Dog Owner Chat! (for-fun poll added) (new chat)

[Sadies]

My poor baby, the greyhound at the kennels I love so much is worst than we knew. :( The vet they have been taking him to because of his epilepsy has been saying he is fine and they had a vet change to an expert by pure coincident. She was shocked at how bad the dogs blood was, he has bad blood like this for ages because it wouldn't be so bad else :(

He's fine in himself (well apart from the fact that the drugs has changed him) and he will be fine but he is now on so much more meds :( My poor baby.

[Cardinal]

... I don't even know what to say..

I bathed Juniper for the first time this season... It.. It was terrible. I've never had the 'pleasure' of bathing a double coated dog. Halp. Theres fur EVERYWHERE! I think she lost her weight in fur! She kept shedding.. and shedding.. and shedding.. There was a golfball sized clog in the drain, condensed. Theres fur all over the floor. The towel I used to dry her is one massive fur ball. Urrrrggghhh. ITS TERRIBLE.

Her fur does feel ssssooooo much better. I hadn't even realized she was that dirty.. or furry. e.e

We're getting ready for Do Dah Day which is the massive dog-orientated event held to two massive parks downtown! Last we got a free goody bag that had like 5 toys in it AND Lucky got stuffed everywhich wayw ith treats.. xD Should be fun!

[Jazi]

Welcome to double coat ownership. Mocha, and my past GSDs, were the same way.

Invest in a good brush (not a furminator until she gets her adult coat 100%... they can damage coats) and ride out the storm. Good luck

[Bluebird22]

I feel you pain, but not only do I have to deal with bathing a double coat, add to the mix a dog who hates baths... Not fun at all! Watch out for mats in the coat once she drys. Because of double coats you can't brush with a standered pin brush right after bath, you have to wait until she is partly dry before the "wonderful" task of brushing (yes, Sophie also hates to be brushed. You can see why I hate grooming her)For brushing right after a bath, I like to use a people comb in her more feathery areas like the feathering on her legs, under her ears, chest, belly, etc. It really pays off once she is dry.

[Cardinal]

Do you two have brush/grooming supply recommendations? I have NOTHING! Luckys coat is ssssoooo easy to take care of, Junipers coat is so thick although it is luckily short. e.e What type of brush/deshedding tool? All the ones I see look like they're for longer coats.. Not short dense ones. SHE LOOKS RAGGY AND PATCHY! HALP! xD I wish I could get a picture to really show it.. She looks terrible since a lot of her undercoat is gone and the rest is like.. scraggly and not lush and full. xD Her butt fur is also patchy, her pants look half plucked. Ahaha.


Do Dah Day! We're back. It was both awful and amazing. x.x At first Juniper was complete sensory overload BARKBARKBARK. Once actually submerged amongst the dogs and other people she actually did pretty well. UNTIL IT CAME TO CHILDREN. She nearly tackled two seperate kids.. : Dies: Luckily I was paying attention and quickly grabbed her. Around kids she was a jumpy, tail tucks, ears back, panting mess. SSSSOOO STRESSED. We tryed to desperately avoid groups of children but EVERYONE wanted to pet the dog with the backpack. e.e We also had several people appear out of flipping NOWHERE behind me and had their hands on her before I could turn around. hksahsbajfbsjldbf People. My own daughter did outstanding! Politely asked to pet people dogs, standing a polite distance away, and took no for an answer and moved on! <3 Best nearly 4 yr old evar. Juniper found a kiddy pool of ice and refused to leave.. xD

We saw ssssooo many different breeds! Was awesome. Lots of hounds, pointers, 7 dobermans, an afghan hound, grey hounds, whippets, coated whippets, chis, poms, danes, massitiffs, AN IGGY!, doxies, labs, goldens, schipperki (sp), cockers, GSD (A REALLY pretty dark sable boy. Beautiful animal!), mal, lots of spitz breeds. Dogs of every shape and size! <3 Name a breeds, we probably saw one. xD This is one of the main reasons I LOVE living in the city!

Juniper wore her backpack and got as many negative looks and comments as she did positive. D: Most where like, whispered behind our back, "Its not fair to the dog to be carrying THEIR crap!" "Whya re they making the dog carry stuff? D:< " "A BACKPACK? : Sneer: ".. Just omg. There wasn't even anything in it.. ._.

She scored a couple of balls, two frisbees, a collapsible water/food dish (going to buy one for her pack, now we don't have to!). She ate her weight in treats. She just vaccumed them up! One booth had cookies all infront of it, dogs apparently didn't like them.. Except Juniper. She was SO worn out when we got back to the car. xD

Last thing. We stopped at BK for a 'quick' lunch. A run in, eat, run out... Or we tried. We left a drowsy tired Juniper in the car. Completely overcast and starting to mist. Windows all cracked. Sun roof cracked, plenty of ventilation. It was around 75~, pretty nice and mild. Went in. TOOK FOREVER to get our food! You wouldn't even believe. By the time we got it we wasted no time eating, watching the sky as it started to lighten up, clouds breaking apart. When we were done the sun was out, only for a few minutes though. Ran out to the car, checked the cell for temp. Effing 85 and climbing. In half an hour. Quickly broke out the water dish, she drank TWO of them. Soaked down her collar in ice water to cool her down. Was almost a nightmare. Effing service at burger king was terrible and took WAY longer than it should have. Glad we were paying attention to the weather.

That about sums up our day.. xD

[Bluebird22]

Cardinal- widely spaced bridle brushes are good, slicker brushes and bombs are great for mats, then of course wire pin brushes work wonders for shedding. Once you partly dry her with a towel so that her coat isn't damp any of the brushes are good. But obviously brushing when she is damp does nothing. I have used this site before and it is great. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=248

[PhoenixWings]

Zarria and I went to a river it was really fun she loved the river, then we went to Petsmart to get some treats and a ball. She likes to go on car rides.

[Jazi]

Do you two have brush/grooming supply recommendations? I have NOTHING! Luckys coat is ssssoooo easy to take care of, Junipers coat is so thick although it is luckily short. e.e What type of brush/deshedding tool? All the ones I see look like they're for longer coats.. Not short dense ones. SHE LOOKS RAGGY AND PATCHY! HALP! xD I wish I could get a picture to really show it.. She looks terrible since a lot of her undercoat is gone and the rest is like.. scraggly and not lush and full. xD Her butt fur is also patchy, her pants look half plucked. Ahaha.

Anything with dense teeth. Careful not to get too long of teeth or too carried away with brushing, you'll scratch her skin and she'll learn that brushing = owwies D: That's another reason why furminators aren't the greatest until you have an adult dog with adult coat. Give her a session once or twice a week and you should see a marked improvement.

Oh, and if she sheds in clumps, you can easily just grab and pull those clumps right out. It doesn't hurt and Mocha seems to be really relieved when I spend a couple minutes picking them out of her butt fluff

[.Middy.]

I learned last night that sea water is a amazing flea/tick remover. Hopefully we can drag Princess and Gracie down to the beach and get them in tomorrow!

I know they will like it better than last time, since it was kinda cold then. It's near perfect temp right now. (We went and got in today)

[Cardinal]

Thanks guys. ^^; I'm thinking I'll just go with the KONG Zoom Groom or a good slicker.

I brushed her down pretty well with a flea comb and got loads of fur off of her. She was a happy, melty puppy puddle when we were finished. The whole time i was brushing she was leaning into me and doing puppy sighs and groans. LOL. Someone really likes to be brushed, apparently.