Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with dog

make me down a pallet on your floor

wg — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:59:45 -0800

Dog boarding recommendations in Niagara Falls, Ontario? My dog: 6yo Brittany. Well socialized. Wouldn't hurt a flea. She kennels best when she can gallop about with other dogs and has attention from humans.

Ideal setting: A kennel/doggie daycare, where she has regular play with the other dogs and regular contact with people.

She will be well exercised upon arrival, and will only be staying for one night. So, I would consider a well-respected boarding facility that at least gets her out of the kennel a few times a day.

I'd also welcome any information that may be specific to kenneling a dog in Canada, as I am from NY. My dog is current on all rabies, kennel cough, etc and I can easily provide documentation from my vet.

Can a dog pee on a sod balcony?

mjcon — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:45:50 -0800

Puppy Housebreaking Question: Sod on a balcony as an occasional potty spot a good idea? I have a new, ten week old wonderful puppy who is tiny now and will probably grow up to be about 20 lbs. Next week I am moving to a new apartment that I expect to be our home for a couple years. The apartment is on the third floor and has a medium sized balcony. My question is about housebreaking. As of now, in the old house, we are doing a pretty good job of getting the puppy down the stairs (also a third floor apartment) and outside when he needs to go and can certainly continue that in the new place. However, we always carry him out the door and down the stairs because he's so small and the stairs are steep and also because I am afraid he would pee before we got outside. It worries me that he doesn't walk out the door himself because I am afraid he won't learn how to "tell" me that he needs to go outside by waiting at the door or scratching.

To remedy this at the new place, I am thinking about building a planter box with sod in it to put on the balcony so that this could be a door that the puppy could go to and get outside to a good "potty spot" immediately. I still very much plan for most of the potty-ing done to be outside (not on the balcony) on the 4-5 walks we take every day, but want there to be somewhere that the puppy can get to without having to be carried so that he will learn to scratch at the door etc.... Generally my plan was to keep the sod a year or so until the puppy's bladder is big enough to only relieve himself on our walks, but if I have to keep it the entire time we live there I probably could.

Things I am worried about using the sod box:

1. That somehow the puppy will decide not to pee anywhere except the box. Right now (at what is admittedly a very early stage of potty training) he kinda goes on command, and while he has favorite spots in our yard, he goes wherever we are on walks just fine. I hope that by making sure he still goes outside on walks several times a day, this won't be an issue, but would love some insight about whether I am just developing bad habits that will be a problem later.

2. That the sod box will stink or not grow or otherwise cause problems. Any construction tips are welcome.

Basically, please tell me if you think that I am setting myself up for problems and shouldn't even attempt this. Continuing regular potty training from the third floor is totally fine with us, I just thought this might speed up the process.

weekend trip from Boston?

lalalana — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:40:51 -0800

My boyfriend, our two small dogs, and I would like to take a weekend trip in the Boston area soon... We want cost-effective, swimming opportunities, quaintness, dog-friendly, nature... Any suggestions? It's a been a crazy summer for work, and we just want to go somewhere relaxing with the dogs. We also want somewhere CHEAP if at all possible. I know it's the season, so cheap is not the easiest, so any places that aren't necessarily big tourist destinations would be fine.

Saw this one, but emphasis on cost-effectiveness and dog-friendliness rather than commute...

Why is my dog obsessed with dryer sheets?

arniec — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:29:41 -0800

Why is my dog OBSESSED with dryer sheets? I recently got a chihuahua and she is OBSESSED with dryer sheets. She will root through laundry to get them and then run off as if she has an incredible treat, hiding from us so we don't take the sheet back.

We thought at first that it was the smell of the clothes on the sheet, but we recently learned she goes ape-shit for unused ones as well.

We use Downy dryer sheets if that makes a difference.

Also, are these in any way harmful for a dog? We get them from her as fast as we can, but don't want her poisoned.

Owning a dog in the city? What do I need to know?

doppleradar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:46:31 -0800

Owning a dog in the city? What do I need to know? It's been almost a year since my dog passed away and I've been thinking about getting another. I've had dogs my whole life, and volunteer at shelters when I can so I know about the basics of dog ownership, training, etc...

What's new to me is living in a smaller apt (and not having a yard) since I moved to Boston in January. I wouldn't adopt for another 6 months or so, but in the meantime I need to get educated on what it's like to be a dog-owner in a super-urban environment.

Do you get used to picking up the poop? Are dog parks only for purse-dogs? Is it even fair to get a dog if I'll be working most of the day? What am i not thinking of, and what tips/hints/resources/advice do you have for being a responsible pet owner in the city?

Help us identify our dog.

jeffrygardner — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:54:34 -0800

What kind of breed is our dog? We are confident that he is of Japanese origin based on his face and coloration, and we want to be the best parents we can be. Elway is about 50 lbs, quiet as a church-mouse and looks very much like a Shiba Inu, but larger and without the upturned tail. Shibas are generally no more than 40 lbs at the very largest. Elway, contrary to the common temperament of Shibas, is quite friendly (even excitable) around humans and other dogs. He is high-energy, a bit destructive and loves to dig. We have heard that Shibas are supposed to be good guard dogs, but ours would likely annoy an intruder to death with neediness rather than scare him.

The wife thinks that he is part German Shepard due to the coloration on his back, but I'm not so sure. The doggie DNA tests are out of our price range and we would rather not invest in a book merely to identify him (if possible). Help?

But... my dog has a job. She loves me!

miss lynnster — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:12:25 -0800

Man who was raised in a culture where animals are meant to be working on a farm and not kept for fun... dating a dog-lovin' woman who owns a face-licking puppy. Clearly not a long-term match perhaps, but how to ease the discomfort of either party, respect everyone's feelings, and bypass disagreements? My 12 pound dog is well trained, cute (to everyone but him), and very sweet. She's polite and under voice control. We're very attached, she goes almost everywhere with me. She sleeps at the foot of my bed, and I like her there. I love this dog and she LOVES people, including this man. She wants to say hello and play, and he just stares at her. Sometimes he'll pet her... but later he'll act like he deserved a medal for it. He says he doesn't like pets because they're a responsibility. I tell him, "my dog is MY responsibility though, it doesn't affect you. And you have two children so those are responsibilities too. Many good things in life are responsibilities."

I don't force my dog on him. But I'm not going to hide her, and I can't always control that she wants to say hello to him... she's naturally affectionate (normally not a bad thing). I tell him "I love my dog, sorry but ya gotta deal with it." His favorite argument is that he doesn't understand why people adopt dogs instead of giving a home to a child. Many conversations about pets end up at this argument... which isn't won by saying, "Well, I wanted a dog *because* I didn't WANT a child." I also tried once to compare it to him loving soccer and me hating it but watching it with him anyhow. He says that's a bad comparison.

I know and respect that this is all cultural. I was raised by people who felt that a home isn't complete without a dog curled up at your feet. He was raised in a country where dogs are vermin and animals that are owned by humans live outdoors and are there for a purpose. They're kept solely to have jobs. He resents it that American society implies if you don't love "useless" pets you are lacking compassion. I see his point, because that was my first reaction. But I also think he holds that social pressure against the animals more than actually disliking them... kind of an "Everyone says I have to do this so screw that, I'm not going to. Everyone thinks I have to like pets? Well, no! I HATE DOGS! So there!" It's a bit of a soapbox for him, and it gets tiring because I'm not telling him how to feel, but *I'm* not going to change when I own a dog I adore with all of my heart. He says "Well, I'm fine with you liking your dog. You can keep liking your dog." And then I get annoyed because... why would I need his approval.

As you can tell, it's the conversations about it that get on my nerves more than anything. Every time the topic comes up (even when he hasn't seen my dog for months) my head starts to hurt. I would like it to be a non-issue.

Lately I've just stopped inviting him over and just go to his place. But in the future he'll be visiting me in another city so that won't be an option. When he used to come over to my house, I'd crate my dog sometimes. Other times I'd let her loose and he'd tolerate her. But I saw that her personality started to change as did mine... she seemed kind of depressed because I wasn't giving her as much attention. She would slink away when she wanted to show him love and he didn't respond favorably (she's used to people on the street happily rubbing her belly), and when I'd try to crate her she started to cower and whimper like I was being mean. It's hard for me because in my mind, she's my baby (he winces when I say that) and frankly, it's HER house more than it is his. But dogs are dogs and people are people and I want to respect his issue. I'm allergic to cats but have learned to like my friends cats and respect that it's their home and not mine. I'm flexible like that, though. Not sure he is ready to think that way. Not sure how to make this situation totally comfortable for all people and puppies involved, or if I even can.

Any suggestions on how to keep this from being a repeated topic of conversation and stress? To be honest, if I have to choose between the two... the dog wins. But I would rather not have to go there. I'd like to appreciate the good parts of my relationship with him and adore my beloved puppy too, without the two clashing.

Sorry this is so long.

Looking for a word to train my dog to come to, besides the obvious

jeffxl — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:36:11 -0800

I need a unique and amusing word to train my dog to come to, besides the word "come". Any ideas? I'm in a dog training class, and this week we're learning the "Really Reliable Return". For some reason they don't want us to use "come" for this exercise--they say we should come up with a word that is unique to us and our dog. (The theory is we're supposed to get her thinking that when and only when we say that word she gets the super awesome treat she never gets any other time, and therefore she'll really come when we say that word).

The trainers gave examples of previous students using words like "Skittles", or "Pickles"... but I really don't want to be that guy in the dog park yelling "PUDDING!" at his dog, so I'm looking for creative alternatives.

What are some good words that would be funny to have a dog come to? I was thinking about using synonyms of come (surprisingly little of those, though) or "come" in another language, or perhaps something like "hither". I'm sure you can top those ideas, though, right?

canis lupus whatisthis?

harhailla.harhaluuossa — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:02:44 -0800

What is the origin of the cross-linguistic "kutt"-like root for dog? The word for dog in Hungarian is kutya. In Hindi/Urdu it is kutta. I assumed Hungarian had borrowed from Romani, which shares vocabulary with the North Indian languages. But this is not likely since the Romani of that region has a very different word for dog.

Further, I came upon this site, which, if you search on the page for "kutya" will give you a list of very similar words for dog in Slavic, Caucasian, Afro-Asiatic and other languages.

You can also look at item 72 here if you read Bulgarian, or just follow Cyrillic.

I paid close attention this morning to the mongrel waifs that hang around my street, and find it hard to believe that onomatopoeia is responsible. One may have been making a "kuch" like sound but I think he was throwing something up. Dogs were domesticated quite some time ago, but is it conceivable that one place, perhaps known for breeding dogs many thousand years ago, contributed the word to other languages?

I'm foxed. Explain.

please hive mind, name my dog

nanhey — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:06:53 -0800

help me name my puppy that i am picking up tomorrow if all goes well. ready. set. go.

Why won't my dog eat regularly? Help!

philrj — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:56:06 -0800

Why won't my dog eat regularly? It started when my roommate moved out, who had friends over a lot. Over the past few weeks it's progressed into serving him canned food, to some days where he doesn't eat at all except for treats and any kind of cooked meat. He has a routine vet appointment in a week but my mother thinks we should bring him to the emergency clinic. He is a 11.5 year old lab mix who needs constant attention. Since he started developing an irregular eating pattern, I've been giving him more and more attention to get him to eat. Walking him more, brushing him, vacuuming his coat (his fav), throwing his ball around, and I even gave him a bath today. If he leaves his breakfast or dinner in his bowl all day, the minute a few friends come over he'll go eat it after getting some attention. It's like the excitement of people urges him to become hungry again.

So, I can't tell if he's depressed or if he has some intestinal issue. Behaviorally, he acts 100% fine—unless I leave for more than a few hrs he'll throw his bedding around and sometimes my laundry. He started not eating his morning meal, and then some days a struggle to get him to eat his dinner without my turning it into a game (pretending to hide his bowl, move it to different places, getting his tail wagging...those kinds of things), which he loved.

Then one day he wouldn't eat his dry food at all so I went out and got canned food and that worked for a few days....now it's a struggle to get him to eat that. Sometimes he inhales his food, like yesterday and wants more, and other times, like today, he'll have one can and won't touch anything else.

One thing to note is that he drinks water like a fish—but he's always been like that. The last vet visit we were worried about kidney problems but the vet figured he was using the "please give me more water" look to get attention. I'm afraid this is what has happened with the food. Nothing else seems to be wrong with him, so I'm not so sure he's sick. I think he's playing with me because he knows I get upset over the food thing! But maybe he really is sick...who knows. He's my best friend and just want him to be healthy!

No diarrhea, just small stools on days he doesn't eat much.

So, emergency dog clinic tomorrow, or just wait until vet appointment next week?

Avoiding eviction after minor dog incident?

Hollow — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:33:38 -0800

ApartmentFilter: My friend's dog got our of her NYC apartment today, and a neighbor overreacted. Now the neighbor is trying to get her evicted from the building (her lease goes all the way til February). Should she be worried? Can she fight back? My friend has two formerly abused dogs that she adopted to save them from being put down. Today one of them managed to work all three of her locks and get out into the hall. A neighbor's kid was out in the hall, and the dog bounded up to the kid happily, playfully, excitedly, as dogs are wont to do. The neighbor kid freaked, and the neighbor came out. By the time my friend got out there, her dog had peed the neighbor's floor, which my friend knows that he only does after being hit. The argument got heated, and the neighbor called the police. When the cops arrived they were very nice and did not press any charges, telling my friend to just be more careful. Nonetheless, the angry neighbor is pressuring the building manager to cancel my friend's 12 month lease and kick her out.

My friend's building allows dogs, and her dogs would never hurt a fly. Still, her neighbor is claiming the dog attacked the kid, and between the dog getting loose and peeing the floor, she is worried that management might find cause for canceling her lease.

Any advice for her?

Vet Trachea Specialists?

Hands of Manos — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:34:52 -0800

Our pug has always had breathing problems. Now we find out he's got a fold in his trachea. We're in the Atlanta area and are looking for a specialist. The vet gave us the grim news last night. Basically our pug will overheat, not be able to get enough oxygen and die. We're going to do everything we can to not stress him out and keep him very cool.

He also said if it were his dog, he wouldn't give him the surgery due to it's low success rate. But we're still going to inquire with a specialist. So does anyone a.) know any dog trachea specialists in the Georgia area (we're willing to travel to Alabama, Tenn, NC, SC, FL) and b.) is it even worth it?

Money IS an object, but we're willing to plop down a fair amount of cash for the surgery if it's worth it and will prolong his life (or give him a better one).

Thanks!

Help me grind some chicken wings.

HotToddy — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:22:09 -0800

Will a Cuisinart food processor be able to grind up chicken wings (including the bone)? Chicken necks? Or do I have to buy a meat grinder? And if so, will the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment be able to handle it?

Did I teach my dog a dog-wrestling move?

christopherious — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:25:56 -0800

Did I teach my dog a dog-wrestling move? The other day while at the park, my dog was playing with a stranger's dog. While they were wrestling, I noticed that my dog (who seemed to be in the alpha role) had a new move. When he would go for a take-down, he'd pin the other dog at the neck/shoulder to the ground with his own neck and head. He would hold the other dog to that position for a few seconds, neither moving. Then he'd get up and they'd resume playing. He kept doing this, and I seemed to recall seeing other dogs learn new moves by watching/playing with other dogs. But I couldn't remember ever seeing another dog show mine that particular wrestling hold.

Then a few days later, as I was hugging my dog, I realized I was doing that exact move myself, pressing his head/neck/shoulder region down with my own as I hugged and praised him. Suddenly I wondered if he picked this up from me.

Is that possible? Can dogs pick up dog-play moves from humans? Or, did I learn the move from him instead? Or, have we both been duped by Toxoplasma gondii?

Stop! Puppy time?

WidgetAlley — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:06:30 -0800

Please, please help me consider my options with some lovely stray puppies I found. About a week ago, I found four gorgeous stray beagle/terrier mix puppies in the Knoxville, TN area. They are absolutely adorable, sweet and loving, not very big, and have already had their first round of shots... you would think no problem finding homes, right?

Well, not so much. After contacting everyone I know, every no-kill shelter in the area, every rescue in the area, and at one point simply asking total strangers if they could take a puppy, I cannot find a single home for any of these dogs. I really, really do not want to take these little guys to shelter that euthanizes their animals, as I have already called around and everyone is full up, meaning that if I took them in they would be euthanized immediately. These are exceptional dogs, tractable and loving, and I cannot imagine putting them down.

Due to a combination of circumstances, I am no longer able to keep them myself until I find them homes. In fact, I can't even keep them temporarily in my yard (for their own safety.) I have, as far as I can tell, run out of options. Do you clever MeFites have any suggestions as far as something I can try?

My Dawg vs Dog

hal_c_on — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:44:32 -0800

I have friends that seem to neglect a dog almost to the point of abuse. What should I do? First off, let me say I ABHOR dogs. I can't stand them. Everytime I see one, I think "nasty, poop eaters".

I didn't write that to put 90% of the population off your dogloving mood. I do have a point to it.

Even though I do not like dogs, I do have a heart: for real, I do.

I have friends who are a newlywed couple. We all live in our own respective apartments in NYC (read: small). I don't know whats up with them, but even though they had been living together for more than a year, they decided to get a dog after they got married. Great. F'in great.

It was all fine and dandy, till I got calls every so often saying "Jimmy needs to be walked...can you take him out? He hasn't been out since 5 in the morning, and we're going to come home at 8pm". Dang. I have no choice (unless I want this animal to suffer), so I walk the dog.

I do this on a pretty regular basis now. I STILL hate dogs, but I don't have an option; the dog did NOTHING wrong. Why should I let it suffer.

Its about a 40-60 lb dog, and its young, like almost 2 years old. I have no idea what breed, but its pretty big and I get chicks AND DUDES left and right coming over to pet the dog because they love it. Weird ass dog-lovers.

Anyways...so I'm on permanent dog duty because I live close by, and they work TONS. I'm talking TONS. One is away from the house for about 14 hours of the day, and the other is WAY MORE into their work.

They stopped asking me to walk their dog a few months ago, and I figured "oh cool, dog problem all solved". I figured they worked out their work schedule so they wouldnt have to worry about leaving the dog alone so damn much. Didn't give it another thought.

So last week, I got another call, and of course, I obliged. I came into their apartment, and DAMN!!!!!

Dog food spread out everywhere (naughty, dog), pee stains on the carpet, 4 big chunks of fresh poo on the carpet, TONS of poo stains on the carpet all over the place. This has ALL been done in the course of the last few months when they stopped asking me to walk the dog.

THEY JUST NEGLECTED IT!!!

I talked to them about this saying "Say...a LOT of people have come up to me offering to buy the dog for $2,000 on the spot(yeah, crazy but true). They seem like they can REALLY care for it, and maybe it would be best for Jimmy." They responded with "Well...we spend time with the dog on weekends...unless we go away". They go away 3 out of every 4 damn weekend. I am on dog duty then too.

I HATE dogs...but I find myself going over to their apartment every chance I get to change its water (GROSS), fill its bowl up with food, and give it a snack for walking without dragging me all over the place. I HATE dogs, but I feel so sad for this dog, I can't help but be nice to it.

Its behavior has also changed DRASTICALLY. Before, I used to have to open the door very quietly, and come in so that it wouldn't come to the door and try to maul me to get out. Now, its scared. When I come in, it cowers a little...and is scared. After I make the "hey jimmy jimmy" sounds, it finally comes, but god damn its attitude has changed. When I leave, I hear it crying or something. ITS THE SADDEST THING EVER...and I HATE DOGS!!!

I hate dogs, I just cant stand animals suffering.

What can I do? This dog needs care, the owners aren't caring for it. Talking to them is USELESS. They TOTALLY avoid the issue like NOBODY'S BUSINESS! Upon confrontation, they TOTALLY switch subjects. Its really messed up.

Few quick details:

1. The building that they live in allows dogs up to 25 lbs ONLY. This dog is WAYYYY over limite. They could get evicted if that happens.

2. Also, I didn't mention how it continues to need medicine since it gets "sick" so often...which they do NOT administer as directed.

3. I'm pretty damn confrontational. I confronted them about it, and they REFUSE to do anything. They just see it as a "yeah, its sad that we aren't home to take care of jimmy more often...speaking of, we're gonna go skiing this weekend, can you take it out for a walk?"

4. There is NO talking to them. I feel I have to report them, or have their dog taken away or something. They will do nothing.

5. I know a few other people who have dogs in seemingly small apartments. Those dogs, are cared for, loved, and HAPPY. I know the difference between a happy dog...and a dog that is being neglected to the point of abuse.

WHAT SHOULD I DO, doglovers???

Oh, I have to be totally anonymous here because well...they're my friends, and I feel like a narc. I don't even know who I could narc to that would do something.

WTF is my dog's problem?

alpha_betty — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:30:35 -0800

DogFilter: Why is my dog licking the carpets excessively, then vomiting a pile of hair (and other charming habits)? For the past 2-3 days my 4 year old chihuahua has been licking the carpets all over the house, trying to pull out pieces of the carpet, running around making chokey/snortey sound or panting, and then vomiting a great pile of hair held together with partially digested food.

I have read that this may be a form of doggie OCD, boredom, anxiety, hunger, or thirst, and that one should try distracting the dog or redirecting her from the carpet to a toy or chew. These things have so far not worked. If you get her attention during a licking episode, she will stare at you for a few seconds and continue on. She doesn't appear to enjoy the licking, but acts like it's compulsive, which makes me think it's the OCD/anxiety.

Things that may be related:
-It has been ungodly hot here. Like, over 100 degrees.
-She does not like to drink water although it is tossed and refilled at least once daily so that it's fresh and cool. She will pant for hours without seeming to think to take a drink.
-We are having issues with her hiding under our bed - when not licking the carpet, she's usually under the bed and submissively urinates when we try to coax her out.
-A few feet away from the bed, she has episodes of sneaky urination- when we leave the door open, she goes in and pees in the same spot, every time, despite the multitude of pet and carpet cleaners we've tried. This leads to the aforementioned hiding under the bed.
-Her ears have been really warm. I don't know if this matters.
-We moved into a new apartment about 2 months ago, though this behavior didn't start til 3-4 weeks ago (the peeing), 2 weeks ago (the hiding) and then 2-3 days ago (the licking).

We are making a vet appointment for ASAP on Monday, but any advice, ideas, suggestions, etc to get through the weekend and keep her comfortable would be appreciated.

What have they done to my ears, ma?

TochterAusElysium — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:15:12 -0800

Why does my dog have a scar on each ear? Our dog, Mina, is about a year and a half old; she was a rescue, from a home that may not have been very good. She has these marks on her ears, one on each, in about the same place on each ear. It almost looks as if someone tried to pierce her ears (surely not!) or had some kind of device holding them. I can't imagine what that might be, though. The woman who was fostering her before we adopted her didn't know either. I'm really curious about what might have been done to her that would cause marks like these.

She isn't at all nervous about letting us touch or hold her ears, and doesn't shy away at all or show any signs of having been abused there. Is this possibly some precursor to ear docking? She does resemble a doberman (no relation, though) so I've speculated that her previous owners may have started an ear-docking process. But her tail is fine, so it's really a mystery. Any ideas?

Keeping ticks off my dog

kathleenl — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:13:19 -0800

I am having a problem keeping ticks off my dog. He is on Advantix, which the vet said to give him every 3 weeks, but I am STILL finding ticks on him. He is kept indoors for the most part, but he does like to explore the backyard, and we go on a long walk each day. I don't want to keep him cooped up, I want to let him be a dog, but I don't want to have to keep taking ticks off him...so gross. Any advice on things to try other than Advantix? Thanks! We've also tried Advantage and Frontline, but those didn't even keep fleas off him. He has also had a Lyme Disease vaccine...not that that keeps ticks off, but he is protected from that.

All sleeping dogs die.

kldickson — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:37:04 -0800

Dying dog. How do I make him comfortable? The dog named in my previous question is clearly dying (he's gotten much worse ) and I suspect he will be dying in the next few weeks - thankfully, he will die while I'm visiting my parents. He is throwing up what he eats despite an anti-nausea drug, stumbling, and I can absolutely not walk him - he's too unsteady and can't even walk more than a few steps without stumbling because not only is he blind, he's weak. My mother absolutely refuses to euthanize him unless he starts struggling to breathe, and we're taking him to the vet tomorrow to see if they can do anything about his problems.

Help me make him comfortable with perhaps some situation-specific tips.

Electric dog fence

stbalbach — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:12:54 -0800

Electric dog fence: My parents have a large farm property next to a busy road and want to keep the dog from crossing into the road, but otherwise unrestricted on the rest of the property. Most electric dog fences I have seen form a large circle, with the dog inside the circle. However the property is too big for that, is it possible to have a wire just along the road, activated only when the dog crosses the line? The dog could go around the ends but on this property that would not be a problem because of the layout of land and the nature of the dog.

Homeward bound. Well, temporarily.

miss lynnster — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:36:46 -0800

Sublet/short term (dog friendly) housing in Los Angeles. Suggestions? I've been waiting for a job to come through in LA & it's been taking forever... I'm not comfortable signing a lease on an apartment until my employment has been confirmed, though. I don't want to commit to a neighborhood or rent until I know I'm firmly booked. When I moved to the Bay area, I lived in temporary housing for 7 months (I rented a variety of rooms and apartments all found through craigslist, mostly with very nice people over 30) and that worked great. I didn't have a little dog back then, though. With my pup, I have to be a little pickier and there are places that I know won't welcome her (if I didn't have her with me, I would probably stay with friends but I don't want to impose on them). I want to make sure our temporary home is one where we're both very comfortable and welcomed, even if it's only for a few months.

Other than craigslist, what are the best ways to find decent, reasonably priced (a lot of short term summer places are super price hiked for tourists) short term housing, room rentals or sublets in LA? I'm wondering if there are any new local resources I'm unaware of since I've been gone a few years.

Thanks.

Are pit bulls dangerous?

roaring beast — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:16:08 -0800

Should I adopt a pit bull? I am thinking of adopting my friend's pit bull who is moving away and cannot take the dog. The dog was raised lovingly, is extremely well trained, and has never had any aggressive behavior in the past. I know most cases of pit bull attacks are from untrained dogs with bad backgrounds. But is there a chance that the dog could still be dangerous? I know this is a contentious issue, so I am looking for as objective advice as possible.

I have no experience with taking care of a dog before.

Help the flying dog.

ignignokt — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:50:03 -0800

In a few months, my (former) dog is going to be flying from California to the UK in the cargo hold. How can this be made as safe and comfortable for him? My sister is moving to England for a few years, and she's bringing her dog, our former family pet, with her. He's a beagle and on the the large side for a beagle, somewhere around 30 pounds. There's no way she's going to be able to convince airlines to let him in the cabin.

So, the cargo hold it is. I've read this and this and am still concerned about the potential damage from a ten-hour flight. (This is out of her price range.)

He's healthy and usually genial, but he's also thirteen years old and has been traumatized in the past by being left in a kennel for a couple of days while our family moved. That was when he was five, and he's long since gotten over his separation anxiety and is able to stay peacefully at home without thinking he's been abandoned while people leave for the day. A plane's cargo hold, though - that seems like a terrifying place for a dog. Or am I just building it up in my head?

Does anyone have any tips to ensure his physical and psychological health during this massive flight? Other than getting him used to the kennel he'll be in when he flies (which my sister is doing) and following the tips in the above-linked articles, what can be done?

I realize I may very well be looking for a silver bullet here and should just face the fact that flying is just always going to be horrible for dogs that don't fit in shopping bags, but hey, a few problems really do have silver bullets, it doesn't hurt to look, right?