aussielover

Just in case anyone is having the same problem, i thought I would do a quick update: Problem seems to be rectified by a change of diet from Pal puppy to Royal Canin puppy dry food. She is now back to only sniffing the poo and not eating it. YAY! Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.

Are there any dog beaches in Sydney where people ie. the owners can swim as well? My dog loves swimming beside me and it is really good exercise for both of us. I've been taking my dog to Sirius Cove near taronga zoo, but the water quality is not always great. I've heard Clontarf is quite nice for people to swim with their dogs? Are there any other beaches where you could swim wth your dog? Do people think that it is unhygenic to swim with your dog? She doesn't toilet in the water (kids do!) and usually doesn't toilet on the beach and I would pick it up if she did. It can't really be any worse than going to a public swimming pool or kids area of the beach can it?

Max is an awesome name for a lab I want to call my next black lab Max.

Is she barking to be let out to toilet? I actually encouraged my dog to do this. If I want a sleep in, i let her out to toilet and then put her out with a bone or kong. Personally I think its a bit mean to make her wait too long for her morning walk, she is a young, energetic dog- I haven't had a proper sleep in (past 8.30am ) since we got her!

Ideally the puppy should have access to a small room (like the laundary) and also outdoor access. Of course, not everyone is able to do this. I too would be concerned about leaving a very young pup outside in this heat. I had a winter puppy and she was left in the laundary (but only for 2 hrs at a time) for a number of reasons: - concerned about the temperature outside - concerned about annoying the neighbors with a barking dog - concerned about digging, destroying the yard, chewing irrigation swallowing sticks, or another type of foreign body ( lab puppy) At 4 months of age she started spending time alone outside. Howver, I rarely left my pup alone as I am able to take her to work with me, she was only left as a training exercise or if i needed to do shopping. Regarding toilet training, my puppy was always pretty good and would wait to go outside. She was also able to hold on through the night for around 7-8hrs, so i guess if the puppy is slepping, it is possible for them to hold on for 5 hrs. If your house isn't air conditioned though, you are probably better off leaving the puppy outside, with access to a cool/shady area.

I think as long as the crate has already been established as a safe, quiet place it is ok. But yeah, if you just throw them in there every time they are naughty with no toys/treats etc then they will have a negative association with it. Once my puppy was crate trained and knew that the crate was a "quiet place" I would put her in there for a time out when she needed to calm down.

you must be a sucker for punishment lol! Two baby puppies at once! Do they have names? You need to separate the lab puppy when he gets too rough. A crate is ideal but you can also use a small room like the laundary. The lab puppy could stress out the cocker puppy and may cause an aggressive reaction or fight when they are older if you don't intervene. Lab puppies don't know when to stop playing generally. It is up to us, as owners, to let them know when enough is enough. It also sounds like the lab puppy needs to be taught some bite inhibition, usually the owners continue this when the pup has left the litter. It may also be important to you to make sure they puppies don't become more bonded to each other than to you. You need to spend lots of time training and playing with them individually, which it sounds like you are doing. Good lUck

Blue is not "rare" anymore! It seems every second staffy you see these days is "blue". Breeding for colour alone is unethical, especially when there are health problems associated with the particular colour. And blue staffys very rarely actually look like a well-bred stafford should.

My dog has started eating dog poo at the park in the last month. She doesn't eat her own poo, only other dogs poo. She has a good diet which has a fair amount of variety, bones 3-4 times a week, sardines, salmon and tuna a few times a week (for her skin), occaisonal scraps and premium dry food (Advance puppy). Both the guide dogs and the vets didn't really have any advice that helped. They suggested splitting her meal and feeding her twice a day instead of once a day to help her feel more full. Could it be a nutritional deficiency or is she just greedy (she is a lab)? She is on prednisolone every second day for ongoing skin issues, which could be contributing to her "greediness" I suppose, but at the moment it is not really an option to take her off it. Has anyone has this experience before and does anyone have any advice to help stop this ?

Just wanted to say how adorable Sniper is! So cute!!! The right time to get a second dog is when YOU are ready. It is ideal to have your current dog well trained as well, so you aren't trying to train two at once. Having said that, having two puppies can work out very well as long as you have the time and are aware of the effort required and you know what you are doing. Getting two young pups would be something that is probably better for experienced dog owners or very committed dog owners. For me personally, I would say around 12 months to two years old would be when i would consider getting a second dog. My current puppy is 10 months old and is nearing the age where i would consider getting another dog. Her manners and training are about 90% to my ideal. If we get to keep her (she is a guide dog puppy) i would raise another pup, I think she would be able to help train the new puppy. I have noticed that other guide dog puppies who are raised with other dogs are much calmer around other dogs anf are much calmer in general.

It is totally normal for a puppy. It is play behaviour and has nothing to do with dominance- BUT he still needs to be taught not to do it. I found a very effective way of stopping biting with my lab puppy was to remove her from our company as soon as she engaged in the "bad" behaviour. I would usually put her outside or in the laundary for a period of 5 minutes. If she started barking for attention I would wait for 30 seconds of silence before she was allowed back in our company. The kids need to be taught not to chase the puppy and to put the puppy out when he bites or nips them. Dogs require different methods to help them understand what is expected of them. Separation worked for my pup, but other methods include using a water spray bottle. If you use this, it is ideal NOT to let the puppy associate you with the spray bottle, so try to spray them from a position where they cant see you. The biting usually lessens with time and consistent trraining. It is also extremely useful to teach the puppy to "give". This is usually very easy with a lab puppy as they love their food! When the puppy has a toy say "give" and show him the peice of food. When he drops they toy say "yes" and give the treat. Puppies learn this very quickly. If he is not interested by food (you have a broken lab lol), you can also use another toy. It is importnant to remember that the reward should be of equal or higher value than the item in his mouth.

99% of 4 month old puppies will wriggle if you extend their legs, especially if you don't give them any warning or are rough. Sometimes puppies will yelp or wriggle at the shock/fright of having their legs extended, especially if they are not used to it or the vet isn't very gentle and does it too quickly. Very poor practice of the vet to even talk about xrays and surgery without taking a more detailed history and performing a proper physical exam. I believe JPS has a place for puppies already showing clinical signs of HD and poor xrays but this would be very rare in pups of such a young age. I am glad you have found another vet.

Technically a lead and collar is a management tool, however, as it is required by law in many places, it is sort of a compulsory management tool. I feel I would be able to walk my dog without a leash most of the time, but it is illegal and there is always the chance that the dog would not respond to me, or become over-excited by something and not listen, and therefore be at risk of an accident or upsetting people/other animals.

My pup used to do this as well, but she seems to have grown out of it. You could try setting him up- have a tasty item on the bench and stand back, maybe hidden, and wait for him to go for it. When he does, you could then correct him. It is important that you correct him before he grabs hold of the item though, ideally just as he is jumping up. If he is allowed to grab the item, he will be reinforced, instead of corrected. Verbal correction may be enough, but you may have to use something like a water squirt. I personally don't believe in 100% prevention in these cases, i think it is a bit ridiculous to have to hide everything off the benchtop all the time. The dog, (especially at 8 months of age) should know that this behaviour is completely unacceptable. I expect to be able to prepare a meal and leave the kitchen for a few minutes and not have the dog up on the bench!!! It is different with a baby puppy of course.

Yes I have heard this about cavs as well. we actually have a rule out our vet clinic that all cavs must be walked in a harness not a slip lead or collar and lead

This happened to me one night. I was walking 3 Rotties in the park and was approached by 3 stoned guys. They were aggressive and I was very frightened. The 2 Rotties who I had always assumed would protect me were disinterested in the men but my sooky la la boy who runs the other way from confrontation stood in front of me growling and started lunging at the end of the lead barking at the men. Thankfully they bolted when they realised I had Rotties with me. I was amazed that my boy was so protective - he was the last dog I thought would have stood his ground. Wow they must have been Really stoned!!!

Next time tell him to go watch his Cesar Milan DVDs and leave you the hell alone. ;) Young Howard has the charming habit of leaping about and barking excitedly when a dog approaches. I must remember that I'm not dominating him enough when he does this. On the other hand, it has detered a couple of rushing dogs to have a mad Whippet woo wooing at their approach. ;) See, whatever works for us hey? Personally, I love a woo woo'er My Chloe is a woo woo'er too! Its situational too. I can walk Howie at shows and the dog club on lead and he's a lamb. In the 'burbs, with an approaching dog he gets sooo excited. I dropped his lead one time when two dogs came in hard and he zoomied so much around them they decided to leave. ;) ;) My dog is utterly perplexed by whippets. She tries to keep up with one at the park, obviously she has no hope, poor thing, the dog literally runs circles around her ;) I hate having people tell me what I'm doing wrong with my dog. It is usually people with dogs whose manners leave a lot to be desired funnily enough. I even had some crazy tell me that when my dog tried to jump up on me i should catch her mid air (a 25kg lab!) and throw her to the floor, making her submit and growling at her. Needless to say i did not take that advice very well. Ive even had people tell me its cruel to walk my dog on lead- this was in an on-lead area. When i said it was against the law to let dogs off lead in this area and you could get fined they said that was only for untrained dogs that would run away and I should really train my dog not to run away from me???? Sasha is very cute, she looks very comfy in that pic!

will she eat a pigs ear or a greenie or some other chewy thing? The chewing action will help clean her teeth. also Hills prescription t/d and a number of other dental dry foods claim they help clean the teeth. You could also try brushing her teeth.

what channel?

I also thought that maybe her teeth are sore due to dental disease or something?

sounds like a doggie poker machine lol my dog also finds eating addictive RP!!!

I feed mostly dry (bones only 3x a week and sardines/fish/egg 3 x a week mixed with the dry). I recently changed from advance to pal and did not notice any change, if anything the dog's poos are less frequent and firmer and her coat looks shiner. No idea whether this is due to the extras though. I've been feeding her the extras for about 6 months now. I think some of the premium dry food are a bit of a rip off, a good supermarket brand (not that im saying pal is good) could work just as well for some dogs and is a lot cheaper. I think the prescription diets have merit though and probably do help dogs with specific problems.

That's also why I asked if the OP had been shown how to use a check chain.... the technique used seemed a bit odd I found that technique, when used with a flat collar only, was very effective in stopping pulling. If there was any tension on the leash, we stopped and did not move until she was back in the correct walking position. When she was in position, she was rewarded, intially with a treatie and then just with praise. I found this easier becuase it was totally obvious when to stop and what to do. Also with the thick lab neck, the corrections have to be pretty sharp to get them to even realise whats going on lol. And you don't have to worry about mis-timed corrections as much. I can appreciate that different methods work for different dogs though. I would NOT use that method with a check chain though as it would result in a "choke chain" effect

Well obviously you are more likely to choose a trainer whose methods and theory you identify with and perhaps like the sound of. Hopefully, they will be able to provide you with results. Honestly, if I was dealing with an aggression problem, i would probably go to see K9pro as he is in my area and I have heard several positive outcomes with him on DOL especially in aggression cases. If i were dealing with severe separation anxiety, I would be inclined to see a vet behaviourist becuase they might prescribe drugs to take the edge off the behaviour. If my dog had some small problems like general naughtiness- chewing, digging, pulling, barking etc, there are plenty of "trainers" in my area who would probably be capable of helping me with these minor problems. However, in reality, i know what to for these minor problems, it is just doing it that is the problem... I think deep down in a lot of cases, this is true. people know what has to be done, they just can't be bothered or just can't (for whatever reason) do it! Just my opinions on how I would choose a trainer or behaviourist.

Just thought I'd add, I wasn't meaning to imply that people who used halters or harnesses were lazy I am aware some dogs are determined pullers and also some dogs have neck problems or injuries that means they have to be walked in a harness. I just find it odd that 90% of dogs in my area are walked in these- surely that many can't be difficult or have medical problems. Peopple who do use harnesses- do you think they are more comfortable and safer for dogs? I do find it odd that toy/tiny breed owners feel the need to walk their dogs in halters or harnesses! We had a lady with a chi puppy wanting to get a front leading harness lol. The reason- the puppy school trainer had recommended it to prevent pulling. She was surprised when we couldn't find one to fit! I suggested a cat harness instead.