Busted!

[avionix]

I still leave the toilet seat up.

So do I.  My master gets on to me for it all the time.  At least she doesn't rub my nose in it.   

[Simaril]

We're definitely dog people -- as one T shirt reads, "The more I get to know people...the more I love my dog!"

Our 9 year old Golden is the best dog I've ever been around. Smart as a whip -- has a huge comprehension vocabulary -- but is practically the second son in the family. He's obedient enough that he'll chase a rabbit but stop at the property line even if he's in instinct driven hot pursuit. <Insert multiple "very smart dog" stories> Also is the most empathetic animal I've been around, can read the situation and seems absolutely desperate to make everything right for everyone.

Unfortunately he has a bad heart valve, and is on borrowed time. (He's survived longer than any dog the vet's ever come across with this problem.) Months ago he was bad enough that we worried about him making through the weekend, but he's now on a kind of cruise control...not able to do much without getting short of breath, but still the great companion.

Our second dog is also a Golden, but is as dumb as a post. She lives in perpetual fear of something or other: The vacuum is her absolute nightmare, but she panics whenever my beeper goes off and hides shivering under the desk when it's windy outside. Not a thunderstorm, mind you -- just windy. As a puppy she would eat literally anything (she chewed up glass, crunched pens, swallowed paper clips), and even at age four she dug her way into my daughter's backpack, tore open a bag of candy, and ate about 20 Reese's cups including the wrappers. Later that night, she threw up a wadded ball of plastic wrappers...

Needless to say, she'd have been strangled long ago if she weren't the absolute sweetest dog ever. She's so desperate to have someone keep her safe, and she's incredibly devoted to my son. He credits her with getting him through the toughest times in his Junior High years...so no matter what the headaches, she's been a great investment.




And for the record, the dogs are allowed on the beds, but not the furniture. There isn't always room, because even though they think they're lap dogs they're 95 and 70 pounds!

Here's the old guy

[DrDea]

 Bah.I cant keep mine off anything.Hes a hairy beast that leaves hair everywhere.

[Engine]

Thanks for the explanation, ROX and Txmom.

[Simaril]

Bah.I cant keep mine off anything.Hes a hairy beast that leaves hair everywhere.

1. "No outfit is complete without dog hair."

2. Came across a product that is absolutely NOT a gimmick. It's called the "Furminator" -- a cheesy name for a specialized brush -- but it works so well I simply can't recommend it enough. When I use it (outside!) it looks like we're in the middle of cottonwood season, with tufts of white undercoat blowing around like snow! Used the way they say, the dogs absolutely love it -- must be like a nice body scratch on a dry day. After a good session, when we scratch the dogs (which normally sends hair flying) we see practically nothing come off.

The videos on the product website look too good to be true, but they aren't. This thing really works that well! One video (under the "demos" tab look at the black lab) shows a dog being groomed with one product after another, with nothing more coming off the dog. Then they get out the Furminator, and enough hair starts flying that it looks like he's being shaved!

http://www.furminator.com/

The only bad thing is that the manufacturers know there's nothing else like it, and the pricing is flat out ridiculous. DO NOT pay retail; the big dog brush can go for $55 at a pet store. We got ours for just over half that at Amazon, and I bet there are similar deals out there. But if you have a dog hair problem, you really owe it to yourself to take a look at the thing.