ninaandted

I'm new to any kind of forum myself - so I have no idea what a troll is! glad to hear no more blood. he'll be getting up to all kinds of mischief now!!! he must be sooo fluffy. we got our golden at about four to six months old so we missed out on the fluffy puppy stage, although he is a complete softie and sweetheart and tries to get cuddles from everyone.

Hi Byott, Glad to hear he's doing better. I'll keep checking in to see how you are going if you come back (saw the stuff on the other thread - chin up I know you were just worried about your new baby.).

the poo consistency sounds just like Nina. (who would have thought I would discuss such a thing??!) the blood comes from the irritated bowel area in her case. just monitor how the pup is feeling. if it keeps up on the supercoat or the canned food try the steamed chicken and white rice to neutralise and then start back on raw chicken wings and necks. a little golden should be able to get through chicken necks i would think (anyone feedback here??) barf principles aren't pro the rice but it does give energy and is very neutral for irritated tummies. slowly introduce some vegies every now and again - don't overdo it as the fibre all at once might be too much!! you can add raw egg yolk to this too. also a bit of plain live culture yoghurt later on too to keep the right bacteria balance. it may just be a phase and you may be able to reintroduce the commercial food later on if this is what you want to feed. you can also get commercial food for sensitive stomachs too if you wanted to try that later on. i'm not sure though if it is suitable for growing puppies so do check this out.

Hi Byott, I'm sure you'll figure it out and good luck with your new baby. I wouldn't suggest that you ignore your vet's advice out of hand. just keep in mind that although the advice about the food your vet is giving you might work for the majority of puppies but you might have a different case and keep an eye on things. our vet was quite insistent that we get Nina back on the Advance large breed growth food or the supercoat too, but each time we did it she had the blood again. And Sidoney I echo the Eeeeewww! would they be the first poo photos on DOL??

Hello Byott, It is very distressing - Nina used to get this regularly. She would seem fine and play and eat as normal. she never had a temperature but had the blood in her stool. We would go to the vet each time and she would have a course of anti-biotics and change her diet to steamed chicken and white rice for two weeks and then back onto her old food. She was wormed each time as well in addition to her normal worming routine. I was completely paranoid that it was parvo since I haven't actually seen a dog with this. (she is vaccinated but that didn't stop me waking at 2 am convinced she was dying!) Our vet couldn't find anything specific wrong with Nina either but we are continuing investigating. He suggests that it might just be an irritable bowel problem. We find that commercial dog food sets it off for some reason that we haven't yet identified. Especially supercoat - which is a bit bizarre! We changed over to BARF and since then she hasn't had it at all. You could ask your vet about this possibility as well if you don't find any other cause. this can be managed by trying diets until you find one that works and is nutritionally sound.

Hey Tollerblaize, we were wondering how you were going - see your original thread. Like I and others said there - don't be too hard on yourself and if not happy with what is happening look for the alternatives - as you are obviously doing!! Sorry - this is not on the recall topic - but thanks for posting it - we are working on this at the moment too.

Hi Amelia, i use our blender but having just finished the billinghurst book i know that he has stated in there that he prefers a juicer method and you then recombine the juice and vegies. I'm not sure that i'm going to run out and get a juicer straight away though! But either would fall in the range of your budget I would think.

I'm not that sure that frontline does ear mites - you'll need to check on the packaging. in any case the normal method of application is supposed to provide the protection body wide! but if you are using the spray it probably wouldn't hurt to spray some on a tissue and rub on the inside of the ears. i think either sentinel (a monthly tablet) or revolution (a top drop) does the mites. not all of them take care of mites. you can actually check with on of the online pet supply sites and they usually have those really useful charts that do a comparison between all the products. there's a link to one on this site that I found it on the other day. (but of course can't remember the entire content now can I???)

hilaryo, yes - just scanning the "concepts" of barf can lead people to believe to give just bones, but having just read the book he does emphasise MEATY bones and things he calls lambs flaps and not the big impenetrable bones so much, so you would be spot on with making sure there was actually enough meat content in the diet, especially if feeding chicken carcasses, because if they are anything like the ones available for sale where we are - there is only the tiniest bits of meat on them!

He doesn't have ear mites does he? They are supposed to leave a brown grunge I think but I'm not sure how visible the mites themselves are. Will make the ears really itchy! either frontline or sentinel or revolution does ear mites as well - sorry i'm not much help but it's one of those!

he is gorgeous - did you say his name was wilbur? excellent! good luck with everything!

can only agree with poodlefan about the different barks! Nina and Ted have their "naughty bark" as well. dead give-away when they are up to no good!!!

Hi Gibbo, Sidoney's advice has been excellent (as usual) and I have been taking notes so thanks for the post in general. Don't worry about being "flamed" - I think there would be other signs if your house was on fire and having puppies in the bedroom to sleep is not for everyone!! Take care and I hope things improve it is only early days!

Hello Tollerblaize, I hope it all goes well for you trying this out. Just take it easy on yourself! I would reinforce what everyone else has said - all dogs are different and will respond differently and I don't think your dominance issues (if that is what they are) will result in a complete disaster, but you are doing all the right things - you are observing your dog's behaviour and you are trying to sort things out before they go too far! If you find that it doesn't work or that you find what you have to do intolerable there are other ways to achieve a balanced "pack status" for you depending on the nature of your puppy and the kind of behaviour you are happy with.

Just to gross everyone out - when I was a kid I loved eating raw steak and raw mince with lots of salt - I grew out of that one!!! but I must say that I was never sick from it ever. we have health standards in regards to meat bought from commercial butchers and red meat is meant to be safe. just store it as you would meat for yourself and have the same levels of hygiene with their eating bowls etc. we've also just recently gone down the BARF road with our dogs as nina has some kind of irritable bowel problem and can't eat the canned or dry food (or she has blood in her poo and is very miserable). Following the Billinghurst book advice has made it easier using the recipies. they love all the bones and she is finally doing solid poos. (who would have thought that I would ever discuss such a thing!!)

HI there - very scary I know - we have the bush ticks and the paralysis ones here so I get freaked out everytime I find a lump on the puppies. tea tree oil does make them retract and then they are easier to remove. use the saturated cotton tip on the bite area and be ready to remove as they retract. Do make sure you remove the head of the tick (as someone else has already said) the poison/anti coagulant is released from there. You can pick up tick removers from the pet store and they are better and easier to use than tweezers. get them to give you a demo on how to use one. I use frontline top drop fortnightly. there was a thread on the use of frontline - some people don't like it so it is up to you but neither frontline or the collars will kill the ticks - they will just retard and go some distance to prevent them latching on in the first place. they are NOT like fleas. once they are on you need to do the removal and killing yourself ASAP. (and the crunchy crushing is very satisfying!!) they pick them up from long grass, grass clippings and anywhere near the bush. obviously they are worse in summer but you should still be on the watch all year 'round. I'd say he's shoved his head in somewhere - curious puppy! slash back any areas of long lawn if you can. Take care and best wishes that all is safe and well and he recovers okay

Hi there, congratulations on your gorgeous puppy (I'm assuming he's the one in the pic!) both our puppies had 4.30 am bladders at about that age - he might just want a toilet break and then will settle back down. you may have just very well house trained puppy who doesn't want to go inside!! with our furry kids i find if i take them out they do go back to sleep or amuse themselves until i get up - don't worry - it shouldn't go on forever i wouldn't think but others will have good suggestions too. At eight months nina can hold on from about 10 pm to 7 am the next morning with no desire to go out before then.

My hand is up for the sandpit theory - although when we moved to the house it was already there! Nina kept her digging to the sandpit, but Ted digs holes in other places. He seems to use them to lie in to keep cool (although they already have a cool shaded area and beds off the ground outside). They are always on the fence lines, in the shade and not in the middle of the lawn and we've found him lying in them - just doggie size too! Ted didn't dig any holes until the little "doggie pool" we also had set up for them was punctured beyond repair and removed. I think he's just looking for somewhere really cool to lie down. So your case might not be boredom - is it hot where you are? Nina has put a stop to this by putting one of her balls in every single hole - so now Ted won't lie in them!! That solution isn't particularly useful to you though as putting something in the hole might mean that he just digs new ones!!

Ha! Us too - that's why were in group training (it feels like group therapy!) But it is working a treat. Do you know anyone with an older, well trained, non reactive dog who might be happy to work with you on socialisation? We've been really fortunate to work with some friends and other dog owners in the area and Nina is now well socialised and has had only positive experiences. They were able to predict how their dogs will behave and call them back to them if Nina was going to go overboard at all. But that didn't handle the problem when walking on the lead - it only made it worse because she was absolutely certain that she was going to have fun if she could just get to that other dog!!! You might have to take a two pronged approach maybe??

Hi again, Not much help with the muzzle question but just some feedback on letting him off to play with other dogs. The one thing that the group trainer has taught me in regard to playing and approaching other dogs is that before allowing your dog to do so, ensure that they can be relied upon to come back to you when called when there are distractions and temptations like other dogs and that you can get them under control if they get excited. This is for the safety of other dogs if yours gets too excited, and the safety of your dog if other dogs don't want to play nicely either! Even with a muzzle I would be really careful about letting him off to play because he could have a bad experience with another dog and be defenceless and you will be taking two steps back with his socialisation and especially his agression. It's a tricky one!

Hi there, I'm going to be tedious and suggest what others have already suggested and that is that you seriously consider desexing him - it will reduce his drive to escape as entire males have a reputation for getting out to go for visits! Also the testicular cancer risk too. I'm sure that you just want the best for your boy but there are advantages. I know that's not what your initial question was about - sorry! I would also ask how well socialised he is already with other dogs? There is the possibility that he might not being aggressive but is just keen to go and "play" if he's still puppy age. Others can probably give advice about socialising and appropriate play. Don't just rely on categories given to your dog - they are just guidelines for what might happen, but don't necessarily dictate the exact personality of your dog. Our labrador also barks when walking with other dogs, mainly because she wants to go over and play, get their attention and tell me off for not letting her! She is still a puppy and is ignoring the boundaries, but it can look and sound like aggression. We have just started going to group training to deal with this problem. This is working really well with removing her reaction and teaching her the boudaries for playing and wanting to approach other dogs. It might not be appropriate for you at this stage, if it really is aggression, but longer term it might be worth considering as it can neutralise their reaction to other dogs being around if they learn to look to you only for direction despite doggie distractions.

Hello, I really feel for you. Our little girl is also a bit of a problem barker, but we are slowly making progress. As she is a lab and loves the water the water spray was absolutely no use to us either. We tried the "ignoring" it theory which of course didn't work at all and alienated one of our neighbours who just thought we were being slack! I had to develop a very stern voice that I'm sure would terrify small children and she will stop if I am there and tell her to stop and then as soon as she stops she is rewarded with a pat or a game. People have suggested though that we are just rewarding her by going out to stop her - so we are caught in a bit of a quandry between all the advice and what keeps our neighbours happy. :rolleyes: Our continuing problem is though, that we are simply not home all the time so the message is not consistent and therein lies a big part of our problem and this may also be the case with you? Has anyone tried a citronella collar and what do you think of them? A trainer has recommended one to us but I'm loathe to do it if it is a waste of time and money, or is in any way cruel. They suggested it because it would take care of the issue when we weren't there and also meant that we didn't have to go out in the yard to stop her - thereby denying her any attention so that she couldn't connect attention with the barking. What do others think? Naomi