trishalouise

Wow Peibe - that sounds pretty serious to me. How old are they? Have you noticed any difference in the boy since doing TOT? My initial thoughts are that unless you can rehome this dog to be an only dog - and probably an adult only home with a person experienced with dogs - I would seriously consider euthanasia. A bit of noise to work out who will get the bone is reasonable - doing physical damage is not. I assume that you can remove high value things from him? What do you think he would do if a child tried to do the same thing? Hard decision - have been there with a foster myself. There was more to it than just food aggresion - but it was still a heart breaking decision. 6 months after the fact I know it was the right one but still bloody hard. Good luck. Trish

Hehe - I am a human nurse too!!! So she will be getting her full course of ab's - just looking for hints to prevent this recurring again!!

Apparently only yoghurts set in the containers they are sold in are in any way useful, and obviously cultures have a shelf life...Yakult falls foul of my naturopaths temper also for the same reasons and she swears by the Inner Health. I have used Protexin but am ashamed to say it has not been stored correctly in the clinics I have worked in. There was a thread on Easi Yo yoghurt system recently, it is a product I have been a fan of for years and it was approved by a friends gastroenterologist. That's good - because I dug my Easi Yo out on he weekend and we are all (dogs included) eating freshly made yoghurt!!

No, they haven't taken a sample for micro - but will do a sterile collection if it happens again. They will also do an ultrasound to check for residuals. The pH was 7.5 - but she does have dog rocks in her water and I think this makes the urine more alkaline? The cranberry sounds good - is there a dosage for small dogs or just a capsule? What dosage of Vit C would you recommend - she is currently 4kg. I will up the yoghurt too. If I can prevent them naturally I will do all I can. Thanks for all he ideas and advice! Trish

Yep I think you may be right - and hopefully that is the case as one ongoing infection is preferable to 2 in short succesion I would think. I will look into the Cranberry tabs - chemist or health shop I guess? She does have some yoghurt but I could certainly step this up too. Trish

She has chicken necks, raw meat and vegies, the occasional lamb neck and Advance puppy dry. She also has some puppy milk and tuna / mackerel and yoghurt. Trish

I have a nearly 15 week old Mini Poodle pup who currently has her 2nd UTI in 3 weeks The first one coincided with her first trip to the groomers and we are working on the assumption that she wasn't toileted and therefore held on too long. She had a 5 day course of antibiotics for that one. She started again last night - straight to the vets and this time for a 10 day course of antibiotics. If it happens again they will investigate more thoroughly. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any tips on preventing any future infections? Trish

Thanks everyone! I think you are right about the testosterone and bigger male dogs - makes sense really. I think our plan will be to get her desexed at about 12 months - after her 1st season but before her second. She will be fully grown by then. Trish

What about bitches? I have a 14 week old Mini Poodle bitch here who I plan on doing competitive agility with. I was planning on getting her desexed before she is 12 months - I can cope with 1 season but wouldn't really want to have to wait until 18 months and go through 3!! Trish

I agree with not giving him free reign in the house - he will just learn to pee everywhere if he is allowed to roam. We have a puppy pen and a crate and our girl spent a lot of time in there when we were toilet training her. She is now 13 weeks old and hasn't had an accident inside for about 2 weeks It is also important to be boring when you are outside waiting for your pup to toilet - if you are playing or being interesting then the pup will be more interested in you than toileting. If the pup lays down on the grass (mine did that too!) just keep walking around slowly. It can also help to have the pup on lead for training. It will mean he cannot run off and play. When he FINALLY does go, that is when he gets his praise and game. People often make the mistake of giving the pup a little praise and then going inside and ignoring the puppy - so to the pup it thinks that toileting ends the fun and that is why some wait until they are back inside. We are clicker training ours and once I stared to do that with toileting as well it all seemed to fall into place. I didn't actually say a word over and over again - I waited until she was actually peeing before saying it. That way I was sure that she was making the connection between the word and the act - otherwise she may have learnt the "toilet" means run around like an idiot!! Good luck. One day he will just get it and you will wonder what all the fuss was about! Trish :D

I was using the pads until I saw this thread. Indoor doggy toilet The pads were a bit hit and miss and had started to become toys! Since I made one of these she uses it beautifully. It cost me about $30 to make and there is enough artificial turf to replace it 4 times. Trish:)

Thanks guys! I think you are right - I need to watch for the signs that things are getting a bit out of control and redirect. Steve does do the NILIF stuff with her but we have discussed that he should probably start feeding her sometimes. We haven't done the TOT - but she does sit, wait and make eye contact before being told "OK". He is starting to do some little training sessions with her too so that should help. Trish

I need people's opinions on why a 12 week old puppy is humping? She is a Mini Poodle and we have had her since she was 8 weeks old. She began doing this to my husband about a week after we got her and it seems to mostly happen when she is playing and gets a bit over excited. She has done it to my Dad when he was playing with her with his feet and she has done it a couple of times to my 3 year old daughter - again when she gets a bit too excited. Today she has been doing it to our Greyhound! :rolleyes: They had been playing and the play was starting to get a bit rougher. So my thoughts are that it is just excitement that she doesn't really know what to do with. Would it be unusual for it to be a dominance thing at this age? In all other aspects she is fantastic. We are quite strict on our leadership and doing NILIF. She is crate trained, doing really well with clicker training, socialisation and toilet training - so basically we think she is fab!!! There is just this humping thing that intrigues me. Trish

My 12 week old Mini Poodle puppy has been eating chicken necks ever since we have had her (8 weeks) and she was eating them well before that at the breeders. I feed them frozen. So, my question is when are lamb necks OK? I bought some today and thought I would give them a try tomorrow when I am home to supervise - thoughts? Trish

It worked!!!! Following your excellent instructions I made one of these last night. Today was Noodle's longest stint in her puppy pen - 7 hours - as I had to work. Previously we had been using mats that were getting moved and played with, and therefore puddles were appearing where they shouldn't. So, tonight my husband gets home expecting fake grass and kitty litter to be everywhere!! He was surprised to find not only was the whole thing still intact, but there were no puddles on the ground!!! Woohoo. Thanks again for posting!! Trish

Thank you for posting that - great info. Our puppy uses her doggy door when we are home but is confined to her puppy pen when we are out - and uses plastic pad things. We tried a real piece of turf in a kitty litter tray but she just ripped that apart! She is now starting to chew the plastic so am going to give yours a go. Trish

I didn't even know you apart from your beautiful stories here - but I am horrified that you are gone and am so very sad for your family. It is so unfair that a young boy has had his dog taken from him - I don't think there is anything sadder.

Love it, love it, love it - thank you!! Perfect timing for our new puppy coming home next week!

I too am sorry to hear this. RIP Storm I had to make that decision for a foster we had here for 3 months - it was heartbreaking so I can imagine what you are feeling at the moment. And to now have to face the fight for Sam too. Good luck with Sam - our thoughts are with you. Trish

Tiggy - I believe that walking on a loose lead is still reinforcing your leadership. The dog knows the boundaries and stays within those. To me it is my dog's walk and time for him to take in all he can from the experience - walking at heel by my side (I believe) does not allow him to do that. He will come close when I say "With me" if there are people coming towards us or I need him nearer for any reason. He knows to wait at the kerb and he very rarely gets to the end of his 2 metre leash. If he does, I just stop - he comes back to me and we start again - this might happen twice in a 20 minute walk. I love our walks and he does too - that is what is important to us. The leadership that we reinforce consistently (not just on walks) helps. Shaun - you sound like you are doing really well with Fraser - good on you! I agree with Erny - just keep doing what you are doing for know and learn how to teach "Heel" the right way when you get back to training. Trish

Actually Sidoney, that reminds me - I haven't read Gwen Bailey's book but had heard that it is good. I was going to buy "After You Get Your Puppy" but might look at "The Perfect Puppy" first. That statement shocked me too - especially when most of the other stuff is so good - odd! I guess it is easy for people with some knowledge and experience to take what they need from a book - but not so easy for someone with limited knowledge and experience. Off to check out "The Perfect Puppy" - thanks! Trish

I've just been reading this and while it has some useful information it also has things that I totally and completely disagree with, such as this: No, no, no, no, no. This is irresponsible and could lead to unsuitable dogs being bred. Also, as a breeder, if I evaluated a puppy as not show quality, I would not want to see it in a show ring. I agree - but I think the info that the OP wanted is fantastic in these books. Have yet to find a book in which I agree with everything. I take what I need and ignore the rest. Trish :rolleyes:

Crates are FANTASTIC! The dogs love them (if introduced properly) - they see it as their den. I too have had dogs who voluntarily go to their crate to sleep and stay in there with the door open. We are getting our next puppy in just under 5 weeks and I have already bought the crate!!! Makes toilet training so much easier and I have a nearly 3 year old child so will make management of a puppy, a Greyhound and a daughter that much easier!!

Yep - definately these 2. You can download "Before You Get Your Puppy" for free. It will give you some great info and really help to prepare you for when the puppy comes. Good Luck, Trish ETA Link for Before You Get Your Puppy Download here

RIP Aspen. What a brave boy to make the decision on his own. My thoughts are with you at this heart breaking time. Trish