poochiemama

Thanks guys...I have been reading the threads about nutro lamb and rice and it looks like a lot of people had success with dry skin/dandruff when they used that food. But then another dog food analysis site listed it as 'two stars'...whereas artemis, which i was considering was 'six stars'. It's all very confusing! Interestingly on the nutro website it advises that you will notice increased shedding of the coat and some dullness before the new coat kicks in with nutro after a few weeks. Maybe this is what is happening since we changed to eagle pack? maybe i should just give eagle pack a bit longer?

Thanks for the suggestions guys... I use Aloveen shampoo and conditioner (which are great I think). I switched the foods about a month ago....initially they were doing great but now the dandruff issue...it could be that it's a seasonal shedding, I'm not sure. I have been reading about Artemis and it seems like a popular food choice. I put olive oil on his food sometimes, and supplement with oily fishes and eggs but still no improvement.

I used to feed our chocolate lab Charlie Royal Canin Labrador puppy, and he's turned one a few months ago and I changed over to Eagle Pack Holistic Select (after reading lots of reviews and wanting a more 'holistic' food). I've been using the sardines flavour of EP. I thought it was a great food, but noticed in the last 2 weeks he is shedding a lot more than usual (I brush him three times a week so I have a rough idea of how much fur comes out in the comb) and he's got a lot of dandruff. He used to have dandruff on Royal Canin too but I think it is worse now. The reason I got the sardines flavour is because I thought the omega-3s in there would help his dandruff; i've also been supplementing with an egg here and there and fresh sardines and yoghurt. once a week he gets get raw bones/marrow bones. Any suggestions on what's going on? He is always on flea preventatives and doesn't itch. I think I would like to change his food - can anyone recommend a better quality dry food than EP? No fillers/grain etc if possible. I have looked into RAW but have decided against it.

Thanks for those replies, will google some of those places and look into it... i always loved the idea of volunteering/rescuing but wasn't sure where to start with it, so now I have some pointers :D

how do you teach walking backwards?

cool, i can daydream: 1. Whippet 2. Greyhound 3. St Bernard 4. Newfie 5. Poodle (any size, I love them all) hmmm... i know there's more, but its late, i cant think. Will complete my list when i remember the others. but would love a whippet at the moment!

My lab charlie does a wonderful trick where I pretend to sneeze and he grabs me a tissue out of the tissue box with his mouth and drops it in my lap! It's a real crowd pleaser; he does it in front of house guests and just laps up the attention. I taught him this in one session (45 minutes), armed with a clicker and lots of liver treats! He also knows heaps of other tricks, like playing 'peek a boo', jumping over my leg when i use it as an obstacle and say 'jump', targetting, spinning, high five etc I was trying to teach him how to remove socks but then stopped as he was picking it up very quickly and i didn't want him to get into a habit of biting people's feet to get socks off ! I am teaching my goldie 'put your hands up , you are under arrest', where i get her to put her paws up against the wall and do a body search on her She's getting it, but I have dirty walls as a result! Luckily our paint is great and dirt comes off easy..

I am thinking of volunteering to work in a shelter...I am based in Melbourne; i just have no idea where to start. i have a busy job so i can't do it too often but i can commit on most weekends. Has anyone had any experiences doing this at shelters in Melbourne? Also wondering about fostering, but a bit scared to make that leap because we have two dogs of around 1 year old at home and I don't want them to have any bad experiences with other dogs...curious about anyone's experiences with fostering...

i looove the springer spaniels on that dogs home tasmania site. And the dalmatian puppy. So want another dog in addition to our two, but people already say we're nuts for having two. Plus all our money is already being spent on unnecessary luxuries for them In my dream life, I would live in a big house, with a huge yard, and at least five dogs ! AND be a housewife....

Camping's something I haven't considered...that could be quite fun; Are camping sites fenced off? I wouldn't want them escaping, and although our lab's recall is perfect, I can't say the same about our goldie... I'm going to look into camping and find out more about it.. They have stayed at cottages before and we had a blast , they were pretty well-behaved. Thanks for all the replies ... I just want to do something different with our holiday this time so I'm looking at things we haven't done much of before.

I just looked at the website for Red Paws of Lorne, that looks great. Has anyone stayed there???

Hi Poochiemama, this place is awesome http://countrywidecottages.com.au/ We took our 2 dogs there a few months ago and stayed for 3 nights. We did not want to come home. Di, the host is amazing and dogs are welcome to stay inside the cottages. Super dog friendly. The cottages are very clean and have everything you could need. Classes, yet still down to earth. We have already booked for next year, and we will stay longer this time. It is only a 10 minute drive from Winchelsea. Funny, I was just looking at their website...it looks great. are there any fenced areas for them to run around in? THey mentioned something about a damn or paddock? My husband wants to go somewhere where there are also nice things for the humans to do in the area! Are their any cute cafes or shops or something around there? THanks

Thank you...I have no idea about caravans , i actually thought you put the dogs in the caravan with you! I think it may be a little difficult to organise - we would have to hire one. I am going to look into a dog friendly cottage or something near melbourne which we can drive to...thank you for your reply!

I am trying to organise a small holiday with the dogs; i have never been in a caravan before, but just saw the website for best friends holiday retreat and noticed they have caravan parks where you can bring your dogs. Has anyway done the caravan park thing with dogs? what should I expect? and how easy is it to travel with dog in a caravan? Should I just book a dog friendly cottage instead? I live in Melbourne, so any suggestions would be welcome.

My lab was playing with his Kong frisbee in the yard, returned five minutes later and it is chewed to shreds! I wouldn't recommend it if you've got a chewer.

Done, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Thanks for all the tips ... I usually go to PetBarn at Chadstone but their range is a bit limited. I do like Pets and the City, I think that's the one where they usually have a resident labrador puppy training to be a guide dog ; cutest thing ever.

I am looking for a good pet shop in melbourne; obviously somewhere where they don't sell animals. But somewhere with nice products, not the usual crappy nylon leashes etc. Any ideas?

just beautiful, I'm going to go google belgian shepherds now :D

what a beautiful dog. Excuse my ignorance but what sort of does is she?

hehe, yeah i guess its a simple explanation then! :D its very cute. our lab charlie just sits and drools; his eyes never come off the food.

OK this is a random question to satisfy my curiousity - when we are preparing the dinner for the dogs, Hannah, our golden retriever, sees the food and does laps around the house ; three or four times, until we put the dishes down. Any ideas why? Is it just impatience or is this some ancient instinct dogs have?

That's a great idea! will get some from the op-shop...i'm sick of paying a fortune for fancy beds that get chewed up in two seconds. I heard the Snooza D1000 is pretty durable, but I don't know if it would survive.

We have a lovely new kennel built by a carpenter for our two dogs, but they dont' go in there and I think the problem is that we haven't put any mats or bedding in it. Everytime we have put something in their old kennel, be it hessian mats or other dog beds, they have chewed them up, and we often came home to a yard full of white fluffy bed stuffing. Does anyone have ideas on super-tough bedding to be used in a kennel? We thought of actually nailing down a hessian bed to the floor of the kennel so that they can't remove or chew it, but if there is a tough bed, we prefer that. Thanks!

wow, i'm so glad i asked the question, because there are so many helpful replies here. Nekhbet, I never thought of it that way, that walks make them fit but don't necessarily tire them out, unless you do some obedience exercises with them. I think I'm definitely going to try the sit at the door, and gradually building up the time that they can do this. Also the hand signals would help ... Maybe we were expecting too much of them, they sit at the door when we ask them, but we haven't really built that up to more prolonged periods of time. What do people think of the advice of 'ignoring them' when we come in for 10 minutes? We tried that, but we weren't very consistent; it's really hard and i'm not sure if that worked.