...is crazy. He is a shih-tzu and the cutest dog in the world. Lately though, he's been the nuttiest dog in the world.

It started with him refusing to eat out of his stainless steel bowls. No he cannot see his reflection in them. But he'd growl at them and not eat or drink from them. Very weird. We could put his food on the floor and he'd eat it, just not out of the bowl.

So then I found these Whole Meal Dog Bones. Yay. No mess and no bowl required. Then I noticed that he only wanted to eat his bones outside. And when he came inside, his face was dirrrty. The little beast is burying his bones in the backyard. Guess what? Ants find them before he gets back to them and then he won't eat them.

I think he's crazy, but I love him anyhow. Just wanted to vent. The little beastie is driving me insane!

Our dog is being crazy too. We just moved to a different house on the 31st (He'd lived his whole 3 years of life at the other house) and he won't come inside because of the wood floors. He's terrified of them. He just stays in his pen, and he now has canine neighbors on both sides of his pen, and he can't be bothered with us humans anymore. We always brought him in at night to hang out and spend the night, so I'm missing him. We brought him in the 2nd night we were there, and he stopped in the kitchen, we went on to bed, fell asleep, and I got up a few hours later and he was still standing in the kitchen with anxiety and a refusal to step on the wood floor. Oh! He also won't come up the stairs from the basement. He's scared of stairs too.

I'm hoping once we get the doggie door installed he will be able to overcome some of this on his own terms.

I had never been around dogs very much before, I didn't figure them to be so weird. I could write indefinitely about how weird our cats are.

Are you sure he can't see his reflection?

Do you ever watch The Dog Whisperer? There was an episode about a Great Dane that was afraid of shiny floors. I think the key was to get the dog on the floor and show him that nothing bad would happen.

I had a pit bull that was afraid of stairs. My neighbors must have thought I was crazy lugging her up and down the stairs three times a day to go potty (I lived in an upstairs apartment). I also had a boxer/lab/chow/akita mix that was only afraid of stairs that she could see through. Solid stairs were ok!

Dogs!!! They are just about as crazy as men!!!

Oh boy, it was raining last night so I forced the dog to come inside. This sounds horrible, but I just pulled him across the wood floor to the bedroom, and he quickly jumped up on the bed, and we all slept well. So, this a.m. we had to get up and get ready for work, and it took me a solid 30 minutes to get the dog off the bed! He was being so silly, he'd stand up and look at the floor and start howling--it was too funny to even be aggravating. He's very heavy, but I wanted to try to pick him up and sort of coax him onto the floor, and when I'd go for him, he fall onto his side on the bed and ball up so that I couldn't get a good grip. Finally, I thought to lay a towel down on the floor, put his leash around his neck (and he stuck his head right in it---he wanted his leash) and slowly, and very carefully he came off the bed.

It's just so weird because this is the same dog that will go canoeing with us, and run 90 to nothing down the rocky, uneven and often very steep embankments and leap full speed in to the creek. We've always said that he is fearless, but now we know that he's actually quite terrified of wood floors and stairs.

I haven't caught that episode of the Dog Whisperer, but I would love a visit from him, to help us work out a *few* issues.

That's horrible that you had to lug your dog up and down the stairs for potty! She was probably pretty heavy, too.

They're nuts!

I just wanted to make an FYI post on dogs. My 14 year old Sheltie recently became ill. Her head turned to one side, her eyes jerked back and forth, and she couldn't stand without falling. I thought she'd had a stroke at first, but her symptoms seemed a bit odd. I looked on the internet to find that she was suffering from a Vestibular Disorder. Kinda like an inner ear infection to us humans. She had no sense of balance. While lying in the floor she would start rolling until she hit something because she couldn't tell which way was up. I had to carry her outside to potty and hold her upright until she could stand. There is no treatment for this, but it usually resolves itself in 3 weeks to 3 months. She was still able to eat and drink and with our support fully recovered in about 2 weeks. Apparently many people mistake this for a stroke and often have their pet put to sleep. It usually happens to older dogs. (over 8 yrs) I try to make everyone aware of this disorder so maybe if your dog experiences it you can recognize the symptoms and prevent an unecessary fate.

"It's me or the Dog!"

This a great show on Animal Planet that addresses behavioral problems in pets - especially dogs. There was a show on a few weeks back where a dog was actually diagnosed with OCD. It sounds crazy, but that dog really was obsessed with certain things. The host really offers some practical ways to curb or change unwanted behaviors. Check it out on the link above. I believe there may be a few episodes on Youtube, too.

I had a dog who was afraid to cross O'Neal bridge. I think it was the shadows coming across the car from the beams overhead.

I thought fellow pet lovers would enjoy this.

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys. Lucky
always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease....in fact ,she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A
thought struck her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through.
If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him. The thought made her sadder than
thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took
Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.


Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital.. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the
steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years now
and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

Remember....live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for
us.