wagsalot

Carrot (Raw and cooked). Watermelon - he loves this. Apple. Most vegetables - he usually gets our leftovers. And I reckon his favourite thing is licking out the empty yoghurt containers!

I had a bit of a muck around tonight. My room wasn't dark enough - the blinds were letting a bit of street light in. Will have to try a different room. Ignore the back to front letter Next time I won't be in such a rush and should ahve a object! OH was trying to watch tv, so I couldn't do what I wanted to.

Riley had a bath last week, and it was his first bath in about 6 months. In summer he used to get washed alot more when I had the hydrobath as Id wash him to get all the sand off. Now I don't have the hydrobath he gets done only when smelly, which isn't that often.

Ended up going to the vet Tuesday as the itching started again. Vet said its a patch of excema but said it is a bit strange where it is. Anyway, he shaved the area so its easier to apply cream. Have been the applying the cream twice a day, and it seems to be working. Geez this dog is just like me with all the allergies !

Gave Riley a bath this morning and he hasn't itched once since then. Hopefully thats solved the problem. Edited - he just had a nice long scratch! The area still looks normal - white skin, not red, no lumps etc. Will give it a few days I think then head of to the vet if its still bothering him

Bit of update. The itching has continuted but not on the scale it was. He'll itch every now and again, but nothing that Id say was excessive or that I was worried about etc. However, tonight I was patting him and notice the fur in the section that he scratches is very short. Its certainly not a bald patch, the hair is still there, but instead of being about 4-5cm long like the rest of his hairs, its more 1-2cm long. It feels quite coarse, but this could just be because he's scratched it and broken it off. Its only in the section that he's scratched. The skin is a normal colour, not red, no bumps, spots or anything. Just looks like the rest of his skin. It doesn't seem to bother him in any way. I can pat it, rub it, poke it etc in the area he scratches and he couldnt' care less. Now im not sure if its something to worried about (the hair being really short) or not. Riley is known to get behavioural issues. He went through a stage where he licked his feet, sometimes to the point that he'd get them infected, then he moved onto licking his bum a few months back. However, the bum and feet licking has stopped, but now we have the scratching, so Im not sure if its his new thing to do. Does anyone have any ideas now? He hasn't had a bath in a while, and he used to get one more regularly, so Im wondering if that has anything to do with it. Ill give him a bath tomorrow. (I didn't see the above post about bathing before.)

Yep, if a dog wants to destroy something then soft toys won't work. On the other hand there are heaps of dogs that will happily carry around a soft toy for years without ripping it.

If they normally rip up soft toys, then my guess is they'd rip these up too.

2 New egg babies have come in - The Frog, and The Penguin! You can see piccies here: http://www.wagsalot.com.au/index.php?targe...;product_id=168

These are older shots, but I think they suit "frozen motion"

When Riley started digging I bought one of those kid clam shell pools from kmart and filled it up with sand. I used to bury treats and toys in there for him. It worked well.

Loving the photos. I will try and give this a shot myself soon. Im sick at the moment so can't be bothered, but hopefully on the weekend Ill feel inspired!

Well Ive been home with Riley for the last 2.5 hours and haven't seen him itch once. Strange!

Im not sure it was fleas - mainly because he was scratching the same spot everytime, and not anywhere else. I just called my Dad and he said he's been watching him and he hasn't scratched any more than usual, just once or twice here or there. Certainly not every few minute or two like he was this morning. I keep a eye on him over the weekend.

I searched the area he was itching and couldn't see or feel anything. His skin is really white, so its quite easy to see. He had frontline put on last Sunday (goes on every 2 weeks), and is wearing a tick collar (due to be replaced around now though). When I dropped him off with my dad he was running around loopy as he was excited and didn't itch once. He didn't itch on the way in the car either. I went through his bed when I left home too, but there was nothing odd in there. Hopefully it was just a phase and he'll stop.

He's never had fleas, and has flea protection. Thought of hot spots, but thought the area would be red? Its white, and doesn't look any different to normal. Allergies - could be. Diet hasn' changed, nor the environment. And it started at 6am which is odd. I just found out my dad is off work for the day, so Im dropping Riles up to his place before work, dad will keep a eye on him and if he's still doing it at lunch time ill make a appt at the vet and get off work early and take him. He's asleep in his bed now. It seems when he's asleep it doesn't bother him, but if he's up and walking about then he itches.

Riley woke up this morning scratching. He sleeps in his bed, next to our bed, so I could hear his collar dangling ,and him itching. He was doing it every few mins for about half a hour. In the end it drove me nuts so I got up and checked him all over and couldn't find anything in the spot he was itching (Same spot everytime). After that he went back to sleep and didn't itch for about 30 mins. Then my alarm went off so I got up, so he got up and the first thing he did was itch. Then he walked to the back door, and itched, walked outside, then itched, wee'd and then itched and so on! Now he's back in his bed and I can hear him scratching. I have no idea whats causing it, as he started about 6am and hadn't been outside etc - he'd been in his bed since 10pm last night. So my problem is, do you think I can leave him and go to work, and see how he is tonight? Or should I somehow try to get off work and take him into the vet? Im thinking a itch is a itch and he'll be fine, and if it keeps up over the next day or so ill take him, but the the other part of me is going what if he has been bitten by a spider or something like that. He does have a few issues where he'll lick his feet non stop til they get infected and a few other things - he gets himself into a habbit of doing things. OH reckons thats what he's doing now, as when i turned the light off and went back to sleep, and OH left for work, riley stopped itching for 30 mins.

ooooh I like this thread.. lots of cute puppies

I found the opposite with Riley. Once he realised it wasn't so easy to rip to shreads, he stopped trying to rip it apart as much and played with it more. We play tug with the ring with him, and fetch. He'll run around and grab it, chew on it for a bit, shake it around, chew a bit more then chucks it and races after it etc. It gets used as a play toy more than a chew toy now which is what we wanted. Taken from the tuffy website As I said every dog is different - you just need to work out what works best for you dog and go with it.

The tuffy's are tough, but are certainly not indestructible. If a dog wants to rip it to bits, then they will. Riley has a Mega ring (10 on the tuff scale) and its been going for 8 months. He just put a hole in the first layer of material last week. He still plays with it every day though. I have given him tuffy's which are 7 and 8's before and they didn't last a day. Saying that though, Ive had great feedback from customers who have purchased the same tuffys and have had great success with them. I sell the tuffy's and think they are a awesome product, however Ill be honest with people when asked and will say yes, some dogs will rip them to bits, but at the same time, they are still a hell of a lot tougher than your average soft toy. Every dog is different, some will rip them up, others wont. Im also fans of the kongs with frozen peanut butter inside, and solid rubber balls also work well for big chewers.

5% discount for Dol'ers . Edited - to remove discount code, as non Dolers were using it PM if you want the discount code

Glad they got there safely

Dinosaur and Turtle egg babies are here. So are the snakes in the grass, and the tough turtle puzzle toys. I have PM'd everyone who had them on hold

I looked into this but couldn't find any info for this year. Everthing was 2008. If it is this weekend they haven't done a very good job at promoting it. Edited to add - We have a stall at Pooches in the Park this Sat at Campbelltown instead now.

I have dinosaurs and turtles coming in next week. I'll have some different ones in a few weeks too , but I don't know what types yet. I've only just got word off the supplier about them. The tough turtle and snakes in the grass are on their way to me at the moment. They will be here early next week (should be Tuesday), and ill list them on the site as soon as they arrive. I only have limited numbers of them though at the moment. If you'd like one, you can PM me and I can put one aside when they come in if you like.