Kavik

I could put a bucket on him for a little while, but it is right above the area he has been chewing for years (no hair there anymore) - chronic bad spot for him. They did say it is likely to need removal, but the healing process may be difficult as the skin is in bad shape close by and he is constantly licking and chewing it. ruthless I like your idea of two for one

Can't help on price but Diesel has a lump about that size too just above where he chews his flank At the moment I am just keeping an eye on it. Told vet about it last time I was there, they said come in if it gets bigger. Said it could be difficult to remove because he chews the area and it would take a long time to heal.

That is just my experience with the Labs we had in at daycare (and is consistent with my experience with Labs at parks as well, I am careful if there is a Lab I don't know as sometimes they barrel up to my dog and get in his face and the owners just think he is being friendly. My GSD gets quite intimidated by them). We had a LOT of Labs come in. Can't have just have been my perception, all staff at the daycare thought the same thing, and from poocow's post, other people who are involved in boarding have a similar experience. The GSDs that came in tended to be a bit stressy in the busy daycare environment (including mine), and did not play anywhere near as rough. The Labs were not stressy in general. ETA: I am not saying they are not nice dogs or that they are necessarily naughty at home, this is in a busy, highly stimulating environment where there are lots of dogs in off lead together. The Labs and gundogs in general got very excited and could be difficult to control. It is not a big paddock with acres to run around, it is an enclosed space with lots of other dogs. Barrelling around at top speed is not really a good idea for a big dog in a little space surrounded by lots of other dogs!

We went for a walk last night, did some nose touches which he enjoys and a couple of come fores and he was happy

They can just be high mainenance in a kennel or daycare situation :D Destructive (chewed fences, put holes in the walls), noisy, mouthy, take your fingers off for a treat or toy, pushy with the other dogs, play rough, very strong and pull on lead, dig in water bowls making floors slippery. Just fairly naughty big boofers

Avery looks gorgeous! I can't believe he is still looking for a home! I have however promised myself and OH that next will be another Kelpie then possibly a Malinois.

I agree with Anita - I would simply not allow the dog in the bedroom over night. When you want to allow the dog on the bed, you can let him in the room.

Well, you've got one plus a puppy :rolleyes: I'll put my energy into Kaos, if this weather ever improves so training is on and we can practice them, we might even try to do contact obstacles in competition next month.

I thought about pets as therapy but I heard that the temp test is quite stringent for that? While he is a lovely, gentle dog, he might shy away from scary situations/harsh handling/loud group situations. Plus I doubt they would let him with skin issues - he stinks :rolleyes:

Yep, with those choices I will go the get another dog route and leave Diesel be. If he won't train happy we just won't do it. Does mean I have two dogs who I can't do anything with, bit depressing really. Well, at least I have one I can compete with, better than nothing.

He does show avoidance. Is getting worse too :rolleyes: I think I'll just let him be. He doesn't want to do it. It's not like he is out of control, just not interested. Just means I get to concentrate on the others more (mainly Kaos, as Zoe is 9 1/2 and dog aggro, I mosly only do some experimental stuff with Zoe, atm trying out running through a pvc box in case I want to try running contacts with next dog)

OK just called my vet. He said 3 yr vaccine is not the same as yearly vaccine. 3 yearly vaccines were Nobivac and the Fortdodge Duramune $65 + consult = $106 Titre test $200 (incl consult) He didn't seem to like titre tests or think they were reliable, he doesn't recommend them. Not surprising though. Doesn't seem many vets know much about them :rolleyes:

My vet mentioned 3 yearly vaccine but did not say it was the same as the other one :rolleyes: I just got vacc reminder for Diesel, who was done last year. If it is a 3 year protocol now with the same vaccine, why don't they tell you

Not really :rolleyes: He likes visiting OH's parents and wandering around their house and following OH around, but nothing useful that I could do with him. For a while he was a bit excited about tracking, but wasn't so much the last time I tried, maybe I'll give that another fun go, harder in winter with the darkness though, and they are now developing the block I was using for training.

My plan when I got him as a pup was to do competition obedience. I got all 3 dogs with the aim of competing Zoe is dog aggressive so couldn't compete Diesel has health problems and no motivation Kaos I can compete with :rolleyes: Reminder to self: Only go to registered breeders, research and ask questions and get one with plenty of drive and (fingers crossed!) good luck in the health department.

You're on :rolleyes:

Yep - he will bark when he watches the other dogs working but it doesn't seem to improve his performance when it is his turn

That could be your problem. Give him time to adjust to the polaramine which may take a while or go back to the iramine which seems to not make dogs drowsy. My vet sells me iramine in bottles of 100 which works out a bit cheaper. The vet said Iramine also might make him drowsy, but it didn't I also heard that the effects of drowsiness aren't as bad in dogs as they are in people. Also I did some calculations between Iramine, Polaramine and Phenergan to see which one works out cheaper and Polaramine was th cheapest, so we tried that after a trial of Iramine. The Iramine seems to work better, he scratches and chews himself less on it too. OH will hit the roof though if I suggest keeping him on it all the time. Even when not on antihistamines, he is the same. He perks up when on medication that makes him hungry though.

He won't work reliably for toys - today he just looked at it and walked away. He likes a pat but I can't see him liking it THAT much, not enough for primary reinforcer for training. Zoe is 9 1/2 and still works very well for food! You are probably right that what I am doing doesn't suit him, but I really don't know what to do. He would prefer just to mind his own business. He enjoys walks but I don't think he would go mental if I didn't walk him. I know I couldn't be bothered to do the remove all stimulus from the dog thing - really apart from everything else I can't see that it could make much difference. He just doesn't care about anything.

He is food motivated, and will sometimes work well for food, but other times not that interested. Will normally work well for his dinner. But if I try say doing sends to dry food (using his dinner) at other times of the day, he is not that keen. I tried having OH do a little bit with him, as he and OH get on well, I can't say he was that much better really. Was a struggle though, OH doesn't want to do anything with the dogs. I haven't tried a chiro.

His lack of energy could be related to medical problems, but I have no idea how to tell. I think I got a broken GSD - certainly not energetic, or in the least protective, he'd probably just lie there and let a bad guy step over him

I'm not sure if the lack of motivation is medically related, I've wondered it for some time, but have no idea how to tell or how to test it. Really the only times he is happy and tail up when training is when he is on medication that is known to make dogs hungry. He just seems generally quite depressed, ears down, tail down. I've wondered for a while if there is something more serious medically wrong with him than skin problems, but vet hasn't been able to find anything.

It makes no difference if I don't feed him or feed him less or feed him when training - he still won't work, he will just lose weight. He is not distracted by smells, he doesn't want to run off somewhere, he doesn't want to play, he doesn't want to do ANYTHING

The thing is he doesn't seem to be motivated to do anything at all He is sooo lazy and just wants to lie down (apart from some playing with Kaos and chasing the postman). We are trialling him on some new antihistamines. He was better on the ones from the vet (Iramine) and we are trialling Polaramine because it is cheaper but he was much brighter and more energetic on Iramine. I feel really bad though because the only time he wants to work and is happy is when he is on medication (Iramine or when he is on cortisone - as these make him hungry) I feel bad that I am excited when I know he will be on medication that makes him hungry as I know he will be better and more fun to train. Anyone want a very medically expensive but quiet and relaxed, well behaved housedog? I'll swap you for an energetic outgoing nutty dog!

I am really frustrated with Diesel, don't think I am going to bother to try training him anymore . Don't get me wrong, he has fine manners for a pet, walks nicely on lead, doesn't pull, is fine with other dogs and enjoys the dog park to wander and sniff. But he has absolutely no interest in training. I was trying to do some training with him this morning, and he would barely look at me, went to another part of the yard instead He is a bit better on walks, will actually do something and not avoid me, but in the yard he will almost actively avoid me when I want to do some training. I am only doing motivational stuff, send to toy/food, some clicker work to find heel position, fronts etc nothing difficult. I have probably spent close to $10,000 on his medical problems, and it is so frustrating that he doesn't even want to do anything at all. I don't have the time, energy and quickly running out of patience to try to motivate a dog who really does not want to be there. I get better responses and work from Zoe who is 9 1/2 years old.