stressed
 

getting a new puppy is both joyous and stressful. i think my cat who is about eight now went into the heat and that is what her vocalizing was for the past few months. Now she is getting into a postion where Luc goes on top of her and grabs her by the neck and shakes her and drags her on the ground.it freaks me out and i have an appointment with the vet on tuesday to fiirst see if he can see a scar of her being fixed which I think is a waste and then have her spayed. She keeps on asking for it..
my old boyfriend came to visit today and thought luc was wonderful. within two minutes he had luc respect and listen to him. If i die in the next few years or have too much trouble with luc my friend said he would take him.
luc is a real heartbreaker, at first he seemed paper trained but now he isn't at all. He goes so infrequently that it is going to be especially hard to train him, now i realize when i start walking him after he gets his shots, i still have too much shortness of breath to probably give the rascal time to do his business...he just seems to hold both for so long.
my existence has been turned topsy turvy. i am also obsessed with somebody i have been speaking to about twice a week on the phone. I want more but he doesn't seem ready to give it...
bobby

you have alot going on.
Relationships are tricky....maybe jsut give it some time.
((((HUGS))))
bizi

thanks....abby isn't being as seductive and is running away a lot faster.
I went into a horrible depression this morning but I think i am coming out of it. Luc is precious and i have more of a life force than i have had in years

bobby

I am happy you have Luc to love!
bizi

Dear Bobby,
I hope that Luc will fit into your house hold and life style in ways that you want.

M.

currently luc is a real hands full. he is impossible to paper train. he hardly goes to the bathroom so i can't catch him to go and don't know what to do. i hope it works out when i am able to start walking him.. that won't be til after the 29. he is in the nipping stage because he has so much energy. i am using apple vinegar cider and beginning to pick him up by the scuff of his neck to detach him from me. he is a big boy. he is now chasing yuki too who is only five pounds. she is swatting at him. i keep on praying to God that nothing will happen to my cats..
he is making me realize how horribly lonely i have been. i am trying to hang in there. he is such a handful. i ordered some squirt guns and will fill them with half lemon juice and half water and squirt him when he does negative stuff.that should be a deterent. I have to establiish that i am the dominant one and I am so non threatening....
also i haven't lost anymore weight so walking him will still be very hard.
the bottom line is that i feel so horribly lonely and Luc is a way I get out and not be so lonely. I do hope it will work out.
bobby

is there a puppy dog training school that you might beable to get a few lessons?
I have never raised a dog..but I do know that you do need to establish yourself as the alpha dog. my friend who has a rottwilder dog uses his whole body to hold him down sort of in a time out this works for his dog.
I wish you good luck
bizi

maybe but i raised hammy and morgy together -they were litter mates
and i did it without help....each dog seems to have special problems i guess
i also don't have money and animal trainers are so expensive..i just started thinking maybe i will pay my friend to help me train luc
bobby

bobby...do you have a crate? It's much easier to housebreak a dog when you use a crate...they won't foul where they sleep. And you can take luc out when you want to walk him. Dogs are smart...he'll get it. :)

Dear Bobby,

Here's a book I sent my sis when she first adopted her dogs:
Good Owners, Great Dogs / Brian Kilcommons
. . . also this one Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete

She has two big dogs (95lbs and 80lbs)

I just talked to her and asked her if she has any advice for you.

She said:
-->low voice -- practice "NO" low and slow and use a specific hand gesture that goes with it. Dogs growl to let each other know that they are unhappy. Don't growl but do be low. Low = serious


-->high voice --- fun sound -- happy sound -- whine
A high voice to a dog is a good sound. So use that for a fun voice.

Make sure that he knows that you are in charge
Once in a while she would put her hand in front of their food or even take it away and then give it back to them so that they knew that she was in charge of the food.

This was from that book Good Owners, Great Dogs


M.

my neighbor lent me a crate but the trouble is that he stayed in a crate for four months so he soils in the crate. he also has so much puppy energy and can't go out until he has his shots on the 29th. they postponed his shots since they cost money. i paid them to give him his previous shots. we had to wait a month to get him a ride to nyc,,,,another month to be crated ...ugh

but thanks,
bobby

thanks Mari
i willl try that. maybe i will get the books...i got four books by Dodson. i just bought the books
bobby

this has been one big adventure ... perhaps a more stressful one than you bargained for... i am glad Abby's behavior has calmed down some. the lemon-water sounds like a good idea. you are on the right track. these things do take time, but it will be a finite amount of time. This dog is a challenge because of how long he was crated, but he is still a puppy so he will learn... what do you do, when you do catch him right after he poops/pees? do you pick him up and put him in the designated place? does that work with dogs?

love

~ waves ~

i don't usually catch him after he poops or pees. he peed on the paper this morning but i think it was an accident lol. he can hold them both for so long he is really sneaky
i guess if i caught him in the act i would put him on the paper right after..just caught him...he went in his crate and pooped and i took him to the paper
love
bobby

just got back from the vets....abbby needs to be spade. she weighs only 4 pounds 15 ounces. yuki beats her at 5 pounds. my cat guru changed her cell phone number and now i can't reach her...more stress...ouch-she will be spade next tuesday. another friend is moving in two years
what have i done....anyways i am too much of a coward to kill myself...
bobby

wowwww well at least that mystery is solved!

i mean, i think it is surprising that she went in heat after all this time... but... hey... at least it is an explanation!!!

(((hugs)))

i hope you can get hold of your cat-guru somehow... do you have an email, or snail mail addy?

love

waves

Dear Bobby,
Keep holding on. You are doing well.
Focus on one day.
You have your two cats and your Luc and you can take care of them. You are taking care of them.


Mari

i have her address somewhere but it is so buried i might as well not have it. i don't have her email. she was such a big help in emergencies.
bobby

i didn't sleep last night because i was just worrying about everything. i also don't think luc pooped yesterday. i hope he doesn't have an obstruction and needs an operation. All these expenses are scaring me. I have been spending so much money which i really don't have. i feel so trapped. i love all my animals so much including that little rascal. he was sleeping so peacefully on my futon last night with me without a care in the world and i kept on worrying about an obstruction and about his relationship with the cats and his housetraining. I feel trapped in life. i am editting this to say Luc pooped....yea!
bobby

YEA! Luc is a good dog. :)

A friend of mine adopted a very young (6 months perhaps) Miniature Schnauzer because the two previous owners could not deal with her pooping in the house.
My friend was good with the dog, but even so it took the dog a while to catch on (Maybe a year) The dog could hold it for what seemed like very long periods of time. When she got walked, she was picky about where and when she went. (I think my friend eventually taught her to go at a certain spot during their walk.)
The dog sometimes would go near the pads from the pet store -- she would miss the pad by a few inches and so on.

My friend was patient and the dog eventually caught on about where she is supposed to go -- although she still can hold her poop for longish periods of time (more than a day or even two if I recall.)

I know you have experience with your other two dogs but perhaps SOMETIMES this is a Schnauzer trait.

M.

dear Mari

that is a cute story about your friend's miniature schnauzer! i wonder if it is a breed trait... hmmm...

dear Bobby

you could try the phone book, or even if she is unpublished she may be listed - you could call information - 411, or (area code)-555-1212 it's a toll call but not expensive. free from a public phone, if you have one nearby. (used to be free anyway i dunno now... :rolleyes:)

or maybe you know someone else that could get hold of her for you?

i am sorry you are feeling trapped. maybe it will feel better when you start taking Luc out and the housetraining improves.

~ waves ~

my friend's number isn't listed.
something happened too horrible to post with my new psychiatrist and i saw dr moussavian today and i am going to stay with him and not look for another psychiatrist
bobby

Oh, Dear Bobby,
I'm sorry.
I hope that you can be ok.

M.

Dear Bobby

i'm so sorry.:( thank goodness you saw Dr. M and i'm glad you can continue to see him. :hug::hug:

love

~ waves ~

I am so sorry that happened to you bobby.
((((HUGS))))
bizi

thank you. I am still filled with terror and need comfort. She made me feel so unstable and so many unresolved issues came flooding over me. I basically don't have much confidence since my parents treated me as the scapesgoat and criticised me unmercifully. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback in my life. Once i took a test for a programming job at big corporation and when they called my reference instead of asking about me they kept on raving how they never saw somebody score so high on it. My friend said they kept on going on and on. When I had trouble with my lawyer during my lawsuit, my father (who was a lawyer) said who would want you as a client anyways.
He was so cruel. When he came out with his cruelty my mother would usually sit there and smile. It was so painful.
Now I also think Yuki may be dying. I took her to the vet because she wasn't eating and he gave her a shot of antibiotics and thought it was a tooth. Now she isn't even having nutrical. I don't have the money to have her have extensive testing. Last visit was 141 dollars. If I take her again it would be about 500 dollars and that would be before treatment which would be a fortune. I don't have a fortune. My heart is breaking. I am praying and praying she will start eating again. I am just so scared and feel so helpless
bobby

dear Bobby

i am so sorry about Yuki. :( i hope she will be ok!!! i wonder if there is any clinic you could go to that isn't as expensive... i know i mean, maybe not. but just a thought. i am sending her good kitty vibes.

i am sorry for the unsettling experience you had with the pdoc. sending you some hugs and good thoughts.

i think you are a beautiful woman.... phenomenal woman, that's you.

love

~ waves ~

fancy feasts is a great cat food that cats love.
we used it to get our cat eating again.
mixed it with some pedilite electrolyte water and used a syringe to force feed her until she recovered from the flu.
how old is yuki?
bizi

Dear Bobby,
I hope that Yuki is better.

M.

what do i do with the pedialite? how much do i try to give? thank you for the advise.she is twelve years old. Yuki is drinking water so she isn't dehydrated. Now that i have the pedialyte i don't think I need it.
bobby

thank you so much.

i tried force feeding yuki but that wasn't successful but tonite she actually ate a bit on her own...i thanked God...i was so relieved. she still wouldn't have any nutrical though...will try tomorrow.....
bobby

glad to hear Yuki ate a little :)

:hug:

love

~ waves ~

when we fed harriet we used a good sized syringe and forced it into the side pocket of her mouth and that worked, we squirted it down her throat and then she would like the syringe we could get about 10 cc's of cat food diluted with pedialyte.
thinking of you...it is hard to do this by yourself, roll her up in a towel.
good luck next try,
((((HUGS))))
bizi

thank you so much. I just turned around and Yuki is eating again by herself. I don't know if she has been eating by the sly or if yesterday using the syringe and getting a little food in her started the process. I was praying and praying and on late friday afternoon called a vet clinic and left a message. I had decided I was going to take in her again but to a cheaper place. I guess you know how ectastic I am and how I still don't believe it.
Luc is coming along amazing well. He is training himself. He is using the paper mostly or just missing within inches. I think his being crated so long has something to do with it. They probably used paper in the crate and he is doing so much better with paper than with wee wee pads. He usually goes in two places. His pee is right on target. His poop is still iffy.
I finished reading Courage by Rabbi Nachman. It is a book written for people like me who are so very self critical and lack confidence. It's message is don't despair and always look for goodness and don't dwell on what is not right within yourself. It preaches simplicity and that God loves us and we are constantly tested. We are not supposed to get depressed. that is a taboo.
we are supposed to be joyous.
I have to keep reading him because he makes sense to me. He died at 38 200 years ago and has a huge following in Israel. His preaching joy and not being harsh on oneself I guess is the reason why. He is harsh on those who are harsh lol.
Bobby

Dear Bobby,

This is so good that Luc is catching on to what you expect of him.
I'm glad that Yuki is recovering from whatever was ailing her.

M.

thank you Mari
i am so exhausted from all the stress. i feel like a basket case. the ornish diet doesn't want you to have caffeine so I don't have a quick stimulant. i get depressed if i just stay in bed.
i am so thankful that yuki appears to be okay...she is such a precious kitty cat.
bobby
i wonder how much risperdal and topamax makes me tired besides klonopin

I have heard the topamax makes people tired.....groggy, dopey....
glad to hear that she started eating on her own.
(((((HUGS))))
bizi

thank you so much Bizi
I think I will stop with the topamax. I wonder if risperdal does the same.
I am so thankful that Yuki is eating on her own. I really believed I was going to lose her. Yesterday she ate up a storm.
I have to find energy from somewhere. I lost 13 pounds but might have gained two of them back. I cheated a little on the Ornish diet. I got vegetable chinese food but don't know if the vegetables were fried a little. they didn't taste fried. I needed some comfort food. In a little more than a week I will start taking Luc out for walks. At first they are going to have to be short works because of my shortness of breath. Hopefully the pulmonary doctor will be right and if i am able to lose another twenty or thirty pounds the shortness of breath will get better.
Luc is now afraid of the squirt gun and I don't have to shoot it. He sees it and stops nipping. He has stopped chewing on the phone wire although he is still pulling out the stuffing from the bed pillows. He seems to be respecting Yuki's space but abby is still teasing him a bit and the chase goes on.. tomorrow she gets spade and I have to figure out how to separate them in a studio while she recovers. I bought a couple of muzzles but haven't tried them yet.
I can't figure out whether to crate Luc a lot or abby while she is healing.
I do know i will give him a lot of treats.
the stress goes on but i am so thankful abouut yuki
bobby

congratulations on your weight loss!
topamax can help with weight loss as well as being a mood stabilizer, talk with your pdoc before you stop.
bizi