I had to make a difficult decision. With his marking as bad as it is, and being told even if we neutered him, it might not stop, I have decided to return Dawson back to his breeder. She had said she would neuter him before I got him but she did not. Even after neutering it takes 30 to 90 days for the hormones to level off. I dont have 90 days of scrubbing and mopping in me. So, he is going back.

The Old Man Max is doing wonderful. He is chipper today, bouncing around when I came downstairs to get him this morning. He is completely housebroken much to my suprise. He is a different dog than the one I picked up from the pound yesterday...

and Old Story, my 14 year old newfie girl is doing great. I have made sure she is getting all the attention she needs from me...

softness, I confess that when I read last night about the marking my heart just quailed inside my chest... I could never deal with that!! The second day we were babysitting Deagan, Trooper marked the bag of dogfood and I about came unglued! Thanks be the dogfood bag is plasticized because I couldn't have afforded to replace it that week if the urine had soaked through.

Anyhow, I'm sorry you couldn't keep Dawson.

How cool that your Old Man Max has settled in so quickly! There goes your house, working its magic on him. Yaaay! :cheesy:

Max, my min poodle has traveled by plane several times, however it was all pre-911. At that time, I had to purchase a ticket for him, just like I would if he were a human being. He had to remain in his carrier, which was placed under the seat in front of me, during the flight. In order to board the plane, a certificate of health was required—the vet basically gave him a check-up and certified that he was free of disease or pests. Your airline's web site should have all of the specific requirements about traveling with a pet. Best of luck to both of you!

Jen-ny is home and I must admit that its been a trying couple of days. She is SO very timid and afraid. I know that part of it is just adjustment and that I can't humanize her and project that "oh poor pitiful you baby" energy on her. I have never had a dog, even with all ours being rescues, that just shut down and I am trying to not let my frustration/ignorance of dealing with this type of behavior get the best of me.

Caesar and his books and shows have been very helpful and I know that I need to be reconditioned as much as she.

She is showing great improvement and I am trying to be everso patient. That is so hard for me - I have the patience of a gnat!

Jess just loves her and she is becoming more comfortable with our boys. We are quickly becoming the schnauzer walking parade in our lil town - most folks here have never seen Giants and are always stopping us with the "Whut kinda dog is THAT?" LOL

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend with their babies!

A public service announcement:

Please spay or neuter your pets, no matter their age. There is no reason for not doing this.......none.

"Because my dog would make such cute puppies" <----hate that one!

How did he handle the flight?

And I've been to the airline's site but they do not mention what TSA does. Maybe their site will have something.

Max handled it quite well, no "accidents," in the kennel; he would have preferred to be seated on my lap, but he survived.

This link might help you, apparently Bob has been moonlighting as a model!

http://www.bringfido.com/travel/us_regulations/

Even though it says Fido, it is about pets....

http://www.catchannel.com/care/travel/article_5364.aspx

I made that mistake with Trooper and my friend made that mistake with Deagan. BELIEVE me, they both took full advantage of us too! I caught on pretty quick with Troop because he got cocky, obnoxious, and willful, but it was a lot harder to figure it out with Deagan because he milked that "poor pitiful frightened abused baby" thing for all he was worth.

His soulful puppy eyes are killer, just killer; it's very nearly impossible to avoid giving him whatever he's angling for when he pulls them on you... and of course what he wants is to be the adored center of attention. He may not be left out of ANYTHING... which really limited her on things like going to the grocery store. :blink: I think she got it dealt with, but it would have been better if she could have avoided spoiling him to begin with.

Which is the very long way round to saying, stay strong and don't give in! You're doing the right thing.

Thanks, Bit, for the encouragement. I *know* that I am doing the right thing even though it really breaks my heart every time I have to drag her part way through the house to go potty.

It has gotten better each time - first time, I literally had to drag her all the way to the door, out it and part way into the yard. Last night, the drag was only a couple of feet.

The funniest thing is watching Max, the old lil guy, think that she is Samson. He and Samson had some dominance issues, even though they know who is really running the show, that we have had to work through. Max won't even LOOK at Jenny! And even though all the experts seem to say that dogs dont have the feelings and emotions we do, I don't buy it when Max refuses to even look at us when he is mad about another dog in the house. He is so haughty and its quite funny.

I know this isnt funny - but it kinda is!

We had two rescue kitties for almost a year. Eddie was SO helpful in everything we did - laundry? He was in the dryer. Fridge? He was right up in it. Oven? He wanted to peek and wound up with singed whiskers!

Glad you found your baby and she wasn't a kitty-scicle!

May I present .... Maxwell Smartypants
 

Mare brought home little Maxwell Smartypants Friday night, and he adjusted to his new home almost immediately. Since Friday night, he's been working on establishing a relationship with his big brother Ember, who is "trying" to tolerate having a kitten in the house. It's been a bit rocky, but we've seen some improvements.

We're both very pleased with his personality - he's very friendly, social, receptive and extremely laid back and mellow. He likes to be around us. The people at the animal shelter described him as the opposite, but then again, I really don't think they know what they're talking about. (They originally presented us a little black kitten who they claimed was sweet and gentle, but was actually a little meanie monster, lol) He is a little stubborn though, he wants what he wants when he wants it, and well, that's exactly how Mare is, lol. (This is going to be fun.)

We decided to call him Maxwell (Smartypants) since that's the name he seemed to have answered to when we were throwing out a plethora of possible names. It suits him since he's a very smart and clever kitten, but tends to hit his head a lot, lol. (He's still at that baby kitty-clumsy stage - his stealth abilities are flawless, but we're discussing on how to refine his finesse. ;) ) He's been killing us with cuteness since he arrived. He's quite the character.

:) :)

Ember tries to jump in the fridge every time we open it. With the old fridge, you could close the door with him in it, but with this new one, there's no way to accidentally shut him in.

My Shaolyn used to like to climb into open drawers when you weren't looking. One night, she crawled into a large drawer (one of the big ones found under a platform bed) - and her little meows alerted me to her whereabouts, lol. You would think that after being stuck in a drawer for God knows how long would have stopped her - but no. I'd have to do a drawer check before I closed it. She was a slippery little puss.

I take my toy poodle on flights and under the seat. Most small dogs that go with owners all the time are use to being crated or contained. Mine sleeps too.

If I needed to bring my larger dogs I would just drive. I couldnt put them in freight.

I know what you mean about the unknown vetting. Even with Sookie (the re-named Jenny) having been in rescue/foster, she hasn't had nearly all the shots she should have and I know that her first visit with our vet will include bordatella, canine influenza, distemper, parvo, blah blah blah. Because we board our dogs when we travel, our vet requires boosters even on the "puppy" shots. A $120 grooming will be at least $300 by the time she has all the vaccines. :blink::blink:

On the brighter side of things, she is doing SO much better. This morning, there was no drag thru the house to walk and while I was getting ready, she alternated between Jess and I for love - without us proding her! I am so hopeful that she will be the big ole social girl very soon.

I haven't heard her make a noise yet - and schnauzers are famous for their "rooooo-roooooing" - chatty critters that they are. I am sure that it will be like when my son was a baby - couldn't wait for his first words and now I have visions of ball gags and duct tape LOL.