aussielover

You can actually get "cheese in a can" for humans too! Yuck! One of my friends brought it back from america and it totally reminded me of kong stuffing! It also comes in cheese and bacon flavour

I use one layer of peanut butter and one layer of normal kibble or cut up apple cubes. I then layer the kong like this several times and freeze. do you guys fill the whole kong with peanut butter? That doesn't seem too healthy, which is why i try to break it up with more healthy foods. But I guess it is ok for some dogs? Chicken and beef stock make my dog get the runs. I like the idea of the honey monster!

Oh awesome! that is ,uch better than 180! I would love to meet orbit too! So its Pennant Hills vet then?

A park on the north shore of sydney. It is normally a very nice park with regulars that all have friendly dogs. Occasionally there is a bit of a scuffle- as to be expected but I don't consider more dangerous than any other dog park, in fact I think it is a bit safer than a lot as the owners of dogs in the area are usually families.

None of the other attacks have resulted in injury so were not reported. The lab owner has not reported it as yet. I will suggest it next time I see him. I feel sorry for the dog though, I feel this aggressive behaviour stems from being attacked and could be helped by a behaviourist. But I agree for the safety of others something needs to be done. I will speak with the owner and warn him about dangerous dog declarations next time I see him. Maybe, maybe not. Not all dogs that are attacked become aggressive as a result of that. Some get over it and are never aggressive. A behaviourist may not be able to make a dog like this safe to ever be off-lead. I wouldn't want my dog around it. I feel sorry for it too, the owner knows it has a problem that causes it to be aggressive, and yet keeps putting the dog back in the same situation. Some dogs are not meant to be of-lead in public ever. My dog was attacked as a pup but isn't aggressive :D However, this dog wasn't aggressive before it was attacked and now only attacks labradors which happen to be the dog he was attacked by, so I am highly suspicious that the attack on him has influenced his behaviour. A behaviourist should be seen so the dog can be helped: by this I mean advice to manage and * possibly* improve the aggression towards other dogs.

Hey guys, I don't normally price shop for vets but my girl has a few issues and has cost me a lot of money over the last few months and is likely going to need further treatments. She has atopy and getting it diagnosed by specialists and having her constant skin infections has cost me over to $1000 for the month. This is on top of her food, and flea and tick treatments. I only work part time due to being a uni student so at the moment I don't have a lot of spare cash. Of course I think she is worth every cent :D I am looking for a cheaper price for titre testing if possible though, my vet charges about the same as a vaccination and proheart so around $180. I'm looking for a vet in the sydney area that might be a bit cheaper than this? Thanks :D

Unlikely to be parvo with normal bloods. Parvo would usually cause an increase or decrease in leukocytes (white blood cells which fight infections) depending on what stage its at. Is he vaccinated? He looks older (ie not a young puppy) and its rare to get parvo in an older fully vaccinated dog. I guess the next step would be a contrast radiograph if they are still suspecting a foreign body.

umm but doesn't it say in part 5 (a) that this doesn;t apply to people in an off leash area???

Oh Poor Arnie :D Sending good vibes to him... and :D to youlinda. The location of the blockage can affect the prognosis and also how much tissue damage had occurred, but it can be life threatening. Did they do bloods only or also biochemistry? If both of these are normal it is a good sign.

Yes us too. Is Mindy like a clone of Mason or something :D Some dogs do better a raw diet, or on particular brands of food. I have heard that some people buy several different brands of food for their different dogs. I think it doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with how much you pay, but more with the ingredients and what your dog tolerates best.

Is he also itchy? Tummy issues and itchy skin may indicate food allergy. In which case you need to do a food trial. I do not find advance to be good for my puppy. It may be worth switching brands. Royal canin do a nice sensitivity dry food with fish and tapioca which can also be used for a food trial (although it is ideally to to a home made food trial). Hills Z/D may also be suitable. Chicken is a very common food allergy. You could try a diet of roo meat or rabbit and potato/pumpkin and see if he improves on that. My pup had trouble on advance and responded to a change to pedigree of all brands! She is on a raw diet now though.

None of the other attacks have resulted in injury so were not reported. The lab owner has not reported it as yet. I will suggest it next time I see him. I feel sorry for the dog though, I feel this aggressive behaviour stems from being attacked and could be helped by a behaviourist. But I agree for the safety of others something needs to be done. I will speak with the owner and warn him about dangerous dog declarations next time I see him.

It is a good drawing but it looks more like a wolf to me :D It is actually a very nice drawing of a wolf though! ETA: I think the ears need to be bigger for a GSD.

The owner of the attacking dog is irresponsible, but also nice, I have suggested a behaviourist previously after it attacked another dog. The dog has never acted aggressively towards my dog and even initiates play with her.

True, but just saying that the lab owner is giving an accurate description? I have witnessed the attacking dog going up to other dogs and having a go at them (unprovoked), so I do find the story believable. The owner of the lab is a responsible and experienced dog owner who has raised several successful guide dogs. I am aware that owners need to control their dogs but surely this includes stopping your dog from having a go at others. Where do you draw the line for control? I really think that dogs should be able to walk reasonably close to each other without being attacked. A dog that is so insecure or aggressive that it can't tolerate having a walk within a few meters of it doesn't belong in an offleash park imo.

If you use an off leash park does it legally mean you accept the risk of anything happening (eg. dog fights) and are therefore not able to make any claims for veterinary costs incurred etc? Just asking because a friends labrador puppy was attcked by another dog at an off leash park and the owner of the attacking dog refused to acknowledge his dog was in the wrong and therefore pay any veterinary bills and also claimed that when you enter an off leash park you accept the risk and have no rights to compensation etc . The poor lab puppy had damage very close to the eye and it was only luck she didn't lose it! Apparently it was an unprovoked attack, ie the attacking dog ran over to the lab puppy (rather than the lab approaching the dog in a boisterous manner) I know the owner of the attacking dog and unfortunately although a nice person, the dog was attacked by another dog a while ago and is now DA and has attacked other dogs before. it has a particular dislike for labradors because that was the dog that attacked it. It has known my dog for a while so has no problem with her which is interesting because the other lab puppy is like a clone of mine in both looks and personality. So I just wanted to clarify that legally you cannot claim any money from the owner of the attacking dog if the fight occurs in an off leash area? Should I be worried this dog will turn on my dog (even though they have previously never had any incidents)?

What breeds? I wouldn't worry too much kirst_goldens, she is only 9 weeks old at that age they are all psycho around other dog/pups (esp retriever breeds!). Perhaps teach her "look" and use that to get her attention. My lab puppy used to bite my whole hand when she took a treat, I had to teach her to be "gentle" when taking a treat. She is now quite good with taking treats but every now and then she forgets and goes for your whole hand if you forget to tell her to be gentle beforehand- I think this is her natural instinct, some dogs appear to be instinctively delicate with taking treats. She was also a really mouthy pup and still loves carrying stuff around in her mouth but doesn't try to mouth people anymore. We just gave her mainly verbal corrections (but sometimes the water spray bottle) when she did try to mouth us.

I'm not trying to be rude just asking out of curiosity :D Corvus, have you ever asked someone who does have experience with giving appropriate corrections (and achieves good results) to show you how to do them properly/effectively, seeing as you say yourself you are not confident to do them? Or do you just not believe in using corrections at all? I have used leash corrections on my dog (in conjunction with rewarding for correct behaviour) under the instructions of experienced trainers and have found them to be effective, but I can see how it is important to get the timing and intensity right, without which you may have a reduced effect or possibly confuse the dog. Perhaps corrections make no sense to you though (ie you think they don't work), but if they did, wouldn't it be good to get someone to demonstrate how to do it properly, rather than ruling out the use altogether? I am really interested in drive training as the theory seems to make sense to me, but I have no practical experience in using this method, which is why I am seeing a professional to help me understand it better and use it with my dog.

I thought Aussie terriers were generally pretty energetic little dogs? Maybe not in the same way as a herding breed, but have reasonable exercise requirements?

Admittedly not much. I did not persist with her because I felt she wasn't really enjoying it, getting stressed panting, freezing etc. I did not try it with her until she was older though (around 8 years I think) and I agree, having being stimulated to do these things as a young puppy makes a huge difference. I think Mindy's eagerness to learn had a lot to do with the fact her serious training was started at 8 weeks old. She actually learnt most of those tricks I previously listed by the time she was 3 months old. She definitely had hi 5, hi 10, sit, drop, rollover and speak by 10 weeks. I agree with you about dogs dogs needing to learn how to learn. I tried to teach a friends 18 month old dog some simple tricks and to my surprise the dog had no idea how to learn or what to do, where as with Mindy it all seemed so natural and easy. I'm sure it would have been possible to teach this dog with some time and effort though (but I only had 2 days!). I think if dogs haven't learnt this sort of exercise/learning (free shaping ) as a reasonably young pup and if they have a natural tendency to prefer a more ordered approach, it can make it quite difficult for a novice trainer (like myself) to persist and to get the dog to feel comfortable in offering lots of new behaviours.

So true KTB! My previous dog was not into doing tricks and offering new behaviours- she only ever knew one trick which was to shake hands. She didn't even know how to lie down on command she was still a great dog, and was challenged by other things like making a makeshift agility course in our yard, running alongside a bicycle, going for long walks etc. Mindy would literally do anything for food and is way more toy/play motivated than my last dog and she appears to enjoy learning new tricks (or more accurately, getting rewarded for doing the right thing :p) If we are learning a new trick, she generally starts off offering the behaviour of the last trick we trained for. Free shaping is quite difficult for a lot of dogs to do and it does take practice. Luring is much easier. Perhaps Echo would benefit from more structured activities such as tracking or schutzhund? He sounds like he might also be suitable for search and rescue type work?

I am glad to hear that Lillistar! Mindy is still ignoring hers Sometimes she has a half hearted attempt at chewing it but doesn't make much headway on it. Perhaps I have gotten the wrong size? I think I got the 20cm? Roo is welcome to have one of Mindy's (I got 2 just in case she loved them which doesn't seem to be the case) for free if you like.

We are starting agility. Her obedience is good but the club we sometimes go to is really boring for both of us and I find it hard to keep her enthusiasm for the whole hour. I prefer to practice in short sessions at the park. What is DWD? I am thinking of doing tracking with her as well, because she loves sniffing and ity is quite hard to get her attention once she is on a scent (even food will not work!) Willow and Raz are sooo cute! I love their jumpers! Its funny how willow's ears are the same size as Razzles!!!

Hey guys! Mindy is pretty spoilt but she is quite a high energy dog and really would probably be happiest on an acreage or something where she could run around all day. Sadly I only have a small yard at the moment so I really need to get her out a lot for her to be happy. As for tricks, she knows quite a lot: hi 5 and hi 10 speak roll over weave (through my legs) spin are you sleepy? (this is where she puts her head on the floor and closes her eyes- v. cute) Are you shy? (finally! not perfect, I would like her paw to go further over her face, but she gets the basic gist of it now) Take a bow Where is your ball/toy? bring the newspaper in close the door open the door (to open doors and draws. have banned her form doing this now as she kept getting into her food cupboard and into my room!) Not sure if this classifies as a trick but most people think its pretty funny- quick quick (pee on command) I now want to teach her to wipe her paws, to dig on command and to crawl (funnily enough we never learnt this even though it seems fairly simple). Eventually I want her to be able to get the telephone and TV remote But I need to first figure out how to minimise the slobber :p

I do not think it is wrong to have a colour preference and I would not write someone off just for saying they would prefer a certain coloured dog. Personally, I prefer certain colours in different breeds and I've always been able to get the perfect dog for me even with a colour preference... i mean if you can get both looks and temperament why wouldn't you? Although I always say I would prefer xxxx colour but am happy to consider other dogs if you think they would be the right dog for me