Swizzlestick

I think you're stuck with the drool. Natural doggy reflex when food is around. I would either remove him from the room or train him to be calm as others have suggested while waiting for food. I'd be just worried that a crazy lab on a slippery kitchen floor may rupture a cruciate or similar. I've seen it often at work.

I personally would be a little concerned with two bitches together, even if you plan to desex as you said. I work with many dogs, and it's often the girls that start trouble, and that's just in the run next door. No way would I ever leave two girls together. Once in my early vet nursing days, we had an owner (a silly one) who left his 4 entire female SBT's in the garage all night. Two were dead the next day, and it took about five hours to suture the other two. Not saying this will always happen, but you just never know.

I hope your Dobe recovers soon mojo74 We also were working full time when our house was built so couldn't be there all the time. The guys that set up the slab left a huge piece of black plastic (about 4m x 4m) in the yard. This blew over the fence (we've got a bit of land) and landed in the paddock with two of our horses. One went straight through the fence and had some nasty injuries. I was soooooo peeved! It's not that hard to throw a brick or something on it to hold it down. Was blowing a gale that day too!! I've since realised that there are too many people out there with little common sense, especially when animals are involved. I would never trust someone I didn't know with any of my furkids now.

Hi Coco22, Was he scratching before the bath? Just wondering if it may be the shampoo that you used? Was it a mild one specifically for dogs? Some dogs have quiet sensitive skin to some shampoos. Also be sure to wash it out very well, unless it specifies that it can be left in like some doggy conditioners.

Hi JoJo, Do you like the look of sighthounds. A few people I know don't like their sleekness (if that's a word). Personally I love them. I was thinking maybe a Whippet may suit your family. Good with kids and robust. My Mum has two who were easy to train and very easygoing. I know some can be timid as well though. Would have to choose a more outgoing one. Just a suggestion.

Hang in there newpup. I'm sure things will improve soon. Just remember it's such a strange environment to what the pup is used to. I can't really give you any advice though. I've only had one pup (many other dogs, were already adults though). My Afghan has slept in his kennel every night since I got him at 7 weeks, and not even a peep out of him. I'm sure it's a combination of his independent breed and he was hand reared and outside before I got him. Can't miss you Mum if you never knew her.

Because she swims alot, I think it might be a good idea to make sure she is properly dried, everytime she gets wet. More time consuming and a bit of a hassle if it's so frequent, but the areas you mentioned sound like a nice warm moist environment for bacteria/fungus infections to fester. Not sure if it will work, just an idea though. I'd also try and give her a quick wash down after swimming in dams etc, just in case there's something in the water that she reacts to slightly.

I agree with dogsforall on this one. I'd get them checked by your vet just to be sure.

Laffi: Is there a good Dermatologist that your vet may be able to refer her to? Just incase it isn't a flea problem.

CavNrott: Couldn't agree more with your couple of posts in this thread. Well said

I got an Afghan pup at 7 weeks. He was hand reared from 5 days by a lady I work with. Also delivered by caesarian. He was the boss of the other pups (6 in total) and his nickname was growler. Fine for the first two days, then OMG. Apparently Affie pups can be very feisty anyway, but he was my first one so wasn't really sure what to expect. He would growl ferociously when I picked him up, and full on trying to bite, not just a playful puppy bite either. I did a fair bit of belly up submission stuff. I really had to be careful, as he wasn't mucking around. A little bit of my blood later he started to get better. Took about 1 week before I saw any improvement. The thing that I think did the trick was, sounds a bit weird I know, bit before I fed him, I'd pretend to sit and eat some of his food. After about 30 secs of him staring at me, he'd quietly sit behind me and wait till I'd finished. I also, still to this day (now 15mths old) never let him walk through a doorway before me. He knows to wait until I (the leader) have gone through. He is an angel now. Wouldn't dream of growling, biting or trying to boss me around. We have a lot of respect for each other. Hang in there/ I'm sure things will work out for you both!!

I feed my Afghan Hound Eukanuba Large Breed Dry. He loves it and his coat looks great. Where I work I'm in charge of 60 greyhounds (not racing dogs). Over the years they've been fed a range of kibble from Bonnie working, then Supercoat Energy, then Advacne Energy and now Eukanuba Premuim. They've now been of the Euk for about 8mths and I've never seen them look so good. Their coats, skin and weights are all fantastic. Even the couple who are harder to keep a few extra kg's on. That's what made me swich to Eukanuba with my own dog. We've also found the stoll volume is so much lower too.

My Afghan Hound gets fed on Eukanuba dry, with a couple of spoonfulls of Nature's Gift too. He loves it and his coat looks great too. I had a greyhound up until Sept last year who was always very hard to keep weight on due to her nervous nature. When I got her she was a bag of bones at 26kg. She was a very healthy 34kg when she crossed the bridge thanks to Nature's Gift.