muffinmclay

I don't know what is going on, this is costing me an absolute fortune. I put Advantix on the dogs last night, and still this evening there were live fleas. So I went to the vet and bought some Capstar tablets, which I gave them at 6pm. Still there are live fleas. I just can't understand why they are still there - surely the advantix should have worked by now and killed any adult fleas on the body? I have to leave the dogs outside while there are fleas, and it is killing me that I can't have them inside with the family like usual. I'm about ready to shave them both bald

I discovered fleas on my dogs approx 10 days ago and treated them with advantix, as well as washing bedding, spraying the backyard with insecticide and giving the dogs a capstar tab too. Now one of them has fleas again, however they seem to mostly be around his hind legs, not really up near his neck where the advantix was applied. why are they back again? How will I ever get rid of them? I feel like crying, i spent an entire weekend washing bedding, floors, everything to have to do it all again :D

Yes, here in the nation's capital, that gives us more money to spend on buying brown cardigans and funding roundabouts. :D Unfortunately we live in Canberra and have just battled a flea infestation. We were told by the vet that once the weather got cooler we didn't need to use a prevention treatment, but lo and behold, apparently it hasn't been cold enough yet to kill off Canberra's fleas! The warmer weather and rain has apparently contributed.

My two dogs have fleas. I have no idea what to do, but i'm guessing i need to treat my house as well as my dogs as they sleep on the beds (ewwwww). I've never had a dog have fleas before and I have no idea what to do!! Help urgently!

Sorry, I just want to clarify that my dogs are actually professionally groomed, including clipped, twice a year in the warmer months. However, over winter I let their coat get quite long and wanted to prevent matting and horrid-ness, rather than needing to fix something that has already happened. I got a dematting rake on the weekend and, despite cutting myself twice, it was very effective at stripping out the undercoat and getting the knots out. My boys both look lovely now after being de-mattified, combed, shampooed, conditioned, ears plucked, feet and eyebrows trimmed

Thanks for the advice guys. I think if I pulled the dryer on my dog he would freak out completely, so we will stick with the 'run like a crazy dog around the house after bath' drying method I'm going to head to my local pet supplies store after Good Friday and get myself one of those dematting rake things and a steel comb. I had a go at plucking the ear hair myself the other day and expected resistance, but my guys just layed there and let me do it, so it can't have hurt to much.

We own a labrador cross poodle. Thats right, what is commonly referred to as a 'labradoodle', although I'm well aware of the fact that such a breed does not exist. I am also aware that I am a horrid 'designer dog' owning person, however, we love our dog beyond words and look after him as if he was a third (hairy) child. I would rather not get into a debate about 'labradoodles' - i'm feeling rather delicate with a awful cold right now. Anyway, I've been grooming him with a slicker brush, pulling the hair back so I can see the skin and then brushing right through the coat. He hates having his legs done, although i'm working on him by feeding treats to reward leg brushing. Am I using the right tool? Should I be using some sort of comb? He is a wool coat and although I brush him twice a week, he never really looks 'brushed'. I'm worried that i'll inadvertently become one of those people who takes their dog to be clipped and doesn't realise he has matted bits of fur. Any advice about the grooming would be greatly appreciated. Comments on 'labradoodles' can be saved up for another time :D)

Not sure if this is still relevant, but we have been using SB for about 4 weeks now and just this week our dog seems a little better. He is 15 months old and was diagnosed with HD about 2 months ago. We tried the cartrophen(sp?) injections and I didn't really notice any difference, but we kept on with them anyway. We were giving fish oil and glucosamine with chondroitin and no improvement. As i said, we started on SB on the advice of our vet about 4 weeks ago, and just this week he seems more spritely and doesn't seem to be having as much difficulty in getting up. But hey, it might just be the weather or something!

I noticed tonight that my dog has a black crusty scab under his chin, about the size of a 5 cent piece. He pulls away when it is touched, so i imagine it is sore. Any ideas as to what this might be? We have two dogs and they often bite each other around the ears & muzzle when playing, maybe it could be a bite and the black is dried blood? I have no idea, but would like to avoid an unneccesary vet visit if possible.

Thanks so much for this, I will call them tomorrow. Sorry about the delay - i forgot that I posted the question! BTW, your Vizslas are beautiful - love the breed

I have two dogs and unfortunately, the one I'm talking about hates the water! The other dog tries to get in the bath with the kids! Any time I try to get the HD dog in the water i have to go in too ) Thanks for the advice. I'm going to up the dose for the fish oil and gluc and see if it makes a difference (and yep, he is exactly 15.9kgs, just got on the scales with him). We are off to see a dog chiro next week too. Not sure if I should investigate acupuncture aswell?

My 1 yr old Lab was diagnosed with HD a few months ago. The vet told us to put him on 500mg of glucosamine + chondriotin daily, but I don't think it is helping at all. Should the dosage be larger? He weighs about 16kgs. Also, how much fish oil should he be having? He currently has a 1000mg capsule twice a week - is this enough? I've not noticed any change in his pain or limping - we've had 4 of the arthritis injections too. Also, are there any hydro pools to take a dog for a paddle in Canberra? I don't really want to go to the lake/river as I'll have to get in too and they aren't the cleanest or warmest!

Wow dog water beds - what will they think of next! Thanks for the advice everyone. I think if I asked him, my dog would request a queen size inner spring matteress with a lovely duck down doona, seeing as he's decided my bed is better than anything else!

I'm looking for a firm, rectangular shaped indoor bed for my boy who has recently been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. He seems to prefer to sleep stretched out on his tummy like a frog - so we are after a bed that he can do this on. His current bed is oval shaped for 'curling up in' - which doesn't seem comfortable for him anymore. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm looking to buy something online as they are a bit more reasonable in price compared with the average pet supplies shop. I thought maybe a Snooza 'D1000' - i saw it on a website and it looks like it would be nice and firm, but of course it's hard to tell without feeling it! BTW, he already has a trampoline bed with a soft cover that he seems to like for outside.

My 11 month old lab has just been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. I'd like to get him doing some swimming, on the advice of the vet. Are there any swimming pools in Canberra specially for dogs, or hydrotherapy services? Or where else might I take him for a swim a couple of times a week? He can swim, but isn't overly keen on the water, so I'm guessing i'll have to go in with him to get him to actually paddle for a while - as you can imagine i'm not overly keen on swimming in any of Canberra's lakes... Also, i'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has used acupuncture to treat HD. Did you have any success?

I've noticed over the past few weeks that my dog's hind legs seem be be stiff at the end of the day, whether we've been for a walk or not. He walks like he is about to squat and poop, and when he rises from lying down he drags his back legs up, seeming to not want to move them. I took him to the vet who did a thorough exam and said she couldn't find anything wrong and booked him in for an xray next week and sent us home with some anti-inflam drugs. The drugs don't seem to have made much difference after 4 days, and we've now noticed him dragging his bum on the carpet/grass, he has a bit of a smell about him and when I tried extending his back right leg he whined and pulled away. Could the whole stiff leg and squatting thing be related to an anal gland problem? I plan on calling the vet tomorrow...I really don't want to have to pay $500 for an xray that may show up nothing. FYI, the stiff leg/squat thing only seems to occur in the late afternoon/evening...he is perfectly fine in the morning. The vet doesn't think it is a hip thing as he is fine going up/down stairs, jumping out of the car, running around with the puppy etc.

He went to bed at around 10.30pm and was taken out in the morning at 5:30am.

Thank you to everyone for your advice. We've gone back to basics and have started from scratch. Unfortunately it isn't suitable for me to cordon off our carpeted areas as 99% of our house is carpet, and i'm not a fan of putting him in the crate during the day when we are at home, so i've been watching him like a hawk and taking him outside every hour on the hour. That said, I thought we were doing well yesterday and last night, but then this morning when I woke i took him outside for a wee and nothing! Not a drop. I thought this was a bit strange, seeing as he'd gone all night without one, so I checked his crate and he'd done a giant wee right in the middle of his bedding! What the? I'm going with the theory that he must have needed to go during the night and just couldn't hold it, and I didn't hear him calling out, because otherwise wouldn't he have moved as far away from his bedding as possible (not that there is much room to move in the crate)? I've just toilet trained my 2 yr old daughter and i'm not sure which is more frustrating!!

We've semi-crate trained him, in that he goes into the crate to sleep at night and sometimes during the day if I can't watch him, such as when i'm cooking dinner. Otherwise, he has a bed in the lounge room where he will go. And he isn't peeing in the same spot every time, he likes to mix it up and pretty much goes anywhere!

I need help! My 12 week old pup just doesn't seem to want to be toilet trained. I've been doing everything by the book - take him outside every 1/2 hour to 3/4 hour, wait patiently, reward and praise when he goes (we keep bits of cooked sausage in the fridge which he loves and ONLY gets for peeing outside), and so the cycle continues. Unfortunately, he seems to do a little pee outside, then 10-15 mins after we come back inside, he sneaks away and pees on the carpet. It doesn't matter how long i stand outside for, he still goes inside. I"ve stood out there for 20 mins, waiting for him to pee for a second time so he won't do it inside, but it makes no difference. When he does it inside, i point to it and talk in a stern voice (never yell, never rub nose in) and then take him outside to the grass and use my happy voice. What am I doing wrong? We've had him for 4 weeks now and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier than the first day!

We've got a lab. Who is currently asleep in my lap with his head on the keyboard, so i'm typing around his face... Another question sorry - we feed chicken or lamb mince every night, with the dry food. I'm currently buying the 'pet mince' from the butcher, but is this stuff ok? It looks rather revolting.

Our 10 week old pup is on Advance Puppy dry food, amongst other things. This is what he was fed by the breeder and we were given some when we picked him up. However, it is very hard to track down where we live so we'd like to try something else. Our vet recommened Eukanuba or Royal Canin (neither of which he sells). Is anyone able to shed some light on which would be best, or at least most like the Advance? I've had a look at the ingredients list of each on the net but they all look like their made of the same stuff...or am I just daft

Thanks for your advice! It's good to hear about success stories, keeps up the moral!! And I love your dog's name ) Now to just get this toilet training thing under control. I'm so over discovering secret carpet poos!

Thank you to all of you who replied with constructive suggestions. We've been keeping at the crate thing during the night, and it is great now. Pup knows when I warm up the wheat pack that it is time for bed and puts himself in the crate. Most nights he gets through to 4am before he needs to pee, and he settles himself well afterwards. We've been putting the crate in the lounge room during the day with the door open. Sometimes he chooses to sleep there, sometimes on the floor, sometimes on top of the cat in the cat bed. We've had a few accidents on the carpet but they are becoming less frequent and if we leave the back door open a bit he takes himself outside. So, the moral of this story is that crate training sucks, but if you persist for a few days it does work out. Also, to those people who are against crate training or don't understand why we are doing it - we haven't had a puppy for 15 years. We did some internet research and came across some articles and online books by Dr Ian Dunbar, who's methods also seem to be highly regarded on this forum. We decided to follow his methods, which is why we were doing what we were doing. Not having had a puppy for a long time, this seemed like the best way to approach it - follow a reputable and highly regarded method recommended by others.

My husband has just called to say that our pup barked from 7.30am to 1pm, when he finally gave up trying to sleep and let him out of the laundry. What am I going to do? We only just moved into our house and I don't want to get the neighbours offside, or my husband for that matter. Why is he barking for so long? I thought surely he would get tired of it after a little while?