Tep, just this morning I ran into the thing I sent you about your girl's anxiety and wondered if anything had improved for you.

I'm totally drawing a blank -- I don't remember what you sent me about doggie anxiety. Can you refresh my memory?

Shiba's are not only a doublecoated breed

I love our coon hound, but I despise his double coat. No one animal should have (and SHED) that much hair.

But when it's just D. & I we sometimes joke about getting him a couple of sheep. The sheep would be miserable, what with being moved all the time, but the Biscuit would be happy.

Get him a pygmy goat! Smart & hard to outwit. Or perhaps I just want a pet goat.

First it was the NYTimes site, now anything yahoo crashes my browser. It's fucking annoying.

In SD and MN, one of my cousins and her daughter are probably over the moon about the Daschle appointment. They worked with him a lot for mental health parity and were heartbroken when Thune won.

it's somewhere between those two activity levels and he's generally pretty chill.

This describes my dogs. The girls have two or three periods during the day when they're all "We must go out and protect the backyard from... STUFF and cavort," and the rest of the time they're super mellow. Mooshu's mellow 99% of the time-- he could care less about cavorting.

The biggest problem I have is that they're home with just me so much of the time that when people come by, they're spastic for about ten-fifteen minutes in that "OMG, Peoples! New Peoples!" sort of way and then, they'll settle down. Problem is, most people are so wigged by such big dogs, they're acting skittish, which only ups the dogs' spaz factors. I should probably take them to a dog park and let them run some of that off.

I used to wax longingly about owning a pure-breed rescue - all breeds - but not letting anyone adopt the dogs until AFTER they took a class on the specific breed they wanted and passed a written and interactive test.

Lucy, who is apparently part Australian shepherd, was a total herder when she was a puppy. Nipping at your heels, trying to get everyone together in one spot. It was pretty funny.

Now she's sort of a big lump, but she is twelve, so. Still a big barker when there's something Horrifying and Dangerous outside the house ... like a six-year-old kid riding a bike. ::rolls eyes::

Still a big barker when there's something Horrifying and Dangerous outside the house ... like a six-year-old kid riding a bike.

That's our Oliver. Someone down the street breathes heavily and he freaks the hell out. The barking is the only Beagle thing about him. He hates being outside, is lazy as all get-out, and looks at my parent's rabbit as a long eared cat meant to be snuggled with and licked.

I we sometimes joke about getting him a couple of sheep.

Excellent idea, but a cheaper and even more efficient option is a backpack. I'm a huge proponent of the doggy backpack. Throw in a couple of small water bottles, or some rice/bean packages and hit the street.

I've never met a dog who didn't straighten up like they were relieved to finally have a job they understood. Plus, carrying their own supplies is convenient and imcreases the energy expenditure per step by a lot.

Don't turn your dog into a Burro, of course, a little weight equals a lot of benefit.

Tep, I'll go find the email and resend it.

Seriously. Who expects ANY pet to be "self-maintaining"?

Cat owners.

Seriously, that's why I don't have a dog. Dogs are... needy. Cats can be, but generally, not 24/7, and they like their space.

Cats can be, but generally, not 24/7, and they like their space

15-20 minutes of "My human, my reason for existing, hold me, touch me, let me gaze into your eyes!" per day, then they're pretty "Yo, dude" from across the room the rest of the time.