Red Mal

If not already mentioned, Please, please DO NOT feed cooked Bones :rolleyes: They are extremely dangerous. Raw is an excellent diet. Look up BARF, Dr Ian Billinghurst and Tom Lonsdale for information on feeding raw. There's a lot to take into consideration when feeding this and many get it very wrong which is detrimental to the health of your dog. There is also a list of foods you should never feed that are dangerous and it's wise to know this. Do a search there are some great topics on it. ;) Also you should not be feeding raw chicken with biscuits. The two digest at different rates through the dog, and therefore can cause potentially lethal health problems. I would stick to biscuit/kibble, until you have researched Raw, then change over. With certain veg, like carrot, it needs to be blended to break down the cell walls, or feeding it is a waste of time nutritionally. grating it does not do the job. hope this helps They're a great lot on here and will give you loads of advice ;)

Adding raw bones will keep his teeth nice and shiny, that's one thing kibble doesn't do. Absolutely, I forgot to add that ;) I was thinking more along the lines of adding raw to kibble wont help Nutritionally. But yes, many people forget that when feeding kibble your dog is likely to suffer tooth decay and plaque galore, which leads to peridontal disease, which trust me, is painful for the dog and expensive for the owner ;) When feeding raw you have to remember to include a variety and veggies and oils etc. Don't overdo on supplements unless you know what you are doing with them and avoid any calcium or cod liver oil supplements. You have to get it in balance and get the ratio of raw to veggies roughly right. You will find that once you start looking into it, you will start looking into the values of everything, i.e protein etc. Each meat has different protein values etc, so certain meats aren't right for every dog, mine for instance don't have beef as it contains the wrong type of protein for them. Do some research into it first, as so many people feed it and get it terribly wrong, then wonder why their dog is not thriving on it. Look up Dr Ian Billinghurst and Tom Lonsdale. Both are based on the same goal although a little diferent in theory. Also remember you must have, time, adequate equipment (for chopping and/or blending ;) ), a strong stomache, a love of flies :rolleyes: , and the willingness to accept the loss of your fridge/freezer space

You really shouldn't be feeding both at the same time. Kibble is complete so adding raw will do very little for his diet. If you intend on changing over to raw completely, great, but I really don't see the point in feeding both !! Why not feed either kibble or raw ? If you feel raw is best, why not feed it all the time without the kibble ? I have fed both raw and kibble separately for long periods of time and see the differences in both. However, kibble digests at a different rate to raw food, so some dogs suffer terrible digestive problems when fed both together as one can hold the other back and cause blockages etc. It can cause various problems, so your better off sticking to one or the other. Also with the carrot you really want to be blending it, as grating it doesn't really break down the cells walls, so feeding it is a waste of time and does not offer any nutritional value to the dog. hope this helps

Pups lick around their mothers faces and mouths to make them regurgitate food, a bit like birds do. It's also a submissive behaviour and they are saying, I know you are the boss. Dominant dogs do not lick their owners faces

Don't you know?.................. present the food, give him 10 seconds and if he hasn't eaten it, remove his plate and voila!!! No more until the next day. ....plus do not be tempted to change his food or he will start getting fussy

Not arguing with the statement above, but to add balance to it - there are times when a 'quicker fix' than what 'positive only' methods would provide IS required. For the owners' sake and relative safety. For the community's sake and relative safety. And often times for the dog's sake and relative safety. I totally agree Erny. I just think there are too many people these days that want a quick fix when it's not necessary, but their own lifestyle demands that it be done sooner, to please them, as apposed the dog

Thanks guys for the input Great stuff to ponder on and take in. Kelpie, I agree, I think part of the problem, is owners wanting a quick fix, as they dont have the time to train their dogs in the methods we prefer. Our society demands that we do everything the quick way with maximum effect. I 'Want it NOW' attitude, so trainers are jumping on the opportunity to show how quick they can succeed, regardless of the long term effects. Erny I agree, TV is all about being aesthetically pleasing, a the 'lil Mexican' is no different , although I have to say you wouldn't say that if you saw a picture of the elderly trainer I mentioned earlier....Barbara Woodhouse .....LOL I havn't read the link yet, but I will do now, I know Mr Dunbar is very well respected. It's great having this discussion and bouncing ideas around. Makes you think about much more

Erny, thanks for your responses, interesting. By my statement I didn't mean that only flooding would make you a success, I simply meant that it only seems that the trainers who use flooding are the only ones who ever gain any recognition, whether it be on TV/Media or known worldwide. Trainers that dont use flooding seem to be fading into the background and are never heard of. Here in the UK, we had an elderly horse/dog trainer many years ago, (she died in 1988) and her methods could have been described as flooding and she received much critisism for it at the time. She was a huge influence in dog training and known Nationally. Her books are still bought to this day. It's only been in recent years that people have gone back to her methods with great success. No one was as successful as her until Jan Fennel came along and who also uses some of her methods. So, I guess what I am saying is, is flooding the new trend for training, as it only seems that people that use flooding are the most successful ?? I used Monty as an example because most people take many months to successfully and safely break in a horse, whereas Monty took a wild horse and had it saddled up within hours. This of course was due to his understanding of horses and their behaviour. If Cesar Milan adn other trainers have the same understanding of dogs, is flooding then the desired and most appropriate technique among those who understand these animals the best ???

Barf or otherwise, inter-digital licking won't be solved by any amount of food once fungi or bacteria set in. Hence the need for a visit to a vet!!! Did I say otherwise I was simply trying to help the OP by giving another possible reason for the behaviour.

I wouldn't worry too much. Your pup and cat will learn through interaction to either stay away from eachother or learn to accept one another. Allow them to react, but supervise for a while. I have known many 'dog hating' cats to end up bonding with a puppy, even when the puppy is a 45k mountain of fluff to cuddle into

Erny, thanks for that I spent a lot of time reading through these posts. Just out of interest, what do you guys think of trainers like Jan Fennel and Monty Roberts ??? Do you view their training methods as flooding .....i.e, Monty forcing a wild Horse to wear a saddle within a small time frame etc ? Understanding the true meaning of flooding, it seems that there are many trainers that do this, and again, we never actually get to see the whole picture, just what they want us to see. I also find it interesting that these types of trainers are ones that have admittedly been doing it for many, many years. Where are all the non flooding trainers ??? Are they yesterday's methods ?? Does this mean, because it only seems that outwardly the most successful trainers are ones that flood, that this is the way forward in the world of training (dogs or horses etc) ??? These are not my opinions by the way, just a thought, what do you think ??

More confused You Thanked ME, before Amhailte even replied to your question ??????????????? what were you thanking me for ?

Aah thanks for that I understand now. I think it depends on the dog too, not just the fact that flooding is bad altogether. I've dealt with a few dogs that took months to do anything with and tried every type of desensitisation, but to no avail. Only flooding techniques worked, and very quickly. One dog in particular acted like it was what he needed afterwards. He was such a happy dog afterwards. I also think alot of people place too much emphasys on how a dog 'feels' when they need to look at how the dam of the dog would react to training that pup herself. They dont desensitise. I agree with it, but only with certain dogs in certain circumstances. "Flooding"................. You learn something new everyday

Eh ???????????? Thank you for what ????? I'm Confused !

Spot on Erny, I agree with what you say about dogs being dogs. I'm still non the wiser as to what 'flooding' is though. We must have an equivalent surely ?? Can you describe what it is.....pleasssse

Punishment !!!!! Sorry, I don't see any punishment, only correction by diversion. Not sure what you mean by flooding. That means something different in the UK clearly !

He's on TV now, a new episode, so I'll excuse myself to indulge in a bit of lil Mexican

But lets face it, that article, sounds like he's a monster............ "Practices such as physically confronting aggressive dogs and using of choke collars for fearful dogs are outrageous" There is a distinct difference between confrontation and approaching with a positive attitude. Also the choke collar only comes into effect when the dog proceeds to behave undesireably. Apart from that it is loose. Many people who have studied Wolves and pack behaviour have been training this way for decades, Cesar Milan is just the media face of what has been going on. Shaun Ellis lived with Wolves for this purpose to understand their behaviour. His findings were much the same on how they understand eachother and how they react to an individual and how they learn. Cesar Milan is not dangerous, he simply tries to inform people of the understanding of dogs. Such a shame so many people don't understand dogs, yet try to 'make' them follow commands they dont understand. Such a shame there are so many people, who dont understand people that understand dogs !!!

Obsessive paw licking can also be the result of DIET. Certain ingredients in a dogs' diet can expell certain toxins that release through the pores in the skin and cause irritation. It's well documented that when dogs change from Complete food to BARF, paw licking starts, as the old Toxins start being expelled completely from th dogs' body. It also causes ganky eyes too (another port for Toxin release) HTH

We do that too I know, such a shame................I may have to email him and point out the error of his ways and correct him

You did have to go and upset me didn't you ..."la, la, la, That's why I fell for.......the leader of the pack" :D

I have to say, I've thought the same about the intesity of corrections, and I can understand why too. Why, spend ages nagging for a serious issue, when you can resolve it much quicker, therefore the dog is rewarded quicker ! Just my thoughts oh and...Cesar can correct me if he likes

Leadership (this way Cesar).... Excercise (Like this Cesar).... Affection (Ooh la la) ;) ;) Night all :cool:

;) ;) He even has a way of making people screw up their spelling too :cool: I'm off to bed now, to dream that the OH is a cheeky little mexican ;)

;) Cesar Milan Porno............................................don't I'm having visions ....................haw, haw, cheeky little mexican, you bad boy ;) :cool: