Recent content by rhinecat

Petsmart trainers vary from awful to excellent. My store had an excellent trainer with 30+ years of experience, but on the whole, the job doesn't pay enough to retain someone who's good at their job. Not that beginners can't do well, but when you're paying for it, you tend to want the best, you...

The one in the icon is EV. She's a sable longhaired chihuahua with a white chest and face blaze. I also have Adam, who is also a longhaired chi. They're both rescue dogs and I am really proud of them. :)

Ginobli, I think you might enjoy reading a book called "The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson. I think it's about $12-$15 at most bookstores, and it's really helpful in understanding dog behavior and learning how to communicate effectively with your dog. Usually, dogs will behave well if you can...

You might contact the animal shelters, animal control, rescues, etc. in your area, as I know some groups routinely spay animals that come into their care while pregnant. They might be able to recommend a vet to you.

You can arrange transports to get a shelter or rescue dog to you! :) So I would definitely check Petfinder for your shaggy dog and then see what can be arranged (meet halfway, get rescue people together to drive in a "train" to your area) if s/he isn't in your immediate area. Though, if...

*eyeroll* This is the kind of nonsense that makes people think of my beloved breed as being sickly and ugly!

I definitely would encourage you to look into showing and other aspects of responsible breeding. Maybe you can find a good, experienced pug (or even another breed) breeder in your area who will be your mentor, and you could see what it would be like to breed dogs. If you contact your area's...

They're probably a pet store. I don't have Japanese language support, so I can't see it, but that would be my guess. There isn't a lot of real estate space in many Japanese cities, so puppy sales in the big cities are almost all from pet stores. And yes, backyard breeding is prevalent there...

There are no sanctioned shows, trials, etc. for the ACA, as it exists primarily for health tracking--however, I would dispute even that, since ACA puppies are available through pet stores, which are not in the business of selling healthy dogs. Twelve weeks, or anything under two years...

You're welcome. If you'd like to discuss it any further for any reason, you can reach me at [email protected]. I am also going to ask my friend who shows and has bred her chihuahuas for her input (without sharing your screenname or anything, of course), in case you're curious what someone...

From what I understand, feeding a low-protein diet is not beneficial for older dogs, although they may need to eat much less food, overall, as they start slowing down. My senior dog eats an all-life-stages premade raw food and does very, very well on it.

Adding broth, canned food, or water to dry food, then warming it in the microwave a bit can make it much more appealing. Wysong makes a canned product called "100% Chicken" that I have never seen a dog turn down--even a very picky, ill dog I fostered would eat food mixed with it. It can be...

Hip dysplasia can be particularly devastating for small dogs, as they do more jumping from heights than large dogs do, and often end up overweight, both of which exacerbate the pain of dysplastic hips. Your dog may need surgery in the future. All of the puppies will be at risk of having hip...

Your vet may not be comfortable doing so, or she may have been referring to a specific type of anesthetic. My kitties were spayed at 10 weeks and ~20 weeks, and the lone boy neutered at about 6 weeks, so it's definitely possible. :)

All surgery is done under general anesthesia, which I think is what you mean by "put under" (correct me if I'm wrong.) Spaying and neutering can be done safely extremely early for cats and dogs, or at adulthood for rodents & other small animals (though ferrets are routinely neutered at six weeks...