Posted: July 1, 2009 | Author: lhasalhady | Filed under: Apso Aficionados |
With our current discussions this past week, this might put things in context…
Life really boils down to 2 questions…
Should I get a dog….?
OR…
Should I have children?
Posted: June 29, 2009 | Author: lhasalhady | Filed under: FFT Lhasa Apsos, Lotsa Lhasa Info |
Following in sync with our current Good Dog, Bad Dog discussion, last week I received a Good Stella Dog note.
Followed a week later with this:
Hi, Debby – I need some advice from you. Our lovely little dog has developed a nasty habit and I cannot figure out why, nor can I figure out what to do about it! She is eating her own poop as fast as it leaves her little body! Have you ever encountered this, and if so, do you have any suggestions as to what to do about it?
My response: Well, that is a perplexing problem! I see this behavior now and again with mother dogs, which is surely related to the ‘keep the den clean’ instinct. Wonder if she’s going through some hormonal change…. ??? I’m going to post this on the blog, along with the update you sent last week. There’s a fount of knowledge among the people. There’s a fount of knowledge and experience. Maybe we’ll all learn something, especially a solution to this unpleasant habit!
Okay, Apso Bloggers! Any ideas? Personal experiences? Solutions?
Posted: June 27, 2009 | Author: lhasalhady | Filed under: Gompa Lhasa Apsos |
Today Raji and Irdhi – Didi – are 15 years old. Susan says Raji shows no signs of being any more than a puppy. Her littersister Irdhi is alive and well. According to my records there were two other full siblings, but I don’t know if they were littermates. Dharmapala Namgay and Dharmapala Tchang. Tchang was the sire of my Drepung, Nyalu and Panchen.
Here’s Raji…
And Irdhi…
Well, this was a scheduled blog entry. Unfortunately the following was yesterday:
The vet thinks Raji is having a cervical disk issue.
She is doing blood work and taking some cervical X-rays.
I will pick her up tonight, and unless the X-ray shows something else
(tumor??), we will put her on heavy pain meds and strict confinement for
a week or so to see if we can get her better.
A A R G H…..What a way to spend your 15th birthday….
Susan
Posted: June 26, 2009 | Author: lhasalhady | Filed under: Apso Aficionados |
With Katy’s permission, I open this topic for discussion. It’s an important, practical topic and I wanted it available for future reference. Ah! One of the many things I love about blog technology! The search bar! I’ll follow up, in the comment section, with my response and her return response. Both Katy and I welcome your input. Please share your own experiences!
Hi Debby,
I’m having difficulty with my male dogs. Since we talked to Linda Thomas, Sadie has not once picked on Zeke again, and that is a relief. But Zeke and Wyatt are at it, now. Zeke just seems to start a nasty fight with Wyatt for no apparent reason, at least none we can see. Wyatt will be minding his own business and Zeke will start growling and jump him. If we try to intervene, we risk getting bit, but still, we try and break them up. Zeke has a nasty scab on his head from their last fight.
And, now, both boys are “marking” on the corners of the bed. I’ve washed the bedspread twice this week!
And we had to just take up the oriental rug (my beautiful green one) because Sadie has peed on it so many times. We have used a gallon of that enzymatic cleaner on it, and I called around to find out how much to have it professionally cleaned ($125-300), so we’ll probably just have to rent a machine and do it ourselves. She also peed all over the guest room rug, which I could and did wash. And Wyatt had marked on the corner of the guest room bedspread, which can’t be washed, but I “enzymed” it. So, they are banned from the guest room. I’m just not sure what to do with these guys! I had worked so hard to house train them, and thought we had it done. Sadie has not, to my knowledge, at least, peed in the house again. I’m not sure what started this last episode with her, because she was doing so well. And they have a dog door available to them all the time, so that’s not an excuse.
But there is a dominance thing going on between Wyatt and Zeke, and I wish they would get it worked out. I gave both a stern talking to, for what that’s worth, reminding them that they must always “squirt and pee outside”. As far as I know, this is the first time Zeke has marked in the house since he was very young. (I check for wet penises to determine who the guilty party is, as soon as I discover it and I look often, now. I have not witnessed any of these marking events, and I’m not always sure who “done it”.) I do know that Wyatt covers Sadie’s urine with his own, and I did catch Wyatt in the act once, last year. I thought Zeke and I had an understanding, as he had been so very good for so long. He’s been pretty much 100% since he was about 9 months old, until now.
Any help or advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
—
Katy
Posted: June 25, 2009 | Author: lhasalhady | Filed under: Apso Aficionados |
With the intention of getting feedback from you guys, with permission I share the following exchange from the apsobreeders list. Dr. Cathy Marley’s response to Vickie’s original post is followed by more from Vickie:
In discussing the status of the Skye Terrier — which is classified as a rare and vulnerable breed in its native land (only 37 or so were registered in 2007 in the UK), the following comment was made …
It’s always sad to see a breed nearing extinction. But as much as some show breeders would hate to accept it, without having strong popularity as a pet most breeds would follow a similar route to oblivion. Once a breed gets restricted into a ’show only’ dog, their years are numbered. Keeping a breed in the public eye and in pet-family homes is important.
With the slow decline in the show fancy as a whole, there just isn’t enough new blood (human-wise) coming in to support a lot of breeds kept purely for the show fancy.
This is why our club has to get off it’s traditional duff and think about something other than our specialties and show records and start encouraging pet people to become involved with the breed. I think the lists have done some of this – we do have some pet owners who have become quite active in promoting the breed, but the club has to do more. Our website needs to offer more articles and activities of interest to pet apso owners, and our national and regional specialty shows need to offer activities for pet owners and their dogs.
I completely agree, Cathy … and I would like to point out that everyone who is a member is a part of the National Club. I keep hearing, “National needs to do something.” Well, guess what folks, if you’re a member, you’re part of “National.” The time has come that every breeder, owner, fancier needs to step up to the plate and become involved if the breed is to thrive from this point forward.
Pet owners … please get involved with your local clubs. We can always use people to help put on pet
expos and pet fairs. One doesn’t have to show or produce puppies to be involved with the breed!
If one is a “breeder” by any definition of the term, they owe it to the breed and to the puppies’ future owners to have done their research and fully acquainted themselves with the standard and health issues *before* breeding (including the basics of whelping and having an experienced mentor available). I participated in a poll on a rather large list asking what dogs they would like to own in the future. When queried as to why the Apso wasn’t on their lists, the majority responded it was because of their past experience with nasty, ill-tempered Apsos from the 70s and 80s and the coat care issues. These types of dogs are still being produced to the breed’s detriment.
The feasibility of importing/registering dogs from Tibet/Bhutan/Nepal is being explored for genetic diversity. Exactly who is going to be left to continue this work in 20 years given the average age of the fancy and the lack of new owners/exhibitors/fanciers??
Will the sturdy little mountain dog we hold so dear fade into antiquity … found only as a photo in some historical tome?
Vickie, et al
Kunza at FleetFire Timbers 