Nik

Hey Donna!! I'm not too much help w/ names either right now but I just wanted to say its good to see you again. Hope things are going well for you and congratulations on getting a new pup. Try not to be so much of a stranger now.

So sorry to hear about Ben. (((Hugs)))

Forgive me if this sounds like a really stupid question to you (I've never had to deal w/ living in a apt. complex where barking could be a problem). Is it because of you that the barking must stop now or because of your neighbors and apt. personnel? The reason I ask... it just seems to me that if its only a bark or two at a time and its on occasion (as in maybe 1 or 2 times a day) then I just fail to see it as a major problem. Dogs are dogs and they will bark at times. I do understand completely if it happens all the time. I guess I have no real advice to give on getting the dog to stop barking, but as far as you are concerned, try and be patient while training and try not to get upset if it doesn't happen as fast as you would like.

With fearful dogs like I have, doing "tricks" has really come in handy. A new person comes into my home and I have the dogs show all of their tricks and even instigate having the person interact w/ those tricks and VOILA....new person becomes something not so fearful anymore and vice versa for people who generally are afraid of dogs. In fact, one of my son's friends was terrified of bigger dogs until I incorporated their tricks into meeting said friend...now he is no longer scared of bigger dogs and rolls w/ them on the floor just like my kids...all because of my teaching my dogs tricks and making them useful. With that being said, I KNOW I am the kind of person that can't train a service dog to do the things that they have to learn and I respect anyone who can teach in that fashion all the more. More of the reasoning (that I find from experience anyway) behind WHY people ask if the dog can do tricks is because its a way of allowing them to play w/ your dog. Who can resist wanting to interact w/ wonderful animals like dogs, and asking if the dog can do tricks is a polite way of asking w/o just barging rudely in like alot of us (me included) complain about.

One way to "renew" (if you will) your 30 day free trial is to subscribe w/ a different email addy. Something in particular that I was working on I didn't finish so I registered using a different email, but you have to make sure that you delete the program completely from your computer before reinstalling or it will just come up asking for a key again. If you have no intentions on using Photoshop on a regular basis then this would be an option, otherwise it can be a real pain on deleting and reinstalling and reregistering just for free trials all the time.

If you got to the Adobe website you can download a 30 day free trial.

If you don't have Photoshop and want something free then try Gimp. Its something similar.

I understand your concerns about her becoming scared to let J interact w/ the dog, but quite frankly wouldn't it be better for her to know up front what fears can develop in your dog if and when he gets enough of J poking, grabbing, and pulling on him? I would hate for the worst to happen, and yes even the "best w/ children" dogs can get frustrated to the point of harming. Not to mention that resentment toward her and her kid will probably come eventually at some point because she will not allow you to teach him to correct way to behave around a dog so that both will be safe. I agree w/ others that trying to step in and give advice to a friend about their kids really is touchy ground, but on the other hand if she is close enough of a friend to you to give you the title "godmother" to her child, then she must trust something about you right? There are ways of suggesting gently w/o putting the "blame" on either the dog or the kid. Maybe ask once a week or so to give her a break and allow you to babysit for a few hours to "give her a break" and take that time to work w/ both of them. If you spend a good amount of time w/ your friend and her child, then doing something like this would be well worth your while in the long run. Good luck on working w/ this situation.

I just scoop & throw into the flower beds around my yard. That is when I scoop...most of the time it just gets mowed over and mulched into the grass. Makes for good fertilizer IMO and its free. But my yard grows so fast that I usually have to mow at least twice a week so there really isn't much time for it to accumulate in the yard. What the mower doesn't get the rain usually washes down. Then on the other hand my dogs usually have a "favorite" spot to go so I pretty much know which areas to stay clear of bare foot.

Just another example of my DH's favorite expression: Sometimes its better to let people THINK you're an idiot than to open you're mouth and prove them right!!!

How high is the railing around the patio? One thing that would concern me that hasn't been mentioned would be worrying about her jumping over the railing from a 3rd floor balcony. Or if you put her on a tie out, hanging herself if she does try to jump over.

Pache is terrified of thunderstorms, gunshots (we tend to get lots of that around here w/ people target shooting their rifles), fireworks, nailguns, anything that makes a boom or pop. I can literally count down after a boom how long it will take him to get to the backdoor if he's outside when it happens. I just let him in and ignore all that is going on and let him find his safeplace. I guess I'm lucky in the respect that as long as he is inside it ends up being no big deal for the most part. He may come hide between my legs at times, but as soon as I tell him its o.k. he goes on about his buisiness again. On nights like New Year's Eve and July 4th we just try and turn a t.v. up to help w/ the noise, but it really is a tense night for all of us because there is just so much noise on a constant basis. I don't think we are at the point of medicating yet thank goodness but it definitely can be quite a nite. Last year we let the kids shoot fireworks and all the dogs seemed to "tolerate" all of it as long as they were in the house and in my room. This year the kids are just gonna have to do w/o fireworks (not because of the dogs though). Good luck to all who have fearful dogs and may you make it through this holiday w/o pulling your hair out!!

Jo, Loki sure found a gem when he found you. I find that sometimes its hard enough to communicate what I want to a dog w/ no problems, but you have this special talent and patience to teach two disabled dogs. I envy you in that respect. I'm so glad to hear that his life has improved a thousand fold since you found him. Keep up the great progress between you two.

I have CareCredit myself because of some dental work that my son had to have that wasn't covered by his insurance. I've used it more for the animals than anything else and so far have been very happy w/ it. I think it works if you have a major expense (like several hundred dollars) then you can get it on a same as cash plan over a period of time (not sure but you may have to get approval for the payment plan ahead of time), but I just use it as a credit card because I don't ever put that much on it at one time. Not sure what exactly the interest rates are in cases like mine (I don't ever look at the calculations) but it isn't very much. I do know if you don't have a balance then no interest is charged for the first month. It's also good for other things that some insurances won't pay for like cosmetic type medical expenses, dental, vet, optical, etc. The only problem I've had as far as medical doctors go is, you have to check ahead of time to make sure they take CareCredit. There are a few in my area that don't and a couple of them have never heard of it. It has definitely been beneficial for me because I have been in situations where I just didn't have the money to pay for the vet bills when it was something that just couldn't be postponed. Anyway, if CareCredit is what you are thinking of, I hope all of this info has been somewhat of a help!!

For the most part people say something like "Are those Border Collies?" I usually have to explain they are BC/Aussie which really stumps me about Navi because he looks and acts alot more like the Aussie side of him than BC. Although I did have one guy stop his truck to ask about them when we were out on a walk one day and he admitted to thinking Pache was a Dalmation because of his ticking until he got close enough to realize he was a BC. There not a whole lot of BC's in my area so everyone always seems so surprised and inquisitive when they find out they are right about their guesses. I even had someone else stop us one day and ask if we worked them on stock. The way the guy asked I got the impression that he was going to ask to borrow or rent them to work his farm. He almost seemed disappointed when I told him they have never worked stock before.

Yep...I got one thats about 55 lbs. that doesn't know he's really tooooo big for my lap too(seriously I need about 2 laps for him to fit), but I digress. I wouldn't have it any other way. There's just something about a big ole fur baby in the lap that is comforting!!!

What if two or more people want the same *Pups*?!?! I know, dumb question. I was also wondering what their criteria for "perfect markings" are because EVERYBODY'S idea of whats perfect is varied. Those ads just make me want to go out and get myself another Border Collie......not!!!!

I like Hemi myself. My second choice would be Ross.

My husband is a big meat and potatoes kind of guy.....well more meat than anything. I had gone to a cookout and left him behind because he had to work late, but I brought him home the most juicy, delightful piece of steak he could ever have imagined. I fixed his plate for him, sat it on the table....he turned around to the counter to grab his drink and in the blink of an eye his steak was GONE!!!! I seen Navi take off around the sofa and I started chasing him. We made a half trip around the sofa when I caught him and the thing was GONE again!!!! (In a matter of about 15 seconds) One gulp and my dog swallowed a whole 16 ounce steak w/o even so much as chewing. Oooooh my husband was so mad he could have chewed nails. Funny thing was, after all of that sneaking and grabbing the steak, Navi didn't even get to savor the flavor. I don't think he even so much as tasted it going down.

Living in a rural area myself, no one really thinks about their dog disturbing another person on their property....dogs just kind of roam where I am. But I have been in your shoes and let me tell you...it CAN leave major emotional scars. To this day, (and thankfully every day gets better and better) I am still trying to "undo" the emotional scars that my family/neighbor's dog created over two years ago. This boston terrier of my relative would come over w/ back hair raised, full out attack mode and get my dogs started. AFTER we got the fence put up, she still wouldn't let up. She would make a point to leave her yard, cross the field in between us and make a bee line to one spot of our fence starting a major fence fight. I did everything that I could think of (talk till I was blue in the face, call police, call animal control, which of course around here isn't much help at all, tried to catch her to take her to the pound myself...you name it I tried it) and nothing worked except for me to be out w/ my dogs and try to make it at a time that I knew she was off harrassing the other neighbors dogs until she finally died of heartworms. Even though my two were not on a tie out, they were still in a confined area (my back yard) and I've had to work majorly hard to get the kinks out when it comes to other dogs. We have now gotten to the point that I wouldn't dare trust them w/ other dogs w/o supervision, but as long as I'm there to control the situation, they do fine w/ meeting other dogs.....as long as they don't come to the fence to meet. I'm telling you all of this so that you will think twice about not doing anything further since you've had a cooldown period. I went back and forth w/ that for quite awhile and I will tell you firsthand, if you let it go, then you will never get any peace w/ the neighbors dog. Don't be a pain in the butt and complain about every little minute thing that happens, but definitely take action for your dog being attacked in your own back yard. Hindsight 20/20, I wish I would have taken further when I had the chance instead of cooling down first...maybe then my dogs wouldn't be so reactive and fearful. Believe you me, its been a LOT more work on both human/canine efforts in getting them anywhere near normal and we still aren't there yet. Good luck in whatever you decide to do, but do consider having the authorities doing all that they can do in this situation. It really isn't fair to you and especially Lewie.

Both of mine have problems w/ machines that have a pull start on them. Power tools (i.e. saws, nail guns, etc.) not so much...they just kinda go away and hide. My dad kept insisting that "they need to learn to behave around stuff like that" (which is true to an extent) but wouldn't hear of it when I objected because of our safety and theirs. Well he decided to try and start a weedeater that refused to start while the dogs were outside and Navi came up from behind barking and eventually bit my dad. Now he doesn't really put up much fuss when I tell him to "give me a minute to put them up". I hate that it happened, but at least now I have some respect concerning what is best for MY dogs in my own family. With all of this being said I have tried to desensitize them but I've resigned myself to the fact that it IS safer for them to be put away when those types of motors are out. They have learned to stay away from the mower IF it is the riding mower (not the push) and only if it is already started before I go through the gate in the back yard.

For the first time in about two years I've finally realized that I have accepted Navi & Pache for ALL of their quirks both good & bad and it's finally paying off. I've always wanted them to be outgoing, social dogs even though I've realized for awhile now they have their limits to how far this will actually become a reality. Both of them have been known to be afraid of people, territorial, each one has bitten once, and I've just generally HAD to pay extra careful attention when someone other than our family members and just a handfull of our friends are around. I've always accepted this fact, or so I thought until recently. For two years now, we've been building onto our house ourselves. We've finally gotten to the point of having to pay subcontractors for particular work that we cannot do ourselves. I always make sure I tell everyone that works on our house "Do NOT come through the gate in the back yard until you give me a chance to put my dogs in if they are outside". So far I usually don't have any problems with people not paying attention to my wishes, but I've always been a little on the embarrassed side to even have to make such a request. Lately though, with so many people coming and going I haven't had the time to be embarrassed about it. Call me crazy but I think Navi & Pache both have noticed this because they have been on their best behavior w/ all of this traffic in our home. They used to see someone out back and bark at the backdoor like they wanted to tear the door away to get at whoever was out back. Now they are content to just lie there watching the commotion going on. I have even been able to let them out back for a potty break w/o them so much as paying attention to whatever "stranger" is there. Even to the point of maybe taking a quick sniff of the person then going to get the ball or frisbee to play w/ said person then turning to me because the other person is too busy to play. It also doesn't "bother" me anymore to have to tell someone to let me put the dogs away until I get a chance to let them meet you. I guess all this practice has made perfect. I think though that I have finally TRUELY accepted them for the dogs they are and not wanting them to be any other way and they have rewarded me for that by partially becoming the kind of dogs that I was hoping they would be.

Don't know about fire ants anywhere else, but down here in MS they do eat them....I've seen fire ants eat on solid food. Some of the solutions that we have used are grits, washing the majority away w/ a water hose (but they usually just move their mound), pour gas on the bed and my mom's fave....spray a can of RAID on the bed. You can never really get rid of them all, or maybe we just have so many here that we've just learned to share property w/ them. If you do get bitten, you can use the usual methods for bee stings to help which is put toothpaste on the sting or put chewing tobacco or wet cigarette tobacco on the sting.

When my two were puppies, we left for all of an hour if that...and I babygated them in the kitchen w/ two kitchen table chairs in front of the gate to make sure they couldn't jump the gate. I came home...no dogs in the kitchen where I left them so I wondered how they got out. No holes in the baby gate and surely they DIDN"T jump the chairs, but there they were in my living room w/ all of my potted plants turned over and dirt ground into the carpet, the corner of my brand new sofa chewed, and the kicker....little doggy footprints tracked all over the place from where one of them pooped and both of them stepped in it and made tracks all over the carpet along w/ the dirt. On OFF-WHITE carpet no less. It took 2 or 3 days of steam cleaning carpet giving the dogs a bath and trying to salvage enough potting soil to keep my plants alive until I could get some more to put in the pots. I fumed for weeks over this. Come to find out they chewed through the babygate but the place they chewed through created a flap instead of a hole so it fell back into place and it took a WHOLE lot of searching to find out where the flap was created. I could just see the whole process going through their little heads as they figured out how to outsmart me on that deal. They definitely had me outwitted for a little while on that.

I think I would feel LESS embarrassed over something like that BECAUSE it was the trainer. If it were just your normal everyday person, then I would be reallllllly embarrassed, but I would suspect (and this is just an assumption on my part) that dog trainers deal w/ quite a few nips over their career. And who knows, (not that dogs biting are a good thing) but it presented an opportunity for the trainer to educate the other owners about approaching strange dogs and how to deal w/ something like that. P.S. I hope all this makes some sort of sense because I'm so tired right now I can't even think straight....so I hope you get my point.