Maggie is fetching now

[luvadog]

Last night Maggie started fetching. We have a ball with a bell inside and she can hear it (blind-dog friendly toy!) I keep clapping and she knows where I am and she brings it almost every time now. Plus she has this kind of growling obnoxious snorting as she tries to keep me from taking it. I should have named her Beethovan.

[alibuch]

hahaha Louise snorts too! She sounds like a little pig. It's so funny.
She also snores like a grown man sometimes. And as un-cute as I think Louise is with her fur really short, it's been so nice having a not smelly dog who doesn't need at least a bath a week. haha

It's great Maggie is doing so well! :)

[Karen]

Last week, Maggie had a bad day when I was gone and she kept barking. The neighbor kept ringing the doorbell and they all were barking. That woman got so violent, she was yelling at me and my neighbor who has a tiny Maltese.... I decided to get the no-bark collar.

Hi Luvadog.

I was wondering if you were purchasing an electric collar or the citronella kind? I've heard the electric ones can be quite strong and painful if set too high, and if they malfunction they can cause a lot of pain and do nothing for correction (someone in another thread mentioned the collar got stuck on "on" and made continual zaps, probably rare but still a risk).

If your neighbour starts ringing the doorbell again, the natural reaction for any dog is to bark. If the collar corrects them for doing something natural, then it may do more harm than good. Teaching your dogs to STOP barking when you tell them to would be ideal, but you can't teach them not to react to sounds at all. As far as I know both types of collars are meant to be used when supervised, as a teaching tool, and not just to be left on while a dog is home alone. At least that is my understanding.

Maybe a better solution would be to put a note on your door while you are out telling people NOT to ring your doorbell or knock, and keep your dogs in separate rooms. Maybe leaving the radio on so that they will notice noises less would help, too.


I took Lassie back to the breeder Sunday to get her ears fixed.

Do you mean that you are going to get her ears cropped? I may be jumping the gun here, so please correct me if I've misunderstood you...

When we got our schnauzer her tail was already docked and since then I've read and learned a lot about it. Cropping and docking are both painful cosmetic procedures that are banned in some countries and considered unnecessary with no real health benefits, especially for non-working dogs.

Some vets in North America (where it is not yet banned) will refuse to do those operations. You can read more about it here:
http://cfhs.ca/athome/ear_cropping_and_tail_docking/

I just wanted to share what I learned after the fact. Although I'd never have chosen to get her tail docked, I'm sad that it had already been done to her :(

Sage's ears are natural, though. I was told by a breeder on a schnauzer forum (which I promptly quit) they are "incorrect" and that I should get them cropped in order to prevent creating demand for "incorrect" ears, but I'd choose incorrect over causing her pain any day! The breeders don't talk about pain, the surgery is just for show. Frankly, I think that breeder's logic was rather faulty and inhumane.

I hope you will consider not changing your dog's ears. They're cute the way they are!

[Scarlet13]

I do believe she mentioned going back a second time to get the ears re-done (with glue?). I am unfamiliar with the exact procedure but I have had dogs in the past that were subjected to docking, (not by me!) and it left them very skittish and fearful. I do not support any sort of cosmetic operations, but then I have very little respect for the vast majority of breeders anyway--far too many are shady! Personally I think that it is irresponsible for all of these breeders to be creating so many surplus dogs when 4 million are put to death annually in the U.S alone. But that is just me :)

Karen,
you were correct with ANY type of no bark collar the dog has to be supervised at all times, unfortunately it is not a safe option for a dog home alone. I have had minor problems with Bibi, mostly I think my neighbour is just unpleasant and inclined to complain, she also singles me out because I'm foreign, any noise on the floor and she assumes it is me and reports me (they are NINE dogs on this floor alone-but apparently only mine barks...right (eye-roll). Bibi will bark when people run down the hall (Why are they in such a hurry??) and since Terry left Minnie will cry for me if she sees me leave. So we have a system, they have an extra large crate, Bibi won't bark if she is with Minnie ( she barks when she is lonely:() I crate them after their walk about 15 mins before I go to work, I leave the T.V on and the window open, and I cover their crate with a blanket so they can't see me leave, and then I sneak out. Three weeks and no complaints:) You have to figure out Maggie's specific issue i.e. is she protective, lonely, angry that you are out?? and address it.

[luvadog]

Hi Karen,

Thanks, your information is good for everyone to read. No electric collar.:eek: They can actually make a hole in their neck and some dogs react by barking more. I got the citrinella one but it took a week for Dr. Lee to order it. He was kind enough to keep them there until it came in. I have since ordered 2 sonic collars at only $12.50 each if I need them. They seem even less harsh because I was wondering if the citrinella can irritate their eyes.

I took Lassie home earlier since I took her to the kennel for her ears on sunday. They don't crop/cut collie's ears. He taped and then glued them (not super glue!:) ) I had a sheltie when I was 16 and they put cream on the ears but they just stood up and I didn't care anyway. Lassie has been treated well. She's not nervous and jumpy at all but she's used to freedom and peese everywhere. House-breaking is slow as I don't want to ruin her mellow attitude. I just have to be quicker but she has a small bladder.

The night of the problem with the neighbor, I put a cap on the bell button and taped it securely with a note saying NO/안 니 요 (probably spelled wrong). Right now, only a few friends know where I live anyway and they call if they're coming. My neighbor has a Maltese and the woman was also yelling at her. She had called the police with me that night and told me later not to worry about that woman. So things have settled down.

The ironic thing...I had the collar on Lassie yesterday and she barked lightly a couple times and I thought it was working because her barks can be ear-shattering. But I didn't see it spray and checked it. Not working! So saturday I took it back to Dr. Lee and it was going to be another week to order another one. I was about ready to ask for a refund because the dogs haven't been a problem except that one crazy night. But then he traded for his that he had for a few months. Lassie hasn't even tripped it yet. Haven't used it on Maggie because she just never barks...except that night. She whimpers for affection or out of nervousness. So if no one rings the MUSICAL doorbell, maybe there will be peace.

I have also been leaving music on when I leave for a couple hours. My "nice" neighbor said she can't hear it and it's right beside her wall.

My friends came for a visit tonight. Since they didn't know where I lived, I walked down to meet her and my Yorkie barked as I left. I thought, only 2 minutes and I'd be back. When we returned, Eunbee was still barking. When we came in Nat's friend was petting her and she started having a seizure. I grabbed her and Natalie rushed us to my vet (But I had to go back for the Maltese because he didn't want to be left behind without his girlfriend.) The Dr. said Yorkie's get stressed when their owners leave and this happens. Have you ever heard of it? Yesterday we had the regular grooming and he used the Ivermectin "spot" on the neck. I was really worried that it might be toxic for her.

Any info on this would be appreciated.

[Karen]

Hi Luvadog,

Phewf. I'm glad I misunderstood about the collars and the cropping. I don't know anything about the taping procedure.

Sorry, I don't know anything about Ivermectin. I think that's heartworm preventative? We've only used Advocate/Advantagemulti or Revolution.

[luvadog]

Ivermectin is the heartworm preventative that's given orally. I also give it to my horse bimonthly for worms. Actually, Eunbee got the Advocate and it was probably an allergic reaction.