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New Foster. about 6 months old, intact male. Freakishly smart.
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Aug 28, 2012 05:09
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| # ? Jun 6, 2024 13:35 |
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He's got some pro ears 
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Aug 28, 2012 05:14
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TVs Ian's wife has been trying to shove him off on me on Facebook.  Puppyyy... 
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Aug 28, 2012 05:41
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...well obvious answer, take him.
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Aug 28, 2012 08:29
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Ok guys, I have a SERIOUS question - I need help identifying an animal I saw. I have no idea where else to ask this but I would really like to know. I was driving home just now in the early morning/very late night, a time when the small-ish city I live in is pretty much silent and abandoned. When driving around at this hour I am used to seeing random cats dart across the street in front of me and go under cars and whatnot. But this morning I saw something that I mistook for a cat at first, but was NOT a cat. I am pretty sure, at least. This creature was about the size of a very large cat or a small dog. If I were to guess, I would say it was well over a foot long but less than 2 feet long - unless you include the tail, in which case it was easily over 2 feet long I think. The creature had a rounded body that looked almost or nearly hairless to me. It was a sort of sickly whitish-light grey color. The aforementioned tail was fairly long and *really* looked like a rat's tail to me. The tail was *absolutely* hairless and very cylindrical, and was noticeably thicker at the base, tapering into a point at the end. I didn't get a very good look at the head because I was so terrified and disgusted and shocked by the color and shape of its body and tail, and the size of the goddamn thing. I slowed down when I still thought it was a cat, and it was slow-moving enough that I might have hit it if I hadn't. Definitely not a cat. So was this thing really a gigantic loving sewer rat? I really, sincerely hope not because it was truly creepy - I'm still a bit freaked out by it. I honestly thought giant rats were urban myths - like the apocryphal story about the guy who goes to Mexico and mistakes a giant sewer rat for a Chihuahua and takes it home for a pet. Just for example. So, uh, yeah. Please someone tell me there's some sort of small mammal I'm either forgetting or unfamiliar with that this actually was. For reference, I live in northern New England, in the downtown section of a city of about ~100,000. And this really isn't a fakepost or something, no joke. kaworu fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Aug 28, 2012 |
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Aug 28, 2012 11:16
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kaworu posted:Ok guys, I have a SERIOUS question - I need help identifying an animal I saw. I have no idea where else to ask this but I would really like to know. it sounds like a possum
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Aug 28, 2012 11:43
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TVs Ian posted:New Foster. You guys either have a huge house or you don't mind constantly tripping over dogs. How many do you have in your house, anyway? Does it just seem like more than it is? You're recently down a foster, too, right?
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Aug 28, 2012 12:04
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kaworu posted:Ok guys, I have a SERIOUS question - I need help identifying an animal I saw. I have no idea where else to ask this but I would really like to know. Yepyep, that's an opossum! Freaky-looking, but I'm kind of fond of them.
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Aug 28, 2012 12:27
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Yeah that sounds a hell of a lot like a possum. They're nocturnal and often do stupid things like bumble out in front of cars. They're relatively common where I live but if you live in a suburb away from bush land you don't often see them. When I lived by a bird sanctuary I could hear the little fuckers on my roof all the time.
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Aug 28, 2012 12:29
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Oh yeah, that's a possum. See the little bastards all the time here, in both Angry and Road Pizza form.
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Aug 28, 2012 12:32
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WolfensteinBag posted:You guys either have a huge house or you don't mind constantly tripping over dogs. How many do you have in your house, anyway? Does it just seem like more than it is? You're recently down a foster, too, right? Yeah, Tonka and Arp the Pom both went to new homes in the spring/early summer. We have 7 dogs total in the house right now but really, I promise, it's not as bad as I think everyone is imagining it! Lucy, Guthrie and Bea are all under 15 lbs and Nori/Chary are under 30lbs. It isn't like we have a house full of St Bernards 
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Aug 28, 2012 13:48
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Ok, definitely a possum. Thanks guys. I had *no* clue those actually lived in Maine, and I actually always imagined them to look more like squirrels, and less like huge rats. Now I know exactly what they look like! And I'm glad I didn't hit the thing, it was sorta pathetic trying to waddle across the street. And yeah, I'm really surprised that I saw him where I did, given that all there was for miles in every direction was either city, or ocean. Not much soft ground or forestland. It just really freaked me out because I totally thought I saw some crazy freak-rat that had just come across a canister of green ooze and was in the process of transforming, I really didn't know what the gently caress. Thanks for the help PI 
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Aug 28, 2012 13:53
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So far the only thing I've ever hit with my car was a possum. He walked right under my tire. 
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Aug 28, 2012 13:56
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Possums do kind of look like they've been put together wrong, somehow. I like them and their strange freakishness, though.
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Aug 28, 2012 13:59
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They have an ungodly love of cat food, I know that much.
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Aug 28, 2012 14:27
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The worst thing about possums is that the Australian versions are like a million times cuter than the North American ones 
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Aug 28, 2012 15:22
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Oh hi Lola aren't you a good girl, crated for four hours and no mess anywhe-- why is the blanket that was on your cage now in your cage?  TVs Ian posted:New Foster. Send him to me. I need those ears in my life. Superconsndar posted:When my parents aren't home, I am bad. What a pair of good, good dogs
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Aug 28, 2012 15:30
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Fraction posted:Oh hi Lola aren't you a good girl, crated for four hours and no mess anywhe--   terriers.
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Aug 28, 2012 15:36
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InEscape posted:Purrcy is adorable. A perch will help but not that much, you'll always be more fun. Dad pony? I think you might have me mixed up with another poster maybe? Opossums are strange and have way too any teeth in their mouth so that makes them scary when they hiss...
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Aug 28, 2012 15:47
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Plus_Infinity posted:I have fallen down those stairs like 4 or 5 times. I grab the handrail every time I go down. I have to hoist Orbit onto my shoulder like a fireman's carry and then go down the stairs very carefully while grabbing the handrail. Our house is amazing but I do wish the stairs were better. What about stair treads or stair runners? 
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Aug 28, 2012 15:50
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Shifty Pony posted:Dad pony? I think you might have me mixed up with another poster maybe? There is another poster, Fat Pony I think, with a Kate Beaton pony avatar. She had an E/N thread about trying to figure out whether her dad committed suicide or was murdered when she was super little. Unfortunately the case is totally cold but still considered open, so the cops wouldn't give her much information. Asstro Van fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Aug 28, 2012 |
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Aug 28, 2012 15:59
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cryingscarf posted:
I love how Dex straight up doesn't give a poo poo. Lola was torn between 'yay you're home!' and 'oh god did i do a bad thing omg i'm so sorry wiggle wiggle'. There is currently an infestation in my house and my Dumb Terrier doesn't even care 
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Aug 28, 2012 16:05
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Skizzles posted:Would it be possible for Beck to see/smell/touch Skylar's body after she passes? I dunno if there's any scientific evidence that this helps, but... damnit if that last chapter of "The Other End of the Leash" didn't get to me. I know there was a study done with broodmares whose foals died. It was one of those common beliefs that mares would go crazy after losing a foal, but it turns out that they only tend to go crazy if the foal's body is immediately removed from them, or if it dies elsewhere and they don't get to see the body. If the body is left with the mare until she begins to ignore it, she'll be able to move on in the vast majority of cases. Sorry I don't have a citation or anything, I just remember reading it in Equus or some similar magazine years ago. Anecdotal evidence seems pretty strong that animals deal with death much better if they're allowed to see the body rather than having their buddy just disappear and never come back. Plus I think it's nicer to have the animal put down at home if possible and a lot of vets nowadays are willing to do that even if they don't make house calls in other circumstances. Wheats, you're doing good by Skylar. I'd say in addition to letting her pig out, do her favorite stuff with her. Take her to the duck pond if she likes water, play fetch with her, let her go be a big derpy dog at the dog park if she likes social stuff, whatever. Lots of activities to keep her stimulated, basically.
2tomorrow fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Aug 28, 2012 |
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Aug 28, 2012 16:22
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Quaffle has suddenly started baying out of the blue. Up until now he'd only do single barks, and only at people when he specifically wanted something from them (PET MEEEEEE) but today he was baying his fool head off at a helicopter overhead like he thought he had treed it or something. Sooooo maybe he is part coonhound or something after all. Do non-hound breeds bay? Between this and his Chewbacca-style howly talking that he got from his husky or malamute ancestors he sure does make weird noises.
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Aug 28, 2012 16:46
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Asstro Van posted:There is another poster, Fat Pony I think, with a Kate Beaton pony avatar. She had an E/N thread about trying to figure out whether her dad committed suicide or was murdered when she was super little. Unfortunately the case is totally cold but still considered open, so the cops wouldn't give her much information. Oh my god there are two Ponies and everything makes more sense now. Honestly with the avatar similarities, even if I had figured out they were different I probably would have assumed they were alts of each other. Sorry Shifty Pony!
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Aug 28, 2012 19:05
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Aravenna posted:Quaffle has suddenly started baying out of the blue. Up until now he'd only do single barks, and only at people when he specifically wanted something from them (PET MEEEEEE) but today he was baying his fool head off at a helicopter overhead like he thought he had treed it or something. Sooooo maybe he is part coonhound or something after all. Do non-hound breeds bay? Between this and his Chewbacca-style howly talking that he got from his husky or malamute ancestors he sure does make weird noises. I always, always assume "beagle" for baying dogs because they are a thousand times more common in the general US than coonhounds. Unless you're in the deep south or rural Maine or something. Most dogs have a howling/barking noise that isn't...quite so deep and loud as a typical hound's bay, though, so that's probably the more likely answer. If you could've heard him clearly from a mile away then I could see coonhound or bloodhound, but from what I've seen of him ITT he doesn't have the look.
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Aug 28, 2012 19:30
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Yeah I'm in Alabama and he's 72 pounds, so I'm thinking coonhound rather than beagle. And it's definitely baying, my grandfather and uncle raised hunting beagles so I know the difference between that and barking. It is LOUD, louder than I've heard from any of the other dogs in the neighborhood, and a totally different tone. The hound look is mostly in his head and ears, it's hard to get it to come out in pictures but he has a pretty houndy head and his ears are really low set (in the pictures he usually has them pricked so they look higher than they really are).
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Aug 28, 2012 19:44
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This dogge  
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Aug 28, 2012 20:04
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Aravenna posted:Yeah I'm in Alabama and he's 72 pounds, so I'm thinking coonhound rather than beagle. And it's definitely baying, my grandfather and uncle raised hunting beagles so I know the difference between that and barking. Isn't he a GSD/Husky mix or something? Huskies howl all the time - generally pretty loudly - but if you've got any houndy-looking photos then I'd love to see 'em. Usually the ears are the obvious tell - I've never seen a large scenthound mix that didn't have the long droopy ears. A friend of mine briefly fostered a husky/pit mix and you could hear it howling from down the block.
demozthenes fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Aug 28, 2012 |
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Aug 28, 2012 20:22
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Wheats posted:Additionally, how can we make this easier on my dog, Beck? Although she doesn't have the same problems with anxiety that Skylar does, they have been together for Beck's entire life, and she seems to think of keeping an eye on Skylar as part of her "job". Sorry about your sister's dog. Patricia McConnell just wrote a couple of blog entries about this topic, oddly enough. They might help...I didn't really read them fully but it seems appropriate. Topoisomerase fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Aug 28, 2012 |
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Aug 28, 2012 20:50
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TVs Ian posted:Yeah, Tonka and Arp the Pom both went to new homes in the spring/early summer. We have 7 dogs total in the house right now but really, I promise, it's not as bad as I think everyone is imagining it! Lucy, Guthrie and Bea are all under 15 lbs and Nori/Chary are under 30lbs. It isn't like we have a house full of St Bernards haha I know, it just sounds chaotic.
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Aug 28, 2012 20:54
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demozthenes posted:Isn't he a GSD/Husky mix or something? Huskies howl all the time - generally pretty loudly - but if you've got any houndy-looking photos then I'd love to see 'em. Usually the ears are the obvious tell - I've never seen a large scenthound mix that didn't have the long droopy ears. He is (we think, either that or malamute) but when he's doing the husky/mal howly-talky thing it is a totally different tone from this new baying. My family is from the deep south and we've been around lots of hunting hounds, so I'm absolutely sure this is baying, not howling or barking. I don't think he's a large percentage of hound, but he's obviously got something besides just GSD and husky or malamute, since his ears are dangly and start about halfway down his head. His energy level is also lower than I'd expect from a GSD or husky/malamute. I actually think the GSD percentage is fairly low too since he shows no characteristics (in appearance or behavior) of a GSD whatsoever other than having sort of that general shepherd mix look to him. My best friend has a GSD and she thinks Quaffle is just weird. If only those DNA tests were accurate...
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Aug 28, 2012 20:54
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He's got a saddle marking right? Could be working bloodhound. I've met a few of them and every one worth any muster has been imported from south of the Mason/Dixon. Throw him into nosework, even a little hound blood + a good deal of GSD will be a good combo for that!
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Aug 28, 2012 21:13
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demozthenes posted:He's got a saddle marking right? Could be working bloodhound. I've met a few of them and every one worth any muster has been imported from south of the Mason/Dixon. Throw him into nosework, even a little hound blood + a good deal of GSD will be a good combo for that! Nope, he's wild type agouti/wolf sable/whatever you want to call that gene. His coloring is definitely from the husky/malamute side. He does like to sniff out a trail on our walks, but what he likes BEST is being petted. When he's older I'm going to look into getting him certified as a therapy dog because for him there is nothing better in the world than PET MEEEEEEE. I spent several years visiting my grandfather in a nursing home when he had Alzheimers, and it was so sad at how some of the people there almost never got any visitors, and were so happy when we'd stop and talk to them. My grandfather was never all that excited about dogs (pre Alzheimers) but we came in one day and he was happily petting a therapy dog visiting. Much as I don't particularly like people, Quaffle does and add to that how I know my grandparents would have enjoyed so much having anyone at all visit, I almost feel I have no choice. Doggies make everyone feel better. This picture shows the houndy-ness of his head I think (he is intently watching the Olympics): 
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Aug 28, 2012 21:39
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InEscape posted:Oh my god there are two Ponies and everything makes more sense now. Honestly with the avatar similarities, even if I had figured out they were different I probably would have assumed they were alts of each other. Sorry Shifty Pony! It happens. Mostly because Kate Beaton is amazing. My kitty that didn't want anything to do with me is now being super pesty for petting! Having another cat in the house totally opened her up and she is no much more curious about things now. But as I mentioned in the cat megathread my roomba died. This is a problem because she is seriously loved being brushed now but that means fur everywhere! Has anyone had any experience with the new models and cat hair? I'm a bit hesitant to try out any HEPA filtered model because I would think those would clog up quickly.
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Aug 28, 2012 21:48
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Went out to look for the rat last night, couldn't find him at all. It's a really busy downtown area so it's unlikely he'll come out during the day. I hope nothing happened and he wasn't scared away from the area. :I
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Aug 28, 2012 22:28
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Just got Max home from the vet after getting his teeth pulled. He drunkenly climbed up to the couch with me, planted his head in my lap, and fell asleep Now I have to figure how how to force a dog to take icky-tasting pills when I can't touch his mouth. So far cheese has been working, but it's hard to sneak a pill in when he eats at a glacial pace due to his mouth being sore.
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Aug 29, 2012 00:30
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Who wants to adopt this gorgeous, sweet girl from us?  
Skizzles fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Aug 29, 2012 |
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Aug 29, 2012 02:56
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I do! What's the current wisdom on best device for combing out the loose fur on a cat that's just going nuts with the shedding?
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Aug 29, 2012 02:58
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| # ? Jun 6, 2024 13:35 |
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Do you have a Furminator? That really is the magic tool. Making short deep strokes (but avoid hitting the skin) and cleaning the blade often is the best way to do it. Follow up with a slicker brush to pull out any stray fluff.
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Aug 29, 2012 03:17
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