Tilly

I use Permoxin - spray it on the dog daily if in a high tick area. I normally spray it on before we go bush and then when we get home - I don't spray it in their face rather wet a cloth and wipe it over.

I use Permoxin on my dogs. We have used tick collars (preventic and the kill one), Advantix and Frontline but still ended up with ticks.

Absolutely ... Unfortunately for me ... my dogs are fed raw ... so I really can't use that as an excuse for their behaviour

I would be going back to absolute basics for toilet training. After he has eaten then take him outside on a lead and wait for him to toilet ... and then praise big time. Is he crate trained? Maybe crate train so he has a secure place to go when you are not around. My pup was put in his crate with a bone or his food and I left the room - he was distracted and I wasn't around him all the time.

The tugs I brought from the first order still look like new ... even with my brat playing with them. Edited: ... and the website has moved. It is now at http://paytonstoybox.weebly.com/

According to the news tonight - the parents are calling for the police dog to be PTS and are looking at suing. Definitely don't think it is the dogs fault. Child runs into the house calling out ... dog is working so he is already “on edge”. I think it is more human error rather then the dogs fault. Maybe I am cynical but I think it is a good excuse for the family to cry “poor us” and get some money. If they were so concerned for their child's welfare they wouldn't be involved with drugs and get raided in the first place...

I know how you feel ... my boys had only ever been together under close supervision because the older boy has a short fuse and gets narky over anything. They had a couple of fights but thankfully nothing too serious - pup had had a few holes in his legs and face but nothing requiring stitches. When I went to work I leave them on seperate sides of the yard (yard fenced down the middle). I came home one evening and came out the back door expecting to see the older dog ... but there was no dog. My heart stopped - so I went down the stairs to open the gate ... only to be greeted by 2 dogs. The older boy had gotten over/under the fence and was on the pup's side of the yard. After 2 weeks of fixing holes and building another fence etc ... I gave up and left the 2 dogs together. Each afternoon I come home expecting to see blood but instead find them sleeping side by side. Now when I try to seperate them both dogs cry and carry on until I put them back together again.

Choice magazine has the yearly vaccinations topic in their September 2010 magazine ... I haven't read it yet but it asks "Should you vaccinate your best friend as often as the vet instructs?". I think I will be getting my boys tested when it is time for their next vaccinations ... the youngest had his puppy shots and then another needle not so long ago but hopefully I will test both of them instead.

A friend has his homemade hydrobath down the side of his house in a little alcove thing which is basically outside his bathroom - so it was easy to extend the plumbing so he had access to hot and cold water. He then put on a mixer tap and an outdoor powerpoint so the hydrobath can be permantly set up with the water being drained away through the storm water (or whatever that pipe is).

There is something I have wondered for some time now … but is rescue really making a difference to the number of dogs being dumped, destroyed, abandoned? I do realise rescue gives a lot of dogs a second chance ... but until I came onto this forum I never realised it was so many dogs. We seem to have become such a throw away society where dumping is just an easy way out for so many people. They get a dog, it becomes unwanted (outgrown the cute stage, gets big, they go on holidays, the novelty wears off, dog it untrained etc), they dump it (most don't even get to rescue or places like RSPCA as this costs money) and then they turn around a get another “free” dog and the cycle continues. A lot of people spend a lot of time, money and effort picking up the pieces … but is the message really getting through to the breeders of these dogs, the “owners” and the next generation or is this going to be a never ending cycle? What do you think?

Are you sure they haven't learnt how to open the freezer ....

I was at my mum's for Christmas last year with our youngest and he had been doing brilliantly with staying beside me so I put him on his long line (10M) and let him drag that ... but I was staying near the end of the leash. We had been working on his recall but he was easierly distracted so I had never really let him offleash before - but I had been teaching him "that is far enough" when he got near the end of the 10m lead. We were in the side paddock playing with his ball when I toss the ball a bit further then I normally did. He took off after the ball and was about to head back to me when a cow in the neighbouring paddock mooed. The brat took one look at the cow and turned and took a step or two towards the cow. If he had bolted to the cow I would have had no hope of getting to him before he would have got through the fence and across the road (thankfully a very quiet road) ... so in slight desperation I called his name ... and to my absolute surprise he stopped dead, took one look at me and then bolted straight back into my arms. He gots lots of praise but it was hard for me to throw the ball for him again ... which I did (but this time it wasn't thrown as far). I wanted to hold his leash and not give him a chance to get away but I needed him to know coming when I called him didn't mean it was the end of his fun so I had to make it more fun for him to come to me when I called him.

I went to Tivoli with my GSD ... their methods are all about clicker training and rewarding. It would be excellent for a dog that is food motivated and is eager to please. My GSD has a high prey drive so he can be "difficult" sometimes (and perfect the next) so it was a bit of stuggle for us - we spent a lot of time at the other end of the field trying to get his focus back on me and not every dog that moved. A friend and his labX did brilliantly in the class. You don't need to use a halti - it is up to you. They prefer you train on a flat collar only ... but they do recommend a halti over a check chain etc.

Hey rocco .. were you the crazy person at the airport trying to sneek in a tiger cub? Were you thinking of mass producing more part dog/part tigers ...

Is this another case of BYB'ing ....

My boys have a food release command word as well but I find if I get my mum to feed the dogs she will take the bowls out ... the dogs will run to their "spot" and they sit and wait for the bowls to be placed in position. My mum doesn't give them the "release" word but she tells them to "eat your breakfast" ... and they will eat. If I take their bowls out they do the same (run to their spot and sit and wait) but if I don't give them a release word ... they will sit there for hours drooling over their food. My youngest will politely take a food treat from someone but won't eat it - he will drop it on the ground ... even something yummy like a cooked sausage ... unless I encourage him to take it.

My dogs would hate it ... no mud or dirt ... or trees to pee on

My boys "heart person" is anyone who is holding their food bowl ... as long as they are family and the bowl has food in it

The red stuff could be staining due to licking or chewing of the feet ...

Maybe try Malaseb medicated shampoo (wet paw, massage in the shampoo for a few minutes and thing rinse well and dry)

OMG ... Rod took some wonderful photo's of the brat on Sunday during his runs ... that guy is going to send me broke

I think Banshee has picked her new family ... I really think she deserves this chance. The best chance for it to work is to get the whole family involved with the behaviouralist so they can make a well informed decision ...

I can't get a decent photo of one dog ... let along trying to get both together. I have tried a number of times but in the time it takes for the click to happen I either get a blur or just a butt

And they needed a survey to discover this ....

I am thinking tick or some sort of poisoning ... ticks are really bad in some area and could even be brought in by other animals. Fingers crossed it isn't something too serious ... some days you just wish dogs could talk so they could tell you what is wrong or what happened