Pet Thread

[mac5155]

Harley, the 115 pound horse golden retriever



"King" Kaiser the german shepherd wannabe, and Keystone the cat.. aptly named after the beverage I was consuming when I decided to bring him home.

[shafnutz05]

115 pound golden retriever?

[mac5155]

For the struggle with big picture...

If you upload it to imgur, the site gives you options in terms of size... a lot of 'em (original, small square, small thumbnail, etc). Can find it on every picture. Might have to click on the picture first or click the "Embed" link on the right side (in the middle of the picture list on the right).

Add an "l" right before the .jpg for a thumbnail.

[mac5155]

115 pound golden retriever?

Yeah. He's huge. The vet really wasn't concerned with his weight even though we've asked many times.. but he's 5 and I already know he will have hip problems soon.

[dodint]

Nice pack, Kicksave. Love the pattern/coloration on Dixie.

[tifosi77]

We have two beagles and a shorthaired tabby.

We got Carlin at 10 weeks old from a breeder up in the high desert; while I was sitting with the breeder sorting the paperwork, Mrs Tif went back to the area where the pups were.... Carlin was the only one who woke up. We took that as a sign. She just turned 9.

Had seen Lily at adoption events a couple times, but then her rescue org brought their dogs to the kennel where I took Carlin every day. Recognized Lily playing by herself and said, "Who's that?" Kennel lady said, "That's Lily.... you know she needs a home?" and I swear hearts started flying out of Lily's ears. I sent a photo to Mrs Tif who responded, "What have you done???" and I said, "But I love her already..." So that's how then-seven-year old Lily came to our world. Three years and two surgically reconstructed knees later, she's over the rough time she had prior to being rescued (no physical abuse, just rampant neglect), and is as tail-waggy as a playful dog could be.

Carlin on the left (red collar), Lily on the right (black collar).

Mrs Tif had two cats ('critters' in Tif-speak) when we started dating. Sybil and Callie were littermates, and they were my first pets. Losing them (one to lymphoma, the other to a stroke) is the hardest thing I've had to deal with in my life, which tells me I've had a pretty good go of it. But it was really hard on Mrs Tif, as she had them for 17 and 18 years. So about four years after Callie died, Mrs Tif declared herself ready for another critter. Thus happened Tammy. (We did not name her, but she was five when we got her and didn't want to deal with the hassle) Tammy is, by all accounts, the goofiest animal I have ever known. She's a riot; one night shortly after we got her, I was sitting on the floor and she walked a complete 360 around me.... but with each step, she let out a quiet little "myah". So it was like myah-myah-myah-myah-myah-myah-myah-myah-myah-myah....

Tammy on couch

The wildcard when we got Tamcat was Lily. We had no idea how she's react to a cat in the house. And initially it was...... troubling. Lily would literally have tremors every time she saw the cat. We committed to trying every homeopathic remedy we could find - thundershirts, hormone collars, etc - but nothing seemed to be working. Then one day, after about a month, it just..... stopped. And now they're total pals. They'll even groom each other, or sleep against each other.

Tammy and Lily

[Kraftster]

Botwin:

Botwin with Little Kraftster #1 and Little Kraftster #2.

[grunthy]

115 pound golden retriever?

Yeah. He's huge. The vet really wasn't concerned with his weight even though we've asked many times.. but he's 5 and I already know he will have hip problems soon.

My uncle had a black lab that was about 150lbs. If it was on its hind legs it could basically look me in the eyes. I'm 6'5"...

[skullman80]

I swear my dog was not high or drunk when this photo was taken...

[shafnutz05]

lol nice. Kraftster, labs/goldens are so good with kids, our goldendoodle is a saint around our daughter.

[mac5155]

115 pound golden retriever?

Yeah. He's huge. The vet really wasn't concerned with his weight even though we've asked many times.. but he's 5 and I already know he will have hip problems soon.

My uncle had a black lab that was about 150lbs. If it was on its hind legs it could basically look me in the eyes. I'm 6'5"...

Oh yeah, my golden totally can. When he was younger, he could stand behind the couch and jump over it. Now he has trouble getting into my truck. It makes me sad.

[mac5155]

What do yinz feed your pooches? We started feeding our golden taste of the wild salmon blend. It's so expensive but it helps him out a lot. Before that we fed him diamond naturals and while it was good in general, he still itched a lot. Now with TOTW he has a shiny coat and doesn't itch as much. I'm pretty sure it's ingrained into all golden retrievers heads to beg to be scratched

The German Shepherd doesn't seem to mind diamond naturals and since it's about half the price we feed it to him separately

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Here is Sadie.



She was a rescue, so we aren't sure what she is, but we think she's a lab, boxer, german shepherd, pit mix. She unfortunately has all the crazy parts of those breads. She likes people but hates other dogs. She has to wear a muzzle when walk her because she bit my wife on two separate occasions. She has calmed down and adjusted a lot better ever since we put her on meds and stopped walking her with our other dog, Rocco.



He is chocolate lab that is now much older and grayer than he is there, but that is my favorite picture of him. He was a demon as a puppy when he wasn't sick or requiring expensive stomach surgery after eating a rope toy. He also has food allergies and has to eat expensive prescription food.

I love them both dearly though and would be crushed if something were to happen to them.

[shafnutz05]

What do yinz feed your pooches? We started feeding our golden taste of the wild salmon blend. It's so expensive but it helps him out a lot. Before that we fed him diamond naturals and while it was good in general, he still itched a lot. Now with TOTW he has a shiny coat and doesn't itch as much. I'm pretty sure it's ingrained into all golden retrievers heads to beg to be scratched

The German Shepherd doesn't seem to mind diamond naturals and since it's about half the price we feed it to him separately

+1 for Taste of the Wild. That's all we've ever fed our goldendoodle. We rotate the varieties (salmon, venison, etc). It's so much better for your dog/cat/etc, and think about it. How much frivolous money do we spend on ourselves over a year? When you put it that way, spending an extra few hundred bucks a year on great, healthy food for your pet seems trivial at that point.

[AuthorTony]

I had to have one of my dogs euthanized today. The past 2 weeks she hasn't been jumping up on the couch, but I just assumed she was enjoying the doggy bed I bought her for Christmas instead. Well, Monday she walked very stiff, like her hind end wasn't hurting. I took her to the vet and he thought it might be osteoarthritis so he gave her a shot and some medicine. By Monday eve, she couldn't move her back legs at all. I took her back to the vet Tuesday morning and he gave her another shot and new pills, still hopeful it was just arthritis. She seemed to perk up a bit Weds morning but today when I tried to take her out to go to the bathroom her hind end just dragged. I called the vet and he sent me to a clinic for x-rays. They took one and immediately saw she had severe damage to her spine. I adopted her from a shelter in Dec of 2012 and the vet said this all probably happened before I got her, but with age and stress on the spine, it was just going to get worse. She said they could send me to Pittsburgh for more tests, but she highly doubted she'd be a candidate for surgery and said, even with surgery, the rest of her spine was so messed up it was only a matter of time until something like this happened again.

I held her while she was given the injections and I bawled like a little baby. I know it's better than having her in pain but man, it really, really sucks. This is the only part of having pets that I hate.

[shafnutz05]

Ugh, Hockeynut, my sincere condolences for your loss.

[Freddy Rumsen]

That's awful Hockeynut...rescues are the best.

[Freddy Rumsen]

My dog gets store brand dry food (and everything the kids' don't eat for dinner).

This is Lucy. She is the best dog in the history of Earth. We picked her up from the pound. She does German Shepherd things (has GS ears), Pointer things (lifting the front paw up when she spots an intruder), and is colored like a collie.

[Willie Kool]

So sorry Hockeynut.

[dodint]

Ugh, Hockeynut, my sincere condolences for your loss.

[FreeCandy44]

Wow...im so sorry Hockeynut.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Sorry for your loss HN.

[skullman80]

Sorry hockeynut, losing a pet is awful. They are part of the family.

[AuthorTony]

Thanks, everyone! I'm surprised it hit me so hard because she was kind of a pain in the butt. She could be snippy, barked too much, etc. but I guess she still worked her way into my heart.

Changing the subject. I use Blue Buffalo food and have for the past few years. It seems to get pretty good reviews. What do you guys give your dogs for treats? I really need to get some weight off of Eli after a long, lazy winter but he definitely expects a couple treats a day. I'd like to find something healthy that he'd still enjoy.

[eddy]

I swear my dog was not high or drunk when this photo was taken...

That is a really cool looking dog, what kind is it?

It's been a good number of years since our cat rufus died and we've been starting to talk more and more about getting a new pet.
It would have to be a cat or a small dog. It's tough because we travel a lot on the weekends and I hate to be away with a pet at home.

Right now, we live vicariously through my folks spinone italiano (basically a real muppet).
I know BigMck mentioned he had ragdoll cats. I would love to get one of those or a main coone. Anyone have experience with either?