poodlefan

Puppies use their teeth the way small children use their hands.. to grab and explore. You want to discourage your puppy putting his teeth on you at all. Search in this forum for threads on "mouthing" and you'll find a lot of threads on the subject.

Get someone to video you or tell you about your body position.. do you tend to watch over your shoulder to check her position? Sometimes a subtle turn or drop in the left shoulder is enough to cause the dog to lag just a little. Make sure you look ahead, not to your left to check on her and only try rewarding her from your right hand across your front, not from the left. Just out of interest, why doesn't the food idea thrill you?

Pups dont tend to grow out of many behaviours. You have to train them out of them. If you want him to toilet in a particular area, you'll need to be regularly taking him there and rewarding the behaviour. Left to his own devices, he'll pee where ever takes his fancy. If you really don't want him peeing on the patio, I suggest you install a barrier to keep him off.

No, but they can be limited. Don't confuse good luck with good risk management Corvus.. but you'd not be the first to do so. Look if I had a large, non-reactive dog I'd probably risk the dog parks too. I don't because that's not the kind of dog I have. I really hope you never have the bad luck to have your dog involved in a fight at a dog park. All it takes is one dog to create an all in melee. Bear in mind that as Kivi ages, his ability to cope will diminish.

Mr Dog Expert don't know a whole lot about crate training. I expect he knows a whole lot about confining pups in them 24/7 though. :rolleyes: I never bothered with the divider.

Did you not start this thread to talk about an issue with continual sniffing? Did you not say this issue is escalating? I expect you'll be wanting him to get round without doing that - is he prepared in terms of having eliminated the problem? If you follow your OH's advice about how to deal with sniffing and employ it in the trialling ring, not only will you be disqualified, but you'll possibly get yourself reported and suspended. Heidii the whole atmosphere at a trial is different. More dogs, more handlers, more nervous energy. I know green dogs who train brilliantly who initially don't even come off the start line at trials due to stress. You're clearly going to enter. Have a strategy for what you're going to do if you lose your dog to sniffing during the trial that does NOT involve the use of a physical correction. My advice would be to get your dog's focus and take the fastest line of obstacles out of the ring, rewarding the hell out of him if he finishes as you request. If he doesn't come off the start line, my advice would be to put his lead back on and depart with a minimum of fuss.

How strong is the flywire on the screen?

Yes, a vinyl floor will make a difference. Is there somewhere she sleeps when she's not in the laundry.. you may be able to find out where she's going by finding a warm spot where she's been sleeping. However, closing the door will solve the escape issue.

Go put your hand on the laundry floor Kitty.. I expect you'll find it a lot cooler than you think it is. My guess is that she gravitates to where she spends time with the family.

Kitty: The fact that she's escaping where you put her doesn't mean she has separation anxiety Kitty, unless she's trying to follow you. Where do you find her when you get home? My guess is that she doesn't find the laundry as attractive as you perceive it to be. They ARE heat sinks. Put the palm of your hand on the laundry floor for a guage of how warm it is down at her level.

One possiblity is that he finds using the dog door a bit challenging. Try propping the dog door open and see if access without having to use the flap makes any difference. When you want to encourage your dog to go outside, removing any barriers that discourage it is worth a try. I expect (as most pups do) that his confidence using the dog door will grow but until he's barrelling through it, it might be best to take him regularly to the door and encourage him to use it to go outside.

I dont think this is an issue. Why should you only trial if your dog has been training for a certain amount of time or is up to a certain standard? He can go around a course and thats all the matters. Is he ready to trial???....well is he ready to train? A trial for me will simply be a training day, in a different environment with a pen and paper. Im not looking for ribbons at the moment, im needing the experience in the ring and that in my opinion is alot more important. Trialing should simply be looked at as just another normal traning day for you and your dog. Because to ask your dog to do more than he is prepared for will over face him. I've heard all that before Heidii but the fact is that trialling is different to training and you will communicate that to your dog. If you cannot read a course, figure out a handling strategy and handle your dog to achieve it, you are not ready. If your dog is not reliably performing all obstacles and fully conversant with what is expected of him, he is not ready. No one ever walked into a trialling ring without hoping for a pass Heidi. No one.

Try a greyhound meat supplier Erny. My guess is that bones aren't widely available because not much slaughter accords to human food grade standards - therefore butchers and supermarkets can't sell them. My understanding is that roos are an intermediate host for tapeworms.. there shouldn't be an issue with muscle meat and its nothing regular worming doesn't fix.

Consider physio also Erny. A good massage will help get the heat out of that muscle.

A joint supplement like Jointguard would be a good addition. Green lipped mussel is also recommended.

Tilly, don't forget that your current dog is now a possible carrier of KC. He should be quarantined (ie not allowed near other dogs) for 14 days to see if he displays symptoms. If he does, you should keep him away from all other dogs for a further period of 21 days after he shows no signs of the disease. KC is a serious pain in the arse. One dog exposed and allowed to socialise can infect a hell of a lot of others before any of them show symptoms.

You are talking to the Queen of over analysing.. I'd be running every possible diagnosis. But yes, best to wait till tomorrow.. good luck!

The heat will be coming from muscle. He may have torn it.

I think its "Sacroiliac" Erny. Fingers crossed its nothing serious for Mandela. Darcy once did a facet joint.. he couldn't move without pain. It was resolved with manipulation. I hope Mandela's problem is as readily resolved.

Me too. Bloody dogs.. I'd have to go down the shops for another packet... and lock it away.

Sandra Hassett (Chiropractic Vet) recommends not before 12 months of age Sarah.

Gutsy play Teebs.

It is highly contagious and far more serious for a pup than an older dog. Your dog may show no symptoms at all. Check with your vet but I think the infectious period is about 21 days.

And sometimes as a new dog owner you don't know it doesn't work until its too late. That's why people give warnings against: * unbalanced or cheap diets * over exercising puppies * keeping puppies on slippery floors * not socialising or training * excessive rough play or encouraging mouthing * taking puppies to the offlead park Sometimes the voice of experience seems critical but look for the warnings of what not to do. they have often been learned the hard way.

Some liver shunts are inside the liver.. you won't nail one of those on an ultra sound. I think you may be needing to talk to a specialist Skwo.. or your vet should be. Sending positive vibes for Chelsea.