Shelter Dogs, HBO Undercover,

[xultar]

I just finished watching it. WOW what an awesome show. IF you love animals you must watch. I cried through most of the show. I wish I could do what the lady that owns the shelter does. Maybe one day I'll dump corporate America and use my heart and soul as my money maker one day.

If you get a chance to see it...watch it. It will do your heart good.

Here's a pix of my lil Chihuahua the love of my life. Onyx

[madmax]

1. I'll watch

but, I'll be sick for a week. :cry:

Onyx is a beauty!! Tiny little baby.

Max (Yorkie) sends his :loveya:

[rumguy]

2. onyx is a little fella

he's kinda cute...

[xultar]

3. He's a lil bigger than that now. He weighs 2.75 lbs now. n/t

[madmax]

4. I can't begin to imagine how tiny that is

I had another Yorkie, Emily who weighed 4 lbs. and I thought that was tiny!!

[rumguy]

6. damn he sounds cute

Watch out for great horned owls - I vividly remember when a great horned owl got our neighbors little Chihuahua.

[xultar]

8. I do watch out for birds. Hawks were taking small pets away

last summer during the drought.

I keep Onyx very well protected. He's a lil doll

[1a2b3c]

5. I never seen the previews. Do you know when it is on again?

Central time zone. I wanna see it.

[xultar]

12. Nope, I was blubbering so much I missed the next time it shows

sorry :(

[slinkerwink]

7. your chihuahua is sooo cute!

[xultar]

10. Thanks, he @ 1.5 lbs tried to mate with a 75 lb Rottie in Petsmart

since Onyx is such a STUD she was wooed instantly and didn't try to eat him. How kewl was that we coulda had Rottihuas or Chiweilers or somethin like that.

When I find him a sutiable mate I'll let yall know and we can have a DU grandma party or something like that!

[ajacobson]

9. I've gone to seminars where Sue Sternberg

has demonstrated some of her evaluation and training techniques. I was at the Michigan Purebreed Dog Rescue Alliance conference I think three years ago where dogs from the Huron Valley Humane Society shelter were brought in and although the dogs were pretty wild to begin with, she demonstrated that with a little bit of obedience work (like 10 or 15 min) the adoptability of the dogs could be increased immensely.

I've learned so much from her I can't even begin to explain.

[xultar]

11. I want to open a Shelter one day and also have Doggie Day Care

and boarding businesses on the side to fund my Shelter work.

I love pups. I wish I had known as a child that being a vet was an option. I would have been a great vet.

[ajacobson]

13. My wife and I are both dog trainers in our free time

and we've thought about maybe trying to make a full time thing out of it. But sometimes avocations don't make the best occupations. I'd be miserable if the demands of running a business would take all the fun out of it.

[xultar]

14. Agreed, I had a dog trainer for my first Chihuahua he was 4lbs

he wanted to use a choke chain on him. What are some good techniques to use with a small dog. Since Onyx is less than 3 lbs I've been doing treats and clickers. I only use harnesses on him. He is so hard headed sometimes. He is hard to correct but I can't use a head halter or collars on him for fear of hurting him.

[ajacobson]

15. Small dogs are a challenge

We often do things that unwittingly reduce the dog's confidence/increase the dog's fear issues (not saying you do that, X :hi: ).

One big one is carrying small dogs around all the time. That's one of the things we really like to do, its one of the reasons why we like toy breeds. The problem is the dog becomes less able to cope with not being right next to you and that underdeveloped coping mechanism can manifest in all kinds of undesirable behavior, barking, failures in housetraining, sometimes aggression. Plus its a loss of control issue, imagine if a big hand scooped you up into the air all the time.

Sorry to riff on this one issue, it's a "pet" peeve of mine, I am always telling my students "put your dog down on the ground..."

Treats and clicker are your best bet. There's lots of non-nasty ways to demonstrate to the dog that you are the boss, the food and toys are provided by you. Small dogs can get Napoleon complexes sometimes. :-)