Isabel964

I don't know what state you are in. I am in Melbourne and I know Ausdogs are too - Im pretty sure I used John. if you are not in Melbourne, there will be similar people Here is the website http://www.ausdog.com.au/?gclid=CNHsnP2M-4oCFQXUhgodhklrFA The fact that the cat is not terrified of Charlie indicates to me that she knows Charlie is playing. I really think this situation will be ok if you get the right training. Staffy's are full-on little buggers but so wonderful. It worries me a bit how Charlie was so tense when the cat wat at the food bowl - I'd try to teach the cat not to go near the dogs food bowl. ut easier than that would be to feed the dogs, then take their bowls away. So the only time the dogs have food bowls is when it is their dinner time. At dog dinner time, make sure the cats are not there - lock the cats in the bedroom or something. A staffy and his food - keep the cats away. Easy to do and so worth it. If you get Ausdogs in, they will know immediately if Charlie is a threat to the cats. I understand your daughter and her self esteem and you wanting to keep the dog for her benefit. She can be really proud and have a best little buddy, but a staffy must be well trained. She should aim to be able to walk Charlie without a lead and have full control of him. He must come every time to she calls him - even if he is chasing a bird. This is not easy but this is waht Ausdogs can help with. They give a lifetime guarantee and they are AMAZING. But it takes practise and just 10 minutes a day can make all the difference. 6 month of consistent effort will end up so great as she will get a lifetime of pleasure and pride with Charlie. Good luck to you, your daughter, and the furs

OK, see how things go...keeping an eye on them, separated if possible when you are not around. If the cat is scratching with claws out, your dog could end up with needing vet attention or losing an eye. I have three cats, one is an abyssinian. For some reason, my Westie chases him and grabs him aournd the neck and startes to devour him. Milo the cat ends up upside down gripped by the dog. Milo fights hard but keep all claws in. This goes on for about 5 - 10 minutes as they wrestle. They love it and I ahve found them sleeping together. Milo ends up really wet but doesn't mind. Sometimes I do warn Jindi... "BE GENNNTTLLLEEE" . Make sure its in fun Let Charlie know he has to be ggeennttllle (You can teach him this in other ways) Make sure your cat always has an escape. Mine has several cat stands and a huge cat-castle that is about 7 feet high. If its not in fun... then if I was you I would call in people like AusDogs and get them to help. They are brilliant. I'm so sorry that you have come back to this. I wish you all the best... I have a feeling it will work out just fine.

Many many moons ago (like about 30 year ago or more) my parents live where there were few fences. Our dog would come home with shoes. She came home with a pair, only single shoes and she would leave them at the front door.

I'm no expert, but if I was in your position I'd engage barkbusters or Ausdogs. These people are experienced with dogs and give a guarantee - ie they resolve the problem and if it comes back, they come back for free (I think). I used Ausdogs once and they were like a magic wand and made my life and my dog's life AWESOME. I think this problem can be resolved, but its important to nip it ASAP. Keeping the dog indoors is not a solution, it must be hard when you walk your dog too. I've seen this problem with that dognanny type show - she is amazing! If you'd like Ausdogs number I will have that somewhere...PM me if you like. Good luck. Don't despair. You can get through this. When you take action, it might be a good idea to let the neighbours know too...they will be more understanding when they know you are taking action to resolve the issue.

RIP Max. Its so sad to lose our dogs (and cats). They are such an important huge part of our families. My Zeus died of old age two Augusts ago and yet it only feels like a couple of months ago. I hope that Max is in the rainbow bridge with Zeus and all my kitties that have past especially Tigger, Bindi and my precious Isabella, and with Dusty who was so loved so many years ago.

I was told that Westies can be prone to skin problems, but not sure if it the case with all terriers. I think the trick is to stop itching ASAP so that it does not become habit. There are things you can do to prevent skin issues - like certain oils added to their food etc. Options I can think of; Take her to the vet to rule out tiny bugs Ask the vet for advice Try a medicated gentle anti-itch wash Good luck

Call Ausdogs. They will change your life. They know dogs and are amazing. Ask for John. He helped me and now my dog and I have a wonderful life. He is a magic man - a miracle worker.

Thank you so much for your comments. Dogcop I'm osrry its too painful for you. My friend is really beside herself with worry and all your comments might be really helpful.

Yes, Hypoglycemia can be brought on by not eating regularly. But I do not knwo much else about it. Of the symptoms of Hypoglycemia he has the following in bold. Symptoms of Hypoglycemia (I have bolded the ones Folsom experienced): drowsiness shivering collapsing disorientation seizures listlessness depression (to a lesser extent Folsom was kind of 'down' both times) muscle weakness tremors Source abnormal hunger/complete disinterest in food restlessness weakness, lethargy head tilting shivering staggering, uncoordinated movements problems with eyesight disorientation (yowling, walking in circles, hiding, etc.) Though it seems to be called yelping in dogs convulsions or seizures coma Those symptoms actually come from a site about feline Hypoglycemia, but I would imagine the symptoms are similar. Source Staggering or collapse Weakness Aggression Moodiness Glassy eyes, staring, dazed looked Seizure Source lethargy weakness incoordination seizures nervousness tremors hunger

I have a friend who has a medium sized dog - about 6 months old. In the morning when they went out the backyard with him he suddenly started whimpering. By the time they had run up to him, it had turned into all-out yelping. He was hysterical. He wouldn't anyone near him. After he calmed a little bit, they discovered that one of his paws was wet. On the way to the vet his gums and ears started turning blue, and then he lost control of the right side of his body. When they got into the exam room, he was crying in pain again. The vet said he was in A LOT of pain. The vet gave him a pain shot and a antihistamine shot, as well as prescribed some pill-form painkillers. The vet also said to give him a Benedryl every 6-8 hours. He is to rest for the next three days.... no excitement, no playing. It was thought maybe the dog got bitten by something he was highly allergic to. The next day it happened again - this time the dog was inside the house. Back to the vet and the vet said it could have been that he had a reaction to the Benedryl. Seeing as how he started doing that about 30 minutes after he was given the Benedryl pill that was possile. The vet said that since it wasn't an insect reaction, they should stop the Benedryl. The first sign was whimpering, which turning into crying/yelping. Then he would go through a period of trying to hide. Both times that his humans tried to comfort him, he got aggressive (he is very good natured and doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body... normally). Once he got through the bad part, he would then start to shiver. Once the yelping, hiding, aggressiveness, and then shivering passed, he would then experience the lethargy/weakness. Also, though it didn't happen with the second episode, the first time he did experience head titling and collapse. The vet it might be seizures of some kind. Doing some research they found hypoglycemia and what raised my friends husbands interest is that it said that inexperienced vets often don't know the signs and mistake hypoglycemia as seizures, and assume seizures. Does anyone have experience with these things?

Oh poor baby. I have so often wished I had some like panasol for my babies. Once I brought a dog home from surgery. In the middle of the night the dog was in obvious pain and I could do little for him. Next time I asked the vet for pain killers in case I needed them in the middle of the night. That was a few years ago now. I don;t have them now as I threw them out after a year, but you have reminded me....I am going to ask my vet next time to see if there is anything I can keep around. You could contact an emergency vet centre and see if they have anything....

well I was also wondering how long she is crated for. don;t get me wrong, I am actually a fan of crating, but not for long periods. A puppy is usually creative, and if you crate her for too long she may lose that creativity for ever (my opinion not professioanl opinion). With mine, as a puppy, I would creat her for a few hours, but I also bought a puppy play pen. The crate would go in that and this allowed her to be secure and have her crate but also have some toys and a play area. Her toys would change every day. I would also give her a marrow bone one day, or a puzzle ball/kong on another day (with a treat inside to get). I would also have a routine of playing with her. I think that another thing to do is exercise her mind. This will keep her from being bored, and actually is very good for her. SO you take her, and get her to sit beside you facing the front. Get her to walk next to you (heeling). Get her to drop. Get her to walk next to you while you walk at different speeds (she needs to learn to match your walking speed). Make her sit, stay.... See if she will fetch a ball (give her a tiny treat when she brings it back to you. If I was you I would not hesitate to contact Ausdogs or similar. They know dogs and provide ome simple techniques that will change your life. Otherwsie you can talk to your vet, or ask your vet for a canin behaviourist. You are doing the right thing by getting onto this early. Once bad habits devlop its harder to undo them. Maybe she needs a companion dog?

What are the big no-no's for feeding to dogs? The List So Far No cooked bones - Cooked meat is ok, but cooking bones makes them brittle. Cooked meat is ok, but it does lose alot of the goodness that is in raw meat. Raw chicken with bones and carcass is ok, but remove the drum stick as it can be pointy and hazardous Raw meat - all is ok, even pork. Eggs are good, though white can reduce ability to absorb some nutrients. A whole egge is good, the yold only is better (I think) Bacon is ok, but because its smoked or processed, should not be given in anything thatn small amounts. No Liver for puppies. Can cause the squirts big time. It did with mine and it was horrible (really horrible) No chocolate. The darker (more pure) the chocolate the less hazardous it is. No Onion (raw or cooked) No Cows Milk due to lactose intolerance (Goats milk is fine). This is debatable as some dogs do have the enzyme that processes lactose in cows milk. If given to puppies when very young, they can be ok with (Mine have always been ok with milk). But as Steve says if they stop drinking cows milk for some time, they may lose the enzyme that processes it and become lactose intolerant. This is a personal thing and some poeple find their dogs are just fine and others would not consider givig their dog cows milk. No Grapes/Sultanas/Currants etc - Poisoness (I had no idea about this!) No Alcohol or caffiene (Including Tea) Bread & Potatoes (too much can cause bloat) Please remind me. I'm sure alot of us can do with reminders. PS I'm editing this as people repond so we get one list that might help people.

What a wonderful long life. I'm so sorry Grammy is now at the rainbow bridge, I know you will miss her very very much. I can only imagine the hole left in your world now. You gave her love and warmth and a part of her will always be a part of you. RIP special Grammy.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Words just don't exist to say enough. You gave Tarni a wonderful home and lots of love, as you give all you furs. Remember the good times and remember that their spirit will always be with you as they leave little paw prints on our hearts.

Oh gosh my heart breaks for you. My son was driving home the other day and he saw a dog off leash run straight across the road. The dog had seen a cat on the other side of the road and run as fast as ightening after it. The owners were right there with the dog and they said he never ever would go on the road like that and was highly obedience trained. It was German Sheppard and he died right there. Such a tragedy. Give yourself time. It will be ok. He was a beautiful dog and his life was filled with love and joy with you and Mrs B. He will be your angel now watching over you. You know if you are ok to get another puppy right away. Its the best thing for some people. One tip - I lost a very special cat under terrible circumstances. I blamed myself and I missed her terribly. I went and got another kitten, same gender, same breed, identical colour. I found it really hard to bond with the kitten (now she and I are fine but was very complicated and difficult). Maybe it was just me, but my advice for what its worth would be to get one with as different colouring to Andy as you can, and maybe even a different gender. Once again, I'm so sorry for your tragedy.

Yeah, be grateful! Male dogs that lift their legs on everything...well, I prefer females because they don't do that. They just pee on the ground and thats that. Better that way!

Rozzie I don;t even know you but I ma nearly in tears. I know the absolute sorrow of losing someone like Keera as I lost Zeus in my arms at 14 years last August. He was old and riddled with cancer, but he was my boy and if there is a God, well he knows how hard it was even though I knew it was his time. I've never lost a child, but losing Zeus felt like losing a child. Keera had a lovely life with you I'm sure, and he will be your angel...sitting right by your shoulder looking out for you forever more.

So sorry to hear this. My best wishes for a speedy diagnosis and recovery.

Not sure if you have tried this, but as soon as he botes/snaps, say 'NO' and immediately stop playing with him. If you are not paying with him when he does it, stop moving and say a firm 'NO'. Distract him with a different behaviour/task/action to divert his attention to something he is allowed to do. Puppies love to please their owners. If they know something they do does not please you, they will be keen to stop doing it..but being young they are easily confused so diverting their attention is the next best thing. Have you taught him to sit on command? If yes, when he bites/snaps you could say 'NO'. Then say 'sit'. When he sits praise him and then divert his attention to something else. This might be wrong advice. I am not a dog trainer. Its just what I would do.

Thank you verymuch. You are so terrific. To answer a few questions: She is fed Innova, so there is nothing bad in that that I know of. I think its top quality food. She also sometimes get raw minces lamb or beef - just a bit. She is not stressed and has no anxiety. She is a very well tempered dog, well adjusted, thrilled with life and loves her sister (a kelpie). She has very regular exercise and is very regularly groomed. Her feet are not red raw. Its not gone that far. There is not much in the garden but I will check out the thread on grasses. I am persisting with the bitter spray and it seems to have slowered the chewing down I will try the Malaseb foam too. I will get the cold-pressed flaxseed oil and the zinc tablets after talking it over with my vet, and I will a bsolutely look into Atopic Dermatitis or Atopy. Plus I will look into the taking her off Innova and onto food for sensitve skin if the sensitive skin food is better than the innova (I think the innova is pretty good). I'll let you know how this goes. Many thanks! Any more suggestions or PMs are always welcome!

My Westie is 10 months old and she chews her paws. I check all the time and make sure there is nothing in there like prickles, or grass or anything to irritate her, but she chews and chews. I bought the bitter spray and really soaked her paws in it, but she still chews them! Why is she chewing them? Its as if they are itchy but I can not see why. Its only the front ones They are going red from the saliva and I worry about her developing sores on them if this continues. I'd be very grateful for any advice.

I am the last person to give advice as I have no common sense with dog training and always need help. But I do know that its great you are focusing on getting on top of this, and the sooner you do the better it will be. This behaviour could also manifest itself into other behaviours you don't want. My instinct tells me this is something you can easily get on top of once you know how. I live in Melbourne and have used a fantastic dog trainer. Its about $250 for 1.5 hours and I'm pretty sure you get a lifetime guarantee that what they teach you works. They are amazing. PM me if you'd like to know who they are. I had 1.5 hours with them and since then my kelpie walks off the lead perfectly. Its fantastic and changed her life so much for the better. Good luck.

Herding Guy, it's certainly starting to look that way!!! But I will be thinking of you on the plane on my way to Hamilton Island Aaahhhh Hamilton Island. One of my favourite places. Have a great time!

Its so sad that dogs leave us so soon. They ought to live a lot longer that they do. Losing them just breaks our hearts. If it was child we lost people would understand, but so many don't understand that losing a dog is just the same in many ways. I'm sorry that you are still hurting. I hope you know that Patch is your angel, watching over you. Try to remember good memories, and try to be happy for the time that you had together. Try to hang on to that for patch would not want you to be sad. I know its easier said than done, you are my thoughts and I wish you well. When I got my newe puppy, after I thought I could never again have a dog and bear the pain of the loss, I looked into her puppy eyes and I told her that everyday I have with her is worth every day that she won't be there anymore. Its so true.