Miranda

I think you are worrying unnecessarily Tiger. A good boarding kennel will have contact with your dog more than just once a day, some kennels will also allow your dog out for exercise or to play with other dogs if you request this service. I'm sure some DOLers can recommend somewhere. At least you will know that she's safe, call me paranoid but there are very few people that I would trust to look after my dogs and I would never contemplate handing them over to a stranger who may or may not be trustworthy and competent.

Tiger your dog will be fine in a good boarding kennel, it's usually the owners that stress, the dogs generally cope very well. We both went overseas a couple of years ago and put our dogs in kennels for nearly two months, there were no problems. Personally I would rather place my dogs in a reputable boarding kennel than give them to a complete stranger, I'm not casting aspersions on DOLers here, but let's face it there are a lot of members and anyone can purport to be anything over the internet. If you can find a nice genuine person to care for them and you're happy to do that then ok, but as a few recent topics have shown you can't automatically assume that someone is trustworthy just because they're a member of DOL.

Yes I trim excess fat off everything, too much fat can cause diarrhoea or even pancreatitis in susceptible dogs.

In my experience Safeway nearly always have chicken necks.

Personally I think it's crap and I wouldn't feed it to any of my dogs, but others may think differently

I don't live in Sydney, but most of my friends use either Karen Hedberg in Richmond or Rob Zammit who I think is in Vineyard.

Your puppy doesn't have true separation anxiety it is simply acting as puppies do when they are first separated from their dam and siblings, it is a very traumatic time for a baby and most puppies take up to a week to settle in to their new home. The 6 weeks vaccination may only provide partial cover and you should be very careful where you take the puppy until it has its second vaccination at 12 weeks. Placing the puppy in a stranger's yard is not a good idea, especially if they have another dog. It would be foolish to leave any 7 week old puppy unsupervised with another dog, not all adult dogs are fond of puppies and even if they are puppies can be very annoying and sometimes even the most tolerant dog will have a snap. The best solution would be to take some time off work until the puppy has settled in, at this age it needs at least 3 feeds a day and you will find it very hard to toilet train the puppy if you're out at work all day. Maybe I'm being a little hard, but I wouldn't recommend this sort of cross for apartment living, especially when the dog is going to be left on its own all day. Staffords are highly active dogs that like to be with their people and they require lots of mental and physical stimulation otherwise they can become very destructive.

The only cure for false pregnancies is desexing, sometimes having a litter may help, but often it doesn't make any difference. If you are planning on breeding from this bitch I wouldn't be experimenting with any form of hormone treatment. Really you just have to put up with it, it varies, but the symptoms shouldn't last longer than a week or so. I have never had a bitch who vomited during a false pregnancy, I suppose it's possible because bitches frequently vomit just before or during the early stages of labour, but it's something I'd be monitoring pretty closely, continued vomiting combined with lethargy might be a sign of some other problem unrelated to the phantom.

It sounds like canine cough to me. Normally I wouldn't recommend taking a dog to the vet as most dogs recover quickly and coughing usually disappears within a week, however a green nasal discharge could mean that the dog has developed a secondary infection and may need antibiotics. Please be aware that having a C5 vaccination doesn't guarantee that your dog won't contract kennel cough, there are many different strains and you can only vaccinate against a few of them. BTW I agree with PF regarding the calcium supplementation, I have a large breed and never give additional calcium, it's not necessary and can cause problems. Feeding some chicken wings, frames and brisket bones would be a good idea.

Beef brisket bones are the best bones for dogs, they are soft and don't cause constipation like some of the harder bones.

Dogs do need their quiet times, especially puppies which tire very quickly. If you are constantly picking the puppy up and/or playing with him he may just want a bit of piece and quiet. Do you have children? Not all puppies appreciate constant attention, really if he wants to lie under the table and not be touched you should leave him there until he's ready to come out. If I were you I'd buy him a crate which he can use as his own private den, he's only a small puppy, maybe it's all getting too much for him.

I've has this happen a number of times, because they bleed like mad they really look worse than they are, once the nail falls off they heal up pretty quickly. It's certainly not a case for an emergency vet who will probably charge you at least $250.00 just to rip the nail off. I usually dip the paw into an antiseptic solution a couple of times a day, I've never had one get infected and you'll find that she'll forget all about it in a few days.

Try giving her a small brisket bone, they are softer and certainly don't cause my dogs any problems. I don't feed lamb necks, they're very hard.

What sort of bones are you giving her?

Actually I'm not a fan of the 'put hands in bowl/take food away and give it then give it back' methods, sometimes they create more problems than they solve and the dog becomes even more possessive of its food. I do agree with settrlvr when she says that your son shouldn't be hanging around when the dog is eating, every dog has the right to eat its meal in peace and shouldn't be hassled by either kids, cats or other dogs. All my dogs are crated when they eat. Start your dog on the Triangle of Temptation which is pinned at the top of the Training Forum, it seems complicated when you start, but it's easy once you've done it a few times. I used TOT for one of my young dogs who was beginning to be a bit of a handful and it made a huge difference in his behaviour in a very short time, I can't recommend it highly enough. However you must persevere with it, the dog remains on the program for the rest of its life. Start him on TOT and any food aggression issues should soon disappear.

I basically agree with Jed. I actually give three puppy shots, C3 only, one as close to 8 weeks as possible, one at 12/14 weeks and another at 18 weeks. They get a booster at 16 months and that's it.

I've never fed my dogs 'bone dust' and providing it's just pieces of meat and bone it's probably fine, although I'd imagine that there'd be far more bone than meat. However I don't feed bones to give my dogs calcium, I feed bones so that my dogs can exercise their jaws, clean their teeth and just experience the sheer joy that dogs seem to receive from this activity.

mini dachie, don't make a big deal of it when you get home, cuddling the dog when he is crying and running around with his tail down will simply reinforce the behaviour. When you get home don't run straight out to the dog and fuss over him, wait until he's calmed down and is sitting quietly then call the dog to you and give him a pat. Don't make a fuss of the dog when you leave and when you return home don't acknowledge him until he's quiet. Always call the dog to you if you wish to give it attention, never let the dog decide when it gets pats and cuddles.

Thanks for all your comments everyone, much appreciated, I'm off to 4 Paws and More tomorrow

You are being paranoid, puppies receive all the necessary antibodies via the bitch's colostrum during the first 24/48 hours following birth so the fact that your bitch developed eclampsia at 3 days is irrelevant. I would just give an ordinary C3 at 6/8 weeks (preferably as close to 8 weeks as possible) and stop worrying. It is a myth that puppies continue to receive antibodies for as long as they are feeding, ordinary bitch's milk contains minimal antibodies and even if they are present puppies cannot absorb them as once they are two days old their GI tracts mature and any antibodies are destroyed during the process of digestion.

In my experience dogs are always a bit hyped after their evening meal, any fights I've had have always happened in the evening and bitches in season always want to be mated after dinner , why this is I don't know. It sounds to me as if Wandy is staying close to you because she's worried about Zola and Zola doesn't like her getting the attention, Zola sounds like quite a dominant bitch and you'll probably find that she'll be even more cocky just before she comes into season. Bitches that don't get on are a real hassle, once one gets it in for another you've got real problems. BTW I'm not a dog behaviourist or trainer, all my advice is simply based on my own experiences.

Thanks Norskgra, I use a hydrobath so I suppose I'd have to contact them and see if the products are suitable. I'm looking at the Pure Alternative shampoo, the Purely Silk conditioner, the Leave In Luster for between shows and the Coat Magic Coat Spray. When I change grooming products I like to have the whole range the same which is a bit of a hassle if it turns out that I don't like them

It sounds to me as if Zola is pushing to be top dog, you have two dogs of the same sex and this can sometimes mean trouble especially if they're both female. Desexing the younger bitch may help, but there are no guarantees. I can't recommend any trainers in that area, but if I were you I'd be separating them when you go out and making sure that there's no food, toys or any other high value items left lying around, fights can erupt out of nowhere and fights between bitches can be very bad and they can be very hard to separate. You have been lucky up to now, but I'd be very careful because if they really go for it there's a good chance that one or both may have serious injuries and it's not unknown for bitches to fight until one of them is incapable of fighting anymore.

I am thinking of trying the Animal House range of grooming products, I've been using Laser Lites for a while now and feel like a change. Is anyone using them, what do you think?

Genetics also have a huge influence on longevity, although eating properly may help a dog to live a longer and healthier life I can't see danes suddenly increasing their lifespan to 17 years just because you follow the recommendations on that very dubious site. Great Danes are a giant breed and you have to be very careful how you feed them as puppies, if I were you I'd be asking some of the breeders on DOL what you should feed. You'll get much better info from them than from that quack who's just trying to make money out of gullible dog owners.