sheena

I would be very interested to know just how effective and how safe these new tick collars are, with dogs that swim every day & would have to have their collar removed for a few hours each day while they dry off.

They might be just brown dog ticks or bush ticks. Paralysis ticks usually dig in quite deeply & are harder to pull out. They are whitish grey to look at & I thought (I may be wrong) but are a fair size when they first attach, unlike the bush tick which can be so tiny it is hard to see until it starts to feed & is easily pulled off. The bandicoot is the main host of paralysis ticks, so maybe if you could stop the bandicoots getting in it may help.

Thanks Sheena, that's what we have been doing up till now too :) We haven't used a tick preventative as yet as we have been able to find the ticks pretty easily on our dogs, but after having opened up a larger area of our yard for the dogs we've of course found more ticks. Does anyone know how long after getting a tick will the dog show symptoms? I know it's relative to the size of dog and tick but is there a rough guide line? It all depends on the individual dog, not really it's size. We had a maltese X living here when he was just a pup. He disappeared during a thunderstorm & came back 3 days later with at least 6 of the really bad guys on him. I picked them off him & kept an eye on him for a couple of days & he had absolutely no effect. At the age of 15 he still doesn't get affected. We also had a lab x BC living with us & she got one tick on her head..we got it straight away, but she went down like a pack of cards about 12 hours after. Never put anything on the tick to kill it, always just get your nail underneath & pull it off. I believe its a fallacy that you have to make sure you get all of its head out.

I don't feed VAN's either, (used to) but I think it's great that we can come online & ask any questions we have of Dr Bruce, & that he is prepared to put the time & effort into answering them. I would like to see the same with major drug companies too, like Bayer, for instance.

My two dogs have been trained using the clicker and/or marking & rewarding the behaviour I want both for general obedience, good manners & agility. By using the clicker you are shaping the dog to think for themselves, therefor, the dog is more inclined to remember what he did to get that click, then if, for say, you just lured him or corrected every bad behaviour till you got the right one. I can't even imagine training with corrections. My dogs love the clicker so much, that to play "clicker", it has become a reward in itself.

I asked her today & she said she doesn't use anything, just picks the ticks off. Reason being that her cresties don't have any hair for it to adhere to. Very easy to find the ticks & they are just little dogs.

The spot ons work their way into the lymph system and spread through the skin, so lack of hair follicles shouldn't matter it would be more the sensitivity of the Crestie's skin that would be a problem. I always thought that too, till my vet told me that it spreads & adheres to the base of the hair follicles & that is why it does not work so well on places where there is little or no hair, like inside the ears, on the mouth, anus or armpits.

Doler, Agility Dogs, has successfully used a ultrasonic thing that is bark activated & it sits up in a tree looking like a bird nest.

Just curious...but is the reason you can't use a spot on treatment, because the dog has no hair follicles for it to adhere to I have a friend with cresties, & I will ask her tonight what she uses on hers :)

I have just ordered a heap of Bungee Fleece Tug Leads to use as prizes for our next agility trial. I have two & they are great, especially for handlers who don't want their shoulder pulled out of it's socket if their dog lunges at something. :laugh: I mentioned to Clean Run what I wanted them for & they have invited me to apply for sponsorship/donation closer to the event I think I might get the Massage Book....my girl just loves a cuddle at night with her head on my lap...but she can't completely relax as her mind is on some toy somewhere :laugh:

Another one for K9 soft crates, here Definitely value for money. Beware of the cheap ones...they go out of shape easily & will even roll down the hill with your dog inside if they are not pegged down :laugh: ETA...I am talking about the cheap ones that have no metal frame & are just zipped at both ends.

Just make sure that whatever kibble you introduce, do it gradually as the better end of kibbles are quite concentrated & take no notice of the feeding recommendations on the packet...your best indication of how much your dog needs, is to look at your dog. :)

Another one for turkey necks here, obtainable from Woolies. I will only give my dogs lamb flaps if I can buy the whole piece & cut it up myself, as last time I gave ones that the butcher had cut up, my girl almost choked Sometimes I get beef neck bones that have a lot of meat on them. I supervise though & take it away when the bone gets too small.

If anyone is thinking of buying Zyrtec, buy Cetirizine which is the generic form of Zyrtec & is heaps cheaper :)

Apart from the odd bit of dried liver or lamb puff (Australian with no additives) I just make my own Home made treat suggestions With two dogs in training, I go through kilos of treats, so I just make them up & store them in the freezer :)

My dogs have never tried to lick it off. I do keep them occupied with treats & a game for ten minutes afterwards though, otherwise the young bloke will do a role, but after a couple of minutes of distractions, he forgets all about it. I always make sure I get as much as possible on bare skin. When you think about it, it is going to spread over the whole body anyway, as that is the way it works....by dotting it down along the spine you are just speeding up that process. :)

I am not sure if it makes any difference, but I apply the Advantix in several spots from the top of their head to the base of their tail.

Look like a couple of back-seat drivers to me :laugh:

Awwwwwww....what a lucky pup to have found such a great home :heart:

Yep, thanks Espinay, that the sort of sites I'm looking for

Because I need about 90 first prizes, 90 second & 90 third...so that's a lot of baking. Austerra...yes we do have a local Petstock & I will be inviting them to donate or sponser, but can't expect them to supply the lot. Jules...I am flatly going to refuse to buy cheap dog toys, not only are they a waste of money but are also dangerous. I have third prize covered...was thinking of some clickers with a bag of liver treats as I have a supplier for those. But it's going to be an ongoing thing, so I would like to put a bit of a list together. I have one already Animal Rescue Store. They are overseas but I think they have good shipping rates.

I have just been given the position of "Trophy Hunter" for our club & have no idea where to start. Our budget is very small so I need to shop around for little gifts that are "dog" themed. Third prize is easy, but trying to find a decent 2nd prize ($3) & 1st prize ($5) is a lot harder. The budget is so tiny I will probably end up putting some of my own money towards them, but as this is an ongoing position that might not be a good idea in the long run. I would like to get away from cheap poor quality dog toys that become a health hazard after 5 minutes of play. :laugh:

Tassie....it is YOU that is being the enabler now.....I know I said I didn't need any more tug toys, but I just had to have that two handled bunny thing :laugh:

You said in a previous post that your dog had flea allergy dermatitis. Does this mean that your dog is highly allergic to flea saliva & that just one flea can start it off

Are you close to neighbours yards, if so, chances are they are coming in from there if you have been treating your yard for six months. Do the neighbours have a cat that might be getting into your yard