poochmad

Thanks Luke. He currently gets pigs ears and raw hide treats...however, it appears he ignores these and concentrates his efforts on the door frame! We'll try the bitter spray - presume I just get it from a pet shop? Those chew toys seem interesting - are those 'rings' beef hide?

We have a 5.5 month old spaniel whom due to the area we live in and being a show dog (i.e not desexed), must remain indoors for his own protection. (There have been reports of undesexed dogs being stolen. God knows what happens to them...) We have created a large puppy 'pen' for him which is situated at the back of the house, on a tiled area and is 3m x 3m. We have tried to create the pen to be an exciting place, by tying toys to the gate for him to play with, rotating different toys - squeakys, soft toys, plastic bottles, etc on a regular basis. He also currently gets chicken wings frozen into a kong. However, lately he has started to chew on the door frames (no surprises there). Of course we can see that this is due to boredom and ferverently wish we could allow him the freedom of the backyard, but fear that he would get stolen (we back on to a well used laneway and currently have low fences). Down the track we aim to enclose the carport to allow him more freedom, which we will also put in a clam sand pit and water clam for the summer time. Upon doing research within this folder for 'boredom' I have been thinking about building a beam to run along the top of the ceiling and then dangling 'boredom busters' such as kongs stuffed with food, cardboard boxes and purchasing the home alone toy (biscuit ball on a bungee cord). Besides doing any of the above, is there anything else (besides walking/training in the morning) we could try? Looking forward to ideas. Thanks.

My 5 month old pup started doing this very thing! Of course one day he chose to do it as we were crossing the road and I had to quickly 'drag' him and then run over and pick him up before he was run over! At the time we were using a head halti (as years ago this was the 'done thing') and yesterday I tried a flat collar (as that is what they use at dog training) and he didn't stop once! Of course, he pulls now on the flat collar, so we are in the process of stopping everytime the lead goes tense and after 5 mins of walking way he had almost stopped pulling. (Before anyone says anything, I'm not teaching him to 'heel' as my training club teaches it in a particular way in the next level up and I don't want to confuse him. If he can learn to walk 'freely' without a tense lead then I'm happy with that at this point in time.)

Thanks. Will do.

We have a Field Spaniel and part of the breed temperament description is 'reserved with strangers'. This means that the dog might take their time accepting people immediately (unlike a Cocker Spaniel) so this was taken into account. When Henschke was a younger pup he happily approached everybody. As he got older he became a lot more wary and if people rushed him on the street he would back away. Taking him to puppy class at 4 months has helped considerably – especially when he was handed around in a large circle and given treats at every greeting! Now he is quite keen to approach new people. However, while walking him on a lead, if someone rushes him or puts out their hand too quickly, he will step back, but then step forward again. At home it’s a different story. We warn everyone coming to the house that our pup is not enthusiastic with people and to ignore him and let him approach them. Because he’s so cute, people get really excited and speak with high pitched voices…surprisingly, he is quite happy to go to them. However, he tends to be picky about who he lets touch him and should a man (usually) try to rush him he will back off and not go near them. We don’t force him to go near them – it’s up to him who he chooses to be friends with. A breed book even mentions that the breed is quite good at assessing people and some breeders use the dogs as a guide of who’s good and who’s not. As he is quite happy greeting most people, we don’t feel we need to seek professional help. The people that he does keep a distance from, tend to be either overbearing or tense people. (I personally would avoid them too if I could!) Recently, we had 4 men come into the house to fix the kitchen floor and as they walked straight in from the back door, Henshcke went off his nut. He had his hackles up and stood his ground and barked (which surprised the heck out of us, as we didn't even know he could bark!) but kept running backwards and forwards. I didn't tell him to be quiet nor did I praise him. Personally I thought it was a good response that he reacted that way to strangers coming in the wrong way... Since he was so unsure of the situation, I put him behind a kiddie gate and he in turn relaxed. However, he spent the whole day watching what was happening from behind his 'security' gate. However, if he was barking and had hackles raised when I had friends visiting, then I would be concerned and would definitely get someone in. I wouldn't want to take the risk that the next step could lead to a dog bite if someone misread his signals. Any time that he has barked at someone it's been in fun, he crouches down and has his tail wagging, even if he doesn't approach them. Although I probably haven't helped you like Erny has, I thought it might assist you in hearing from someone else with a similar story and how we approached it.

He's 5 1/2 months old. We were told to feed sardines by his breeder to prevent collapsed pasterns...unfortunately, I think we ended up with another problem - sloppy poos. Since last night we have cut back on the amount of sardines and are only giving 1 tspn each meal - it already seems to be working as his poos are a lot firmer. I will monitor and see whether I need to remove the sardines all together. I read somewhere else on the forum to re-worm in a fortnight?

Thanks for all responses...however the mystery has been solved. He had worms - found the little dead white buggers in his dried up stool. The good news is that he did a lovely firm stool when we got home. :rolleyes: However, does this mean we need to worm him again?

Last night Henschke had an awful bout of diarrhoea - it appeared to have blood mixed in it. As we stood scratching our head to think of the cause, we determined the only difference that night was that: 1. He had a tray of ice cubes (he loves ice). 2. He was wormed - which is 13 days overdue. 3. He seemed to have had a block anal gland (hubby inadvertantly unblocked it when he cleaned his bum as we didn't know why he was being so smelly until I did a search here). 4. Upon checking the poo - I discovered two bones from chicken. Could any of the above caused the diarrhoea or was it just a coincidence? If he had worms - would the worming medication caused this reaction? He had the diarrhoea, 1.5 hours after the worming tablets, ice and anal gland 'fix'. The chicken had been fed that morning. One other thing, he is currently getting 1 sardine with each meal (he's fed twice - a smaller meal in the morning and a larger meal in the evening as he doesn't tend to eat that much in the morning) - is this too much, should we reduce the amount of sardines as I read on here last night (as part of my research before posting this thread) that sardines are also used if a dog is constipated. Thoughts/suggestions welcomed.

Henschke's breeder advised that sometimes Field Spaniels have difficulty losing their canines - so I'm glad I asked. He started losing teeth around 16 weeks and at 5 months is still losing them. We gave him lots of pigs ears to remove the canines as apparently Fields also have 'soft' teeth and shouldn't be given hard bones. If I hadn't spoken to the breeder about this, I would never have known and could have run the risk of ruinining his teeth...

Hi all. Just came back from the vet and he thinks it was grass seed irritation. He checked for ulcers and thankfully he's clear. He's got some cream to clear up his eyes and we'll see how he goes tomorrow on whether we can show him. He doesn't think it's conjuctivitis because of the colour of the discharge (normal teething gunk) and also becuase his eyes aren't itchy.

Our 5 month old pup is currently teething. He is currently losing all the teeth from both sides of his lower jaw - from his back molars (the large ones) to the canines and it seems to be causing quite a bit of discomfort. When he was losing the other teeth (front and canines), he wouldn't stop chewing. Now he doesn't want to chew unless it's soft and the area looks red and sore. Our main concern are his eyes - especially his right one. The inside lid (whatever it's called) is closing up over the eye and his eye looks really red and sore. He's not scratching at his eye or rubbing his face in the carpet, nor is there excessive weeping. Last night the inner lid closed up near all the way over the eye (like it happens when they're asleep) and he was squinting. Both eyes are looking red and he constantly looks tired. Attached is a photo of his right eye and you can just see the 'inner lid' closing near his pupil. The other photo is a picture (albeit bit blurry) of both red eyes. We are taking him to the vet today just to be on the safe side, but I just wanted to ask if other people have had this problem and is it related to his teething? Is he just having a rough trot with losing teeth? Thanks.

Thanks Wagsalot - I'm glad I asked. I asked the vet before seeing your post and they advised that unless I was going to the 'beach' I didn't need to worry...but the map in the pinned section shows the whole of Sydney as being a risk area... Oh. And the idea of ticks crawling over your pup sends shivers up my back...eek!

Thanks Poodlefan. My understanding with this treatment is that it should be applied a week before travelling to affected area - will I have enough time to ensure he's covered?

Thanks for the info, Miss B; hubby and I were discussing this just the other day...now I can tell him what really happens.

We're going to Matraville and Gymea Bay.

Hi all. We currently live in the Southern Tablelands and were told by our vet that ticks aren't an issue in our area. However, I just finished reading the pinned tick thread and realise that Sydney is a high risk area...and as we are going to Sydney this Saturday, now I'm very concerned. Can anyone please advise of quick acting medication/collar we need to purchase to ensure our pooch is safe? Also, do you think we should be protecting him against ticks regardless of what our vet says? Thanks Meg

Henschke's been on Orijen for almost 8weeks. He gets 3/4 cup each morning and night, mixed with half a sardine. For every solid poo he has a softer poo to match. Not sure whether this is the kibble or whether this is the treats he receives (he gets a little dried liver or a pigs ear, or a chicken twist thing, etc). When he stops teething, I will just have him on Orijen and sardines (without the chews) for a couple of days to see whether his poos improve... When he was on his other puppy food - Advance Plus, every single poo was sloppy and he pooed a lot more and scratched all the time. Now he hardly scratches and poos in the morning, during the day, in the afternoon and once at night.

Hi Kelpie-i. You have made me feel a whole lot better! You're correct - the word dominance is thrown around way too easily and it's easy to become concerned without needing to. Henschke is very good. He sits and waits for his dinner (if he goes to eat it, I say uh-uh and he will stop and re-sit), he's only allowed on the couch when we invite him, otherwise he sleeps on the floor. If he goes on the couch he's told 'off' and he happily jumps down. Sometimes he will come on the couch (when asked) and then hops off and sleeps on the floor.

Hi Erny. thanks for your comments, sorry for my tardy response. (I have been offline for a few days). I too, thought it was a comfort thing only and wasn't really that concerned. The fact that I can give him high value treats (pigs ears, chicken wings) and touch him or even take them away shows that he's not being dominant. There are times that he lies away from us as well, so again I'm not concerned that it's becoming a 'habit'. I don't mind him lying on or near me while he's eating...I take it as a compliment. What are your thoughts on dogs standing/lying on your feet? Do you think that's a comfort thing as well?

My 15 week old pup likes to lie on me while chewing a beef hide or pigs ear, or if he can't lie on me (i.e. sitting in a chair), he will sit or lie on my foot. (If I'm not present he will sit or lie near my husband or family members.) My friend was told at dog training that when her pup (18 weeks) lies on her foot or sits on it, it's dominating her. Which of the two statements refer to a pup being dominant or are the dogs just being affectionate? Thanks.

Talk to your vet about when it's safe to venture outside. Obedience clubs shouldn't allow you to come to class until your pup is ready. Personally, I wouldn't be taking your pup anywhere (outside your house/yard) until completely safe. Parvo is rife here in Goulburn and Henshcke has never put his foot on the ground. What's another couple of weeks (or days) until your pup is ready and you're feeling comfortable? It would be just awful if you decided to take her out and she got ill. Just my thought.

A good trick if your pup is chewing the brush...is to stick something in their mouth. Henschke was driving me nuts trying to eat the brush, so I put a beef hide in his mouth and he was quite happy to chew on that while he got brushed. Once brushing finished, I took the beef hide away. (He gets so many things to chew taking this one away isn't a concern.)

Where can I get dolomite powder? And, can I add it to his food now as a 'just in case', or should I only wait until there's something to worry about? The breeder did advise that the breed can suffer from collapsed pasterns and to feed sardines to fix. We are already adding sardines to his meal, so am I right in understanding we shouldn't see this problem at all? How do I know whether his wrists are forming correctly? What signs can I watch out for? ETA: sorry for all the questions!

I hear you, I hear you. Our beautiful Field Spaniel drives me insane sometimes (I posted a similar thread whereby he's biting the back of my legs and feet). Luckily he is so cute...is all I can say...

She really is beautiful. They are such a pretty setter; it's a pity there aren't more. What is the temperament difference to the other 3 setters?