perrin

Could he have eaten something bad that is disagreeing with him? Or maybe bitten by something? I hope he is okay.

Poor Georgie ran face first (literally) into our steps about 2 weeks ago and shortly after a lump appeared. Has anyone had any experience with something similar? She will be going in on Friday to be speyed and the vet is going to i guess cut it out for testing if he thinks it is something sinister whilst she is under. I would have thought that two weeks would be long enough for any bruising to disapear if it was indeed from the accident.

My wire crate came with a divider :rolleyes: I thought all the big ones did. It's a 48 inch one. Anyway by the time i moved our kelpie into the big wire one he had already been crate trained using the airline blue and white ones. I just kept getting a bigger size untilk he was to big for the large blue and white and then moved on to the wire crate. Not very helpfull i know. Perhaps if it was a good price you could buy it and then somehow make your own divider.

Beleesha breed belgian shepherds

I'm so sorry for your loss. She sounded likea lovely girl.

It was never my intention to flame the opening poster. I'm very sad that she was in a position where she had to make the choice that she did. I'm sorry if she feels that everyone is against her. I'm guessing that you are referring to me here in the part i quoted. For the record i don't believe that i deserve sympathy. I'm not looking for sympathy nor was i when i posted after it first happened. Having a snake proof pen is useless if you leave the door open when your dog is not in there. Which stupidly i did. Yes i have learnt a valuable lesson. At the cost of my dogs life.

How very sad for those pups. When we have a pet we are responsible for them. They are like our children. One of the family. If i could turn the clock back and save my dog from a painful death then i would. The thought that he died alone and in pain makes me sick. I would have given anything to at least hold him in his final moments. This thread just makes me

Have you tried having the crate in your vehicle, as he seems to enjoy it? How do you know he is not yawning (sometimes a sign of stress) etc, if he is in the ute? Does he seem as stressed when not in the harness? Thanks for answering Lablover. Unfortunately the crate won't fit in the car. It is 48 inches and because i travel with the kids there is just no way to put in a smaller one. He grew out of the blue and white airline crate so i had to upgrade and get a wire one. O/h thinks it is because he feels "at home" in his crate as it is his bed and his sanctuary so we fold it up and take it when we go on overnight trips or trips when we need to use the work ute. The harness doesn't make a difference because he doesn't always wear it on short trips when he sits on the floor at my feet. I would say that he associates the harness as something exciting. I'm certain that he is much happier in his crate because he sits on the back sucking in the wind and he looks like he is enjoying himself. I watch him through the back window (I'm a bit paranoid about having him out their even in his secured crate) and he just acts totally different to what he is like inside the car. I have not seen him do the yawning thing but yes obviously i can't watch him all the time and can't hear him if he is doing it. He tries to suck air through the vents in the car and even when i have it turned up all the way it's just not the same. He sits there with it blowing in his face and his ears flapping I tend to do the same when i feel car sick? Does he seem as stressed when a window is open? Is he generally a nervous type? When I boat fished, I used to read books even in rather large swells, so motion sickness has never been a problem . BTW, I have no doubt he feels comfortable his crate. My dogs love theirs. He doesn't mind the window open a little but still looks for the aircon even in winter. I wouldn't call him a nervous dog. He is generally a confident go get em type. Everyone is a friend that he just hasn't met yet. I don't know if his attitude has anything to do with him being a kelpie? He is the first kelpie i have ever owned. My old dog was a lab who i had for over 15 years. Pho and i are still feeling our way with each other.

I thought the trip to pick up the kids was boring. I get the idea though and you've given me something to work on/with. Thankyou for taking the time to answer. We do probably do more boring trips when he is in the ute as in drive around in the paddocks and check on stuff where he doesn't get out. I do mostly ignore him when he is talking but it is rather distracting to have a dog talking in your ear. The squeaks that come out of his mouth are just so odd. He doesn't always do it. Yesterday he was particularly bad but i think it was because it was windy outside. Today he was perfectly fine on the drive there and back but whimpered on and off as we waited for the bell to go. He calms down as soon as he sees our son coming to the car? He just seems anxious. He also keeps looking at me for assurance? I thought i was being a good person taking him out on trips with us. I would hate to leave him at home so that he misses out on going out with us but if it is upsetting him and he really doesn't like to ride in the car then by all means i will do what is best for him and leave him at home. I will try your experiment and see how we go.

Have you tried having the crate in your vehicle, as he seems to enjoy it? How do you know he is not yawning (sometimes a sign of stress) etc, if he is in the ute? Does he seem as stressed when not in the harness? Thanks for answering Lablover. Unfortunately the crate won't fit in the car. It is 48 inches and because i travel with the kids there is just no way to put in a smaller one. He grew out of the blue and white airline crate so i had to upgrade and get a wire one. O/h thinks it is because he feels "at home" in his crate as it is his bed and his sanctuary so we fold it up and take it when we go on overnight trips or trips when we need to use the work ute. The harness doesn't make a difference because he doesn't always wear it on short trips when he sits on the floor at my feet. I would say that he associates the harness as something exciting. I'm certain that he is much happier in his crate because he sits on the back sucking in the wind and he looks like he is enjoying himself. I watch him through the back window (I'm a bit paranoid about having him out their even in his secured crate) and he just acts totally different to what he is like inside the car. I have not seen him do the yawning thing but yes obviously i can't watch him all the time and can't hear him if he is doing it. He tries to suck air through the vents in the car and even when i have it turned up all the way it's just not the same. He sits there with it blowing in his face and his ears flapping I tend to do the same when i feel car sick?

My dog loves to travel in the car. He is happy to get his harness on and will just jump into the car but once he is in there and we start driving away he starts shaking and making yawning type sounds? He also talks alot. He really likes to go and pick our son up from school but justs talks the whole time that we are waiting for him to come out. He seems anxious? but excited. Is he just anticipating picking up a member of his pack? He loves the kids. But he reacts the same even if we are just going to the park for a play. And when we go to visit family 4 1/2 hours away. He is well socialised and happy when we get to where we are going. On long trips he settles down after an hour or so. He is not snappy or cranky at all. When he was a pup he used to get car sick but has grown out of it now. Could it be that he associates riding in the car as getting sick? He doesn't seem to have a problem with riding on the ute in his crate. In fact he prefers it. It's me who doesn't like him on the ute.

I've seen chicken feet in one of our local chicken places and wondered what the hell they'd be used for,yuck Yeah. I find it gross, but after 8 years it doesn't bother me so much. I always tell o/h we aren't kissing for a week.

Ew yuk. Try going to Yum Cha and sit with a bunch of people sucking on chicken feet. ;)

Do you know what scares me most about vets? When you have an emergency with your horse that reguires stitiching as the cuts are down to the bone and the vet that turns up is a dog and cat vet. Moving to a new place is just so scarey. The good vets are always too busy to take on new clients and you get stuck with the leftovers. Some vets are fantastic and others make you wonder why they got into an animal related job in the first place.

I was wondering about EQyss (sp?) too. So bumping it for you I usually use the Eco2000 shampoo on my dog and it gives him a lovely shiny coat. And then rub some Eco2000 Showoff on him to keep the dust out of his coat. He's a kelpie so gets pretty dirty. But i would be interested if anyone has used EQyss and what they thought.

I don't post very often. But i do read alot. You guys are all very informative and give me some great ideas. I consider every dog to be different and there is always something to learn, as no two dogs are ever the same. I've only ever really owned two dogs. My first one had a lot of issues with temperament and came to me as a 2 year old. 17 years later i am starting out agagain. This time with a pup. And after owning the same dog for 15 years alot has changed. I do get a bit confused with all the different training methods and foods etc :rolleyes: Sometimes i feel like i am asking something really stupid but better to ask a stupid question then be a stupid owner who couldn't be bothered.

Very helpful. Thankyou all for the advice. I just spent some time with him in the backyard, instead of going for a walk after Playschool. Our life revolves around what the kidlets are doing At first he was a bit wary but after awhile he was more confident approaching me. The kids had no trouble with him coming to them at all. He was happy for them to be their normal selves. Including them holding onto his collar. I had to take the treats away from them. I did a bit of training with him. We practiced sit, stay, come, shake hands and getting him to cross behind me. This is good for when i am walking him with the kids as i need to take the youngest in the stroller, so having him able to cross over behind me when nessecary is great. He was okay and then warmed up to it. He wasn't his normal self, a bit reserved but still acted normal enough, even down to the collapse into a wiggling bundle of licky mess when i ask for his paw. So after about 15 minutes we played ball (on the lead). He wasn't as enthusiastic to start with but soon got into it and then i let him off. Of course there isn't alot of room in the backyard to kick it very far but he still chased after it. Maybe later we might take him out into the paddock again and see how he goes? It was unfortunate that i had to grab his collar yesterday but i didn't want to take the chance of him bolting off somewhere. Thanks for the help. He is still a bit cool towards me but thank goodness he's no longer outright cringing away when i look at him. I've cleaned out his bed and bleached it. It's outside drying so hopefully it was just a one off.

I'm not sure if i'm in the right area but thought i'd post it in training, so hopefully thats okay. Yesterday afternoon i was playing with our dog. He was offlead but i was holding it in my hand. We were playing with a large ball which is his favourite toy. Well anyway, the grass was a bit slippery and at one stage we both ran towards each other and i slipped over and landed on top of him. I think i managed to smack him in the face with the clip off his lead as he yelped like crazy. mind you having an adult land on top of you couldnt have been much un either. I grabbed him by the collar because he got up to run away. I didn't hurt him or anything just grabbed a hold because he totally freaked out. He has been cringing from me ever since. I've tried just sitting down with him but he only comes near me under sufference. I've tried ignoring him and letting him come up to me, but he has been avoiding me. Even when i took him for his last run before bed last night. He was happy to be clipped onto the lead and taken for a walk but when i went to clip the lead onto his collar he crouched down on the ground. Do you think that he thinks maybe i did it on purpose? Last night he did a wee in his crate. He never has before even when he was a pup. He's only about 7 months old now though. But o/h came in this morning at 5am and said that he smelt like wee and that he had put him outside. I usually let him out at 6.30 and he normally holds till then. I didn't hear him crying to get let out last night at all. Is there anything i should do? Should i just go on like normal and wait till he gets over it? I feel like an idiot :rolleyes:

BC Goodluck. And can you tell me where and when please as i'd love to take the kids if the weather is nice on Sunday.

Oh no! Now i feel so awful. I couldn't believe it when i saw your post. So sorry CC

Thanks guys. We already have Lavender on the list. I love the smell of lavender. Will add some mints too. Thats a good idea. Our vegie patch is going to be over near the horse paddock so that hopefully the dog will stay out of it, as he only goes out to the horses with us. I was thinking lots of grasses and stuff would be ideal and ground covering daisy plants. I have no idea what they are called. Told you i am hopeless I am making a list of plants not to put in so will put oleander on it.

As the title says, we are looking to re-design our yard. Just the backyard at this stage due to lack of funds. Things that will be in the yard will be a grassy area for the kids and dog to play on, a cubby house (eventually) and a couple of raised walkways with railings and steps down to the grass. Hopefully the gardens will be off limits to both the kids and the dog but we'd like to make it as dog friendly as possible. I'm guessing any cactus typ plants will keep the kids out. It will need to be a rock type garden. So we were thinking maybe some bromilliads (sp?) for a start? and some more drought hardy plants. Unfortunately i am hopeless when it comes to plants so any suggestions on what we can use that are okay for dogs would be great. I have had a quick browse on the internet but it doesn't really tell you what kind of plants are non destructible The dog is a kelpie and he doesn't dig much, yet. Any ideas would be appreciated.

If you really want to feed dry i think you have to get tough with her. My pup was a fussy eater and i changed biscuits several times before finding one he would eat. Although sometimes he gets bored so i alternate. I feed raw meat/bones in the morning and dry in the evening. He either eats it or goes without. I also have to keep him separated from the kids and cats otherwise he wants to eat what they are having and would just scoff down the lot and totally ignore his biscuits. He was turning into quite the fatty before i realised that the kids were giving him snacks on the side:eek: So make sure you aren't slipping her treats either ;)