minyvlz

If it gets them to drink water, I might get the cat version

Mine love Paul's lite yoghurt, out of baby spoons about half an hour before a meal. And goat's milk as a treat before bedtime

Yeah was thinking frosty or freeze too. Frappe? Now Im craving for frozen sweet treats!

Thanks for all your replies! I am about to go with dogtainers :/ Unfortunately my little one looks like a B&W Maltese so looks nothing like a Pap. Goldengirl85: haha I would have thought people knew Maltese were toy dogs too. Didn't think it wouldn't apply somewhat for travel. Lisa: I have flown a friend's dog to her before and I was not allowed to fly him without an agent. Perhaps it just depends on airline. What the import country requires is a whole lot of hassle, for example needing the C4 instead of C3 and I just had him vaccinated with C3... They also do need a photo of head and body to ensure he is not on their list of prohibited breeds.

Shazzapug yes probably will have to go down that route. Lisa, you must not have flown your dog before? They require you to state the breed, no matter what agent you use and JetPets is saying PP20s are not allowed by small breeds.

Lisa I am on my phone and cannot access the website but yes both Jetpets and I are clear about the crate being big enough for the dog to stand up, turn around and lie down like I mentioned. My dog is 1.5years old and sleeps in his PP20 crate every night, he normally occupies about 1/2 to 3/4 of the crate (with water bowl attached). If selecting a crate is about sufficient space for the dog then there is no problem. I have told the lady this too but she said that the airlines will not accept a Maltese in a PP20 as it is not a toy breed (according to one website it says PP20s are only for toy dogs and cats up to 12kg incl crate weight). I asked what group a Maltese was and she said small breed but not toy breed. It is a pity because JetPets has the lowest quote so far, but as it concerns the airline it probably wouldn't differ among agents which use the Qantas. I have tried calling Qantas myself but all they did was send me an email about pet travel ad referred me back to Jetpets.

Hello everyone, I have been wanting to travel with my dog overseas so I have contacted Jet Pets, who have informed me that my Maltese (cross) is not a toy breed and cannot be transported in a PP20 crate. Is this true? The lady even called up Qantas to make sure. Has anyone had any experience with this? My dog is a Maltese x Papillon and weighs 3.5kg. A PP20 crate is just nice for him, even a little big (can stand up turn around lie down with lots of space). The lady said I have to ship him in a PP40 crate, which I think is much too big for him.

This is interesting. There are some pet meat suppliers in my area and they are almost always more expensive than human grade meats, so I never use them. The butcher in the mall here sells chicken wings for $1.99/kg and another butcher sells chicken at $3/chicken. This is in comparison to $4/kg for chicken wings from pet meat suppliers. Pet chicken mince at the butcher is $0.69 for almost 1.5kg while at the pet meat suppliers it is $3.50, while chicken necks are $1.50 butcher's but $3 from raw suppliers. Personally I feed mostly red meat so I get beef, pork and lamb at 5.99/kg.

I love the look of your Westie! She is soooo gorgeous Congrats on the new puppy, show us a 'now' pic!

No. You need to leave the dog in a secure place (ie crated in the car) or at home. That's not going to happen. If I can correct him when he's with me, why not? Even if I leave him in the car, he's gonna bark anyway without anyone correcting him. That will scare children off even more if they can't see him. I'm sorry if you didn't get what I meant but my obedience instructor is a behaviourist under Craig Murray. When I had trouble with my friend's dog, she was the one that would come to my place to see the dog. I have asked and her answer was pretty much useless. If someone else has any other recommendation for a behaviourist on the Gold Coast I would love to have it thanks.

I feed a raw diet to my Maltese x, Westie & kitten. They get only meat, bones and offal. However, I believe that veggies are okay to feed esp in your case where you dogs need to lose weight. Fruits are just sugar so I would skip giving them to an overweight dog. I would also not feed any mince (currently I only feed mince to my kitten who is teething). Mince is cheap but not good for a dog's teeth and pet mince contains too much bone. If feeding meat-only mince perhaps stuff it in a chicken or feed additional meat. Having only small dogs the cost is pretty low. I try to feed big foods (not too big of course) and then take them away when they're done. This gives them a workout and the feeling of satiety. They can also eat small whole prey like poussins, quail, rabbit etc. Cheap good meats are pork shoulders, whole chickens and anything on sale you get at the butcher's or supermarkets. For bones you can give chicken necks, wings, legs etc. If your dogs eat fast then feed frozen. I used to feed kibble (many brands incl BH, Canidae, Artemis, Nutro) and none worked as well for my dogs as raw. My Westie also isn't itchy or red anymore and tartar is not a great concern for my little Maltese x. Of course, the output amount is awesome. My dogs poo once a day and there is little to pick up. Gives me confidence that they are using more of what they're eating.

persephone - No it doesn't really, not to the point of needing professional help. I don't recall having this problem earlier, and we must have met hundreds of children since he was 8 weeks. In any case, getting him to sit and focus helps. If I thought the problem was more serious I will definitely engage a behaviourist. My dog has completed basic obedience and will continue to undergo training (under Craig Murray's program anyway) so will definitely ask the trainer if she thinks we need private consultation. Am also looking at K9 Pro's distance programs. One question though - if someone, child or adult, gets scared by ferocious barking by dog on leash/in others' yard, what are we liable for? Terujo - yes, he does go to Obedience, and that's why I asked for recommendations. He already goes to Obedience under Craig Murray's trainer. I have been monitoring him these few days on walks and he does not react to children when I am with him. Perhaps I might need to tie him up somewhere and watch his reaction to children again. dancingbcs - I live in an apartment not on the ground floor so he doesn't 'see' children passing by. He doesn't react to children on walks but when he is tied up (occasionally while we have dinner outside, for example) he will bark relentlessly at them. He is happy to be patted while on lead (or maybe with me beside him) by children or adults. raineth - Thank you for your reply. Does barking always mean they will bite? I have to admit I've never thought about it that way. SecretKei - I think so too... probably means I have to tie him up somewhere secluded next time or dine somewhere pet-friendly... It seems that he only has this problem with some children, not all. Children don't usually care about him as he is not as cute as my other dog. Perhaps he feels jealous but if that is the case, it is always going to happen as my other dog is a SWF.

So if all Westies are as such, I should just avoid having children come near him? I see people not let others pat their dogs too, spending a few hundred dollars on a behaviourist for a problem that doesn't really matter to me is a little out of my budget.

That is what one of his trainers said, not him. Perhaps I understood wrongly, but from what she said, I got that further socialisation after 4 months is not necessary. Would that be correct I've always thought socialisation was an ongoing process, that it was crucial to socialise puppies at a young age but socialisation is supposed to be for life, or is it not really necessary? @persephone Thank you, that makes much more sense. ETA: I've seen mentions of LAT in the forums, but am unable to find a specific post (search didn't turn anything up), can anyone direct me to a thread? TIA.

Nekhbet - if this is a socialisation issue, which I think it is, then Craig A Murray might not be a good choice. My dogs went for obedience under one of their trainers and I was told that socialisation ended at 4 months. Dogs after 4 months cannot be helped/no need for socialisation after that was what I was told. Trainers wise, I contacted Jane Harper but she was too far for either of us to travel. Does anyone have any recommendations for trainers on the Gold Coast? Sheena & Corvus - Thanks, I will look at using LAT. Terujo & Tilly - He doesn't lunge or jump on them, just barks fiercely at them. My other dog loves children so I don't know why he's like that. Fear, perhaps? Thanks for the tips Terujo, I will make sure he gets a treat every time we see children. Persephone - Thanks, I'm not sure why I haven't noticed it before though... I'm sure we've seen children on our daily walks. Last night we were having dinner so we tied the dogs to a pillar nearby and he started barking loudly whenever any children walked past. On previous occasions I recall sometimes he did bark at them, but other times when I'm right next to him he won't react at all to children. If he really only barks at children when I'm not with him, what can I do?

What about Eukanuba Sensitive Skin with fish?

My Westie will bark ferociously at young children, no biting or anything, just barking non-stop at them. How do I correct this? He's not aggressive but when he scares little girls and makes them cry, I am at a loss as to what to do. He's not really a puppy anymore as he just turned one. The kids aren't approaching him, just passing by. I don't have any children in my household so he hasn't grown up/socialised much with them. I'm wondering how to socialise him with kids if he's so fierce towards them.

She is very cute My little Maltese x also doesn't like to sleep in my bed. He'd rather sleep in his crate or at the foot of my bed, while my other dog loves to cuddle with us. He loves humans and attention but is also pretty independent and does fine being by himself. Pretty good for a dog who came to us at 7 weeks!

I have tried it and it was amazing. Prior to that I had the behaviourist come to mine to teach us how to handle him (friend's dog) but we just couldn't control him and did not know what we were doing wrong. It got to the point where it wasn't pretty so we opted to send him to the boarding training program and he came back a completely changed dog. jr_inoz, how would the training be for the humans if the humans aren't there to see the training of the dog? Sure there has to be a follow up session but the dog is the one being trained in this case...

I would also stick with the prescription diet until he gets better. If it has only 4% protein and 2% fat then it might be good for his weight loss too. I wouldn't give him anything that might seem too rich for him at the moment. When he gets better personally I would switch him to a diet of low protein eg. raw roo meat with some bones and offal (or barf). Kibble with grains and carbohydrate seem to fatten up dogs and tbh one tablespoon of kibble is not something I would feed my dogs (type-wise and amount-wise).

Health-wise, he had struvite crystals and I tried to alter his urinary pH with raw, herbs, vitamins and ACV. He was also put on Propalin by the vet (as well as an overdose of ABs). Behaviour-wise, I sent him for boarding at the behaviourist's place and he improved a whole lot. This trainer's old-school style (no violence but a lot of dominance over the dog) but he calmed down a lot. He is currently in Taiwan and still has some problems with motorbikes and men, but on the whole he is much, much better than what he was before. He also plays by himself a lot (toys and such), and is very energetic. I guess they are just little dogs with big personality just like everyone says. They don't tire with walks but some crazy bursts of energy like chasing after something, playing fetch etc. Building up trust with him was also a big thing as he was living with different people after his owner left so to him everyone abandoned him I suppose. P.S. would love to see photos of your baby girl!

Get the sample tested for crystals and do a urine culture.

I would recommend Anthea from Craig A Murray training (http://dogschool.com.au). She's fantastic for obedience and has done wonders with my boys. I've tried another trainer who had great results but rather harsh methods that I didn't fancy as much. If you're nearby, you can check out the Pet Expo tomorrow at Varsity Lakes from 9am-4pm. Craig Murray and other trainers have booths there and you can quiz them on methods and such.

Looking at Royal Canin Mini Breed Puppy Junior food: Maize, dehydrated poultry meat, maize flour, maize gluten I think that's quite a lot of maize too. From memory Advance has corn in one of its first few ingredients as well.

My two have tried Ziwipeak when they were puppies and they were fine. Loved the taste and no digestive issues. Of course, every dog is different. I would consider Ziwipeak to be an excellent food, and if I could no longer feed raw for some reason, would feed it instead to my dogs (if I can afford it). What flavour, is a personal preference, I would believe As for what else you can add onto his diet, perhaps try some raw meaty bones?