Today is a big day for Sierra. Her first vet visit. I'm sure it will
be an adventure traveling with her without my husband to assist. Her
crate is too big for my car so we're improvising.

In preparation I took them out front on leashes to poop so I could
collect the sample. She is now fairly predictable in her poop times,
which is twice a day, morning and evening.

We were in the space between our house and the neighbors driveway. As
Sierra was looking for a spot to do her business the neighbors came out
and got in their car.

Dakota went on the alert and let out a single "oof". Unsual for her
actually. Except for a couple of circumstances she does not bark,
including at the neighbors. I wondered if there was any possibility she
was being protective of our newbie.

So Dakota lets out a single "oof" and Sierra, our little monkey-do,
immediately follows suit with a single "oof". Now this is an illegal
"oof". We don't bark at neighbors going about their business or people
walking up and down the street.

So mama sends the negatory signals that she is not pleased and for the
all quiet, along with the "not our business" signals to get on with what
we were doing because that over there doesn't concern us.

Sierra takes the cue and goes back to her search for just the right
spot, squats and produces the perfect specimen for the vet.

--
Bad Dog Books
http://books.gityasome.com
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Sierra earned a big gold star! She was fairly calm all the way to the
vet, no barking, no whining.

She was TOTALLY calm while at the vet. No barking, whining, jumping
around, she just trotted along with me like at home. The vet gave her a
shot, stuck something up her rear, poked in her ears, checked her
teeth/mouth, and even clipped her toenails and she was pretty calm for
the whole thing. Not a peep out of her either. Very good natured,
easygoing, even tempered. Nice!

Curled up and snoozed on the way home. The only trouble I had which was
expected was getting her into the car. She didn't wanna go in. Jumped
right out as soon as she got the go ahead.

We've got her spay appointment set up. That's hard! Knowing they're
going to cut into her and all. We ran into a lady client of the vet who
recognized her from the Pet Adoption Day. That lady had adopted a dog
that day, too, and was there for her dog's mandatory vet visit.
(Requirement of Animal Control when you adopt, not that you wouldn't
anyway.)

Dakota did not see me take Sierra out to the car (thankfully! Would
have upset her to miss out on a car ride and see someone else get to
go.) She saw me pull up, and get out of the car without Sierra. She
didn't see me take Sierra out the other side.

Dakota actually seemed happy to see us both. Sierra sure was happy to
see Dakota! She immediately jumped up and licked her in the face then
we all went outside. (Adopted the habit with Dakota that any time we
come back from anywhere, no matter how brief the trip, we immediately
let her out to pee. A leftover habit from her excitement pee days that
we've simply continued as it doesn't hurt anything and she has been
conditioned to expect it.)

Sierra's poop has morphed into a healthy normal. It was kind of
yellowish and custard-like when we adopted her. She immediately went on
Science Diet like Dakota and now her poop is well formed turds, brown on
the outside and lighter on the inside. Big fan of Science Diet.

Gypsy Rose came to me with a diarrhea problem. The vet found no medical
reason and said she had a food issue. He put her on some sort of vet
prescription food which fixed it. I later switched her to Science Diet
and the problem never returned. She was also pooping out huge
quantities several times a day before the food switch, and went down to
a normal twice a day in her younger years and then once a day when she
got a bit older. (Don't recall the age she went from two to one.)

I know the dog food debate spans all sorts of brands and even raw diets.
I don't believe there's a right/wrong answer except if the dog seems to
be healthy and pooping well you're doing good. Gypsy Rose lived to 15
without too many health issues except in her last couple years. She was
believed to be a shepherd mixed with some long haired thing, possibly
Keeshund.

--
Bad Dog Books
http://books.gityasome.com
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This is a photo of what I believe Sierra will grow up to look like, a
Catahoula Leopard Dog from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ca..._Hound_Dog.jpg

Here are two photos of Sierra:

http://books.gityasome.com/images/Sierra1-600x450.jpg
http://books.gityasome.com/images/Sierra2-600x496.jpg

The photo in the crate was immediately after we adopted her. We put
her straight into the crate so that she and Dakota could "meet" each
other safely.

The photo in the kitchen was the only one I've been able to get that
showed some of her white chest and where she would look straight at the
camera. She doesn't have quite as much as the Catahoula on Wikipedia
but she does have some.

Her collar turned out to be a bit too big and we didn't like the smaller
version so we kept the big one and improvised, knowing that she'll
quickly fill into it. We've got a different set up for walking so the
size isn't an issue.

--
Bad Dog Books
http://books.gityasome.com
Gityasome Tshirts
http://www.gityasome.com

Here are two photos of Sierra:

http://books.gityasome.com/images/Sierra1-600x450.jpg
http://books.gityasome.com/images/Sierra2-600x496.jpg

Wow, she is an absolute beauty! How lucky are you!? She actually does look
like a purebred Catahoula to me.

As for Science Diet, you might want to do a little research. It *was* a
really good dog food up until a few years ago, when they were bought by
either Purina or Procter and Gamble, I can't remember which. (One company
bought Science Diet and the other bought IAMS, and they both became inferior
products.) One place to start might be dogfoodanalysis.com, which explains
why *they* don't like it. Just a heads up!

Sharon Delarose said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

The only trouble I had which was
expected was getting her into the car. She didn't wanna go
in.

That's really easy to fix, Sharon, as I expect you know. Take
her in your car to only good spots, even if it's only a drive
around the block to your home.

--
--Matt.

In article ,
"Wingnut" wrote:

Wow, she is an absolute beauty! How lucky are you!? She actually does look
like a purebred Catahoula to me.

After today at the vet I am feeling absolutely lucky. Her temperament
is incredible. The fact that she trotted right along undistracted thru
the vet's office is amazing. We even encountered another dog as we were
checking out and she didn't go crazy, not a peep, not a lunge toward,
not a sudden dancing around, nothing. She stayed right next to me as if
no big deal. I don't know if it's because of the follow-around training
she's getting or whether she's just that calm regardless. All I know is
that I'm loving it!

The vet agreed with my theory that she wasn't actually "feral" as they
had told me. They said they had to "catch" her and her littermates. My
guess is that they got dumped off as soon as they were old enough to
leave the mum. Whether mum got dumped with them, I have no idea. She's
not rail thin as you'd expect a feral to be nor is she as skittish as
you'd expect.

She did have hookworms, no big surprise there. I've yet to adopt in my
entire adult life and come away totally clean from the get-go. They
always start out with something.

What saddens me is her littermates. Now that I've read quite a bit on
Catahoulas, they are definitely not a breed for the average dog owner.
I'm betting that her littermates went to homes that probably won't end
up keeping them.

--
Bad Dog Books
http://books.gityasome.com
Gityasome Tshirts
http://www.gityasome.com

Sharon Delarose said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

I know the dog food debate spans all sorts of brands and
even raw diets. I don't believe there's a right/wrong
answer except if the dog seems to be healthy and pooping
well you're doing good.

Yes, but It's easy to mistake short term benefits for a cure.

--
--Matt.

On 7 Oct 2010 18:05:19 GMT, Matt wrote:

I just read this, Matt, and thought of you.

"With global cooling underway, and while waiting around for solar
maximum, my own research interest has moved on to understanding the
transition to cooling. A recent report on the Canadian wheat crop has
it down 20% this year due to a cold and wet start to the growing
season. This is consistent with my view that, by the end of the
decade, Canadian agriculture will be reduced to trapping beavers, as
it was in the 17th century."

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/10/0...24-prediction/

Brrrr.

In article ,
Matt wrote:

That's really easy to fix, Sharon, as I expect you know. Take
her in your car to only good spots, even if it's only a drive
around the block to your home.

--
--Matt.

Kind of a funny story about that. Dakota's book ends with a chapter
about her first road trip. Dakota came to us as a two-time shelter dog
who'd been thru five different "homes" in 7 months including the times
at the shelter, so she was deathly afraid to go in the truck for the
road trip. For her it had always meant abandonment. Owners took her in
the vehicle, left her somewhere and never came back.

We had taken her one time to be boarded (we normally don't do that but
at that time she was so bad we didn't know what else to do and we were
going on vacation -- we knew her behavior was beyond what our normal
dogsitter could handle) and it totally traumatized her. We'd taken her
on two short fun drives. And then it was time for the road trip.

She fought us. She did NOT want to go in the truck even after the two
short rides. She was in full panic. Bear had to wrestle her into the
truck and she really fought him on it. The road trip was a 14 hour
drive to the beach and for the full 14 hours she stood up, panting hard,
with a very stressed, worried expression. There wasn't much we could do
for her except to keep driving.

Every pee stop we had to wrestle her back in. Of course once we got
there she had a blast and from then everafter, she eagerly jumps up into
the truck. It feels so good to have done that for her, to have removed
the fear that haunted her after her rocky start in the world.

--
Bad Dog Books
http://books.gityasome.com
Gityasome Tshirts
http://www.gityasome.com

Dogman said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Brrrr.

Heh. Weather has changed over decades and centuries, even pre-
large industry. I was listening to a report today that broke
down the benefit/loss to Canada if the average temperature rose
1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 degC. While the prairies may have some
issues, Canada as a whole would benefit until the 4 degree mark.
Apparently, benefiting from climate change is called "climate
prosperity".
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/10...hange-is-this-
what-the-future-will-look-like/

--
--Matt.