection work I thought it would be a good opportunity.

So for a few days we had Cassandra (Roommates) and Tabitha (Ours). Yesterday Jared (one of the roommates) decided that
he'd really rather have a German Shepherd than a bloodhound.

So enter a 7wk old Male black and tan German Shepherd puppy. His parents are both AKC registered but the litter isn't. I didn't see the parents but according to the roommates dad is around 100-110lbs and Mom is around 80 so he should be a good sized shepherd. They've named him "Sfera Di Rumore" or "Rum" for short. The phrase itself is Italian for "Noise ball" since he doesn't seem to ever want to be quiet.

So this leaves me having to find a home for Cassandra since I don't want two bloodhounds. I didn't even want a bloodhound in the first place but well... Tabitha needed a home and the ears suckered me in.

I'm just a little annoyed at the musical dogs though. This is the forth puppy they have tried for a sibling for "Remus." They tried a boxer/beagle mix, a husky/lab mix, a beagle/doberman mix, the bloodhound and now the pure shepherd. I've put my foot down about the shepherd though, is long as they live here this is the last of the musical puppies.

I mean gesh no dog (except for my Kaylee of course) is perfect! you get some traits in any dog you don't like and you just work around them. You get the dog that you get and you learn to live with it. I don't particularly like the fact that my newfie pees everywhere including on himself all the time but I deal.

I'm not a shepherd person personally because I've never met one that wasn't high strung and neurotic but maybe this will be a learning experience for me too.


10
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Re: Update on Lincoln
« on: May 07, 2009, 05:27:29 am »
Well we are back to him using his crate as a privy. Really feel like tearing my hair out here. However now it's become a challenge and I'm not about to let a 5mo old puppy win.
I think he may be having issues with the number of dogs in the house. He's going to have to get over it though. I foster for a rescue so we always have dogs coming in and out.

11
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Update on Lincoln
« on: May 05, 2009, 01:14:54 pm »
Hello Everyone,

  Well it's been a tough week. We bounced back and forth on the decision to keep Lincoln or place him since he was driving me insane. For the last two days I was at the "I'm done with this" stage and wanted him gone.

I've put more thought into it though and decided I was not ready to give up on him yet. For one thing he has had four clean nights/days in his crate without accident! for another I realise in my saner moments that despite this issue I do actually love the stupid lug.

So I've talked to a friend who is a dog trainer and behaviorist and she's talking to some friends of hers and we're going to see what she says. For now I have him attached to the stairs on a lunge line. He has enough leash to get to the computer room, the hallway, and parts of the living room and dinning room. He is unable to reach the couch.

It's not a solution to the problem but it's a quick fix until a real solution is worked out. I've also made an appointment to have him neutered on the 18th of this month.

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General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Re: At wits end
« on: April 30, 2009, 11:40:28 am »
Just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't committed doggy murder yet!

We went back to crating him at night. He's had a couple of accidents in there so far but at least it's a big enough crate that he isn't laying in it. The idea of putting him in a smaller crate has crossed our minds but I know from past experience that he does not mind laying in his own waste so a smaller crate would just mean more baths.

This morning I've come to the conclusion that the accidents in his crate are him hoping that if he goes in the crate someone will let him out. So for the next week or so he's going to be spending a lot of time in his crate. I will let him out every hour or two to go to the bathroom but other than that it's crate time. If  he has an accident I'll clean it up but won't let him out of the crate.

We'll see if he figures out that peeing or pooping in there won't do him a darn bit of good.

13
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / Re: At wits end
« on: April 29, 2009, 05:11:49 am »
Hi,

 The crate thing he has been doing since the first day we got him. He's not fully potty trained but there are far less accidents in the house during the day because I let the dogs out every hour or so regularly.

Since he's not fully potty trained I understand there being accidents on the floor over night but the couch thing is brand new and just started over the past three days.

There was a major change in the house, we had two roommates move in. However that was a couple of weeks ago and the couch thing just started. Also they have two dogs but we've been babysitting those two dogs for over a month now (before the roomies moved in with us) so I don't think that would be effecting this behaviour.


14
General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws / At wits end
« on: April 29, 2009, 04:50:50 am »
Hello Everyone,
 
  I just need people to rant to as I'm at my wits end with Lincoln.

I've tried to show patience with this dog I mean gods know that Kaylee was not an easy puppy to deal with and her and I made it past the hump.

Lincoln is my husband's dog, he wanted a big fluffy dog and I love Newfies so it seemed the perfect match. He promised that he'd do all the training and everything with him. I knew he wouldn't so it doesn't bother me that that has fallen upon me. I actually enjoy training dogs so it works.

However Lincoln will go to the bathroom in his crate (both urine and other). He will then lay in it which means cleaning his crate and giving him a bath. Now I don't mean that he will do this if he has been in the crate over night. I mean the second the door closes he pees and lays in it even if it's been about 10 seconds. I cannot even crate him to feed him cause he will go to the bathroom.
It does not matter how big or small the crate is - he doesn't care if he is sleeping in his own waste.

So to solve this problem we just stopped crating him. I figured cleaning the tile or rug was easier than cleaning the crate and having to give the dog a bath at least once a day.

I've tried not to let it bother me that I have to clean up puppy accidents every morning. For the most part up until these last few days it hasn't.

I am now at my wits end though. Over the past three days he has been getting up onto the couch and pooping on the couch. He's not allowed up on the couch and will not get up there during the day if someone is awake.

To make matters worse he then steps all over it and spreads it around the couch then around the carpet beneath the couch. The last three mornings I've had to take all the cushion covers off, wash them, then scrub the carpet.

I am seriously not sure how much more of this I can handle.



15
Hello Everyone,

  Just thought I'd pop in and share some new pictures of the kids.

http://pets.webshots.com/album/571528803greiQh

We recently had two friends move in with us and along with them came a cat and two dogs. Remus is a mutt and a tiny thing at around 25lbs. Well tiny for this household anyway. Cassandra is a 13wk old bloodhound puppy and a total lovebug.

Our three are doing well and we're expecting Kaylee's brother to arrive sometime next week. We're unsure if we are going to keep him or find him a home locally but we're going to give it a couple of weeks to see how he fits in.

Both Lincoln and our roommates Bloodhound have started training classes (the same training class.) and are doing very well. Though I feel kind of silly for having shelled out $120 for a training class that is teaching him commands he already knows. I suppose the socialisation aspect will do him some good though. I've yet to attend a class though, I just send the hubby. I've met the trainer and her and I don't see eye to eye on things. She's a Petsmart trainer and a little bit to "warm and fluffy" for my tastes. Also she has a butter ball of a husky that doesn't listen to her at all. If you cannot make your own dog sit I'm not sure how you are qualified for teaching my dog to sit.

Of course Lincoln already knows "Sit" "Down" "Leave it" "Wait" "Stay" and "Focus" he's up to a five minute down stay now.  Unfortunately he's not reliable outside of the house if there are too many distractions. I'm hoping by taking him to class that will solve that particular issue.

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