Stitch

I have had this happen previously at this age with a few of mine. As long as the crate is big enough and not too hot or too cold etc. then I would suggest you try the following, provided the dog has had sufficient exercise during the day and enough mental stimulation followed by a period with you to wind down. When it barks etc. at an unacceptable time, get up to it and do something to snap it out of the pattern of barking ie. the noise of a rolled up newspaper slapping the wall or something and also tell the dog NO in a growly voice so it gets the message, of course without any physical contact. You don't open the crate or reward the dog in any way for this kind of attention seeking manipulative behaviour. The way we are generally being told to 'correct' a dog is to ignore bad behaviour and reward good behaviour but this just doesn't work in this particular situation. Dogs have no qualms in letting each other know that certain behaviour is unacceptable by growling and even biting each other - so there definitely is a place for the growly N word when we are correcting certain types of unacceptable dog behaviour. I have proved this works in certain circumstances many times, without doing irreparable harm - give it a try!!!

You don't necessarily feel a 'pea sized lump'. Anal glands can also just be a bit puffy. I have one older girl who needs to have hers done every 2 weeks, otherwise she starts licking that area. She is on a special diet so it has to be done manually. Our vet does it for $7 which I think is cheap but it is easier do it myself when I wash her. That way I can wash the smell away quickly.

What do you think is the definitive answer to how long do you separate a male from the female when she is ready to be mated? I know some people let them run together for the whole time however I have never done that as I prefer to know when they mate. Previously I have waited 24hours for the male to restore his fertility however sometimes a bitch can be over it within 24hours. Be interested to hear what your experiences have been!

You will have to restrict the pup to the areas where you have put the paper down initially so that it gets the idea firmly in its mind that that is the area to toilet and not the rest of the apartment. When you are not around the pup should be confined to this area so I suggest you get a Puppy Exercise Pen. You can move the Xpen around to what ever area you want, put paper or whatever down inside part of it so it can toilet and also have a section of it to sleep/play ie bed/toys etc.

Thats interesting. I didn't try to brush my boys teeth, just gave it to him as per instructions. Clyde may be your client brushed as well??

Plush Puppy Spray Leave in Conditioner has a very nice smell that lasts for ages. It can be reapplied easily whenever you like plus, as the name implies, it conditions the coat.

Thanks Ron, he is back to normal now. I was not expecting such a strong reaction to a seemingly harmless product which only goes to show that not all dogs can take 'natural' ingredients and can have allergic reactions just like we do. I gave it to one of my other dogs and there was no problem. Bought it online, Lavender Girl.

Has anyone used this product? I gave some to my 45kg Dobe yesterday and about 1/2 hr later he became very distressed, breathing rapidly, unable to settle. It took hours for him to get back to normal and in the meantime I just had to sooth him. I was very worried and can only presume he was allergic to one of the ingredients???

Your expectations are way too high for such a young pup!! At 12 weeks you should start to see some small recognition of any toilet training you are doing but as a general rule - the smaller the breed, the more difficult they are to toilet train. Keep up the ground work you are currently doing, restrict access to areas you don't want soiled, etc. You can only do what you can do, so it is important not to get too 'anal' (sorry about the pun) about it all!

I used to add Livamol to the dogs diet however I think you have to be a bit cautious. Because it has molasses in it I had one dog develop a major tartar issue followed by 2 teeth extractions which the dental specialist put down to the amount of sugar in the diet. Other dogs did not have this problem so it obviously varies from dog to dog. I would not feed Livamol again because of it. I have found from experience that feeding certain dry foods can also have an effect on coat colour.

There is a product available called Angels Eyes. Primarily it is used to stop the staining of fur from the tear ducts and around the mouth, however it has an added benefit and that is it stops chronic bad breath. I have used it very successfully on several dogs with this problem. It is available on line from a woman on the Gold Coast. Not cheap but I have found it to be a very good product.

Sometimes gut problems can take an extended period of time to resolve - that is presuming that there isn't another more serious underlying problem. The gut gets so insulted that it needs something soothing to line it in order to be able to repair enough to be able to get back to normal. Have you tried her on the I/D diets? I have seen a lot of dogs with many and varied digestion problems. Currently I have one that has IBS and another that needs Zantac every now and then which really works very well in soothing the gut. There are so many variations with these kind of problems. For me it has been trial and error over the years to work out what each one needs as the vets haven't been that great at diagnosing the various problems. Digestive enzymes can work and I have had success with human grade Pro Biotics but the big breakthrough was the Zantac.

Currently I feed Black Hawk, Eukanuba, Advance, Hills & another dry food that my supplier sells which is cheap but suits our Dobe better than any of the expensive ones. I have found that my dogs are very much individuals and one dry food does not 'fit' all dogs.

I had to laugh when I read your post Rebanne - so simple and obvious!!! I have a no pull harness just his size so I will try that. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will start working on the bribing and targetting.

I usually used a martingale collar & lead in the past but I have just started to use a slip collar/lead. I probably need to give you more information about my dogs. My older girl, Miss Perfect, who all the dogs have to aspire to be like, seems to understand everything I say and helps me with everything, so I am a bit spoilt with her. She anticipates everything I do and spends a lot of time with me. If I want to pick her up for any reason, she jumps up to help me, if I want to put a lead on her, she pokes her head through the loop, she eats anything I like to feed her and generally co-operates with anything I want to do with her. Then we come to the others - the main problem child being my young male. He developed tonsilitis as a youngster the result being he is not keen on having the slip lead or martingale on at any time. Anything around his neck has always irritated him, he shakes his head regularly when it is on and when he sees the lead you can see the depression setting in. If I can train him to like the slip lead that would be a major accomplishment but I need a technique that I haven't tried. I have tried bribing him, it works a little bit but perhaps I am not doing it properly. Help!!!

The reason is that we live in Queensland - cane toad country - so I can't let them out at night to toilet, they have to be on a lead. I have one that co-operates, the others well I have to chase their heads around to loop the lead over it and sooooo I thought 'how much easier this would be if they worked with me, rather than against me'!!!

Which one has made even the fussiest eaters want to eat it?? Perhaps it is a Premium dogfood or maybe it is even a supermarket one?? Which one would your dog vote for??

The one that got it quickly loves both. The ones that don't get it, are not that keen on either. We are on acreage so they don't depend on walks that much and when we do, we go out in the car first.

I have one dog that does this beautifully. She virtually puts her collar and lead on herself. I trained her easily to do it BUT my other dogs steadfastly refuse. The one I trained is highly food and result motivated. She wanted to get out the gate and worked out that the quicker she put the collar and lead on, the quicker she went for the walk. My other dogs must be slower (sigh) as they don't respond to that or food at all. They hate getting their leads on!! Can anyone give me some ideas for training, and it isn't as simple as showing them the food on the other side of the loop of the martingale collar cause I have tried that many times.

You can get exercise pens with wire lids over the top for just such situations!

Thanks heaps - I haven't had one that paces before. He is one I bought in so I have to get it sorted. First stop chiropractor I think!!

Trying to train a dog out of pacing. He has done it from a very young age and I just can't get him out of it. His confirmation is good so what am I missing? Could it be a back problem?

I have sped him up and it works occasionally. I will try in the showring section. Thanks

I am trying to train for the show ring however I can't get him out of the habit of pacing. I have tried rewarding for gaiting properly but he isn't responding as he rarely walks properly and I certainly can't get him to do so. Does anyone have any ideas?

It all depends on where the dog is. You can spray it on a bandana around the dogs neck however I used it for crate training and just sprayed it inside the crate before I put the pup in. It made a BIG difference to the stress level. I found I only had to use it a few times. I have heard of dogs getting hooked on the smell of it but I have never found this to be the case. I think you would have to use an awful lot frequently to get this type of reaction and even then how can they tell??