spottychick

Excellent lillistar - he's really helpful. Say hi to him for me :D The soft collars were no good for me. They are too flexible so they don't stop the dog from getting to bits they shouldnt be getting too. ETA - I'm suggesting you tell him where you heard about him because he's struggling with publicity and I'm trying to convince him to advertise in the banner bit here He needs to know this is where people are finding him and why.

One of my dogs wont walk in the rain otherwise they get walked in all weather unless it's really fierce.

Staranais - I've done all that and more and it's made not one iota of difference. So I tell people what happened and at which vets - one person at a time. There's nothing to stop you telling people you don't recommend a particular vet as long as you don't make it a public announcement and are careful about how you say it. Its just the same as saying "dont go to that shop because their clothes are badly made". That aint defamation - that's just bad business and the consequences of it. That's called "word of mouth" and it can either be positive or negative. At present it seems like the only option anyone has when a vet is useless or worse. And it's what I do about that vet I went to. Anyone I know asks me which vet to go to I tell them which vets NOT to go to. In fact, I could probably go public with certain parts of what happened because they are FACT and TRUE (and verifiable) as long as I didn't then publicly say "So they are a useless vet" because that moves into the area of defamation. People can draw their own conclusions from the facts tho. So presenting facts is NOT defamation - as long as they are true. Making wild accusations that you aren't 100% certain you can back up is what's risky. So it's better to not say it So Kelly - there's nothing at all to stop you telling people those facts you posted and who that vet is - but I'd do it one to one rather than say on a forum. Annoying isn't it. But anyone should feel free to PM me if you live in Tas and want to know which vets I would "recommend"

Heee hee he does look like a welder hahahaaha The novagard has that bit on the head that holds the thing in place. Its on the optivisor too and it really is good because it means the collar doesnt move around and is nicely held in place and kept away from the face. It also allows the ears to poke through which stops dogs getting yeasty ears from the moist environment caused when wearing the usual collar. Also, because of it's fit - ie that it doesn't have to come our AROUND the ears, it doesnt stick out as much as the e-collar, its closer into the face. Great for saving furniture, legs etc. When Tango had the horrible ecollar on he kept ramming into the door frame and busted it within 2 days. It ended up being more sticky tape than collar. And those stripes on the front of it are indentations that make it easy to cut lengths off if you need to shorten it back to the dogs face a bit.

Not I - but I will when I get Dylan de-sexed Be good to hear some feedback on it tho.

Definitely more affordable for those of us with smaller dogs. One packet feeds my tribe with some left over. LOL Yes a bit different when you have 3 piggy dalmatians!!

Hmmm, spottychick I'm convinced by your excellent argument and would like to buy your dog walker machine! *rubs hands together* Egggxxxxcelllent!!! I'll get back to you with a very over-inflated reasonable mates-rate price....... muwahahahaha! *nips off to bodgy-up something with a conveyor belt*

I use it occassionally. Expensive to feed regularly tho. seems good.

if it helps This is Tango in the Optivisor - you wouldn't use that tho for your dog - you'd need the novaguard This is the one you need novagard ETA The plastic on that image is from the older design so I think they are now using the pastic you see on Tangos visor - it's clearer and stronger, but still kinda flexible.

Yep! That was me!! I contacted that nice inventor bloke Tassie and he sent me one of his brilliant contraptions. If you call him he is very helpful and will try to get the right fit etc for your dog. Here's the thread optivisor thread and this is their website provizor If you ring him please tell him Tango's (the dalmatian) owner recommended him!!!

I'm with corvus. It isn't an example of "the other side" because he has no real understanding of what the "clicker training" side is. He's made up his own wildly inaccurate picture of what clicker training is, making sure it sounds REALLY bad, and then attacked the obvious problems he put into his made up version of clicker training. LMAO So his opinion is completely flawed from the outset and therefore offers no benefit. It's like me making stuff up and saying - "people who use a collar and lead on a dog are control freaks who only think of their dogs as robots with no feelings and no self-control. All it does is make the dog dependent on you for everything. THEREFORE no-one should use a collar and leash!!! Instead all dog owners should never take the dogs for walks and buy one of my fabulous dog walker machines to keep them exercised instead!" A 'straw man' argument to make whatever you're pushing or selling sound legitimate and good.

Yeah another one here who feeds dogs inside and it disappears in seconds LOL. If they didn't eat it immediately I'd wrap it and put it in the fridge till next time (or later). Bones are outside and never get a chance to accumulate flies LMAO Wouldn't matter if they did anyway If you're leaving him food for while your at work or something I just wouldn't do that. He can eat in the morning when you're there and/or evening when you're home. A good meaty bone will keep him occupied during the day. They dont need to graze on food all day - in fact that's probably a bad idea for lots of reasons. Some people leave kongs as a distraction - I don't like kongs because of accidents I've seen happen with them but there are alternatives that I've heard are safer eg everlasting or you can get him a "home alone" toy of some kind to keep him entertained. I just wouldn't use regular food for that purpose My dogs just entertain each other when I'm not there LOL

Tango barked at my black wooden cats that I hang over the doorway. It was wierd because he didn't bark at them in my old house where he was with us for 6 months or so but when we moved and I put them up again he went nuts at them. He's over it now tho. Dylan, the youngster, barks at his reflection in a mirror, tin sculptures of mine workers, unusual street signs (eg the big green "wildlife carer" sign on the house near the river) and any large objects that look out of place on a landscape. He is very alert None of them seem to care about the tv except if Inspector Rex is on or some other show where animals make noises and then it's the noise that sets them off. Mind you my reception is so bad they probably cant see much on there anyway - I know I can't.

Yes, it seems he built a "straw man" to knock down so that he sounds like he's got the answer. I find that objectionable. Of course some of his points are valid along the way. That's how 'straw men' theories work. I agree - clicker training's just a tool, like any other.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the soy bean meal in VANS - that was another ingredient I wasn't thrilled about.

LOL Yeah I don't think nuking the stuff is a great idea The cooked grains etc would probably be more difficult to digest and wouldn't be doing their job properly. I imagine the Vit C would be destroyed and the yeast would cook so the mix wouldn't ferment properly like it should. Switching them over might cause some digestion problems to begin with altho it's not a huge change - like say from kibble to raw - so it might not happen or be minimal. I havent seen any problems so far but I've only been feeding them Phuds for a couple of days or so. They have very firm poos but I think that's to do with all the bones they get.

Ohhhhhhhh *duh* I guess I havent seen that one yet

Good. I was running with that theory, but it's nice to have it backed up. Oh, and shame on your dogs for leaving the teeth! Ok LOL IT was just a thought. Although I do know what you mean - I mix up fresh meat, the VAN/PHUDS mix, plus pulped veggies etc and bag it myself anyway - it's kinda fun. I also have to make a separate lot of stuff for Tango who can't eat a lot of "normal" dog stuff so I have a whole 'nother ritual for his dinners involving the pressure cooker! I noticed youre another taswegian!! Yay us! I hope you don't work where I used to buy my VAN from in Launceston ........

;) I want to use that! OMG I am so stealing that. Awwww I dont get it. What am I missing????

Ooohhh, ouch! Does it not have a ring on the back you could clip the leash to? LOL No not this one Aiden. I've been looking around for some other models But I do keep an eye on him and drop my hand close to the ground as soon as I notice it LOL Poor dude.

What are 4x2 farrals?? Have you had a look at something like Phuds or VANs (Vets all natural) Complete Mix which you can add to the meat? They contain supplements that might help him, including oats, barley and other good things. My dogs have been fed VANs, mince meat of various kinds and RMBS and always have very healthy solid poos We're just trying out Phuds now to see if it's as good. I also make my keffir - which is like yoghurt on speed and feed it to the dogs and myself

I've been using a front-attaching harness on Tango so when he's on the long line he does tend to get the odd wedgie - poor love LMAO but I managed to work out most of the tangling issues pretty quickly - and so did he. Even Pepper worked out how to leap over or duck under his lead while she's running and carrying on around us. Pepper is completely rock solid on recall, I can call her away from anything in the world - and I have absolutely no idea why - she has never been formally trained. I wish I knew how it happened so I could do it to the others LOL

Hi sheena - VANS is really good stuff and I've used it for about 8 years. The difference for me is that Phuds doesn't have yeast in it which is one of the highest sources of purines which my stone-former boy has to minimise. The other difference is that VANs relies on the principle of fermentation (hence the yeast is doubly important) where Phuds doesnt. With VANs you leave it 24 hours to ferment (and smell!!! LOL) but with Phuds you pour boiling water on it and youre good to go in about 10 minutes. Their other ingredients are similar and I think they both add some great supplements and are based on very similar notions of pet nutrition. I love the smell of Phuds - coz it has coconut in it - smells like something I could eat! ETA ingredients copied from another forum post Phuds, All Dogs Essence For Life Food suitable for all dogs on a daily basis - Wholesome and unprocessed. Contains: Stone ground grains oats and barley, polenta, buck seed, psyllium husk, coconut, vegetables, lentils, linseed meal, kelp, calcium, rosehip herb, garlic, dandelion root herb. Unique modern food designed to be mixed with water and meat (fresh, cooked or canned). Phuds offers a real alternative low allergy, packed with absorbable natural nutrients and a great high fibre source. Phuds: high fibre – supports detoxification of the body, liver and kidney function reduces offensive body odour contains herbs that offer natural vitamins and minerals aids movement and flexibility builds on assisting immunity to guard against fleas and pests enhances rich lush coat and improves skin health Basically a 25 kilo dog requires 1 cup mixed with around 11/2 cups of boiling water and 2 cups of fresh meat. The "vegetables" mentioned in the ingredients are tiny pieces of carrot and peas. So I have to be concerned about the peas as well as lentils as both are rich in purines. It depends what else I feed tho - so I'm considering just asking them to remove one of those ingredients Also - I can't remember off-hand but doesnt VANs contain wheat? Cheers

I'd be thinking there's some pain where he's licking too. Especially if he's never done it before. Have you tried giving him massages? There's some great videos on T-Touch that I used on my boy who had lick granulomas - helped him a lot.

Hi Jules I just called them and the lady said they make 250k at a time and don't really do custom orders anymore. Altho it might be possible if someone wanted an additive put IN. Just too difficult to remove ingredients. But she's gone off to see if she can come up with alternative ideas for Tango. ETA - she just called back and said they had another chat about it and decided they COULD do it for me if I ordered in advance and a big enough amount (at least 10 kg). That's a lot but if the product is good with the other two dallys then it will be worth doing. Yay! I'm impressed that they talked about it and decided they could make a special batch for me after all.