Welcome to The Attic!!

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Yep, it's a sequel to the original and even cheezier with worse makeup effects.

[Cambria]

I want to watch it now!! LOL. I thought the Michael j fox one was really cheesy! :)

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Watch it, it's awful but fun must-see awful ;) But I'm a sucker for those 80's teen flicks.

[Cambria]

I like them all too!!! lol. i like that one with Molly Ringwald....is it 16 candles...LOL. My most favorite old movie is Grease....its not from the 80's but it is awesome!

[C.S. Splitter]

@BarkLessWagMore

I love dogs and have them just about all of my life.

MOST issues can be traced back to the owner, but not all.

All of my dogs have had different personalities. One, Flower, was psycho. I am convinced that her problems were bred into her. She even had our older dog as as a role model when she came to us, but she was just "flawed". We knew the people who had her for the first 10 weeks and even her mother and father. There were no signs from any of those circumstances that would have caused her bad behavior.

The rest of my dogs have been awesome. My current dog is the first chihuahua I have ever had...yes, you have to be a real man to walk a chihuahua with a pink harness and leash! lol She is just the best dog ever but we worked with her a lot (came from a rescue).

Some of her awesomeness comes from the lady that fostered her. Some comes from the luck of her breeding because when we met her brothers, they were not the "typical" chihuahuas either. Some comes from us training her, exposing her to other people and animals, and treating her like a "dog" instead of a fashion accessory.

(Side note: I think a lot of small dogs get a bad reputation because their owners don't realize they have an actual dog on their hands. That's not to say ours is not spoiled though lol.)

So don't be too hard on yourself. Some things just happen when it comes to dogs. Learn all you can about training and do the best you can. Still, there is a bit of luck involved. After all, we've all seen kids that came from good families turn out horribly wrong too.

Splitter

[J.A.]

Barkless, I think that some dogs have problems that will remain with them regardless, but many problems can be ameliorated with training.

We've had multiple dogs my whole life, and as my lot live in the middle of nowhere, for a long time we never did much to train them; but about ten years ago we had a dog with some real issues so we took all of them to classes.

It was really helpful in socialising them - though at first it was stressful and a lot of work - and in fact once they've got the hang of it the dogs themselves absolutely love it. Our classes have 3 separate levels and you take the dog through an exam at the end of it. When ours finished "Gold" class, the owners of all the dogs in the class got together and realised that the dogs all would miss it so persuaded the trainer to start an "Alumni" class just for silly tricks and things. My mother's dog currently has learnt to go fetch the post when the postman comes, bring it into the kitchen, hand it to my Mum and then shut the door behind her....!

Thing is, tricks are all very well but the real usefulness of classes is that a) you spend quality time working with the dog which is really good for the dog / human relationship and b) it reinforces the owner's pack status as what we refer to as "pack superior" (alpha male doesn't work in an all-female house!!). What THAT means is that the dog knows that when you say "Stop" or whatever, the dog is used to obeying you and in a crisis will generally do what you tell it.

Different dogs have different personalities, obv, but I think that if you work with the dog on the dog's own wavelength, much can be achieved. Half of it is teaching the owner how to communicate with the dog as much as teaching the dog to do what the owner wants.

There's no point beating yourself up about the dogs you had, because although training might have helped, it might not - you can never tell. I think going forward if you have the time and the energy and get a new dog, take it to puppy classes directly and both of you will feel the benefits; but as CS says, dogs are as individual as humans and sometimes they'll do their own thing and no amount of training will "take".

JAC

[Cassie]

BarkLessWagMore wrote: "Whatcha want to chat about?

I haven't watched Teen Wolf because I doubt they can do it better than Jason Bateman. And I already knew what spunk meant. My innocence was lost many naughty books ..."

I have a Yorkie. He is generally a good dog, but he does like to get loose and run around for days. It drives me insane!! When we first got him, we could let him out in the yard without a leash & he would do his business and come right back. Gradually he went further and further until we couldn't get him back in. The kids have let him out by accident I don't know how many times. I'm really surprised he has not been killed (he did get attacked by big dogs TWICE and almost died)!!!

He is good with the kids & strangers. He does not chew on things. He barks if someone parks in our driveway, knocks on the door, etc. The only time he potties in the floor is if I just keep him in too long (I do get busy and forget to let him out!)...and he does it in one spot, right by the back door.

So, overall, I can't really complain. I know I could have trained him better about the running loose, but who has time????

[Cassie]

Cambria wrote: "I like them all too!!! lol. i like that one with Molly Ringwald....is it 16 candles...LOL. My most favorite old movie is Grease....its not from the 80's but it is awesome!"

I love The Breakfast Club!! I wasn't so much into 16 Candles tho... Dirty Dancing is my FAVORITE...

[Cambria]

Ooooh. I forgot about dirty dancing!! It was awesome too!! still, Greace is numbe one for me. But I think Diry Dancing is second. :)
Ferris Buellers day off was good too and so was breakfast at tiffany's. :)

[Cambria]

My dog isn't the best dog i've ever had. In fact, I sometimes i feel like I'm stuck with her....i love her but i don't always like her.
She isn't very friendly and we can't let her around other people for fear she will bite them. Dhe barks incessantly and has an attitude. LOL. and she has an overactive bladder and has to take pills. I call them pee pills. ;)
She is a retriever mixed with chow.....we got her from the pound when she was about 6 weeks old.

[Amy Eye]

Cambria - I told you about my new boxer, but for those of you I haven't told...she is gorgeous and she likes to snuggle, but OH MY GOSH is she a pain in the butt! It's bad when she makes my Rottie scared, and I never knew boxers had a need to kill birds! HOLY COW!!

[Cambria]

Hehehe. Bird killer. At least she doesn't pee on the floor. However I think I would rather clean up pee than bird. Ewww!

[Cassie]

I am such a doofus... I JUST found the "unread" link at the top of our page!!! All this time, I have been going through each folder looking for new posts!!!
Really...

[J.A.]

Amy, my old hairdresser had boxers (2 actually, but saying a pair of boxers gives the wrong impression entirely!!). They were gurningly ugly, highly affectionate and stupidly enthusiastic - but as a kid I didn't like them AT ALL.
Why?
Well, we always had to take our shoes off when we went into the house (who has dogs and white carpet?!) and the boxers would, each week and without fail, slobber all in your shoes.

When you put your feet back into them, they weren't just filled with wet slimy dog-dribble, but *cold* wet slimy dog-dribble. Yeuchhhh.

I have avoided boxers (of the canine variety) ever since.....
JAC

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Thanks everyone for sharing your doggie experiences. It's nice to know I'm in good company :)

@CS Your comments about being a manly man with a pink harnessed pup cracked me up. That takes guts and is the mark of a true dog lover.

@J.a. We are getting a rottie pup from a breeder and I've been reading up on training because I want the pup to a good example for the breed which I'm learning gets quite a bad rap. Puppy class is going to be a must.

@Cassie I love Yorkies. I use to groom and they and the shih's were always the sweetest most pliable little guys. Never had one bite me. I would be terrified if I had a "runner" though. My kitty gets out every now and then and I am a wreck chasing her through the neighborhood with a flashlight. The neighbors must think I'm a nut but I'm so afraid she'll never come back.

[Amy Eye]

@Cambria - I'm not sure which would be better, it's both fairly disgusting!!!

@Cassie - you know something, I don't think I have seen said "unread" button...I'm a tard...

@JA - Your post made me chuckle...had to tell ya! :)

[Cassie]

Just glad I'm not alone in my tardness...

[J.A.]

Barkless, from what I hear, a lot of rotties are real sweeties but certainly in the UK people assume they are guard-dog-type vicious, so I think you're right to have it absolutely under control as even if it's just playing, people who don't know dogs sometimes see a big dog barking and lunging and assume the worst.

Problem is that then the people act in a silly exciteable manner which just makes it all worse, so best plan is definitely to avoid by training where possible.

I think rotties are reasonably obedient though aren't they? Not like my family's deerhound which is the laziest beast in the world and only does as told a) when it wants to and b) when it has the spray collar on....

Great invention, that spray collar...
JAC

[Cambria]

I need to get a spray collar....for my dog.
But....do they work for kids as well??

[Cassie]

Cambria wrote: "I need to get a spray collar....for my dog.
But....do they work for kids as well??"

Here, here...

[Cambria]

heheheehe. Maybe husbands too.

[Cassie]

Another amen!

[Amy Eye]

what is a spray collar?? I like the idea of anything that multifunctional....lol

[J.A.]

It's a collar with a little reservoir in it that you fill with water and citrus oil (as apparently dogs hate that). Then you can let the dog off the lead and if it doesn't come back you press the zapper (remote control, oh yeah!) and it sprays the dog, which gets weirded out and comes back for reassurance. The deerhound, which is a contrary beast, has taken to behaving impeccably whilst wearing the collar, even on the occasions we accidentally left the zapper at home!!

(Obv, the rest of the time she's still too lazy to do a damn thing on command with the possible exception of barking or growling, according to which signal you give her.And even then you'll be lucky...!)

It's really good, completely harmless, and so long as you don't have a spaniel it works really well. If you have a spaniel or other working dog, they're always dashing in and out of the water anyway and mostly don't really notice.

Re kids, I'm thinking citrus oil is no good. Possibly brussels sprouts water or something irretrievably healthy?


JAC

[Cambria]

brussel sprout water...it has possibilities.
I haven't heard of this spray collar before. We have bark collars here but they give electical jolts and I guess that makes me feel mean if i did it to my dog. A spray collar however.... :)

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

J.a. wrote: "Barkless, from what I hear, a lot of rotties are real sweeties but certainly in the UK people assume they are guard-dog-type vicious, so I think you're right to have it absolutely under control as ..."

Yep, my chocolate lab who recently passed away (sob) scared the pee-pee out everyone who came to the door and his breed is known for their goofiness. But he was big, with great big choppers that he liked to show off when someone rang the bell. He was a big baby in reality though but if you didn't know him he could be quite intimidating!

[Amy Eye]

J.a. wrote: "It's a collar with a little reservoir in it that you fill with water and citrus oil (as apparently dogs hate that). Then you can let the dog off the lead and if it doesn't come back you press the z..."

I think a collar that just whispers, "Go clean your room," in my voice would be enough to make my kids scamper away in no time flat...Anyone else good with their hands? Maybe start making novelty collars and we can sell them to raise money to start a real webpage for all of you indie authors!! :)

And talking about rotties...mine looks vicious from a distance, but she is the biggest baby anyone has ever met. All you have to do it walk up to her and she rolls onto her back so you will rub her belly, and if you try to walk away, she takes her paw and grabs you to pull you back...she is a nut.

[J.A.]

Barkless, the one that we had that was unmanageable was a big male lab; beautiful dog and absolute softie but when he saw anyone not "pack" he went mental barking and lunging if he was on a lead. Then when he got up to them he'd sniff a few times and wag and that's be the end of it - only it never got to that bit without people freaking out, so we had to start taking him to training and eventually he was fine. Still used to "uff, uff" under his breath when he saw someone new, but it was for all the world like some grumpy old bloke going "Yeah well, I could if I wanted to...!"

Bless. SUCH a lovely dog.
JAC

[Phil]

Barkless, I can understand your fondness for rotties -- provided they're properly trained. I grew up with dogs, mostly working dogs, some great friends, others inclined to silliness. Terriers, particularly small ones, I've never liked much. Most I've known think they're pocket mastiffs.
My last two have been poodles. Intelligent, easily trained, friendly, but can growl if they think it's necessary. I'm sure they were telepathic. Just had to put down the last (sniff) -- he'd developed a growth that was causing poor old bloke all sorts of trouble. But at 15 years, I suppose he hadn't done too badly.
Sometimes I swear he's still around, waiting to be taken for his morning walk.

[Cassie]

Phil wrote: "Barkless, I can understand your fondness for rotties -- provided they're properly trained. I grew up with dogs, mostly working dogs, some great friends, others inclined to silliness. Terriers, part..."

Aww... *sniffle*

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

I'm sorry Phil. It's so hard, my lab had the same problem. I had 3 dogs, lost two a few weeks ago, and I still look for them to greet me at the door when I get home. My remaining dog is so laid back he can't be bothered to get up from his pillow when I get home.

[Cambria]

I have one dog (previously mentioned above.) She has a pee problem. But I also have two cats.

And it is always hard to lose a pet. :(

[Cambria]

So, does this wetsuit make me look fat?

Maybe i should lay off the cheese....

[Cassie]

Nah, you look fine...

I'm about to auction off my children. Anyone interested?? ;-)

[Cambria]

No, but I have two more i could throw into the auction...

[Amy Eye]

OOHHH!! Getting wetsuits, and getting rid of children?

Who mentioned cheese? LOL

[TC]

I think wetsuits either make you look fat or if they fit properly and suck everything in probably take a few pounds off but nearly kill you! Auctioning kids seems popular at the moment, I'll pass ta, have enough on my plate with the one I've got. Mmm, cheese...now sat thinking about how nice a brie and bacon sarnie would be.

[Cambria]

Well I think I will pass on the wetsuit....we need something else to wear. As for cheese I like a nice sharp cheddar. :)

[Cambria]

So if you were going to be deserted on a island what three things would you bring?
(Don't say your family: that's a given; give me the goods people!)

[C.S. Splitter]

Ginger
Maryanne
And a permission slip from my wife :)

Splitter

[TC]

My kindle, sun lotion (being fair sucks) and snorkelling gear.

[C.L.]

Cambria wrote: "So if you were going to be deserted on a island what three things would you bring?
(Don't say your family: that's a given; give me the goods people!)"

If you brought your family would it still be a deserted island?

[Amy Eye]

Cambria wrote: "So if you were going to be deserted on a island what three things would you bring?
(Don't say your family: that's a given; give me the goods people!)"

@ CS - OH MY GOSH!!! That is too funny!!! LOVE IT!!

I would bring, toilet paper, the jumbo pack, an extra pair of underwear, and a solar powered cell phone

I wouldn't have to worry about my meds, if I'm there alone, no one would care if I'm crazy or not... :)

[J.A.]

Here's a question: What is SHARP cheddar? Is it mature cheddar - the strong-tasting one?

Also WOOT I'm on a list, look!
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/81...

Cool, huh?
JAC

[Cambria]

Amy wrote: "Cambria wrote: "So if you were going to be deserted on a island what three things would you bring?
(Don't say your family: that's a given; give me the goods people!)"

@ CS - OH MY GOSH!!! That is..."

A HA HA HA HA. you are too funny. The last thing I would think of would be toilet paper. LOL

[Cambria]

I guess sharp cheddar would be stong tasting?? I don't know. It says it on the package and I like it. :)

[Cambria]

C.S. wrote: "Ginger
Maryanne
And a permission slip from my wife :)

Splitter"

What about your wife??? You would leave her at home? LOL.
Well, I did say not to say family. so.
Very well then. I would like to see said signed permission slip. No forgeries please

[Cambria]

C.L. wrote: "Cambria wrote: "So if you were going to be deserted on a island what three things would you bring?
(Don't say your family: that's a given; give me the goods people!)"

If you brought your family..."

LOL. good point.

[C.S. Splitter]

You said no family...and I don't see a permission slip in the offing either :).

We do each maintain a "kitchen pass" list, but Maryanne and Ginger (though if I had to choose, Maryanne all the way) aren't really on mine. I should have thought this out better.

Ok...

I want a radio, maybe someone will find me.
I want a book about how to survive on a desert island.
I want a flare gun in case a ship comes close.

Anyone else find it ironic that the Professor could make anything out two coconuts but they couldn't figure out how to fix the boat?

Splitter

[Amy Eye]

I think he kept them all there because he knew the ladies were gonna fall for him one day, darn it!! He just needed to dazzle them with his brilliance!!