RE: yapping when left alone
Whatever the breed or the reason, no dog should be allowed to disturb a human--ever!
This to me sounds like your solution is pretty drastic. Sorry - the intonation of that post just didn't sit with me very well.
RE: Drat! I've lost another peice of furniture....
Awwww! I once owned a brindle right from the track in Hialeah, Florida. Wonderful dog.
My Sheltie, even if hubby is not happy with it, sleeps on the couch when I'm on it, and comes right up in bed with me, puts his head on my pillow and rolls over to get in the covers with me.
Why not - it's a dog's life, right? :-)
RE: yapping when left alone
My Sheltie barks quite a bit. I tried getting Comfort Zone and leaving a radio on and a light on when I leave my trailer. I also let the air run. But when I come back, I can hear him barking. I know he doesn't do it all the time, but I wonder if others can hear him.
Shelties have issues with barking. I would not use a shock collar on a Sheltie, but I do know others who have had theirs debarked. I have tried to train mine to not bark using commands, and that works when I am there in proximity, but not when he's left alone.
I kennel him during the day at home when we're at work as well, and he barks in there also.
I think that's the "small" herding dog breed trait though.
RE: Jayco makes a "quality trailer"?
I am really surprised to see this. I consider the Jayco we have to be the most quality unit I've bought. I'm even so pleased with the quality that when I go to buy my 5er that I will have difficulty leaving the Jayco line even if they don't have a floorplan that suits me.
I'm not extremely happy with the fit of the tub surround, and we did have a leak in the bedroom window, but other than that, I am amazed at the quality of this trailer.
My hubby is a big guy - 6'1" and 350 lbs. His test on the construction is to jump up and down (among other things) and see the give and sway.
Jayco was the only line he would even consider. We even downsized the amount of trailer to get into our TV because of the nice fit and finish and solidity of the Jayco.
When we had that leak, Jayco sent out another window immediately and we had it exchanged. No Mickey Mousing around trying to recaulk it - just put in the brand new window, seal it up again right, and no leaks since.
I couldn't be happier, really!
RE: What ever happened to the RV cable shows?
If you have DirectTV, you now have to pay for the Outdoor Channel - 1.99/mos. even if you have the all channel package.
RVTV is the only one out there I've been able to come up with in a search.
I have the sports pkg, and HBO/Cinemax. I don't pay extra for Outdoor Channel. :h
Well that's a bummer! I have NO sports or movie channels - just all the other channels. I used to record RVTV on a Season Pass, and then all of a sudden, about two months ago, they were blank. When I called, DTV said that you now have to pay extra for that channel. So I did, and now, my Season Pass works. Previously, it had a message to call Customer Service on that channel.
Maybe they are giving it to customers who subscribe to premium movie channels and packages, like NFL Ticket, etc...
RE: Downsize - Fits family of four
Love it!
Better yet, on my monitor because of the way I have to keep the contrast low, it looks like the lady in the foreground is barefoot all the way up, and there's either a deformed child or a blow-up doll waiting in the car. That's not just an rv - that's performance art!
Yeah - I agree! There is a blow-up doll in the backseat - my thoughts EXACTLY! :-)
RE: Geo Method Hybrid
Also a Geo Method user and I agree. A lot of people seem to want to make it more difficult than it really is. I will admit I am a one of those variations though - but I still keep it simple.
Before leaving on a trip I will fill my tank 1/3 -2/3 full, put in the softener, Tide. Then as we're driving to our campground it agitates and we dump immediately when we get to our campsite. I will then add some water and a natural (non-formaldehyde) toilet chemical I found that I like.
I don't use bleach - really for no other reason than I am horrible with bleach and for some reason can't NOT get it on my clothes or anything else!
I'm with you - I won't get near bleach! Even with it not being used at my house, somehow IT seeks ME out! :-) So what is the tank chemical then you are using that you like - because I try to get non-formaldaheyde as much as I can.
I am concerned that adding chemical with the GEO process just kind of negates the effect. But I need to try this method to clean my tank sensors. And I'm not ready to get out the dreaded bleach just yet.
RE: What ever happened to the RV cable shows?
If you have DirectTV, you now have to pay for the Outdoor Channel - 1.99/mos. even if you have the all channel package.
RVTV is the only one out there I've been able to come up with in a search.
RE: Picked up the new Jayco!
harland98:
I don't know if this is the same issue, but we noticed that our tub surround was less than tight there also. We did note it in our walk through and when we brought it back. We've had no issues, but I do want it on the record should we ever get mold or something back behind there.
RE: Hany electic scooter for a campground
Most State and Federal parks require a device to be street legal before it can be used in their parks.
from a newspaper article, I was under the impression that somebody rented out segways in downtown DC for tourists to use. they certainly would go onto federal property/parks, etc.?
bumpy
During our trip, we saw the Segway tours, and yes, they went right up on the Capitol lawn sidewalks. Can't say I saw them like at the Washington Monument or WWII Monument though - but I did for sure see them go up to where they could on the Capitol sidewalks.
RE: We outgrew our TT
Yeah - in a few years, I'm going to be facing that problem also. Right now, my daughter is 5'7", so she still fits on the bottom double bunk, but I think she might have 1-2 more inches. My middle son fits on the top bunk, but as soon as the DD leaves for college, he'll be able to move into the double bunk and sleep diagonally. My youngest, well, let's just say, he got my tall genes (NOT) and we might never have to worry about him.
When DD leaves for college and middle son gets too big for bunk (somewhere right around the middle of high school, I think, for him - in two-three years), I was going to get a 5er with a hideabed.
If the boys at that age are averse to sleeping together in the hideabed, the smallest one can then make up the dinette.
That was going to be my plan. But I think have two-three-four at the max more years to deal with the bunkhouse issue.
My poor hubby deserves a king bed here shortly, too - he sleeps in the short queen with his feet hanging off.
RE: New cat urination behavior
I'm going to choke up as I tell you this, because I had to put down my 21 year old Russian blue baby, Josie, because of kidney failure, just on Mother's Day.
Josie was the most regal, impeccably groomed cat there was. Through many different pets, babies born, moves, trauma in life, she never soiled outside of her box. She would meow at you if it was unclean, but never, never pee outside.
Three years ago, we took our cross-country trip to Yellowstone. Josie never did travel, so we never took her.
Instead, we let her have the roam of the roost, which we thought she would undoubtedly love. We had neighbors check in on her every day to fill her water and food.
During that trip, my neighbor noticed that the GALLON bowl we had left of water was empty after one-two days. She would fill it back up. She then reported that Josie was peeing outside her box.
I made a vet appt. right away because that was unusual behavior for her. Upon return, I noticed that she really wasn't peeing outside the box, rather she was standing in her box.
I also noticed that she began to meow in the night, and she was obsessed with food and water.
She also left one stool on my pillow, which I attributed to a 17-18 year old cat being upset at my being gone for so long. I vaguely remember pondering her behavior as separation anxiety, but nevertheless keeping the vet appt.
Her BUN was abnormal, but never did the vet tell me she was in kidney failure. She did have a very very very bad bladder infection, and I used a product to help lure her back to her box, which she never really did pee out of.
Instead, I holed her up in the bathroom and watched as she wouldn't sit down to pee. Later, she would hunch up and not sit down.
Trying not to interfere unnaturally, I let her dwindle down to nothing, fearing what I eventually would have to do, put her down.
Shortly after our trip, I noticed she stopped grooming herself by her tail, and eventually, she didn't groom herself at all. She slept all day, often over the heater, and continued the meowing until one week, it stopped.
We didn't see her anywhere. I thought perhaps she peacefully passed away, but instead, she got outside, which she rarely did, and we feared she had slunk away to die.
Our neighbors found her after a day, meowing and cold and disoriented.
When I took her to the vet again three days later, this time seeing my primary vet, she explained that she was in the final stages of renal failure. Her gums were pale white, ulcers lined her mouth, and she was severely dehydrated. When we tried to get her BUN then to gauge how much time, she collapsed, and we made the choice to end her suffering, even though my vet assured me that kidney failure wasn't painful.
Had the first vet explained to me that there were ways we could make her life more palatable before the end stages set in, like subQ fluids, I might have done that for her.
It was awful to watch my very dignified beautiful headstrong kitty be reduced to what she was, and her behavior was not spiteful, but meant to tell me she was in pain.
I will forever wonder if her life in those 2 years leading to this year could have been made more comfortable had I not overlooked her behavior as being spiteful.
And I wished I had known to ask more questions about what was happening to her and why she still wouldn't sit down to pee even after we thought it was arthritis and gave her Cosequin.
You know your pet. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. Follow up on your instincts and go to the vet and ask a lot of questions.
Good luck!
RE: Any experiences with Metacam, how about long term too?
Hey there all:
My 6 year old Sheltie recently began limping and when I took him to the vet, she said he might be recovering from an injury because she felt some popping in the lower joint. It hasn't resolved itself, and like your dog described her, begins limping from a cold start but then gets going in a few.
He doesn't seem to be in pain, but then again, he doesn't let on pain at all.
I switched him to Canidae Platinum, too, but I fear that most of the Glucosamine is baked out of the food. I am now giving him a supplement off the shelves called Pet Naturals; they're a sugar-free liver soft chew with 750 mg of Glucosamine HCI, 400 mg of MSM, 400 mg of Glucosamine Sulfate, 100 mg of Ascortic Asid (Stay-C), 100 mg of DMG, 18 mg of EPA, 12 mg of DHA, and 5 mg of Manganese.
The cautions are not to use in animals with clotting disorders or being treated with anticoagulants, having diabetes or any disorder causing hypoglycemia, having a history of urinary tract stones or known allergies to shellfish.
I've been giving him one chew a day (up to 25 lbs, which he's 22, but needs to be down 4-5 lbs).
My vet blew off the suggestion to do something natural, which she often does, and suggested the Dasuquin and Tramadol if it didn't get better, after an X-Ray.
I'm taking him in to get his teeth cleaned soon, so I will have the X-ray, because I think it might be a luxated patella.
I don't know if these chews seem good to you all, but since I was worried about him NOT getting enough in the food, and trying to maintain his weight as well, they seemed like a good choice.
Good luck with your pup!
RE: Son here for summer, and he dont enjoy camping
As a teacher of this age group, I can tell you this is pretty typical. However, a lot of posters have made excellent suggestions.
My 16 year old is pretty good with the texting, computer, phone, tv, etc....because she's grown up with us camping. However, I do let her go inside and chill as a compromise, because trust me, you force them, it'll be YOUR loss, not theirs. They'll make it so difficult on you via their mood swings and fresh talk, that's it not worth fighting a battle over. You have to choose your battles at this age.
My rules now is that if my kids want to text, call, plug in, watch, etc...is an hour for an hour.
If we're at the campsite, and one or two of them are in the trailer being "vidiots," as I call it, and hubby and another kid and I are out playing a game or listening to music or starting a fire, it isn't long before one or both of them comes out and meekly says, "Whatcha doing?"
I try not to lecture or be rigid about my rules, but they do know that I do not expect them to be holed up in the trailer for 8 hours a day.
Recently, when we went to Myrtle Beach, my 16 yo daughter got sunburned, and she decided to stay in the trailer all day the next day. Fine - I let her veg with tv and dvds and get her electronic time in, and that was that - that day was all she needed, and she was ready to go outside and travel with us the next week.
My son loves to help us hitch up and hook up and load and dump and whatever - it makes him feel like a man. Plus, he often says, "Mom, you have to do this, geeeez...." and I just let him get away with the teasing, thinking he's showing his dumb, old Mom something.
My kids aren't disrespectful, but typical teens. And yes, I give them choices, too, when planning. That does help.
If you are even tempered, don't get worked up about it, allow them their "world" once and a while, keep offering them opportunities, and offer your undivided attention once and a while, they will come around.
Trust me - it will happen. If you fight it and demand, you will distance yourself further. I'm not saying just let it be, but I'm saying offer a guiding loving hand with appropriate boundaries and natural consequences, and yes, they will grow up, and someday, they'll ask, "Why's my kid???" doing this or doing that. Soon they will also forget what it was like to be 16, too.
Good luck!
Wish we were close; we could get the two 16 yo's together - that always makes for great times when they occupy each other and leave the adults alone! :-)
RE: Replace Shower Head?
And just count me in on another positive vote for the Oxygenics! I will say that the twist off ring gets slippery though when soaped up, so a simple knob would have been better (and yes, I know it's quick fix to add it on - just haven't done so yet).
RE: What's Under Your Bed?
Oh, wow! EVERYTHING! Beach chairs, recliners in a bag, tote boxes for sewer stuff, our wooden sign, awning lights, grill, folding table, quick fold table, toys for the kids, mosquito lamps, a real lantern, charcoal chimney, noodles (like the kind you swim with), inflatable rafts, lifejackets.
This is the storage area I use the most!
RE: Gulfstream or Jayco
Have to insert my Jayco bias here, too.
I love my Jayco enough that I'm trying to figure out, even though it might not make sense right now, how to get into a Jayco 5th wheel!
RE: Play Barking
I would have to agree with some others here - it's pretty natural for your puppy, especially at this age, to want to chime in while playing. I know there are a lot of people in these forums who feels dogs barking can be annoying, but everyone's line of excess differs.
I think if you are concerned about reaching that line that you should not rile your pup up around others you might be concerned about complaining.
When I'm playing with our dog, I allow him to bark, and I know my neighbors have complained, but they complain about everything and HATE dogs.
Sometimes, dogs have to be allowed to be dogs - but you do have to have that command that says stop now, like a previous poster said.
I also found Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor (I think I have it correctly stated there) to be a good dog training book.
Heck, I even use that methodology on my students! :-)
Like I said, when my dog is behaving in a way that is not desirable and the kids or me or the hubby has riled him up, it's my fault for leading him to that behavior.
I learned in my pedagogy training that behavior has ABC's - Antecedent, ALTERNATIVE Behavior (a replacement behavior), and Consequences. If you figure out the Antecedent of the behavior, and alter it in replacing it with a more acceptable behavior, the consequence will be reinforcement of the acceptable behavior and extinguishing of the undesirable behavior.
I think when you roll him over on his back on the ground, that is an acceptable way of saying you're the boss. But you also should develop a signal when you're not next to him in proximity that says, "Ok, enough now."
I replace growling and barking when someone comes up on our site or we approach another dog, but I don't feel I need to stifle my dog when he barks every single time.
I think, especially if you have a higher-strung dog, if you do stifle his vocalization all the time, you might be contributing to that pent up energy also.
Whenever I can, I find dog runs where he can run without a leash. And I usually take him on two long walks a day. But remember, you are the master, and when you walk him, he should also heel, too.
