corvus

Get a vet behaviourist to assess the situation. There is a strong argument for early intervention with drugs to help a dog over anxiety issues. The VB will be able to help you decide if medication is a good plan for you and what medications to use. Don't ask your regular vet!

Acacia Lodge was booked out. A friend suggested Allendell in Darkes Forest a while back and so I gave them a call. She did actually know what a Vallhund and a Lapphund was, so that's a good start! She was happy for us to come and have a look around. Hanrob is really expensive and I don't really like the huge number of dogs they handle. I've been told they have their very own strain of kennel cough.

Looking for recommendations for boarding kennels. The boys have never done kennels before and I'm a bit nervous about it. We are in Southern Sydney, but happy to travel to get them somewhere that will take good care of them. ETA Aside from PAX, who I've already contacted. I know Calabash and Meadowmist have been recommended as well, but hoping to find something closer.

I've found boiled heart is very motivating. We had a house guest here a while ago who we were told would not work for treats. He worked for boiled heart. That was all, but once we got him working for boiled heart we were able to move to ordinary treats. I use Scotty's rolls, now, thanks to bedazzledx2. They hold together well and are healthy. I get a 2kg roll and cut up half for the freezer and the other half goes in the dehydrator. Not fond of finding feather shafts and chicken claws in my dehydrator, but at least I know it definitely has chicken in it! Just don't do the one that has fish. Everything ends up smelling fishy.

There's often no need to be wary of particular types of dogs as such, but it's a simple fact that humans are programmed to develop biases against things that have frightened them in some way in the past. I've been frightened by lots of seemingly friendly staffy and staffy mixes that have taken offence over perfectly reasonable warnings from other dogs. I'm careful around them and keep a sharp eye on Erik, who is the kind of dog that might give a perfectly reasonable warning. I have also been scared by dogs loose in front yards. I cross the road and hope, but mostly I just don't like walking my dogs in the streets. You can't tell by looking at someone if they are the kind of dog owner that leaves their dog in the front yard unrestrained. You can tell by looking at an unrestrained dog in a front yard, though. Not surprising our focus lies with the dog.

We used to get all our meat for the dogs delivered by Just Food 4 Dogs... until they delivered us 10kg of chicken necks that were off. It's such a pain disposing of 10kg of rotton chicken. I couldn't be bothered complaining about it, so just stopped buying from them. So I started getting meat from Bully Beef in Menai instead... until I bought 5kg of lamb breast and put them in the fridge overnight because I didn't have time to pack them right away. By the time OH got to packing them the following evening, they were off. What's more, it became apparent that the mince we were getting from them was not preservative free. Apparently it can sit in the fridge for a week uncovered and not lose any colour. We tried some lamb brisket from Pet Barn and it had been in the freezer for 6 months according to the packing date and had a bad case of freezer burn. Dry, dry, dry when it thawed. Is anyone else encountering these sorts of problems? I'm now at a loss where to get mince from. We were only paying around $4/kg. Buying human grade is at least twice as expensive. We are relying heavily on chicken carcasses from various chicken stores, but I don't want to give the boys exclusively chicken. I don't like the bones most places sell for dogs. Not enough meat and too much fat.

We went through a few of these earlier in the year. It turned out Erik had abnormal eyelashes growing on the inside of his eyelid that were causing them. Both were very deep and the vets were concerned the ulcer would penetrate all the way through the cornea, which would lead to the collapse of the eye. So they checked it every day or two until they were satisfied it was okay. If it didn't heal quickly enough they were going to do a corneal graft, where they take some of the cornea from the edge of the eye and patch it over the hole. We never had to get that done, but I have heard it's not as big a deal as it sounds.

I know some dogs that have been walked on head collars for many years and are perfectly happy. I also know someone who says their dog still doesn't like it after years of wearing one. I guess that it depends on the dog, but the applications of a head collar are definitely greater than the applications of a prong. I reckon a session with a trainer that knows how to use a head collar would be at least as beneficial as a session with a trainer that knows how to use a prong. Head collars are not for every dog, but can be a big help where the dog can be taught to accept them.

That's okay, no one cares. It is a cute pic. I can't bear to disturb them when they are all snuggled up like that. This morning they had us in stitches charging around the place playing a wild game of catch-n-wrestle. Erik does a mean wolf impression, launching himself at Kivi, dragging him to the ground, and pretending to tear out his throat and belly. Sometimes they crack us up. A few weeks ago Erik spent a full minute frozen in place knee-deep in the river eye stalking Kivi. Kivi was dancing around like a fool trying to get him to charge already, but Erik was determined there was a perfect moment for it and that moment hadn't arrived yet. We couldn't stop laughing it looked so ridiculous. :D

Good thinking. I have a Thundershirt for Erik. It's like a stretchy t-shirt material, but a reasonably thick t-shirt. I don't leave it on him for long periods, so we've never had to think about whether he's too hot. It works really well in some circumstances for Erik, and I'm not sure how I ever lived without it. Just the thing sometimes when he has kind of lost touch and needs anchoring.

The extra on the dog bed is my mum's Sheltie. Erik and Kivi have not grown up with cats and Erik is highly suspicious of them. There's no way he'd curl up on a bed with one!

You disagree with me in every instance, Erny. I will meet your disagreeance and raise you a "regardless, if you're careful it won't happen".

And it can increase the state of arousal the dog is in. Well, there's a reason why I stipulated "as long as it's better than what I've been getting". It's hard to increase arousal by rewarding a behaviour that is less intense than what is usual in those circumstances. Doable, but I assume only if you are careless with rewards and use rewards that increase arousal, like tug or rapid fire treats, for example. I don't know who's going to use an arousal-increasing reward in a situation where they want their dog to be more calm.

My dogs are BFF and always together. They often snuggle up together and it's freaking adorable. I love that they are so close. The behaviour they display with each other doesn't occur at any other time with any other dogs or humans. I think they are dependent on each other to a degree. Definitely it's hard to take one away from the other. I try to avoid leaving one in the house on their own while I take the other out. Kivi mopes and won't eat when he doesn't have his Erik. Erik is all right unless he is aware that someone is taking Kivi and leaving him. He can't bear being left out. We always talk about doing some work on them to improve this, but never do nearly enough of it. I have no trouble whatsoever getting them to work with me rather than play with each other. In fact, I usually have to do something to restrain the one that's not being worked with because all they want to do is muscle in and take over the training session. Erik especially has to be watched, as he has a tendency to sneak in behind me and Kivi and bite Kivi on the thigh to try to drive him off. If I give Kivi a cue, Erik is all over it and will try to get in first with the cued behaviour. If I give Erik a cue, Kivi will do it as well in the hopes it will be rewarded. I usually send one off with OH or put one in a down stay to keep them busy, but sometimes train with them both at once. I get Kivi heeling on the left and Erik walking between my legs. Erik jumps over Kivi on cue and I'm trying to teach him to go under Kivi on cue. Kivi makes a beautiful obstacle. They will go and play on cue, but sometimes they would rather train and won't leave. Erik will run out, jump on Kivi half-heartedly, then race back for more training. If left to their own devices they play with each other all the time. I love that.

I'm happy to reward tense behaviour as long as it's better than what I've been getting. It's just shaping. You can shape into a behaviour and you can shape out of it and into something more desirable. I think it pays to be especially careful that you're not going backwards, but otherwise, no biggy. Glad to hear you saw some improvement. I would reward that!

My dad goes around his property every year and pulls up all the bindis. He was telling me last week that he has pulled up way more this year than he ever remembers pulling up, and more keep appearing. He wanted to know where they were all coming from. I didn't know! I guess it was a warm, wet winter and more of the seeds in the soil bank have germinated than usual? I might get some boots. I'm kinda worried about how this might pan out in weeks to come. Plus it'll be nice to have something protective to put on Erik's feet when he's so insistent on fooling around in the mangroves and oyster shells.

We are already having problems with bindis this year. Everywhere we go there are massive patches of them that just go on and on. They are still green, but even Kivi is feeling them despite his snowshoes. This afternoon Erik got stuck in a patch and refused to move. I had to carry him about 15m before I found a spot to put him down that wasn't just a carpet of bindis. I'm wondering if I should buy them boots to give their footsies a break? Or will their paw pads toughen up? I can't remember in the past how they have coped over the full summer. My corgi always used to refuse to move when she found herself in a bindi patch. The dog park usually has a big one near the carpark, but we have always been able to skirt around it in the past, I think. There are a lot more bindis this year. I don't remember Kivi ever suffering much in the past.

There's a place on the river around here that is a massive sand bank at low tide and entirely submerged at high tide. Some of the locals take their dogs down there in the summer at high tide and just swim around with them for an hour. My wussy Nordic breeds are not that comfortable in the water. It's very clean there because it's close to the ocean. May as well be a giant dog swimming pool.

And it should be a travel crate or an inbuilt crate, not a soft crate or a wire crate that is collapsible. We secure our dogs to the LATCH bar using ute ties. They have freaking enormous metal clips on them. When we go for long drives we usually put them in their Pet Buckle seat belts, which are crash tested. The only reason we don't use them more often is they are uncomfortable. The dogs hate them. And it's inconvenient if we want to walk them in their walking harnesses at the other end.

I have a cordless dremmel. It's good for Kivi, even though his hair makes it difficult. Not so good for Erik, who is oddly fine with having his nails cut, but doesn't trust the noise and vibration from the dremmel. I made a few half-hearted attempts to counter-condition him to it, but it wasn't nearly as quick and easy as it normally is and his nails don't often need trimming because he runs around so much. He's very interested in the dremmel, but just won't stand for it on his nails. So I cut his and dremel Kivi's. I used to dremmel my rabbit's nails and it worked very well on her. Better than cutting, which leaves a sharp edge. She was totally at ease with it and I didn't need to get her used to it.

My corgi had something like that. She had an episode where she was in immense pain and could barely move. I came home to find her lying on the doorstep in the rain. The vet gave her pain killers and she recovered. Later x-rays showed she had degenerate discs just forward of her shoulders. The vet said bulging may have occurred. It made going up and down hills/stairs particularly difficult for her, but otherwise she was okay and it never got worse or happened again.

Reminds me of a book I was reading for a while about someone taking in a mountain lion. Such destruction!

Heat Stress From Western Suburbs Vet Clinic

Bites and stings http://www.petalert.com.au/faid/fa16.php From the Australian Venom Research Unit:

Sounds like you only have one reward in a paddock, Vickie. ;)