TerraNik

Aww! They're so cute! The shot with the carrot is funny!

Jedi reads to himself quietly before going to bed... "Don't turn the page!!! There's a MONSTER at the end of this book!" "Ooh... My Human Daddy is coming! I wonder if he'll..." "Read me a bedtime story.... Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

They've come up just recently... Being only 20 months old I don't know if it's going to be a permanent thing or a seasonal thing. He started just eating his legs (not his paws) about 6 months ago and in the last 2 months it has spread to his belly and between his toes. It has become really bad in the last month. I wish it was something as simple as fleas!!!

Jedi and Ahsoka have a blog! It's great looking back at things I've written about them!! http://www.jedi-pup.com Hmm names... What about Raven? Coz she's so dark! You could call her Rave for short! OH suggested Ebony.

It might be different coz Shyla is much taller than a 6 month old Keeshond! But I imagine Shyla would probably be more mature mentally than Jedi was when we introduced Ahsoka. If I were introducing an ADULT into the house, it would be a different story but usually puppies settle into the house easily with the 'puppy license' the adults tend to give them!!

Being a uni student I was able to stay home with them until I was comfortable. Initially Jedi was a bit rough with her with excitement but Ahsoka is a feisty one and had her wits about her! She worked out very quickly how to hold her own (and places to hide that Jedi was too big for!) I believe it was the end of day 2 when I was comfortable having them together without supervision. Whenever we get a new pup we take the first week off to spend with them anyway and gradually introduce them to being 'alone'.

How clever!

Oh yes he will be. He gets to run Cooper and I run the green dog. Not going to let him stuff up the new dog!! ;) Ohh goodie a season running Cooper . I don’t want to sound ungrateful, it is a dream come true but that is going to be like learning to drive in a formula 1 race car (less than 4 seconds to work out when to release, release, think wow look at that, get out of the way, find the tuggie, and catch the dog) if I get it wrong I am gunna get hurt (and it won’t be the dog that hurts me) please be gentle !!

He's had a cortisone injection once or twice when he was having a super dooper allergic reaction, but I am keeping the regular cortisone treatments as a last resort. I want to try everything else first.

Yep!! Scary, huh??!!! Haha!

What exams?!!!!!!! 4th year Uni exams - next year she is off to the country on a rural scholarship - 10 months in Kalgoorlie and then back to Perth for her final year. haven't you just had exams TerraNik???? Yep! They've let everyone know who needs to sit a supplementary exam (not me!), so that means I either passed or failed miserably! I get my official results next month, but I feel like the exams went well, so I doubt I failed! Two more years to go for me, too! Into the hospitals next year, thank goodness!!!!!!

Sounds perfect to me!

What exams?!!!!!!!

I've done a lot of reading about both. I think that's where we are heading... I don't care how much it costs... I just want to make him more comfortable!!!!!!

He was on Malaseb - it didn't help. We only just switched him to EPO last week and his red patches on his belly are now a pale pink so it's certainly helping with the inflammation, just not really helping with how itchy he is. He has never had fleas so I know it's not that. Right now we're just trying everything we can. When one thing doesn't work we switch to something else. I hope we have a good outcome like you have with Beans.

That really sucks... I am grateful that we at least had one good trial.

Sounds familiar... Usually Jedi gets into the swing of things and forgets his allergies, but then there are days where he can't train because it's too distracting for him. It's devastating because he's always had such potential and if I had to retire him at a measly 20 months of age that'd just kill me.

He has atopic dermatitis... Not sure yet what exactly he's allergic to (we're working on it!). He's being shampooed with EPO every 4 days, EPO conditioner every day inbetween and EPO supplements and Livamol supplements. He has 10mg zyrtec daily. We're off to another vet this month so hopefully they might have a few more ideas. I really don't want to go down the steroids path (been there, done that with my beagle (ATB)). You should see him heel now. I have a video of a recent trial where every time we came to a position in heel he would scratch and then I'd heel off and he'd be like, 'oh crap, she's gone already!' and he'd hurry up and get back into heel... But it would happen at every position. He can't do stays half the time because he scratches (which is why we failed the trial in the above vid)... It's just a nightmare. If it doesn't improve he will never be able to compete again.

This is mine... It's not brilliant, but it's sentimental for me. It was the last time Jedi and I were in the ring before his allergies hit. It may very well be his last decent appearance in the obedience ring.

Love the 2nd one... all the sand on his face!

Wow, I've never seen an invisible Pug before!!

We'll be madly trying to work out what's causing Jedi's allergies and seeing if we can find something that minimises his itchiness! I'm determined to get Ahsoka up to scratch with her obedience during the summer while I give Jedi a break. And I want them both to be doing proper box work for flyball by the time I go back to uni (February). Aside from that, just loads of complex trick training!

My longest sessions have been 10-15 minutes... but often there's a lot of fluffing around involved changing equipment around, etc. Usually I go 2-5 minutes.

I assume they meant oppositional defiant disorder... i.e. naughty!

I definitely would NOT clip your dog. Double coated breeds are NOT meant to be clipped... EVER. These breeds use their coats as part of their cooling system. It insulates them against the heat and without the coat they have difficulty regulating their body heat. Be sensible about it and use other methods to provide shelter and cooling for your dog. My two (both double coated breeds) cope perfectly fine in summer.