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He's fallen into the pool twice (coz he didn't quite know what it was!)but all he did was swim straight to edge and pull himself out. I don't want to force him in but do you think if i go in with him on a lead he'll be ok? I certainly don't want to scare him off.

I did wonder if it had something to do with the fact that I had removed the cover thus exposing a different material underneath. He hasn't tried to chewed the trampoline bed but he doesn't seem to like it without the cushion! I'm not new to GSP's, our last one loved to destroy things too but grew out of it eventually. I guess this one took me by surprise as he's not been very destructive at all considering his age however I have to acknowledge that in the 7-8 weeks we've had him he's been sick a lot of the time so maybe I'm now seeing his true colours because he is well! He had been getting daily walks up until his surgery and he is now allowed walks again but unfortunately now I am unable to take him for walks due to my own injury but OH is helping but he gets a fair amount of exercise in our large yard running around with 3 kids. Have been hoping he'd love our pool and would get a bit of exercise that way but we can't intice him in even when the 3 kids are in having a ball. Any tips to get them used to water? (our last GSP loved water , like most GSP's do, but his one was raised in the country so not sure what exposure he's had.)

We've had our now 10 month old GSP (desexed male) for about 8 weeks now. Since we've got him he's had one of those raised trampoline type beds with a comfy cushion type thing on the top. I used to take it away during the day but then one day it was cold and raining and I had to go out so I left it there for him, no problems so from then on I've left it out there for him all day and night (he has a separate cushion bed for inside). Two days ago I took the cover off the cushion to wash it. My husband took him for a walk, put him in the garden, came inside and when I went out about 5 minutes later it had snowed green foam bits everywhere and his cushion was totally destroyed! So now I've put an old quilt inside the cover of the old cushion and this morning when I've gone outside the cushion is in the middle of the garden (thankfully still intact!). Why after 8 weeks of never moving his cushion or trying to destroy it has he started doing this???? (He has been quite sick of and on since we got him and had surgery two weeks ago but is well now).

Husband already desexed, but not housetrained

I am assuming he was up to date with worming etc before I got him (I know his heartworm was) and I changed him to advocate last month due to having ear mites, he's due for his next dose tomorrow (It says it treats whipworm on the packet). I've been in contact with the breeder (have been since he first got sick early on). Yes I know it sounds suss to have such a sick dog a week after getting him but maybe I just lucked out, they said he had never had anything like this before. I'm having more problems with OH now (he's pretty unsympathetic with anything to do with the dog now because of the stress he's put on the finances) as he took him for a walk and within 5 minutes of being home he totally destroyed his comfy outside bed. OH is refusing to let me buy another one and I do have a smaller, thinnner inside bed for him and I'm hoping like mad he doesn't destroy that one as I think it will be the straw that breaks the camels back so to speak. It suprised me as its the bed he's had for 7-8 weeks and he's never even moved it from its spot on the veranda let alone destroy it. I realise I must be sounding despondant at the moment, probably because I am, its a hard time of year to be cash strapped and I'm a bit physically immobile at the moment with an injury so everythings feeling a little too hard at the moment (plus we have some big issues at home with selling a business and starting a new one so we're all a bit stressed out). Poor doggie, its not his fault, he really is a beautiful boy, I feel like I'm really letting him down PS I can't remember the vet actual medical term in his diagnosis "try-something or other" bascially said it was like canine appendicitis only in dogs you can't completely remove it (the caecum) so there is still a "pocket" there for stuff to get collected in and start the inflammation/infection all over again, hence the need for low residue food. Maybe I could rehome the husband

thanks for the replies. I guess I need to find out what exactly is low residue (ie will I be able to feed bones etc) and see what I can do. I don't think I used the word "cheaply" in my posts I think the words used were "cheaper" meaning cheaper than this particular food not cheap supermarket stuff. Yes vet bills are expensive and that and the extra expensive food has put a strain on the family. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to keep paying these kind of vet bills or ultra expensive dog food. If its cheaper to feed raw then great I'll certainly be looking at what exactly I will be able to feed him under the "low residue" heading. Can anyone point me in the direction of a book or website?

Thanks for your replies. PW, I too was a bit surprised to see the ingredients of the Euk low residue as when I compared the carbohydrate content of the low residue it was actually higher than the food he was on before so I couldn't quite work out how it was low residue compared to other super premium/premium dry dog foods!! As for shopping around unfortunately from what I found was that because Eukanuba low residue is a "prescription" diet its mainly only sold by vets. I ended up buying some from the vet because I couldn't find it anywhere else. Once I got it home I looked at ingredients and started looking up carbohydrate content of other foods. So I have a couple of questions. 1. Everyone always talks about looking at what are the first ingredients in foods ie that some form of meat is first etc. my question is are manufactors of dog food required to list ingredients in order of what its made up of ie if meat is the highest percentage of total weight then its listed first. Its only been in recent years that this was made a requirement in human food so when we look at the ingredient list on dog food are we really seeing a true picture of what its made of or can manufactors of dog food list them the way they want? 2. Is low residue the same as low carbohydrate???? if it is then when the eukanuba low residue I've got is finished I'll put him back on another premium because lots of them are actually lower in carbohydrate than the euka low residue and also have meat as first ingredient (and the're cheaper!) I want to feed dry dog food. I might be considered a bad dog owner for not feeding raw foods etc but I've got 3 kids and a business so for me to feed dry dog food is convienent (and yes I do give my dog plenty of attention and he gets walked everyday and we will be going to obedience lessons and we're having some private lessons after Christmas, and when we are home he is with the family inside). our last dog (also a GSP) was fed cheaper supermarket dry dog food everyday of his life and never had a day sick in his life until he was old but this one has been fed premium all his life (he's now 10 months old) and 7 weeks and $3000 later I'm supposed to keep him on an extra expensive dog food, its beginning to be stressful financially (and emotionally too ) and I'm hoping I can put him back on a cheaper (relative to the Euk low residue) dog food Hope this has made some sense, just abit surprised about the carbo content of this low residue food but maybe the low residue is different from low carbohydrate???.....would appreciate someone in the know making it clear Sorry if I sound a bit angry, as you can imagine its been a tough couple of months

sorry, yes its been recommended by vet as he's recently had surgery for chronic inflammed/infected caecum. Its been recommended to put him on Eukanuba low residue indefinately in case the problem reoccurs. After all the vet bills we've had recently, adding on an expensive food (he was already on a premium food which is expensive enough but the eukanuba low residue is even more expensive) and OH is not real happy with the spiraling expenses (we only got him 7 weeks ago and he got sick the week after we got him and has been sick on and off since then, its just been a real shock to us in many ways not least financially! ) ;)

I've been advised to put my 10 month old GSP on a low residue diet. Eukanuba was mentioned. Are there any other brands available that have a low residue product?

I must be in a particularly expensive "Vet" area, I rang 4 or 5 vets in my area and they were all around the $250 mark for males over 25kg (and dissolvable stitches were approximately $30 extra) I won't tell you what we just paid for a laparotomy! although we do seem to have cheaper elizabethan collars .....I think an earlier post said $20-25, I had to buy another (large size 25cm) after the first one was chewed a few days after the laparotomy and it only cost me $5, just as well as we're broke now

Thanks for the posts, pawing is not happening much anymore so things are getting back to normal. He's a great dog and really well behaved so I guess I was just a bit surprised he was doing this all of a sudden.

PW, thankfully he doesn't jump up at us anymore, we nipped that in the bud quite early on when we got him. I'd love to make him drop and then give him attention but because I'm just in the process of teaching him drop (I'm using food, make him sit then put my hand that has food down to the floor to make him drop) but he manages to paw my hand (that has the food) once he's just about on the floor! The times he paws my legs are random (well seemingly so). Its not always a food thing (as it is with the drop command) but can just be at any time. I guess thinking about it, its probably more evident when he's excited like first thing in the morning and when I come home but he has pawed me when I've just been sitting at the computer and he comes and paws me :rolleyes: I could understand if he was being ignored and he wanted attention but he's getting plenty, probably more so because he is spending a lot more time with us because he is in the house with us all the time inside of having periods of time outside. I've tried to make it a habit of him sitting for pats but he manages to paw me while I stand there and say "sit". He hasn't learnt sit command well enough yet I think for me to tell him to sit while he is some distance from me, its something I need to work on. The pawing only started since the surgery and this has meant times of confinement on his own in the laundry ie at night and when I'm not home, but he's coped with this extremely well, never whines just goes to sleep on his bed, in fact he has taken to it so well he goes in there all by himself and has a nap at other times with the door open.

Tanner just walks and waits by the door, we only know he's there because we realise that he's not in the room with us any more and we go look for him. Our last GSP used to do a little "I need to wee" dance, sort of like a little kid who wiggles when they need to go, well he used to come up to us and do his little wiggle dance (especially cute in the "wee" hours of the morning where I'd awake to find him looking straight at me doing what looked like an irish "river" dance but on four paws instead of two )

if I could ignore the "hard" paws I certainly would but they really hurt (if I was game I'd post a photo of my leg, its got long dark bruises all the way down my thigh). I can't really give him treats at the moment due to his surgery but it just dawned on me I can use some of his steamed chicken from his meal and use that. I know he's a bit stir crazy at the moment with him being somewhat confined due to the surgery. I don't think I have been soft on him, if anything I've made sure he's behaved because he's had to be with us inside so much more than normal and he's a little hyper due to not been allowed zoomies outside or his normal daily walks (although the vet has allowed us a slow walk a few houses up and back again). I'm going to get a private lesson as we had to postpone his obedience classes but I was hoping for a suggestion to help stop him pawing in the meanwhile. We've only got 3 more sleeps (whose counting ) until stitches are removed and the "bucket" collar comes off so I hope he'll be a little more settled then.

My 10 month old GSP (desexed male) is currently giving me a few bruises by pawing me. Sometimes its very soft and I hardly feel it but other times its so hard it hurts (the worst one was on my thigh and its left two long bruises down my leg) This is a new problem and I wonder if it has something to do with his recent surgery and he's feeling stressed? We've only had him 6 and a bit weeks and basically he's been to the vets on and off for the last 4 weeks with unknown illness. He had surgery last week and is wearing an elizabethan collar which he's not too fussed about (he's chewed one a few days ago but generally he's ok with it, even when confined to laundry on own). He should have been in obedience classes ( he is generally a very well behaved boy) by now but we had to postpone due to his illness. Should I be getting the trainer to come in to give us a private lesson or is this likely to stop once he is back to his normal self? How do I stop him doing it in the meanwhile? He is occasionally left home alone in the laundry (which is large) but is quite happy in there and sleeps (in fact he has decided he likes it so much he goes in there himself sometimes) but generally he is inside with us with toliet breaks outside and also (with vet permission) a little walk about 3 houses up the road and back to let him get out and about and give him a break from being couped up inside. All in all he is doing wonderful, its just this pawing that is the issue. We do make him sit for everything but the thing with the pawing is that he can still manage to do it when he is sitting!

Can someone please give me a rough idea of how much it costs to have exploratory surgery? (on a largish dog-around 30kg). My dog is sick again (had the same symptoms about a month ago) so we are currently awaiting results of blood tests but there is chance we may have to do surgery to see if anything can be found in abdomen that explains his problems. Just wondering what people have paid in the past for this sort of surgery? Thanks

My GSP has just been diagnosised with ear mites. I'd just ordered Advocate over the net even before I knew about the ear mites so will give it to him as soon as it arrives but I've done a search on here and someone said that they actually put a drop of the Advocate straight inside the ear and then the rest as directed on the skin. Is this something that is actually recommended on the Advocate packet or something that they just did??? Anyone else hear of this being done and if so is it ok to do??? (my Vet actually said she felt Revolution was better than Advocate in treating ear mites but I'd already ordered the Advocate before I saw her, I have only just read about the drop in the ear bit so didn't get to ask my vet) Thanks

sorry, should have said where I was. Yes I'm in Adelaide (Metro) and looking for cheap advance (or cheaper than what I can get at shops!) Thanks for the Mt Barker Barkalicious tip, hubby goes up there quite regularly so that could be an option. Isn't there also a big pet shop place just opened up there too?????

Can someone please let me know which online sites to use for dry dog food? Am I right in thinking that you can buy super premium dry dog food over the net much cheaper than in the shops??

thanks for your replies. I shampooed just the small area in question and the flaky stuff seemed to disappear. I really don't think he has fleas (I've checked his groin and tummy and it all looks clear) but as recommended I think I'll start him on a regular preventative. I'm bathing him tomorrow so I will wait until next week to start the spot on treatment. Would adding some sardines be ok as a source of fish oil? How often would I give him some?

we've only had him about 3-4 weeks so we haven't bathed him yet (was going to do it this weekend). He spent a couple of nights at the vets recently so was just hoping he hadn't bought some extra "friends" home with him!

short coat (GSP). Can't see any bite marks or little brown things, just white flaky stuff. I read something about blood being present in the flea faeces so I rubbed a bit of water on the spot and rubbed it and it didn't turn red. Hopefully its not fleas just some dandruff but I'll keep an eye on it. Due to take him for a bath on the weekend so I'll see how we go. Like I said he's not bothered by it at all, I would have thought fleas would have driven him crazy????? Funny thing is now I feel all itchy!!!

Sorry if this sounds dumb but we never had a case of fleas with our last dog so I'm not sure what I should be looking for? Tanner sometimes has a good scratch around his ears but its doesn't appear to be excessive or bother him too much but I've noticed what looks like dandruff around the base of his tail, however I never see him try to itch in this particular place and it certainly doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. I can't see anything other than what looks like dry flaky skin bits in his fur. If it was fleas would they be obvious???

jamesanddean, have you considered getting an older pup????? Yes I know that "baby" pups are adorable and who doesn't love those cuddles but there are some awesome advantages to having an older pup and the "baby" stage doesn't really last very long anyway. A lot of breeders have older pups for sale due to deciding that a particular pup isn't quite right for the showring/breeding etc. This is what happened to us. We arranged a visit to our breeder with the intention of buying one of their pups but they also had two 9 month olds for sale as well so I thought well thats good we'll meet the older pups so we can see what they are like when they are older etc. Keep in mind I took my 3 kids with me who were hell bent on getting a "baby" pup........well we met this gorgeous 9 month old pup and we all fell in love! We discussed things at home....weighed up the pro's and con's and talked about how a baby pup would be as big as the 9 month old was very quickly anyway and all decided there were some incredible plus's with having an older pup. We brought him into our home and to our delight he knew that outside was for going to the toilet (not inside!) and even sleeping indoors overnight....no accidents! We have no digging up the garden, and pretty much no destruction (unless we have left something outside that we shouldn't.....and that's our fault, not the dogs). He is extremely well behaved and due to his time in the showring walks like a dream on his lead (no pulling). He knows the sit command but not much else but he's due to start classes in two weeks time. A big plus is we didn't need to do anything to our gates because by 9 months he couldn't fit through the opening at the bottom like a "baby" pup could and after spending a few days at home with him and watching him in the garden knew that I could safely leave him outside when I was at work. I've had two pups before from 8 weeks so I know how much work they are and to be honest I cannot believe how awesome it has been having this older pup come into our lives. I know his temperment is good as he has been raised with lots of kids around (the breeders have very small children including toddlers and the dogs behaved wonderfully around them) but I am still careful not to leave my youngest alone with him just to be sure though as you should with any dog whether they have been with you since 8 weeks or not. He is still a puppy so he enjoys playing with his toys and racing around with my kids but being older I have been able to go out for walks with him everyday whereas with a "baby" pup you have to wait for vaccinations plus not doing too much until they are older because of bone/joint development etc. Anyway sorry my post is long but I thought I should share our experience as I think it could be a fantastic option for you.

Thanks everyone for your input. Thankfully the jumping seems to have almost disappeared. He has never tried to jump on anyone in the street on our walks or at the vets so that has never been an issue and when my parents came around the other day he didn't try to jump on them either. I think the problem has been our kids more than the dog! I have now "trained" my children I get them to walk calmly out to the garden and not race out all excited because they want to play.......poor dog not surprising he got all excited. I now tell my children to ignore him until he is calm (and if he tries to jump they turn around and walk the other way) and then make him sit for them (we are making him sit for everything. sit for food, sit for attention, sit before he gets his leash on, sit before he can come inside) and they are taking treats to him and making him sit and then they give him attention (this is all done under supervision I might add and my youngest who is 10 is never outside alone with him). I have got him into classes and will probably arrange to have some one on one time in our home too. Thanks again everyone