poodlefan

Until a vet checks out your puppy, its all speculation as to what's wrong. Some pups do get upset stomachs from worming pastes, some don't handle certain brands of dog food or table scraps well and others can pick up stomach bugs. It could be Coccodia, ongoing worm burden or a range of other issues. The important thing to remember is that a pup with diarohhea is missing out on important nutrients from its food. Get it to the vet for a proper diagnosis as soon as you can. The best thing you could do to manage the issue in the meantime would be to give the pup a bland diet of something like boiled chicken and rice.

Short answer: Yes. It's high impact stressful exercise that can lead to injury. I know a couple of dogs for whom this is their only regular exercise and they are unsound. Owner keeps doing it though.

I agree. And did not mean to infer that all training issues are solved with control of resources, if your post was directed to me or in response to mine. Calm assertiveness. Not everything on the dog's terms. Nope, just a general observation Erny based on issues I've seen. The key is to find the balance between control and freedom. I have seen trainers who think the response to a well done exercise is to do it again, just to be sure. If its not as good then they keep doing it. Hell, if the dog has nailed it, it should be end of exercise. That was one of the principles of the Joffrey? method of horse training. When a young horse got something - end of exercise. Take the pressure off as that in itself is a reward.

Luke there are trainers who won't put a dog in an obedience/trialling ring before 18 months- 2 years because they feel that younger dogs lack the maturity to cope with the stresses of competition training. I think they have a point. Dogs can burn out. I've seen it.

Anita: I think Ruff Love taken to extremes is basically creating Stockholm Syndrome. I have issues with the creation of a situation where deprivation is used to gain compliance. I'm glad that Susan Garratt is reworking her book. I agree with the principles she has in it but its not for every dog and there is always a risk that some people will decide more of the program is better. There's a line beyond which a crate does become a prison I don't think you can solve all training issues with more control of resources. You have to find out what truly motivates your dog (which is a simplistic way of talking about drive training) and also how to play with him (not talking about Barkly here just in general). Given that most of our dogs spend time away from us each day, it think its essential that they learn (particularly with only dogs) to amuse themselves. I have had handlers complain that their dogs aren't interested in spending time with them. Most of them need to learn to become for fun to be with. Sometimes more training is the last thing a dog needs to resolve its training issues. Horse trainers usually spell their horses, especially when young. They turn them out and just let them vege for weeks at a time. I think its a principle that has application to dogs. Just have fun with them and let them have break from the stresses of training.

Get him a float vest maybe? He's still a youngster Luke. Work on the relationship and the training will improve. Some dogs cannot be drilled. You really want to find the sparkle that makes a great dog/handler combination such a pleasure to watch.

Once he's a bit older, I think agility is a great team building activity and very self rewarding for the dog. Of course, the dog doesn't get to perform the obstacles unless they do them at YOUR cue. I'd suggest a short 'holiday' from training and perhaps new offlead stuff together with no other dogs arond - can you beach walk with him (just you two) and recall him occasionally for a reward? Would fetching from water be something he'd enjoy?

Luke, I know you train Barkly carefully and he has his offlead fun but do you think he finds what you do together fun? I think you can sour a dog with too many demands too early - you see it in the obedience ring. Dogs going through the motions but clearly not enthusiastic at all. Sometimes what you need is less drill and more play. Susan Garratt would be the first to comment that most people don't play enough with their dogs. My low tech suggestion would be to have a look at your relationship with Barkly and up the fun factor - make him have more fun with you than on his own. God, I sound like a marriage counsellor!

They are a very BIG company. Evil or not, they make good soap.

What Settlvr said. Vaccination is about risk management. Establishing immunity to life threatening diseases IS important. It's over vaccination that's the issue. Anyone who wouldn't vaccinate a puppy for diseases like parvo is exposing that pup to a great risker than the needle offers IMO.

In a word Midol? Company! The issue about inside/outside as I see it is more about company for the dog than containment. If a family works and the dog sleeps alone outside, how many hours a day does this social animal actually have company. Add another dog or allow the dog to sleep inside and you add another 8-10 hours of company for the dog either way. No modern, educated animal keeping organisation willingly keeps pack animals as individuals. Many suburban dogs are subjected to social isolation for the bulk of their entire lives. Show me the dogs barking in my neighbourhood and I'd be prepared to put money on the fact that they rarely make it out of the back yard to the inside of the house or anywhere else. Dedicated dog owners CAN provide a good life for an outside dog. But its far more demanding than allowing a dog even limited access inside. And its far too easy for busy family to lose sight of the fact that the dog is out there alone while you go about your life inside. Dogs need social interaction. Few, if any dogs would willing choose to be alone awake OR asleep.

Interesting but useless fact time: :wink: Sunlight is the first brand of manufactured cake soap ever sold. It's now about 150 years old as a brand but these days its owned by Unilever. You'll find it in the laundry aisle of most supermarkets (with the Sard wonder soap). It is still sold in its original design blue and yellow cardboard box.

Fleas can't breathe underwater. :rolleyes: Notice how I began by describing this as a 'preventative remedy'? The man's point was that the bathing in salt water left some kind or residue which deterred fleas between swims. This was the only means he used for bathing the dogs. If the fleas drown before the owner knows they are there, is it preventative or treatment? I'd imagine he'd not have been going over his dogs with a flea comb every day. Salt is a well known home remedy for killing fleas btw. Apparently salting carpets, then vacumming can be quite effective in getting rid of them. Perhaps on the skin it works the same way.

Fleas can't breathe underwater. :rolleyes:

Welcome back Vickie. Beautiful shots, as always. :rolleyes:

Yeah, it's gluggy. If you're taking it from the fridge, fill the syringe and give it 15 minutes to come to room temp - will lessen the shock a bit. I hope all goes well.. positive vibes coming your way.

A significant proportion of DOL members dogs sleep outside Lorena. No need to leave just because some people hold strong views about the issue. The challenge for any owner of a single dog is to fulfill that dog's needs for social companionship - they are a pack animal after all. You also have to consider your individual dogs capacity to deal with the elements if you keep it mostly outside. As an all white dog, it will get messier I expect. If you turn your mind to these issues, then where your dog sleeps can be viewed as part of that greater whole. However, (dons flame suit as I know some owners disagree) you are choosing a breed known for its barking. What will be your response if your dog barks in response to things outside while you are at work or at night? None of these issues are black and white. There are happy dogs who sleep both inside and out. The key is to think these things through and question any assumptions you may be making before you decide.

Unless you know fleas are an issue where you live, I prefer treatments to prevenatives. In 11 years of dog ownership I've found fleas on my dogs ONCE. This isn't a bad area for them but I do question the practice of 'just in case' dosage with chemicals when fleas are hardly a life threatening parasite. Ticks on the other hand - better safe than sorry. :rolleyes: Don't confuse "natural" and "herbal" with "automatically safe". Some of the most powerful toxins around occur in nature. Common alternative treatments like Tea Tree oil can be toxic to dogs. Its also important to remember that many commonly used alternative treatments have not been scientifically tested for their efficacy. Nosodes are a case in point.

Yep. What she can't eat, she'll roll in. Her efforts in duck poo produced bright green stains. :p She's also rolled inside a dead kanga ribcage. :D

Your Jack can't be any worse than my toy poodle can get Tenties. Let me know if it works. I suggested it for an ESS who got grass stains and it did. Oh, and I used it on Lily after her effort in that pic.

This is my "clean and white" process Tenties. I developed it on my horses legs (and we all know sort of stains they get) and use it on the toy poodle (who loves to roll) and the whippets white bits. 1. Wash white areas in sunlight soap. Work it in really well, work up a thick lather and rinse. 2. Wash white areas with a white enhancing shampoo. I use Fidos at the moment but there are lots of good ones. 3. Repeat step 2. 4. Don sunglasses - you will need them. It really does get white areas icey white

Doesn't all alcohol contain mouthwash?

Are you looking to make the coat as clean as possible or to actually bleach it? Given the recent study linking mouthwashes to cancer, I'd not be using them on a dog.

In a perfect world this may be possible but not everybody wants to spend $1000 to $1800 approx on a dog. :D What then shall we do with the dogs that do not have papers? The rescues and the byb dogs? Should we just pts them all and make people buy from Reg breeders to get the papers. In an ideal world, we won't continue to breed vulnerable dogs without papers in BSL States or banned dogs at all. Don't kid yourselves as to who puts these puppies under the gun the day they are born - their breeders do. IMO irresponsible breeding, failure to carefully vet home and lack of understanding of the needs of these dogs contributed to the situation they find themselves in. Why encourage more of the same? I don't want to see any dog lose its life but while the demand for pups from BYBs continues, the suppliers will continue to produce them. And people who choose to save $$$ by buying a "bargain dog" or a banned breed are lining their pockets. As for cost? How much will a concrete floored, secure roofed, restricted breed compliant dog run set you back? Buy an unpapered dog potentially subject to BSL and you'd best budget to install one. :D If you don't bother to comply with BSL, how much do you think it will cost for the court actions to save your dog's life (if you're lucky that is). At what price do you value peace of mind for the lifetime of your beloved dog? As I've said, if you're a hard core restricted breed fancier, there are completely legal ways to breed and own one of these dogs in this country. Surely if you consider yourself to be a dedicated "dog lover" you won't breed, buy or keep a dog in a manner that risks its life every day it breathes.

Is crate training necessary? Absolutely not. Does it help with toilet training, travel, and containment when your pup can't be supervised? Absolutely. If you want your dog to learn never to toilet inside, then allowing it to toilet on tiles because they are easy to clean is going to derail the process. Start your toilet training by taking you pup to the place where it will toilet as an adult and don't allow it to toilet anywhere else. Baby puppies have limited ability to control their body temperature. Bathrooms, laundries and other concrete and tiled areas are heat sinks - they can be very cold. You will have to be careful not to allow your puppy to become chilled in such an area. If you want your puppy to live in harmony with your cats, teach it what is and is not acceptable behaviour around them. My guess is that you will get plenty of feline assistance with that process. Baby gates and dog doors can be used to allow your dog access to the house but give your cats a safe area when you can't supervise. My old cat happily shared the bed in front of the heater with my dogs on cold days. However, if you want your dog to sleep outside, the sooner it begins to do so, the better. Can I recommend (as other DOLers would) that you read this website - you will find some excellent advice about the methods you can use to successfully integrate a pup into your home.