mbc1963

That is an awesome story! I am always amazed at Buddy's secret gentle side. He's still somewhat reactive, and will growl/bark if people approach us too quickly, especially men. But with a toddler, he is as gentle as can be: he will take treats from their hands with his lips only, so their little fingers never even feel that he has teeth, and if they don't release the treat, he will back off and wait until they're ready. The little guy up the street will feed him all day, saying "more" as he lets go of each kibble. So sweet! Mary

Buddy woke up sneezing one morning in August, and then started pawing and scratching at his nose. He scratched his nose raw, so I took him to the vet. Prednisone (5 mg) tapered off over a couple weeks, plus Cephalexin. The first prednisone pill stopped the itching, and everything healed up nicely. About two weeks after the last dose of Cephalexin, I noticed Buddy's muzzle was red. Seems that the itching is in his muzzle now, and he's rubbing it raw, this time. I went back to the vet who put him on a Temaril (oral antihistamine and steroid) plus a 21-day course of Simplicef. So, I'm like $500 into this itchy nose at this point (between pills and bloodwork they ordered on the first round). I'll give this round of pills, but obviously can't keep going through this every month. I'm assuming this is allergies - but what's the antibiotic for? So, I'm looking for board member experiences and anecdotes, given that no vet can know everything. Anyone had this experience, or any suggestions? Thanks, Mary

Depends how big he is! Is he BC sized at 5 months, or football sized? Mary

My family had an unfixed male when I was a kid. Mind you, it was in the days when we let dogs run loose... But that dog used to take off a couple times a year and be gone for days, wilding. He broke through a cellar window to get at the female across the street. He was a very, very bad (well-loved) dog. Can't say how much was his being unfixed, and how much was his temperament. I wouldn't want the responsibility in my life. Mary

From what I've read about treatment of severe burns, the long-term pain is horrendous. I suspect she was almost in shock early on, not feeling it yet. Mary

Sad news: Codie, the burned dog, got much worse from Friday through yesterday, and didn't survive. I hope that the outrage caused by this incident will at least lead to tougher laws against animal cruelty. Mary

Yeah, neither of these guys is a kid. But... whatever... they were kids once. Adults like this don't spring out of nowhere. Their history made them. Or, their genes made them. Or, they were drinking that caffeinated beverage (they call it "Buckfast" apparently?) that has allegedly been linked to extreme violence in young men. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/torched-pet-codie-improving-and-may-get-home-for-a-few-hours-at-weekend-16207135.html Looks like the dog is doing better. I'm amazed at the difference in her nose and eyes after just a week! Mary

I can't stop thinking about this dog. Poor baby. I actually had nightmares last night about this. Hate to be skeptical... but are we sure that the account set up for donations is actually going to the vet bills? I would like to donate, but it looks like such a generic donation link, and doesn't really explain how the woman is connected to the family or to the vet clinic where the dog is being treated. (So many scams on the 'net.) Thanks, Mary

http://dogshaming.tumblr.com/ Mary

I don't have much to offer, except congratulations - he's a beautiful boy - and appreciation that you're working so hard and doing such thorough research to try to help your boy the best you can. If I recall, Patricia McConnell had a good protocol for barking dogs that I used early on with my dog (who used to bark at every moving thing outside our window). I never really pursued it to mastery, but I did get to a point when I can make my dog stop barking when I need to. Good luck! Mary

OK - changed my mind. Guy blew it by not pursuing rescue avenues long or hard enough. Sounds like the guy was exhausted and overwhelmed, and didn't know what to do. He blew it, yes. But... the dog is his dog. The dog loves him. He messed up, but I believe he loves the dog. What's the best end-of-life for this adult dog: a new home, or to return to the home she's known and be with the guy she loves? So, for the sake of the love the dog feels for her master, I say give her back. I hardly think the guy is ever going to take her to the mountains again. Mary

Even if I had to leave the dog to save a baby's life, the next thing I did would be to tell my story far and wide and beg help to get the dog down. Mary

Well, when a human is fat, there's nobody to blame but the human, too. And yet... The lady I walk my dog with says (regarding her daughter, who's built like me): "She just needs to get active. If you're active, you can eat what you want." Whereupon she looks at me and says, "Well, but you're really active." Yup. Walk my dog twice a day. Have a job where I'm on my feet all day. Ride my bike in the summer. Ate salad for lunch all last year (and dropped maybe 4 lbs.) Go figure! The thing is, if SHE is active, she can eat what she wants. But she and I aren't the same. Nor are border collies and pugs. Some dogs I see that regularly tip into chubby: Beagles Pugs Show-bred labs Some dogs I see that rarely tip into chubby: BCs Pointers Dalmations Greyhounds Now, I'm not saying greyhounds CAN'T be fat - if you stuff them and stuff them and stuff them, they will gain weight, obviously. Nor is it impossible to control a pug's diet enough that he loses weight. But, obviously, there's more to it than just owner feeding, or all breeds would have equal percentages of fat dogs and thin dogs. Surely we're not saying that pug owners are less likely to walk their dogs than the owners of Italian Greyhounds? That show-bred lab owners are less informed about canine diet than BC owners? Mary

To be fair to the owner... pugs DO get fat very easily. The fact that all the pugs we know are barrel-shaped is evidence. My dog hovers around 43 pounds. He is blatantly spoiled by my neighbors and father with treats. I let him lick off my plate after I eat. I feed him well, but not cautiously. He simply does not nudge into the 44-lb bracket at the vet's office. It's no work at all for me to keep him fit and trim: he just IS. On the other hand, for pug owners, it's got to be a job and half keeping them thin - or we wouldn't all know them as a roly-poly breed. I (who have not been thin since I was 8) was at lunch once with a naturally thin and tiny woman, who was describing what people should do to lose weight: "I just eat a salad for lunch for a couple weeks whenever I feel like my pants are too tight." Oh, thanks - eating SALAD is something I've never tried. I'll get right on that. LOL! I've gotten down to a small size twice in my life, after severely limiting every morsel that went in my mouth for 6 months. And then the naturally thin were a chorus of, "For heaven's sake - it's just one piece of cake. It's not going to kill you. Just have an ice cream." They want to feel more virtuous than me for the way they eat, when they're thinner - but they don't want to feel less virtuous than me when I do the extreme work that it takes to keep weight off ME. So, pity the pug owners, my friends. Mary

I want VIDEO! Mary

Too little to know what breed but... OMG BINNO! How can anything be that cute?! Mary

Hi, all, I'm not sure if anyone here lives local to Plaistow, NH, or if anyone feeds this particular brand, but... Stateline Pet Supply on route 125 is selling Instinct Raw Boost freeze-dried raw food very cheap right now. They must have stopped carrying it? The 30-lb bags (I think that's the size) are $15, and the smaller bags (15 lbs? 10 lb?) are $5. They're stacked outside the entrance right now, in the sales area - I imagine they'll be there till they sell out. So, it might be worth a drive to you if you feed raw and live in the Manchester/Seacoast/Southern Maine/Boston area. Mary

http://www.weather.com/weather/videos/news-41/top-stories-169/owner-takes-dog-for-swim-to-ease-pain-30071 Mary

Even if they think you're a pleasant female they are more likely to do this. How to say it? Er... I am not known as a "sweetie." Yet there have been times in my life (when I was younger) when I had people assume that because of my age and appearance, I was a sweetie. And they most definitely acted differently around me than they would have, had they know what I was really thinking! The only solution I have found is not be so pleasant that one gets lectures from strangers about how one ought to act. A great loss to the world, the people-pleasing blandness of my youth? I think not. Mary

Buddy barks much less now, too. I think his reactivity has decreased, but I think he's also now more a curmudgeonly 50-something man, and realized that it's just not worth his effort to get all excited about the neighborhood kids. He also won't chase squirrels or birds anymore. He learned early on that you can't catch them, so what was the point? (Now, groundhogs, you have a chance of catching - they stay on the ground. So they're still a fun chase.) Mary

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/mar/raw-data-scents-and-scents-ability/ Just discovered that this morning. I've noticed sometimes that if I pay attention to Buddy, I know more about my scent environment than I would have thought. For example, I can identify when Joey has gone by my house for a good chunk of time afterwards. (Joey's owner smokes a pipe and is a bit disheveled, so carries a scent.) And if I pay attention, I notice that I can often scent what it is that Buddy's sussing out on a morning walk - as long as it's something really good, like fresh fox poop or dead mouse.

My sister has American Eskimo dogs - smallish, with coats that range from medium to Chow-like. They are all white. When she got her first dog, she told me that the breeders and websites told HER that the coats just stay white - don't need much grooming. I laughed and said, "That's what they tell you to get you to buy a white dog." But... after 3 of them, it turns out it's absolutely true. They are white white white and stay so - only their feet get muddy sometimes, but it falls right off. Go figure. Just because it's funny: (They went to a B&B that accepted housebroken dogs... only the puppies weren't housebroken as expected. That's Yuki and Theda. It was a heck of a job getting Buddy to walk off-leash with them and not be snarking at them constantly. Poor Yuki is in LUUURVE with Buddy, but he won't let her within 2 feet of him.) Mary

FWIW, I walk with a lab who gets an irritated rear end from time to time. Her owner gives her yogurt during the flare-ups, and though she's not sure it does any good, it seems to do some good. I'm guessing it's the probiotics. (??) Good luck! Mary

He is beautiful!! (I had a crush on Lassie when I was little.) Mary

My neighbor up the street has a BC/lab mix. Friendly all-around dog who gets along well with mine. He's very well-trained with yard boundaries, and stays behind the sidewalk at their house. And like a lab, pretty impervious to pain. The other day, I was walking Buddy up there, and Comet got a little excited and crossed over the sidewalk to the strip of grass between sidewalk and street. Buddy and Comet were greeting each other (butt sniffs, face licks) and the owner of Comet came over to HIT HIM for crossing his boundary line. Now, I don't lecture anyone about how to discipline their dog, but don't you ever - ever! - go to hit YOUR dog where you're going to end up hitting MY dog. Buddy had not done anything wrong - in fact, was being extremely charming, for Buddy. Not only would I not hit Buddy for such a minor violation of rules (I don't think I've ever seen any call to hit him), but I was not at all sure that Buddy, upon getting randomly hit by a woman he barely knew, wouldn't bite her. Never mind his not trusting me if I let it happen. Yeesh. Not sure what she was thinking. I said, "Don't hit him while Buddy is there," and she did restrain herself before she whapped her dog. Mary