Faolmor

I would speak to the breeder and get a list of things you will need for your pup (ie what toys, bedding, food to buy - never change a puppy's diet "overnight...always break them into new food over a week, because their digestive systems can't cope with a sudden change). Re toilet training - the key is gentle persistence. Never scold for inside accidents - these are always your fault for not being vigilant enough. Puppies toilet mostly upon waking, after meals, and until they get a little older, maybe once every hour or so. An 8 week old lab pup has a bladder the size of, say, a small apricot or large grape. That should give you an idea of just how much they can hold onto - ie not much. Make sure you take your pup outside immediately upon waiting and give a command (eg "toilet + puppy's name" always link a command to the dog's name so they realise you are addressing them) and then praise the instant they go. You can give a little food reward, but generally, genuine verbal praise and a pat are sufficient. Puppies have very short attention spans, so be prepared to wait a while, while they explore, dig, sniff, wander aimlessly, play with grass...etc...always fun at 2am, I assure you :rolleyes: If the puppy does have an inside accident, make sure you clean it up with something that will neutralise the urine smell, as puppies are drawn to toilet where they have been in the past. Don't make a fuss or scare the pup. Just take them outside again in an hour and let them get it right. Puppies want to get it right, and most hate to have accidents once they learn what you expect. ETA: Learn to watch for the signs that a pup might need to go. They tend to circle the floor, looking for the right spot. They might be a bit restless, or seem uncomfortable. When you see them behaving like this, take them outside with a bright, happy, "toilet, [puppy's name]." Then heaps of happy praise when they go. It always pays to let them spend a bit more time outside after they go, in case there's more inside

I would keep them separated for a bit longer myself - only because I would be concerned the pup could be hurt by accident during play. I certainly don't think a pup would learn to "hate" an older dog just because it has free range of the yard, though :rolleyes: Dogs don't think that way.

Just a way out there thought, Ange...but didn't Ruby recently have KC? Maybe a belated reaction to medication?? Or a hyper-immune response?? Immune issues can sometimes cause bleeding gums. ETA: Bad breath is also a sign of kidney issues, which you said she had in the past. Not trying to freak you out - just suggesting something else to consider.

I'd be careful on giving human-sized amounts of vitamins to a puppy, purely because some doses of vitamins can be toxic in large doses. If you give vitamin C, make sure it's "ester C" as it's less acidic. I wouldn't be giving a whole tablet daily, either. Maybe 1/4 of a tablet every 2 days, or 1/2 once a week, unless he has some medical issue which requires a more frequent dose. Ditto the other vitamins. If his diet is a good one, additional vitamins and minerals can even do more harm than good. Alternatively, buy children's vitamin tablets and give one every 2 days (or dose as the bottle directs re weight for a child). Or, better yet, if you must add a supplement, simply add some biolac to his food once a day until he grows out of it. At least it's made for baby animals, and the vitamin dose won't be harmful. Also, puppies smell lovely and milky with the biolac in their food (an added bonus!).

The first night after a spay is hard. I had my girl done recently. She was okay until the pain killer wore off, but then, god...did she make me feel like the worst person in the world! She lay on the couch, groaning constantly, and looking up at me, and shaking...all this from a bitch we call "Miss Unflappable." I sat with her half the night, just holding a wrapped cold pack on her little pink belly as it seemed to soothe the pain a bit. By morning, she was completely back to normal. But the next time, I'm going to insist on some take-home pain meds!

Could be kidney failure...could be dozens of things...an infection of some kind is likely if he has a swollen gland. I would keep him with you. Make his days happy and carefree. He deserves it.

Hi Rish I guess the main lesson to take away from all this is that YOU are your dog's best advocate. Not your vet, not anyone else here. Some of the things you've posted inadvertently go against the main aims and goals of this forum. It's okay. You're still learning...and that's a good thing! Please stick around, because there are a lot of friendly, knowledgable people here who are more than happy to help you with your dogs. In order to be the best possible advocate for your dogs, you need to make sure you know as much as you can about them. If one of them is limping, then get down on the floor and find out why If the dog wriggles around, and scratches - well, clip its claws and teach it gently to behave when being handled by you Remember - they don't automatically know what we expect of them. You are your dogs' educator, as well as their carer. How will your dog know what you expect if you don't teach it? Go online. Come to forums like this and ask for advice on specific training issues...one at a time. Keep your posts simple, and state up-front a clear outcome. That way, people can be specific with their advice. Read as much as you can. Learn about what makes your dogs tick and why. That way, you will be better armed when your vet asks you about treatment options. You might even end up saving yourself some money, because you'll have more of an idea what's wrong when problems arise, and what treatments are available. Probably also best to remember that what you post in a public forum stays public Everyone has days when they need to vent or blow off steam. But be careful what you say, because it can always be misinterpreted, especially if your posts are not clear. Take your time when posting - and people here will take their time to answer

Sorry to the OP...but I'd have to agree with some of the other posts here. Unless the burr was somehow buried under the skin (possible but highly unlikely) and took a month to work its way out (again possible, but not likely), then to my mind, it is up to the OWNER to have a feel in and around the entire pad of the foot, between all the toes etc, and not the vet. After all, it's your precious dog A dog with a burr in its foot pad would have been chewing, licking, biting at the offending paw. It is possible to search the pad of even the hairiest dog for offending burrs etc. (By burr, do you mean those little round, spikey balls? I can't see how a vet could miss this. A simple probe with a finger should find it. If you're talking about a different type of prickle or grass seed, maybe it'll make more sense as to why it was missed!) However, as said by other posters - if your dog has dematitis on ALL feet...a burr on ONE foot wouldn't explain the irritation on all feet. It's possible your dog has a contact allergy to your grass - which might ALSO contain the offending burrs. It's more likely that the dog is reacting to the grass...and coincidentally also got a burr in the pad in the last day or so.

Completely agree. I have 2 desexed here, and no problems whatsoever with loss of muscle tone. My dogs are fit and well-exercised. You can see the muscles moving under their coats.

I'm in WA, so no worries re paralysis ticks. I think they were kangaroo ticks. Checked the wounds this morning. No sign of redness or anything, so I guess I'll just keep an eye on him.

Just a quick question... I pulled 6 ticks off my dog tonight. No idea where he picked them up, but I hope it wasn't our backyard. Anyway, should I get him a course of antibiotics, just to be on the safe side? Hear lots of horror stories about infections etc, and I wouldn't want to live with the "what-ifs" if something went wrong. Experienced opinions, please.

My Lab has been identified as a bull arab. My IRISH SETTER has been identified as a Weimaraner, a Golden Retriever and a Cocker Spaniel. Just goes to show that the general public have no idea about dog breeds. Surely, when taking these kinds of statistics, they should include a column for dogs not legally identified by either the owner or someone qualified as "breed not identified?" Otherwise, from a legal point of view - and a statistical point of view - isn't it just like pointing the finger at someone in court and going, "Yep...the mugger looked a bit like that guy." Or perhaps it's just that those taking down the data don't really care, as long as the "big bad breeds" get the blame. No one is going stand up and admit to being roughed up by a Cocker Spaniel, after all...

I feed my dogs raw meat and bones every day - mostly chicken and roo. Lamb bones tend to splinter a bit too much for my liking. I wouldn't give a large dog (eg your husky) a small bone, just in case they gulp it down and it becomes a problem - either stuck in their throat or bowel. I guess it's up to you. If you feel the bones might be too small for the husky, err on the side of caution and treat him to just the raw meat. I usually check for small or sharp bones on any meat I give to my dogs. If it feels sharp to your finger, it's too sharp for a soft palate, and certainly too sharp for a GI tract. You might get away with it 100 times...but it only takes one bone to perforate a bowel. You were meaning to feed the bones raw, weren't you? (I'm sure you were, but just checking!)

Hi OA Sometimes, if a dog's digestive system is already under stress, even foods they can tolerate will still upset them. This is because of the inflammation in the gut - basically, anything going through that gut will cause further irritation. Such inflammation is also likely to show a false positive high WBC in a stool sample, because his immune system will be desperately trying to repair the damage (something bear in mind when you get the results). If you know there's a food Quentin does tolerate, take him right back to that food only for a least a week - maybe even two. I would choose something quite bland and easily digested. (Eg, just feed EP for two weeks exclusively, nothing else...no vegies, no raw meats. Feed him little amounts and often - as I'm sure you're already doing anyway.) This will give time for the inflammation to settle (fingers crossed). Once you (hopefully) notice an improvement, add one more food to the diet and see what happens. If there is no improvement, I'd be looking at the EP itself. It is a rich food, and maybe he's just not tolerating it at the moment, for whatever reason. Puppies have immature digestive systems. This means that each time you add a new food, his gut will need time to build up the bacteria required to cope with that new food. Constantly adding vegies to his diet might seem like a healthy idea, but might in fact be over-stimulating his little tummy more than he can cope with just now. Good luck.

10 watery poos a day is very excessive! Poor little guy. His little GI tract would be very, very irritated. Yep, I feed raw bones. If Quentin seems otherwise healthy, and doesn't seem to be in pain or anything, I'd be looking at a food intolerance of some kind. Quentin's symptoms sound to me like what our lab went through. Turned out for us he was allergic to just about every meat known to man except roo. A lot of people find that their dogs can't tolerate chicken. I'd suggest trying an elimination diet until you can isolate which of the foods he's eating that don't agree with him. I would start by eliminating chicken and switching it for another meat (eg turkey, roo...something that hasn't been pumped full of antiobiotics, which all "shop-bought" chickens have). I'd also eliminate the wheat-based products. Dogs don't need it and some dogs can be intolerant to wheat and grains. As for bones splintering etc, if they're cooked, yes, they can certainly splinter. Dogs can also shave a splinter off a large, raw marrow bone. I was always told to stick to the "non-weight-bearing bones" of the animal for feeding - eg chicken wings, roo tails...since these can be safely crunched up by the dog and it would be very unlikely for them to splinter. Good luck solving the problem.

Mine love frozen bananas dipped in plain yoghurt The frozen banana makes the yoghurt kind of freeze to the banana, in a crispy coating. They love it!

It's fine to pop her in her crate for a time-out - bearing in mind that a time-out isn't a punishment per-say, it's literally just a time-out. That is, time to let her calm down a bit, and chill out until she is in the right frame of mind (ie, not being hyper) to rejoin the pack. You're right, though, that the crate should never be used to punish her. So when you put in her there for a time-out, simply keep things calm, put her in the crate, and let her calm down. Then, let her out again as if nothing has happened. If you're comfortable keeping her in the bathroom for the time-being, then this is okay too. The tiles will keep her nice and cool in the heat, and it's a safe area for her to be left in. You said she has the crate for sleeping in too, so she has her own bed and space there too. I think what Settrlvr is trying to say is that, when you come home and Suki is going crazy with happiness to see you, don't make a fuss of her until she calms down. This is good advice. If you get in on the whole "excitement dance" and hype her up, you'll only teach her to go MORe crazy when she sees you - and you're at risk of creating a separation anxiety problem later on. So, when you get home, just take her straight outside (to reinforce the toilet training), and let her burn off steam, but don't pay any attention to her (save to keep an eye on her to make sure she isn't getting into mischief). Once she is beginning to calm down, then you can call her to you (ie, on YOUR terms), and give her some attention. It is completely 100% normal, btw, that she is going crazy when you first get home. By all means, let her run off steam outside, and don't punish her for being happy to see you. But on the other hand, don't REWARD this behaviour either, by pandering to it. Ignore her until she has calmed down. By tone of voice, Settrlvr means that dogs don't understand what you're actually saying in words - but they DO understand tone of voice. I quick, firm - "uh-uh!" means far more to a puppy than, "why are you chewing on that shoe? You're not allowed to chew on shoes! Bring that shoe here and give it back to me right now!" Similarly, a happy, excited, "Good girl!" means far more than, "congratulations! you finally learned how to sit! I'm so proud of you!" You might MEAN all those things. But she will only understand your tone of voice, and your body language. The words themselves mean nothing to her at this young age. As she grows, she will certainly learn and understand certain words. Most dogs can comprehend up to 1000 words, I believe. This is advanced language skills for any animal. But just like a child, she needs to learn how to comprehend words in context, and tone of voice will help her learn this. It's up to you to choose how you will correct her behaviour under certain circumstances, and stick to that method each time. Make sure everyone else in the house sticks to the same method. The more consistency you can give her, the quicker she will learn. If you decide that a time-out will be employed for chewing on things she shouldn't, then this is the method you should stick to until she gets the message. Good luck with her. She sounds like a real cutie!

I'd try a time-out with her. If she's going completely mental, and won't listen, simply put her in her crate for a minute or two of "quiet time." Ditto when she's having a mung on the furniture. Warn her first. If she continues to disobey, simply put her into time out. She will soon learn that a warning is very much that - a warning, and it should be taken seriously!

Hi I was just wondering if anyone else has had a problem with copper in their tap water, and what steps, if any, you've taken to keep it from drying out your dog's coat? Is there a shampoo or leave-in treatment available to protect the coat? The only problem I can see is, even if you have a shampoo, you still have to use the tap water to rinse it out... Any ideas? Suggestions? Thanks

a carpet cleaning product is a must when you have a new puppy hehe. Or, you could use plain old soda water. That neutralises the smell, so the puppy doesn't learn to go back to where it went before. Just remember not to scold the puppy if she toilets in the wrong place - that's your fault, not hers! ;) Ignore little mistakes and just take her outside and praise her when she goes in the right place.

My lab took a good week and a half before he would have anything to do with my newest dog. I was surprised, because he was our first dog, and we had already added a 2nd, and he had accepted the 2nd dog no problems. By the time we got a the 3rd (a year or so later), he must have forgotten what a puppy looked like. He was frightened of her, growled at her (not aggression, just a warning to stay away), and wouldn't have anything to do with her. If she came into the room, he'd get up and leave. We kept an eye on them, but let them sort it out. And they did Just give your older dog the time he needs to get used to the newcomer. Don't leave them unsupervised, but don't fuss over them either. Just let them sort out the new pack order. And remember to give your older dog some special attention and don't spend all your time focussing on the newcomer.

One of the most important things you can do is NOT to make a big deal out of it, because this will, in turn, only serve to teach the dog to increase both the frequency and the urgency in performing the behaviour. One method that might work to help break your dog of the habit is to quietly and without speaking take hold of her collar once she goes into a spin, and bring her to sit quietly beside you until she relaxes. Then, again without a word, simply release her. If she starts again, react exactly the same way. If she really starts to get excited, simply walk away from her. She has to learn that her behaviour is incorrect, and undesirable. With dogs, actions tend to speak louder than words, as they don't speak English and don't understand commands like, "stop it!" etc. So you need to show her what you would like her to do (that is, stop spinning) and how you would like her to do it (by sitting quietly next to you). There is no need for an additional reward. Her reward is you quietly letting go of her collar. It sounds like an anxiety behaviour to me (and by anxiety, I don't mean necessarily stressed out - I simply mean a heightened state of arousal). There is certainly the potential for that behaviour to escalate, and dogs are great at doing what gets them the most response. So, show her the correct behaviour (sitting quietly) and don't respond her when she does this. Any response from you she will see as an affirmation of her behaviour. Other people will have different suggestions, and any of those could work for your dog. But this is the method I would use. Good luck!

My Lab's bum explodes if he gets any meat besides roo, turkey or rabbit. He can't tolerate chicken at all, so no wings for him!

Wow - congratulations Rob - that's a fantastic achievement. I would have loved to come to the trial, but ended up unwell that day. Pity, if I'd known you were going to be in WA, I could have introduced you to my monsters hehe

Both have nutritional value, Ncarter, so yes, they are good for something; however, whether or not they should be part of the canine diet is hotly debated. Personally, I have fed my dogs oatmeal with no ill effects. It contains a lot of vitamins, and I'm sure, despite the current debates, that the canine digestive system can do at least something with the grains providing they have been softened and crushed. I have fed oatmeal occasionally as a porridge meal in addition to raw meat and vegies, but I don't feed it often. Even Billinghurst says that it can be used as a small part of his "BARF" diet. It is also contained in the holistic eagle pack variety that I feed, so they are getting it daily anyway. I have a dog with Atopy and food allergies, and all I can say is that for him, it hasn't done him any harm. For the first time in his life, he is completely 100% asymptomatic, and finally has a double coat. I'm not saying this has ANYTHING to do with oatmeal, btw...I'm just saying that it hasn't set off his allergies. Another dog might not be so lucky. Edited because I can't spell...