Alaska

Everybody wants another dog. Most of us regularly surf rescue sites for entertainment. There's nothing wrong with that, but giving in to the temptation every time you see a cute puppy is not responsible. The pup you already have needs your attention now. Once you've invested time in training him, once he's past adolescence, once you can honestly say that he's a well-behaved member of society...then is the time to consider adding another pup to your family. Sometimes fate drops a dog on our doorstep when the time isn't right and we can't in good conscience turn the dog away, but that's a different situation.

Forgot to mention that patio doors don't come in standard sizes so you will want to measure your patio door pretty carefully before you order the dog door. Those websites have good instructions for measuring. Also, at least in my case the patio door has two tracks (glass door and screen door) and multiple lips that form those tracks, so even after you get your door you may find yourself fooling around with different ways to fit it into the tracks and their associated lips. In summer I have the dog door line up with the edge of the screen door and in winter I move it so it lines up with the edge of the glass door. And it took a shim to make it work. Just a warning that the whole patio door project can turn out to be a little more complicated than it seem. The customer service folks at Moore Pet were helpful.

Except for Teacup Agility

I bought mine from Moore Pet. Between their website and www.petdoors.com you should be able to find all the information you need about the different types and qualities of pet door.

I posted this in another thread, but it really belongs here. This is a great site for figuring out what parks and park-like areas are dog-friendly: Hike With Your Dog. Not only that, he has lots of suggestions for where to go NEAR parks that are not so dog friendly themselves, a state-by-state summary of whether dogs are allowed in state park campgrounds (I was shocked to learn there are some states where they are not!), and lots of suggestions for cool dog vacations (if you like hiking). My only gripe is that he does not distinguish between on-leash and off-leash when it comes to dog-friendly areas, and as any dog will tell you, there is a HUGE difference in the fun factor between those two.

I think what's concerning some of us is that your posts seem to be all about your needs and wants, without really discussing the needs of your dogs. All of us here care a lot about dogs or we wouldn't be here, and we certainly understand how hard it is to be separated from our dogs. That said, perhaps you might find some peace in this situation if you focus less on your own desires and more on doing what's best for the dogs you love.

Teach the dog that the toy is out of play until you tell them to "get it". With a little work, you should be able to leave the toy on the floor, or even toss it over the dog's head, and the dog will ignore it until you say so. That way you can reward with the toy when you want ("Get it!") but in the meantime the dog is focused on you. Agility folks teach this to their dogs so the handler can run with a toy in their hand, or place one somewhere on the course as a target, yet keep the dog's focus on the handler. They proof it by scattering toys all over the course - a dog trained this way will run the course ignoring all the toys until directed to one. You could start by setting the toy down near you and rewarding the dog for looking at you instead of the toy.

Check out this site: Dog Vacation Ideas

How about a Canine Country Getaway at Glen Highland? "The Canine Country Getaway location is an extended part of Glen Highland Farm acreage set aside for people who like to vacation with their dogs. The land was once home to the Iroquois Indians who lived near the beautiful Butternut Creek, a huge curvy stream filled with trout, abundant wildlife, endangered butterflies and birds. The Creek winds through 175 acres of rolling meadows and winding trails and our 2-acre spring-fed pond..."

I don't think that's a valid rumor. The "new" lepto vaccine (as of 2004) was Lepto Vax 4 from Fort Dodge. Pfizer has since bought Fort Dodge, discontinued Lepto Vax 4, and come out with a similar product called Vanguard L4. These are both what we've been calling individual vaccines, i.e. they only act on lepto strains. Both Fort Dodge and Pfizer also packaged lepto in a combination vaccine. Pfizer's Vanguard Plus 5 L4 is a 5-way (DA2PP) vaccine with the 4 lepto serovars as well. I'm guessing that's the one you're thinking of. Hopefully Mark will be along shortly to correct me if I got something wrong....

Me too. That story stuck with me, and as soon as I moved to an area where lepto was present and where my border collies have daily contact with livestock and wildlife, I started vaccinating for it (as local vets recommend). On the other hand, my parents have a toy poodle who had a severe reaction to her first, and so far only, lepto vaccination. The dog has no contact with livestock, very little with wildlife, and never swims in water that could be contamined. Yet the kennel they have used and been happy with for years now insists that all dogs be current on lepto to stay there, which I find ludicrous. I strongly advised them to find a new kennel, and eventually they did.

Leash. I have a similar problem. Once I finally accepted that I really did have the problem, I invested in a 26' flexi. My end hooks to a carabiner hooked to a loose belt around my waist. The dog has a ton of freedom and I have my hands free, so I can enjoy my walk almost as much as if I were off leash I can reliably predict the situations where the dog can be trusted off leash. In all other situations, i.e. if there is any doubt whatsoever, we go on leash. The bolting incidents are nerve-wracking and heart-breaking. I can't tell you how much less stressful my life has become since I finally accepted this approach. We are working on perfecting our recall, and I do mean perfecting. Until we get there, and it could take years for this dog, the flexi strategy stays in place. As a side note, I find flexis to be a nightmare when there is more than one dog on a flexi or more than one human present (off-leash humans always seem to get tangled up - off-leash dogs don't seem to have that problem). Luckily, I don't have to deal with this on my walks.

The lepto vaccine is definitely available individually. The one I use is called LeptoVax 4 (protects against 4 strains of lepto). You may want to review the AAHA 2006 Vaccination Recommendations for recommended vaccination intervals and which vaccines are considered core vs non-core vs not recommended.

Partly it depends on whether it's more important to you to enjoy watching two dogs who are bonded to each other, or whether you want a strong bond of your own with each dog. Personally, I want to build that bond between me and each dog, so I wouldn't add another until the bond with the first dog is pretty solid. If the first dog is a puppy, that can take quite a while. I concur with others that having two dogs is a good idea if you can manage it, but I also agree with those who suggested that the ideal order to build your family is is adult dog first, then add puppy (or another adult).

Doesn't sound like it. Here's what it says on Eric's For Sale page: Free dog: "I have had her for a while now and she shows no interest in working at all." Mother of non-reg pups (Rosie): "She is working full-time on our ranch."

Like everyone else, I really like the current setup. On the other hand, it's a perennial problem here for new people to figure out how to post pictures, and if they choose the option of uploading their pictures here directly (rather than linking to a photo on a site like Flickr), I find the viewing experience much less enjoyable. The thumbnail that shows in their post is too small, and if you click on it, it often takes forever to load and resize, so I've learned to just avoid doing that. I think it would be a huge improvement if you could make it easier for folks who don't or won't have Flickr-type accounts to include their pictures in their posts.

Here you go: Eric's lambing boot camp. Not yet updated for 2010, but he seems to do something like this each year.

I agree on the bloodwork. Regarding poor eating and starving oneself to death, it seems like I've heard about dogs who have to eat standing up because of some esophageal dysfunction. By standing up, I mean almost vertically, with the front legs perched on something and the food bowl even higher. They have to be trained to stand like this. Prior to being diagnosed, they were indeed starving themselves. Can't remember the details of the problem, but maybe this will trigger something for your vet. Good luck.

So sorry to hear this. I feel like your Bear and Wick were two of the first dogs I got to "know" through these boards. I hadn't looked at Bear's website in a while, but I still had it bookmarked. I just went back for a look to remember what an amazing and well-rounded gentleman he was.

While I am a huge fan of CU, it may not be the most direct method to address these specific issues. For a better recall, I recommend the Really Reliable Recall DVD (or do a search for various versions of RRR on the web). If you have spent time trying to train loose leash walking using the normal methods (be a tree, etc.) and it hasn't worked, you may want to get some kind of training aid to help create the behavior you want to reinforce. By trainng aid, I'm thinking of something like the Easy Walk harness. As for jumping on people, I am coming around to the viewpoint that for a dog who can't seem to resist this behavior, you should firmly correct each and every time it happens. (In case it's not obvious from the preceding sentence, that means you must enforce a rule that it is never okay to jump on anyone, yourself included.) By all means, follow Kristine's advice and do the CU program too. It's just that I think you'll need to do more than CU to improve these specific behavioirs.

The barking I find most irritating is the lonely, unanswered bark of a "family dog" left out in the backyard 24/7.

Greg Derrett Moe Strenfel

Thanks Susan. It worked on my computer. The interview with Aled Owen starts at about 15:00. The first part of the interview is mostly about sheep, rather than dogs, and I found it pretty inane (Rick: "Should tourists avoid touching electric fences?" Aled: "Yes, that would probably be a good idea.") The discussion about dog training starts at 34:30, before which Rick warns listeners with border collies to put them up because...um, what exactly does he think will happen when your dog, snoozing in your living room, hears Aled's whistle? (Mine continued snoozing.) Aled proceeds to train Rick to respond to his whistles - over the phone, mind you. If you've ever wondered what a barbie collie would sound like if it could talk, Rick, playing the part of a novice sheepdog, nails it. At 44:00, the discussion turns back to sheep (Rick: "How can a tourist tell the difference between male and female sheep?"). Much discussion ensues about how to decide what sheep to eat, and the different names for edible sheep (Rick: "What is mutton?"). Finally, we get a reprise of Rick's barbie collie impersonation, and then it's (thankfully) over. I hope Aled gets a few tourists out of the deal.

If you find this "boring", I feel sorry for you: I give my dogs 5 or 10 tosses with the Chuckit every morning before I leave for work, and I don't care who knows it!

When we are backpacking for more than a couple of days at a stretch, the dogs get two equal (kibble) meals morning and evening. In between those meals they are exercising steadily and have unlimited access to relieve themselves. When I am at work (going to the office to work, that is), the dogs get one (raw) meal in the evening, a pattern set when they had to be crated for long periods while I was working. I didn't feel it was fair to fill their bellies when they had no way to relieve themselves. They now have free access to a fenced yard all day, but I still feed only in the evening. Our morning time together is reserved for a short but intense Chuckit workout, and just as I would not eat right after a workout, I don't feed my dogs a meal while their metabolisms are still cooling down (they do get a small treat before I leave). Also, I often vary the evening mealtime by several hours or more. Sometimes the dogs eat before the humans and sometimes after. Sometimes the evening walk comes before the meal, but occasionally it doesn't. I feel that letting mealtimes and their associated rituals vary helps dogs avoid becoming dependent on a certain routine, which is important for our itinerant lifestyle. It seems to work. My dogs are enthusiastic eaters, but they give no sign of anticipating a meal until I actually begin the preparation.