spot to be nasty

[BigDog2191]

So I should never have a toddler around me because I don't raise my dogs in crates. How mature of you to say-- I, like Renee and Gustav, do not see the need for one.

And you're right, I only have one dog at a time. The rules are simplistic, I don't need to complicate it with money for a crate and time for crate training. And it seems if a dog were to chew the baseboard or door frame then he/she is probably bored, not the case with me, I always gave my dog all sorts of toys and everything, he was never bored.

And my age, that's irrelevant to the situation, but people here who have owned multiple dogs (Renee and Gustav) would agree...

Big Dog......
What age group are you in? I ask because it is obvious you have somewhat limited experience with raising dogs. If you were lucky enough to raise a dog without crating it, it is simply because you were lucky. I would suggest that you study crating a little more closely. Sure hope you don't ever have a two year old toddler around to raise, rofl. You are familiar with the concept of using a play pen for a baby, yes? Same principle. I had a dog killed by the other dogs while I was just next door at my stepmother's for 20 minutes. She was old, and there was only one bite mark on her. She died of heart failure. Who would think out of the blue that they would jump her.

You are not familiar with multiple dog ownership. The rules there are totally different. And even with just one dog, I have heard of people having to take their dogs in for surgery after it ate the baseboard or door frame and had to have the telescoped intestine operated on. I will stick with crates!!!

 

[Dakotah_2009]

amen to that BigDog!

 

[Renee750il]

No, Lea, there are a lot of people who like crates - it's probably about evenly split

Once I ditched the commercial foods I quit seeing skin problems, even in the hottest part of the summer. Charley didn't believe me when I tried to tell him the difference for a long time. Now, he's seen the difference between Buffy, who he insisted on feeding Purina, and Shiva and Kharma, who have a good diet. Kharma is an especially good indicator, being extremely close to Buffy in lineage. There's really no comparison.

I've never had a problem with the dogs - or the dogs and cats for that matter - fighting. They all understand that this is a family and although squabbles will come up from time to time, there is no hurting each other. It's just always been that way in my house. We have a little nose to snout from day one when a new member joins the family and that's the end of it. Don't ask me why it works, it just does

 

[Dakotah_2009]

So what is the best dog food out there?

 

[poeluvr]

i dont have a crate either, we use our bathroom when we go out

 

[Adrienne]

45 years ago there were not all that many dog foods to choose from. Jaima had magnificent dogs. Her dogs were top winners and top producers in the history of the Doberman breed. I would suspect that the condition of her dogs was a grand testimony to the benefits of what they were fed. These dogs were working dogs, in top physical condition. If you can ever find a picture of Initiator, I think you will agree that he was being fed pretty well, rofl.

I just did a search on Jaima. She is now DR. Jamia Youngblood, and appears to still be doing some co-breeding. I found a site with some pictures of a dog she co-bred...... http://www.geocities.com/rra104/Luke.html

Oh...my doggie food contains GROUND yellow corn. Sounds like maize to me, lol. I notice you neglected to mention soybean meal?

Anyway, I have a bunch of senior citizen dogs, the youngest of which are 6 1/2 years old. The oldest is 15 1/2. All in great shape and condition. I must say I do get a kick after 30 years of feeding dogs being told what I am not taking into consideration, etc. I would say that the only fair way to compare foods would be to obtain the results of feeding that food to dogs you have bred, and litters you have raised. Pictures would help, too. I have a few hundred I can try to upload, lol. I shall give it a try!!!

Right, 40 years ago dog food was made differently, it is just recently that it has made such a dive in the wrong direction, now that's it been bought by human food conglomerants. As for soy the food I feed contains no soy, corn, or wheat, just more useless fillers. Also a degree in canine nutrition from 40 years ago doesn't really hold much clout with me, our understanding of canine nutritional needs has indeed gotten much better in the past few years.

Now it is not unusul for Manchesters to live to a ripe old age, some reaching their 20's so it is not that great of a feat for your food to have "sustained" them to that age.

I began researching dog food as a recent endevor, before this I fed Purina, Iams, and all that other crap as well. Then I decided to take charge and learn about what I was putting into my dogs and how it could affect them later in life. I think it is FANTASTIC that you have bred and raised numerous healthy dogs, with plenty of winners to boot but you could do better by them if you just opened your eyes and took the time to research it yourself rather than relying on the information someone else gave you ages ago.

 

[smkie]

i will say that if you don't crate, you need to puppy proof one room..making sure all extension cords and chokeable items..plus anything you don't want chewed up. like books and beds should be taken care of..guess come to think of it, that room is a super large crate..but the dog can play, stretch, move around, watch out the window...entertain himself..a puppy proof room is absolutely necessary if you have to leave your pooch alone for anytime at all. AT my mom's house it was the laundry room downstairs, here it is my bedroom and yes vic has dug in the mattress more then once..but Vic also has had a history of some kind of abuse. and part of that is being confined to a small space for too long. Close the door in the bathroom with him in it and he has a full scale panic attack, i can't imagine him in a crate and never will. I would rather a hole in my mattress. He will calm down with age and is already, but i don't think he will ever do confined space. I always advocate if at all possible find a sitter for a puppy. It really isn't natural for them to be alone and a bored dog is distructive..I have always been fortunate to have GG..if we both have to leave and the weather is nice we can put Shaffer and vic outside...there is a 14 ft fence around mom's fort knox so you don't have to worry about theft, plus concrete poured under the fence as well..if it is cold, i bring them here to my safe room.

 

[Dakotah_2009]

can some one answer my question? pretty please....

 

[Dakotah_2009]

i will say that if you don't crate, you need to puppy proof one room

I agree!!!

 

[Adrienne]

can some one answer my question? pretty please....

Check out the dog food thread, plenty of good foods are listed there.

 

[Dakotah_2009]

ok thanks

 

[smkie]

there is always quite a debate going on there about the "best" food dakota, but the nutrition part of the forum has taught me tons and tons i didn't know.
i have a pic of Sally..the dog smooching me in my avatar that was asleep on the bed sound asleep, the sun coming thru the window and she looked so comfy that i thought a quick dash to the store and she won't even wake up..i wasn't gone 10 minutes. When i came back i found why i should have put her in the safe room no matter what. She had stuck her head firmly in an empty thermos..i grabbed the camera off the piano and took a quick pic..all of maybe 2 seconds when i realized oh crap..she can't breath..i spent the next 4 minutes in a panic trying to free her head. She never lost conciousness, but if i had been even 5 more minutes getting home she would have been dead. I was never so careless again. There was nothing in the thermos, it hadn't been used in over a year, there was a full water bowl of fresh water in the kitchen, the thermos was way on the back porch. You don't know what they will get into..please learn from my example, it scared me to death. The inside of the thermos was full of sweaty drool and fear.

 

[bubbatd]

The only crates I've ever used was to put a couple of pups at a time them to get them used to being crated in case their new owners chose to go that route. Oh, I did in the station wagon too when transporting pups to the vet.

 

[Dakotah_2009]

Ok I'll try to not make the mistake you did, cause just reading it scared me to death. My name is spelt Dakotah, its ok everyone spells it differently.

 

[Dakotah_2009]

I think I would only put a puppy/ dog in a crate if I was transporting it, to someone else. But other than that no way!!

 

[smkie]

sorry dakotah, i am terrible about that, i have made nedim nemin amongst about a zillion other typos..i write fast and dont proof cause i am trying to scan everything inbetween chores, you'll just have to forgive me please.....words are not my art like Renee, Saje and some others i can mention..wish they were!

 

[Gustav]

I think you're words are just fine Smkie!!

 

[Dakotah_2009]

sorry dakotah, i am terrible about that, i have made nedim nemin amongst about a zillion other typos..i write fast and dont proof cause i am trying to scan everything inbetween chores, you'll just have to forgive me please.....words are not my art like Renee, Saje and some others i can mention..wish they were!

I forgive you and its ok.

 

[Manchesters]

Old Advice, rofl

Right, 40 years ago dog food was made differently, it is just recently that it has made such a dive in the wrong direction, now that's it been bought by human food conglomerants. As for soy the food I feed contains no soy, corn, or wheat, just more useless fillers. Also a degree in canine nutrition from 40 years ago doesn't really hold much clout with me, our understanding of canine nutritional needs has indeed gotten much better in the past few years.

Now it is not unusul for Manchesters to live to a ripe old age, some reaching their 20's so it is not that great of a feat for your food to have "sustained" them to that age.

I began researching dog food as a recent endevor, before this I fed Purina, Iams, and all that other crap as well. Then I decided to take charge and learn about what I was putting into my dogs and how it could affect them later in life. I think it is FANTASTIC that you have bred and raised numerous healthy dogs, with plenty of winners to boot but you could do better by them if you just opened your eyes and took the time to research it yourself rather than relying on the information someone else gave you ages ago.

I did post a link that shows that Jaima is still breeding and showing. Can't swear to what she is feeding now. I guess I could contact the girl who has the web site and get Jaima's e-mail address.

If your research into food is as thorough as your research on the Manchester breed, that might explain a couple of things. Cancer is rampant among the various lines now. If a Manchester makes it to 14 it is doing very well. The Whippets are actually a bit longer lived than the Manchesters. And of course nowadays Manchesters are beset by von Willebrand's disease. And heart problems. My dogs do have cancer in their line. And it is eating its way through my dogs.

Ya know, I have a friend who fed Pedigree to her Chows. Just straight Pedigree. They had the most beautiful lush coats, healthy litters of pups, etc. In fact there are pictures of her dogs in the Anna K. Nichols book, as well as Joan Brearly's book. Guess we were just lucky, rofl. Along with the thousands of others who feed Pedigree to their dogs, and those dogs thrive!

And what must also be kept in mind is that the opinions and practices of a multi dog owner are going to be extremely different than the single dog pet owner. I have more than 20 dogs. Things have to be done differently!!!

HOW do you insert a picture into a post?????? Do you have to have a URL for the picture?

 

[yuckaduck]

I have to agree with Manchester again on the use of crates. I love my crate even if Yukon doesn't. It is my saving grace and if it were legal I think I would lock the kids up too. lol