Topic: Dogs: Who let 'em out?

[ober]

How exactly do you let a dog roam free AND have an electric fence on 118 acres?  Oh, you don't.

[Steve]

Can't let him have full roam of the 188 acres, unless you are with him. Thats my opinion anyway, but i get very attached to my dog and want to eliminate situations that end up like theirs did. By no means am i faulting you're parents, though. They probably did this since they have lived there with no issues.

[ober]

We had the previous dog for 15 years with no issues and they had both of them for a short period.  This dog was there for over a year without issues.  I personally blame the neighbors.

[Steve]

Yea I agree, because it came onto their property. If you guys are interested in what can happen when dogs are allowed to run in a home pack (its a great read either way) go to leerburg.com and search for articles about rotweilers (spelling). He wrote one about a group of rots a woman trained to be agressive and let them roam the yard agressivley.

They killed a child. Very sad stuff, powerful read.

[webwhy]

everything kills deers. They're not the most formidable of foes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNGGbozilko

[Jake]

I've always had dogs, at least since I can remember. Currently we have a 3.5 year old yellow lab that can't swim. He is built like a horse (a tall, lean 100 pounder) and he just loves our kids...and our son loves him very much too.

What happened to all your other dogs rod? you had like 3 or 4 a few years ago?

[Steve]

What happened to all your other dogs rod? you had like 3 or 4 a few years ago?

Well my family had a black lab and a doberman till 2007. I had a GS mix named "Fox" that my ex kept (was living in my car), only had him a few weeks before she dumped me. Then in FL i had my doberman "Diva", and she just wasn't a good fit so i adopted her out.

The only one since i have been in MI was Bailey, my ex's dog. Hated it, she didn't want it, so it went to humane society. Such a bad bad dog.

[hans]

I've been looking to get a dog for a while but never could settle on a breed. But at Christmas this year I think I found the one I want. One of my step-moms relatives had a Valley Bulldog puppy and she was very cute. She had a great personality and just the right size. 

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/images16/ValleyBulldogVegas13Months1.JPG

[Jake]

nice choice tgm!

how is their temperament though? around kids?

we really like our dog, but the biggest problem is hair; it's freakin everywhere. That is why he only stays in the basement and never goes up. We vacuum 2-3 times a week to keep it under control. We've been gone a week and the basement is one giant fur ball. It gets better when I brush him regularly, but that happens rarely.

[Steve]

I feel you're pain, my German Shepherd sheds as fast as he grows it.

[hans]

The dogs are great with kids. The one we met was the family dog for a 3yo and an 6-7yr old, and they messed with the dog quite a bit and she didn't really mind. She was very playful but not overly ambitious like lots of puppies. She just sort of wandered around the house with all of the people around (and there were quite a few) but didn't jump on anyone or even try to steel food or anything. Very little barking too.

I've been look at a bulldog for a while but like a bit of a bigger dog and this seems to be a good cross breed. Some can look kinda funky though if they get too much boxer or too much of the bulldog underbite. I've been keeping and eye on the dog sites sort of waiting for a brindle spotted sort of one.

[Govtcheez]

I feel you're pain, my German Shepherd sheds as fast as he grows it.

Same with our mutt (beagle/something mix... probably pit or boxer).  We bought new couches when we bought our house and settled on a dark brown color.  A few weeks later we bought our dog.  Hair shows up wonderfully on dark brown fabric.  We vacuum them constantly but it's a losing battle

[Dumah]

My folks have 2 dogs - Jack Russell's. We had the older dog about 10 years ago and he was already fully grown. He'd been abused and we don't know how old he really is or what the real background was. He was always very skittish - any sudden move and he'd jump back. He didn't eat too much either.

Anyway, about 4 years back we got a puppy as we had the idea that the older dog wasn't going to live too long. To be honest, getting the puppy really brought the older dog out of his shell - stopped his nervousness and meant that he really started eating properly for the first time since we had him. Probably caused him to live to now.

Now the "pup" is pretty much fully grown and there's a real dominance problem between them as he is in effect now the "alpha". Most of the time they are fine, but if there's visitors they tend to compete for attention and this can cause them to fight. They have elaborate little performances when they eat - the younger one will tuck in while the older one waits until he's just finished before starting. The younger one will finish his then pester the older one. The older one wont allow the younger one to butt-in, but eats about 80% of his meal then turns around and walks back about 6 foot. The younger one then eats what's left and while he is eating the older dog can pass him to get past. Really weird, but they do the same every single day.

 

[Govtcheez]

My neighbors have a Jack Russell.  My dog is in love with her.  I don't have the heart to tell him he doesn't have any balls so he can't do anything.  They seem satisfied just sniffing each other's pee.

[Dumah]

They are great dogs IMO. I'm not a fan of big dogs and I hate yappy little ones, but JRs are a good size and a great temperament - unless they are challenging one another as in my other post!