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[speedy_gonzales]

Oh boy, we spend at least $2-3k a year on kennel fees alone. I too try not to think about it too much.

However, doggie just came up to me with her 'fetch' toy in her mouth and the sweetest, most incredibly hopeful expression on her face. She's worth every penny. Gotta go play fetch!

[biomancer]

Oh boy, we spend at least $2-3k a year on kennel fees alone. I too try not to think about it too much.

However, doggie just came up to me with her 'fetch' toy in her mouth and the sweetest, most incredibly hopeful expression on her face. She's worth every penny. Gotta go play fetch!

Exactly!  I figure that the money spent on Biopuppy more than offsets the costs I would be paying for psychotherapy, antidepressants, and a gym membership.  She's absolutely worth it.

[aandsdean]

Oh boy, we spend at least $2-3k a year on kennel fees alone. I too try not to think about it too much.

However, doggie just came up to me with her 'fetch' toy in her mouth and the sweetest, most incredibly hopeful expression on her face. She's worth every penny. Gotta go play fetch!

Exactly!  I figure that the money spent on Biopuppy more than offsets the costs I would be paying for psychotherapy, antidepressants, and a gym membership.  She's absolutely worth it.

We feel the same way.

BTW, the aandsdogs eat over 100 pounds of food per month.

[zarathustra]

I've had zarapup 6 mos. now and I'm astonished that cats have this reputation for curiosity when it seems obvious to me now that dogs are way more curious. 

I'm now on zarapup's 4th harness, 3rd leash, 3rd doggy bed, 3rd gate and endless numbers of chew treats. Yeah, those "Everlasting" solid dog treats that fit into the double-sided rubber donut, that used to last days? Those now get devoured within the hour. 

So I estimate I've spent about $2k on her so far, in addition to my kitties, and like Infopri, I don't really want to know how much I really spend!

[anthroid]

Breakthrough! 

Anniedog and I have been working, just for the last 2 days, on the "Watch!" command.  When I give her the command, she is supposed to turn to watch my face right away.  She has to hold it for a while, and then I give her a treat.  This is, according to Patricia McConnell, a way to get her away from her on-leash aggressive behavior.  She is supposed to learn to associate the command with a goodie and, when she is distracted (by a noise or, as time goes on, another dog) she is supposed to automatically turn to me for reward rather than barking and lunging and other "feisty fido" bad things.  McConnell says this can take several months and that we should anticipate no neighborhood walks for several weeks at the least. 

Well, we started practicing inside and, not surprisingly, Anniedog learned it right away.  Then, this afternoon, I took her into the backyard (off-leash) and practiced some more.  She did great (even sitting in anticipation of the treat while watching my face).  The next door neighbor started up his car; she took off barking and I called out "Annie Watch!" and she ran right back to me!!!!

Then I took her for a walk tonight, treats in my brand-spanking-new treat pouch ($7.49 at PetSmart!), and, while we did not encounter any dogs, we did encounter distractions, and "Annie Watch!" worked every single time.  I am hopeful that we can extinguish this leash-aggressive behavior quickly.

PS  I have another session with my dog behaviorist tomorrow--we'll work on this, and on Anniedog obeying when I call her to come.  Seems reasonable...

[outlier]

Breakthrough! 

I've been lurking on this thread for a week or so (we have three dogs), and now seems like a good time to jump in and say congratulations!

And best wishes to White Dog. I came in after he was ill, and didn't read back through the whole thread, but I hope he makes a good recovery.

[london1]

The Watch or Watch Me command does work wonders for getting the dog's attention back on the person.  I'm glad AnnieDog is doing so well!

[jossi66]

Congrats to Anniedog and hoping that White Dog is hanging in there.

[pink_]

Pink_puppy had the scoots last night, and I was dreading having to take her to the vet today, but this morning, she was back to normal.  Did business as usual, so hopefully whatever it was has passed.  I'll keep an eye on her this afternoon to be sure.

[infopri]

Thanks, jossi66.  White Dog is still with us and still looking like he's not quite ready to call it quits on life yet.  He has gotten bored with hamburger and rice, though--although not enough to eat his regular food.  I added oatmeal to get some fiber into him, which worked for about a day.  Today, a small can of yummy cat food made the burger and rice much more appealing.  Who knows what (and whether) he'll eat tomorrow?

(I know refusal to eat can be a sign of "I've had enough and am calling it quits," but White Dog has always been a picky eater--and he prefers to graze, like a cat, which he has not been able to do since Big and Little Dogs joined our household some years ago--and boredom with the same food day after day has been a problem for quite some time.)

[jossi66]

The St. Bernard had diarrhea all weekend and I went the burger n rice route for a couple of days, which seemed to help.  Her troubles did not, however, curb her appetite in the least.  She is a completely unrepentant beggar of the worst kind, and I have yet to find anything -- ANYTHING -- that she will not eat.  Hence (I think) the runs.  I pulled a sock out of her one time, an image that haunts me to this day.

Glad to hear that White Dog is holding his own, Infopri!

[aandsdean]

The St. Bernard had diarrhea all weekend and I went the burger n rice route for a couple of days, which seemed to help.  Her troubles did not, however, curb her appetite in the least.  She is a completely unrepentant beggar of the worst kind, and I have yet to find anything -- ANYTHING -- that she will not eat.  Hence (I think) the runs.  I pulled a sock out of her one time, an image that haunts me to this day.

Glad to hear that White Dog is holding his own, Infopri!

One time we were walking George and he started snootling a can-coozie (one of those soft foam ones, made out of 3/8" think neoprene like a wetsuit).  We moved him along and looked to see if he'd left the coozie, but it was gone.

We didn't think anything of it until it erupted from him several days later onto the kitchen floor.  It had NOT been digested, though his juices plainly gave it their best shot.

[jossi66]

So too the sock.  Not digested in the least. 

Guess I should count my blessings not to have had to deal with a can-coozie.   Yet.

[infopri]

The St. Bernard had diarrhea all weekend and I went the burger n rice route for a couple of days, which seemed to help.  Her troubles did not, however, curb her appetite in the least.  She is a completely unrepentant beggar of the worst kind, and I have yet to find anything -- ANYTHING -- that she will not eat.  Hence (I think) the runs.  I pulled a sock out of her one time, an image that haunts me to this day.

Glad to hear that White Dog is holding his own, Infopri!

I hope your St. Bernard is feeling better, jossi66!

We used to call White Dog a goat, in his youth.  He ate all kinds of inedible things--just about anything not made of metal was fair game for him.  He ate several toys (until we learned to buy him only Kongs); pencils, sticks, and almost anything else made of wood; carpeting; rolls and rolls of toilet paper over the years; paper towels picked out of the garbage (before we learned to put all our indoor garbage cans up on tables or behind doors), even when they were soaked in cleaning fluids or filthy; a huge portion of an unplugged electric mattress pad (although he did, thankfully, leave the wires behind); lord only remembers what else.  Once, he even got into a package of Imodium.  He must have a cast-iron stomach, because none of it ever made him sick.

So I suppose that, after a lifetime of such a varied diet, it's little wonder he gets bored by the same old thing every day.  ;-)   (P.S.  It turns out that he ate only half the cat-food-fortified breakfast I gave him today.  Tonight we'll try burger with brown rice.)

[jossi66]

Thanks, Infopri, she seemed better for much of yesterday.  The acid test will be what I find when I get home tonight.

She does not so much eat stuff as chew it up (she is about 1.5 years old so part of her puppy activities, I am told).  She chewed up the mattress on one of the beds, destroyed a couch, and chewed the hand off an heirloom marble statue that has been in my family for years.  She will also take empty cans off kitchen surfaces and chew them into unrecognizable scrap metal.  Occasionally, she swallows stuff, but so far has not really gotten sick from anything. 

Another one of my dogs always has to grab something off the counter and run around with it when I get home so I will chase her.  Whatever is to hand (or mouth?) will do.  Scrub brushes, dryer sheets, and garbage bags are big favorites.