Stitch

Dogs/puppies can sense when you are stressed, which can make their stress/behaviour worse. I know it is a difficult time but it does help if you can take a deep breath and let the negative feelings that the behaviour triggers in you - go!!! Sometimes easier said than done!!! The settling in period can be painful for all concerned but unless there is something very seriously wrong with the pup (and there doesn't seem to be) things will get better. I think the recommendation to only crate for short periods of time - not giving the pup the opportunity to get stressed about it - and then letting the dog out whilst it is still happy to be in the crate is a good idea. If you put it in the crate, put up with the stressy behaviour until it really works itself up to eventually pooing and then let it out, all it learns is that pooing and major stress behaviour gets it out of the crate (or wherever it is) and that is NOT the lesson you wish it to learn. Little positive steps, frequently, with win/win outcomes for both of you will get you on the road to reducing the stress levels. Then you get to go to puppy preschool, etc. and the real fun begins!!

Such a shame that they had to change the formula - I wonder what it was that AQIS didn't like????

I haven't heard of that dry dog food before - do you know where it is made?? It sounds very good if it puts weight on that quickly - I have a skinny dog too!! All dogs are different so you may just have to feed what you think is right and just watch the sides of your dog. They should have a reasonable covering of fat over the ribs - if it fails the pinch test after a while, feed less. If you feed a picky dog too much you run the risk of them deciding not to eat the food at all so perhaps underfeeding may be better than overfeeding.

I currently have a Dobe boy who has always gotten car sick. He would fill the back of our troupe carrier with drool he was so bad. I tried for ages to get a magic pill that would help him - nothing worked. He is now 4, weighs 45kg and the way we get him around is to put him in a giant wire cage in the back of our utility truck. He loves it - must be the wind in his face or maybe it is just age now. With him, it was obviously stress related even though he is not a stressy dog, travelling in the car pressed all his buttons. My vet now tells me that there is a new medication on the market specifically designed for dogs that get car sickness but we wouldn't bother with that now. IMO the best way to address car sickness is to desensitise the dog by getting to to jump in and out of the parked car (using treats), feeding the dog in the car, progressing to driving 50 metres etc. and then gradually building it up over a period of many weeks. Stress related disorders and temperments can be hereditary so there may be a component there but she has the dog now, so she has to decide if it is worth the extra work to get over this problem. If it also has other issues they have to be taken into consideration too. The idea of adopting a dog from the 'pound' certainly has an appeal but sometimes there are unexpected problems. I have adopted dogs twice, and twice they have had issues - both of them because of different temperament problems. One was able to be helped, the other one unfortunately was not.

I wonder if the missing ingredient was an antibiotic???

Can you tell me what improved?? Is it more for coat and skin conditions or are there other benefits??

I know Missing Link as been around for some time now but I have never used it. I was wondering if anyone here has used it and if you have, what did you use it for, did it work, will you continue to use it???? Love to read your responses and get some feedback.

The antihistamine recommended by my vet was Periactin - apparently safe for dogs, useful with skin rashes, sneezing, allergies, etc. - it is also quite cheap!

It is nice to have a puppy fall asleep in your lap and it is also comforting for the pup - I see nothing wrong with it. Even if you did have a fully grown dog that wanted to sleep in your lap it would be easy to train it out of it later. It is not going to be the 'end of the world' if you did have to retrain however I have found that this kind of trait in pups rarely continues into adulthood.

Yep, normal, you have to train her which means you have to take her outside and stay with her until she does it, then praise her then bring her inside. You then have to remember for her and take her outside again probably every 1/2 hr at first. The idea is that you create a pattern in her mind that associates going to the toilet with going outside. If she learns to go inside then it is very hard to retrain her to go outside so I suggest you make taking her outside to toilet a priority. There are many articles on toilet training available on the net and in this forum which are recommended reading so you understand what you are aiming for. Good luck.

Just been through all this and it has been 5 weeks since my holiday. I think it is important that you get the dog checked out at the vet first so you can discount any medical problems. If it is OK then a doggy naturapath has recommended to me that I give rescue remedy 4 times daily as soon as I get the dog back and the distress that was caused to the dog by going away will start to ease and it will get back in the routine of eating as before after a few days. Unfortunately I didn't know this treatment at the time so I now have a much more difficult job to get my girl eating normally again. Of course during this time treats are off the menu - only feed the kind of dog food you would normally feed - same quanities, same time etc. but only leave the food down for about 15minutes then take it back up again and the dog has to wait until next feed time. Sometimes too if the quantity is too much for them, ie. they are being overfed it can lead to picky eating. Good luck!

I agree with Souff, registered breeders are on the same hit list as pet shops so be very careful where you put your allegiances!!! I don't like puppies being sold in shopping centres any more than the next person but I also don't like people misrepresenting themselves especially Animal Libers. If they have an issue then they should be brave enough to declare themselves and their motives up front. I thought it confusing to hear the Animal Lib woman say words to the effect of - don't buy a dog from Petshops because Petshops are irresponsible, uncaring and in it only for the money ....but you should get your dog from the pound!!! I'm confused????????? Depending on getting a dog from a pound is just the same as getting the same petshop dog only it is older!!! This does absolutely nothing to solve the problem of unwanted dogs! So who do you think will be next on their agenda??? The immediate problem I saw was that not all petshops were members of PIAA and therefore not all are governed by the PIAA Code of Practice but lets face it there are way more options for people to be able to buy a puppy if they really want one, not just from petshops. The problem petshops have is that they are very visable unlike the guy down the road that gives away his unwanted puppies at 6wks of age, unwormed, unimmunised etc. to friends who find 12 months down the track that they don't want a dog after all!!!

Did the ball show up on Xray??

Many thanks for all your replies. I have booked her in with a large practice experienced vet on Monday - soonest I could get in. She has been willing to lick up liquids since she went off her food so that sort of ties in with the throat problem IMO. She will now eat sloppy BARF but it takes her about 4 hours to do so however she eats the Luv Em Liver Cookies with no problem.

Probably should have mentioned again (see previous thread) that I have already taken her twice to the vet albiet in the first few weeks and he could find nothing wrong. However he only looked down her throat by holding her mouth open. I started to feel like I was over reacting but 4 weeks of nursing the appetite along is starting to wear. ETA: She lost a lot of weight but has started to put it back on again because of the improvement in appetite however she is still skinny. I noticed about a week ago that she made the gagging sound a few times but I have noticed it more recently.

I gather that would be under sedation Poodlefan??

A while back I posted about my girl who was experiencing a chronic lack of appetite. It is now approx. 4 weeks since I got back and her appetite, although not back to normal, has improved. It has taken quite a bit of strategic feeding to get to this stage so I am very encouraged. However now she is doing a lot of gagging coughing - you know the kind of cough they do when things have gone down the wrong way. (It is not kennel cough) The gagging usually happens when she is eating or has just finished eating but it can happen occasionally at other times. I am now considering taking her back to the vet again to see if they can detect something maybe lodged in her throat. Does anyone know if something was lodged in the throat would it show up on X ray??? Has anyone experienced this kind of thing?? If so what do you think would be the best action to take?? Perhaps no action is needed at this stage and it will resolve itself??? Because of this gagging I am thinking that the whole lack of appetite thing has been a throat problem of some kind. I initially thought it might have been tonsilitis but the vet could find nothing wrong. Any ideas would be appreciated.

IBD or IBS is different in different dogs so you may find you can control it fairly easily. Personally I found using Hills I/D worked for my girl, then I started her on Hills Sensitive Stomach and so far it is just fine. I initially thought it would be easier cooking the chicken and rice but found that the dry food was tolerated better. Liver is a definite no no for my girl.

Sounds great however I am on the Sunshine Coast side of Brisbane. It is a shame that vets don't rate homeopathy as an enhancement to their other qualifications.

OK - what is GAP registered???

No, No, No to giving local authorities etc. more power over dog ownership. Dogs must be seen either as an easy target or there is something more sinister in the works. If a dog barks and someone complains then you have the council on your back real quick BUT if there is an issue in another area say like we have where people are continuously bringing in truck loads of dirt into an area without a permit, chewing up the roads with their trucks, poluting the environment with the dust they stir up - all of which are not allowed under the environmental laws - the council moves at snail pace and seems to be either unwilling or unable to stop them even though they have the ability to apply major fines. I am sick and tired of local councils and really wonder why it is that they continually want to target dogs with more and more by-laws - why not enforce the ones they already have???

I would like someone who really knows what they are doing ie. lots of experience and has produced results when treating their clients dogs. Not keen on the mail order varieties that invariably don't work and cost heaps!

I guess if you really want the answer you will have to phone him or his assistant and ask for it to be written down clearly for you. That is what I would be doing. I was able to find the following link http://www.elixirs.com/products.cfm?productcode=BH112 which sounds interesting. (you will have to copy it & put it in your search engine as I don't know how to make it automatic)

Perfect - I will contact her tomorrow!

Mmmm, lack of appetite certainly is worrying. Kamuzz your boy sounds just like what my young girl is doing. One of mine has IBS and it took a long time to work out what she could or couldn't eat as it came on gradually and she would go for weeks with no problems then have vomiting and/or diahorrea episodes. Once I realised that this dog couldn't have all the nice doggy things that all the others could eat I just kept her on Hills I/D & life for her became so much better. It took a while for the gut to settle down but once it did, no more sore belly, no more diahorrea or vomiting - she was a different dog. She has now progressed to Hills Sensitive Stomach which is considerably cheaper than I/D and she can also have a Luv Em cookie when she goes to bed. Sensitive Stomach doesn't seem to make her as bloated as the I/D tended to. But my young girl has me stumped. I have changed back to feeding her a raw meat mix in a crate and as long as it is only a small amount she will eat it eventually - it usually takes about 3 hours. At that point I give her a few chicken necks which she eats fairly quickly. I am also giving her an Inner Health capsule and a dose of Pentavite. We are 'limping' along!! Hopefully things will gradually improve!