aliwake

I've been reading these calendula tea threads with interest and am about to give it a try - firstly cos my boy has a bit of a mucky eye at the moment, but I hope to try the bath too, as he does seem a bit itchy lately - particularly his tail! Anyway, did I read somewhere that you can't keep the tea for too long once it's made up? I've lost track of what I've read where... If I could make up a spray bottle and keep it indefinitely (or even a week or so), that would be great - I'm not going to need much to just clean his eyes. If it does need to be discarded, would refrigerating extend the life a little? 1 tablespoon x 500ml THanks Steve, How often can it be used? Cheers

Either that or just take it away for a while?

That sounds lovely Yvonne!!

Nice! I guess the big decision will be whether to invite dog park friends who will think it's a great idea, or normal friends who will think I've lost it... hmmm

I'd love to see some recipes too - it's only 1 month til Nixon's 1st Birthday! Your cake sounds lovely Yvonne - Nix loves carrots, so that's a good idea for me. Maybe you could use greek yoghurt for icing on part of the cake for Banjo? I think I might design a yoghurt/carrot/banana cake... The next step is how to convince my husband I'm not a nutjob, for wanting to have a birthday party :)

Gus's diving is awesome! That is sad Nala is losing her teeth already - it feels like you only got her a week or so ago! She will definitely be a star for sure :) That's great that Hank is even getting his feet wet now! He will get there eventually! Nixon was playing with a lovely lab x border colie at the park last week, and they both ended up super muddy. Her owners said she didn't really like swimming, so I asked if she wanted to come with me and Nixon to swim at the boat ramp - they did, and she went from standing at the very edge and not even getting toenails wet, to swimming and splashing around in the shallows with Nix - I was so pleased for them! They were stoked that she was having so much fun! I'm sure if Hank keeps having lovely positive experiences like your one at the lagoon, he will end up loving it one day. Yesterday Nix decided that he need to be IN my new hammock with me... I had it strung up fairly high, so he was jumping and not getting anywhere. So, I lowered the hammock, and the next thing I knew he was in my lap! It was very funny, and not always super comfortable, but we had a nice cuddle for a while :)

That's so cool!! Glad he took to it straight away!

I spotted these the other day - and they say to contact them for international shipping. http://waggle.com.au/mighty-dog-toys-b150/kelly-the-kangaroo-p1589 http://waggle.com.au/mighty-dog-toys-b150/kohen-the-koala-p1590

Looks like Nova is having so much fun! I wish we had somewhere like that to swim nearby! Is it fresh water? We're close to the river, but it's brackish where we are and quite muddy. I also worry about sharks, even though I'll happily wakeboard in the river myself. Funny how you worry about your babies far more than yourself! If Nix gets muddy at the park I usually take him for a swim to clean off though. He's grown into a proper water baby and loves swimming now.

I work about 15 mins away, and we had a fire ant detection dog and handler come through the property a couple of months ago. They were very thorough, and follow up every possibility, so I think it's highly unlikely they'd miss them in a big open area like that.

Not sure of anyone else has mentioned it, but there are some portable air cons on catch of the day at the moment. http://m.catchoftheday.com.au/event/35109

That is a bit of a dilemma... perhaps you could set your alarm at an interval that you'd expect her to need to go to the toilet - say every 2 or 3 hours? And just take her out then regardless.

That sounds like the first month we had our pup. We had him in a playpen too, and while he did sleep occasionally, there were nights where he would wake up and cry every 30 mins... In the end we broke my 'no dogs in the bedroom' rule without any regrets. We bought a crate, and after a couple of days getting him familiar with it, moved it next to our bed at night, and there was an immediate improvement. I'm not sure if that's something you'd be willing to try, but it worked wonders for us. We still had to get up once or twice a night to take him to the toilet, but we all slept a lot better. If you don't want to try that, you could look into getting something like a snuggle puppy or night comforter - they're toys with warming pads and a heartbeat. P.s. she's adorable!! What's her name?

I'm not sure I get much nutritional value from drinking tea, but I still like it, and it isn't harmful. I don't think everything needs to have a point :)

Very cute pics guys :) How awesome Ezio got to catch up with his brother! I had a massive win yesterday - I've been taking Nixon to the dog park for months now - it's fenced, with double gates on each entry. He is always SUPER excited, as he's very social. For months, every single time we go, I ask him to sit at both gates before I open them. For months, he's ignored me while I ask him to sit over and over again, until I cave and give him a collar correction and force him to sit. Yesterday, for the first time ever, he just sat - first go!!! At BOTH gates! I couldn't believe it! I'm so proud of him, he's finally growing up a little :) Such a good boy! Will have to see if he does it again...

What a fantastic article - congratulations!

I'm glad you guys know the correct terminology - I was pretty sure sac removal wasn't how the vet described it!! :)

After doing a quick search, I found this comment on another forum: "Although I know full well that an equivalent generic product can be purchased almost anywhere (or your pharmacist if you can swing that one)..." So I guess that means there is an equivalent. Have you tried going to a chemist and asking about Pimobendan generics?

Yvonne, I think with the old school early desexing, the balls were relatively small when removed, so the skin wasn't stretched much and shrunk away completely on it's own. I guess sac removal is only really necessary for an older dog due to bigger balls, and more stretching! :) Was your previous dog younger when they were desexed? It's a pity they didn't offer it to you this time - sounds like it might have been useful... They will still keep shrinking for a while though, so hopefully it won't be an issue for you. you'd assume a good groomer should be able to handle it? Steph, I assumed you'd be getting to wart off - how exciting! Nixon's ear wart still hasn't reappeared, which I'm very relieved about! Gus will definitely bounce back very fast! :)

I was going to say fluids too. We'd already had bloods earlier in the year when he had some other issues, so fluids was the only other option offered. It was about $80 extra I think. The only other possible option is sac removal (I can't remember the proper term!) Our vet said his balls were a bit bigger than she thought, and there might be too much excess skin once the balls were removed, so they can remove the excess skin at the same time if we preferred. It was fairly expensive - maybe another $140 or something? She said having excess skin can be more of an issue with small dogs that need to get clipped etc. In the end, once she had Nix under, she said they weren't as big as she thought, and it would be ok not to have the extra sac removal :) The sac continued to shrink for about a month after and is pretty insignificant now.

That sounds great, thanks! I googled it and they seem to be very commonly used for bull breeds, but I don't see why it wouldn't be fun for any dog that likes tugging? We have some great trees I can use - will have to go buy a spring and some rope, thanks :)

A spring pole sounds like a fun idea Hockz, any tips on how you've made one?

I probably lack a bit of consistency to be honest. I'll usually tell him off a couple of times, then ignore him a couple of times, then cave in (or finish sweeping) :) I'm so conscious of him bothering our neighbours, even though they're all pretty understanding really.

Thanks Steph, yeah I read Lisa's tips with interest, but the situation is a little different, so I'm not quite sure how to alter it to fit... For example, if the door to the yard is open, he will wander out happily and cruise around doing doggy things for hours on end. He'll come back inside to have a nap or a cuddle or something. As soon as the door is shut, with him outside, he will glue himself to it, and watch your every movement.... He will be quiet for 5-10mins, but when it's clear that you still plan on leaving him out there, and you're doing stuff that doesn't involve him (particularly sweeping the floor, when he hates the broom so much!), then he'll start giving these short sharp barks, like "hey, I'm pretty sure you've forgotten I'm here - why the hell have you shut the door?!!" I'll let it continue for a little while, or tell him to be quiet. When I eventually open the door it's entirely possible he'll be back outside a few minutes later just doing his own thing happily - as long as the door is open... argggh! Having said that, he usually seems fine when he's put outside when we go to work. He gets kongs when I leave so he's usually giving me "hurry up and leave" looks in the mornings, like he can't wait for me to get out of there.

Some lovely pics guys. Nala is definitely a stunner! Will be interesting to see what the Livamol does for her. I get people commenting on Nixon's coat all the time, so it definitely makes a huge difference. Nova is looking so grown up Lisa! His tan is super bright! Nixon has been going really well. he's been spoiled rotten having us home for two weeks, and my husband has this week off too, as well as having house guests for a big part of that time too. He's thoroughly enjoyed having so much company, but I hope he doesn't struggle too much next week when we're all back at work. I'm hoping he'll be relieved, but we'll just have to wait and see... Barking is still an issue, so if anyone has any tips, feel free to let me know. Being home a lot we've been able to offer corrections most times he barks, and we've been trying to establish a few more boundaries and rules etc. I think there has been some improvement. In terms of motivation, he's definitely an attention barker. He barks at dogs getting walked past if he's in the front yard, but he doesn't bark at any of his friends, and he stops if people come over to say hello. The other time he barks is to get our attention, if we put him outside while we're cleaning or something - it drives me nuts! I know ignoring is the way to go but he gets quite shrill, I have trouble letting it go on for too long. Our other problem is leaving him at night... We went out for new years, and I took him to the park for a big run around first, then fed him, then gave him a massive bone, and apparently he was still racing around and barking a lot. Our neighbour went and grabbed him after about and hour and a half and he was quieter with her dog, but was still barking occasionally, and definitely wouldn't settle. We ended up coming home about 9.30... All I can think of is to consider leaving him inside (which I'm nervous about, but he might well be ok) or to start going out at night for short periods of time, and gradually build it up? Any thoughts? I'm going to email the lady we did his basic training with, and see what she suggests too.