I have a story, but it isn't funny. We have a little yorkie-poo. She was less than a year old when she got sick. She had a few stomach issues and they did a poop culture (sorry!), and found some type bacteria. Treated that but within a couple of weeks, she started vomiting one evening. She had never done this and after a couple of times I called our vet. Because of her small size (she's only 9 lbs. now fully grown) they had us bring her in so she wouldn't get dehydrated. They examined her, pumped her full of fluids and suggested we watch her closely overnight. The fluids and some meds helped with the vomiting but by early morning she was vomiting again. We got up, dressed and ready to get her to the vet their opening time. They did an x-ray and showed us that something was showing in her digestive track. Something she had ingested. I remembered that she had torn one of her little toys and although I never saw any stuffing out of the toy, I knew there was stuffing and we just assumed she had eaten that. They had to do emergency exploratory surgery. I bawled my eyes out. The next day when we were allowed to *visit*, the vet showed me the PLASTIC MEAT WRAPPER that she had eaten. It was to a pretty critical point, it had started through her intestines. The vet was wonderful, even took our little baby home with her overnight to keep a close eye on her and the pup came through the surgery with flying colors. And a nice little *zipper* down her belly. Hubby and I both felt awful. We didn't know she had gotten the wrapper. We figured that she had quickly grabbed it out of the garbage (which was behind a closed door, but if she saw us put something in there she'd jump up to investigate) and gotten away with it without us seeing. The stick on label on the plastic wrapping was what we were seeing on the x-ray. Alot of tears and $$$ over a meat wrapper! She's not interested in the garbage anymore (she was just a puppy then) thankfully, but we are even more cautious when throwing something away! I never throw away a meat wrapper now without putting it in another bag and tying it up first. Our pup too watches tv. It's hilarious. There was an M&M commercial that she didn't like. Now she doesn't like the Weight Watchers commercial where they have the little orange monster (hungry). She knows by the very first sound of that commercial that it's THE ONE and immediately starts barking. She barks at most dogs she sees on tv, other than cesear. Maybe because he's little like her. tina

This pattern was very successful for using up small balls of various colors to make a striped dog coat. This one fits a Boston Terrier with a 15 inch neck and 22 inch chest. Make 16 inch chain. St st in 1st ch to form ring. Sc around 4 times. No need to join at ends of rounds. At row 5, (sc in sc, 2 sc in nx sc) around for one row of increases. Change colors at any time. SC arnd until 4 inches long. Lay work flat. Mark both outer corners. Sc acr, turn at mark, ch1, sc. Rep until 16" long or as long as you need it to cover the dog's back. Add a row of contrast trim if you want to, by making 2 sc in rear corner, sc arnd edges of coat, 2 sc in 2nd rearcorner. Also neck can be edged in contrast yarn. Make a seperate belly band 3" x 7". Attach 2" from neck using sewing thread and needle. Any q's, I'd be happy to hear from you. Email me to see photo.

I found this thread by accident and am very happy that I'm not the only person in the world who doesn't like dog - or any droppings for that matter - in my yard. We live on a corner and it amazes me how people will allow their dogs to run 20 feet up into my yard on one of those 'wonderful' retractable leashes. To me that's trespassing, plain and simple. On more than one occasion I have flung open a window and shouted quite loudly 'CAN YOU KEEP YOUR DOG OFF MY GRASS PLEASE', and then slammed the window shut so they got the hint that not only didn't I appreciate it but let them know they could be seen. I mean, what is it about windows, they think you can't see out?? And I don't care if they pick it up, it's STILL there. If you doubt me, go step on the grass where someone has just 'picked it up' and then sniff your shoes. Nice, eh? It's still on the top of the grass and you're gonna track the smell everywhere you walk. My favorite is what happened recently - I walk a treadmill in the evenings after dinner when many people walk their dogs, and I can see out two windows, one on the side of the house and one in the front. One evening I see a couple come walking two big dogs, a couple I've seen before, not every day but off and on. Never really paid much attention to them, I just see them through the window when they go by. On this particular night I'm walking, and I see them coming back from the end of the street, and I saw a bag in her left hand and thought, Oh, well that's good, at least they're one of those walkers who picks up. And as I'm looking at them - and this all happened in a matter of seconds - she suddnely turns towards her husband (which meant she was turned away from my house so I'm just seeing her back), she kind of leans in towards her husband, like she's saying something to him, then straightens back up and continues walking. As they continued walking, I notice a bag at the edge of the neighbors grass across the street and immediately looked at her hand. No bag. So here you have someone who probably picks it up but then will simply drop the bag somewhere so they don't have to take it home. As hubby said, not only is that a really low thing to do, it's littering. So I got in my car and followed them to see where they lived - which was in a completely different neighborhood than ours so obviosuly they come to OURS to do this - and then after dark I retrieved the bag and 'returned' it to them by tossing it up onto their driveway. I was really hoping it would still be dark when they left for work in the morning and they would drive right through it. At any rate, no one has seen them since, which I would hope is because they're too embarrassed to be seen on our street knowing they were caught doing something so unkind, and also because they now know WE know where they live. And like my husband says, we're pretty sure this probably isn't the first time they've done this, they just never got caught before.

Most dogs which mark, have not been leash walked daily, housebroken or properly socialized early in life, so these are very important to make certain they happen promptly and properly. A dog who marks, can be trained to not mark. Please, please, please researchc the breeder you choose very carefully, especially with regard to the golden. They are highly overbread (unfortunately getting as stupid as the Irish setter was due to overbreeding and being highly susceptable to cancer. A goldador (lab and golden mix might be a better choice to get better gene pools, the Guide dogs for the blind is now actively breeding them due to the inherent issues with goldens. King Cavs are less likely to have such issues, but again please be careful with the breeder you choose. Make certain you are invited to see the property where the parents were bred and where the pups were born. Ask to meet the parents of the puppies and please please get some referrals (previous puppy purchasers) to contact. NEVER agree to pick up your animal off site (like a fast food restaurant) this means the breeder does not want you to see the filth the pup was living in. Contact the BBB and the local humane society in the county where the breeder is and ask about violations or complaints. Read up on Kings, they can be aloof. Owners can also inadvertently cause problems socially because of the tendency to pick up a smaller dog to "protect it" from other dogs - this is a mistake and can cause the dog to become aggressive. The best thing you can do is to find some King owners and some Golden owners and go spend some time with their dogs. This is where asking the breeder if you can contact previous purchasers comes into play. You might also ask about fostering a dog for a short period of time. Good luck on whatever you get. PS - If you can, please consider getting a rescue. There are so many out there who really need help and a new home and they may take a bit more time in the beginning, but I rarely meet anyone who gives a pup back.