Big Paws Only Dog Forums

8/31/05
final score: big paws 2, cell phones 0

that's so strange.. nikki's first time at the beach (didn't take pix.. digicam STILL broken.. plus, digicam + lake water == broken digicam so...) was kinda like that too. she would trot along the shallow shore line, but not go r0mp in the water. until the Golden started running into the deep, then she followed... but once in the water, she looked like a deer frozen in headlights and we had to cajole her to move

i thought these dogs were s'pose to love the water. (snow, water, same diff?)

Tony,
I don't mean to pick on you I really don't, but you keep setting me off!   I have 3 dogs, meaning I need alot of cargo room.  So why not go with a van?  Or a station wagon?  Because I need sturdy 4 Wheel drive.  I don't want it I need.  Right now I'm living with my grandparents as their health is foundering, and they live in the midle of nowhere.  Cross some dirt roads that are never worked on, go up 70 degree hills, and I live in New Hamsphire where we have lovely lovely snow, and often, when it's too cold to snow, we get freezing ice.

Ang,
i also don't MEAN to set u off but.. understand there are countries (besides our own) which suffer the same condition as your beloved NE... and they don't abuse the availability of trucks like us. you have 3 dogs, i have 2. you live in the snow, ditto. granted i'm not offroadin', but in the jungles of Chicago downtown, i might as well be.

a sturdy wagon w/ 4 wheel drive you ask? Audi has been making these for ever and a day, since the 80s i believe. ditto to benz (4matic series) and now bmw. teutonic cars too outrageously priced? try any subaru wagon -  been AWD, and more reliable than most american trucks, since the 80s -  or the RAV4/CR-V (both car based mini-utes w/ FRUGAL 4bangers) don't like japanese? try the new dodge magnum wagon 4wd or ford escape. the MISCONCEPTION is that snow dwellers (beside yourself) NEED 3 ton 4WD trucks to survive. I drove around MI / IL in a slammed Miata for 2 years. Never got stuck. it's a 50/50 balanced rwd car with snow tires mounted.

again, similar to the doggy food thread, there ARE better solutions that ppl are simply unwilling to accept; PROVE to me a 15mpg 4wd truck is more capable in the snow than a 27mpg RAV4/CRV... actually don't bother. it's not. trucks are heavier, stop slower, accelerate slower,  turn slower due to bigger tires/height. AND of course, burn more gas. drive on ice? no amount of awd, 4x4, 10 wheel drive can save you on ice. "almost" every car, beyond the tire factor, is equally doomed. did you know a Mazda6 wagon (which I sold for awhile) has more cargo room than a Ford explorer??? and Europeans ride motorcycles (50mpg+) in the SNOW??? this is what i mean by 'asinine' Americans.

Tony
* car geek
** also a hypocrite as I'm picking up an S2000 on Sunday... but o wait! that still gets 30mpg on the freeway w/ the top down... 

i just saw a gas station raising prices by another $0.20/gal during my lunch drive... maybe i can get the 2 dogs to tow me 22 miles to work???

how i wish i can take the dogs out to a OC beach right now.... 1 more year here in Chi-town and back we go...

thanks for that well thought out reply Saintly Girl!
that said, after 2 incidents yesterday, we've pinned Nikki's 'accidents' (which don't seem so accidental after all) to separation anxiety.

after all, the 7mo Saint's (rescued from a desperate family) only been w/ us for a week, and she is showing EVERY classic sign of pet 'separation anxiety'. the hard part is, we're moving into a new (much larger) place in about a week, so even when we train her 'separation anxiety' out this week, she'll p'bly repeat it next week again.

my 4 yr old GR Cody also exhibited 'separation anxiety' when we first took 'im away from the backyard breeder. but w/ a lil trickery and patience, he is really gentle and at peace with the world now.