Rascalmyshadow

Different chook breeds have very different needs and temperaments. I have an Australorp, 2 Orpingtons and 3 Pekin bantams (1 being a rooster) they are all super friendly even the rooster. They free range all day in the entire backyard and mix extreemly well with the dogs, cats and rabbits. At night they get locked in a cubby house type enclosure my husband built, they have done minimal damage to my yard but do make a bit of mess on the decking on the wet days. I picked all three breeds because they are calm and not flighty, the Pekins even enjoy a cuddle.

I'm glad your dogs have settled down, but that enclosure is way too small to keep any number of australorps in, maybe suitable for three bantams even then they need environmental enrichment. Keeping chooks locked up in this manner is extremely cruel. They are intelligent birds that need space, dirt to dust bath in, fresh grass to eat, items to perch/climb over, trees to hide under and all types of insects to forage for. It is no different to keeping a dog locked in a bare pen day after day, I don't understand how anyone can give preference to one species over another.

I would recommend a silky terrier, I have found them to be very outgoing, robust and a perfect size to handle. The PBGV's are not really small enough to pick up, the one I used to groom had a great temperament but was extreemly hard on the back having to lift him, the reason I stopped grooming him. I own a sooth coat chi, she is fabulous with the kids, extreemly smart, as agile as a cat and no where near as delicate as I thought they would be, but I still won't let her near large dogs it would take a second to do serious damage to her, oh and she loses a lot of hair, especially on my kids navy blue uniforms.

We have a Maisondog pod and they are awsome. So soft extreemly good quality, my daughter has been known to fall asleep in it and the dogs love it. I put a nice soft pillow with cover in the bottom to hold it open and give the dogs a bit of extra cushioning. It has also been washed numerous times through the machine with excellent results although they do take a while to dry.

I need to change my banner since I've lost my last poodle, better update to chi and mutt pics lol, I'm no longer the crazy poodle lady.

Good luck with your new addition, Chihuahuas are awsome little dogs. We adopted our first chi girl Claudia when she was 8months old, she came from SA (we are in Vic) she didn't make the grade as a show dog. It took her a couple of days to relax, she was terrified of the plane and car trip. We set up a puppy pen in the loungeroom at first until she had a bit more confidence. The toileting was a real issue and 12 months on it still is. We have just bought puppy pads for inside where she tends to pee. I would invest in a couple of warm jumpers and jackets, they feel the cold badly, our girl is in a jumper if its below 20 unless the heater is on or shes lying out in the sun, she likes to sleep under the doona at night even when we're hot and she refuses to go for a walk if its too cold. The main things that surprised me was how food orientated, athletic and pushy they are. I can't imagine life without my girl she is definitely the princess of the house, she even has her own pedestal in front of the heater.

Wow so gorgeous!!! We had a beautiful black afghan girl a few years ago, she had a very funny personality and was so graceful but we lost her to meningitis.

I used Natures Gift tinned regularly the dogs loved it and looked great, I switched them over to VAN, they lost muscle tone and their coats thinned, we are now back on the tins and have just bought a bag of dry, so far so good.

Good luck I'm glad she's going to be cared for. We have rescued numerous poodles in this state unfortunately it's more common than you think. My last one took me almost 12 months to be suitable for rehoming, I was going to keep him but decided he would be better off in a quiet home without kids. Now he lives with another poodle not far from me and I get to groom him regularly. Just be very careful with your child, poodles are not the most tolerant dogs especially if they've been mistreated.

My dogs get bathed weekly as all of our dogs have. I use either biogroom super white or econogroom shampoo and for their ears I use Paw ear cleaner which is very gentle and does a great job.

I am on the mornington peninsula in Victoria. The little guys are pekin bantams. Hopefully we can avoid giving them up, my husband has put into action some of the ideas a few wonderful DOLers have suggested. He has also half built an off ground cubby for them to eat, sleep and lay in so the dogs will have no way to reach any if their food or bedding. We will put it on our patio so they are happy to use it instead of up the yard where their coop is. Hopefully with everything in place we can avoid any more problems with our dogs. If it doesn't work we will definitely need to look at rehoming.

Definitely something to do with the chooks have checked the yard thoroughly and the dogs have no rashes, scabs or bites anywhere. They seem to get worse in the evenings. Don't worry I worked in a vet clinic for almost 13 years and also dealt with a rescue poodle with major skin issues so I know how to use the cortisone, they will have a 3-4 day course that tapers off. Will give a few more of our options a try, hopefully something works very quickly.

Thank you guys you've given me some extra ideas to try. We've dealt with northern fowl mite once before a few years ago with our old chickens, I was getting bitten and I managed to catch a few and the vet put them under a microscope that's how we found out what we were dealing with, they made my poor dogs itch like mad. This time I can't find anything on the dogs and I haven't been bitten so I'm leaning towards lice or walking dandruff. Poor boys I've not long got home from hospital and they are still scratching so I gave them both cortisone and they have settled. What ever it is it doesn't seem to be affecting my chi, she is the only short cost in the house.

Thank you I am very upset but I have to put the dogs first and we really can't afford to spent a fortune if the dogs get major skin problems we are still paying off a huge vet bill for saving our dog from parvo. I also can't keep losing so much sleep because the dogs are keeping me awake half the night, I am supposed to be recovering when I get home this arvo instead I'm going to be stressing about the animals.

Our girls free range 24/7 the three big girls are too big to be confined. I use wood shavings for the nest box which is a plastic dog kennel that can be cleaned thoroughly. They sleep perched on a snooza flea free dog bed on our decking. We have a coop for them but they don't like it. The bantams put them selves to bed in the cage they were raised in in the carport again they don't like their coop either. I think they all like to be as close to us and the dogs as they can at night. We have sprayed and dusted them all also used oral medication. Their food is at ground level and there is no way to keep the dogs from it unless its in a pen. If I put it up and use a ramp the dogs can still reach it my chihuahua is like a cat. We will try to rehome the bantams a d see if we can manage the big girls but I am so stressed and exhausted. Edited to add: I'm in the hospital today but my husband is going to try and get some diatomaceous earth and some other stuff we can use around the garden to get rid if possible lice etc.

I know this is not dogs but I need to find a home for our chookies ASAP. We have had so many bad things going on recently and just to add to the problem two of the dogs seem to be having a reaction to having the chooks around. We aren't sure if they are reacting to their food, bedding or even lice etc. I have exhausted all options trying to work it out and have also spent a fortune treating everybody with revo, moxidectin, pestene and even sprayed the decking/sleeping quarters and bombed the house. I have been bathing them twice a week and they are still scratching like mad neither dog has ever been an itchy dog until the chooks arrived. We have not changed anything else. I adore our chooks but the dogs were here first and I can't stand seeing them like this it is making me very stressed. Our girls are super friendly, the three big girls are like dogs will follow you everywhere and the two little girls and rooster are the same and they are happy to be picked up and cuddled.

Just something from another angle, if this all started when you got sick are you all better because some dogs can react strange if they smell illness on people. When I was younger my grandmothers german shepherd showed fear after she had an asthma attack.

We lost our young afghan to meningitis a few years back, we tried for almost 3 weeks to save her. She would scream in pain every time she moved, at first we thought it was a back injury. In the end none of the medication worked and she was a skeleton that couldn't eat or move without severe pain. I wish you all the best such a horrible thing to go through.

Have a look online at Cape Otway Cottages, they are very secluded and nice to stay at. My husband and I have been there a couple of times, we have taken three dogs with us. They are allowed inside, on the beds/furniture as long as you cover everything with the sheets supplied, they leave you food and water bowls as well as dog food and treats. The two cottages we've stayed in have sunken spa baths and wood fires, definitely a place I highly recommend.

I would also recommend the Liberty tables, I don't really like most of their equipment but I have three of their tables and they have been very good.

I'm in Vic and did a search around vets about two months ago as one of my dogs had just recovered from parvo and I wasn't keen on the idea of vaccinating for no reason. Most vets I spoke to weren't really interested in doing it and around $200 seemed to be the average price.

Maybe states do differ but I know in Vic if a dog is out roaming and gets picked up the only person that can collect it from a pound or shelter is the person who it is microchipped to. I also know of a person that adopted a dog from a private home wasn't castrated, dog came in for the surgery and was microchipped at the same time. Vets scanned it before it went home and two microchips were found (no one had picked up the old one) turned out the dog went missing two years before and the owners moved to Queensland. The only way the new owners were able to keep the dog was to get a statdec signed by the previous owners.

Microchip over rules council registration but if you had a dog in your care for any length of time and you had proof you had paid all expenses, vet bills, rego etc I think the microchip can be over ridden but probably only if it became a legal dispute and the dog hadn't been stolen.

Another vote for Feather Edge, Ian is the best around his dad Charlie was very well known in the grooming/hairdressing industry. I normally drop the blades/scissors at his house and he either couriers them back or I collect them a couple of days later. Don't waste your time with Clipperworld their sharpening service is useless.

Poodles are usually great retrievers most of ours and our rescues were ball mad. That was what we used when training my standard girl, she wasn't interested in food rewards. They are bred to retrieve so it is usually something they instinctively do.