aliwake

Thanks Steve, I have been mixing the leftovers in with his breakfast yoghurt - I'm not sure he even notices he's eating anything different, which is great :)

Happy Birthday Odie! She looks super cute in her ears :) You're a fantastic puppy mummy!

Hey Erny, I think Nixon's eyes are on the improve! Still a little mucky, but definitely less muck, and not as yellow. Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

My yoghurt maker is small jars, I would guess around 200mls each. I usually give the dog half a jar every day. It's probably 2 or 3 tablespoons I guess. I'm not sure about the calcium drops though, I usually just add milk powder to thicken.

Lisa, that sux the Nova is still a bit wary around other dogs Hopefully he does get over it soon, but I agree in conjunction with a fear period, it's not to be messed with! Nixon has started jumping at shadows when he goes outside at night now, and I wonder if some of his barking is fear related. hard to know!

My vet said it doesn't hurt to worm more frequently than recommended - it just gets expensive. Each dose will kill what worms are there at that particular time. I have no ideal about pyrantel, but in theory it won't hurt to worm them all again just to be sure.

Unfortunately he hates me going near his eyes, so when I try to straddle him he twists and lies on his back Might try some 2 person wrangling tonight... He's really good about most things, but just hates the eyes! That's interesting about him possibly being a bit run down. I gave him a probiotic yesterday, so hopefully that will help too if he's a bit off.

I've been using saturated round flat cotton pads, and holding them against the eye as well as removing gunk - just can't tell if anything is making it through the cracks - he's definitely scrunching up really tight! Thanks for the tips on optrex though DD.

Thanks Erny, they aren't red, they're just very mucky - particularly first thing in the morning. On a very bad day, the muck will be quite yellow, and is sometime all along his bottom lid. One eye is worse than the other. I'm not convinced I actually got any tea to his actual eye, so will try pulling out the lower lid tonight. I think there may have been some improvement - the goop seems less yellow today, but it does seem to vary a lot day to day anyway, so it's hard to tell. I'm thinking it probably will end up being a vet visit - though I'm going to have trouble with whatever eye drops they give me anyway... hopefully it will show some more obvious improvement by tomorrow.

How would other dogs and kids be getting into your yard? It there any way you can lock your gates? we do that anytime we're not home. I think the garage with yard access sounds good, as soon as he's big enough to not be able to escape.

Just had a quick look around and there are other stores that sell them, but nobody else has the full range and they are usually a lot more expensive than PP. I have a sneaking suspicion that PP is the importer/wholesaler...

Very drooly! :) I think the store is in perth, but I ordered friday and it arrived tuesday. I think their flat rate shipping is $9.80, so not super cheap, but cos I was ordering something else anyway it made sense for me. I haven't really looked around to see if anyone else stocks them, but it's possible! I hate to admit, but I haven't actually seen the 101 Dalmatians movie! I always thought the concept was a bit scarey... :)

I don't think I even knew liver dalmations existed until recently - given I have a thing for brown dogs, I definitely think they're lovely!! Ok, quick run down on the treat wheel - we tried it for dinner and breakfast. It's great, because it's a definite 2 stage puzzle. It has 4 yellow treat covers, that all have to be removed before the top will spin and reveal the other 4 treat holes. So far Nixon will remove one or two yellow things, then freak out wondering why the wheel won't spin yet! It's definitely a good level of challenging, and is a sturdy, well made puzzle. I'm pretty pleased with it actually. with 2 treat covers removed: with the top half spun, so you can see part of all 8 compartments: In action!

My boy had coccidia and giardia when he was a pup, and he still gets soft poos occasionally. If that happens I just give him a probiotic and see what happens. It usually fixes things up pretty quickly. If it didn't I'd be heading to the vet. I agree with Christina though - a couple of soft poos don't instantly equate to a problem, but it's certainly worth watching.

Well, Nixon got a fun milkshake of yoghurt, yesterdays leftover batch of calendula tea (including flowers) and livamol this morning for breakfast. He seemed pretty happy about it! I can't really tell if his eyes are improving or not yet. Will give it a few more days, then it might have to be a trip to the vet. I'm pretty sure sticking his whole head in the waterbowl at the dog park isn't helping matters though...

ps the petlife maze one looked a bit sturdier than the one I got, but I'm pretty sure Nix would be able to lick the kibble out of the track, rather than push it out to the end... they are too expensive to just take a punt, so I went with the ufo one, which is a great puzzle, but definitely not sturdy.

The tennis ball one does look pretty cool! I didn't have sound when I watched the video for that one, but I think it has room for balls in the outside bit, then treats in the inner bit? I was actually shopping on pets providore to get a springer bike attachment, so stay tuned for some funny stories and skinned knees! I know he's still not old enough to go for long rides, but I'm hoping if he gets used to it now we might be a bit more successful later on...

I can't remember who was asking about puzzle toys a while ago? I've tried a couple of others since then, so thought I'd update. I bought one of the petlife ones - it's shaped like a ufo, and has a maze inside. you drop kibble through a small hole in the middle, and they have to roll it around til all the kibble comes out. The first time I used it, I put half Nix's dinner in it, and he was still going half an hour later, and the laundry floor was thickly coated in saliva... So, I'd say it's a good challenge, because you can't learn to trick it - there's no short cut. Every single time you just have to hope for the best. However, the plastic used is very lightweight and easily damaged, so unless you can magically stop your dog from biting it, it will not last very long. I certainly won't ever leave it with him unattended. He also doesn't seem to have any idea when it's empty, so would probably keep attacking it indefinitely if I left it with him. He has occasionally needed help to get the last few pieces out. I also just discovered the range of Kyjen puzzle toys (bought from pets providore). I think they're all on special at the moment, and are very good value. They're made of hard plastic like my aikiou one, so I think they will all last a lot longer. I chose the treat wheel because it has several steps needed to access all the treat holes - it was $15 which is great! It only arrived today, but I think it will be a good one! Will update once he's tried it, and will try to get some pics too. The quality looks good. Pets providore seemed to have about 7 different kyjen puzzles. I just looked up youtube vids of each to see how they worked, before making my decision. http://www.petsprovidore.com.au/puzzle-game.html http://www.petsprovidore.com.au/PUZZLE-Dog-Interactive-Games-Kyjen-USA.html http://www.petsprovidore.com.au/Puzzle-Dog-Interactive-Games-Tennis-Glider.html

That is so cute he wants to share his special iceblock with you!! I agree, Nix makes me smile every day - it's why we love them so much :)

Thanks Lisa - he's actually shedding like crazy at the moment, and his coat looks horrible - seems like it's mainly the lighter coloured undercoat left, so hopefully he'll get some new growth asap. Other people don't seem to notice though - I constantly get lovely compliments about his coat which is nice. Tikira, I know what you mean about having having a follow you everywhere dog. nixon is always trying to get in the shower, but he's learned that if he just opens the door a crack I won't get too upset, and he can still lick up water from the shower base... gross! And he loves watching me on the toilet too. My 7 year old niece wasn't too keen on the toilet watching when she visited though. And the problem is he's so big now he takes up most of the floor space in the bathroom, and then usually scrunches the bathmat up under him while I'm in the shower, and I have to wrestle him for it to get it back! Lucky he's so cute :)

x 2!!!!! I made some progress yesterday with a firm stay while I swept, but he wasn't happy about it. I usually have even less luck with the outside broom, and especially the evil rake!!

So many lovely pics! I absolutely adore Nala's ears! And Mila is so cute! I love that she's paddling, and trying to cram into her baby bed - Nixon still tries that sometime, but it will only basically fit his head in it now - it's unbelievable how fast they grow! Willow is hilarious - I too would love to know what the bum was getting up to! And Nova looks gorgeous as always - he poses so beautifully Lisa - he's definitely looking so grown up! Nixon usually refuses to look at the camera, but I got a couple of ok ones recently... Me and Nix in my new hammock: Nix looking grown up - his face shape has really changed a lot over the last month or so

Ok, that's understandable, I'll use a sterilised glass jar for my next batch. The chemicals which are active in it wont diminish but the worry is bacteria. If you use boiling water and make sure your container is sterile and airtight glass where bacteria cant get in then its not such a risk but using plastic , not sterilising effectively and not keeping it in the fridge in an airtight container all increase the risk . You can use a syringe to rinse the eyes out too. I use glass syringes for everything I do but using plastic is O.K. if its a new syringe each day.

No worries Erny, I appreciate the thoughts of an expert! I used a clean cotton pad for each eye (no double dipping), so might just use this batch again in the morning then re-brew after that. I was planning on doing it twice a day, so hopefully that's enough to help. And hopefully I actually got some in his eyes! He had them scrunched shut pretty tight :)

Thank you! I've just made up half a cup. Will put it in the fridge after the first application, and hopefully it wil stay effective for a couple of days.