Mrs Rusty Bucket

I am super paranoid about my dog being in the car - but I do take risks - eg when I'm unloading the car - I have a choice to leave her in the remnant AC - and she resists being asked to get out... while I unload or argue with her and take her out. Then I have to keep the front door shut and unlock it while I get all the stuff out... Or tie her to a verahandah post which can be hotter than the car is... But I risk leaving her in the car. this happened to a farmer cousin - the door blew shut on a car with a dog in it. he didn't know the dog was in the car, but she was pretty obsessive about car rides. And he was mortified when he found her. The whole family was extremely upset - we still can't talk about it (6 years later). It's possibly worse in this situation where the guy left her and went with his mates - maybe he thought he would only be a few minutes and got distracted. This is a risk I take every time I unload the car and leave the dog in it. What I do get angry about is people who leave their dog in the car in the full sun to go shopping. sometimes where there are under shelter car parks available - because they will only be 5 minutes. ARGH. And then they argue with you. I have one of those devices that breaks car windows that lives on the cargo barrier in the back of my car... I'd be calling the police and asking permission to break the window... But usually if you've gathered a bit of a crowd around the car - the owner feels the pressure and does the right thing (like leaving).

Maybe there will never be one thing that he will always eat - because everything makes him feel horrible... so have a huge list of things he has eaten - and rotate through that - offer him something different each time and ideally that hasn't been offered for at least a week (tho dogs seem to remember stuff for years). I think the fatty foods are more likely to be upsetting. When I get tummy upsets... it'd fasting first (he's way too good at that already) then dried toast with a bit of promite / vegemite but not margarine... then jelly (no cream or icecream) - you could make savoury jelly (aspic or stock flavoured plain gelatine) then boiled rice and peas and soy sauce. then boiled rice and thigh fillet and peas and soy sauce... etc. The boiled chicken and rice (same pot together) thing I make for my dog when she has a tummy upset - is same thing I give myself ... Does anti nausea med help or pain killer? I had a friend who had acid reflux - misdiagnosed to the point it destroyed his lungs... he has to be very careful when he ate and not to lie down any time soon after - ie to stay upright so that the food stays down. And not to eat for hours before bed time. And to have pillows on the bed to keep the head and chest above the stomach... Frosty likes sleeping on the couch with her head on the pillow...

DDD if he likes roo jerky - maybe some roo mince would be good too? It's very lean. You could try it raw or cooked (with some beef stock).

I think my dog finds them frustrating. The only time she chews them (or the dog that originally gifted the antler to her) is if they perceive a bit of competition. I worry that something that hard - may actually break her teeth. Cow hooves last a bit longer than bully sticks. And I got some with dried liver? packed into the hoof bit - but I'm not game to try that inside. I do put a tarp with a towel on top inside when I leave her with a stuffed kong or three when I go out.

I found a section in my mum's recipe book labelled "sammiches" and in it was a sort of request from my dad for brains and chutney (or some condiment) or something like that. Mum said she didn't mind the brains but objected to the preparation of same. I can cope when she orders crumbed brains for entrée in restaurant but I can't look at the naked ones... can't abide the texture either. we did not find the recipe for apricot leather. the stuff I made following the Australian women's weekly recipe is very very dark - black even now. Not sure if it is edible. And just to top it all off - she tried to make Christmas pudding in a cup last night in her brand new microwave... and I thought 3 mins would be too long but she said that's how she always does it. and it was burnt. A crispy fruit brick... argh. Pretty sure DDD would not eat that.

One of the joys of living in Australia is there are still places you can go that don't have phone signal or internet. Like my cousin's farm. Some businesses can afford to have fully automated systems that automatically send the receipt etc. Some are done manually by humans. Depending how much profit is in the system - is how much computer system they can afford to pay for. And yes the auto reply is a good idea. Maybe they forgot or maybe they've found that most of their customers don't like it. I don't feel at all special getting one and with one business I deal with it can lead to a sea of confusion as every email I send by way of an email conversation gets a reply from the computer first, then from the human and sometimes I get replies from two different humans - so automating things can sometimes make the problem worse. You're probably right - something has gone wrong - this business is run by humans. But you need to talk to them not whinge on here. I've had a similar problem with a much bigger ebusiness and I got it all sorted with a phone call.

Maybe they couldn't match the direct deposit to the order. Or you got the direct deposit number wrong - happens with my bank website and account numbers with spaces in them. But the site owner is a member here - and seems quite reliable to me. I haven't ordered from her website but I have had email conversations with her. You do need to try contacting again and you do need to wait until after the fifth now.

Danois That would be true for people with ANKC registered dogs... but more interesting for people with dogs that aren't on a recognised register - like mine (rescue) and most BYB "purebreds". How would anyone prove their dog is a heeler x?

beef consommé isn't quite the same as beef stock - unless it's home made by boiling beef bones with marrow... the consommé when cold has a lot of aspic/jelly in it... You could try boiling up some beef marrow bones? I'd eat them...

that's good to know Cosmolo. But it just makes them look more inconsistent to me. So just FYI ... when I was comparing the Medibank quotes - I noticed they had Australian cattle dog blue heeler red heeler mixed breed and crosses of the first three... as possible breeds... blue heeler x was the cheapest of the x's... so I feel a bit dumb having put mine in as Australian Cattle dog. If you happen to pick a name of your dog breed that is cheaper... even if they have seven different breeds in the list that would equally apply...

So handy to Esperance home of the coldest water north of Antarctica? Am planning to visit Perth with dog sometime when the weather cools off next year... and if the rest of my life doesn't get in the way...

Hi JodyC Thank for the update and the explanation. Always look at what you've got and what you want and figure a way to get from where you're at with a dog, to where you want to be. It's always easier to train a dog to do something - than to train it "not to do something". I did train my dog to ignore joggers (she's a heeler - she loves nipping...), but it did involve keeping her on lead when there were joggers around. Now a days I have to watch out for "weird joggers" who make puffing possum wheezey noises - because - that's a different level of "distraction"... The more you can practice - with the more different situations the better. (junior) footy training can be good for source of many kids running around. I have a primary school near where I live, and they share a public park with everybody - so I was able to get some supervised encounters with my dog and the kids there. It did freak out the people on yard duty tho. And I was pretty careful - the last thing anyone wants is a chomped kid. Fortunately my dog has lots and lots of signals she makes when she needs her space. The main thing I have to keep repeating is "She is not a toy". And "would you like your eyes poked? no? neither does she." and in the world of "do land" - pat here, like this, excellent... (and then there is one blissed out dog). And with things that dogs like to do like sniffing, and zoomies - "premack" them ie have a permission to zoomie word... and if the dog steals a zoomie or sniff - interrupt, get attention back, wait 30 seconds (less for a puppy) to avoid "back chaining" then give permission if it's safe to do so. Premack works well on children too. "I will only sit next to you if you sit still(ish) "...

Yeah - WA is a bit far for me... :)

Ooh - I think the name I'm familiar with is "teacher's aid" And they're especially useful when the individuals in the class have vastly different learning abilities - ie some kids are way ahead or behind... and this And the kids that need extra help (either to catch up or keep them from getting bored - ie more challenging work) - get a some sort of "individual learning plan" (except I think it's "ELP") that the teacher's aid can use to guide keeping those kids from distracting the rest of the class. Ie the super bright and the super slow can both disrupt a class. Still not sure where the poodle comes in but I wish there'd been a few dogs at my school. Closest we got was lab rats - and life did not end well for them. We certainly didn't get to make friends with those.

Still none the wiser. Must be something special if she gets to bring the dog along to work. Most teachers don't get to do that. I am hoping someone will explain - getting curious now.

I have found that my dog will reluctantly trade roo jerky for smoked salmon... but that's no help to DDD - whose dog doesn't like smoked salmon... What about a small bit of salmon steak - the sort that you cook up for yourself - and try a little bit raw and a little bit cooked in olive oil (with cheese on top?) My problem would be sharing that with my dog. Yesteday at the beach she went nuts for hot chips - we had no problems with seagulls - they did not want to come anywhere near the insane barking dog... So I had to explain to her that she was not getting any chips while she was being noisy. I look at her - deep into her eyes with the chip poised and when she yips - I eat the chip.... when she's quiet - she gets a bit of chip... didn't take very long thank Dog - there were a lot of people at the beach and her excited demanding bark is ear splitting. But I offered her a bit of the battered fish and she said no - that's not food, the first time I offered it. Even tho she happily steals old crab bait off the beach. One of the things that will get her to eat most anything is if I eat it first and share it with her. I do make her work for it tho - like sit over there. So she also goes very nuts for promite on toast (with margarine). Not exactly nutricious but does make a good training treat. good luck with it DDD.

That's interesting Danois So I've heard a mixed bag of stories - depending who you get on the phone for a Hollards backed policy - how easy it is to get a claim sorted. I thought it depended on the company. The pay out limits can vary by quite a bit too. So maybe if you pay a higher premium - they're more willing to pay out? Or it just depends how new the girl on the phone is? My brother took his dog to the vet to get 6 lumps sorted. Before he went - he asked his insurance people how much they'd pay and the call centre operator said 80%. But when he sent the claim in - they wanted to pay 80% of the first lump and nothing for the next 5 because they became "pre-existing" as soon as the first one was removed or something nutty like that. I think - because of the phone call - that he got back about 50% in the end and gave up. But some people in here - have had no trouble getting everything they need sorted and paid (to the 80% and payout cap).

I've got no idea what an ESO is - and googling "school ESO" did not help. Dogs do use their mouth like we use our hands but I think dogs putting their mouths on small children is not safe. I'm not sure about "dominant" - he does it because he gets excited and that's how excited puppies play with each other. If you don't like it - you need to do as you have done, put him on lead. Give him something else to do like a nice sit stay, or give him something to hold in his mouth. If he accidentally connects with small children with his feet and claws - that feels the same as a nip so that's not ok either. Better to teach him sit still or come to you when children are running around. I agree with this. I think it's an excitement thing - I also think it's rewarding in itself - the same as barking is with some dogs. Ie the more the dog gets to do the fun behaviour the more the dog wants to and will do the fun behaviour (eg chasing and nipping). He won't grow out of it if he is allowed to continue doing it - as you have noticed - it is rewarding and fun for him - so he will do it more. What do you want him to be doing when you're outside? Staying with you? Limit his opportunity to chase with the lead and reward him for being with you and not trying to chase the children. Have you crate trained him - having a nice safe crate to be when you can't be supervising might be helpful to keep him calm too. Have you played the collar grab game with him? Once he's comfortable with having his collar grabbed - you've paired grabbing his collar with giving him a treat - many times until he leans into your hand when you reach out... So if you have him on lead and he lunges after the kids - you grab and hold his collar (no treat) until he calms down and looks at you, and then you release the collar (but not the lead) and see what choice he makes. Repeat until he stops choosing to chase running children. I do this with my dog with fence running. She likes to scold the cat on the other side of the fence. Sometimes she even bounces off the fence. I walk up to her "swiftly and deliberately" and I grab her collar and hold it until she calms down and then I release to see what choice she makes. I usually only have to do this once or twice at most and that sucks the fun out of it and she stops. If I was more consistent - she wouldn't start. But I don't mind if she evicts cats from my yard so there is a balance. The kind of training you do to make him wait for permission to eat - is the same kind of training you do to get him to stay calmly with you and only run around when you give him permission. And maybe something more appropriate to chase and fetch like a toy or a ball. And all training - you start somewhere easy with few distractions and when he understands what you want - then gradually introduce distractions one by one and do the training again with each new thing (including new places)... hope that helps a bit.

petplan is backed by Allianz - which is why I won't do business. My personal health insurance is with medibank - who keep offering me discounted pet insurance - except it's still more than renewing with pet insurance Australia (backed by hollards). It would be nice to know which of the ones backed by hollards (there's only two - it's either hollards or Allianz) have their own claims processing centre - you tend to get better deals from them as best I can tell. But I'm thinking it would be cheaper and easier to self insure. There is no effective "no claim bonus" system for not-claiming - so I reckon if I did make a claim - the premium would go up to cover it as if I was paying off a phone or car. so what's the point? At least car insurance has a sort of self limit of the value of the car. even personal health insurance has payout limits. Maybe those whose dog gets into a car accident or something - they don't ask the right questions about quality of life... and just spend all they can get from the insurance company and the vet facilitates that (who wants to argue with a paying stressed out customer?).

you could use some sort of head halter to control where she can put her head and then reward her when her head is where you want it. Peanut paste on a wooden spoon can help (especially while the dog is low to the ground). Otherwise search youtube for "re-inforcement zone RZ" and "Loose lead walking kikopup".

what about "beef consome" - that was one thing a gp recommended me when I had tummy upsets and didn't want to eat anything (but was ravenous). You can buy it in a tin in the soup section. what about a bit of yogurt mixed with a tiny bit of porridge or porridge (oats) cooked in a bit of beef broth? mashed pumpkin mixed with a bit of yogurt? Mashed sweet potato mixed with a bit of yogurt? does he like promite or vegemite? I sometimes mix a little bit of that in warm water to hydrate my dog (along with giving her yogurt water). She also likes the water that boiled the pasta.

I don't know of any club in Adelaide where that is prevented or actively discouraged. They call it "socialisation" so if anyone has a reactive dog they have to work very hard to warn people over and over and over. But I did have a look at the breeder's website and she's into homeopathic everything herself. So there you go. No need to tell her - she's probably recommending it.

Ah the difference between academic intelligence - required to complete a vet science degree and emotional intelligence - required to keep patients and owners calm and informed... Not often they go together. I suspect the more academically intelligent a person is - the more likely they are to think that tact, manners, etc are unimportant or just not make the effort (cos it would be an effort for them) to frame stuff in a more emotionally acceptable way. And sometimes despite their best intentions and effort to say the right thing - they will still get it wrong. Like "a fish called wanda" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095159/quotes?item=qt0320193

This particular breeder likes to follow up with her puppies and she was mortified when she found one was being used in a puppy farm and kept in a very small cage (not enough room to stand up and turn around in)... I imagine she'd want the best for all her puppies and unless she's into homeopathic too - she would be very upset by someone not looking after the puppy with the best care available. Dogs at club get to greet each other - nose to nose and it is nice to know they're all vaccinated or have proof of immunity. It is possible that there have been other sick dogs through that could have contaminated the ground but requiring everyone to do the right thing - helps everybody and substantially reduces the chances of problems. Personally I know I'd be upset if someone knew about where the puppy was going and didn't tell me. Some breeders might regard their puppies as commodities to be sold and forgotten about - but I know this breeder is one that cares about her puppies forever.

Trainers I've seen recommended for Victoria Erny (Judi Buchan) http://www.prok9.com.au/ Nekhbet (Julie) http://inlinek9.webs.com/ If you post what area you are in - someone can recommend someone closer or you can contact one of these and ask them to recommend someone nearer to you if they can't help.