Miss Helena

Has the dog lost any weight? Sounds like he's REALLY hungry and panicky re losing any of his dinner!! I thought HSD had quite a bit of corn/fillers in it?? I hope the joint supplement is there in effective amounts....she could always feed other foods and add the joint supplement herself (probably expensive tho). I'm sure others will have more/better suggestions...

Aha, thanks Miranda, I'll look into that....

I've wondered re this too, as I give my girl a monthly heartworm chewy that covers some other (but not all) worms. Then she gets the 3-monthly all-wormer tablet, which overlaps with some of the heartworm treatment. Though I guess over is better than under?? Will be interesting to see what others reckon...

That's sad, so young.....she sounded special

Looks like you've already gotten some excellent advice above....I just wanted to share my experience: When I first had Bonnie I had a similar problem. She was 10mo and hadn't had much socialisation. I gradually introduced her to the harness etc and she was quickly fine with it and with following me around the house/yard on leash. No problems there.... However, when I took her walking around my suburb, she would freeze at any little noise or the sight of a person and not want to move. She seemed overwhelmed at the big wide world. When she was moving forward she would constantly look behind her for the "boogieman"!! She seemed terrified and it didn't do my nerves much good either - I found myself looking around too at times for "stalkers"!! It did get wearing and I found myself pulling her along a few times. Anyways, it took ages but she gradually improved. I found the things that helped were: - Ignoring any fearful behaviour and praising when she looked a bit more confident. - Let her take her time to look and sum things up before moving on. - Walking with another person/dog - this seemed to increase Bonnie's confidence. I think my energy changed too, as I was more focussed on the other company, rather than on how sucky Bonnie was being :-) - Gently persist, take it slowly and don't expect overnight miracles - I think they pick up on our "vibe" and if you are stressed she will detect that. I suppose on the bright side, at least she isn't charging at everyone/other dogs she sees and barking madly, that would be worse IMO. Bonnie is now a bit over 2 and loves her walks!! She never stops now and walks really nicely and briskly (I went for a walk on Sunday with a friend whose back was playing up - he struggled to keep up!). She does still occasionally get a bit of a fright if something sudden or loud happens, but that's okay. She even gave a couple of barks for the first time out recently!

Good luck Greytmate....hope it works. A friend of mine successfully uses fake turf for her 2 chis when they are home alone and locked inside. Unfortunately I have a similar problem to you, my girl has fake turf in the laundry when she's home alone, but she won't use it!! She waits (and waits) with crossed legs for me to come home so she can go outside on the "proper" lawn.... I asked the vet about it recently (re UTIs etc) and she thought no actual physical harm would result, as they can hold on for 8-10 hours overnight. I agree with you though, I don't like her holding on like that. The vet suggested following Bonnie when she wees outside and rub the fake turf on that spot, to get the scent onto the turf....very tricky to do with a Chi - tiny wee spot!!

Yes, I would recommend Eaglepack, especially the Holistic one. Bit more expensive, but less fillers and better ingredients. I use the Holistic fish and lamb ones and get excellent results (her coat and eyes seem better and she needs bathing less often on this type of food)

That is very funny ! Perhaps it's some new cult of fruit worship he's into?! Hail the mighty mandarin I'll try get video of him. Very funny!! Please do, it sounds hilarious!

Nothing like a quick lesson in cause and effect.... :rolleyes:

:rolleyes: That is very funny ! :cool: Perhaps it's some new cult of fruit worship he's into?! Hail the mighty mandarin

I wonder if it's bad for dogs to be pulling the fluff off them and swallowing it?!?

What gorgeous, lovely puppies!!! I'm afraid I don't have any puppy photos to share *cries* as I got Bonnie when she was 10mo. Here she is incognito, as she doesn't really belong in a thread with puppies!

:rolleyes: Yep my Mr Bomalina does exactly the same thing. It's like i have to remind him that yes he does like it It's funny isn't it!? Banana goes a bit yucky too after a few rounds of that Thank goodness for hard flooring, that's all I can say...

Bonnie loves all sorts of fruit: mango, apple, pear, CHERRIES (kill for these), banana (but only after a few spit outs and try it agains!). Agree re other posters, too much fruit = unpleasant consequences on the lawn later.

Gee, that sounds pretty reasonable newnewf. My Chi girl's desex was about $250 from memory. Perhaps there is a "search fee" for such littlies! Must be damn fiddly :rolleyes: Unfortunately she developed a small hernia AFTER the surgery, where the mid-line incision was done Different vets all think it's just a "fatty" hernia, but doesn't seem quite right to me. Cheers, Helen

Hi pennyw74, you can get special toothpaste for dogs at most pet shops. Apparently our human stuff is a no-go, as it's toxic for dogs I think.... Cheers, Helen

I agree with the above posts - they seem to sum it all up! Dogs are very "vomity" (is that a word?? LOL). This is much better than horses though, as they can't vomit at all and can end up with colic of varying degrees if they eat the wrong thing. My beloved pony died years ago of very bad colic. It was the most distressing thing to watch, as despite meds and full-on vet attention, he seemed in EXTREME pain. On a lighter note, I *worry* if Bonnie vomits on my bed

Me too. We are relying on those who attend to pass on all the good info!! Especially re yearly vaccinations.... No pressure whatsoever

Yes, I do this too. My girl is great with it, as I worked up to brushing slowly and am very gentle. I also use those white cotton gloves from the supermarket with toothpaste on one of the fingers (it's a bit Michael Jackson, but nobody sees me doing this!!) Once they are used to you poking and proding in their mouths, I find doing the scraping bit first the most effective - get the hardcore stuff off first, then clean all teeth with glove/brush. I know if I've missed a week of this treatment, as her breath gets a bit more "interesting".... Cheers, Helen

I use a variety of things on Bonnie's teeth, one being the occasional (and very careful) scraping with one of those sewing tools you use to unpick stitches with. It's useful for when, despite getting chicken necks etc to eat and a weekly tooth brushing, they still get that little bit of brown build-up around the gumline. Don't know how useful this information is for others, but it works well on small Chi teeth attached to a cooperative dog! White teeth (especially on a small dog) are a very good way to impress the vet! Cheers, Helen

Good point Shell. I think if he has not eaten a particular food for that long, it's the food that's the problem, not the dog. That's not just fussy, that's straight out rejection. I suspected that mine was being fussy, as she really did pick and choose and seemed to be heading towards "I only want raw meat", which was not on. Small dogs can be notorious for this I think. Cheers, Helen

I read somewhere that not every meal has to be 100% balanced, just that the overall diet needs to be balanced over days/weeks. Sometimes I wonder if that "different digestive processes for different food components" is a bit of an urban myth. If it was true, we (dogs and humans)would all be in quite a bit of trouble I think. It just doesn't make sense to me. I feed my girl on mostly a mixture of raw, and dry (eagle pack holistic) and sometimes some cooked mince/veg. Her meals consist of a mixture. She does very well on this and seems to enjoy the different "courses"! The raw always gets eaten first. I suppose you can try whichever is most convenient for you and see how your dogs react. Any vomiting-up after meals could be a sign it's not working for your doggies! Cheers, Helen

Don't the cheaper dry foods have a coating of fat sprayed onto them to entice dogs to eat them?? Maybe this is why. Sounds a bit like kids and junk food to me :-) I had to perserve with Bonnie when I first got her, fussy, fussy small doggie!.....after two days of not eating what was put in front of her she changed her tune. Now she eats her high quality food that I choose for her with gusto (gutso too).

Wow, that's quite a mental picture...sounds like my girl every dinner time :rolleyes: