Purple Julie

Liver bits are probably Jyra's least favourite treat, but still a treat. Just a couple of things, maybe by accepting a flickering, that is confusing Reilly, eg lack of consistency. I don't know. Another thing, one person at my obedience school once said that she taught her dog a different release command for looking away, as her dog didn't like looking at her. But a different release command than the general one. Say you tell your dog to 'sit' and your normal release command is 'free'. Okay, so the dog is in a sit, and you get his focus - 'watch'. You want to tell him that it's okay to look away, but you don't want him to break the sit, so you don't say 'free', you teach another word, such as 'away', to let him know that it is okay for him to break focus. I hope that made sense. I'm not sure about the practicalities of teaching the 'away' release, hopefully you can figure that out yourself! (I haven't taught it to Jyra myself, and I certainly don't have a 30 second focus either, although I haven't been timing it. I must start doing that and trying to increase it).

What the others have suggested about having the food in your mouth, plus, then graduate to having it in your hand near your face. Someone told me that you could have a treat in each hand, holding them up near your head, and the dog will look from side to side and eventually settle in the middle. That may be only for training the command. Reilly knows the command and you just want to extend the time. Sounds like what you are doing is fine. I haven't actually timed Jyra's focus, so I don't know what it's like. But I think this is pretty good obedience - when I feed her, she goes into a drop, I put the food bowl down, and she stares straight at me, waiting for me to release her. Excellent focus there. How exciting are the Schmacko's for Reilly? When Jyra was a puppy she wasn't really interested in them. I found the dried liver bits were more effective, and then discovered she liked cheese better and then discovered that she likes Nature's Gift dog treats even better. I did this by putting Jyra in a sit-stay, letting her sniff two different food treats, putting them on the ground a few metres away, watching which one she looked at most, releasing her and seeing which one she went to first. I repeated that, changing the side that each treat was on, and she consistently went to the same one first. Thus I decided that was her favourite.

It could be a shepherd thing? Jyra's coat is a bit like that too, but different. She has a little wave in her coat and it sticks up slightly, just before her tail begins. It's a bit difficult to take a photo of as that part's all black!

Jyra won't do wees or poos when we are out walking either. It's nothing to worry about.

Ha ha! Yes, It's quite funny when I say that, "I want to buy some brains."

I don't feed a strictly BARF diet. I feed raw, but don't do the vegies. Jyra gets lamb, beef, pork, ox, roo and chicken. These are in raw meaty bones and muscle cuts. She also gets organs (5% of her diet), which are kidneys, liver, giblets. She won't eat spleen or intestines. I have also given her brains and she ate them, but I can't find them anywhere now. I also give Jyra tinned mackeral and tinned sardines, as she won't eat raw fish. She also gets an egg occasionally. I don't give Jyra any supplements. Jyra has had no problems on this diet. Her coat is shiny, but it always was anyway, and her poos are nice and small. I realise that Zayda can't eat a lot of what I give Jyra, so I'm not a lot of help. Since Zayda can't have a lot of the red meats, maybe give her chicken livers so that she gets enough iron. You don't want to give a big serving of that all at once. I give Jyra a serving of about 90 grams one day, and then I wouldn't give her another serving for three days, but maybe you should start with a smaller amount, say 20-30 grams and see how Zayda reacts.

I use frontline once a month and I have never, ever seen a flea on Jyra. Am I just lucky or something? We've had the odd tick in the past, but we don't get them now that we live in Melbourne.

I went to the park with Jyra today and threw the rope for her. What happens is, she is happy to chase it, but when it stops moving, she's not so interested. So I guess that's another good sign, that is, she is happy to chase outside of home, but less keen keep the rope when she gets to it. Well I can speculate all I want, only by doing it will we find out if she's interested in it!

I guess I'll just have to wait and see then!!

It was good fun watching on Sunday. Next time I'll bring Jyra and hopefully she'll chase the lure. I threw a plastic bag with a ball inside it (for weight), and she chased it. I then tried to throw the plastic bag with nothing inside it (doesn't really travel well though!) and she tried to chase it too!. So that looks promising, but it was in out backyard, and when we're not in our backyard she is reluctant to chase her toys, but she's still keen on cats. I know she would chase if there was another dog in there who was chasing, but we'd have to find a dog that she'd get along with!

Wow! That sounds like heaps of fun! The websites never described it like that! Sounds really cool! I might see if I can go and have a look on Sunday if I remember, but I might leave Jyra at home will a suss it out for the first time.

How much do you pay for your Frontline for your dog? It varies depending on the size you need to buy. I buy the Large one for dogs 20-40kg, and at my local pet shop it costs $41.25, whereas at the PP store at Knox it costs $59.95. WHAT A RIP OFF!! Nearly $20 dearer! You want to make sure you check out your prices and shop around to make sure you are getting a good deal! Has anyone else noticed these ridiculous variations in prices?

I work on Saturdays.

Hi, I want to know a little bit more about Lure Coursing. I had a read about it on the internet. Are German Shepherds allowed to do it? Is it possible for a dog with dog aggression issues to do it (I'm thinking not). Jyra seems to have a high prey drive, loves chasing birds in our yard, so I'm sure she would be fantastic at lure coursing. The only problem is that it's probably on weekends, which are not good for me.

I haven't read through all the replies to see if someone has already suggested this, but a cool trick is to teach your dog to put rubbish in the bin. We give Jyra our empty yoghurt cartons to lick out, and then we say 'bin' and she picks them up and takes them to the bin. I basically taught her to do this by getting her to hold it in her mouth, saying 'bin', and hold it in her mouth so that she doesn't let go, walked through to the bin, let her drop it in, and give her a treat.

Is this a new email that you have sent today? If so, I haven't received this email yet. Edit: - I got it now!! It just took a while to come!

You're right, the cat certainly isn't too impressed!! It's not my cat, it's the friend's cat. We didn't let Jyra torment too often or for very long. Mostly she'd just stare at it and chase it.

Sometimes she does. If it's across the road she usually just watches it quietly from our front window. I think when it is closer, like in our front yard, that is when she gets excited and makes noises and runs from the window in one room to the window in another room. I suggest putting your cat on a table where he is out of reach from the dog and let the dog stare at it. Have him on a lead if that'll make you feel more secure. Let him get closer and sit near the table. Is your dog one for jumping up? If you let go of the lead would he jump up to the table? Perhaps given the circumstances it is hard to know what he would do. Jyra never jumps up, so the cat has always been safe on high ground. So if you feel you can trust your dog, let go of the lead and see what happens. I also suggest again, holding the cat above your dog and lowering it for him to have a sniff and say hello. As I type, the cat across the road crossed the road and is sitting in our front yard. Jyra is in a drop position (not commanded) watching it quietly. The cat just got spooked and bolted back across the road and Jyra jumped up into a sit position.

Hello. Your dog sounds just like my Jyra!! She is totally obsessed with cats. We don't own any cats, but we have lived with people who do, and what Jyra will do is stare at the cat for ages and if the cat gets off the table, couch, whatever and runs across the floor, Jyra will chase it! If she is able to reach it, she will lick it and nibble at it, as seen in the pictures below. Last time I stayed with these friends, their son did not like having the dogs in his room, but the cat was allowed in. It did not take long for Jyra to learn that she was not allowed into the bedroom and she would not enter it even if the cat was in there. Instead, she'd lie at the door and stare at the cat, waiting for it to get up and leave the room. See the last picture below. I think you need to get your dog familiar with the cat. Are both your dog and cat allowed indoors, or is is just the dog? It would help to have the cat out of your dog's reach, like up on a table, and get the dog used to having the cat around. Introduce the dog to the cat, by you holding the cat in your arms and lowering it so that your dog can sniff it, and see how you go. If he's anything like Jyra he will want to lick it and nibble it and chase it when it runs away. Jyra doesn't ever harm the cat. So just don't be too paranoid that your dog's going to hurt the cat, and introduce them in a safe way where if anything happens you can stop it before any damage is done.

How much do you feed your husky? And do you weigh it? I feed my German Shepherd on a raw prey model diet. When I started she weighed 32kg and then she dropped to 30kg. I aim to feed her 640g a day on average. She gets raw meaty bones, muscle meat and organ meat. I would suggest if you want you husky to weigh 21kg, start by weighing out how much you feed her and I suggest 420g would be a good amount to start with. See how she goes on that, and if she continues to gain weight, or doesn't lose any, then reduce the amount you are feeding her. I guess if you are feeding a much larger quantity of food just now, eg 1kg/day, then gradually decrease the amount to 420g. I give myself 20g leeway when preparing Jyra's meals. You can't weigh it out to the exact gram, so I'll accept meals that are 20g over- or under-weight and I figure that it'll average out right.

Jyra has these scabby infections on her face. They first occurred around about the time we were going to the vet for her annual vaccinations (early December), so I showed him them, and he said that they looked like a fungal/yeast infection and he put Jyra on a course of antibiotics, and they did clear up. It was only on the left side of her face. Now, today, I just noticed that she has this infection again, but only on the right side of her face. If I pick off the yellowy bits, it makes her bleed a little, but the yucky bits are gone then. I have taken some photos which I shall post below. Does anyone know what could be causing this? I don't think it is an allergy, as it is only localised, and she is not scratching at it. She has been eating a raw diet for 6 months, and this has only occurred now. If it had anything to do with her food, I would have thought it would have occurred earlier. Should I pick off all the yellowy bits and let her form regular blood scabs, or should I just leave they yellowy bits there and not intervene? Should I wait to see if they will get better by themselves, or should I take Jyra to the vet and get her put on antibiotics again? The concern is that she has never had them before, but now she has it in early December, it cleared up, and now it has recurred. I don't want this to be an ongoing thing and have to continually be getting antibiotics all the time!! Ok, here are the photos, if they are of any help. However, they are not the best quality pictures: This is the spot where I picked at: This is below the lip, where I have not picked at: And again (sorry it's a bit blurry) This pic is a bit blurry again. The red spot above the lip is where I picked, and a bit below, you might be able to see a yellowish area: Lastly, this is a bit closer up than the previous photo. You can see the yellow bits better, but they sort of just look like the tan hair: (PS. Mum has had a look and she thinks it's different to what she had before, but I still think it is the same. I think it is the same thing but worse, bigger). Edited to add: The yellowish bits could be dried up pus or something.

Hello. I received the email about the different options, does that mean I am on the list?

1. what do you feed? RMBs - chicken carcasses, chicken bones, lamb bones, lamb necks, pork bones, pork trotters, ox tail Muscle meat - ox heart, lamb heart, ox cheek, beef steak and kangaroo steak (both from pet meat shop) Organ meat - ox liver, lamb kidneys, chicken giblets, brains Also the occasional whole raw egg, including the shell. I have to break the egg for Jyra as she hasn't figured out to do that herself Once a week she has canned mackerel and canned sardines. 2. how often? Jyra has two meals a day usually. The RMBs in the morning and the MM in the afternoon. If it is an organ meat day, she has 3 meals and the organ meat is given at lunchtime. 3. how much? I started at 2% of Jyra's body weight which was 32kg at the time, so that equalled 640g a day. I still feed based on 640g a day although her weight has dropped, as she was slightly overweight at 32kg. I aim to feed the following quantities: RMB - 60% of diet - 384g/day MM - 35% of diet - 224g/day OM - 5% of diet - 32g/day I am not exact in my measurements and I don't feed the OM every day. She might get 90g of organ meat one day, which is approximately 3 days worth, so I'll leave it 3 days till her next organ meat meal. The RMB + MM together comes to 608g, so when I am preparing these for each day, I put in somewhere around 384g of RMB then add the MM and I like the total to be between 580-620g. You'd be there forever trying to get the exact amount, so I figure if some are up and some are down, then it'll average out okay. 4. what breed, age, sex and weight is your pet? Jyra is a female German Shepherd and is 2 years and 3 months. She weighs 30kg now and is 24 inches tall. I have weighed Jyra regularly since starting the raw diet and after losing two kilos (from 32kg) she has maintained 30kg and is a good weight, not skinny, but just right (according to me!) 5. where do you purchase your ingredients from? I buy mostly from the butcher, but also some from the supermarket and some from the pet meat shop. 6. have you always fed your dog this diet, or did you change over to it gradually? if yes, how did your dog react? I switched Jyra over to raw food when she was 1 year and 11 months. We switched cold turkey. Manufactured food one day, raw the next. There were no adverse reactions, no diarrhoea or anything. 7. what have been the advantages and disadvantages? Advantages - it's good for the dog, the poos are smaller and less of them Disadvantages - time consuming to prepare the meals, but it is only once a month, so it's not that bad. It seems expensive, but it's not too bad. I was feeding Jyra the cheapest kibble and tinned food, so it's more expensive than that, but probably cheaper than buying the quality kibble. 8. have you seen changes in your dog, ie. coat, energy levels? Not really. Her coat is beautiful and shiny, but it always was before we changed anyway. Her energy levels were always good and they haven't changed either.

My neighbour's dog, Bronte, a female doberman passed away recently while she was at the boarding kennels and her owner was away on holiday. She was 10 years old and two weeks. She just went to bed one night and didn't wake up. The kennel staff feel pretty bad about it. Jyra's little playmate now gone... No more playing No more Bronte running across our front yard No more yelling at Bronte to be quiet when she's barking Goodbye Bronte!

Oops!