Random questions none related to the other.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Abby always yawns with a squeak when she is feeling anxiety. Too cute. Do your doods do this?

Do any of you use Otomax ear drops? What do you do about the greasy hair look? Quick fixes for this?

Does genetic dwarfism happen in dogs? Ive heard of runts but check out the back paws of the hidden pup in comparison to the paws of the normal sized pup. This reminds me of a show on primordial dwarfism.

If a healthy standard sized dog has 2 pups 1st litter and 4 pups the second is there something wrong?

Why do vets reccommend food that has corn in it when we all know this isnt good for dogs? They act like they are such know-it-alls and you feel like saying "Are you getting a commission?"

Do you worm your dogs on a regular basis or just in puppyhood?

If you take your dog with you on holidays what do you do with them if you cant take them for the day (drop in doggy day-care?)

How often do you practice tricks with your dog? Do you go for a walk daily?

[Adina P]

Oh and the WHOLE family was sitting around watching when just as the narrator was about to share HOW TO PREVENT getting this worm...Mom changed the channel!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

ROTFL!!! Ya that is one prevention I want! Horror horror...I dont want to know! I like to believe I live in a world where no parasites other that lice and pin-worms exist to threaten humans.

[Sharon, Boo & Cricket]

Ahahaha!! The "Monsters Inside Me" commercial always come on the tv when I'm eating dinner! Ewww! ;) But I do watch all of those other shows, the "I didn't know I was pregnant"s and "the tree bark man"s and the "girl who never grew", etc. Fascinating stuff! :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How often do you practice tricks with your dog? Do you go for a walk daily?
Two walks every single day, morning and after dinner. Does catching a tennis ball count as a trick? If so, we "practice" every day.

Why do vets reccommend food that has corn in it when we all know this isnt good for dogs? They act like they are such know-it-alls and you feel like saying "Are you getting a commission?"
There is a really good article in the latest issue of Bark magazine about this, by Marion Nestle. All the nutritional education that veterinary students get is furnished by Big Dog Food, mostly Hill's. Cornell vet school is covered with posters from dog food companies. The dog food companies publish the text books. The vets don't actually learn much about nutrition, they are more or less told, if the dog has such-and-such, give him this. I'm saying it sloppily 'cause it's late & I'm tired, but read the article. And yes, they do get a commission.

Do any of you use Otomax ear drops? What do you do about the greasy hair look? Quick fixes for this?
I used them with my poodle, but it was the ointment in a tube. It was very greasy, but it went deep inside the ear, so it didn't really affect her fur. Maybe it will help if you massage real good around her ear after you put the drops in.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Karen did you check out the dwarf pup? Look at those tiny legs!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I kept looking at it, thinking that can't be its legs, it must be something else, lol. Or maybe the camera angle, the pup must be lying way further back, or something. I don't know much about the genetics of size, except that bigger and taller is always dominant; and things like the primordial dwarfism (I love those shows, too) is a really advanced area of genetics way outside my scope.
But I'll tell you a story about the litter my first dog (as an adult) came from. This was a friend's very small miniature poodle who was mated with another friend's miniature schnauzer. The vet didn't even think she was pregnant, he thought it was a false pregnancy, and gave her a shot of some hormone to "bring her out of it". When the shot didn't work, he said she was pregnant, but would only have 1 or 2 puppies. (This was in 1977). Well, she had 5 puppies, and they were all different sizes, coat types, everything you could imagine. And my puppy was twice the size of the other puppies. It stayed that way, too. When they were all a year old, they had a get together, and my dog was twice the size of 2 siblings, and half again bigger than either parent or the other 2 siblings. I think there must be a huge range of sizes in F1 litters, too.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Wow about that litter you described. My Bailey and all his siblings were beautiful and uniform for the most part in size and shape. And yes that really is the size of the "runt" no camera trick. This is from that litter I was oggling. The couple had said they had this tiny runt that would not be for sale and I was curious about that then I noticed the legs in the picture of this male. Hard to Believe "Brad and Angie" made such a puney puney LOL! Now my DH wants to look for curiosity sake alone. LOL!

[Lia]

Sometimes Shatska yawns with a squeak like noise, uber cute. We use something like oti-calm for Shatska's ears, not sure if that is the same thing. She does get oily residue on her under ear fur but we give her a bath or she plays in the water almost every week. I know you're not supposed to give them a bath every week but she gets so dirty and stinky. Shatska is still a puppy so I'm not sure about worming on a regular basis. When we travel with Shatska she sleeps a lot, most of the day. We go for a daily walk, usually two or three walks a day. We practice tricks most days.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Yes, walk daily at least once and most days twice. Playing frisbee at the grade school every night or we can't have a quiet family dinner or sleep at night. Don't know anything about ears, but I am sure I will soon enough. We practice sit and lay down everyday but that is only because it is still a must. Lately we practice crawl and thump it ( the likes to step on bugs ).

Yes, sqeeks when he yawns. I read that dogs yawn intentionally to calm themselves.

Holiday-my husband is going camping this weekend with his family and I am staying home with the dog. :(
Worming Nope. Hope that has passed.

NO CORN unless he steals from the dinner table and yes my vet did reccommend the worst corn based food on the market.

Wish we had the greasy hair look--his hair looks like my 83yr old mothers after a really bad dye job. Dry and Freezy lately.

opps there is the boss--I'm out of here.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

"Wish we had the greasy hair look--his hair looks like my 83yr old mothers after a really bad dye job. Dry and Freezy lately."

That is hillarious! The minute I read it the mental picture popped in my head...I know exactly the granny hair you're talking about LOL!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Oh Good Grief:
I am never going to look at my dog the same!!! " Oh no, that dog is my mother."

I really should finally get him groomed. It never appealed to me until now. But as I look at him tonight I can't stop thinking about her.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I will answer the ones I can:
Yes, Peri squeaks when she yawns and I LOVE it!
I love my vet but tell him I feed Taste of the Wild and there is no further discussion. He admits it is a good food.
Worm only in puppyhood, but Taquito had a stomach issue a few years ago and I dewormed him then to be safe.
I will resume walks daily (morning, noon and after work) once Peri receives her 16 week vaccinations (only 2 1/2 weeks, not that I am counting down)
Tricks aka "Training time" occurs every time they come back inside from a potty break, which is a lot now!
Holidays with the dogs are usually at the beach so they are always at the beach with me. If I am away for a short time, I crate them.
Fun Friday discussion!