Yep, pee is a great fert...but not neat. Diluted by at least 10:1 it is a sovereign plant food...and I do clamber on top of the compost hill for a pee when no-one is around. Truthfully, I find the hidden cat presents far, far worse than any doggie droppings...nothing much wrecks your day as much as plunging your ungloved hands into the soil only to sniff (and feel) that unmistakeable odour of felis domesticus...and if dogs were allowed as much free reign as cats, not to mention the slaughter, they would be caged and muzzled. Always a bit problematic since here in the UK, cats tend not to be house cats as they often are in the US (and not something I could personally condone anyway) and since one's own cats rarely use their own abode as a toilet, it is always a cause of neighbourly wrath in my part of the world when catching that huge red tom from down the road, squatting in my troughs again.

Labmomma- Did I say anything about court? :-) Let me tell you the nutshell version of a story of how the dog whisper helped probably save our furry little behinds. I told this story on another forum and all the cesar-haters came out and told me how stupid i was so you're getting the short version. After watching the show, I decided I would make more of an effort to keep the dogs to my side instead of in front of me while on walks. I wouldn't say they had a pulling problem but the one would pee on everything in sight and the pup was starting to learn how that looked like fun so I felt like it was time to see if I can walk the dogs how cesar does on tv. And no I didn't contact a professional before using the technique like it says in the disclaimer! I thought I'd take a chance. Well after some time walks became a lot more enjoyable and didn't need someone to reinsert my arm into it's socket if a squirrel ran by and there's no more pee-mail. So there's something to be said for more structured walks and not letting the dogs go first. That's only half of it. Ok so we're on a sidewalk where some rednecks keep their pitbull looking dogs out in their yard and never walk them or probably do anything remotely responsible so the dogs had tunnneled under the fence. I didn't know this until a mean looking growling and barking dog ambushes us. My first instinct: soil trousers. My second instinct: must get out of here.* â note there is a "*" Normally these dogs of mine are very friendly, they think every person and dog is their friend and wants to give them cookies. They are personalities that people would kill for in a dog. The mean dog is circling us and I was trying to act like i didn't notice and wanted the boys to play along like we were all wearing iron clad armour. They stayed with the program, focusing on me and where we were going, not jerking me away to go mess with the mean dog. We managed to evade persuit, not getting bitten. I credit the dog whisper show for making me aware that perfecting the walk was possible and it paid off big. Now for that * I was talking about. On a recent episode Cesar talked about what do do in a situation where if you are face to face with a mad dog, you don't turn around and run away. He didn't give instructions on what to do, it was the post office seminar episode, but whatever we're still alive and the dogs did not engage thank god. He also says to be calm and assertive and not show fear. I would be very surprsied if I was not showing or smelling like fear but I'm sure I probably was pretty calm and assertive.

People are stupid. Hah! How's that for a nutshell response? Dogs bite and scuffle with other dogs and people all the time - every day. ALL dogs can bite and will probably bite another dog or a person in its lifetime. What part of this do people not understand? Yes, you have a nice dog - we all have nice dogs. No, your dog has never bitten anyone or another dog - YET. Please get a clue. If you are in any area where there are other dogs - whether its in your front yard or a public trail - keep your dogs under your control at all times. I've seen bites, scuffles and I've been at the vet when dogs came in bitten. And I've been at the "human" emergency room and seen a child come in screaming with dog bites. It happens every day and it's not just pit bulls and yadda-yadda. It's Fluffy and Rex down the street who felt threatened and bit. I have a tiny dachshund. He's very mellow and submissive. But if your bigger dog runs up to us off-leash and starts to sniff my tiny dog - he will bare his teeth and snap the air. "Keep away from me and my mom" is what he's saying. I've gotten control of those situations up to now. And the bigger dog owners always come up and say "oh, he won't bite." Lady, I'm worried about my little dog biting your dog as much as your dog biting mine. Don't you get it? Being a big dog doesn't prevent him from being bit by a smaller dog. DUH. I've had occasion on local trails where my husband had to hold a strange dog by the leash away from our dog, until the clueless owners came. "Oh, he's harmless." No, lady. Dogs are not harmless. They can and do harm - each other and people as well. It's the circumstance that may not have happened yet. But letting your dog run loose - you are asking for that circumstance to happen.

I am so sorry to hear about Gracie. Sue, my rottie (also named Grace) had an adrenal tumor but it presented as cushings-- it am sure you have read about it but cushings causes a crazy food drive which combined with the anxiety can make for aggression. Luckily my rottie never had aggression-- at 115lb, if she was aggressive, I would have had to stop all treatment. Her food drive was something else though. I remember one day my father brought me a frozen container of homemade vegetable soup. I set it on the counter and walked outside with him as he left. In the short amount of time to walk him to his car-- maybe 10 min MAX? Grace had gotten the frozen quart container off the counter, broke through the plastic and ate all the *frozen* soup! Another time, I walked into the kitchen to find her on her hind two legs with her snout in a pot of simmering roasted veggie and lentil soup-- hot! This girl loved soup! LOL Because the tumor (like cushings) was producing large amounts of corticosteroids-- the hormone responsible for the fight or flight reaction. Like I said, Grace wasn't aggressive but she had a high level of anxiety. She couldn't just relax. She paced constantly.. and when she could relax enough to lay down, any sound had her back up. She wasn't sleeping. I wasn't sleeping. It was exhausting for her.. and for all of us. Because surgery wasn't an option for the second tumor, we put her on an anti-anxiety pill. It was a huge help and might be something to discuss with your vet. Grace actually lived MUCH longer than the vets expected and I believe the anti anxiety pill made that possible. It did nothing to cure the tumor-- but it helped keep the symptoms under control.