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

We got our pup a wire crate, they are fabulous for toilet training (they don't want to dirty their sleeping quarters) and it's also a great place to put your dog when you need to pop down the shops or out for a couple of hours. Never use the crate as a place to go when the dog has been naughty. The crate should always be the 'happy place'. For learning the commands to teach your dog when crate training just do a google search there are so many great websites. For travelling in the car have you thought of using a harness which can slipped through the seat belt? To protect your seats buy a seat protecter which hooks over the headrests of the seat, I just got some more from the Reject shop for $12. Bargain. The harnesses you can get at the variety stores for under $10 or pet shops have them too but you will pay more. I have never tried the canvas crates, I guess it depends on the character of your dog and whether he likes to chew stuff The wire crates are nice and sturdy and fold down easily. Like others have said, get one with some room to sit up, turn around and lay stretched out in. I wouldn't recommend putting water or food in there (except chew toy things) as it can get messy otherwise and really the crate should be used for sleeping in or occasional times when you go out. In the morning when you let woofy out, then make sure water is available. Well, thats just my thoughts anyways, good luck and I am sure you will find the right one to suit you

Mum's dog used to do the same, the advice I gave her was to not greet the dog in any way when you get home for 5 minutes, just go about what you need to do when you get home, then after 5 mins greet the dog in a quiet and non-excited tone of voice. This worked quickly for her, as it turned out when people came in they usually greeted the dog in a higher pitched excited voice and gave the dog pats and hugs etc which instigated the excitement in the dog at all the attention, hence the small pee they do at the time. Not sure how you are greeting your woofy when you get in the door, but if its a similar way, give it a go and see what happens.

Just a quick reply to let you know how Bob is going with his crate training, he took about 10 minutes to learn the commands 'crate' and then waiting for the command 'come out'. He loves his crate its dark and cosy with a blanket on top. He has stopped peeing at night and waits until morning now (yay!) and we also pop him in his crate when we have people over who are afraid of dogs or are too dressed for his jumping on them (heh) and occasionally if we pop out he goes in there for a while till we get back and he cant get into mischief. Best investment we ever made, it cost $200 as we needed the biggest one as he is a big breed, but he doesnt pee elsewhere in the house now either. It's also so easy to keep clean with a bunch of towels in there which get washed regular and the floor is plastic and can be cleaned over easily. Thanks for all the advice!

I hope my boy stays a sissy squatter! I just read horror stories of boys peeing on strangers legs in parks!!

All I can say is thank heavens my 5mth old boy is still a 'squatter' I hope you cure him of it!

mmm one of those dog water bottles would be perfect for inside for the woofy that likes to put paws in water bowl inside

This is very difficult to do especially with a large dog and winter approaching (doors can't be left open because of drafts) and a huge doggy door might allow unwelcome visitors to enter instead. Regular visits outside (every hour) seem to do the trick, where we went wrong was to allowing our dog to go inside over night on paper too long instead of putting him in a confined place to sleep where he would not pee in his sleeping place. Patience pays off in the end though!

Well we got the crate today, it's big but he is pretty big now too so I think he should be fine in it (we'll see how he goes tonight), found a good link from this site to a crate training website, started him on some training for about 15 mins or so and now he knows 'Crate' means to go in his crate and then to come out is 'Wait' and 'Come Out'. Smart woofy he is Tonight will be his first night in there, we have put it in the family room with a blanket on the top and sides leaving front showing - today again he pee'd in the kitchen when we took our eyes off him while having lunch. At the pet shop I also got some of the stuff you recommended which will (hopefully) take away the scent he can smell where he has been going (we can't smell it as it gets cleaned with disinfectant but am told he can). We are avoiding leaving him in the kitchen now as he still thinks its OK to go in there - so keeping him with us whenever possible or else in his crate. He doesn't seem bothered by being in the crate so far as when I first set it up I got in there with him. Still back at step 1. Fingers crossed

You guys are awesome, seriously. We've just ordered a ex-large crate for him which he can use now and when he is full size. This is great because we can use it at home and also when we go away overnight. We had a feeling somehow we'd made it (not on purpose) OK to toilet in the area where he is kept overnight. Hopefully now he will understand that going inside is not OK. We are back at step 1 from yesterday and hopefully the crate will arrive Monday or Tuesday so we can go forward then. Just a quick side question, would it be OK to leave him in the crate during the day when we go places for around 2-3 hours MAX - the only place I find I generally can't take him is when I go shopping as I dont want to leave him in the car during that time.

sas: This sounds like a great idea! They stay in their crate all night with the door closed, yes?