littlesev

Thanks, I will contact them. Juice, that's good to know. Okay, no mopping! :D

In a couple of weeks, our house is due for a pest and termite treatment. The exterminator was chosen by the strata management and they will spray the yard and every room in our house. I'm a bit worried about my dog who is a chronic licker. So far, I've thought to: - Put his crate, bed, toys etc away - Take him out for the day - Vacuum the carpet once we return - Mop the floor Wondering what else I could do, if any, especially with the backyard lawn. Much appreciated :)

I'm so glad to hear that I am rooting for you two. Hear, hear to Roo's continuous positive development.

Plenty of my Muslim friends raise and love dogs :) One friend who has 7 dogs told me that while it's true that the religion views dog as 'unclean', they manage by keeping the dog and themselves clean. They teach their dogs not to lick hands and that's about it. IMO, not everyone who belongs to a certain culture/religion/what-have-you take their beliefs to the extreme, especially if we take into account that these religious texts were written a couple thousands of years ago. It's like if I were to apply every word of the bible to my everyday life, I'll probably most likely fail gloriously :laugh: Back to the OP, I would say upbringing matters a lot. Sure, some kids just have mean streaks, but there are also those who just don't know how to act because the adults in their lives never teach them to, or teach them negative things. Kids are quite impressionable and what they do (or fail to do) oftentimes reflect that.

Gorgeous pup! Perhaps you may consider getting a DNA test? He looks like he could be a cross of several breeds, GSD included.

I'm so sorry to hear your story Rehoming may be a solution if it's to a suitable home. Is her attachment only to you or does she hate to be left alone and anyone would do? Can you leave her for even one hour or will she start panicking as soon as you get out of the door? I can imagine that being left for long stretch of hours, her anxiety would only worsen even with medication. I'm sure you have tried this, but one thing I read about is to transition slowly - go to another room and stay there. Then go out of the house for a 10 minutes and come back. Extend that to 20 mins, and so on. The idea is to (very slowly) easing your dog to the idea of being alone. Anyway, I really hope you find someone who could help you two. She looks very sweet.

I think this question needs to be looked on as how the dog looks and feels at any given time, if they have healthy teeth, coats, skin, energy etc etc then the diet they are on must be working. Well that's how I look at it anyway. If I took advice from the vets I'd be feeding the most expensive food ever that they sell. I like to be the judge of what they need as far as food requirements go. Don't get me wrong I have had to change diets with one of mine a few times before we finally got it right. Some dogs can have anything and still lead a long life some dogs diets need a bit of tweaking. That's true. I'm currently trying to tweak my dog's diet. He's on Wellness puppy, homecooked stew and raw. He's fine but I don't think he "thrives" yet. I would love it if I can get a health test that would show if say, he needs more protein or he has too much sugar and then just adjust accordingly :)

This is an interesting thread. I'm wondering the same thing because I'm raising my first dog in years and want to do my best to keep him healthy. Like Donatella, I have an my uncle who has a chihuahua who eats KFC, all cooked bones and all sort of table scraps. He's never been on lead, never get walked / vaccinated / crated / trained etc (they live in a different country). I keep telling them that food isn't good for him but he hasn't been sick ever :laugh: Meanwhile, mine has been to the vet back and forth in the few months I have him. Not saying we should feed them junk but perhaps not treating them with kiddie gloves make some dogs stronger? Also, does anyone do any regular test to monitor their health and see what needs to be added to the diet?

No meat? I think the 'Royal' in the name might lead folks into thinking that it's high quality food.

So sorry to hear that. I think in the meantime, just keep her hydrated (if she doesn't want to drink, splash some water on your fingers and dampen her lips and see if she would lick it) and let her sleep. When you return to the vet, perhaps ask for an Xray and run more tests.

Perhaps infection or blockage? The symptoms are very similar to my puppy, except that his blood test showed inflammation. I saw three vets who suggested from paralysis tick to polyarthritis, but he responded very well to the antibiotics and got better so the vet concluded that it was probably side effect of his C5 vaccination. Sending prayers that Jolie gets better soon. It's really scary when the vet doesn't have exact diagnosis of the illness and the dog doesn't get better

She's gorgeous, congrats! She reminds me of my last dog, a Min Pin, so you may be onto something there.

That's so sad, losing both the baby and the dog at the same time

And for now, perhaps secure the clothes with more pegs? My puppy used to do that but stopped once he realised he couldn't pull them off no matter how hard he tries :)

Mine loves to steal used tissue from our trash can and rip it apart. He eats the occasional few but most of the times, I manage to take it off his mouth and he'd growl at me. I usually show him the tissue on one hand and his favorite treat on another. He always goes for the treat :laugh:

My puppy has a C3 at 8 weeks, then C5 at 12 and 16 weeks (for which he had terrible side effects). If I could do it again, I would only give him C3. I also plan to get a booster but after a titre testing at 12 months. Congrats for your new puppy

megan_, I'll check it out, thanks!! I guess his growls often surprise a lot of people. People in the street thought it came from the Rotti (who was just minding his own business). Thankfully, all the giant breeds we've met so far seem so calm and nonchalant. Can't say the same about the small dogs :laugh: Huski, she tactfully asked me to leave and suggested that we do private training instead. While other dog owners seemed pretty understanding, the class was getting difficult to get through with his constant growling and me having to restrain him, I missed most of the info too. I'm glad to hear that it sounds normal for a puppy. <br style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: verdana, tahoma, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(238, 242, 247);">That seems a big generalisation. Someone here will give you a recommendation to a person who can help you .... just be careful who you choose ..take advice from DOLers who have 'been there, Done That" Now this baby has had a bout of severe illness , at an important time in his puppyhood... and who is to say the illness has not affected him ? My suggestion is a thorough vet check WITH BLOOD TESTS at a vet who knows what they are looking at...just so you have all the info . THEN .. find a good reliable KNOWN trainer/behaviourist to help you understand what is happening in GG's life .... Persephone, there was a bump on the back of his neck where he got his C5 vaccine that went away once the antibiotics started working and he got better, so vet thought it's likely to be vaccine related and not IMPA. The puppy class happened a little while before. Thanks :) I'll follow the general advice here and get a good trainer for him and pass on medication.

Yeah, she's a dog trainer who holds puppy classes at the vet's. Thanks Minimax, I'm also considering a private session. I was just told beforehand that other behaviourists & trainers would most likely prescribe medication for him. megan_, I'm in Eastwood NSW. Yeah, I'm fine if he's not a dog dog. I just want him to be able to have proper interaction with dogs. I'll appreciate any recommendation :) Panzer Attack!, thanks for the info. Ideally I'd treat medication as last resort. His flea/tick/worm treatment and medicines for recent illness are already too much chemicals for his tiny body.

I'm wondering if anyone here has had success in using medication to treat dog aggression? We recently got kicked out of puppy school because GG started to get extremely agitated around other puppies and couldn't stop barking at them, even with Thundershirt on. I have to note that he's calm at home - naughty and often gets bitey because he's teething but he rarely barks and loves people. On lead he is a big puller, he runs, not walks and has high adrenaline on general. The trainer suggested that we put him on medication to lower his stress level, thereby allowing him to interact with dogs in a much more relaxed state and wean him off completely in 9 months. I've read up a bit on the subject but would like to know first hand experience with it When I let GG come up and say hello to dogs, he doesn't know how to interact properly. He'll jump and use his paws to… scratch (it's a poor word, but I can't think of anything else) them out of excitement. They will just stare back, confused and then he would start growling uncontrollably and I have to ask him to calm down. In other cases, he would growl at sight. Once he tried to pick a fight with a calm and indifferent Rotti (my dog is a 4kg silky terrier) and couple of times, he goes on prey mode, creeps slowly and watches the other dog from a distance. Or sometimes other dog barks first and he'd bark in response. It has become a sort of catch-22 that I know he needs to learn to interact with dogs but can't bring him to dog park, enrol him in obedience class or let him get too close to dogs because I can't guess what his reaction would be. Sometimes he is well-mannered, particularly with adult dogs. But if he reacts badly, I can't exactly risk other dog's for the sake of training mine. I also don't have friends who have dogs. So right now we stick to 'hi and bye' when meeting unfamiliar dogs. I guess one option is to get a companion dog with whom he could learn to play (with very close supervision of course) but that wouldn't be feasible right now as I have my hands full with one pup

When the weather is still bearable (25-27), I turn on the fan directed to his playpen. When it's super hot, I leave the aircon on. Works well so far for us. He's the type of dog who would sunbathe until his coat is all hot and then goes inside and quickly gulps down water though :laugh:

I happen to live in a newish strata property (townhouse) and got my pet approval within a week. Also, I was allowed to keep my dog while waiting for a approval which was basically formality. Both the neighbours and the strata management have been very accommodating. I say, keep looking for property with better strata policy. If they are impossibly strict on pets, who knows what other areas they might be strict about?

That's horrific. This is the reason why I'm hesitant to ever use kennel/board because you read so many stories like this. I hope they get it all sorted out.

I mix up a raw mix about once a month for my pugs, I don't measure exact quantities though. It's usually beef mince based, with some lamb mince (for example, last night I bought 2kg of lamb mince and 3kg of beef mince, we'll probably use it all). I also add some sort of organ meat, this time I got liver (forget if its beef or lamb). I put some carrots and apples through the juicer to pulp them (maybe ... 6 apples or a few more depending on the size) and sometimes 500g of carrots and 2 or 3 zucchinis. I drink the apple juice myself, use a teeny bit of carrot juice to make the mix moist. Flaxseed powder goes in the mix, so does cranberry powder (as I have a pug prone to UTI's). I either chuck in a few tins of sardines in oil or some eggs with shells. I don't add grains or carbs or anything like that. It ends up looking something like this: Sometimes it has more meat less veggies, because it's not an exact science. They get it for brekky with yoghurt and sometimes a chicken foot or necks. Dinner is chicken carcass usually, or some sort of meat on a bone or edible bone. Thanks Minimax, that's just what I'm looking for. I also like the idea of making a large batch since I get lazy in the morning sometimes Do you freeze it in small containers/plastic bags and unfreeze it before serving it? Yep, we have a deep freezer primarily for dog food, so the raw mix gets frozen in individual brekky sized portions in zip-lock bags and taken out of the freezer each night to defrost. I freeze my raw vegie slops in the little round containers I buy at Crazy Clark's, they come a little net, they are cheap, made in Australia and last and last without cracking or getting hard/brittle. One container lasts around 4 days with my lot. Thanks! Great ideas all around

I mix up a raw mix about once a month for my pugs, I don't measure exact quantities though. It's usually beef mince based, with some lamb mince (for example, last night I bought 2kg of lamb mince and 3kg of beef mince, we'll probably use it all). I also add some sort of organ meat, this time I got liver (forget if its beef or lamb). I put some carrots and apples through the juicer to pulp them (maybe ... 6 apples or a few more depending on the size) and sometimes 500g of carrots and 2 or 3 zucchinis. I drink the apple juice myself, use a teeny bit of carrot juice to make the mix moist. Flaxseed powder goes in the mix, so does cranberry powder (as I have a pug prone to UTI's). I either chuck in a few tins of sardines in oil or some eggs with shells. I don't add grains or carbs or anything like that. It ends up looking something like this: Sometimes it has more meat less veggies, because it's not an exact science. They get it for brekky with yoghurt and sometimes a chicken foot or necks. Dinner is chicken carcass usually, or some sort of meat on a bone or edible bone. Thanks Minimax, that's just what I'm looking for. I also like the idea of making a large batch since I get lazy in the morning sometimes Do you freeze it in small containers/plastic bags and unfreeze it before serving it?

I'm always interested in raw feeding. To those with small breed dogs who feed raw, what is your recipe? I have a silky terrier puppy and am not quite sure about the ratio between meat, veggies, meaty bones and supplements. Most of the raw recipes I find would be too high protein & carbs for him.