kazg

Thanks poodlefan, I think that might be our only option. Bracken, goodluck with your situation. It is distressing seeing your loved pet in such a state.

How terrible. The only thing I can suggest is to have your dog inside away from the noise when he's out there. We have a vizsla, and she is inside with us whenever we are home and stays inside when we go out for short trips to run errands etc...but if we go out for a few hours or more, I don't like to leave her in the house. She is usually in the house with us whenever he gets the whip out, but it is so loud that even with all doors and windows closed, you can still hear it clearly. We need to get her used to it without making her fear worse. How do you desensitize a dog to a fear if the dog doesn't stop shaking or panting long enough to reward calm behaviour, and you obviously don't want to reward them for being scared?

We are having similar problems with our dog. The kids across the road have whips, and they crack them every afternoon and into the night which sends our dog into a panic. She was almost hyperventilating, and was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to squeeze into the smallest places she could find to hide, or sit on top of me. Nothing we did or said would calm her. I was so worried the first time she did it that I called the vet thinking something was wrong with her. It takes about an hour after they stop with the whip for her to calm down, and she's usually so exhausted that she just lays around or sleeps. My daughter and the boy across the road are in the same class, and when my daughter told the boy how badly the whip affected our dog, he said he'd do it even more. I took this to be just a kid being all talk, but he was true to his word. We were out one night, and received a phone call from another neighbour from around the corner (that we don't know), saying that they had our dog and that she was in a terrible state of panic. We don't know how she got out of our yard, but she had jumped a 5-6 foot fence to get into this neighbours yard and had cut her chest. The boy had been out with the whip that night and thought it quite funny that our dog had got out. My husband went over to speak with the neighbour and ask if maybe they could use the whip in the back yard until we desensitize our dog, but the neighbour, who we thought we were friends with, basically told him get lost and shut the door in his face. Well karma caught up with them and the boy's whip broke that night, but he soon replaced it with one of those long horns that they blow at football games. Just yesterday, he was back out the front cracking a whip again with the whole family sitting out there watching. What can you do when your neighbours are being unreasonable? We don't want to stop the kids from having fun, we just need them to be a little more understanding while we fix things on our end.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I don't know anything about F10, but if it will help, I'll try anything and everything. I assume you get it from the vets or pet shop? Also, does normal soap actually wash the virus off hands? I'm off to research some more and follow your suggestions. Thanks again

Thanks Daisy. I rang the vet this morning and she said the same thing. I'd heard it was in the local area, but this is a bit too close for comfort. Irresposible owners hadn't vaccinated those poor puppies, and now the risk seems a bit too real for our puppy. Lucky she hadn't been out in the front yard, and I just hope we haven't tracked anything in. Fingers crossed...

I just found out today that the two puppies across from us died in the last week as a result of the parvovirus. Kids in the street play at each others houses, including the house where these puppies lived, and our house, and I'm worried they could walk it into our yard. I know it can survive in the soil for quite a long time, but does anyone know how long the virus can live on shoes, hands etc...? Would I be going overboard if I banned all the kids in the neighbourhood from coming over, or is it ok for them to come over but wash hands and leave shoes outside? These kids all have dogs of their own, and many of the dogs often get out of their yards and go wandering around the streets(quite often into our front yard which is unfenced). :D I forgot to mention, we picked our puppy up 4 days ago and she is now 10 weeks old, so she's not due for her second vaccination for another 2 weeks.

I know vet run pps must be safe(healthwise) as they keep running, but am I being paranoid worrying about my pup picking up something like parvo at the vet run pps? Do vets thoroughly clean before each class, and if they have outdoor grassed areas to run around in, doesn't parvo stay in the ground for years? Also how can you be sure the other pups in the class haven't come into contact with something(I've run into a few people with their little 6 week old puppies walking them everywhere and anywhere). I want to make sure my future pup is well socialised, but the more I read, the more paranoid and confused I become. Can anyone please help put my mind at ease? Sorry if this is off topic.