ESCS

We have a dog who has fear aggression issues with other dogs when on a lead. He has been very anxious when we go for walks and has been since he came to live with us even with socialisation at puppy pre-school, weekly attendance at day care etc. We have been working with a trainer to address these issues and he has come a long way. Unfortunately, we had an incident a couple of weeks ago where an aggressive dog escaped his owner and yard as we were passing by and leapt first at me and then our dog, snarling and growling the whole time. Luckily he was muzzled and there were no injuries but it absolutely terrified our dog. It would have been his worse fears coming true (being attacked by a much bigger dog when he is on lead and can't escape). I really did not believe that he would get over this incident but with advise and support from our trainer, he has been able to move on from this incident although he was incredibly fearful and anxious the first few days after the attack. Our trainer had told me that our dog would take his lead from me and that I had to work hard to ensure strong leadership. She said that if I remained calm, confident and relaxed, he will respond to this. She also recommended going for walks during quiet times for a while as well as organising play dates and walks with calm friendly dogs. This has helped and he has regained his confidence to the point we can walk past the house where the attack occurred without any signs of stress from him. While he is still a reactive dog, he is now at least back to where he was before the dog incident. I don't know much about dog behaviour being reasonably new to owning a dog but this was our experience. I hope Poppy recovers from her bad experience quickly.

QV wash and fragrance free Alpha Keri oil has made a significant difference with our dog as well. We have also changed his food to Pro Plan salmon and rice with some tin sardines (a couple of times a week) and kept him off chicken. He is a different dog these days. He has a shiny thick coat now that he isn't scratching it all off. Our dog's allergy is an environmental one but keeping him off certain foods seem to help reduce the itching. He is also on Atopica and very occassionally a course of cortisone if he has a break out.

There is Proban tablets. It's mainly for ticks although it says it is for fleas too but our vet have said it is not very effective for fleas. Our dog goes on Proban from September until May and has a break during the winter months. He has skin allergies so this has been a good option for us as he reacts to anything topical. He hasn't had a tick while on Proban but we check him everyday anyway as I have heard nothing is 100% full proof against ticks. There are tick collars too but I don't know much about them as our dog can't use them and I wasn't keen on the kids having contact with a tick collar either.

Is it possible to keep the guinea pigs in an area where the dog can't access? We also have guinea pigs and a dog with a high prey drive. Funnily enough, we chose a tibbie as they are suppose to be a breed that gets on well with small animals and not a hunting dog. Our tibbie obviously didn't read the breed manual! While he did settle down and stopped barking at them after a few weeks (we used time out too), he still showed a lot of interest in them so we ended up moving the pigs to the front of the house where our dog can't get to them. I agree that introducing the guinea pigs to the dog (ie. having them together) is not that effective as it made our dog even more keen to get at them and he became frustrated when he couldn't.

I could lend you a couple of crows. They are very good at teaching dogs to pay more attention to their bones. Our tibbie turned his nose up at a bone I gave him because it wasn't his favourite marrow bone. A passing crow who had a pear core in his beak spotted it, dropped his pear and took off with the bone. Our dog saw the thieving crow and charged at him. He grabbed what he thought was his bone only to realise it was actually a pear in his mouth. The look on his face was priceless! It has taught him never to leave bones unattended.

Pomchi, our tibbie used to do exactly the same thing around the same age! Just the one rug but otherwise completely toilet trained. I used bio zet washing powder to wash the area as it has enzymes that neutralises the smell. Once the area was dried, I sprayed it with 'Urine Off' which does the same thing. I also reduced the areas he had access to in the house and would only let him back in the room where the rug was when I was there to supervise. He's been fine ever since (he's now 18 months) and he is allowed throughout the house without supervision since he was about 7 months old. No accidents since then. Unfortunately, he did chew up that rug a couple of months later! He must have had it in for that rug!!

Their pet policy is in the 'About Us' section under FAQ.

We live in West Brisbane and have been looking for sand for hermit crabs recently. Bunnings sells large bags of sand (for less than $10). Centenary landscape supplies also sell very white clean sand which we have used in clam shells for our kids. I have to admit, part of my reason for sending our dog to day care on my work days is to stop him from coming up with genius ideas for destruction! Poppy must have had a great time at the library!!!

Jane is brilliant. We have been working with her for a few months as we have a dog with on lead fear aggression. She has trained us as well as our dog! She gives a lot of support through emails as well as one on one sessions. Her fees are very reasonable and she will come to you (there is travel cost but it's reasonable). We live in West Brisbane too and she was very happy to come to us although we have also met her at Redcliffe for a couple of sessions. Funnily enough, we are now starting obedience classes with Wagtails but this would not have been possible without Jane's intervention first.

I sympathise too having a reactive dog as well. We came across a dog off lead last week who appeared from behind bushes and headed straight for us before we could get away. It set my dog off and this dog then proceeded to lunge and snap at him. Owner eventually showed up and rather than take her dog away, she wrapped her arms around her dog and cooed in his ear saying "don't worry, darling, about that grumpy dog". Unfortunately for her, my dog was not the only one grumpy by then! It really set us back with the training that we have been doing with a trainer for the last 6 months. So frustrating!

Irish wolfhound for me but we now have a Tibbie. Just a little bit different!

I have just changed our dog to Pro Plan sensitive skin and stomach as he has allergies. He had been eating a lot of chicken based food until I decided to eliminate chicken from his diet to see if it made any difference. He was a lot less itchy without chicken so I looked around for a kibble that was chicken free. Pro plan was one of the few that didn't have chicken in it. Eagle Pack was the other one but he didn't like it. He really loves the Pro Plan and I've noticed a big improvement in his condition. We supplement it with meaty bones, sardines, some yogurt and egg (every so often). I'm not sure if Pro Plan is considered a good quality kibble but so far it has worked for us and he eats it.

Mita, I don't think anyone has identified our dog as a tibbie yet. Mostly we hear that he is a "funny looking chihuahua"!

This website www.wagsalot.com.au has a lot of the thinking/puzzle type toys recommended to us by the trainer that has been helping us with our dog. I haven't used it yet and I am not sure how good they are but I will be buying some of their toys to keep our only dog occupied on my work days. We have also been thinking about getting a second dog to keep our current dog company but after reading some of the advice on DOL, we have decided to wait a while too. I am worried about 2 dogs, double the trouble as our dog can be a bit of a barker. He goes to doggy day care and loves the company of the other dogs.

I notice you are in Qld. We are in Brisbane and I have noticed that our dog (who has allergies) has been very itchy for a couple of weeks. It is exactly as you described your dog's symptoms. Generalised itching and constant scratching but no welts or rash. I thought it may have been a reaction to the amount of chicken he was eating when he had a bout of gastro recently but I think it could be what others are suggesting.ie. allergies from pollen. It has been very windy here lately. Even the Atopica and anti histamines he takes is not very effective at the moment. I have changed him over from Royal Canin to Pro Plan for sensitive skin and stomach but suspect that the main culprit is environmental rather than food related. I hope your dog finds some relief from the itching. You feel so sorry for them when they are scratching all the time.

I have used polaramine on our dog who has contact allergies. It was only effective for two or three days. He is now on Atopica which has worked very well long term.

Mine is reactive and predictable. He reacts to other dogs when on a leash and the closer the dog, the more intense the reaction. I also try hard to control my anxiety but it's not always easy and I'm always on the look out for other dogs ( hoping we won't come across too many at the same time!). I'm a first time dog owner and the learning curve is a steep one for me too. Fortunately, the trainer we have been working with has been a great help.

We stayed at a 3 bedroom beach house at 14, Lagoon Rd, Fingal Head (near Tweed Heads). It has a secure yard and dogs are allowed inside. It is very close walking distance to a beautiful dog off leash beach just near Fingal Light House. You can rent it through Kingscliffe Sales and Rentals. We had a great time there as did our dog who would have lived on the beach if he could! We have also stayed at Alstonville Cottages which is located near Ballina. It's on a lovely property and dogs are allowed inside as long as they are on a lead when on the property as there are live stock in the paddocks. There are 1 and 2 bedroom cottages all with verandas which has gates to keep dogs from wandering off. There are dog beaches around Ballina. It was the first time our dog had seen a cow and he spent the whole weekend staring at them from the veranda.

My sense of direction is poor so I'm not sure if any of these are useful to you but Imparra Pet Motel at Ipswich and Samford Pet Resort has been recommeded on this forum. Samford Pet Resort has a sister boarding kennel in Northlakes. I also know of people who have used Moggill Pet Motel (near Anstead) and The Pet Chalet (Brookfield) and have been quite happy with them.

We use RC Beauty for our small dog who has itchy skin. He seems to do well on it and RC is the only brand of dry food he will eat. It only comes in a 1.5kg bag so would not be economical for larger dogs.

Mita, I'm sure Lily and Miki are related! Their temperament and behaviour is so similiar. I think we may have one of the noisier tibbies as I thought they were a relatively quiet breed too. I thought we had outsmarted him when I blocked off his vision to the street but he has worked out that if he goes to the top part of our yard (which is on a slope) and perch on the retaining wall, he will have an uninterrupted view of the street. As frustrated as I am at times with the barking, I know he is doing exactly what his breed is bred for. He just doesn't understand that he is living in suburbia not in a monastery in Tibet!

I'm not sure if this is too far away from Byron for you but we have stayed in a terrific dog friendly house in Fingal Head (close to Kingscliffe). The house has a fully fenced yard and dogs are allowed inside the house. The back gate leads to a dog friendly beach (only a few minutes walk away). Our dog had the best time running on the beach which was mostly deserted on weekdays. The house is on Lagoon Road, Fingal Head and is managed by Kingscliffe Real Estates.

I think all who meet Sharnie falls in love with her. We have been doing some training with Jane and Sharnie too and our tibbie was an absolute horror when he first met Sharnie. Sharnie completely ignored him. It was like he wasn't even there. Ten minutes later, Miki stopped carrying on and trotted calmly next to Sharnie as if they were the best of friends. I had to stop my husband from begging Jane to let us have Sharnie! He would have gotten down on his knees, he was so impressed with this beautiful, calm dog. We are now on the GAP waiting list for our 'Sharnie'. Jane is a wonderful trainer, incredibly supportive and patient. She has made a huge difference to Miki's life and ours too.

Our Tibbie does bark when other dogs walk past the house but he is otherwise quiet unless the possums sit and tease him by being just out of reach. I need to do what Mita has suggested which is to block off his vision completely to the street. He doesn't bark at people so I am hoping that if we ever get burgled, the burglar will bring a dog with him/her!

We have a large yard. We got this house specifically for the size of the yard as we had always wanted a dog. Our dog spends less than 30 minutes a day running around in it (many days not at all). He much prefers to be inside or in one of the garden beds digging a path through the mulch. Perhaps we should have got a larger house with a smaller yard?!!!! He gets most of his exercise from his daily walks and sleeps or rests for much of the day. We bring him along as much as possible when we go out and he seems to enjoy these outings more than being on his own in the yard.