Leema

All incidents have been on grass, though dry-summery-deadish grass... I can try seeing if a stay and release will work, but I have an idea Clover will need help finding non-moving objects. 8-) We can only try, though. Thanks for the suggestion.

When we play ball at the park, Clover always manages to graze off the tops of her hocks and make them weepy. Is there any wraps or something I can put on them before we play ball to stop this happening? Anyone else had this happen and have suggestions to deal with it? This is an ongoing issue. This is the third time it has happened after being 'fully healed' from last incident.

At first glance, it seemed a bit off. I aim for 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% offal. You have 25% meat and some of the RMBs is meat too... Lamb necks have a decent amount of meat on them, but not chicken necks. Chicken necks would be about 75%+ bone themselves. So to me you need more meat, less bone. You probably have very generous amount of offal, but heart is sometimes considered a meat instead. I'd drop the dairy component. You can continue feeding such a variety each day, but you don't have to. You can aim for a balanced diet over time, not every day.

I will have a papillion one day when I feel like brushing...

Does anyone know much regarding the conditions for raising rabbits?

Okie, so free range is not really defined, mostly... I will still have a look at the mentioned places. I am vegetarian myself, but my dogs aren't.

I understand meat chickens are not kept in stalls like battery hens, but I believe the title 'free range' means that these birds have more space available to them than broiler birds. But you raise an interesting point and I should look into labelling restrictions.... I will check the central market and butchers. Thanks for the suggestions.

Where can I find free range meats? I can find free range chicken in supermarkets, but other animals don't seem to appear with a free range badge. I am in South Australia, if that helps.

Waland - I was going to post what you have. Worth a look.

Congrats to you and Daisy! What a fantastic effort.

The 'Chunkers' stuff by Four Legs is appreciated in this house.

I like this and I post it all the time. http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Writing/TeachEat.html

My older dog, "Mac", has not generalised toilet training. He needs to be watched in any new place and 'retrained' as such. Clover has - she was busting last time we went to the vets to go outside! (I didn't realise .)

I'd get whole goat and sheep dumped in my yard for them. :rolleyes: A matter of convenience here... I would like to get them green tripe... A matter of availability there. Money doesn't restrict what I get them, except I'd rather buy more free-range dead animals for them, for my conscious sake.

Tug is a great game. We have a cue for surrendering the item, and I don't think this game is problematic if you can stop the dog tugging when needed.

Clover is driving me mad. I've decided that I am going to try to preserve tennis balls in this house, as they end up shredded and in pieces very quickly. We do go out and play ball in the park most days, especially if I'm going to be out most of the day. Clover wants the tennis ball. If I put it anywhere out of her reach, she whines and paces, and often does tricks in front of wherever the ball is - and sometimes comes to me and does tricks in front of me to try to get me to go get it for her. If I put it somewhere she doesn't see me put it, she finds it. She air scents and finds it eventually. She will play with other toys when I suggest it, but eventually goes back to where her tennis ball is. She will eat (of course!) but will eventually go back to where her tennis ball is. We don't reward her with the tennis ball for this whining and annoyance. She does eventually stop, but will go back to it and continue at a later date. She also DOESN'T FORGET. The other night I threw it in the bathroom and locked her out. I had forgotten all about it, and went in there and she rushed in there to grab her ball. She is absolutely obsessed and I am hoping her whining extinguishes as she learns that she can have toys not accessible to her sometimes... I really hope so otherwise I'm going to go insane.

I would not put my dogs on a daily tablet because I choose to fast my dogs some days, and I'd have trouble remembering to feed my dogs the tablet each day. I have heard that if you miss a day it may give the microflaire chance to grow big enough to cause cardiac disturbance.... But I don't know where I heard it from. Thank-you for posting Jean Dodd's opinion. Did she mention the weather period needed for heartworm development?

No - I wasn't aware of that. Thank you Leema. But 14C ??? That's pretty cold for mozzies isn't it? Sorry, that should've been - the temperature has to be ABOVE 14C for two weeks. So you can pretty much not treat for heartworm over winter. Glad the article was of use, but it's only one of many on the 'net regarding the weather component of heartworm... And all say slightly different things.

Next 'vet check' for my dogs, I am getting them heartworm tested and then onto a form of 'preventative'. Mostly due to reading the story here: http://www.dogaware.com/HeartwormPrevention.html Remember that any heartworm 'preventative' is killing immature heartworm in the dogs' system that have occurred since last infection. So that means you only have to treat when the weather has been conductive of heartworm, and you are in an area of risk. (I'm sure you are aware, the temperature has to be about 14C for two weeks for heartworm to develop - so you only need to dose after such a weather event.) Apparently, heartworm preventatives can be given 45 days apart with no reduction in effectiveness.

Sway, have you gone through the council bodies and got names from them? (Have not read the whole thread so apologies.)

My older border terrier swallows things almost whole... It's crunch crunch swallow with most things, including chicken wings. Sometimes when my dogs get a large chunk of meat - e.g. beef heart or beef rump (don't no proper terminology...) - they often throw it up and eat it again. However, they never seem to choke. If a dog is choking on something, you should let them attempt to cough it up. They're pretty good at that thing. Attempt to look in the dog's mouth to see if there's any thing you can see to grab and take out of their mouth. Then you can do side compressions (the preferred method to the heimlich manouvre in people) to try to expell air quickly from the lungs and dislodge the object. If this doesn't work, then you need to respire for the dog (you should be able to get air past the obstructing object) and get to the vet!

I taught Clover to drop by putting food in my fist, and then having my fist on the floor. Clover tried numerous things until eventually dropping, when I clicked her elbows hitting the ground and she got the food reward. We did this several times with food, then I started just using my fist and clicking elbows hitting the ground, and rewarding with food from my pocket. Very quickly, Clover started putting her elbows on the ground in anticipation and before I had to have my fist on the ground. If your club does not allow food, then you could do this with a small toy in your hand. Here is a video of her at 13wks doing a drop. Of course, I could've 'forced' her into doing a drop, but that is not my style. Her drop is because she does, and always has, wanted to.

The class I went to was just for socialisation aspects. It wasn't a free for all, but it was an area where Clover could learn to ignore other dogs and focus on me. The good things was that I was given the freedom to go and do my own thing in the corner. They had extra treats for when I ran out! And they presented good advice to puppy owners. It was also good because it was inside, and I particularly wanted to socialise Clover to inside places, as Mac has issues with this. The bad was that the floor was slippery and it made it difficult to play tuggy!

Thank-you. I thought possibly hips, elbows I did not know about. I will pass on the word.

I have taught Clover to refuse food from an open hand from me... She generalises it to most people but we're still getting it down to ALL people. We did this with negative punishment - with holding the food from her. This was simply a matter of offering her the food and, if she went it, we'd quickly remove it so she didn't have a chance to grab it. And then positive reward for when she did leave the food for a second. This was simply a matter of marking her leaving the food with "yes", and then rewarding with the food from my finger tips instead. But you could change this to rewarding with the food on the ground. The reason I taught this was so she'd not take food unless offered between fingertips. Also, in the show ring, sometimes I need to have the food near her face/head as I adjust her collar or mouth her for the judge (rarely). In these instances, she ignores the food in my hand because it is not being offered to her inbetween fingertips. She does not have a cue for this behaviour. It is default. She is only allowed food in fingertips. Here is a picture when we were beginning to 'get' this behaviour - 6 months old: