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After trying a lot of different foods that Jasmine
and Seamus turned their noses up at, I tried them on the Nutro Natural
Choice Large Breed Adult. They just love it and I find an added bonus
is that it makes them much less windy!
Susan, Jasmine & Seamus
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 7:04
PM
Subject: [pyrnet] Smart-ass
dogs...<grin>, socialization and so forth
The sentence around here that
will make My dogs become VERY scarce ?
"We've got to cut some toenails
today " ~~<BG>
Pamc
Yup. Newman absolutely HATES
having his nails done, and fights like he's being murdered. If he even
SUSPECTS we're even THINKING of toenails, he hauls it.
As for
socialization and letting the pup "meet and greet" other dogs and people, I
also, cannot imagine having a dog as big as a Pyr or a Newf and NOT
socializing them, as well as taking them to obedience classes! An
undisciplined, unfriendly dog that big is a major hazard! If they're
well-socialized and obedience trained, they can be a joy to be around and a
member of the family you can be proud to take out in public and "show
off"...but I'd be embarrassed at the very least to take Newman out and have
him growling at other dogs or people, or jumping up on strangers, even to be
friendly. And think of the lawsuits just waiting to happen. Heck, if a kid
came up and wanted to pet a big dog like that and the dog knocked them
down, even...no matter if it was trying to be friendly (or worse yet,
aggressive), the kid could be hurt and you could be sued. Same thing if your
dog injured another dog! As an example, I have a friend to rescued a Pit Bull,
and the dog proceeded to maul a neighbor's cat. My friend now has to pay the
$1,000 vet bill and figure out what to do with the Pit Bull. With
Newman, I have absolutely NO concerns letting him sniff or play with the
smallest pup or child. He automatically scales his activities to the size of
the new "friend". He's also learned the phrase "It's a baby", and immediately
quiets and sniffs gently.
I took Newman out today with his Halti on (so
he wouldn't be likely to take off with me and break or bruise anything else),
and we had fun. Went to the low-cost vet clinic because I was afraid he had
ear mites again. I was surprised to learn that he didn't have mites, but
rather a yeast infection! Guess I haven't been taking enough care to keep the
water out of his ears when I bathe him. :-( <shame on mommy!) The vet
said to be sure to flush them with alcohol after I bathe him from now
on.
I had to wait two hours at the vet clinic at the feed store, but
waiting over there is kind of fun, because of all the animals and people
wanting to pet Newman and asking about him. He always has a ball when I take
him. He considers the little dogs to be interactive toys on strings, and the
big dogs potential playmates. It was hysterical...one woman had six, six-week
old Chiuahuas in a cat carrier and Newman was mesmerized! He laid down in
front of it and started snuffling enthusiastically. He was snuffling so loudly
that people came over to watch. He rolled over on his side to "see" better,
climbed on top of the carrier (the lady didn't seem to mind...she was laughing
too hard) and stuck his nose down in front (I guess to try from a different
angle), then when that didn't work, came back around in front and laid down
again (his jowls flatten out like he's a tire with a flat) with his nose
INSIDE one of the wire squares...still snuffling. The lady finally said, "I
think he's going to breathe all their air at the rate he's going!" I
gotta say, he's always good for entertainment!
I found out that
Revolution doesn't protect against Whipworms, but the vet couldn't examine him
for whipworms until after three, and I'd already been there two hours, so I
figured I'd wait and see if he starts gaining again now that I've switched his
food. I switched him to Pro Plan, and he likes it, but the vet told me not to
feed it to him and recommended Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy. Shoot,
I'm confused about what to feed him. Everyone's ideas are different. I made an
Excel spreadsheet with all the ingedients of six different brands of quality
dog foods, and I'm STILL confused. I listed out Pro Plan, Premium Edge,
California Natural, Innova Puppy, Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy, and
Diamond Puppy. Anybody have any comments on those six?
He HAS
gained 1.5 lbs since last week on the Pro Plan, and he's back up to 107.5.
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