Miranda

I'm not a great believer in dogs 'being protective' unless they're a trained protection dog. As far as I'm concerned dogs that 'protect' their owners from other dogs are simply guarding a resource in much the same way that they'd guard food or a favourite toy. Obviously your OH has given Hudson a lot of attention during the last few months and I would say that Hudson wants to keep all that attention for himself and not share your OH (or you) with the other dogs. What you have is a spoiled brat who thinks he rules the roost and doesn't want to share. He's also at an age where he's beginning to mature and test the boundaries. I would limit the dog's access to your OH and treat him exactly the same as the other dogs, chuck him outside and stop treating him as if he's special. Start him on the NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) program and follow it religiously. Putting him on TOT (pinned at the top of this forum) wouldn't be a bad idea either. The dog has to realise that he's just a dog and learn that his position in the household is below you and your OH, you are the boss of the household not him. At the moment he thinks he's it and a bit and is acting accordingly.

She seems a little unsure and apprehensive, the incident with the GSD has probably influenced this behaviour. You may find that she'll improve as she gets older and gains confidence, positive experiences with other dogs will help. I'd avoid socialising her with strange dogs as you don't know how they'll react and any more nasty experiences are likely to make her much worse. Take it easy with her and let her go at her own pace, don't try to force her into situations where you know she won't cope eg. where two or three dogs are attempting to sniff her at once. I wouldn't take her to off leash dog parks.

As this appears to be an ongoing problem I think a visit to the vet is in order. If he was a large breed I would be concerned about his hips, but this is much less likely although not impossible in a small breed. I agree with poodlefan regarding the rough play, definitely not a good idea in a young puppy. It may be an injury that is being exacerbated by exercise and simply requires a period of rest to allow it to heal, but it's best to have it checked out.

What breed is he jettyjet?

Hiccups are common in puppies and quite normal, they grow out of it. As far as I know there is no correlation between hiccups in puppies and bloat in later life.

Look I must admit that I'm not a fan of training a dog to go to the toilet inside unless there's absolutely no alternative. But then I've never owned an Italian Greyhound.

When you purchase the scissors ask if you can hold them, they should feel comfortable in your hands and be nice and smooth when you open and close them. Whatever you do don't buy a cheap brand, good grooming equipment is easy to use, does a far better job and will last a very long time. You will be amazed at the difference in 'feel' between cheap and good quality scissors.

Yes.

I agree with ML, I hate head collars with a passion and would never use one on any dog.

If she's not licking obsessively and you are able to watch her you can take it off. I usually only put one on at night or when I can't supervise. All dogs are different when they have stitches, some ignore them, some lick occasionally and some won't leave them alone, you don't know how they'll react until they've had the surgery.

I have setters and have 1 x Roseline 8" straights, 1 x Roseline 8" thinning shears and 1 x Jaguar Satin 6" thinning shears. I would think that 6" scissors would be the best size for a Field. Settrlvr would be the best person to advise you

This sounds serious, I recommend that you get professional help especially as there is a child involved.

I wouldn't take a puppy anywhere where he might be involved in any 'rough and tumble' with a much larger dog or even a small one for that matter, small puppies are easily hurt and allowing any sort of rough play at this age is simply asking for trouble. There is absolutely no guarantee that the other dog will back off if the puppy protests, in fact a squealing puppy may even awaken prey drive in some dogs. A bad experience at this age could affect your puppy for life. As for taking a 10 week old puppy to an off leash dog park and allowing strange dogs to sniff him, well that suggestion is absolutely ridiculous. Not only are you risking disease you're also putting your puppy in a situation where he could be bullied and intimidated or even attacked. Puppies and off leash dog parks definitely don't mix Mrs Tornsocks I would finish your course and then perhaps enrol in an obedience club or some other venue where there is controlled socialisation with a larger number of puppies. Meanwhile take your puppy out wherever you can and expose him to as many sights and sounds as possible, you don't have to put him on the ground you can carry him. There is a lot more to socialisation than just meeting other dogs.

I never allow my puppies to chew on my fingers or any other part of me. Chewing or mouthing a human is not allowed here in any way shape or form.

He could be suffering from pattern baldness.

If you have a dog with OCD complete rest is mandatory, even with rest not all cases will respond and some (about 20%) will still need surgery. Dogs with OCD also suffer from arthritis as they age.

1. I don't vaccinate against canine cough, I don't think there are any risks involved, but there are many different viruses and the vacc only covers a few. I just don't think it's worth it and the only time I did get a C5 both puppies contracted CC a few months later and one of them was quite sick. 2. I don't know if Adelaide is a heartworm area, but if it isn't I wouldn't bother with heartworm prevention. 3. Get the lump removed immediately.

I take my puppies out and about from eight weeks onwards although I'm very careful where I take them. I would never keep a puppy at home until it's sixteen weeks, IMO the slight risk of parvo is far outweighed by the benefits of early socialisation. Far more dogs are PTS because of behavioural problems than die of parvo.

I think Smithor Pet Products in Sydney are the distributors. ETA I don't know if they still have the product but their no. is 9970 8727 or [email protected]

Oh well please let us know if you solve the mystery :rolleyes:

The puppy doesn't sound shy or fearful to me either, but I wasn't there and if the OP has the slightest doubt about the pup's temperament she needs to go back and check out the puppy again. Some puppies are more outgoing than others and as I said before the puppy could just have been tired. I would be very wary of a puppy who avoided hand contact, a puppy that ran away when I entered the yard or a puppy that refused to come out of the kennel.

Giraffez have you any news? I'm intrigued now and want to know

Yep that's another possibility, but I'd be wondering where the pup picked it up. If the mites originated at the breeders the other dogs would be affected and the breeder would definitely know about it. Did you fly the puppy in a hired crate or have it delivered by a carrying company? The symptoms in humans are generally temporary and subside once the dog is treated.

Try to do some of your biking off road, continual pounding on pavement puts a lot of stress on the dog. While the dog is young everything may seem fine, but problems may appear when the dog is older. Dogs aren't really designed to run long distances on hard concrete surfaces.

Shy puppies generally are fine when they're at home, it's when you take them out of their own environment that the timidity becomes apparent. Seriously if you have any doubts about this pup's temperament you must go and see it again, don't buy a shy puppy, shy pups can be extremely hard to manage and if you want a puppy that you can take out and about and do things with you could be in for a lifetime of heartbreak. I also agree with poodlefan, I don't let people pick pups on a 'first come, first served' basis either, I always try to match the puppy with the buyer. And health testing is a must, if it hasn't been done I would definitely give this breeder a miss. Have you been told the hip and elbow scores for the sire and dam?