samoyedman

Thanks Pointee. By the way, I forgot to mention the current owner has 2 small dogs (about schnauzer size) in the yard and the grass is 100% perfect.

I currently have an averaged sized 3.5 year old samoyed in a large-ish yard. I'm looking at buying a new place with a substantially smaller yard...about 9 meters by 4 meters wide. I plan to have a dog-door so he can go into the house whenever he wants during storms or heat waves. Near the new place are lots of walkways and he will get two walks every day, play time/toys and lots of human company at night and on weekends (he is alone during the day of working weeks). On the downside he is used to his larger yard and buries things, digs and has sleeps etc. in the garden. He is a good dog and well behaved at home (no separation issues or excessive barking). All he seems to do during the day is sleep. Do you think in light of the above information a drastic change in outdoor space like this might have adverse consequences? I'd hate to see him with behavioural issues because of this reduction in yard space. Any experiences here?

This sounds a little sus to me... http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/dog-...9-1225834194395

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/wack...0-1225833803549

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/22/hm.pe...dex.html?hpt=C2

Yes his poo is usually firm and dry (except on hot days as explained above). Only other time he goes mushy is if I suddenly change his diet. I feed him a combination of Royal Canine, cooked vegetables and raw pet-grade chicken mince from a chicken shop. This is all parts of the chicken minced up (bone included) after the good mince is taken out for humans. He has this combination about 5-6 times a week. I'm wondering if all the bone in this mince might be blocking him a bit, but looking at it the amount of bone in the mince isn't huge and its in small pieces he chews on and munches up.

My dog is healthy but he's always been a strange poo'er. After dropping a stool or two he moves around, has a sniff and does more. He can reposition himself up to 5 times for one poo! Most dogs I observe don't move this much and usually do it all in one go. Is it possible my dog has some kind of blockage? He doesnt seem to be forcing anything. He's been like this since a puppy. The other thing is I have noticed he does mushy poos on hot days. I'm guessing this is because of all the extra water he is drinking? Thanks for any insights.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sund...0-1225813808371

hmm, all I did was added a capful of apple cider vinegar to my pups water and the stains disappeared after a week or two. They say ACV is generally good for their health (same goes for humans). If you buy some get the thick gunky stuff from a health shop, not the clear ACV from Coles or Woolies.

Any tips on this one? The fur on spitz tails seems finer than the rest of the body and I find regular grooming tools don't work too well. Also the tail tends to pick up lots of small leaves and gets flat matted clumps in it. Are there any special grooming implements or tips/tricks for keeping spitz breeds tails clean and tidy?

2016 Happy 10 th Birfday fluff. The years are flying by!

Nope.

Thanks for replies and the concern for my fluffball. Went to vet and good news is no infection or foreign bodies. Also checked him all over for fleas etc and nothing. He did find a bit of ear wax but nothing out of the ordinary. Theory is it may be irritating. He gave me a bottle of Epi-Otic and demonstrated how to use it. He squeezed a liberal amount of the liquid into the ear and then proceeded to vigorously rub the whole ear right down to the base which got the occasional loud yelp of pain (is there anything more disconcerting than hearing your dog in pain?). I have to now do this myself all this week. I'm not looking forward to it. Hopefully the vet is right but part of me is wondering if it's just a small amount of wax like most dogs get why would he be shaking his head? He would barely know its there.

My dog is regularly shaking himself and I don't know why. I suspect its something around his left ear area but I've inspected it and can't see any foreign objects in it or signs of an infection. Any ideas on what else I can look at to determine what might be causing this excessive shaking? He also seems to be scratching the area more than usual and last night I saw him rubbing the left side of his head on the lawn. His appetitie seems to have dropped off a bit. Other than these 'symptoms' he seems as playful and energetic as ever.

Erny, in summing up, in your opinion is it best to add ACV to food, and not too regularly...maybe a capful every couple of days? I don't want to risk any adverse health affects but I really would love to cut down on these grass burns.

What's the latest info on the best anti-burn treatment for grass? I've been using Dog Rocks for 18 months now with mixed success. The other day I popped into Roselands Pet store to see if they had Dog Rocks only to be told "Dog Rocks are bad for dogs because chemicals can build up in their stomachs". The store had a bag of treats for sale they claimed cut out grass burning. And then I read ACV stops grass burning. What are people using these days?

Eagle Pack here but I'm the lazy type and don't like ordering things in (wish I could just go to a shop and buy a 15KG bag). Its also a bit pricey but much better quality than the supermarket stuff. Definitely yields much smaller poos as well.

He gets a big scoop of mixed freshly boiled veges every night...along with Eagle pack and the raw chicken mince. And he gets two good walks every day. That's the thing. I'm not sure if he's straining...it may be what Poodlefan is saying and its just the way he is?

Sure makes us humans look boring eh? We're pretty much one-dimensional in this regard. :p I take it from this response I have nothing to worry about. Thanks. :rolleyes:

Just one more thing. I notice he moves around a bit while doing a poo...one nugget, moves and repositions after inspecting his effort, then another nugget etc. He doesn't always do this, but I'd say it happens fairly regulalry. Is this normal? I'm wondering if its symptomatic of a blockage. When he's been eating sticks he gets so blocked he'll yelp when he poos...its an awful sound to hear your dog in pain. :rolleyes:

About once a week, and just a small lamb bone off a leg. But his diet is mainly pet-grade chicken mince with crunched up raw chicken bone in it Thanks for the responses.

Pardon the poo topic :rolleyes: We've all seen old white dried-out poos lying around that crumble as they degrade. Well, just like that, occasionally my samoyed does poos which go white and powdery almost immediately. Its not a common event but occurs from time-to-time. Is this a sign of anything or a cause for concern?

Thanks Rysup. BTW nice website.

Hi, I'm guessing by your name you are experienced in this. I find no matter how much I rake/slicker/comb him, there's always more undercoat to get out. And I have an excellent rake; double row of teeth (one row short the other row long) that does a great job of removing loose fur. After 30 minutes of this I then use slicker to get any loose fur left on the outer coat, then the shedding coat for any leftover stuff. But I'm not exaggerating here. I could rake him non-stop until Christs' Second Coming and still get lots of fur out of him.

ok...just to be clear though, I'm not talking about a few loose hairs here lol. Ive never seen anything like what I pulled out on Friday. It was dense thick wool and would have been a BIG handful. It was quite a shock.