Hi Cindy!

I really do try to keep up with the echos .. this is one of my
favorite topics   You know what? I need more hours in the day.. or
the night.. I'll take either 

>> Got both the dog and cat on the vinegar.

>> Combed the dog..he still itches...but the cat...can not even
>> come close to catching...so the vinegar will have to be the
>> way until I come up with a bomb to get them both.

>> Right now...got an appointment to have the mutt bathed...lucky
>> pup... he gets a real nice blond for his bath....

Oh bother, said Pooh... 

> Hi Peter. I haven't been in here in awhile... Re the itching. Have
> you ruled out allergies? Dry skin?

Our chow-chow that we had for about 8 years (she should have lived ALOT
longer!!!) got a systemic skin infection.. not sure from what.. it just
happened. and the digging made it worse. And she just plain smelled bad :( 
The vet and I joked about it a little, but we both knew it was pretty
serious.

There was lots of doggie dander, and "dandruff", & itching...
she drove us a little batty with the itching til I figured it out... boy
for such a pretty dog, I couldn't figure it for the longest time... she was
jet black with a really happy kind face...This was in KY before we moved
back to NY - we actually bought her in NY before we move to KY, in one of
those pet stores on the malls you're supposed to avoid (I am such a sucker
for Dogs )

Poor baby did a dumb thing though when she was a "youngster" but
not young enough obviously... It made things really bad when she got older
and she couldn't even walk or go outside to pee... She actually clumsily
triped on her leash when my son was taking her for a walk and splayed out
all of her legs.. the cries were almost too much to bare... she sounded
like it was sooooooooooooooo painful (this was at the bottom of the stairs
of our apartment at the time).

We grabbed her and brought her to our vet.. who at the time was a really
cool fellow who practiced in NYC, but lived in our little suburb of nyc
(Warwick NY) He told us that she'd never be the same, she'd ripped out the
tendons on one of her legs.. but he told us that it had been noted that
dogs who done such things are still able to walk (kind of with a gimp if
you know what I mean) if the leg is bandaged up tight so the dog doesn't
walk on it for like 6 mos. because then the cartilige will grow and replace
the tendons "somewhat"... "kind of".  We  were
hoping!... how sad...So that's what we did.. for the next 6 mos. poor
Chowder had her injured leg wrapped up against her body, tight against her
abdomen.. Hmm.. you know, she never even noticed she only had 3 legs. [...]

> Also if you need any help with training your dog, do as Cesar Millan
> said and train yourself to be assertive calm and to not do things that
> actually bring ON the behavior you wish to change.

I LOVE watching Cesar Milan :)  he's so tuned to dogs :)

I wish he could "fix" my dog haha :)  Toby, my
"youngster" black lab (he's probably 5 going on 6, as opposed to
our 12 year old female other black lab is one incorrigible dog haha.. He's
got to "mark" his territory in the house (unless I use something
like Boundry spray)... but you have to use that every two days :) so what's
Cesar gonna tell me?  he needs a woman?   no, he owns the
house?? .. I can't figure it.. I'll probably email him to see
what he thinks.. :) And he'll probably tell me that I need to get him a
female unspayed dog (NO THANKS ).

> On a message board elsewhere somebody said they spent a thousand bucks
> to have their dog trained not to steal food off the table and the dog
> still does it. How much you wanna bet the owner continues to feed the
> dog scraps of food off the table. heh. THINK.

yep, that's what I was gonna say. Don't give them a drop of our food if you
don't want them to steal from you :) Recently I made a peking duck... the
doggies were in the kitchen with me (of course).. I looked at them and I
could tell they could smell DUCK.. so I gave them each a chunk of skin or
fat or something as I was cutting it up.. I figured they'd appreciate it
since they are "Bird Dogs" and "retrievers".. I didn't
realize they'd just keep on "retrieving" til my son asked me how
BAD toby had been recently stealing his and his wife's food off their
dishes .. ;) LOL

> One last thing: A lot of people get a dog based on looks and they
> don't think about energy levels (theirs/the dog's)... nor the dogs
> needs for such things as simple as a mile or two walk a day....

Do you walk your dog for a mile and half or two?  I don't think I'd make it
and I'm a skinny, mostly in-shape person :)

> It saddens me as a pet owner to see big dogs cooped up all day and you
> wonder why they go nutty... become aggressive or fearful?? gee...
> Wouldn't YOU go nuts if you were treated as though you were a stuffed
> animal ? As some view pets: gifts to do with as we please?

A lot of it is in the breeding.. geez, think about this Cindy.. the
industrial farming corporations in the United States have forced GRASS
eating animals with a RUBEN for digesting grass to switch to eating
CORN.... What's wrong with this picture??  MY guts can't take it.

Take care,
Janis

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