[rtfire1]

My bros old black lab mut used to climg out of the 6 foot kennal the parents had on the back of there garage one day he got pissed and started chewing on the chain link on the door after we put up plywood, He ate/pulled a hole in the door and then made it bigger so my dog could get out. my poor 14 year old elkhound came back covered in mud. two asprin and a two hour bath later and my white and gray dog looked the right color again thank good she liked the blowdryer.

As you can see from the pick below that it is a good size kennel with 15 feet more kennel to the left and 10 more feet of kennel to the right. O the dog below is my bros current dog shamus

[rgreen4]

I carried Princess to the vet when I got back on January 20, and he found her in very good shape. She weighed 13 pounds even and was 1 day shy of 9 weeks. She traveled well, and here are a few shots.


(Click on photo to enlarge and sharpen)

Knowing that could hit ice and snow, I took the 4WD, and I'm glad I did. I75 in Northern Ohio was not in the best of shape. I promised Princess I would take her out of the land of ice and snow.

First of course I had to introduce her to "Uncle" Red, my 6 year old male. I was not sure how he would accept her. These shots were taken out back on the 23rd of Jan. Here is Unce Red, the spot on his tail is the scar where a malignant tumor was removed.



Princess is a little hard to catch with the camera. She was having a good time running around. Her tail is down in most of the shots because even though it was bright and sunny, it was a little cold, and she does not do cold.





Here she is just starting a leap to give Uncle Red a bump in the muzzle. He looks as though he would just as soon I took her back where I found her.



However, in the last two weeks they have become fast friends and play together very well. I have to watch him as he is 120 pounds versus her now 17.6 pounds as of Feb. 4. She is eating well, even though she takes her time at it. Red gobbles his food down in about two minutes (2 1/2 cups twice a day) and she take about 15 minutes (1 to 1 1/2 cups 4 times a day. I give her 1 1/2 and she doesn't always eat it all) but he was from a large litter, and she was from a small litter (5) and the breeder and mother Dobe took very good care of the puppies.

[AuroraDizon]

That is cute :x

[rgreen4]

Yeh, she is a cutie pie. The breeder sent me photos holding her and her sister. She just has such a nice face. To quote another thread, she has been awesome so far, with only a couple of piddles in the house that were my fault since I didn't take her straight outside when I let her out of her crate. She has never left a "gift" in the house yet, but then I watch her closely when she's loose.

[AuroraDizon]

Thats cool. I was just reading about dog anxieties of small dog syndrome and pack leader orders and how humans treat smaller dogs compared to bigger dogs which is why a lot of smaller dogs get a bigger dog syndrome. http://www.dogbreedi...malltoydogs.htm is the link so I don't have to ramble about it. You probably already know it but it helped me learn more about my dogs and how to relate to them as dog and not treat them as people. I know she'll grow up to be a big dog but I thought I'd pass along the link anyway. Grats on the new baby dog.

[rgreen4]

Thanks for the link. That site has very good info. I may use in on the Gentle Doberman site as many times people are asking about training. Sometimes, it's better to provide a link than to just say " Do it this way".

[AuroraDizon]

Yea deinfatly easier. Lots of good information like you said. Makes you think about smaller dogs and bigger dogs when you get put it into perspective with proper info.

[rgreen4]

I dropped Princess off at the vet's yesterday morning to have her ears cropped. I picked her up this afternoon. The vet said she did very well, and while she was still under the anesthetic, before he put the brace on, her ears were already standing. He was very pleased with the cartillage development.

She is very groggy right now as she is give a tranquilizer every 8 hours to keep her quiet while the trimmed edge starts it's healing. I managed to get a few pictures this evening while she was eating and showing of her Shriner's Cap.

[AuroraDizon]

Awe, why do their ears need to be cropped?

[coastie65]

My former neighbor had a Boxer, but never had her ears cropped. Kind a looked weird. I don't know what is going to happen with Andy. He doesn't want to eat and is skinny as a rail and just sleeps most of the time. The Vet was back out this eek and got some more antibiotics to put in his ears as well as some capsules. I cut up some ham last night and mixed it in with his dry food and he ate it as well as part of the dry food. My Mom is starting to think about maybe having him put down. He will be 8 in June. I guess we'll have to wait and see what developes.

[AuroraDizon]

Which one is Andy? =(

[rgreen4]

The Doberman was bred to be a protective dog and Herr Doberman in the 1880's started with the Manchester Terrier which has a naturally short tail and pointed ears. The German Pincsher was also a mix, and looks a lot like a slightly smaller Doberman, but different in coloration and with a long tail. Then other dogs such as the Rottweiler (known at that time as the German Butcher Dog) was mixed in and the Wiemaraner was mixed in. Some where at this point in the 1920's the former naturally pointed ears became hound dog ears and the tail became large and mid length.

So the ears were cropped to return to the original look and allow air to dry out the ears. A dog with floppy ears has to have the ears cleaned out regularly and is more prone to ear infections which can be painful. Out of all the Dobes I've owned, I've never had to clean ears once the braces were removed. If they get into a fight, they lay the ears back and they are not torn to pieces. This is why dog fighters crop the Pit Bull ears, but they many times use sissors without the benefit of anesthesia or sanitary conditions - which is abuse.

Some complain about the anesthesia, but many dogs have their teeth cleaned every year, and it is done under anesthesia.

Here is a link to the Gentle Doberman site and the topic of ear cropping. If you browse the forum, you will note a familiar name.

[coastie65]

This is Andy.

[AuroraDizon]

Yes, my parent's Golden Retriever has ear problems all the time =( thx for the link

[AuroraDizon]

My chewbacca dog =( Ive been meaning to ask you he's the one with the nail thing right? How did you help fix the problem?

[rgreen4]

Sorry to hear about Andy. I thought his ear infection had been cleared up a while back. Ear infections are nothing to sneeze at on a dog with large floppy ears. The ear canal is dark and moist, and a prime area for infections.

As I said, some people believe that the floppy ear is natural, but has anyone ever seen a Wolf with floppy ears? Let's not forget that the domestic dog is descended from and a sub-species of Canis Lupus, the Wolf. The dogs closest to the Wolf, the working sled dogs and Shepherds all have ears almost identical to their ancestors.

Don't give up on your buddy just yet.

[coastie65]

Hi Aurora, Just give him a sedative before attempting to cut his nails. Sill a tussle, but not as much. :D

[coastie65]

Shar Pei's have small triangular shaped ears that lay close to their head. Just like the floppy earred dogs, there is not much air getting in there either. Put cotton balls in his ears when he got a bath to keep the water out. Just need to get him to start eating and I think he'll be OK otherwise, he isn't going to make it, due to starving to death ( Won't go that far).

[rgreen4]

You might try a change in his diet. Mix a little canned dog food with his kibble and see how he likes it. Or even mix the kibble with warm water to make the gravy. When you do that, cut back on the amount, not to restrict his intake, but if he doesn't eat that mix it will go to waste. If you feed him dry kibble as I do mine (except Princess), what they leave stays good. But the canned dog food goes bad in hours and the kibble mixed with water in about 24 hours.

Feed him some favorite treats as well. When dogs don't feel well, they don't eat and that aggravates the problems. Funny thing, people are the same way, but at least you can talk the person into eating, with a dog, you have to entice them sometimes. Give him a rub for me.

[coastie65]

He has both Pedigree canned and Pedigree dry food. Tried Purina, and he didn't like that. My mom fried some Flounder and I think he ate all of that over time. I had some Bob Evans Sliced ham and I diced up a slice yesterday and put it in his bowl. He ate that and about half of his dry food he had in there. What I find strange is that he has a water bowl next to his food in the kitchen and another one out on the deck. He won't drink his "Inside" water, but will go out and drink his "Outside" water.