musik

Yeah he such a great bloke. It nearly killed him to be apart from his dogs while they were in the pound being looked after, they were fretting too. I reckon it'll take some time but they'll get there, all three of em! All the best Rose

Hi Erny, Sorry for not getting back sooner. Yesterday he got someone local to come and do some work with the dogs, I only just found out last night. I went to visit them on Saturday and they certainly need the assistance! As soon as he leaves they go mental so this trainer will help him manage it in different ways. Thank you so so much for writing though Rose

Hi folks, I have a friend currently staying in Healsville whose dogs had to stay in a shelter for around 18 days as he had no where to stay with them after he lost his home in the Kinglake Ranges bushfire. The dogs are now suffering seperation anxiety, one is an older german shepard and the other a young golden retriever. I am wondering if anyone with the right skills in this kind of thing would be able to volunteer their services even just for one session to give him the needed instruction to get the dogs back to their old selves again and not stressed whenever he leaves them alone. He is a war vet on a pension so I don't want to ask him to pay although I could pay the fee if you required one on his behalf. You'd be best to do it in Healsville to save the dogs any further stress of travelling. If this is something you think you can help with I'd be interested to hear from you. Many thanks, Rose

Great post shmoo. I've been thinking of doing foster caring once our fences get sorted out, I'd also like a copy of your book as there is so much to know. Much like fostering a human I suspect! What would be your recommendations on finding a reputable rescue group to get involved with?

it looks to me that one you said covers it all, i dont like to give too much when its not needed. but i think its good to have them covered, i know people who dont even give their dogs anything!! ack!!

you're a gem laffi! and they sell that on priceless pets so its pretty well priced

Mmm good point, I re-checked the Drontal website and it doesn't do heartworm. Is there any worming tablet which covers them all including heart worm? Canex doesn't it appears. My dog is currently still using Revolution & Drontal so he is covered, it just would nice to find an effective but cheaper alternative to it

Cheers squeak, Tapeworms and whipworms are the only worms that Drontol covers which Revolution doesn't... So really I'd be best to just use a cheaper brand like Frontline for fleas/ticks and keep using Drontol which covers all the internal and external worms. Phew gees it can be confusing!!

Hi folks, We've been giving our 9mth old retriever Revolution and Drontol for flea and worms. Although I recently looked up specific info on Revolution and Drontol and it appears they do the same thing (in regard to worming)? Our vets wasn't too helpful and said that Drontol is for internal worms and Revolution only does external worms, however the Revolution website says they do internal worms as well as flea treatment... from what I can tell from looking up info on both products they seem to work on the same types of worms as well. Given the expense of Revolution (seeing as it does two things in one dose) as well as giving Drontol can anyone advise if I should really only be giving the Revolution? I'm hoping someone knows a lot more about it than I do Thanks in advance.

ahh no worries I wasn't sure how old he was so I put in all the main things I could think of which I wish I had of known going to check out the BC pics soon

we found if we kept up taking our pup outside regularly (every 45 when he was small then every hour as he got a bit bigger and now at 8mths its every two hours or so) then he hardly had any accidents inside when he was with us in the lounge etc. so i'd leave the crate in the bedroom or wherever he will sleep. not sure what size he is at full growth, but direct deals (online store) have cheap metal crates for about $62 all up and delivered for the large size ones, they are out of stock at the moment but they'll come back again I'm sure. I just bought one for our new dog we are getting tomorrow, they dont seem as good quality as the expensive ones but for security they do the job, I need to get two more for our caravan annex. Means you can keep it in the one spot too. We sometimes leave our pup in his crate when we go out for a few hours shopping etc. They dont mind to be kept in there (as long as its not all day or something) and they'll just sleep. Then once they come out, take outside for toilet and give fresh water etc. Keeps them safe and unable to destroy the house! Some hints from our puppy experience. best way to clean up pee messes on carpet is to use the good quality paper towel and put a sheet or two over it and dab up the most mess, then chuck that and put a new piece down and use your foot (with shoe haha) to blot up the rest. keep doing that till no more wetness comes up on the paper towell sheets. then you can spray with a carpet cleaner (Scotch Guard Spot Cleaner 2-in1 works a treat) and follow instructions on that. Never had any accidents leave marks on the carpet that way. Other good thing we do for toilet training is use a command when he wees, ours is 'Wizza' cuz its a word you can say with other people within ear shot and not feel like a looney haha. When he is having his pee we say 'Good Wizza!' and then keep quiet till he finishes but he gets the association with what he is doing and the command word. It makes life much easier to have them know so you can help keep them from doing everything other than going for a pee when you take em outside. For poo we say 'Toilet'. When he goes we say 'Good toilet!' sounds funny but they do get to know that the word good means they've done something right Kongs and other treat toys are great to help keep them from being destructive. I'll have to go and have a look and see if you've posted any piccies of your new addition to the family!!

Well in regards to question 1, our Bob is forever hoovering things up in his gob when we go outside or for walks, we've also taught him 'Leave it' which we usually need to say pretty fiercly for him to drop whatever is in his mouth (doh). I really don't think he will grow out of it though. He 8 months old now.

I wish I could find the website someone posted for me when I was looking for info on crate training. To be honest with you, this is really all you need to know. To teach the commands they need to know, use food treats. Start by throwing treat into crate and say 'Crate' as they go in there. Repeat this for a while so it gets to used to the command 'Crate'. after a time, close the door on it. then open it up again while saying 'Wait' before they can rush out the door. Then get them to 'Wait' or whatever command you use to make them stop and sit so that they dont rush out of the crate when you come to open the door. Then say 'Come out' or whatever command you want to use which says its ok to step out the crate. My Bob picked it up in about 10 minutes of training and now when its bed time I go to the crate open the door and say 'Crate' and he walks in and lays down. I get him to 'Wait' at the door and he comes out when I say 'Come out'. Most nights I don't even need to use the command, he just knows the drill now and does it without asking. Just remember to keep the crate as being 'The Happy Place' so dont use it as a punishment place etc. A warm blanket over the top and sides (except front) is great for colder months. Using a crate also got him out of the habit of toileting inside the house when he was a younger pup. It's a great idea as they are safe in there and you know where they are.

hehe too cute conchy!

my dog did that the other day - I was wondering what the heck he was doing at first I have never seen him do it before!! Then I saw his ears go back and knew straight away