glorious meatball...

Hey! Long time no talkie.

So... how about I start off with the good news? Well, Meatball's platelet count is stable and though she eats like a horse and pees like a fountain, she's basically alright in the physical department. And the vet is decreasing her steroids and she'll be completely off it in about four weeks.

Now for the bad news.
At first it wasn't REALLY bad, I mean we just thought she was grouchy from spending a week at the vets, being poked at by needles and having her temperature taken, so when she got home, and the hair on her shoulders stood up at Rask, we just reprimanded her with a "NO!" and she calmed down.
But then, about 2 weeks home, she and Rask got into their first big dog fight. I was all happy and asleep in my warm fluffy blanket and suddenly I hear this sound like a demon's wolf snarling and yelping and barking and I hear Joann yelling for me to get down there. So with my overly large sweatpants that kept falling down when I all but fell down the stairs, I ran down and found my sister buried in this mass of bristling, barking, dog hair. My first thought was to get a bucket of water, then I remembered it was something else. So anyhow, Meatball and Rask were both snarling and yelping and barking and they were trying to get at eachother with my sister in the middle. So with superwoman force, I dragged them apart and for the next ten minutes, all anyone could hear was me screaming and yelling at the both of them while Meatball stuffed herself under a chair and Rask sat there forlornly taking my yelling with as much dignity as she could muster. Then both Rask and Meatball came out and sat huddled next to eachother until I calmed down. So I gave them both looks that could send any dog cowering and went back upstairs to sleep thinking they had both learned their lesson.
After I woke up, I found out it was that when my sister was petting Rask, Meatball came and she pet her too. And then when she tried to return to petting Rask, Meatball went crazy and tried to fight with Rask. So I just said, okay, it's a dominance problem, from now on, pet Rask first and give Rask her food/treats first so it will show Meatball that Rask was older and higher in the social ladder than her.
A few days later, I was once again asleep when I hear the same sounds, and I thought, this cannot be HAPPENING AGAIN. So I stormed downstairs to find them locked in mortal combat, this time, like last time, they gave no regard towards me (and I bet my face was so red from yelling) and once again, I pulled them apart and gave them both a good portion of "time out and listen to josie scream." While walking barefoot out in the concrete.
This time happened because Rask wanted to go to the bathroom outside and Meatball wanted to play outside, Rask accidently bumped Meatball on the shoulder and the fighting ensued.
Now to cut my really long email short. WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO TO STOP MEATBALL FROM FIGHTING WITH RASK?!?!
It happened three more times, the details which I'm not too fond in remembering but knowing that Meatball tried to steal Rask's food was enough.
Oh and she's reverted to being food possessive again but now after a few days of training, she's completely non-food possessive.
But this FIGHTING.
And I hope the steroids do not make her more manly.
(Now smaller problems, she growls at the vets and assistants and she tried to pick fights with dogs TWICE her size including a gigantic Shepherd mix at the vet's, but I think it's just bad memories of the place since I had to carry her in, she weighing about 38 pounds of meat and fur, and me at 100 or so, being embarressed as all the other patients laughed and smiled.)
Anyway, hope we can solve this, I swear if they fight again, I will be screaming into the next century. Today being the 6th time and I didn't even bother to find out why this time.

With exasperated sighs,
Josie.

read on for my professional response. sans caps...

Continue reading... "meatball strikes again. a question from a loyal reader..."

m@dropthatsock.com

Here's a family who is insane for this chihuahua-corgi dog that they rescued from the Manhattan CACC (hell for dogs). They take photos of him in all kinds of poses (taking a bath-"spa night"), in the middle of all sorts of activities (peeing on movie sets), being fed everything semi-edible under our sun. I think they go too far with this dog, but that's what i'm into watching- people who are maniacally in inside-out-love with their dogs. Check out the blog on Bud and marvel at their obsessive compulsion.

listen up, all you-

Dog licking saves limb

A man's leg was saved from amputation after his dog managed to lick it better.

Mitch Bonham, 45, was diagnosed with Sudeks Atrophy, which doctors told him would require him to have his leg amputated.

His leg had turned black following an accident involving an anchor chain while he was in the Royal Navy.

However, his pet dog, a Jack Russell called Milo, either enjoyed the taste of his condition or refused to give up on his owner and started licking the leg for four hours every day.

When Mr Bonham returned home to south Wales, his doctor told him his limb had been saved as Milo's tongue had stimulated the nerves and allowed oxygen to get to the leg.

The ecstatic dog owner said: "We had a celebration that night even though I had a long way to go. Milo had a big juicy bone as a thank you for what he had done."

if you're the fan who wrote me this:

"Love the pics of your dog, do you know his breed/mix? I'm
guessing Dalmation/pit/great dane. I couldn't find it on your site, which
is great by the way. Your site and Dogster are my biggest fix for my
dog centric life. That and having four dogs! Keep it up, thanks!"

i tried emailing you back but your email address was false. so.... here's my answer...

Hi there,

I don't know what lerm's breed is because i adopted
him without seeing his parents. I guess all the time,
my latest guess is pointer, greyhound and goat. Who
knows! Thanks for checking the site out! You can
send me good-quality photos of your dog, I'm always
open to publishing a great photo fo a dog or two (or
four).

thanks,
marlene

here's another crowd-pleaser of nernit-