WinGus

I didn't walk my puppy until after all her vaccinations. But then I think I ruined everything by letting her run around a lot at dog parks and on dog friendly beaches!! I now take her for a 15-20min walk every day, or sometimes a run in the park. If she doesn't get a run in the park, she comes back and does zoomies in the front yard! :p

What kind of problems are you having? Are you training him short periods at a time? As Tess said, he needs things to do - a stuffed kong, toys, a treat ball etc. Have you tried crate training? That worked for me.

I gave them the pig's head and they did LOVE it with no ill effects whatsoever. Highly recommended! A pig's head is unfortunately bigger than Pepper herself, so I think I'll be giving that a miss!!! Not to mention my squeamishness at seeing a dead pig head!!!! :p

Oh. I didn't know that! I feed Pepper those bones occasionally!! She never chews the bones though, like yours Tollersowned, she leaves them for me to pick up!! I do feed her lamb bones more though, and she tends to chew those up.

Sounds great!! Congratulations!! It's such a nice feeling when the dog responds to you, on the first time! Lots of warm fuzzies!! ;) Pepper lately has been really attentive when I call her name. Mind you, she's not so responsive to the command that comes after her name!!!

If I'm sitting on the ground with her and laughing, Pepper will jump up enthusiastically and try to lick my face. Same thing when I happen to sing along with a song on the radio. I didn't think I was that bad!!! ETA: I taught Pepper (maybe a bit too enthusiastically) to give her paw, and now she "paws" me at every opportunity, especially when she knows I've got a treat or food, and I'm making her wait!

Pepper didn't eat at all when she got back from being desexed. All she wanted to do was sleep. So we let her! She crawled into her crate, only coming out for a stretch or two, and at which time we'd also take her to the toilet. We were worried that she wouldn't eat or drink, but our vet said that was quite normal. She ate a bit the next day, but was still pretty groggy. I wouldn't worry about it. I think sometimes the anaesthetic works differently on different dogs. If she's still not eating after a couple of days, then take her back to the vet. But for now, best to leave her in a quiet place where she can just get rest.

I was going to suggest a small pet carrier too. Probably the safest way for a puppy to travel. You can get a cheap small crate and then upgrade to a bigger one at a later stage. If you line the crate with blankets that have the scent of the original litter/mother on it, then he should feel more comfortable.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I definitely clean up after my dog. I get really annoyed when I see other poops all over the place. : Erny, you're right! I guess it is a training issue. I normally let Pepper just sniff her way around as I know she really enjoys it. Unfortunately that does mean that she pulls and tugs me everywhere!! She didn't mark tonight. Just did one wee, one poop and sniffed her way around the rest of the walk! Maybe it was just a one-off thing? Oh well, back to the leash training!!

Pepper has been housetrained using a puppy wee pad. We have tried to get her to wee and poop before we go on walks, but most times she won't do anything. Then when she's on the walk, she will wee and poop!!! I haven't really reacted to her doing this, but is this teaching her that it is okay? I'm a bit funny with her weeing on other people's lawns or on the council strips/parks. Poop I just pick up. I have a feeling it is because at home, she doesn't feel she needs to go, but out in the wide world, she smells other dogs' urine and has to go, or the movement of her legs during the walks makes her then go. Is this a correct assumption? She's also started weeing a lot of times in the past week when walking. Do female dogs scent mark?!? She sniffs a certain place then will wee there, even though she has already wee'd at home or earlier on in the walk. Normally it's one wee and one poop. This week it's been numerous wee's and some days, two poops! I haven't changed her diet?!?! Does weeing in public really matter? Am I just worried over nothing?!?! :D :p

Pepper gets pigs ears occasionally and some dried pork. I tried to feed her raw pork once but that gave her sloppy poos, so won't be trying that again! Funny thing is that she doesn't get the same runs when she eats the dried pork. I thought that lamb has a similiar fat content to pork and would produce the same effects, but Pepper is totally fine on lamb and loves it!?!?

The furminator is great! I got one just before Christmas and use it every week on Pepper. Even though she is short haired, she sheds heaps!! The furminator really helps to get rid of a lot of dead hair. During the week I'll give her a brush with a rubber brush just to help with the loose hair.

If Pepper doesn't come when called, then I'll resort to running away from her. The motion often attracts her and she'll come chasing after me. Works every time.

I was going to say that I use Virbac Tapewormer tablets with Advocate. I get them from my vet every three months. Costs me about $1.50 or so for one tablet. Not sure how big your dog is, but mine is only tiny so one tablet is enough.

My vet did recommend antihistamines, but as a last resort. I like this vet as he recommends meds when everything else natural has been tried. I'm not sure of bathing in Metho either as I'm sure that would dry out the hairs too much?!? I will definitely try the Malaseb and/or the EPO shampoo that Westiemum recommended. Seemed to have a good effect on her dog. Her redness has actually lessened over the past few days, but that could be because I've tried to keep her on the footpath during our walks. I've also cleaned the house, which could have had an effect!!

Well, have been to the vet and the verdict was that yes, Pepper has contact allergies, but could also be seasonal. Hard to say. Like Westiemum said, finding the cause is an almost impossible task. Could be the grass, could be weeds in the area, could be airborne pollen, could be dust mites etc. etc. !!!!! Good grief! Is there anyway to allergy test a dog like you can with humans? The vet did recommend I bathe Pepper more often, say twice a month compared to once a month as I'm doing now. He suggested Aloveen, but I might try Malaseb too as I have some left over from when I used it on my guinea pigs. My vet also did recommend trying fish oil and evening primrose oil, so I'll give that a go as well. Thanks everyone for your advice.

Dogmad, now that you mention it, I have seen wandering jew in our yard. We try to get rid of it, but it keeps coming back. There could be some left over which she rubbed up against. Thanks for the link Bellasperson. That was quite informative and I'll definitely look out for these in the garden.

Thanks for all the replies. I haven't looked specifically for dandelion weeds, but there could be. There isn't any in the park that I normally go to, but I'm wondering if there is something else because I got really itchy on my knees when I knelt in the grass. Amypie, I might try some Aloveen with Pepper and see how she goes with that. I did give her a bath today, but using her normal shampoo. I'll definitely be seeing the vet tomorrow and hopefully that it is just contact allergy and not a food allergy.

Pepper's legs and paws have been very pink/red lately, and these past two days she has been licking her front paws a lot. Can someone give me a hint as to what this means? I can't get to the vet until Monday afternoon to get her checked out.

I got roo from Petbarn, but lately Pepper has been off that one (was a puppy mix with chicken and roo), so I don't buy it anymore. I have seen it in Woolies, but like Pomquest said, it's expensive.

True! True! But I was thinking more about human hygiene too!

Cool! Will look out for it. Actually, will sign up to your email list right now!! ;)

Thanks Reddii and The.Spotted.Devil for your suggestions on how to get Pepper to release. I'll try these out. I'm sure Pepper has a strong prey drive, but not sure how to use it to my advantage. Will have to do some more research on this. K9, I'm not sure I need to see you as I don't really think I'm having many problems at the moment (she has responded really well to TOT and NILIF), but I really should get my act together and join your email list so that I can attend any theory seminars you might be holding!

Does this normally have to be done on a regular basis?!?! I've only done it with guinea pigs, and only because they had impaction. Never done it on a dog and not particularly looking forward to it. Memories of doing the guinea pigs are flooding back and causing grief!!!! ;)

I use the PAW shampoo on my puppy and seems to work well. It doesn't specifically say it is soap free, but does say Sulphate free and good for sensitive skin too. Seems to work fine with topical flea/worming treatments.