ESCS

I have read the threads on feeding raw with interest. I would like to try an all raw diet for my tibbies. They already have chicken necks,frames and wings in the morning. Their evening meal at the moment is Holistic Select (fish) with sweet potato,mackerel/salmon,egg , yogurt or cottage cheese mixed in every now and again. I am thinking of changing to BARF patties for their evening meal. Being rather lazy, I would like an easy option for raw feeding! Is BARF patties a good option? Would I add the patties to their kibble to prevent stomach upsets from sudden diet change or is it not a good idea to mix raw and kibble together? Thanks.

Thanks, Snook. I'll try your ideas. I walk the dogs before work so it's quite early and being close to winter, it would be the best time to try the back pack. He can carry his own treats and poo bags! I would be thrilled if it would reduce a little of the reactivity so that it gives all the other training we have been doing with the behaviourist a better chance of working.

I would like to try a backpack on my reactive tibbie. However, is he likely to overheat with it on as he has a long coat and blunt face? We walk early mornings. It sounds a great idea and worth a go as long as I'm not compromising his health.

A few years ago, I took my cat to a vet in the Indro area and did pay over $100 for the consult. Some vets do charge a lot in this area unfortunately. Mita's vet at The Gap is great and the most reasonably priced that I have found. For a vet closer to home, I have heard that Brookfield Vet is good and not too expensive. Mita, Annie is not fat!

One of my tibbies have a sensitive stomach as well as skin allergies. I don't know whether it's a coincidence or not but once his skin condition improved, the upset stomach did too. Raw (BARF patties) didn't agree with him. I changed his diet to Nutro lamb and rice (as it had no other cereal)mixed with sweet potato and probiotic supplement (Paws organic) and within a few weeks, both his stomach and skin problems improved significantly. I have to be extra careful that he doesn't eat anything that may be contaminated/off like bones/pigs ears that have been buried and dug up when it's manky. I am a big believer in sweet potato and the probiotics. I think the change in diet made a difference as he was often at the vets for stomach issues. He hasn't had to have flagyl since the new diet which he has been on for about a year.

It is at Toll Air Services on Chloris St which is right turn off Airport Drive. If you google Virgin Freight, there is a link into Virgin Freight which has the address and directions. It is before the domestic terminal but definitely a different location. I turned up at the arrivals hall in domestic to pick up my puppy and couldn't find him anywhere!

I find some natural yogurts have a more sour/tangy taste than others. Our tibbie can be fussy and won't eat the tangy varieties. Mita suggested Vaalia Natural (not the low fat one) and he loves it as it's creamy and mild tasting.

If you are still looking for a trainer, Jane Harper (www.dogsontrack.com.au) is very good. I think she is from the southside (but not 100% sure as she came to us in the Western suburbs). She was recommended to us from this forum and has been very helpful with our anxious tibbie.

My younger daughter was terrified of dogs after she was chased and snapped at by a small offlead dog at the park when she was 4. The dog missed her face by a whisker so understandably, she developed a fear of dogs. I didn't realise how serious her fear was until we came across a puppy at Petstock. As soon as she noticed the puppy, she screamed and screamed.We started to take her to the mobile dog hydrobath at Petcafe where there are usually lots of dogs but all on leads. We sat and watched them from a distance and gradually over time, we would go closer and closer. I would make the experience as much fun for her as possible by telling stories about the dogs we saw. We didn't touch or pat any dogs (it was really just to get her comfortable around them again). Once she was comfortable around dogs, we introduced her to friends' dogs who were quiet, calm and well behaved. When she was ready, she would pat them (we just let her decide when the time was right). We finally got our own puppy about a year after the incident. We have 2 tibbies now and our little girl loves them. She is still wary of other dogs (she doesn't like patting or interacting with other dogs)but she is happy to walk past/around them.

Does popcorn count as a vegetable?!!! Mita introduced us to sweet potato and both our tibbies eat it. I'm not sure they love it but it has done wonders for our tibbie's skin allergies and stomach ailments. I also feed brocoli, carrot and peas which they tolerate but I don't think we have dogs that love veggies and fruit ( a bit like our kids!).

Mita introduced Samford Pet Resort to us and our 2 tibbies were there recently. It was their first time and the carer was so lovely that our tibbies walked off with her without so much as a tail wag for me! They were happy,clean and healthy when I collected them and showed no signs of stress or anxiety when I got them home. One of our tibbies can be unfriendly towards strange dogs but he was apparently well behaved, happy and friendly at the kennels. I think the carers have put in time and effort to help him adjust. I would recommend them and will be the kennels we will be using from now on. They have a sister facility in the Redcliffe area although I realise that isn't in the Southside.

Mr Schu is too cute! Very helpful too picking up those empty cartons for you!! I am very grateful to DOL as well for all the wealth of knowledge that I have gained from this forum. I didn't know about DOL when we got our first tibbie. Being a first time dog owner, I was looking for websites that could help me better understand our lovely but anxious tibbie. It was through DOL that I met Jane Harper who has made a huge difference. It was also through DOL that I met Mita who not only knows everything there is to know about tibbies but is the most generous hearted person. It is Mita who found us our beautiful second tibbie.

We keep our 2 tibbies indoors when we are out especially during summer as they don't cope well with the heat. While on their own, they only have access to the kitchen/diner, laundry and bathroom as these areas have tiles and floorboards. I remove anything that can be destroyed (although they aren't destructive dogs)and have their beds and toys out for them. I suspect they sleep the whole time we are out. When we only had one tibbie, I left out treats for him as well. He loved the Kong wobbler and some other toys that had treats stuffed in them (frozen stuffed kong was popular). Unfortunately, I can't leave treats out anymore when they are unsupervised as they will fight over food but they seem happy enough with each other's company. The main thing for us is containing them to 'safe' areas of the house and removing anything that I don't want destroyed. I can't move the dining table, though, and have come home to find my new tibbie perched up on the table although she had the grace to look a little guilty!

I have used Jane Harper and have found her to be excellent. She was worth every penny to us. Jane spent a lot of time in assessing our dog (and us as his owners)so she could accurately determine the cause of the issues we were having. She continued to give us support and advice even after we had finished our consultations with her. We were at a loss as to what to do for our dog and she was able to put us on the right track. It made a huge difference and we have a very different dog these days.

I don't think it's too late. I have a 2.5year old tibbie who also goes crazy when he comes across another dog. We worked with a behaviourist (Jane Harper)who got all of us (humans and dog) on track. She taught us a lot about establishing leadership, among other things. She also introduced us to the 'Nothing in Life is Free' concept which has made a big difference. Much as we love our tibbie, we have had to set firm boundaries and reinforce them or things unravel very quickly. He lost his sofa privileges about a year ago when he growled at my daughter for sitting on the sofa when he was already on it. We have an anxious dog and the more control I have, the less anxious he becomes and the calmer he is when we come across other dogs. He needs to trust that he can rely on me to protect him. Obedience classes was a big help too as I can now get him to heel and focus on me when we walk past other dogs. Another thing that we did was to make sure that there was adequate distance between us and other dogs and over time, we have been able to get closer and closer until we can now walk past other dogs on the footpath provided they are on a lead.We gave him lots of praise and treats when he behaved calmly. It took a while for us to get to this point so patience and persistence definitely helps! All the best with your two little ones. The help of a behaviourist and obedience classes made all the difference. It really was worth every penny.Walks are now enjoyable rather than something to dread.

I use QV wash for our itchy dog who has contact allergies. That and a hydrobath works really well. Aloveen made him even itchier as did any shampoo with fragrance.

Brisbane City Council states that dogs are allowed to bark for a total of 6 minutes within an hour between 7am and 10pm. They are allowed to bark for up to 3 minutes within a 30 minute period between 10pm and 7am. Our tibbie can be a barker so we have to be careful he doesn't exhaust the neighbours' patience. He is usually set off by other dogs barking or dogs walking past our house. It used to be cats too but the neighbour's cat has silenced him! We try to minimise the barking with training and also by keeping him indoors when the neighbourhood dog orchestra is rehearsing or he will definitely join in! We have also spoken to all our immediate neighbours to determine if the barking is bothering them and to ask them to let us know when it becomes a problem.So far, the neighbours aren't bothered but we keep our dog indoors whenever we're not home to supervise. I find that we have times when our dog loves to bark and other times, he is really quiet. We walk him everyday as he is less likely to bark when he is tired out. If he is particularly barky, we take him for a jog (he's quite good at it for a small dog) and then he will snooze for hours! Weekends are hardest as there are many more dog walkers around.

Would it help to introduce him to your neighbours? Our tibbie takes his watch dog duties seriously and used to bark at the neighbours until we introduced him to them. Once he realised that they are friends not strangers, he stopped barking at them. The other neighbour took matters into their own hands and told him off in a deep, gruff voice and that has also stopped him in his tracks! He still barks at other dogs walking past our house and we have done what BMAK suggested with a lot of success. We taught him to come back to us when we called him and gave him lots of praise and treats for the recall (and for being quiet). After that, it's distracting him with a game or bringing him inside until whatever is bothering him has gone away.

Bio Zet for us too. I have used Urine Off which was also effective but Bio Zet is a cheaper option as it's the washing detergent we use for laundry.

Indooroopilly and many of the Western suburbs in Brisbane is a tick area. Last summer, the vets indicated that they have treated many dogs with paralysis ticks. I think it would be worthwhile treating. I live in Indooroopilly and give my dog Proban through the summer months which has been effective.

I use those large pop up mesh laundry bags for our tibbie's toys, leads etc. on hooks in the laundry and grooming stuff under the laundry sink.

We use QV wash with our dog who has skin allergies. We tried all sorts of dog shampoos but like your dog, ours would become even itchier after a bath. QV wash doesn't make him itch and neither does Allergroom. Both doesn't contain fragrance. His skin issues are still there but at least, his bath now gives him some relief. Hydrobaths also seem to help.

I am glad to hear you had a good experience with Pets in Peace. So sorry to hear of your loss. Take care.

In addition to suffering from the lack of sunlight, we also feel like an escaped fugitive constantly scanning the horizon and looking over our shoulders for dogs that are off leash! For those who have well behaved dogs, we envy you but would appreciate your consideration for those of us who have to live with this level of anxiety day in and day out. There is nothing more disheartening than rehabilitating your fear aggressive dog from an unpleasant dog encounter only to come across yet another dog off leash. It is one more set back to deal with. While I might hope and think that the off lead dog next to his owner is not going to jump us, my dog doesn't know that and will become anxious every time he sees an off lead dog approaching him when he himself is on a lead and cannot escape. With a lot of assistance from a behaviourist and a great deal of courage from my dog, we can now walk past an off leash dog without my dog completely losing his head but it doesn't mean that he is not feeling fearful and anxious. I will cross the road to avoid putting him in this situation but this is not always possible if there is lots of traffic. Not having a go at anyone but just putting up some very real scenarios for those with fear aggressive/DA dogs.

I have a 2 year old male tibbie too who can be a bit of a barker. It is frustrating at times and I worry that the neighbours will get upset. I ended up getting professional help so that I could work out why our tibbie was barking. The person who helped us was terrific at assessing the situation and diagnosing what the problem was. She was able to help us with strategies to reduce the barking among other things. Tibbies, being bred to be watchdogs, will have the tendency to bark at any strange happenings. This combined with their independent and strong willed nature (some call it stubborn!) makes training them out of an unwanted behaviour tricky at times. Our tibbie responded better to positive reinforcement (treats or some sort of reward) than being roused on all the time. The trainer suggested that we distract him from whatever he is barking at ( usually another dog walking past our house) and reward him with a high value treat as soon as he was quiet. Eventually, we were able to call him to us when he started barking, tell him to be quiet and then reward him for being quiet. It required a huge amount of patience and persistence as it really only worked if we were absolutely consistent which meant I had to go outside to deal with the barking every time it happened. I have found that tibbies are smart and will do what you want them to do if they think there is something in it for them. Having firm boundaries and reinforcing them made a difference too. There was a time where our tibbie would growl at my daughter when they were both on the sofa so he lost his sofa privileges. He is last to walk through the door, comes in when I'm ready to let him in not when he barks or begs, sits/waits until I take the first step (when we go for walks) etc. Basically, anything to establish my leadership. Obedience classes was very helpful in establishing basic commands. I just found that his behaviour in general was much better if boundaries were in place. It may be just my tibbie but he has perfected the saying "give him an inch and he will take a yard"!!! At present, I am trying to find a way to stop his turkey chick killing spree! Our trainer also recommended that we take him for a good walk everyday to use up some energy (plus training sessions for mental stimulation). We walk him every morning and it tires him out so he is less likely to bark and bark and bark. Would you consider getting a behaviourist to assess the situation and to help you find strategies to deal with the barking etc? If you live anywhere in the Brisbane area, I would recommend Jane Harper from Dogsontrack. She is brilliant and I could not have managed the issues we had with our tibbie (he is an anxious dog and has fear aggression issues) without her help. All the best with your tibbie.