Thorn!

Desh said:
I dont think I could foster without it turning into permenant
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I know I could not foster a pup. They would have to pry it from my dead fingers. Well not quite, but you get the idea.

My neighbors think I am nuts for taking a cat to the vet.
 
Desh said:
BB

Bullshit.

They are not dumb dogs but a border collie is definately the smartest dog arround.
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I had a collie when I was real little, then a corgland (my unlce bred corgi and shetland sheep dogs) - probably my favorite had her for 15 years. My last dog was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.... also a friggin awesome dog.
 
Superfreak said:
The only reason you take a cat to the vet is to feed it to one of the dogs.
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I see LadyT has recruited you.

I had never had cats until a year or so ago, and never thought I would have any. I took pity on a litter of kittens a cat had in my shed and then dissappeared. The mother was killed apparently as I later found out she was a neighbors cat. the little fuzzy things came out all skinny and begging for food while I was sitting on the porch outside my workshop. I gave them some cheeze crackers I was eating. similar thing the next day, by the third day I gave up and bought cat fud.....They have been good at pretty much eliminating the mice and moles around. unfortunately my lizards went away as well....

I am a sucker for my little furry buddies. be they dogs or even cats.
 
Desh said:
Labs are good dogs for hanging and waiting for you. Any puppy takes a while to get trained. Walk them regularly ,love them up every day and they will be happy to be in your home. I really do encourage you to get a rescue one though.
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you hang labs? Are you related to Vick?
 
uscitizen said:
I see LadyT has recruited you.

I had never had cats until a year or so ago, and never thought I would have any. I took pity on a litter of kittens a cat had in my shed and then dissappeared. The mother was killed apparently as I later found out she was a neighbors cat. the little fuzzy things came out all skinny and begging for food while I was sitting on the porch outside my workshop. I gave them some cheeze crackers I was eating. similar thing the next day, by the third day I gave up and bought cat fud.....They have been good at pretty much eliminating the mice and moles around. unfortunately my lizards went away as well....

I am a sucker for my little furry buddies. be they dogs or even cats.
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I was an easy recruit.... never liked the damn things. I will say that had I ever experienced cats on a farm that might be a different story. I would imagine they are very good indeed at chasing down rodents. If they were more barn oriented and not in the house I may be able to tolerate that scenario. But never will there be one in my house.
 
Thorn said:
This is the closest to what I'd recommend, too. I don't know how high your fence is in the back, or how much room you have, so you'll have to consider that in giving her unrestricted access to the back. Labs are roamers by nature, as well as being chewers while they're young. You don't want her clearing your fence, or going through it, either! Was she microchipped where you got her? Both my guys are chipped, and the chip number is also on a tag on the collar along with a number. Our number is on a different tag and the vet's number is on the rabies tag.

My guys now stay inside during the day, in a 9 x 12 room with ceramic tile floor, plus the kitchen and carpeted hallway. There's a widespace barrier closing off the living room. They have their beds, loads of toys, water (food is given twice per day; if they freefed they'd be tanks!), indoor pads if they need to relieve themselves, and NPR for company. They use the pads and whoever gets home first just disposes of them. (I tried that doggy litter; forget it! Barley thought it was to eat and it isn't all that neat or even absorbent anyway. Plus it's expensive).

We don't have a doggy door and I still don't expect to put one in. After the trouble with Rory's poor stomach after he ate all those acorns, plus the coyotes right outside the fence, we're taking no chances. As soon as we get home we run around outside with them, play fetch and catch and run. They also love frisbee.

I haven't seen bitter lemon, but our local pet store (ok we're in the boonies, don't forget) carries bitter apple. Any bitter stuff should work, but you have to apply it every day. Our guys used to use the outside door mats as banners to carry around the yard; I learned the benefits of spraying daily to discourage seeing those as toys.

Crate training is fine, especially at night if you don't want the dog sleeping with you (look who's talking, though!). But you'll be away for, what, 10 hours each day? You don't want to leave a dog in a crate for that long at a stretch.

I'm so excited for you! Labs are such great dogs and there's so much to love about them. If this is your first pet, especially as an adult, you may find from time to time that you question whether or not you're up to this, but hang in there, it's worth it! :p
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Coyotes aren't much of a problem if you get horses. Coyotes stay away from horses because they don't like to get their behinds kicked by herd animals. I think it is a testosterone thing.
 
Some horses truly despise dogs, but most actually like them. They also like goats. Coyotes, however, always get what they deserve around horses...

:D
 
People arounf here run a LLama or two with their goats. do not run more than that though or they make their own herd and leave the goats to the coyotes.
 
uscitizen said:
I do not really know but will ask around.
Some people around here get burros for coyote protection as well.
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Too loud. One of the neighbors here had a donkey rescue. Had only 8, over a mile away and I could hear those bastages... No thank you.
 
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