fuzzy_dragonfly

Me too!!! I was doing such a good job training her not to jump, but ignoring her when she did it. I tell people not to pat her till she sits, but it's like talking to a brick wall sometimes .

She's keeping it down now. I'm not concerned about the vomiting because it only happened once and my partners daughter has a show dog that's also a picky eater. I think she got too excited and scoffed it down too quickly. I'm adding a couple spoonfuls of mince with her VIP puppy log, a surprising advantage is she's eating her VIP pet food better now too. Not keen on missing a meal with a growing pup, I do it when the chihuahua's are fussy (which is almost never). I think she just ate it too quickly. I think it's roo mince I didn't ask, it just says puppy mince. I saw them packing it so I know it's fresh. I know feeding only dry food is a problem with cats, it causes kidney issues. Doesn't that happen with dogs? Geeze I feel like such a rookie, I've had animals all my life and could tell you the ins and out of a chooks backside.

Poor thing, It is not uncommon in humans and is corrected with a circumcision. (don't ask me how I know I just do). I am aware of a similar problem in drakes (male ducks), however they have really a long curly appendage that easily gets stuck. In ducks it's urgent to gently manipulate it back in the bird with moisturisure before it dries out .

Or maybe just the change in diet? Should I try feeding it in smaller amounts with her regular food?

Sui's a fussy eater, she won't touch canned food and will only nibble at her VIP puppy log. She will only eat science diet and purina supercoat dry food. I just purchased some puppy mince from petbarn and she loved it. I was glad I finally found something she'd eat before the flies do! Trouble is about 1/2 hour later she threw it all up again. It's fresh roo meat, only just packed. Do you think she threw it up from eating it too fast? or is something wrong with the meat?

Sorry have to disagree with you there. Rotties are not notorious barkers. Rotties are known for being calm, quiet but assertive. Saying that though ALL bored dogs bark. I think they were referring to their neighbours dogs, not Rottys in general. I now have my second Rotty, and neither Him or Zac were much for barking. This was a good thing, it kept the neighbors happy, plus when they did you knew it was worth investigating. I find it funny, when I walk my GSD, people give her a bit of a worried look at first, but generally they come up to say hello and comment on her. Rosie the rat certainly knows how to milk it for all it is worth too.. But like the rest of you, when I walk Gilly (the Rotty) I get a wide berth. Those who do come up are usually the ones who know what they are really like. He loves the attention too... My biggest concern now, is that un educated number fudging morons are going to make the lives, of quite possibly one of the best breeds in the world, very restrictive and try to ban the breed. Thanks, I was only talking about the neighbours dogs. They don't get out much so boredom leads to behavioural problems like barking and trying to eat my chooks. My auntie also owned a rotti "Rambo" great guard dog, wouldn't even let us go in without my uncles permission . He wasn't so bad, like a really big teddy bear .

Can you distract them from the chickens? I try to distract Sui as much as possible so I'm the most interesting thing in the yard. I would never leave a dog alone with the chickens no matter how well socialised.

Just read the neuteralisation training method, a friend spoke about it but I didn't really understand the concept behind it. Sui is 12 Weeks old now, I've taken her to the dog park since I got her at 8 weeks. She really enjoys the agility equipment, and playing with other dogs and kids (I thought this would make her feel more comfortable in new situations as well as less fearful of children). Plus she has no regular contact with children at home. She won't venture too far from me and 'usually' comes when called. So at this stage would it be too late to introduce this method? Do I need to go about it a different way? I want to try and involve her in agility activities so she'll need to pay attention to me and not ther other dogs. She undertands sit, come, shake, and starting to understand down (although will roll over expecting a belly rub). Where do I go from here?

I just noticed that the buff rooster's head is on backwards . First couple weeks I had her on lead in the chook yard, so she'd get used to the sights and sounds of poultry. Sui chases one of my cats, but he starts it by encouraging the chase! I think she was eating a chook poo in the photo ;) . I don't generally let her eat it but I don't want to draw too much attention to it either so that it doesn't become a big thing. I have a puppy training book that says drawing attention to it might make the behaviour worse and most grow out of it eventually. BTW my chooks are all wormed and lice/mite treated regularly ;) . Actually the chooks are pretty good around Sui, but as you can see from the next photo they're fairly layed back chickens: EDIT: I know it won't stop foxes to have a dog, it might deter them though, if they don't think the poultry will be an easy meal ticket. The poultry are locked in at night. I know a fox wouldn't dare enter from the back property because of the neighbours rotties. Also when I lived at Belmore the neighbours German shepheard would alert us to foxes and feral cats near the poultry.

Actually this confused me too. My pup has a tug toy but I don't tug on it. She just pulls it around the yard. She plays fetch and I've taught her to drop the ball, I just say "drop it" and she releases, if she pulls I won't throw it again. I got told not to tug because it might encourage her to chase the chooks??

Thanks , I'll let you know how they go. I took some real nice photos of them the other day and as soon as photobucket is back up and running (maintenence) I'll send some pics. All the dark brown fur on Peppys backside (the black and tan chihuahuaX) is new regrowth after the big shave. That's the area that had thinning fur, I'd say it is possibly due to flea bite, now the fleas are gone and I'm treating with anticeptic it's not so bad, maybe she had a reaction? I wonder why it grew back brown instead of black?

They were his dogs for a long time but they're ours now, I've known the dogs for two years. Grooming was the real issue, at first my partner wasn't keen on the idea of shaving the dogs, he'd wash and brush them but the bunches were too tight so I took over the grooming side. They're still daddy's little doggies which is why I end up calling them his rather than ours. My partner does heaps to look after "my" poultry. I've had another good look at her today, maybe I'm just being paranoid. I didn't grow up with a dog so I'm not familiar with what to expect from an aging dog. Maybe they're just old dogs with old dog problems? Peppy I think is closer to the 9 year mark wheras Lilly is around 7, all I know is both are 7+ years old from old photos. Lilly is still very active, whereas Peppy's slowing down a bit. Is it normal for chihuahuas do do this at this age? I think I'll hang in there and see what the vet says. If something needs attention it will be given. PS: Please me mindful that we're doing our best, sometimes unfortunate events cannot be avoided. The dogs loosing a bit of condition was not intentional in any way and he already feels bad enough about it as it is. Please don't think the worst, things just fell out of routine for a while.

I'll be brutally honest in saying my initial intention for buying a dog was to deter foxes from my poultry. I'm close to bushland and have spotted foxes too close for comfort. Now I have my pup I'm finding it quite enjoyable to train and bond with her and have plans to continue training and getting her involved in dog sports. Naturally most of the time she is in her own yard, away from the poultry and chihuahuas yard. I let the dogs interact with supervision as the old dogs don't appreciate being jumped all over. On the odd occassion she will chase a chook but this is getting less and less. I can get her attention by playing fetch. She was even locked in the chook yrad by accident one day and didn't ruffle a single feather the whole time she was in there. What I would like to know is as good as she is now with the poultry do you think there may be issues in the future? She always follows me into the chook yard, I hope that growing up with poultry will make her less interested in chasing them. What are your thoughts or training tips when socialising a young pup with chooks?

The two rotties behind us tore a hole through the colourbond fence to try and get at my poultry! The owner has boarded up the hole. Those dogs are also notorious barkers. I suspect they're acting out from boredom. They're one of those breeds that need a little extra attention and probably why some become troublesome. I think eduacationg children is the best hope we have of making people dog savvy.

I use petsgard I have wormed, flea treated them. I use advocate for dogs and revolution for the cats and ferret, I treat them all at once and regularly. Also wash bedding regularly, that includes cats, ferret and dogs. Or replace it, my partner used to be president of a bowling club and has stacks of old tablecloths and towels to line kennels. Their gums look OK funnily enough, there is some buildup on their teeth which will need removal by a vet. I wouldn't say it's urgent as they still eat without complaining, including dry food. I WOULD bring it forward if I hadn't desexed my ferret last week which was a priority. I do have money saved for medical emergencies but I really need to be careful with my money, I don't earn a great deal, but I do manage to keep my head above water. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes they could do more for their pets if only they could afford it. Peppy did chew on a schmakos treat the other day, so some success!!!! She's a VERY picky eater. She has lost a few teeth over the years, mostly accidents which have been attended by a vet in the past. This is probably a likely reason for her reluctance to chew, I would like to preserve the teeth she has left though!!! Maybe I'm being a little impatient with the hair regrowth, it is regrowing slowly, I noticed more hairs comming through yesterday when I gave them all a bath. It may possibly be due to flea bite in the past when their fur was matted. I'll mention it to the vet and see what she says. I'm taking them with the cat who's due for a booster vaccination in two weeks. BTW thanks for the advice .

I LOVE golden orb weavers. I think they make the most beautiful intricate webs, paticularly nice with morning dew. We had a few around my uni and they'd build their webs high up in the power lines and neatly line up all the insects they caught. Also love huntsmans, bit jumpy and hard to handle when running, but cute fluffy spiders nonetheless.

What a handsome tuxedo cat. So sorry about your loss, sometimes the hardest descision is the right one.

My partner has 2 old longhaired chihuahua x , not meaning to sound aweful but he didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to them. He loves them very much and they are fond of him, but he was going through a difficult time with his family and so sady the little rascals were neglected for a while. Their fur was very matted so I shaved it all off!!! - I also de-flead, clipped their nails and de-wormed them. I also built them a new kennel . On cold nights they're lap dogs and watch TV with me on the lounge. Don't tell me they're not spoilt! Their fur is growing back nicely now, Peppy's skin condition has improved but is still visible where the fur is growing back thin near her rump (Which is better than before because she had a baldy bum). I've been using Stop-Itch shampoo an antisceptic based shampoo for skin irritations on dogs. Could it be diet related? - they've been getting fresh meat as well as dog food and dry dog biscuits. I'll keep using the shampoo and see if it improves over time. The other problem is they both have bad teeth but are reluctant to chew. I've tried pig ears, dentabones, doggy biscuits and treats of various shapes and sizes - Lilly will eat a jerky style dog treat but Peppy refuses to chew only rarely eating the odd bitesize jerky treat. They're due for a vet appointment and teeth cleaning will be one of her jobs. What can I do to keep their teeth in reasonable condition in the meantime? Thanks