Jen Lem

I've noticed using the word adopt seems to be a new trend with alot of breeders. On many classified sites on the net I look at alot of ads state "Purebred pups with papers only $800 adoption fee" I often wonder at this use of words myself! Jen and Pippin

Pippin came from a private rescue 4 hrs from me. Saw his pic on petfinder and got him. I was his 4th owner by the age of 6mths. He was abused badly and has limitations but I wouldn't trade him for anything.4 0f my 5 dogs are rescues, and all but Pip are older. My toy poodle was a puppy mill breeder, cage bound for 8 yrs. No one wanted her due to her age. Out of 62 dogs only the 4 oldest were left. Luckily all were adopted and she is a great pet. Go to a good rescue if you decide to go that route and make sure they have evaluated the dog you are looking at. Pip held a lot of surprises that no one told me about at the rescue until after I had him and dug for background. The biggest being he had bit his 8 yr old owner in the face. Good Luck!!

My BC doesn't like anyone unless they are running...then it's chase time. My foo-foo dog (sorry Pippin..I had to!) is a Papillon and he will only associate with other small white dogs. He goes crazy over other Paps. Bring a white fluffy dog over and he becomes Mr Social. It is quite funny. My other 2 Foo-Foo's..a toy poodle and a hairless chinese crested could care less either way. Finally my terrier just hangs with the BC. She is very fussy who she likes but it is not breed specific. She has hated a boxer, german shephard and terrier all the same. So maybe it is dog specific not breed specific.

PS...sorry to be so long winded.. The first thing I did with Pip was to make sure there were no medical reasons for the aggression. Sore muscles, blood work results, eyesight and hearing checked. Sometimes a thyroid imbalance will throw a dog off. So you never know. I just wanted to check off the obvious first. Jen

Wellll I probably shouldn't give my opinion because I havn't worked with Pippin that long..but oh well here I go!..LOL I got Pip from a rescue after he had bit a child in the face. Since that he has been lunging and has nipped again. If you look up a post under Lunging Border Collie there is alot of great advice I was given . I pulled Pip out of agility even though he was in advanced level due to dog and human aggression and started back at step one in obedience and basically have just let him chill out. I miss the agility but he was getting way too over stimulated. No one is allowed to try to pet him anymore or even looks at him and what a difference. He is now comfortable with strangers around, and has figured out that they will throw his ball if he brings it over. He has become a dog that will approach a stranger on his terms and show no aggression. Usually he just ignores people which is fine with me ..I have other dogs that want all the attention anyways! He will now play ball with my nephew but I will never trust him so I am always right with my nephew. No other kids are allowed near him without me there and a fence between them. In public he has a nice comfy muzzle he wears which has 2 benifits. (1) people don't approach a muzzled dog (2) he can't hurt anyone or anything which is great in Ontario since we are now Banning breeds. So I have to be extra careful with my "dangerous" dog. We are able to walk in public now and relax, it is nice and Pip gets alot more out of it. We will be starting Ob class again in the new year and depending on how Pip reacts over the 8 weeks will determine wether we start agility in the spring. A behaviourist is a great idea. One nip doesn't make a dangerous dog but it is a big warning that there is a problem. Pip will always have to be watched and managed but that is what makes him Pip! Your lucky in that you know exactly what the situation was before the nip. I was Pip's 4th owner and he was only 6 mths and VERY abused. The boy has demons. Good luck and keep me posted on your progress..I really would like to hear about it and learn from it. Jennifer PS..there are also some excellent books on the market dealing with these issues.

I have a BC I love and neutered him right away as I do all my dogs now. the earlier the better.The reason why is below. I decided to breed my precious Papillon Sasha to my male papillon Devlin. The first pup was early and still born. So we tried again. This time we had 4. The first on came out backwards, the second one dead, the third one dead, the fourth one alive. I was able to recesitate the third one but while doing it Sasha bit off the umbilical cord and tore the 4ths pup's stomach open. I don't mean to be harsh but this is my experience. Of the 2 pups that survived we kept one and gave the other away as a gift to a close friend. The one we gave away was not cared for properly , never spayed and now has cancer. Even though she was on a "pet" only contract. Which isn't surprising cause her Sis(which we had) died of cancer 8 mths ago. Also the pup we kept got all the worse qualities of both parents..she was cute, but she was her own personality. Finally my precious Sasha, who was bought to breed, ended up with a uterine infection after giving birth. Refused to care for the pups and was ill. Caring for orphan pups is no fun and I only had 2. Later she was spayed and found to be full of cysts. Then came the mammary gland cancer..$1200 later, a dog full of stiches, she lived 3 mths past her expected "death date" The cancer went all through her lymph nodes, she never cried after all the surgeries I put her through even the one that opened up her entire neck. Finally a lymph node swelled in her leg and she was in agony. Rather than put her through anymore surgeries I made the decision to put her down. This cancer can be almost totally avoided if you just spay your dog early. I miss my girl and wish I had never bred her. I only have the male left and he was heartbroken to lose his mate and daughter within mths. of each other. He still will carry Sasha's dish around and look for her. If you love your dog don't chance it. I will never do it again. I would have rather had Sasha live into her golden years than end it for 2 pups, one which is also dead and the other barely hanging on. If I had known this before I would never have bred her. Please do the research...and if you do breed her be ready for anything. Things never go as planned. Jennifer

Just a question..when you go to the dog parks you said he is too focused on his ball or frisbee to notice the other dogs. What does he do if the toys are not around? My Pip was the same way and it was suggested on here to work without the toys around other dogs so that he learns to focus on me and not the toys. Pip use to jump around and get excited when the other dogs were working in agility also lunging if they came too close. I started playing where's the treat? Where's the toy? He now usually will watch me to see where the next reward is coming from. I think he likes that little focus game. The only problem is that it is difficult to follow the instructor when constntly focusing on your dog!! Luckily I had a great instructor who would explain things to me on the side.. Good luck!!!

Pip was in agility and was good at it. He is aggressive so focus was an important part. New dogs always freaked him out. I was having alot of problems with lunging at people so we decided to take a break. In the last few weeks he has calmed alot and is focusing very well. I have been doing new things with him. Taking him to parks or friends yards and having him do his obedince there. When we were practising in the yard doing agility he went to the fence and sat there. He just quit.He has never done that before so I knew it was time for a break. So now we are doing ob. and really working on attention. He has started running up the ramp again and jumping on his own while catching balls. So when he is ready we will go back. I think he was stressed and just not ready for all the environment changes around him. Too much stimuli someone told me on here. Maybe a break would be your best bet also.

Hi I came across this website on the net and thought I would share it. I too have a Toys r us tunnel but I might inveat in one of these versions. Jen and Pippin http://www.affordableagility.com/practicetunnel.htm