Leema

What books?

I'd cut out everything in his diet and feed him something he has never had before... Perhaps turkey or goat? Feed exclusively this for a week or two and see if there are any improvements.

I feed raw because I think it makes sense for carnivores to eat dead animals.

moggy, it's hard with puppies because they go through spurts and stunts all the time. You should be able to feel your pups ribs while gently touching her sides. As for what you are feeding her - my adult dog is ~8kgs and has been known to get a chicken neck as an entire meal (entirely daily intake) at times! He is a border terrier, so a bigger breed. He also, if he is getting mince or diced beef, a meal is ~110gs... A cup is about 250gs, so you are feeding your chihuahua puppy almost 3 times what my adult border terrier gets. HOWEVER my dog puts on weight looking at food, and is not a growing active puppy! The most important thing to do is to monitor her weight. If she is stacking on, cut back. If she is looking lean, add on. It's always a balancing game, especially with puppies. Hope that helps.

If she runs away from it at the moment, I'd get the lead and collar and put it on the floor in a popular place (say the lounge room?) and just leave it there for a few days until she doesn't care about it anymore. I like the idea of feeding her with it on. If that's too much, feed her next to her collar and lead. I would be rewarding step by step of the process... So reward her for looking at collar, moving towards collar, touching collar, having collar move towards her (not moving away from it), having the collar touch her (not moving from it), having the collar touch her near her head/neck, then just her neck, then some fiddling near her neck, then some more fiddling, then an actual buckling up and quick undo. ETC ETC. At the moment you are asking too much... "Allow me to put this on (even though you hate it), allow me to lead you by it (when you hate it)". Wearing a collar and walking on lead is often lumped together - your puppy obviously needs you to break things up and reward steps towards what you want. As a side note, the issue I had with my puppy was the putting on/off of the collar/harness. Just too many ants in her pants! I rewarded her for still quiet behaviour as I increased the duration of me fiddling around her neck. She had little aversion to it being on, just the process of it being put on and off. In this instance I broke things down and rewarded the things she was uncomfortable with to form a more positive association. If you have any questions, please ask. Hope that helps.

Mac gets fasted if he had a big meal the day before (I don't think this is a 'gorge' meal as he still eats everything given!). I don't think fasting is going to make my dog healthier or better, but I choose to feed by a raw/prey model and I think varying meal sizes (including nothing!) and meal times is part of that.

Fleas are parasites so they're attracted to unhealthy animals (unless in, like, plague conditions). So by feeding a raw diet your dog is probably healthy enough to fend off any fleas he encounters. I feed my older dog on a prey model diet and have not used flea treatment since. My pup hasn't been flea treated, either, but is not on a totally raw diet. HTH.

Mac gets fed once a day at no specific time (though normally in the evening). Sometimes we will fast a day if he has a large meal the day before - e.g. a turkey drumstick or mutton neck is a big meal for him. I was always told that dogs stomachs are made to be stuffed full and then very empty. However, puppies are a different story. EDIT: I probably fast about once a month? Mac is prone to putting on weight so feeding him a big meal like a turkey drumstick is more equivalent of 4+ 'normal size' meals, so he has very skinny meals for days following... I'd fast more often if he wasn't such a fatty! Also, with a puppy in the house, I feel mean feeding puppy and not feeding him.

I think the least the owners could do is pretend all is good. But I do undrstand how disappointed the owners would be... I like the owner-stacks! Mostly 'cause I can see myself doing that in the future.

This is my all time favourite video - almost. I think the method applied here would work for your dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEwiH8CeUE

I went with my vets recommendations at 8 weeks - she go wormed (with 'TROY') for roundworm each fortnight until 12 weeks. This is all she has had had and all she will have unless she has worms or fleas. However, heartworm is not so prevalent here as it is in some other states.

Two videos for you:

Thanks for all your inputs. And I'm glad some of you are giving it a go and seeing what you get. :p With small dogs... A chicken neck is a meal! So it gets a bit tricky feeding raw. But I've made a breakthrough! I can do diced beef in the kitchen with the tap nearby to immediately wash my hands after training. I was a bit taken away with the other forum and the furious declaration of me as 'cruel'... Apparently, they know this breed better than me and they know it is harmful. How or why they wouldn't say. :D What a crock.

Thanks for all your responses. Clover doesn't like her kibble soaked?? She inhales it rather than chews it, I think. I'm vegetarian, too, and don't really enjoy touching the meaty things. And I still have a quarter of a bag of kibble to use! I think I will have to 'get over it' once I finish the bag, though...

I know! I would rather feed real foods, but it's so hard to get right size bits and stuff that isn't gross... Training is taking over diet at the moment... But I try to assure myself that the kibble must be good with the price I'm paying.

Yeah, I really don't like fatty dogs. I'm still making guesses on how much she needs, but she looks good at the moment and I'm prepared to cut back if she get sporky or add on if she looks skinny.

It's nice to know that people here aren't as insane as the ones on this ... cough... other forum... Thanks for your support.

Yeah, she only gets her puppy kibble (Advance brand) in training sessions - nothing exotic.

I have often excluded meals when training as I use lots of treats. Right now, Clover (14 week old puppy) gets fed exclusively during training sessions. I recently said this on another forum, and got told how cruel I was. They weren't very clear there, so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas why anyone would say this? Or do you believe the same and could shed some light? Or do you agree with me and want to call them names?

I have a puppy not fully vaccinated yet. I am doing a balancing act... I keep telling myself that more dogs die each year from poor-socialisation and exposure, than those that die of parvo. However, we have a parvo outbreak in my area, so it's particularly frightening. Clover is not going to heavily dog populated areas... We go to friends houses, we've gone to a nursing home, we've gone for walks around country towns, we've gone to parks where I have not seen other dogs. I'm sure there are other dogs going there, but I wouldn't take her to, say, 'the dog park' nearby. She's coming to the beach further south (the parvo outbreak is north) tomorrow, because I consider there to be less dogs there and for it to be safer as it's further from the outbreak. I think the beaches nearby are too frequented by dogs for me to feel safe. Basically, it's up to you decide. What do you feel comfortable with? And what are you comfortable to wear if your pup happens to get sick? I am being risky because I want my pup exposed to plenty during these critical periods. Most shelters recommend this because they see the effects... I am not tooooo fussed about diseases, despite a parvo outbreak. Most vets place a high value on keeping your dogs away from 'diseasy' animals. I don't think you'll get a definite: "Yes go to the beach" or "no, don't go to the beach". Pretty much, does the beach feel good to you? The reason that you posted may mean that it doesn't. Good luck with your puppy. ^.^

I would strongly recommend you read these two articles before desexing: http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHea...euterInDogs.pdf The responsible thing is to not breed (not produce more dogs). You can achieve this without desexing. However, if you think that you won't be able to do this, then please do get your dog desexed.

As long as they build the dog up to 4ks slowly, I think that such fitness would be great for a dog. :rolleyes:

Thank-you! :rolleyes:

I like her drops, too! Especially compared to Mac's crawling-down drop. It took me forever to work out what verbal to put to her walking on her hind legs. My OH's crazy sister suggested "zombie". At least it doesn't sound like anything else? As weird as it is... Thanks for your comments. ^_^

For those that would like to see Clover's repertoire at 14 weeks tomorrow: