A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2004 Freckles

If Mr. Bill noticed an "uneventful" day on the forum today, it's because the "Problem Child" was busy (for once!) trying to be kind to animals!

This is "Freckles".


His owner didn't care enough about him to take him to the vet 3 weeks ago when he got hit by a car. He almost died and has spent weeks in severe pain. Today we caught him and took him to the vet, who said it's too late to fix the badly broken leg and hip, and possibly pelvis. I got his shots and brought him home with a lot of medicine for pain and inflammation. He's my dog now. I made him comfy in the house and went to Wal-Mart and spent another fortune on dog food, dog toys, collar, leash, treats, more toys, flea stuff, bed, doggie t-shirt, toys, more treats, brush, bowls, and more toys.

Awhile ago he bit me while I was trying to cut the mats out of his fur. So, tomorrow he goes to the groomer and he can bite HER!

If I happened to meet someone who would treat (abandon) his injured dog that way, your "guru" would become HIS worst nightmare!!!!
Thank you for watching out for Freckles... he is very scared or he never would have bit you and someday he will know enough to thank you himself!

Freckles looks soooo sweet Give that to Freckles.

Karen

I hope that's all it is.
I've always thought Cocker Spaniels were rather ill-tempered dogs, and it kind of scares me.


I just went to the door to take him out to use that bathroom and there are two skunks out there! One is laying on the door step (A new one! It's a baby!) Can't go out the back, because it's a big deck about 15 feet off the ground (with a trillion steps that Freckles can't walk down) to the yard.

Ellie Mae is trapped!

Oooh ...Get a picture!

Karen

I just tried! I started out the door with the camera and didn't realize Freckles was right behind me! We made a commotion because he fell down the ONE step, and the skunk strolled over to the hummingbird garden. He didn't seem at all interested in it, thank God! That's all I need...a crippled, biting dog with skunk spray!

He can walk around if he wants to, but it hurts. He falls if he tries to go up or down the step going outside, so I pick him up.

Aw, You are so kind. I can't believe you would invest so much into a stray

Cindy ~ we always knew how kind-hearted you are, and this just goes to prove it! Thanks so much for looking after a poor injured and terrified animal.

That said...
When I was 5 years old there was a cocker spaniel living in a house at the end of our street, who would wander around a bit - we lived on a dead end. Being 5, I only thought he was cute and didn't think of any dangers of animals, so despite my mother's warning not to pet him, I did. Well... he jumped up and bit me in the stomach. Being only 5 and thinking I was so smart, I started to spin around thinking that he would fall off of me, but instead he dug in deeper and held on. The adults around had to hit him off of me. I had to get rabies shots because I was the 4th person he had bitten badly that year. Shortly after that, he bit one more person, and they "put him down". (supposedly in those days, if a dog bit 5 people it "had" to be put down. That's why they waited so long. Don't ask me why - I don't get it either.) Of course I was too young to really know what was going on, but it left me terrified when dogs open their mouths. Don't get me wrong, I love all animals (not the deer lately, as they've come back to eat new plants again!!! ), but am really really scared when they open their mouths near me.

Please be careful with your new friend.
Hopefully it is just scared, and will come around with your nurturing.

Vet said around a year old. Still young!

No, his "family" had plenty of money to take him to the vet. The surgery would have been hundreds of dollars, which they weren't willing to pay. I told the vet yesterday that if he could fix the dog, it didn't matter how much it cost. But, he said the bone in the top of his leg was already healed too much, and that scar tissue was already forming in the hip break, etc. and it was just too late to "fix", no matter what. I have spent so much money on animals, you wouldn't believe it. I am such a sucker when it comes to something that can't speak for itself (children and animals). I spent almost $4,000. on my elkhound to try to cure blastomycosis, but he died. I did not regret spending the money, but did regret putting the dog through the treatments. But, every time we went to the vet for treatments, he knew he got to go to the McDonald's drive-thru on the way home and get a plain quarter pounder with cheese for the road!

I am just so worried about having this dog around Brennan (he's 5). I'm going to be VERY cautious where Brennan is concerned. And LOLA! You know, Cockers ARE bird dogs!

What a lovely Picture to come back to, he is so handsome, and you are a lovely person for caring so much. Cocker spaniel's are not known for their bad behaviour over here? My sister has one and he lick's everyone to bit's. As l alway's say there are no bad dog's only bad owner's. lt is how they are treated as a pup which makes them how they are, but with a lot of love and care they can be turned round.
Cindy is he in a lot of pain?, can he walk on his leg? hopefully when the scarring heal's it will be less painful for him, and he will just be handicapped, which he will adjust to, as so many animal's and albeit human's do.
lt is a pity there are not more of your ilk in this world, it would be a better place to live in.

Doreen.

Man, that made me feel good! Thank you!

Well, update on the dog (I call him "Hell Hound" now) is not pretty!

If I go outside I have to take him with me or he will DESTROY the house.

If I put him outside, he will destroy the DOOR until he gets back in.

If I go somewhere, I have been locking him in an EMPTY room in the basement until I get back. Today he would NOT go in that room (duh!), so I locked him in Andy's garage. I got back to find the garage DESTROYED! It is a big garage, for heavy equipment. The doors are 24 feet wide. Hell Hound ripped the insulation off the bottom 3 feet of the entire door. It is ALL OVER the garage! (I'm trying to pack and get out of here before Andy gets home!) And, it's that real itchy thick insulation, which is now all over Hell Hound, whom I had groomed day before yesterday at a whopping cost of $85.00, plus $20.00 to the veterinarian that had to SEDATE him for the groomer!

So far, this dog has made very short work out of way over $400., not to mention the damage he did to the garage today.

And did I mention that he BITES???

Out of the clear blue, the psycho will become very possessive over something. Last night it was the spot under the coffee table. If anyone got within 2 feet of it, they were history! I tried to give him his medication last night while he was in this "mode" and he nailed me pretty good on the hand, not to mention he destroyed the syringe I was using to give him the medicine. Right now he is guarding a bag of pretzels I bought awhile ago (I unfortunately left them laying in the floor when I came in!).




Cindy

Was that dog abused/or abandoned in a small room by the previous owner?
Or is he biting out of pure pain from the injury?
Or is he just a plain ol' naughty dog?
I sure wouldn't have him around the grandson.

I know what that insulation is....when I was a young kid my parents were building their house and I got into that stuff....oh my god it hurt....parents gave me a quick shower....nasty stuff!

Oh NO! Poor Cindy, Hound"

You're gonna need a lot of patience and help (and booze) for this one. Do you have a crate?

Do you have a good psychologist in the area?
For you or the dog, I'm not sure.....

YES...locked in a building for days, sometimes over a week, at a time.


I think it has a lot to do with pain, but obviously he has some loose screws. (He ought to be right at home here, huh?)

Right now, it's Chardonnay.....
Andy got home awhile ago and is down in the garage surveying the damage as we speak. So, I imagine I will be switching to Jim Beam in a little while! He has already blamed me for it (he is the one who decided to adopt this dog, not afgrey!), and I'm sure things will get UGLY when he gets back to the house!

Actually, I used to have the best psychologist in the world! Unfortunately, she retired and moved to Alabama...(might be where I re-locate!)

Cindy

Can you wrap his pain med in a piece of meat or mix with his food? ....sure hope it isn't an injectable med!
Be careful with birdy around Freckles....one bite and it is all over with!
Hopefully getting his pain level controlled will help reduce the nasty behavior and you can start working on the trust issue with him.
Sure hope Andy is dealing with this in a cool calm manner! <img border="0" alt="[perplexed]" title="" src="graemlins/confused.gif" />

He is OBSESSED with Lola!
This has made me a nervous wreck constantly.
That's a big reason I can't ever leave him in the house...even in her cage, he could kill her. Her cage is HUGE, (it takes up 1/2 a room), and there's no way to block him from getting near it. If he got her upset and she started flying around in it, she'd end up killing herself.


Unfortunately, he doesn't deal with anything in a calm manner.

SO...with that said.....I have "Ballroom Blitz" blasting out of my trillion watt mega speakers, waiting for him to come back up from the garage!



Cindy

Cindy....are you still alive???

Well.....let's just say I will be moving back to my own house this week!

It's been coming for a long time, and I'm thrilled!

Cindy

P.S. HE keeps the dog!

Cindy,
I had seen this post come back up and I was going to post how the puppy was, but, now that I read your post, I guess, there's my answer!!

OMG!!
I know that route!!!

When I first started working someone had a German Shepard dog and they had him there all the time, (kept in the basement in the liquor room~howling for hours on end) and I asked why they had gotten thier friends' dog here at the restaurant all the time now, and they said he was a bad boy and bit someone, and the next time I talked to the owner I asked about the dog and the guy pleaded with me to take the dog and give it a good home, he was a good dog and it was just a mean neighbor bitching about the dog, so I took it home and wellllllllllllllll,
I found out it wasn't the mean neighbor it was the dog....
He loved me, and my family, it was anyone who came to the door,
He did end up nipping my neighbor, who luckily didn't sue me... and I ended up having to walk him with a leash and muzzle..... He would not stop
going after people and cars, he'd get away from me alot, I couldn't hold him back, he was a very strong Shepard and BIG!!
Welllllllllllll, the last time he pulled away from me, he went chasing after a set of wheels on a car and the dog caught one, well, two actually!

I felt so bad, but what a relief to have that dog stop doing all the antics that he was doing......

Good luck in your adventures with Freckles!!!

Weezie

Hey, maybe the freckles would like a Beam and Coke! Whaddya think?????????

Actually, I just got up a minute ago to make ME one, and the little %#@*! bit me!

I accidently stepped too close to him!

(Remember...it's all fun and games 'til somebody gets an eye put out!)

Cindy

Oh, Cindy, I am so sorry to hear about "all" of it.
I had started that post earlier and just finished writing it up...
I agree, dog's do nip from pain, actually that dog had nipped me when I tried to pull him off the road so no other car would get him while he layed there in pain....

But, they dan be territorial too!!!

I hope you can work things out with the puppy and the big guy there....
Hopefully something will turn out to the good!!!

Weezie

Well :p on Andy!
Does hell hound go after Andy?
Can you imagine what that dog is going to do to his house when your gone and he leaves him in the house alone while he is at work!

YES!

Both! Sometimes warns, sometimes ATTACKS!
(I think he's bi-polar. My cousin suggested Prozac!)



Cindy

Can you imagine the trip to the vet!!! or he can move!!!

I can hear the phone call to the vets office now
Ah, yes, I'd like to make an appointment for 4 skunks...............

He ran my skunks off awhile ago!


(Not Andy....the DOG!)

Love this freckles
He certainly keeps you busy, and as for Andy
Skunks? What skunk's l know nothing
Keep posting, l think freckles should have his own forum, his antic's could fill a page or ten

Want to hear about his new "antic"?

Andy took him with him to look at some jobs the other day. He loves to ride in the truck. He does NOT like to be LEFT in the truck.

Andy had to talk to some people at the job site, and didn't let Freckles out of the truck because he was afraid he'd bite someone. (Freckles or Andy?)

Do ya think Freckles might have gotten his point across this time?

Have you thought about a dog whisperer
Seriously though what about an animal behaviourist. Got to be cheaper.

Doreen

Anyone who got close enough to that dog to whisper to it would end up at the emergency room getting their lips stitched back on!

Cindy

What a Character, Wonder if he was used as a guard dog
Doreen.

I wonder if a Valium would help?

Not for the dog but for Cindy!

G-Mom

Think she may prefer a large brandy or maybe three
Give one to Freckles to
Then they could have a heart to heart chat

Hee,Hee,I'd take that too!

As long as they don't talk face to face!



G-Mom

You know the way dogs talk, which end they like

I tried the valium!
It just made me sleepy.....easier for the dog to catch me!

Told you freckles deserves his own forum
You didn't say if you had tried the brandy

G-mom

Haven't tried brandy.
All I drink is Jim Beam!

...and if you are talking about for the DOG...


...well, I'd hate to see Freckles on a mean drunk!

Let him get drunk with the skunks...they'd teach him a lesson!

G-Mom

l could picture that
Bang goes the keyboard again

So sorry about your poor little dog. The little guy's obviously been through so much, I don't know if you'll ever get him over it. My parents have a dog that was abused by a previous owner. The guy also apparently hit his wife, because to this day, you can't raise your hand within 5 feet of my mom without the dog snarling and throwing himself in front of her. He still does it, and my folks have had him for about 10 years.

Maybe you could find someone with a farm who would take him, so he'd have plenty of room to roam? BTW, Spaniels as a breed are anything BUT mean, but they are very excitable dogs.

Well, we've found out a little more about the dog's "history" recently.

He has had two previous owners...the first owners beat him really bad, hence the aggressive behavior.
The last owners locked him up for days at a time with no food or water. Their neighbors told us that a few months ago...in the heat of the summer...the dog was locked in an outbuilding. They were out of town. Freckles cried and barked for 3 days straight, and they could hear him clawing at the door trying to get out. Finally on the 4th day, they went over and shot the padlock off the outside of the door and let him out. I imagine THIS has something to do with him not wanting to be confined!
This was the same owners that let him lay for 3 weeks after getting hit by a car, in terrible pain from a broken leg, hip and pelvis, which he is still recovering from.




Cindy

Do you have the RSPCA. over there, and couldn,t they have been prosecuted for cruelty to animals.

Doreen.

I agree with you whole~heartedly, Doreen..
You two both deserve cudo's for helping the
doggie and not getting toooooooooo mad at him...
Keep up the good work!!!

Weezie

I live in a county in Eastern Kentucky where chicken fights are common. Dog fights go on here and no one seems to want to do anything about that, either.....even though it is reported time and time again. I wasn't born or raised here, and it astounds me that this place is so out of touch with the real world on a lot of things, not just animal rights. (We have to drive 120 miles round trip to buy a beer.....unless we want to pay the local "bootlegger" almost $30. a case.)

When I took Freckles to the groomer, who is a friend of mine, she told me about a dog that was brought into the vet clinic I used to work at. She said the owner had him tied to the tailgate of his truck, and was dragging him down the road. A car behind him kept blowing the horn, thinking the man didn't know his dog was tied to the bumper. The guy finally stopped the truck and got out. The people in the car behind him stopped and said "You must have forgotten that your dog was tied to your truck!" (The dog was near death at this point.) The owner untied the dog and threw it in the ditch and said, "No, I didn't forget that the %#*&@# dog was tied to the truck!" Then, got in his truck and drove away.

If I took Freckles to the (so-called) "Dog Pound" here, he would be shot. That's how they kill the dogs here. Not that I would even think about getting rid of him. He's had two families already that mistreated him. I'm not giving up. He's a sweet dog most of the time. He follows me every step that I take. He sleeps in the floor beside wherever I am sleeping. He's laying at my feet right now.

He's been a royal pain in the a$$, but I love him. It's about time SOMEBODY did!

I just wish I could save them all.


Cindy

You have good nights you have bad nights.
Well this is a bad night, but also a good night. l have cried so many tears for Freckles tonight, but also cried tears that there are wonderful caring people like you around.
You deserve a medal

Thank you, Doreen.
Glad you're my friend!

Cindy

You are more than welcome friend

Update on Freckles please

An update on Freckles' injury,
or an update on how many people he's bitten?

Or, maybe an update on the total cost of repairs so far for everything he has destroyed???



Cindy

Cindy, What a beautiful person you are, you make me laugh you make me
OK so what has he done now ?

Doreen

He's still the same lovable little Hell Hound!

As far as his injuries, he still limps pretty bad, and has grown kind of "lop-sided".

As for the biting, it's something that I still have yet to deal with. Not sure exactly how to stop this, because since he's been abused, I don't know how to punish him for "bad things". He's nailed me pretty good a few times.

He doesn't tear anything up anymore because he is never confined. When I have to leave the house, he stays outside until I return. I've left him inside a few times to come home to a major portion of my house plants destroyed one time, and the linoleum torn off the kitchen floor in front of the door, as well as the security alarm sensor on the bottom of the door ripped off.

Otherwise, he is such a sweetheart.
(And, when would that be???)

Lola drives him CRAZY during the day.
She sits on my shoulder and calls for him.
"Freckles! Freckles! Come here! Freckles". She keeps on and on until he wakes up from where he is sleeping in the hallway, and when he gets to her, she laughs and says "You're a BAD dog!"
So, he goes back to the hall to lay down, and here she goes again..."Freckles! Get in here!"
I've got to figure out how to get this on video. I could win some money, I'm sure!

Cindy

How's this for weird...I had a cocker named freckles who looked just like yours, only difference was she was a girl!!!


AS for the training, can you guess HOW he was abused? Like, was he hit, or yelled at, or what?


Abby was yelled at, and smacked. So to deal with this, we went through an extensive 'desensitisation' process, to put it in the correct terms...

Both my bird and I yell alot, so she slowly grew accustomed to the yelling... :rolleyes:

She was a HUGE problem with the sound of clapping, or smacking, so to fix this, I clapped everytime, along with yelling happy, before I let her outside, and she LOVES to go outside, so now clapping is a good thing in her mind....


Think something like this would work for you???

How did you come about this process?

As far as the abuse, Freckles was beat by his first owners, and locked up in a shed with no food and water for days at a time by his second owner.

So, I can understand his "not wanting to be confined" problem, where he tears up whatever is in his way to try to get OUT.

When he bites, it is because he is "guarding" something...a treat, one of Lola's toys that he has stolen, whatever.

Any suggestions?????
PLEASE!

Cindy

The method I used was suggested to me by the person who 'rescued' Abby, and it was tailored specially for her, but I'm sure I can find some of the links I used to read up on training methods for you....deal?

Barley...
Thanks for the links you sent.

I guess I really need to get started with some training. It seems like such a chore, but I guess it's gonna have to be done before he bites someone BAD!

I've had dogs all my life, every breed you can imagine, but never had a dog that would bite. When I was an animal control officer there were 2 breeds of dogs that always seemed to bite me (for no reason). One was Pomeranian, the other was COCKER SPANIEL!


Cindy

I'm very happy to help!

"Science Diet"


I have a cat named meow-meow, too!

Now that's funny!!

What does he get for treats, and how often? Does he have something special ALL the time, or only sometimes?

Well...it used to be all the time, because Lola has a little toy box that he would get obsessed with stealing toys and treats out of, so I made him a bowl of treats (dog biscuits, toys, rawhide chew bones, etc.) so he would stay out of hers.

Didn't work out. He hid the treats everywhere, and when we'd come close to where one was hidden, he'd rage out on us!

So, all the treats got rounded up, and he gets them only when I am in the mood to monitor the situation!

cindy

Yikes! Good choice, under the circumstances... :rolleyes:

My best suggestion for you two would be a wire crate, because he's going to HAVE to get over his separation anxiety, and destructiveness, and let's face it, sometimes you NEED to be able to confine a dog...

However, I would take it VERRRRRRRY slowly....buy a crate, set it up in a room you spend a lot of time in (ours are in the living room, right by the computer)

Just let it sit there, with an old blanket or dog bed in it for awhile...do not even act like you want him to go in it...

You want him to choose it as his 'den'...sometimes it helps to cover some of it with a blanket, so it looks more like a cave...

After a while, start putting an awesome treat in the back of it...something that smells real good, but is small, so he eats it before he gets back out...make sense?

Work your way up to being able to close the door, but NOT latch it,(you want him to be able to open it if he feel trapped) for a second or two, then open it right back up...

Slowly increase the amount of time the door is closed, then latch it for a minute, then open it...

ALWAYS with treats!!!

Slowly work your way through this, until he's okay with all these steps, then start to leave the room for a minute, then come back, and open it....get the picture?

It takes a while, but is WELL worth it in the end...

Now, with both my dogs, all I have to say is 'go to bed' and/or pick up the bag of theats they only get when in their ctares, and both go right in!

If I'm going to be gone for awhile, I will also give the girls something to chew on while I'm gone, either a raw beef bone, or a 'kong' stuffed with peanut butter and frozen....

Didn't mean to write a book, sorry!!

crate training is always my favorite... a research psychologist taught me about that... and you have the perfect approach!

one more thing i might add, i started making "going to your box" part of the requirement for coming in the house, even if i didn't make them stay in it. works great now because i don't have to chase them to put them in...

Barley...
THANK YOU!

I have been told to get him one of those things, but knew there was no way I would be able to get him to go into it!

I printed out your post. (You never know when there might be a pop quiz!)
It sounds like very good advice for getting him used to it.

And Jiffy's advice on getting him to go into it as soon as he comes in the house is a good idea, because every time he comes inside he gets into a frenzy and wants to try to catch Lola. I'm so afraid one of these days he will. Going into the crate as soon as he comes in would put a stop to that.

You guys rock!


Cindy

Any time!

If you have any other questions or concerns, I'd be happy to try to help!

You have no idea how much I appreciate the help.

47 years old, and NEVER had a problem dog until now.
Guess I've been pretty lucky over the years!

Thank you SO much!


Cindy

My dog as a horrible puppy, she was like that we could not leave her in the house alone, she'd just go crazy, thank goodness we didn't have anything really nice for her to destroy. She ate and chewed anything she could find, she ate a knew cell phone once. Thank Goodness she grew out of it.

I must say this thread has made me laugh, cry, get mad, shake my head in disbelief, and also has filled my heart with incredible admiration for your dedication Cindy. Sometimes when I hear thes horror stories of how some people treat their animals, I have to stop and wonder who is the REAL animal. SHEESH! They don't deserve to be called humans for the things they do.
I wish I had helpful advice for you, but all I can say is as long as you are willing, KEEP TRYING! YOU ARE THE BEST CHANCE THAT DOGGIE HAS!! Very few people would be able to tolerate the behaviour long enough to see the reward at the end. And I truly believe you will end up with a gem in the end. Think of the ugliness a diamond comes from. Only after much work do we see the beauty hidden within. I think you have received the best advice from Barley....crate training is the most recommended and successful method according to vets. I thought it was cruel at first, but in the end, your doggie will have her "OWN SPACE" where she will feel safe. Sounds like she's never had that before. My GOsh, keep up the amazing work..I am so touched by your dedication. It's got to be tough.
I'll be praying for both of you!! (you and HELL HOUND!)
Michelle<><

Thanks, Michelle!

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to give Freckles a big ham bone. (YUM!)

I know he would love it, and I would LOVE to give it to him.

I just don't want him to KILL me over it when I accidently walk past where he ends up hiding it!


Cindy

What's your weather like there?

Abby gets most her bones on the front porch...and she's not allowed to bring them inside with her...and she only stays out about 15 minutes at a time, but I let her out about once an hour just to chew for a while!

Would that work for you guys?

It's cold here, but Hell Hound has been outside all day laying in the sun.

The "outside with the bone" problem is, the neighbor's dog (Chow) was killing Freckles the other day, and thank God I was right inside and RAN out to break up the fight. I literally grabbed the Chow by the collar and the skin on his lower back and picked him up, and when I did, he picked Freckles up in his mouth! When he dropped Freckles, I spun around and threw the dog as far as I could (You should have seen this! A classic rasslin' move that would make "The Rock" sit up and take notice!)
When he hit the ground, he was right back on Freckles, so I did it again. (Macho Mom Cindy Savage!)
It was over a rawhide bone that Freckles was chewing on!

He may be a Bad A$$ in the house, but outside he's the new kid on the block. And, he's not in good fighting condition, with a few broken bones still healing.

I was thinking about going outside to work in the yard, and thought that might be a good time to give him the bone...so I can be right there with the BB gun in case the neighbor's dog decides to bust bad on him.

Even the dogs in eastern Kentucky are rednecks!


Cindy

great mental pictures!

I'll keep thinking...

So, he doesn't mind being left outside alone, just 'locked' in a room...hhmmmm...there is hope for him!

Me BODY SLAMMING a poor DOG!

Hey, he's not a 'poor dog' if he started it!

Cindy,
Would throwing in a piece of the ham bone
*if you can section it up a bit* into the
kennel cage help him learn to like the cage,
meaning hey, if I goooootta go in the kennel,
at least I get a treat, and another type of different treat when he's let out???
Just curious???
My mom's dog doesn't exactly like going to her
kennel, but she knows she's going a special
something or other when she goes in..

Weezie
P.S. Hi Barley!

Gave Freckles the bone, turned my back for one second and he was gone.

Now he's back...no bone.

He's buried it somewhere, and now it will end up like the popcorn bag he buried on Halloween, and moved it around the yard for 2 weeks!
He almost killed me when I was getting some Morning Glory seeds in the middle garden. He kept getting closer and closer to me, and I thought he was just being friendly.
Turned out, when I moved my hand over to get a pod of seeds, he 'bout bit it off! He had that danged bag of popcorn buried right there by the morning glories, and I didn't know it!

This could get UGLY!

Um, makes for a very EXCITING game of hide and seek, doesn't it?

That it does,
let's see, you don't have to ask any questions,
you just move left and right about the yard,
then move your arms up and down, back and forth,
watch the dog, and where your hand or foot might be, and see if you can watch the dog and LOOK for the object at the same time , is the dog quicker or is Cindy?? and you can hear the Jepordy music playing in the back ground.....What's the prize???
A quick trip to the ER or is it seeds for Cindy??

Almost sounds like a new "Real TV" Show
doesn't it?
A combo of Survivor, ER, Fearfactor, and Scooby~Doobey~Do havin' a bad~bad day!!!...

Hey Cindy, it might not be a Daytime Talk Show,
but it could be a start to several tv shows and maybe even a movie???

Whatchya think???

Weezie

Well..... I have bitten several times by the dog...
...and the dog has never been bitten by ME yet!

I swear, it's like a circus here 24/7!

And talk about ANIMAL ABUSE!
That goes on here constantly...these animals abuse me like you wouldn't believe!

Cindy

I hear you on the circus thing, for sure, and I only have fish, but it's 24/7/365, NON~STOP!!!!!

Cudo's to you Cindy and lookin' after that
wee~dawg!!!

Weezie

OOhhhh, now that might make for some reality TV worth watching!

Is it not normal for life to be a circus? Let's see, right now I have a little dog hanging from a big dog's ear, a little bird yelling, a bigger bird feeding his baby (a stuffed frog, EWWWWW!!) and one cat killing what she views as a snake, but in reality is my vaccum cord....and the sad thing is, this is normal for me!

I thrive in confusion...I think???

Barleychown, l think you you should be a animal behaviour specialist. You have your finger right on the button
Cindy so much admiration for your patience, l would be the same as you, not giving up, trying to do what you think is the best, maybe we should listen to the expert's and l think Barleychown is certainly one of them.
l have really taken freckles to heart, after hearing her plight
Hope everything works out well for you both.
Still do not know what sex Freckles is
Enlighten me please.
Doreen.

oh my goodness! what a cute little puppie wuppie yesh it is!

YOU THINK???
Barley, your house sounds worse than mine!
What kind of birds do you have?
Do they talk back to you like Lola does to me?
(I hate it when I tell her to stop doing something, and she says "NO!")

Jogger...Freckles is a boy.


Cindy

Worse? No, just different!

I have a 'pocket parrot' who talks, but only I can understand his garbled speech (thank god!) and a lutino ringneck who speaks WAY too clearly for what he is, and seems to use words in the correct context!

They are both pretty chatty, but REFUSE to speak to each other...go figure!

So, what is your favorite thing that Lola does?

My favorites are:

Sprite, the pocket parrot, mocks people when they sneeze...it's way too funny! He loves to do it...

Duke, the ringneck, has a big brass bell that he loves to put on his head and then sit there and just yack away with it on his head...looks funny!

Cool! Now I want pictures!

Are they out of their cages a lot?

I couldn't begin to answer this.
She is a constant source of entertainment!
Every single day it's something new!

Cindy

Sprite



Duke




Not the best pic of him, but he was really curious about the camera...I think he wanted to destroy it!

Sprite is not out a bunch, 'cause the little bugger flys like a hummingbird...

Duke is out often, as long as the cats are in their room, or outside...

Oh, how pretty!
How long have you had them?
Since they were babies?
I got Lola at 3 1/2 months. (She's 6 now.)
Actually, I got her when she was an egg, but had to wait 3 1/2 months to bring her home.

Cindy

I got sprite as a hatchling, 'cause they didn't want to hand-feed him...

I got 'daisy' from a pet store, because 'she' was being abused, and my other bird had just died ( Mac, a senegal parrot....I still miss him)

They SWORE that 'she' had been blood sexed and was female...not that I really cared...but, low and behold at 2 years old 'she' developed a ring...and only males do!

So we changed his name to "Duke"...now 'D***it Duke, shut up' is his favorite phrase!

That's funny!
Lola got on a roll once a long time ago and said a BAD word quite often.
I have no idea where she learned it! Hound entertained for a little while, since I was stuck with him in the house all day because of the rain.
Whipped cream in an aerosol can!

I was letting Lola eat the whipped cream off the top of the nozzle, and Freckles started throwing a fit for some. So, I shook the can of Reddi-Wip up, turned it upside down and let it rip right in his mouth. I thought it would scare him, and he'd leave me alone.
He loved it! I gotta get a picture of this!

Cindy

I thought I read somewhere's dog's aren't
supposed to have sugar??
Or was it candy???
OR was it chocolate???

Weezie

Yeah!
All three!


Cindy

:rolleyes:

He only bounced off the walls for a little while!

It was a once in a lifetime thing, I'm sure, since I NEVER buy that stuff. I just got it on a whim to spray it in Brennan's mouth before his mommy got here to pick him up!

Chocolate, for sure. I don't remember why, but I'm sure I remember hearing chocolate can be fatal to dogs.

This is true.
I give my babies Carob chips in place of chocolate.


Cindy

I just learned this year that dogs shouldn't have grapes or raisins. They don't all get sick, but there is something in the fruit that can be toxic and cause renal failure.

ASPCA Wrath of Grapes

One of the best places to check out this kind of information is Snopes.com where they acknowledge this is true. Snopes Urban Legend Yes or No

There is also a list of other toxic items on the ASPCA site. I learned that onions are also toxic to dogs--mine wouldn't eat it but I have tried to give them some from time to time. I had also given grapes to at least one Airedale, but fortunately he didn't get sick.

Ann

My little 9 lb. dog loves chocolate. I had read also that it is fatal to dogs but everytime there's chocolate in the house this little sh@#@$* comes from nowhere and steals it runs away and hides it in his crate. Then he eats the whole thing right through the wrapper!