james-in-lapine froze again chattered HappyDay, your 'What would Jesus do?' was off topic and is just fanning the flames. I know, cos every mention of Jesus incites unforgiving rage. It's the reason for His ministry and what He died for. Seriously, looks like my lil joke zoomed overhead. I'll explain. For some time I have wondered at the unbelievable cowardice of the librul haters. Aren't libruls historically the weak men already? Libruls are the lily livered, civil rights and free love if not feminist advocating, pot smoking back to the landers and conscientious objectors. They are the meek and mild bleeding hearts, like Jesus. You know, the intellectual and emotional conscience of society. So why are these gorilla headed neocons namecalling them? It's like a drunken wifebeater yelling "Tha b*tch got between me and my kids!" Talk about blaming the victim. Libruls are no threat to the rich, strong, and powerful who own everything and control the government and the military. Oh wait, they are. Love-ins stopped the Vietnam war. In a time of rampant overpopulation, lives were saved and military contractors lost money. Unforgivable. Today, the voice of the victim is the only voice that has any moral clout in American society. There is only one way for those in power to reclaim control over the hearts and minds of the populace. To silence the voice of the victim, they have to pretend to be even more pitiful victims themselves. This reminds me of the oil and land rich Muslim world resenting even the tiny corner lot that the Jews finally got back after a decade of suffering. Regarding Jesus, it's ironic, isn't it, that Hitler used Christian rhetoric to turn brainwashed Germans against Jews when Jesus Himself was a Jew? He was killed for being King of the Jews. In fact, Hitler was probably the illegitimate grandson of a wealthy Jew who may have molested Hitlers mother when she was a servant in their home. Isn't it also ironic that most neocons hate their fellow American libruls even more than Bin Laden? Divide and conquer. Don't think about it, just shut up and do as you're told. Well, to be fair, the terrorists are only shooting at the soldiers. A man can respect and even admire another warrior. But the Libruls might be saying bad things about the soldiers, and that is unforgivable. What bad things are they saying? Oh, bad things like stop the war, save tax dollars, bring our sons home. Horrible things like that. Unforgivable.

Oh you poor darling! How do you control yourself? I would be a screaming banshee if i had done all that work to have it all dragged out to cook in the yard. You must be a saint or something! LOL :-)---Im glad you like the sock idea. I have two dogs and both get the sock method. My oldest is a three year old Shepard mix we adopted from a shelter, her name is Mary. She will practically bring the sock to me and she always wants to go first because they get many many goodies afterward. Bribes always work :-)----Then Tigger is our little black and white boy mini schnauzer and he used to eat us up when we first got him. He just turned one in may. He did not trust us at first and if we touched him or tried to hold him he would bite us! Thank God thats over with and he is our little Velcro dogie now. Always hanging on somebody wanting to be petted. He still gets upset about getting his nails clipped but he wants the treats soooooo bad, so he is much nicer and no biting anymore just growling but thank goodness for the sock. I use an old stretched out one that the elastic is soft so as not to hurt our babies just paralyze them. HaHa Then with Mary i drape a small blankie or towel over her legs so as not to kick my eyes out because i trim them on their backs. It takes about five minutes per dog and then we have a big treat party about three treats per dog and everybody gets a new rawhide chewy afterward to go take their anxiety out on. And i keep my skin and eyes intact :) The only problem i have with Tigger now is when we go out for a potty break he tries to catch baby birds and he bite a baby robin this year and killed it. I cried. I had no idea the little bird was even in there but he knew right away and just grabbed it and shook it. It was over in an instant. I put a muzzle on him now when we go out because i dont want that to happen again. Glad Daisy doesn't hurt them thats really good just gives them a slobber bath :-) Sorry i talked your head off, I better go---------bonnie

Hi, I don't have any great, authoratative advice... so take what I say with a grain of salt. However, I did have leather sofas for several years and had three dogs jumping on them all day long. They were white leather, too. I didn't like the sofas (they were my now-husband's)so I didn't freak out about any damage. But really there wasn't much at all! Absolutley no rips, just some light scratches. And we were awful about keeping our dogs nails clipped. Also, I just overheard someone say that she clips her cat's nails when the cat is half asleep and hasn't had the need to declaw. I am in the process of purchasing a new sofa and recliner and the sofa will be in a very nice fabric and the recliner in leather! AND I have a 3 year old and a dog! Am I nuts? Probably. I am much more worried about the dog on the fabric than anything else. I think leather is very forgiving in general, although I am sure the quality is a big factor. If I were you I would go for it, after checking out the quality of the leather.

"I also once had a keeshound, so cute, but I made the mistake of not knowing the breed before buying and they need yards and room to run." I don't know who told you that about Keeshonden but that's not particularly accurate as a definitive statement. I've been a Keesmom for 7+ years now and volunteered with Kees rescue for a time (left due to philosophical differences); it took us a year of research to choose a breed. (Mutts are fantastic dogs if you're more flexible than we are about size, temperament, and such, but we needed the relative predictability.) Like any dog, they do need exercise to stay healthy but ordinary walks can be plenty sufficient, which is one of the many reasons why we chose the breed. I taught him to go round on a lunge line like a horse for those days when I was too unwell and DH too busy to give him a proper walk, since he was never interested in things like chasing a ball or Frisbee. This is the first house we've had with a properly fenced yard as opposed to a trolley or a small fenced run primarily for toileting, and it's not even very large. Our handyman is Dutch (and he was very surprised to see a Keesie here!) and says they are as common "back home" as a Lab is here, even in dense urban areas. Of course, if you want to get into agility, flyball, or other doggy athletics, the average Kees is more than happy to oblige and bust his furry little behind to make his people proud of him. Keesies are usually far more intellectually energetic than physically energetic; they are often too smart and creative for their own good, and if they get bored they can get extremely inventive looking for something to do, which many people interpret as the dog needing to be exhausted with a great deal of vigorous exercise instead of mentally stimulated. That goes double if they're lonely, with many Kees preferring the company of humans to that of other dogs - they CAN be very intellectually and emotionally demanding dogs. sovra, your friends will be best off contacting a Dalmatian-specific rescue. They can start by Googling "dalmatian rescue" and working from there. A Dal with a history of aggression toward smaller animals (probably a high prey drive combined with lack of training/redirection) needs some serious rehab work with an experienced fosterer before s/he is ready for home placement.