Her Majesty Dogmad

No - I would never do it again! We gave it to my first ever dog in the UK - we will always remember that night - we refer to it as "Bertie's explosion". When we opened the door in the morning (he slept in a bedroom), the poop was up the walls and all over the doona, the furniture, the carpet and him - he'd walked it everywhere! I had to go to work and leave my mother to clean up - luckily she has no sense of smell. Try it at your peril

I had this with one of my girls, it's female incontinence. They do it when asleep usually. Mine did it in the car and on her bed and it was straight off to the vets. She was put on Stilboestrel about 18 months ago and no probs since. Just had to increase the dosage when it started again and soon stopped.

Make the car really positive - lots of treats and things. Don't necessarily go anywhere. Then try just going round the block and so on. Tehre was something about this on "Its me or the dog" recently but as usual, someone rang me whilst she was explaining what to do and I missed it!

Try permoxyn and vaseline - rub it on every day, won't hurt the ears if they already have a bit of fly bite. I would imagine some oils would not be great for this purpose. Flybite is awful when it gets hold.

Yes, once you get past Narrabeen on the beaches, it can be really bad. Also, Wahroonga area is bad too. Anywhere that adjoins bush is risky so I've stopped walking in Pennant Hills parks, Berowra area is really bad also. But I've heard that ticks have now been found on some dogs in the inner west this year! Don't know about the south but wherever it is bushy, you'll find ticks - it would seem even in places you don't have bush now it can happen.

There is a flea plague in NSW due to the weather and sometimes, when people before you have had cats, fleas can be worse. As it's all over it could be fleas. Alternatively, it could be Wandering Jew - dogs like it and will roll in it so it could be worth checking with your vet. There is a thread above called "red legs" and there's a link to a website about plant allergies. Check it out!

I'll bet it's Wandering Jew. A nightmare plant - pls visit your vet and look at a picture of it - one touch and it can cause all this irritation. I know, because my last foxy and my current one have this problem. I have a patch of garden that both dogs got into where there is a ground cover plant, the WJ grows on sprigs in between and is almost impossible to spot. I have now decided to block that area off (with difficulty) and try and use weed killer to kill off the ground cover as getting up into this area once a week is not sufficient. I have also noticed that people have it growing in their gardens and my little dog may have brushed against it on our walks. The Alloveen is great but hasn't stopped the itching and nor has anything else, I have had to resort to Cortisone.

I have a little foxy/IG cross (in my avatar) - he chooses not to eat for 1 or 2 days a week, nothing will tempt him. He is completely normal at this time, poos are normal etc and he still walks and plays, doesn't appear to be in pain. I've never had a dog that didn't want to eat if they were completely well!

I just tell the groomer not to do my old girl's legs, she will nip and hates it so we leave it. The hair is not the kind that matts though.

I was being bitten by a fly yesterday and it did hurt! I found a recipe on here for a friend whose dogs' ears were being bitten - Permoxin with Vaseline - got to put it on each morning though. Can I suggest some other ideas that might help too? Collect poo regularly - I pick up the poo twice daily (more if I'm home). Fly traps - this year I've purchased fly traps from Bunnings and they are great! Hang them up and empty them every 2-3 weeks although that is a gross job .... Cleaning - clean off any cement where the dog(s) is marking/pooping - I used to do this with disinfectant but a friend told me about this last night: sprinkle on bicarbonate of soda, wait a few minutes. Spray over some white vinegar and it will fizz. I poured over some warm water but my friend scrubs a bit of water over with a broom. Buy the no frills stuff and there's no chemicals involved that may harm the dog. It seemed to cut back the numbers of flies visiting anyhow!

I agree with the others. Dried food only is extremely boring and many dogs are not happy on this diet. Add dried biscuits to other things and some will eat them then. I combine them with healthy foods such as pet mince, sardines, raw egg (once a week), rice, cooked sweet potato etc etc.

I would worry about using the words "quick, quick" in case I used them on another occasion and received a few presents! I use the command "Do wees" and mine go then. I'm not very experienced with puppies but would imagine they would certainly have the odd accident. Here's my method which has successfully trained dogs between 1 and 10 years: HOUSETRAINING TIPS Ok - first thing to do is decide on the command (I call it “do wees”) you will repeat over and over. You have to really focus on the dog for about 2-3 days to be successful. You have a pocketful of special treats on hand all the time for the first 2-3 days. Walk the dog several times a day and every time the dog wees, you get very excited and keep saying “Good boy/girl, do wees, do wees” – give the dog treats every time. First thing in the morning, last thing at night and every time you see the dog eat or drink (both precursors to weeing) whisk the dog into the garden and repeat the command “do wees”. Get very excited and present treats every time dog goes. The dog’s aim in life is to please you. If the dog should have an accident inside the house – say NOTHING at all. The dog soon gets the idea that when he/she goes outside you are really, really pleased and he/she gets rewarded. NB: Please note that the smell of urine must be properly removed for any housetraining to be successful. There are products on the market such as “Urine Off” but they are very expensive. A mix of white vinegar and water is a much cheaper alternative and should work for tiles and other surfaces although you should always take care with wood etc. For carpet/rugs, I use either a mixture of Napisan/water or bicarb of soda and water. I completely soak the stain using a dab on technique with a cloth. When it is very wet, I use an old towel to soak up the excess moisture. Again, be careful on any expensive carpet/rug, I have never had any problems but I cannot guarantee any method here.

Tonymc - I can hardly be bothered to reply to you - I rarely agree with what you post and not just in this topic. But you have taken what I said and twisted it around. I was merely trying to point out that many dogs have most definitely been abused and that I've had a fair few so perhaps I might be able to recognise abuse, particularly as I'm living with the dog. Some had probably been badly bred, that is for sure and many had never been abused but I would say that it is a sad indictment on our society that so many dogs are abused and, as I said before, I don't just mean battered or kicked but they turn out damaged in one way or another. The minute you start talking about rescue dogs and do gooders in the area, you are bound to attract attention and potentially upset a few people. As for you taking "rank" dogs - try picking up a maltese from the pound aged about 5 that has never seen a brush. That's about as rank as they get, I can assure you. I have groomed 1 that took me about 3 hours, he weighed about 3 kilos but was a mass of walking poo dags. Most people would have rejected him because of this probably. As I said before, the word "do gooder" is a derogatory term. I have found that people who like to throw the term around are often those who are so selfish, they cannot believe that another person would do something for nothing therefore they feel that the "do gooder" has to be getting something out of it for themselves - eg heaps of praise and congratulations from others, therefore making it very worthwhile for them. There may of course be some people out there that this applies to but it isn't any of the people I know that rescue.

Very good point Ruby & Axel. Neglect is another form of cruelty/abuse. I find this all a bit loaded towards people that rescue as if there's something wrong with doing that. Tonymc - do you rescue dogs at all? I have fostered/rescued around 40 or 50 dogs in the last few years, not all have been abused but quite a few have problems that I don't believe they'd have been born with. How do I know that? Well you are right, I don't for sure. But what I do know is that after a certain period of time, certain foster dogs have no longer felt the need to hide under the sofa 24/7 or run away when I move my hands too fast. Those are just a couple of examples. The dogs I'm referring to have ranged in age from 12 months to 10 years. I strongly object when people suggest I'm a do gooder, it is a derogatory term. I am doing good but I don't see why people feel the need to put you down because of it and I don't do it for the accolades - don't want or need them. If you don't rescue yourself, you'll just have to trust me that there is plenty of hard work and heartache associated with it.

I've never heard of this before and don't understand what you mean? Are you talking about toilet training or do you never want to see the dog lift it's leg. I thought that young male dogs always squatted and that non dominant males continued to squat mostly (I have one myself and he rarely cocks his leg). I've heard that breeders often use only one place in the garden to get dogs to go so they don't do it whilst walking. But this all comes down to toilet training, is that what you are talking about - you don't want the dog to go inside? If that's the case, then the dog is definitely better off being desexed as undesexed dogs will mark territory. Even desexed ones will in new places sometimes.

Someone told me about some crystals that you can get from horse supply places that kill March flies, you hang these crystals high up. Don't know if it works for all flies?

Perfectly normal behaviour unfortunately! My house has never recovered from 2 young destructive dogs, still bears all the scars and I haven't been able to afford to replace everything - no houseplants left and many garden plants destroyed, new coffee table, many books and other small items too including cushions, bedding etc. The bigger the dog, the worse it may be. You do need to exercise Pointers significantly, my friend always walked hers for at least 5 kms every morning at 5 am!!! Did it for years until just before he passed away aged 13.

My friend tried the vaseline/permoxin treatment and it worked for her dogs. I'm using fly traps myself this year - I pick up the poop twice daily but for some reason have a terrible fly problem, always have. The fly traps are amazing, inexpensive and quite effective but by God they stink - my friend has them and makes her husband empty them but at my place there's only me - UUUGGHHHH but I hate flies more. Just go to Bunnings, they don't cost much and may help!

Don't muck around with ears - that's my best advice - I have a foster dog with blown eardrums due to ear infection not being treated, it doesn't take much. Off to the vets for you.

So sorry, you tried your best for her, hope Ellie recovers very quickly. RIP Cleo, I loved your funny face when I met you in the pound.

My family's first dog had this happen, it was awful but there were not many symptoms apart from his bottom looking a bit swollen (I mentioned it and my family accused me of being a hypochondriac!!). It burst and pus ran down his bottom, it was awful. I think he probably had antibiotics and twice daily baths.

I did also go to Peter Schofield, fixed up one of my dogs beautifully but the other still requires surgery.

(02) 9712 5844 All Natural Vet Care Services 292 Lyons Rd Russell Lea NSW 2046 e-mail [email protected] This is where Barbara Fougere is located, she has written a fantastic book on dog health.

Russell Lea is right near Drummoyne, it's the next suburb. Just turn off Victoria Road in Lyons Road and keep going and the vet is on the righthandside. There is a physio in Leichardt that I've had recommended as well if you want that info but I'd try a vet first.

Try the Natural Vet at Russell Lea in Sydney, they are very good. Or do a websearch, plenty of places out there.