ASKBLACKJACKMy Mom and I have been answering lots of qwestions for people of late, so we thought Hello...I am Chewy..a year and a half old chocolate lab. I am very playful. My folks put me in a kennel during the day since I chewed up their vinyl siding on the
house. I really just wanted to go inside. I love staying indoors...but when they leave they throw me outside! Hi Chewy! Sounds like you and your mom have a bit of a problem, eh? Well, first, I have to say, that kennels inside the house are a great thing! I luv mine! I got neutered recently, and when I feel tired and not so good, I go to my kennel all by myself. It's good for teaching things like patience and stuff. If Mom is going to work, I just go get in my kennel, and wait for her to come home. I feel safe and comfortable. I think it's a little safer than outside, but not too much so. I guess being outside is good too. :) As for the plants and stuff, first, tell mom that some plants are actually POISONOUS! It's hard to keep us puppies out of plants, cause they taste good. The best thing to do is to get down at doggie level, and have mom look to see what you can reach, and remove anything that could be dangerous, like plants, cleaners, and stuff like that, just like she would with a kid. With mom down there, she can see all the stuff we think is kewl, but can make us sick, or make mom mad if we chew on it. Chewing is how we puppies explore the world. We don't have hands to feel, so we use our teeth and tongue to see how it tastes and feel. Not much can be done about that, except to be constantly watched by mom. When I have something I'm not 'sposed to, Mom always says "What do you have? Show Mommie", and I bring it to her. Then she says "Nope, this is Mommies... You can have this", and she gives me a toy instead. This way I feel kind of good that I gave Mom something she wanted, and I get rewarded by getting a toy! Then I lay down and play with my toy lots. Mom then tells me how good I am for playing with my toy! Sometimes I try to hide what I've got, cause I don't want Mom to take it, and Mom has to come to me and open my mouth and take it out. But even then she doesn't get mad. She just says "No, that's Mommies. You can't keep it", and she takes it out. Now, about the kittie box for your other brother. Us Labbies and Chihuahuas are definitely different. I think it would be rather confusing to have a place where one doggie can go, and another can't. We boy dogs like to leave our "MARK" on things. Especially if another doggie already went there. It's doggie nature, and not much you can do about it. Tell mommie that it may be time to try to take the chihuahua outside when he goes potty. Another possibility is to maybe get a lid like you can for regular kitty boxes, that you can't get into. Maybe then you will decide it's not worth trying to cover it with your scent. If not, then she is going to have to find another way. I'll keep tring to research this, and see if we can come up with another way. ~ Blackjack
My 8 month black lab sheds so much that it's like a paintbrush factory has exploded. Help my other dog was a shitzu-poodle. No hair anywhere. Aos Hi AOS. Yeah, we labby's shed lots and lots. I haven't started being too bad yet, but my big sister is "blowing coat". First thing is to bwush you lots. I like to be bwushed, so this is kewl. Momma says it's not fair though, cause I like my tummy bwushed more than the west, and she says there's not enough hair on my tummy to worry about. But anyway, back to bwushing. Use a wegular bwush, or a cuwwy (curry) bwush, or a wire bwush. You can also use a Shed Blade, available at Walmart. Some of us labby's really like that, and some don't. Momma hasn't used it on me yet, but I think I'm gonna like it, cause I like my butt scratched lots. Next you have to get a good vaccum cleaner, like a Filter Queen, A Kirby, or a Wainbow (Rainbow). or one of the other good vaccum cleaners. Here is a Vaccum Outlet site, that has a little on them (couldn't find a Kirby or Rainbow site). Also, ensure you are feeding a good quality food. This will minimize the amount of shedding. Foods with good Omega Oils usually does the twick! A good pwoduct is called Nupro and another is named Lipiderm. These supplements promote hair growth. ~ Blackjack. Dear Blackjack: Hi! Well, first I have to tell you that getting angry doesn't help anything. We doggies don't understand anger at all. It makes us MORE stwessed, which makes for MORE potty accidents. Now, for the pwoblem, basements feel just like sidewalks in most cases, so chances are Calvin thinks it's ok to potty here. One way to fix the pwoblem is to put a child gate up, and block him fwom the basement without supervision. Then, if you catch him in the act, it's just like with a puppy, you wun outside and say "NO! Go potty outside! Huwwy!", and do it that way. Use positive weinforcement, and when you find him go fwom the basement to outside to go potty, pwaise him big time! Good Luck to both of you! ~ Blackjack Hi Blackjack, we have a question concerning our 14 month old Lab mix Anna. She has an odor problem and we can't seem to find the answer to fix it. You can
bathe Anna, let her stay inside to dry well and she's fine but as soon as you let her go outside, there's the odor again. We've asked the Vet if it was possibly her glands but he said they were fine. After contacting one of the groomers in our area,
we tried sprinkling garlic powder per their suggestion. No go, just gave her interesting breath. If I had to describe it in words, it would be something like a wet dog with a bad case of B.O. Anna is an inside dog, only going out for the bathroom and maybe a few minutes to run around the yard afterwards. During our weekend trips away, someone comes over to take care of the animals (3 cats as well) and because the house is mostly closed up, it reeks of "that" scent when we come in. It also rubs off wherever she lays. She sleeps on the foot of my daughters bed and you can smell her where she lays. ~ Lori Lori, Well, this one is kind of tough. What you could be smelling is a strong version of typical Labrador "BO" a you described it. We Labby's have an extra oily coat to pwotect us fwom the
elements when we go swimming. It keeps the icy waters from getting to our skin. If this is what you are smelling, and it's STRONGER than most Labby's, then you may wish to go to a food that has LESS oils in it, rather than more. You
may want to ask your vet if the odor seem stwonger than most labs. It may be that you just aren't used to "labby fwagwance". Only other thing I could suggest is playing with different brands of food. Also, a second opinion
from another vet to see if it's extra strong, or different than most of us Labby's. Hi Blackjack! Hey Guys! Yeah, I LUV Best In Show Food! When the guy in the funny van (UPS) delivered it, it was wrapped in pretty clear plastic around the pretty silver bags. All sealed up. But it didn't matter, we KNEW it was the GOOD STUFF! We (Lisa and I) gave mommy sucha hard time, she finally gave us some bites. Ohhh, it was SOOO Good! And it makes my coat all nice and shiny! Seems to be doing gweat!!!! ~ Blackjack Dear Blackjack~ Heelin' Mama, Heeling is a tough thing, when you wanna check out the gwound the whole time! There are lots of things that can help out. First thing is the collar should NEVER choke the doggie. Mama says that if your doggie is choking, something is wrong, either you aren't giving proper corrections, or the collar is too small (pwobably the first one there). BUT there are some things that can help. First, pwactice in the house. Put Mr. B on the collar/leash in the house. The Pwong collar is probably SAFER since you are having pwoblems, but not necessawily. In the house teach "Heel" position, which is beside your left leg. Use Tweats and lots of pwaise to do it. In the house, if he starts to pull, just change which diwection you are walking in. Do it suddenly, then laugh when he gets "caught" going the wrong diwection. Pwaise BIG Time when he huwwies to catch up. After he learns what heel position IS, then you can start moving out. Go to a place where there are not many distwactions, but is outside. This lets him learn slowly that he has to pay attention outside too. Use the same techniques you did in the house. Gwadually, as he begins to understand that you are important, he will start to pay attention. Eventually you can move on to more challenging situations. Fiwst, check out how to teach "Watch Me", that will help. Then read Mommie's 10 Steps to Heeling. It's pretty kewl too. Also, obedience classes help lots. I'm in one now, and my heeling has gotten LOTS better in just 4 weeks. When I wealize I'm the only doggie going spastic, it's easier to settle down. Evewybody in class says I' getting MUCH better, and even twy to pet me now. They didn't used to cause I was so spastic. LOL. One lady even said yesterday how I smile with my WHOLE BODY. :) I liked to hear that!! ~Blackjack
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