iBoz

It's not nice to hear of your dogs struggling in the pool but gee, it gives me the warm fuzzies to imagine your older dog coming and pulling you outside to help

HAHAHA! That is soooo adorable! No step needed there, you may however, need a pulley system in place in case he gets stuck in there ;)

That's probably roughly the same depth as our pool (or probably deeper), so that's good to know. Imagine the amount of fish heart attacks that have been caused when he jumps in though! *edited because I'm rubbish with measuring cms!

Sir WJ – How scary! I can’t believe that actually happened. I'm so sorry for your friends. These are the stories that make me a nut job about safety… I actually did think of that though and so have insisted that we get rope to tie the cover (which is actually a tarp) down tightly with. Incidentally, we only got the rope from a friends late last night which led to us trying to put the cover on at like, 10pm (doh!). Of course, we were unsuccessful due to the dark which is why my mind can’t help but drift to that uncovered pool whilst stuck at work today… hehe. Actually, during the middle-of-the-night-pool-cover-rope-tie fiasco last night, the dog actually did jump in the pool! I think because the tarp was on it, he didn’t realise that the tarp would obviously collapse… So yeah I can see how that would make them get stuck. Lucky for us, he was actually pretty calm as he swiftly jumped out (and spent the next half hour licking himself dry (how dare he be wet… haha ). So I think I will just have to relax with the pool covering at all times rule and when the pool is covered, it will be tied down like fort knox. Donatella – if that’s your little doggy in your pic there, then I’d worry about a big pool too. Great idea to teach them the exits though! Would definitely help eliminate the freaking out, you would think. Ahhh, it’s a scary world for our precious pooches out there!

Hey! With the warmer weather now upon us (yay!), what are everyone's thoughts about dogs and pools? We just bought a little pool for the backyard and everyone seems to think I'm nuts to insist that the pool is covered when the dog is alone outside. Admittedly, the pool isn't deep (the dog's head would be just above water if he was standing) but I see it kinda like having a 3 year old around a paddle pool. Slim chance anything bad would happen, but you never know, you might just be that .001% that's unlucky! FYI, our dog isn't a big fan of water so everyone else says he won't get in it anyway but I counter that with, if he does get curious and jump in, he might freak out and then you know, break a leg or something, therefore not being able to get out anymore! So, are you cautious (like me ) or are you pretty confident that nothing bad will happen? p.s. 37 degrees today and can't wait to get in that pool tonight!

Shampooch

Hi! Yeah, we went and our dog loved it and has high hopes to speed up to beat Sammy next time (fat chance) haha! Would live to see pics when the cord decides to reveal itself Jacqui :-) Dory, the track is out at VIrginia... The address is somewhere in the thread here but I can post good directions when I'm not on my phone because we got massively lost before finding it on Sunday! We're terribly at directions though so could just be us!

This might be of no use if you don't want to put anything on the actual frame but anyway, when we planted new little trees in our backyard and our dog was chewing the wood, we made a paste by mixing cayenne pepper with water and just pasted it onto the tree. Once he knew it was on there, he didn't even try anymore and we've never had a problem with him going back to have a munch again. Our dog isn't a huge chewer in general though so I imagine you might have to be careful that your dog didn't actually eat too much of the cayenne pepper because it's pretty hot so could make them sick! The bonus is that it's cheap and the pepper isn't that noticeable in the first place but then just washes off anyway....

+1 +2! I think that's a fantastic name idea!

hahaha.. Doof = street smart. Kodiak = book smart.

Ok - this is definetly an overshare BUT... I'll share anyway ;) If we go into the toilet, or even if you leave the toilet door open a little bit, our dog will come to the door and peek his head around the door but NEVER comes in. I said this to Mr iBoz one day, and he said that once when Boston was little, Mr iBoz was home alone so went to the toilet and left the door open... Boston came in for a peek and put his head through Mr iBoz's legs and got a little spray on the head! EWW! And since that day, has never come into the toilet... Now that I know, I always think he looks slightly concerned whenever I go in 'that' room. hahah. So, there you go, a potential cure for the toilet-accompanying dog. Not something I think you would do deliberately though...

Me too. Dog version sounds even better though. Ohhh.. I use MooGoo shampoo for myself and have always wondered about using it on my dog... his skin is a bit prone to flakiness lately so have to start washing him more.. maybe doggy MooGoo is the way to go!

Thanks so much for your responses! It's a bit of a shock when your normally friendly little dog turns into a snarling beast for a moment but I'm glad that this is not uncommon when their favourite treat is around :-) ...And that it doesn't mean that he's going to turn into a big bully now... Because he's totally fine with humans being around his food, I'm going to take all your advice and just remove the bones from the situation when other dogs are around! As a side note, it turns out that he immediately hid one of the bones last night after the kerfuffle and (he is a VERY sneaky thief) we couldn't find it anywhere last night or this morning! So we've had to separate the two dogs all day today (one inside, one outside) and looks like we'll be having a fun night hunting down the rogue bone....! *sigh*

Hi, Just seeking some advice.... We have a whippet (Boston) who is almost one year old and he's just started showing a bit of possessiveness towards other dogs when it comes to his bones. We've only just noticed it because we are looking after another dog (Lucy who is a mini poodle x golden retreiver) and I don't think we've had him around another dog for a while when a raw meaty bone has been around (he was around other dogs with raw meaty bones when he was younger with no problems though). Anyway, we noticed there was a bit of tension the other night when a bone was around so we've haven't been giving them bones but tonight we though, well, if you don't give him a chance then he's not going to get used to it..... So we gave them a meaty bone each and were supervising it. We gave Lucy her bone first and then gave Boston his. Boston took his bone and ran off and put it in a corner of the lawn and then ran back to take the other bone off Lucy who had just left it sitting there so he could take it. For a while all was okay and Boston was chewing his bone and Lucy would walk over and stand about half a metre away and watch him eat his bone but they both seemed calm. Then she left and went to the bone on the lawn and start chewing that one. Boston picked up his bone and walked over to about a metre and a half away and stopped to watch Lucy eat hers. Then he dropped his bone and barked at her. We told him off and told him to eat his own bone. But then Boston lunged for Lucy and was pinning her down on the ground and growling and biting her neck! We pulled him off and growled at him and Lucy didn't seem hurt but it was still very scary! How do I help him be okay with other dogs having bones? In case it helps, he is okay with any other food and toys. Lucy and Boston play tug of war together (I think he usually wins but the growling seems like play growling) and he is fine with his food bowl, will even let other dogs eat out of the same bowl as him. We worry that he plays a little rough with other dogs sometimes. He is a fairly outgoing dog and likes to play but sometimes I think it's a bit one-sided. E.g he likes to play by chasing and grabbing other dogs by the neck, then letting go and darting away. Repeat. Chase. Repeat. He will let other dogs chase him (in fact likes it) but he seems to be the one holding them down more than they are on top of him. Usually the other dogs keep chasing him when he runs away though. We are working on calling him to have 'play breaks' when it looks too much though because sometimes he doesn't seem to back off when the other dogs are looking a little overwhelmed. He does seem to get overexcited and chooses to play with younger puppies and/or dogs smaller than himself though. He's almost never submissive, in that he doesn't roll over on his back when he's playing with other dogs. Please help! I want a nicely behaved dog that doesn't bully other dogs!