Nikki

I'm asking this for a friend of mine who is at her wits end about her dog. She's highly aggressive toward small dogs. She's about 6 and is a Bishon/Shitzu/some kind of small terrier mix. So she's only about 10-15 lbs. It's not a defensive aggression. As soon as a small dog is in sight, she goes straight for them no matter how close or far they are. The last one she attacked, she sent to the vets. So I offered to try and find some answers for her to maybe save this girl from getting put down.

Any advice is welcomed!

Alright. I've never adopted a dog from a shelter before. While looking for my first dog, I had a very rude experience with the staff at the rescue closest to me. But, I'd really love to save a life, so I'm putting that behind me.

What I want to know is, what questions should I ask? I've been on petfinder for the last three or four days looking at just about every male dog in the state. I'll find one I like the looks of but there is no info about him. So I email the rescue/shelter about him. What all should I be asking? This is what I HAVE been asking:

Is he dog-friendly?

Is he house trained?

What is his temperment and personality like?

What is his activity level?

How did he come into your shelter/rescue?

Should I be asking more? Or is that too much? I don't want to waste the time of shelter workers with stupid questions, but I want to make sure he'll be the right dog for me.

Also, I know this varies, but in your experience... When you rescued your dog, how long did it take for them to respond? I sent an online application in about a boy I REALLY like but that was like four days ago.

My car hasn't been running this winter, but I'm getting it fixed this weekend so I can drive to some of these shelters and personally inquire about these dogs I like. Cause I know that would make things go a little faster.

Any advice?

No TD's will be given by me.

Ok, so I'm moving soon, and when I do I plan on adopting another dog to give my girl a friend. I will be adopting a dog from the local humane society or a nearby rescue.

What I want to ask is.. I've always heard that when you have two dogs, its better to get the opposite gender. Is that correct? I've been looking at mostly males, but it really wouldn't matter to me as long as there were no dominance issues.

My girl is a spayed 2 year old Lab. I'm looking to get a dog her size or medium sized. I've already inquired about a few male labs that I like and am just waiting to hear back. I would love to look at a wider variety of dogs, but I want to make sure about the gender thing first before I fall in love with a dog I couldn't have.

No TD will be given by me.

I have a friend who is having problems with her neighbors.. Well not really problens, but shes worried about their dog(s) and I just want to see what your guys advice is on this?

This is what she's sent me about the dog(s):

"We've reported abuse and neglect for these two dogs but animal control says they have a shelter, food and water so its fine. And the dogs (now dog) are "plump" compared to how they were.. Well a month ago one dog died. The owner knew she had been peeing blood and coughing but did nothing. The "food bowl" is a hole in the dirt with kibble in it, and the water is a cement bucket. We've called animal control twice. But they just give a warning.

When the dog died the owner just dug a shallow grave in the back yard and BARELY buried it enough so no one would see anything but a SMALL mound of dirt. When my friend told the owner the dog was dead the owner sighed and said "I don't have time for this" and did as I listed above. That was the last time we called animal control. Now the dog that's left, is in the "kennel" alone and he put a food bowl back there but it hasn't been filled in weeks. Yesterday my friend witnessed him feeding the dog two dog biscuits and that was it.

The landlord has threatened to kick out my family and friends if we do anything else. Its bullshit. Just because the dog has a crudely built shelter that WE built and looks fed doesn't mean the dog is being treated well. The dog also has an absess on its neck and when we told animal control that, the owners wife claimed she takes it to the vet to get drained every few months. But, that's a lie. That dog NEVER leaves that kennel. The owner only pays attention to it when he supposedly feeds it. Is there anything you can do to help, or who you know someone who could?"

I told her that since the owner has provided shelter, water and apparently food, AC can't legally do anything. At least not without proof that he is neglecting his dog. I told her that anytime the dog goes without food for a whole day, to take pictures with a date stamp on them. I also told her to take pictures daily of the abcess on the dogs neck, because if the owner is really getting the dog vet care it should improve after being at the vets. I told her she could also take constant video of the dog to prove if its getting fed or not. Is there anything she can do to help this pup? While it seems the dog is getting it's required attention, it is certainly not being truely CARED for.

Ok, let me give you a bit of a backstory.

My kitten was born to an "inside/outside" mother. The original owners let her come and go as she pleased and did everything they could to coax her into having her kittens inside. But, she instead decided to give birth outside. At about 8 weeks old, they found homes for most of the kittens, except for two. My girl and one of her brothers. They still allowed the mother to come and go as she pleased, so this meant her kittens as well.

Well, my Aunt who lives next door to them asked if she could take the mother and remaining kittens and find homes for all three of them rather than allowing them to roam the busy neighborhood and street. They agreed to this and found homes for the brother and mother. My aunt brought the remaining girl to a family party a few days after Thanksgiving and I took her home with me.

The first few nights she was very calm and just wanted to cuddle and chase the dog's tail. I kept her in my bedroom rather than instantly letting her have full run of the apartment. She was surprisingly already litter-trained and was very good at using it. Now she she has full access to the apartment and has gotten a bit uncontrollable.

We have a couch that reclines on both ends and she likes to play inside the couch. Everytime she does this I drag her out and tell her "NO" and give her a toy to bat around instead. But 10 minutes later, shes back inside the couch. Nothing I've done has stopped her from getting under there. Even if the couch isn't reclined, she finds a way in. It wouldn't bother me that shes under there if she didn't stick her paws through the cushions amd claw at your butt/legs/anything else that's in range. That hurts!

She also attacks toes and arms and fingers and anything else she feels the need to attack.

My question is, how do you teach a cat what is ok and what is not? I know how to scold a puppy, but is it different with a cat? Usually I'll just bop her on the nose or top of the head with my finger when she's doing something bad because just saying "No" or "bad kitty" doesn't seem to do anything at all. She just looks at me like "Ha. You think that'll make me stop?" Could the 8 weeks of being an "outdoor" cat have something to do with it?

I've had kittens before, but not since I was 7 or 8. I'm more of a dog person but I miss having a cat in the house as well. So I apologize if you're reading this question saying "This person is retarded. Lol", but everything I look up online is no help at all. I'm just looking for opinions of fellow (more experienced) cat/kitten owners. No thumbs down will be given by me unless the advice given will harm my kitten. (Such as "beat the **** out of it, then it will behave!" Please... I've seen the effects of that when I was a kid. My dad wasn't too patient with a 12 week old kitten.)

This is an ad on my local classified site:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=18704524&c...

I browse every now and then just to see what ridiculousness there is.. These people claim to have "Mini APBT's" that are NOT mixed breed.. Ha. So in other words, they're following the suit of "teacup breeders" and breeding runts to runts?

Has anyone seen this before? Obviously, I know they're just more BYB mutt APBT's that the world doesn't need, but I've never seen anyone claim "Mini APBT's"

I'm sure a few of you if not a lot of you (in the US at least) have heard about whats going on down in Willis, TX. Leah Purcell's "Rescue" was raided and about 300 dogs were seized from her property. This includes any dogs that have been surrendered to her and also dogs that were being boarded there. Also included are dogs that she supposedly adopted out. They are all currently being held at a temporary location. Previous owners and rescues are now in the process of trying to claim the dogs that they originally placed in Leah's care, hoping to find their TRUE forever homes. If you have EVER surrendered a dog to Leah, please, go to this site if possible (even if you were told they were adopted) and they can help you try to find out what exactly has happened to your furbaby as well as more info on the story.

http://www.facebook.com/VictimsOfSpindletopRaid#!/...

Now for the legit question:

Have any of you ever entrusted someone else to take care of your dog and had it turn out.. unpleasant? Share your stories?

It doesn't bother her at all. She doesn't scratch it, lick it and its not red as if it is irritated. Its located on her chest just behind her front legs so its nearly on her stomach. I'm thinking she either has some kind of allergy to her food (Wellness Core Grain-Free) or when she lays down she some how rubs the hair off. I just wanted to see if there were any other suggestions as to what it could be based on your guys experience. I know there are no vets on here and its hard to answer without seeing it, but i'm just curious. Thanks in advance DS :)

Just want to see what everyones opinion on this is. Personally I think this cop is ABSOLUTLEY ridiculous in his decision. There were far better ways to deal with this situation!

Video is not graphic or anything and there is no sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF20qqIN7zs&nomobil...

The dog is not displaying aggressive behavior, does not rush at the cops or make any attempt to attack, and even after slipping a cable around her neck, dragging her to the grass and pinning her down... Shes still wagging her tail. Even if this dog has attacked or been aggressive in the past, shouldnt animal control be dealing with this and not the cops?

So I've had my tens in for about 2 or 3 weeks and tonight I put in my 8g tapers. My right one went in perfectly fine with little to no pain but my left one will only go in half way before it stops completely. The tapers arent very gradual and my left one stops just where the taper gets bigger. Any advice on how to get it in or how long I should wait before trying that side again?

I have a baby corn snake that I can no longer care for and I'm looking for some advice on what to do with him? I've put him in the local classifieds and no one wants him. Any suggestions??

Has anyone done this workout and if you have did it really work?

So I forgot to buy a thermostat today to hook up to my heat mat, what can I do tonight to make sure it doesn't get too hot? I'm going to get one first thing in the morning but I'm just worried about tonight.. I just checked the temperature and on top of the aspen chips it's only about 86F but I moved some of that to check how hot it was at the glass and it was 128F! My new baby corn snake likes to burrow into the aspen and I'm scared he'll burrow down to the glass and burn all night. Is there anything I can to do make it not so hot while I'm sleeping? Or is there a way that I could unplug it tonight and somehow still keep my baby warm?

I have 2 bettas in a 10 gallon tank with a divider. I also have a heater, filter, plants and places for them to hide. The only problem is, my filter seems to be too strong? Since it can only sit on one side of the divider, my female betta is always getting pushed around by the force of the water coming back into the tank. I know bettas hate currents but I've inspected every inch of the filer and there isn't any kind of dial or anything to tone it down some. Is there another way to do this or do I need to buy a whole new filter?

My 4 month old black Lab is driving me a little bit crazy. She's good at listening, knows basic commands (except for heel, I've always had a hard time teaching that one to dogs) and is mostly potty trained. But she has no regard for where she is or when. On walks she'll stick close and not pull on the leash but she'll walk around you in circles pretty much. I end up spinning and lifting the leash over my head for the majority of the walk just to keep from getting too tangled up. At home, She has free run of whatever room I happen to be in (not the whole apartment) and is in her kennel when i or my boyfriend cannot supervise her. At home she'll flat out sprint toward you and not slow down until she knocks you over (I've been trying to teach her 'slow down' as a command. If she's running at me I'll put both hands out at her level as to say stop and then verbally say 'slow down'.. she's kind of getting the hang of it..) Also, when she's in the same room with me she'll suddenly run right underneath where I'm walking (just so happens I'm usually in the middle of taking a step so I only have one foot on the floor for that split second she runs under me) and nearly knock me over, or I'll fall trying to avoid stepping on her or I step on her due to it being such a quick movement. Sorry if this is confusing to understand, any questions just ask. I want to enroll her in some training classes but I'm just too tight on money this month. Is there anything you guys can recommend for me to try until the beginning of Sept. when I have the money for training classes? Any helpful input is appreciated.

I've noticed in the last couple days that my 14 week old Lab has already lost her two top front teeth. Is this normal for a puppy her age? I've read and been told that puppys don't usually start losing teeth until 5 months or so.. I just want to make sure that her teeth aren't falling out due to some sort of vitamin deficiency or something. She doesn't whine when we touch the gums where the teeth are gone but she has a hard time eating. Any helpful input is appreciated!

I know some people on here are totally disgusted by these questions... so if you are then DON'T ANSWER. Dur..

Anyway.. I've had my puppy since the first of June (she was just over 8 weeks) and for a little while she had diarrhea but it was just cause I didn't know what kind of food they were feeding her beforehand so the sudden change in food upset her stomach. The family I got her from had given her her 6 and 8 week shots and deworming but I still took her into the vet to get a health check done on her just to make sure and they said she was fine. After a week or so of having her I figured she should be used to her food but she would still have diarrhea... not consistantly though. Sometimes it would be solid, sometimes it wouldn't be. But lately it's been (and I know this will sound gross) kind of mucus-like, almost like snot. I'm taking her to the vet for her shots tomorrow so I'll talk to the vet about it then but I was just wondering if anyone knew if this was normal or if something is wrong. Thanks

I'm starting to get complaints from my neighbors about my puppy because when me and my boyfriend both leave the apartment (even if it's just to go do laundry or something) all she does is constantly bark! Please help me. If I can't get her to stop barking then we'll either get kicked out of our apartment or we'll have to get rid of her, which I DON'T want to do! If one of us is home then she's quiet but there can't ALWAYS be someone here with her. Like on days when both of us work (which doesn't happen very often). Please help if you can!