Jerry Howe,

Can you give me some advice on how to handle this situation? Here's the
story.

I rescued Bear, a 15 year (estimated) old mixed breed, spayed female. She
weighed about 50 pounds in July. Now she weighs almost 60.

My husband's niece had abandoned her in Augusta County Virginia when she
moved. There's a special place in hell for her but let's not get into that
now.

Bear had survived in a wooded area outdoors through winter and summer for at
least 18 months. She often had no food.

In July I caught her, put a collar on her, gave her a bath and took her
home. We have six cats and one other dog. They all seemed to accept her
and she accepted them.

The trouble started during that first week. She stopped eating and drinking
and could hardly stand up. I took her to the emergency veterinary service
and they found a large, reddish tumor under her tongue. They gave her some
medicine and sent her home. She was eating and drinking again the next
morning. The tumor seemed to have disappeared.

The next week she went to our regular vet. He decided to operate on her to
remove a tumor near her dew claw and several on her leg and underarm. She
came through the surgery well and she is now fully healed.

After a while we discovered that she is incontinent. It's not a major
problem.

She has arthritis too and she has some medicine for that.

Bear seems happy. She has a ravenous appetite and she runs around the back
yard with Jake, our other mutt, like a 3 year old.

Last week she killed a possum. I removed it. Last night she killed another
possum and she was eating it when I let her outside this morning. I tried
to take it away and she growled and ran away with it. I ran after her and
grabbed it. It broke in half and she ran away with the head part. I
persisted until I got it away from her. I didn't yell at her, I just said
no, Bear.

I realize that she was practicing a skill that enabled her to survive in the
country. When I saw her eating the possum, she was very painstakingly
nibbling on her favorite parts, while avoiding other parts of the dead
critter. I only hope that it didn't suffer too much.

I admire her will to survive, but I wish that she would now stick to dog
food.

To continue my story, that night I brought her indoors to sleep on our
enclosed porch.

In the morning I found that she had urinated and defecated all over the
porch. She wasn't sick. She was perky and happy. I figure that she was
sending me a message - "don't touch my possums".

Should I let Bear live outside except in the coldest, wettest weather? How
can we meet her needs and ours too? Any ideas? What about the poor
possums? Any insight of yours would be welcome. Whatever happens, Bear is
here to stay.

Thank you.

Florence

"Florence S. Buchholz" wrote in message
...
Jerry Howe,

Can you give me some advice on how to handle this situation? Here's the
story.

I rescued Bear, a 15 year (estimated) old mixed breed, spayed female. She
weighed about 50 pounds in July. Now she weighs almost 60.

My husband's niece had abandoned her in Augusta County Virginia when she
moved. There's a special place in hell for her but let's not get into
that now.

Bear had survived in a wooded area outdoors through winter and summer for
at least 18 months. She often had no food.

In July I caught her, put a collar on her, gave her a bath and took her
home. We have six cats and one other dog. They all seemed to accept her
and she accepted them.

The trouble started during that first week. She stopped eating and
drinking and could hardly stand up. I took her to the emergency
veterinary service and they found a large, reddish tumor under her tongue.
They gave her some medicine and sent her home. She was eating and
drinking again the next morning. The tumor seemed to have disappeared.

The next week she went to our regular vet. He decided to operate on her
to remove a tumor near her dew claw and several on her leg and underarm.
She came through the surgery well and she is now fully healed.

After a while we discovered that she is incontinent. It's not a major
problem.

She has arthritis too and she has some medicine for that.

Bear seems happy. She has a ravenous appetite and she runs around the
back yard with Jake, our other mutt, like a 3 year old.

Last week she killed a possum. I removed it. Last night she killed
another possum and she was eating it when I let her outside this morning.
I tried to take it away and she growled and ran away with it. I ran after
her and grabbed it. It broke in half and she ran away with the head part.
I persisted until I got it away from her. I didn't yell at her, I just
said no, Bear.

I realize that she was practicing a skill that enabled her to survive in
the country. When I saw her eating the possum, she was very painstakingly
nibbling on her favorite parts, while avoiding other parts of the dead
critter. I only hope that it didn't suffer too much.

I admire her will to survive, but I wish that she would now stick to dog
food.

To continue my story, that night I brought her indoors to sleep on our
enclosed porch.

In the morning I found that she had urinated and defecated all over the
porch. She wasn't sick. She was perky and happy. I figure that she was
sending me a message - "don't touch my possums".

Should I let Bear live outside except in the coldest, wettest weather?
How can we meet her needs and ours too? Any ideas? What about the poor
possums? Any insight of yours would be welcome. Whatever happens, Bear
is here to stay.

You've address your question to Jerry, but oh well.

Interesting story.

She wasn't sending any message about the possums, she just had to go out and
couldn't get there in time, or isn't housebroken.

How about a fence, so she can run around safely and not catch possums?

flick 100785

Flick,

She was in a fenced yard when she killed the possums.

Also, she is housebroken. Usually we only find a small wet spot by her bed.
This is involuntary. She's slightly incontinent.

Florence
"flick" wrote in message
...
"Florence S. Buchholz" wrote in message
...
Jerry Howe,

Can you give me some advice on how to handle this situation? Here's the
story.

I rescued Bear, a 15 year (estimated) old mixed breed, spayed female.
She weighed about 50 pounds in July. Now she weighs almost 60.

My husband's niece had abandoned her in Augusta County Virginia when she
moved. There's a special place in hell for her but let's not get into
that now.

Bear had survived in a wooded area outdoors through winter and summer for
at least 18 months. She often had no food.

In July I caught her, put a collar on her, gave her a bath and took her
home. We have six cats and one other dog. They all seemed to accept her
and she accepted them.

The trouble started during that first week. She stopped eating and
drinking and could hardly stand up. I took her to the emergency
veterinary service and they found a large, reddish tumor under her
tongue. They gave her some medicine and sent her home. She was eating
and drinking again the next morning. The tumor seemed to have
disappeared.

The next week she went to our regular vet. He decided to operate on her
to remove a tumor near her dew claw and several on her leg and underarm.
She came through the surgery well and she is now fully healed.

After a while we discovered that she is incontinent. It's not a major
problem.

She has arthritis too and she has some medicine for that.

Bear seems happy. She has a ravenous appetite and she runs around the
back yard with Jake, our other mutt, like a 3 year old.

Last week she killed a possum. I removed it. Last night she killed
another possum and she was eating it when I let her outside this morning.
I tried to take it away and she growled and ran away with it. I ran
after her and grabbed it. It broke in half and she ran away with the
head part. I persisted until I got it away from her. I didn't yell at
her, I just said no, Bear.

I realize that she was practicing a skill that enabled her to survive in
the country. When I saw her eating the possum, she was very
painstakingly nibbling on her favorite parts, while avoiding other parts
of the dead critter. I only hope that it didn't suffer too much.

I admire her will to survive, but I wish that she would now stick to dog
food.

To continue my story, that night I brought her indoors to sleep on our
enclosed porch.

In the morning I found that she had urinated and defecated all over the
porch. She wasn't sick. She was perky and happy. I figure that she was
sending me a message - "don't touch my possums".

Should I let Bear live outside except in the coldest, wettest weather?
How can we meet her needs and ours too? Any ideas? What about the poor
possums? Any insight of yours would be welcome. Whatever happens, Bear
is here to stay.

You've address your question to Jerry, but oh well.

Interesting story.

She wasn't sending any message about the possums, she just had to go out
and couldn't get there in time, or isn't housebroken.

How about a fence, so she can run around safely and not catch possums?

flick 100785

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:42:58 -0400, "Florence S. Buchholz"
, clicked their heels and said:


She was in a fenced yard when she killed the possums.

I had a dog who did that too, Brought in one half dead. We didn;t
discover it for a bit - ick. Drop or give are very good commands.

Also, she is housebroken. Usually we only find a small wet spot by her bed.
This is involuntary. She's slightly incontinent.

talk to your vet about medication.
--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

Yes, she's got the medication already. And I do think the incontinence is
due to a botched spay operation in her youth.
Flo
"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:42:58 -0400, "Florence S. Buchholz"
, clicked their heels and said:


She was in a fenced yard when she killed the possums.

I had a dog who did that too, Brought in one half dead. We didn;t
discover it for a bit - ick. Drop or give are very good commands.

Also, she is housebroken. Usually we only find a small wet spot by her
bed.
This is involuntary. She's slightly incontinent.

talk to your vet about medication.
--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:21:35 -0400, "Florence S. Buchholz"
, clicked their heels and said:

Yes, she's got the medication already. And I do think the incontinence is
due to a botched spay operation in her youth.
Flo

doesn't need to be botched at all. What medication and if it isn't
working, have you talked to the vet?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Florence S. Buchholz" wrote in message
...
Flick,

She was in a fenced yard when she killed the possums.

Wow. Our possums must be more nervous than yours, we've never had one come
through the fence.

flick 100785


Also, she is housebroken. Usually we only find a small wet spot by her
bed. This is involuntary. She's slightly incontinent.

"Florence S. Buchholz" said in
rec.pets.dogs.health:

When
he barks at the window I say, good boy, then I go over to
see what he is barking at. Then I say, Good boy, it's
just a kitty, etc, and he seems to calm down right away.

Works great, doesn't it? Such advice is probably the most
common I see here.

It doesn't work so good when he sees the mailman, so I let
him bark for a little while, then I say "enough." I
usually don't have to get the can.

Lose the aversive can - if he could, your dog would thank you.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

They are coming through our yard to get to the cat food that we leave beside
our back door. Hunger is a powerful motivator.
Flo
"flick" wrote in message
...
"Florence S. Buchholz" wrote in message
...
Flick,

She was in a fenced yard when she killed the possums.

Wow. Our possums must be more nervous than yours, we've never had one
come through the fence.

flick 100785


Also, she is housebroken. Usually we only find a small wet spot by her
bed. This is involuntary. She's slightly incontinent.

On Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:05:34 -0400, "Florence S. Buchholz"
, clicked their heels and said:

They are coming through our yard to get to the cat food that we leave beside
our back door. Hunger is a powerful motivator.

Stop doing that. Feed cats on a schedule or indoors. You may attract
raccoons, which can be rabid, and then Bear and you would have many
more problems.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com