Nona

I know how everyone just loves all the strange and fancy names that mixed breed dogs are sold under to make them seem like they are valuable. I came across this one today, for the low, low price of $450.

For sale, GERBERIAN SHEPSKY puppies. Father is purebred Siberian Husky, mother is purebred GSD. Combines the best of both breeds of dog into a ..............

well, combines them into a mutt dog. Not very good looking either. Thought we could all use a good laugh.

MEOW- this one is for you especially. Was looking through the ads for pets for sale and came across this cat know as a Pixie-Bob for the low, low price of $750. So I looked at their pictures - I don't really get it, they looked like tabbies with tails that had gotten stuck in a door. Supposed to have bob cat genes but when I looked it up on Google the site said that genetic testing showed no bob cat genes at all. Are these just large bodied cats that happened to have shortened tails bred to more big boned cats?

Wondering if anyone has an Akbash and what their tolerances of cold are. I'm not looking to leave the dog outside all winter but I am tired of having a dog that needs boots and a coat just to go out to urinate.

Also, are they any good with cats or do the pups learn which animals they are to protect and which they are to guard against. We have problems with bears. I am looking at pups that are from sheep-guarding parents and are $250 - purity of breed is not important as the pup will be spayed. I'm only a block or two from the bush so the dog will have plenty of exercise. My previous dogs were an Akita/|Newfoundland mix, and a Rottweiler. Appreciate any thoughts or experiences with this breed.

Watching tv and eating at the same time, I managed to aspirate a piece of kernel corn. I spent half an hour coughing with my eyes streaming tears but never managed to cough out the piece of corn. This was last night. Today,and now, I am still coughing and it still feels like something stuck in my chest. I hate to go to the hospital and really have no way to get there - car is frozen and dead at -27*. Is this likely to just dissolve away or more likely to cause pneumonia? I've aspirated food before but have usually managed to vomit it up - this time it seems to have stuck. I could call my doctor tomorrow but am unlikely to get in to see him anyway. ER sounds like the best bet but I am not going to pay a fortune to take a taxi there and back if this is likely to resolve itself without medical help.

My Rotti was fine one day and the next day she got up from her bed and started to drag her back leg and wobble and fall down. She's 10 1/2 years old,had a fairly serious cancer operation 2 years ago. Her x rays at that time showed shadows on her lungs and the vet gave her 2 years to live so she is already 6 months past that. He felt around but didn't find anything that was at all painful to her and given her age and past recommended that I consider euthanasia. So I brought her home to think about it.

She is somewhat depressed and is just lying on her bed which we moved into the living room but she never gets up although she is quite able to change positions. She had been eating but stopped for two days. She wants water but won't drink much although she quite likes Ensure.

She still urinates and defecates outside after I carry her down the stairs using her harness and a homemade belly strap - she is still interested in sniffing about and eating a bit of snow. She walks but drags the leg and the foot drags in the snow. Tonight she ate some grilled cheese sandwich.

Anyone ever had a dog like this that developed a leg problem overnight? Not sure what to do due to her age and the weather isn't making my decision choices easier. Should I just feed her whatever high calorie "junk" food she will eat - hardly going to matter at this point is it?

A few days ago I asked how to convince my ex that he should get rid of his dog. I was told to mind my own business etc. My ex does not walk the dog (he is disabled enough that walking is painful), the dog is somewhat trained but becoming aggressive and pushy and attacked my elderly dog. He brushes it off as playing.This dog spends at least 12 hours day in a kennel, dog is a mutt mix he got free (border collie/golden retriever mix). It is not spayed nor can he afford to spay it. I checked and the cost is $500 to spay - nearest low cost spay ($250) is 226 miles away -10 hours of driving, gas is $6.58 gallon).I keep getting accused of lying about this on this site but I am not in the US,I'm in N. Ont.Canada. His government pension will not stretch to that. He previously had a beloved Pug - this dog was a spur of the moment thing. I want to convince him to bring this dog to the shelter for it's own good. The shelter constantly brags in the newspaper that they do not ever have to kill any dogs because they send them out to cities 500 miles or more away. They do kill many cats.As to why I feel I have the right to "force" him to get rid of the dog - I own the house he is living in, I handle all his financial affairs,purchase his food.cook some of that food, arrange loans for him to have transportation. We don't live together but we are together for 30 years. If I get him a Pug he will be happy but in the meantime the dog should GO.But how to convince him?

My ex's elderly Pug died. He wanted another dog and got a give-away puppy. The mother was a smallish sized border collie type and the father was a large golden retriever. The puppies were quite small and seemed to take after the mother. My ex took a small female puppy. It proved to be quite stubborn. To this day - almost 2 years later - I don't think it is reliably house trained. It didn't want to walk on a leash and would simply plant it's front legs and refuse to move - often at the worst times like when crossing a street. I tired to help by teaching it to heel and to jump into the van and attempted to teach it to climb stairs without success - it just leaps into the middle of the stairs and then leaps again to the top. Compared to my dog, I found it to be a slow learner and very good at forgetting what was previously taught. My ex took over when he could - but he can't walk very well so the dog didn't get much exercise He taught it to run beside his scooter to get exercise when he can't walk .Today we met up to take both our dogs out. His dog is overweight and although it has met my dog often today it had the hair on it's back raised. There was some growling on the walk and then outside my home while chasing a ball, his dog attacked my dog. I think he should give the dog to the humane shelter. It is getting vicious and I think it may attack other dogs. It is not spayed and maybe that is making it unreliable. How do I convince him to give the dog away?

I found an ad for a 4 year old female Doberman that has VonWillebrand. They don't say what level. The dog hasn't been spayed - I assume because they don't believe it would survive the surgery. I would wonder if she isn't susceptible to pyometra? They also don't want to sell to a young person or an old person. Young being 25 and old being over 55. Their reason being young people aren't settled down enough and old people won't have the energy to cope with the exercise level this dog needs. I was under the impression that you had to be somewhat careful exercising a dog like this because they could easily get hurt and that even chewing something hard could cause gum bleeding and problems. I'm 52 and take my dog into the bush quite often to run around - this would probably not be a good idea anymore - but bringing the dog to the dog park would be risking an injury from another dog. I have no idea if the dog is purebred or not and I would assume that it's tail isn't docked or ears done. Also winters are brutally cold here (minus 40 degrees), boots and a coat at all times - what if it nicked it's toes on a stone or branch in the summer. Would I be taking on more problems than I would want to deal with. Should I just look for a healthy dog?

I took over a few cages of mice that my relative had. I suspect she either didn't know how to tell one sex from another or she didn't care. I carefully separated them according to sex. This has used up a lot of aquariums and space. The males are all fighting with each other and every female is pregnant. I tried to give the males away but no one wants them. There are already 6 new litters of babies and there is no way I am keeping them. My snakes eat worms and fish. Our one pet store is already loaded down with mice and advertising them for free did nothing. I'm a block from the bush - I know that if I turn them loose something will eat them - but surely it is better that something out there gets a meal - we've got lots of foxes, and roaming cats. And, no, there is no no-kill shelter to bring them to.

I wouldn't mind keeping a few females to amuse the cats (not to feed them to) but at this rate I am going to have 100 mice. Thoughts? Ideas?

Now before anyone starts yelling or getting irate, I always would recommend that anyone with a health issue with their pet go to see their vet. But you have to know that these questions come from all over the US and Canada etc. I find it hard to believe that every person has access to an emergency vet or an all-hours clinic. I don't. My vet won't even come out for an emergency call on the weekend or late at night unless you are a current client. And they charge double.

Which brings up another question. If someone says they can't afford the vet - do you ever believe them? I have been lucky that my vet has let me make payments on my bills in the past. He also takes charge cards. But someone faced with a $2000 bill for a broken leg can't always be expected to have the money. Pet insurance is fairly new to us. Even so, a vet visit just to walk in the front door and get an opinion is $75 - blood tests $250 - spaying is $500. We have no low-cost clinics. Euthanasia is $100. We have a "humane society" - they save every dog but kill 55 cats per month. Any cat with a runny eye or that sneezes is killed immediately. So your advice to go to a no-kill cheap shelter can't just ring false for me.

We didn't even have a vet in this town until 1970. And there were none for at least 100 miles. Or they were farm animal vets. Just wondering about the situations in other places and if we ought to yell at everyone to find a vet right at that moment.