poodlefan

Hot spots are caused by fungus - they aren't an allergic reaction as such. Think of them as dog tinea. My guess is your pup's getting them where he's been mouthed - its dampness that encourages the fungus to grow. My dogs don't get them so I can't help with treatment but a search here on +hot +spot should throw up some threads.

Dawwww - what a cute bub he was.. Then he grew up!!

Purple is Howie's theme colour. :D

Ruffwear. There was a thread on this earlier in the week.

My guess is dogs have been doing it since we first allowed them by the campfire.

Cosmolo: Sadly, that seems to have been interpreted by some as a reason to distance the rescue from dogs that had issues at the get go. Blaming the adoptive home is a wonderful method of absolving yourself from responsiblity for rehoming a problem dog.

I personally have no problem with dogs licking human's plates, as long as they are washed after. However the reason people have given me as to why it squicks them out is because some dogs lick their own genitals, some dogs eat their own poop - basically you never know where a dog's mouth has been! I say fair enough in that retrospect - if I was a visitor to someone's home I wouldn't have a clue whether their dog had been hoovering up possum poo in the backyard and then been allowed to lick my plate! Of course Emma doesn't do anything of the sort, but I wouldn't expect a visitor to know that. There's probably a greater risk of e-coli contamination from processed meats and on salad vegetables than a dog licking its bum can transmit. I wonder if these people ever kiss anyone? Seriously people need to get a grip. You're probably in greater danger of food poisoning at a take away than in any family home that has dogs. My guess is these people eat takeaway and in restaurants never giving a thought to whether the workers have washed their hands after going to the loo. Funny how they'd worry more in a private home. ;) In case you're wondering, I dont' have a lot of time for the "dogs are filthy" brigade. Decent husbandry and a half way decent household cleaning regime will manage any issues.

If he's carrying the leg and won't take weight on it, it might be a cruciate ligament injury. A vet visit sounds like a good idea.

My visitors let their dogs lick their plates too :D It is extremely rare for me to 'entertain' and even rarer to have non-doggy people over for a meal. But, if they didn't ask I wouldn't tell. If they asked, I'd be honest. The dogs are healthy and regularly wormed, and the dishes are put through the dishwasher, even if they look clean after the doggy wash How is a dog licking a plate any worse than a human's fork going from mouth to plate? At least most dogs are wormed. From memory you're far more likely to get a serious infection from a human bite than a dog one. The bacterial transfer from human saliva is probably worse than a canine's. If people want to worry about bacteria getting on plates, buy a decent dishwasher. And people wonder how kids fail to develop properly functioning immune systems these days. They're probably at less risk of disease sharing food with a dog than another child.

Ah yes the wonderful and benign headcollar.... that has aversive effects on many dogs whether they are pulling on the lead or not. Effective training method - not in my book. A device that when first fitted sees many dogs clawing at their faces to try to remove it while folk tell you "he'll get used to it". How "kind" is a device that I've seen poorly fitted so that it rests on the inside of dog's eyelids. Or used frequently enough to cause permanent indentations in a dog's face. Then we attach an extendable lead to the this device that was never designed to exert constant pressure on the dog's head. They have their uses but to see them advocated as "kinder" than an ordinary flat collar beggars belief.

Now you know why I plan my seaside holidays for cooler weather and non-school holiday periods. What a cow.

I think this is a very good idea. Not only will other dogs not be able to get to yours, but he'll probably feel a lot less stressed too.

Corvus: PM me your email addy and I'll provide you with a letter from one of Australia's leading chiropractic vets that says otherwise.

My recommendation is that you persist with the collar. Your obedience club should hopefully be teaching you how to get her focus on you and reward her for NOT pulling. You've only attended one lesson so don't give up hope. Putting a harness on her will simply give her more power to pull. With some guidance you should be able to teach her to walk on a loose lead without having to wear a harness that will tangle her fur and potentially rub her.

It could have been attacked by a predator and gutted or found partially consumed.

Bizarre! One look at the dog tells you it was dead when it went into the water. For all we know someone's had their dog die and frozen it for posterity - stranger things happen. Someone could have knocked off a freezer and found they got something extra for their trouble.

For people who fail to heed less drastic methods, the 180 decibel approach is about all that works I'm afraid. I'd not use it as a first course of action but with some people you have to escalate. You start with, "can you please keep your dog away from mine".. get to ""excuse me, please keep your dog way and end up at "move your effing dog IDIOT" Of course at that point you get the indignant "but he just wants to say hi" or "aggressive dogs shouldn't be allowed in public" and off they go in a huff, none the wiser its like offlead situations.. "can you please call your dog".. ""call your dog now please" "call your effing dog!!!"

Haven't you done enough confessing already? Seriously, its getting a bit tiresome. Use of the word "evil" hardly seems appropriate. I think you need to stop these posts.

If a muzzled dog isn't telling people to stay away, I'm buggered if I can figure out what will. A muzzled dog is completely unable to defend itself if a dog takes exception to being snapped at. All the more reason to intervene assertively. Corvus for some people what's right for them is right. They don't give toss what other people's dogs might think of an approach as long as theirs gets to do what it likes. Yellng is both startling and in a crowd embarassing for the approaching person. Negative reinforcement can be called for if that's what is needed to stop people taking liberties with your dog. I've also had people let their dogs approach my tied up dog at the dog club. I haven't hesitate to yell "what do you think you're doing?" - when my dog's safety is at issue, I'll act like a crazy dog person every time.

Do you know about Rough And Tumble play? There's been a heap of research done on it, mostly on rats. There was a show on ABC a couple of weeks ago that showed neurons from the brain of a rat that was allowed RAT play and one that wasn't. The difference was profound. It may be dangerous, but there is evidence to suggest it is a very important aspect of brain development in young mammals. The difference with rats Corvus is that one rat probably doesn't weigh 5 times what the other one does. That's where the danger is. Free play is great when dogs are similarly matched in size and play styles. My canine sports massage friend says there is no better exercise for a dog. Play between littermates is probably about the best you can get. Mismatched you can end up with permanent physical damage (know of an OCD case) and aggressive responses triggered by being outgunned and unable to stop the other dog. If the Stafford is an outside dog, every time that Skip comes out its going to be on. I think both dogs would benefit from being put in situations where they can chill out together. Side by side crates inside would be one such method. As both dogs are female? I'd be watching the Staffords reaction to a maturing pup carefully also. She may come to the point where she won't allow the liberties she does now.

I would give them a couple of months with bones before making the decision. A lot of the tartar should come off with bones in the diet.

I'm no fan of Supercoat but a lot of folk don't seem to mind it. I think you can do better (and feed less) with a slightly better product though. The best thing you could do to that diet is feed two out of three meals as raw meaty bones. As soon as you get a freezer, investigate buying bulk chicken frames (often sold for soup stock). They are very cheap and great for dogs. If you go to the supermarket fairly frequently you could buy those or chicken wings. Nothing wrong with table scraps. Dogs lived of those and bones for many years without too much trouble.

No canned food. Its a total waste of money. Lots of raw meaty bones.. chicken wings (frames are good for big dogs) lamb and beef offcuts Decent quality kibble - something like Advance. Black Hawk gets very good reviews here. The really cheap ones are full of fillers which just end up in smelly piles in the back yard so its false economy to feed the very cheap stuff. You can add family meal left overs (no onion) to some degree to make the kibble a bit more interesting.

On the advice to leave the club I can only say this: Idiots are everywhere. Club officials also can't do anything about a problem if they don't know its happening. Perhaps a quick polite email to the Senior Instructor or President might be a good addition to direct action.

Tell your sister than anything the dog can get its mouth on is a "toy" in its eyes. It won't differentiate between its toys and shoes or anything else. A shoe box on the verandah, a fence around the pump and the line? Remember if the pup is kept in a run that will increase its requirement for exercise at other times.