Birthday Mugshot

[bnnrcn]

Very strange and bad story indeed and I can imagine how you felt while all things were happening.I'm glad that everything is back to normal now

[flashback]

Steve,
Glad to hear she's better. Mine lost 6lbs over that week but she's put it back on and then some, just about 70lbs now.
We had 5 very worried vets because none of them could figure out what was wrong. Whatever the initial assault on her was, it appeared to be rectified by the exploratory surgery (which I was told beforehand can actually help). It appeared similar to what other dogs had gotten from eating duck jerky from China, but in any case we're very cautious what she eats. Not to make any broad and sweeping condemnations but she only eats products made in the U.S. now.

[rpcrowe]

If I had known about doodles when I was in my 20's, I would have had a doodle as my constant companion. Holly is absolutely a "chick magnet" attracting females of all ages. I have never been with a dog (and I have had numerous dogs over my long life) that attracted as much attention as my doodle. I never take her anywhere without engaging in conversation with numerous passers-by. Although, Holly is certainly now a foo-foo type of dog, she will draw females from all over to touch her and talk about her...

Before I had Holly, my previous big dog, Sara, was an 85-pound (about 38.5 kilos) German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Wolf who was a totally gentle dog.

Sara:



Holly:



However there is night and day difference in the dynamics of the way people interfaced with Sara and how they interface with Holly. As I walked down the street with Sara, people would get out of our way to give us room to pass. As I walk down the street with Holly, people converge on us smiling and wanting to touch her!

Holly has a sensitive stomach and does best on a salmon and sweet potato kibble (we buy from a local vendor - Kahoots which uses all U.S. ingredients) with some chicken as a topping. I get the chicken breasts, frozen, at Costco, cook them in a microwave and shred them in a Ninja Processor. Holly also does well with Natures Variety Raw Beef Patties. We save these for treat days or if her tummy is upset.

BTW: Petco has been selling a Chicken Jerky treat from China which has caused kidney failure in several local dogs. I am extremely careful and will never feed our dogs anything that is produced outside the USA,. Although European foods should be O.K., there is a glitch in the European Union marketing law that states if the food is processed in the E.U. it can be branded as being produced in the E.U., even if the ingredients have originated in China..

Canadian foods are O.K.. However there is one very expensive brand of kibble made in Canada that sometimes has problems. The food is so expensive that it doesn't sell well and is often left on the vendor's shelves for long periods. Occasionally fungus will form inside the bags...

[flashback]

Richard, I have the exact same experience with my doodle. It's not just dog owners that stop, I get stopped by people that want to pet her, find out what kind of dog she is and, on more than one occasion, they want to take a picture of her. And it's not just women, I've had some of the surliest looking men break out into a grin when they look at her and as they pass by they make comments like, cute dog, what a beauty, nice dog, man. Kids are fascinated by her cartoonish looks, elderly are immediately drawn to her. So my goal is, once she has learned to 'come on command' better, I hope to use her as a therapy dog. I'm pretty much convinced that that's the reason I have her.

[IzzieK]

Richard -- I give my boy Tucker some yogurt I he has stomach upset and some rice I include in her dinner too. It helps him a lot. Jasmine rice is good. Greek yogurt Vidalla is the brand that I use.

If I had known about doodles when I was in my 20's, I would have had a doodle as my constant companion. Holly is absolutely a "chick magnet" attracting females of all ages. I have never been with a dog (and I have had numerous dogs over my long life) that attracted as much attention as my doodle. I never take her anywhere without engaging in conversation with numerous passers-by. Although, Holly is certainly now a foo-foo type of dog, she will draw females from all over to touch her and talk about her...

Before I had Holly, my previous big dog, Sara, was an 85-pound (about 38.5 kilos) German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Wolf who was a totally gentle dog.

Sara:



Holly:



However there is night and day difference in the dynamics of the way people interfaced with Sara and how they interface with Holly. As I walked down the street with Sara, people would get out of our way to give us room to pass. As I walk down the street with Holly, people converge on us smiling and wanting to touch her!

Holly has a sensitive stomach and does best on a salmon and sweet potato kibble (we buy from a local vendor - Kahoots which uses all U.S. ingredients) with some chicken as a topping. I get the chicken breasts, frozen, at Costco, cook them in a microwave and shred them in a Ninja Processor. Holly also does well with Natures Variety Raw Beef Patties. We save these for treat days or if her tummy is upset.

BTW: Petco has been selling a Chicken Jerky treat from China which has caused kidney failure in several local dogs. I am extremely careful and will never feed our dogs anything that is produced outside the USA,. Although European foods should be O.K., there is a glitch in the European Union marketing law that states if the food is processed in the E.U. it can be branded as being produced in the E.U., even if the ingredients have originated in China..

Canadian foods are O.K.. However there is one very expensive brand of kibble made in Canada that sometimes has problems. The food is so expensive that it doesn't sell well and is often left on the vendor's shelves for long periods. Occasionally fungus will form inside the bags...

[mrsmasch]

I love the detail of her facial hair. She is beautiful!

[flashback]

Thank you mrsmasch (is that mr. smasch or mrs. masch?)

[rpcrowe]

I brought Holly to therapy dog boot camp but, started it too early. She was the minimum age - just over six months old. It was obvious that she didn't enjoy it so I didn't press it. She did learn a lot of important commands, such as "Drop It!"

However, she loves the attention when I am walking her but, strangely, doesn't react as friendly when my wife is walking her. It's not that she is unfriendly, just a bit aloof. I think that she believes her duty is to protect my wife and doesn't want to be distracted.

We were on a trip to visit my wife's family in Texas and had stopped with our motor home in a truck stop to get gas. I was walking two of my Maltese to go potty when a couple of low life characters came up and were pestering me to buy a stereo system they had in their van (and which was probably stolen). Anyway, I was having trouble getting rid of them when my wife walked up with Holly.

One of the low life characters said, "That's a big dog, what kind is it?" My wife wisely lied and said, "I don't know what breed she is but be careful, she's pretty vicious" The guy looked at her and Holly and said, "Well, have a good day Maam!" and they drove off. I was happy, that Holly reacts differently with my wife. Holly would have been apt to lick them to death if she had been with me!