luvsdogs

I think for one so young I would put a stop to it after about 15 mins, give her a rest & back to it for another go. We tookTilba swimming in Jan when she was just about to turn 1 yr & after about 45 mins I tried to put a stop to it because she hadn't been swimming b4 but she was having so much fun chasing a ball & the other pup with us but she was getting a little washed out looking (pardon the pun). We left after an hour.

I've heard you can use them in place of a bath. For emergency use only I'd say for times when the dog gets dirty & can't be bathed.

I had heard of that b4 getting her done but forgot about it when the time came. When I picked her up after her op the nurse had the e collar in her hand ready to put on & said Tilba didn't like it one bit. She was freaky with it on while getting over the anasetic but managed it quite well in the ensuing days.

They do now. Had Tilba spayed a month ago & the collar was part of the deal. Which she had to wear most of the time as she got a bad rash from the shave & wouldn't stop licking it when the collar was off.

My son's dog Sooty used to have recurrent problems with one of her anal glands. She had antibiotic treatment but after a few months it would be back. She would get a hard lump on the outside. The last time the vet thought it was cancer & wanted to do a biopsy b4 removing it. She was put on another course of antibiotics to see if it improved. Luckily it did & we saved the cost of the biopsy & just had the anal gland removed. She hasn't had any more problems. It cost around the $600 mark & was a couple of years ago. The vet told us about the possibility of incontinance but as she was only having one removed it shouldn't be a problem, which it wasn't.

Has anyone used them & do they work? Also where do you get them? I asked once at a pet warehouse & they didn't have any.

Here's a link to one way of curbing barking. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/excessive-barking

Neat stitches your vet does. April had a cyst removed when she was 3. She pulled a stitch out & had to have a staple put in. They then sold me an elizabethan collar. Didn't mention it when I picked her up.

I prefer to wait until they are older. I wouldn't get a kitten or puppy that was done b4 6 mths.

I might be stupid, but what is Van?

I agree whole heartedly. Many years ago April developed a sore on her nose. When it didn't go away I took her to our regular vet practice & saw what I think was a new vet straight out of vet school. She kept talking about all the things that it could be & all the things that would possibly need doing. She mentioned a biopsy, plastic surgery, skin grafts. And if I didn't do it April may have a deformed nose. All I could see were the $ signs adding up. I went home & cried for an hour or more, trying to think what else I could do. Then I thought of the vet that's a member of my obedience club who also has a border collie. I rang & got an appointment for that afternoon. She did a skin scraping, something that I thought the other vet should have done. It came back negative to mites, I mentioned that I thought it could be skin cancer. She doubted that as April was only 2 or 3 yrs old at the time. She sent me home with some ointment to put on it & told me it should clear up in 2-3 weeks. It took about a month, but I avoided all those other proceedures that the young vet wanted to do.

Hawksbury club Hawkesbury Dog Agility Club Inc - South Windsor (02) 4776 1642, Mr Keith Edwards - Wednesday 7.00 pm John Morony Correctional Cetnre, South Windsor and Macquarie Towns All Breeds Dog Training School - Windsor "02 4576 0376 A/H number" Jennie Macleod Wed 6.30pm Deerubbin Park, Windsor I don't know how close Windsor is to Hawksbury but these are the clubs that came up on DogsNSW web site.

A good breeder will have already started training their pups with basic commands such as sit, drop, stay, come. Have no idea about price. Keeping up with socialisation when you get a pup is the most important thing you can do. Also follow up with puppy preschool & obedience club.

PM'd you with my recommendation.

I'd say she's too old for pre school, they're usually 8-16 weeks old. Here's a link to the Townsville Kennel Club. http://www.coct.com.au/index.html If you want a private trainer you can look here. http://www.apdt.com.au/trainers/directory.html#qld

Sounds like a good plan to me. When I look back at my 1st border collie, I used to walk her every day to & from school with my son from about 4 mths & it's 1 km each way. I've heard of ppl walk their pups 5 kms twice a day. Poor dogs when they grow up.

I don't have a doggy door either because of the cat, but aren't there ones with a magnetic lock on them that can only be accessed by the dog with a collar on to match?

This was going to be my suggestion or a laser pointer. I've only ever had dogs that go deaf with age & already know hand signals.

What's the longest it's taken to free shape with a dog that hasn't done it before?

Does anyone have a photo of the iclick stick or a link?

I feed my dogs on Advance & admit it's not always available at my local pet shop, have to go to a pet warehouse. I've heard RC is much better than Euk. As far as the pet mince goes does it contain crushed bone as well? I would rather feed raw chicken bones, lamb flaps or necks etc in place of a stodgy mince. Also it is recomended to separate kibble feeds from raw meat feeds because kibble takes longer to digest than raw bones/meat & the meat can spoil in the gut behind kibble.

When Tilba went in for her spay a month ago, when I rang later in the day to find out how she went the vet told me she had pustules on her tummy & inside her thighs after they shaved her, plus a number of fleas. She came home with antibiotics. To me it looked more like razor rash. It seemed to clear up with the medication. She's always been an itchy dog & most times I can't see anything. She has had a little redness between her toes on a couple of occasions which cleared up with a solution of 50/50 apple cider vinegar & water. She's still scratching & the only thing I can see is dandruff.

The only one I can see in that area is Macarthur Dog Training Club. I don't know how good it is, they say they use motivational methods. http://macarthurdtc.org/about.html#top

Yes, it could be teething. A lot of border ppl tape the puppies ears to correct them, I tried on one of Tilba's but it wasn't successful. She has one up & one down. But I love her just the same.

I got Tilba at nearly 12 weeks old & she had had her 2nd shot a few days b4 I got her. I used to carry her to puppy preschool & I didn't walk her in our neighbourhood until she'd had her 3rd shot. I also took her out to socialise at my obedience club & took her to a dog show. But I carried her. I learned about 10 yrs ago when I bought the book "Give your dog a bone" bt Dr Ian Billinghurst, that the only exercise a pup needs is play & eating raw meaty bones. Exercising her brain is more important at this stage & your lucky she can play with her brother. Once she's had her shots & you take her out for walks, & you don't want her to be a puller, the stop start method of walking will teach her not to pull & you won't get very far & will be walking at a slow pace.