Miranda

I fed my two puppies a food containing corn and they both had sloppy poo and dropped condition, one became really skinny and started eating lots of grass. I changed to a food that didn't contain corn (Nutro Lamb and Rice) and the difference was amazing, obviously they don't handle corn well at all.

Is the soreness in the dog's wrist or in his elbow?

Thanks very much ISH

Yes could you ISH? Maybe I'm using it too strong, it didn't irritate her at all, but I'd rather have the correct dilution rate.

Yes I've just used it to clear up a waxy, inflamed ear in one of my dogs and I saw an improvement straight away. It completely cleared up in two days. If you do a search it was mentioned in a thread about a month ago and that's where I heard about it ETA I diluted 1 part Malaseb to 4 parts water and put it on with a cotton wool ball.

Frank why don't you take your dog to a veterinary eye specialist? Then you will know one way or the other and you can act accordingly. At least it would put your mind at rest

Delete ETA that Delete is a deodorant/disinfectant, if you have never heard of it you may find one word "Delete' confusing LOL.

If these scissors are for grooming get them sharpened professionally. I would never mess around trying to sharpen my scissors at home, they're expensive scissors and I wouldn't want to ruin them.

Yes that may be so, but they are thinking of themselves not the poor dog who's going mad with grief and loneliness. Vomiting, crying, screaming and howling are symptoms of extreme distress, this poor dog is really suffering. They may not think that they're ready for another dog, but once they get it they'll love it anyway and their dog will be happy again. Really I don't know how you could love a dog and let him suffer like this, it would break my heart if he were mine

Why don't you build or buy a run and leave him in it when you're not at home? Put a kennel in there and you can leave him with toys, a marrowbone and anything else that you think may amuse him. All my dogs are confined when I'm not at home, so I know that they're safe and aren't going to get into any trouble while I'm gone. I certainly wouldn't leave a puppy like this loose and just allow him to destroy the yard and everything in it, keep him in a run until he grows out of the destructive puppy stage.

Why can't they buy another bitch to keep him company? He appears to be in a very bad way and getting him another female companion may be the only satisfactory solution. Leaving a dog in this sort of state for an extended period of time is a form of cruelty IMO.

I would purchase a wire crate, soft crates are light and handy to take to shows etc., but for general everyday use wire crates are better IMO.

He could also have a giardia infection.

Orijen is NOT available at 4 Paws and More, I have already enquired.

What breed do you have? Unless you have a whippet, Italian greyhound, hairless etc. which shouldn't really be outside dogs anyway, you do not need to provide heating during winter, especially in a mild climate like Adelaide. A normal healthy dog is perfectly capable of generating enough heat to keep itself warm and any form of heating is totally unnecessary.

I have been feeding Nutro and was very pleased with it, but the last two bags I purchased had a funny chemical smell about them and only two of my dogs would willingly eat it, the other three were very reluctant and were eating a little but leaving most of it. When I contacted the supplier I was told that they'd changed the lining of the bags and that the smell of the lining had permeated the food. The suppliers were very good and replaced it with Eagle Pack Holistic which is what I used to use. Looking at the condition of my dogs now I think that one dog does better on Nutro, but the others appear to be about the same so I will probably go back to Nutro when a new batch comes in. There's no point in me purchasing another bag from the same batch as it will obviously smell the same and I'll have the same problem with the dogs eating it. I'd just like to add that the problem was with the food not the suppliers, I have never had any problems at all with the supplier, they have always given good service and been very nice to deal with.

That brush isn't suitable, it probably scratches him, some slickers are extremely harsh, especially the cheaper brands. My dogs would run a mile from that brush and they are groomed every day and sometimes for over an hour. You will have much more success if you groom your dog on a table, trying to groom a reluctant dog on the ground is very hard and you'll find it much easier if you have him at a more convenient height, he is also less likely to play up. If you have an outdoor table that will be fine. Also don't mess around with the dog, put him on the table and just do it, be firm and don't allow him to throw a tantrum, if he's really bad keep a collar on him and get someone to hold his head. Once he knows that you mean business he will accept it and stop fighting, you just have to be firm and persevere.

If I was a 4 month old shih tzu and I was trampled by a malamute puppy I'd probably be pretty wary of strange dogs too, things like this can affect a puppy for life which is why I would never take a small puppy to a dog park, there are just too many irresponsible dog owners with uncontrollable dogs. I would suggest that you don't force him to meet other dogs, taking a nervous puppy into another dog's environment isn't going to help things at all, it will just make him worse. Start taking him to puppy classes at an obedience club, in this way he will meet other dogs in a controlled environment and you won't have to worry about large unruly dogs jumping all over him. It may take a while, but hopefully he will gradually become more confident.

Is the kennel close to the house? Dogs like to be close to their owners, he's also more likely to use it if he can see you so placing it on a veranda next to a french window or near the door to the house may help. However some dogs just won't use kennels.

You could try crating him in your bedroom.

ruthless I contacted Steve from K9 Force and did loose leash walking as a long distance learning package

Natural Balance make dry foods that they say are super premium, but the first ingredient is rice.

The only sensible solution is to be tidy and put anything that you don't want chewed out of your puppy's reach, puppies find all leather items extremely attractive so make sure that you don't leave any leather clothing or shoes lying around. Make sure that you supervise your puppy at all times (you will need to do that anyway if you're toilet training) and crate or otherwise contain your puppy when you can't watch him. You can also pop your puppy outside with a bone, puppies usually find a bone far more attractive than anything else and a soft brisket bone should keep him occupied for quite some time. I wouldn't use Vicks either.

I am going to watch my friend trialling in CCD, I will be taking my boys along so they can see how it's done, they might learn something :p

Look I don't know what's causing it, but I do know that many dogs are intolerant of foods containing a lot of cereal. A dog's GI tract is designed to process low fibre animal products like flesh and bones, they can't digest carbohydrate well and most of the cereal content in dry foods is there as a filler, nearly all of it passes through unprocessed and this is what can cause the diarrhoea. If I feed my dogs a cheap food like Supercoat it goes straight through them, I get large piles of sloppy poo and my dogs lose condition, some dogs can handle Supercoat, but my dogs most certainly can't. With a good super premium food (I wouldn't call Natural Balance a super premium food) you will feed less, your dog will be healthier and happier and you will have much less poo to pick up. I don't solely rely on dry food though, I also feed chicken wings and frames, meat, brisket bones, raw eggs, yoghurt, canned sardines/salmon/mackerel and occasional vegetables. It MAY be the food, however I'm sure you'll get many more helpful replies :p