MasLoozinIt76

I have a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited that recently started making a clicking sound when I turn the wheel far to the left. Is this the cv boot or joint? How much does it usually cost to replace or repair this? How impertinent is it that it be done right away? If that's not the problem, can you tell me what it might be? I'm a newly single mom of 3 boys and can't afford a huge car repair bill. I can do some mechanics myself if anyone can tell me how to repair it myself. Thanks!

I have 2 stepdaughters that STILL pee themselves throughout the day, they are 6 and 7 years old! I'm about at my wits end and could use some outside advice. The 6 year old has never been fully potty trained and for some reason refuses to be, just says she doesn't feel like going to the bathroom and doesn't mind sitting in wet pants. The 7 year old recently picked it back up and I am thinking it's because she sees her sister do it and getting away with it so thinks, why not? Their mother says she took them to the doctor and they said to ignore the problem but being a nurse, I have NEVER heard a doctor say that before myself. I cannot tolerate the smell of urine throughout my house and now my brand new truck which the 6 year old decided to pee in yesterday! We still put them in pull ups because I refuse to allow them to pee all over my furniture, beds, and carpet out of laziness but their mother is throwing a huge fit over it. I think it's more because we switched them to the pull ups with trucks on them because they enjoyed the ones with the princesses so we figured if they hate wearing them, they will stop peeing and not have to wear them... but that's just my opinion. (That and their mother is mega controlling and hates that she can't control things at our house) What's your opinion? Pull ups or ignore the issue and deal with the constant urine smell? Yes we are trying to work with them while they are here but their mother refuses so it doesn't do much good, if any. I'm about to lose my mind over this! All of my kids were potty trained before the age of 2, I can't fathom this not potty trained at 6 and 7 thing! Yes they do it at school too!!!

I have be researching and researching and can't find a clear answer. I know my boyfriend can claim my sons on his taxes as dependents and claim myself as I had no income and he provided 100% of the support for us for the entire year, but I'm not sure what to file them under. (No their biological father cannot claim them on his taxes and doesn't file taxes anyway) Would they go under son or other? Thanks for any help! I will keep researching myself in the meantime.

Someone actually dumped this little beauty at an empty house next door to me on a very cold night, chained to an electrical box. We of course took her in to warm her up and feed her. She is not chipped and of course no one has claimed her and well... she has stolen our hearts so she's staying. :)

We are just curious as to if anyone has ideas what breed/s she is. Her tongue is solid purplish/bluish, no spots whatsoever. She is nice and fluffy like a Chow but does not have the smooshed up face typical of them or the straight hind legs. She is small, only standing about 22-24 inches from floor to the top of her back and has the cute Chow ears. Curled tail and all that but we're having a hard time believing she's full-blooded Chow by her looks.

Any ideas? Just humor me, I know it's almost impossible to know for sure, just looking for ideas. Here's a few pics I took of her before beginning the job of detangling mats.

http://renelma2003.4shared.com/

Since my last post is getting answers that obviously aren't reading the post, let's try this again.

1) My dog IS NEUTERED - being an adoption, they always alter before adopting out.

2) He gets tons of exercise between running the backyard with the kids and his 5 walks every single day with me while I exercise.

3) I don't see how people can say not to punish him for running off, that only gives him the idea that running off is okay because when he comes home, there's no consequences. According the adoption center, he's been through training and kennel punishment was used so it was suggested I continue that because it's what he knows.

4) He is microchipped, all of my animals are, but a microchip doesn't stop them from running off.

5) What about the stealing food from the counters? This started about the same time as the running off.

I do not abuse any of my animals before anyone even states that. He gets tons of attention, love, & exercise!! SERIOUS ANSWERS PLEASE!!!!

I adopted an older male dog, half golden retriever and half saint bernard a few months ago. He has been the perfect dog up until recently. The last 2 weeks, he just keeps running off. He is very quick and big (120 lbs.) so it makes him hard to grab and stop. He will sit and stay when told to but it's hard to tell him that when you're walking in the house from being gone or the kids are going outside to play and he pushes his way out the door and bolts! If you try to catch him, he runs off faster thinking you're playing with him. The only way I was able to get him home before was to drive the car and tell him we're going bye-bye then he'd jump in the car. But now, he won't even come near the car! We have tried kennel punishment, lead punishment, consulting a trainer, etc. This is becoming a major problem because with his size, he terrifies everyone on the streets because they don't know how gentle he is. All they see is this giant dog running toward them!! More coming...

My Mom has a Golden Retriever that she never got spayed and she is now 9 years old. She went into about 4-5 weeks ago and is still somewhat bleeding. But it's now more of a brownish sticky discharge. Is this normal? I've never noticed her do this before nor have I noticed her heats last this long. Could it have something to do with her age or more? I know dogs never go through menopause, I just find it odd that this is the first time. She has also started having very bad diarrhea. I know that could be from stress because they just moved this weekend but I want to be sure it's not tied into this odd bleeding as well.

I'm trying to talk her into taking her to the vet just to be sure but no such luck yet. Oh and she's never had any litters just as some added information in case it's needed. No need to start on the spaying issue, we already go rounds about that but nothing can be done now. Every vet says she's too old now, though I thought it could still be done. Any help would be great

Okay my first question may seem a little odd but it confused me. I have never had a male dog before so forgive me for the ignorance on the issue.....but when male dogs are neutered, do they always castrate them? I had my male cats neutered and they still "appear" to be intact as they only cut the sac to remove the testicles then close the wounds and it fills with fluid appearing normal. Yet I was brushing my dogs belly last night and noticed he has NOTHING but a penis. No sac, no anything. Is this common practice?

My second question is, what would make a dog not like the good foods? I have tried feeding him Natural Choice, Iams, Science Diet, Pro Plan, Pro Plan Select, and Authority. No luck, he refuses to eat any of it. He will nibble here and there but no real eating and he's losing weight now. Vet says he's perfectly healthy, all tests came back normal. Suggested just trying new foods to find one he'll eat. More info coming.........

I have wanted a Dyson Animal for a long time and now I'm just going to do it, swallow the pride on the price and get one. I think.........

Now I'm wondering how the Dyson compares to the Bissell Healthy Home. Which one would be better for a home with 3 kids, a husband, 2 cats that shed like mad, and a golden retriever/saint bernard mix dog? Pet hair and allergens is a BIG concern, which is why I'm wanting the Animal but does anyone know if the Bissell is just as good or better? Durability? Reliability?

Or for that matter, anyone own the Animal? Can you tell me what you think? Thanks!!

I have been caring for 2 Lab puppies since they were 5 weeks old because their mother ended up with severe mastitis and after being hospitalized, wasn't allowed to be around the pups due to her meds. Nursing them would have been dangerous so the puppies were fostered out until they could go to their homes.

The new owners never did come to claim them at 12 weeks of age as promised and they are now 23 weeks old. Now the owner of their mother has found new people to adopt them out to. They were both picked up last night by the new owners and I am having a very hard time dealing with it emotionally. I got very attached to those puppies and not having them here is weird. My dog seems to keep looking for them as well and whines here and there, I know he doesn't understand where they are now. They were playmates big time.

Anyone else who has fostered, how did you deal with having to let them go? I wanted to keep them but my husband wasn't keen on having 3 very large dogs in the house.=(

I already know the answer but I want to see if anyone here does. Don't cheat and google it, just go by what you know - or think.

If a dog has a spotted tongue, does it mean it has Chow in the bloodline somewhere? Are Chows the only dog that can have a black or blue tongue?

The first right answer gets the 10 points.

I found a large knot on my new rescue dog's back last night. It's about the size of a quarter and rock hard. Doesn't move. Has no discoloration on the skin but one very small red spot near the center. What is it?

*** I took him to the vet first thing this morning so I found out what it was but didn't have a clue beforehand! Just curious to see the knowledge going around here on YA since my vet said that exact description over the phone told her exactly what it was.

*** Don't just answer it, tell what can cause it and what to do about it.

I posted yesterday about a chihuahua I found half frozen in my yard and I brought him in to warm him up, feed him, and look for an owner. Well the owner showed up today with papers to prove ownership and I thought nothing of it. But when I had called animal control yesterday about picking him up if no one showed up, they told me that my dogs would need tested for parvo in 7-10 days just in case. I looked up symptoms of parvo and vomiting is one of them. Lo and behold, this morning before the owner came, the dog was vomiting all over my house! It never did have a bowel movement the entire time it was here so I can't tell you about stools. Should I be worried? I'm scared I unknowingly exposed my dogs to a deadly disease just trying to help another animal. My dogs are current on all vaccines but I have 2 Lab puppies that are 19 weeks old and a 4 year old mix breed. (golden & bernard) I will have them both tested but could anyone tell me what the chances are that the vomiting was a fluke?

I asked a question a few minutes ago about a chihuahua I found in my yard today in the snow. It's obvious he's not purebred and just out of curiousity, can you tell me what he could be mixed with? I know nothing about this breed but his legs are too long for a chihuahua. I'm waiting for his owner to claim him, this is just out of my own curiousity. Here's a pic of his face and then full body standing.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i54/lovnmomto3/1...

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i54/lovnmomto3/1...

I came home from the pet store today to find a chihuahua half frozen in my snow covered yard. I could hardly even see him! I immediately brought him in the house and got him warmed up, fed, and watered. I then put up signs all over looking for the owner and called animal control to report it. They won't be able to come get him for 5-6 days since I agreed to foster him until the owner shows up or they can get here. (loads of problems there right now with distemper exposure) He has no tags and appears very skinny. I know NOTHING about this breed because I have always been partial to large breed dogs. So my questions are:

1) Is it normal to see their spine and hips? It's not extremely prominant but definately clearly noticable.

2) Are sore on the leg joints common in chihuahuas?

3) Do the legs normally have very little fur on them?

4) Is it common that he does not bark at all or even really respond to sounds other than a kissing sound?

More coming.......

I adopted a beautiful (rather large) dog 2 days ago from a lady who couldn't care for him anymore. I was under the impression that she did take care of him but her living arrangement was just too small for this huge of an animal. Until I got to looking at him! He has horrible ear mites (meds started today), dead fleas and gnats and grass tangled in his "mane" - he has horribly matted fur! He has the long golden retriever hair at the back of his ears and that was so matted I had to cut most of it but his mane and tail are so horribly matted that even a bath did help work them out. I have been brushing and brushing with no real help. Does anyone have any good ideas for getting these matts out WITHOUT shaving his fur? I took him to the groomer but they wanted to just shave him, said working out the matts would be too time consuming. I refuse to shave him, he has so much hair and shaving him would probably be very traumatic for him. PLEASE HELP!

Serious answers only!!!

We adopted a very sweet and HUGE dog yesterday. He is 6 years old and a mix of Golden Retreiver, Lab, and Chow. He weighs about 120 lbs. or better and is the sweetest dog I have ever met in my life. I love him dearly already but we are having a problem with him eating. He absolutely refuses to eat! I am worried about him. I have adopted animals before and never had this problem. I'm not sure what to do. I have tried different types of food, including the food he is used to and pieces of hot dog. Nothing. He's acting normal otherwise just refusing to eat. What can I do? I know this is a hard adjustment for him as he is used to his old owner - we adopted him from a lady who could no longer care for him and was facing taking him to the shelter - but the last thing that I want is him ending up sick from not eating. How do I coax him to eat? He has to be hungry! Here's a picture of him with me and my son - blurred faces for privacy. Thanks for any suggestions and serious answers only please

Okay, I know puppies begin losing their teeth between 5 and 6 months, but is it abnormal for them to lose them early? I ask because my Lab is only 18 weeks old and for the last week her teeth have been bleeding when she chews on things. It started out as small spots but now she's bleeding pretty bad on everything she puts in her mouth. I know this is a sign of her getting ready to lose teeth - though for the life of me I can't see what tooth (teeth) are bleeding - but is this too young? How long usually are the teeth lose before they fall out? I'm not too worried about it because I know it's normal. Guess I'm just curious because my other puppy isn't showing any signs of loose teeth yet. They are both scheduled to be spayed on Feb. 7th but they have to at least lost one tooth to have it done according to the vet and I don't know if I chould reschedule Ravyn's since she's not losing teeth yet. Thanks! Serious answers only and no smarta** comments!

I have looked up the breed but I need some personal experience with people who have or currently do actually own one. Preferrably not someone who just knows someone who owns one. Here's my situation: I have been asked to foster care a 2 year old Pomeranian male for a family that is moving states and cannot move the dog just yet. I will need to foster care for him for about 2 months until they get settled and can come back for him. I won't ship animals so my terms are they have to personally pick him up and drop him off. I hate the idea of animals being shipped, just a personal preference. But I have 2 Lab puppies (18 weeks old), 2 cats, and 3 kids ages 3, 9, and 11.

Are Pomeranians good with small kids?

Are they good with other dogs?

Are they good with cats?

Are they likely to bite and snip like many other small breeds?

Do they bark a lot?

Are they nervous?

Do they chew even at 2 years old?

What should I be prepared for if I decide to do this?

More info............

Does it really work? How long is it normally between times of having to do it again? I'm considering buying one but wanted some firsthand experience first. Thanks!

(serious answers only)