Scottsmum

Bugger... why is that?

I did / will. We had a snuggle this afternoon - sat on my lap after dinner while I was watching TV. Annoyingly I also found a flea - pfft. So we cut that short and popped a comfortus.

I just buy the "kibble" version - not their treats. Last time I priced it I figured it actually cost about the same per kilo as smackos - not that I can use it - we're grain free.

Ice blocks Don't have to be stock. I use lots of combos here - but I have to say Tuna is a firm NO - he's not at all fond of it - which is a shame for him as there's still 2 or 3 in the freezer. Ha ha ha. I tend to use what ever is going - today I did two with the offcuts from steak, I have done canned tuna and "juice" and what ever other meat scraps I have. If we don't have meat scraps I use kibble. I've found if you put kibble and ziwipeak (or i assume any other jerky type treat) the ziwi/jerky sinks while the kibble floats - meaning there is stuff at the top and bottom. Scottie is a smaller dog - so he much prefers anything around the 200-300 ml mark - he can pick it up and carry it around. He's not so sure of anything bigger. I was trying his treat ball filled with kibble frozen into a block of water - but he didn't really "get it" - so stopped as it was a waste of kibble Treats roasted chicken thigh - once diced pressed gently with some kitcen towel to help remove some moisture - holds it's shape better than any other cooked chicken I've tried - was given the tip by our old obedience instructor. I've also used lightly fried beef strips - but anything on sale from the meat cabinet will do. I also know you said not commercial - but a bag of ziwipeak - which appearing expensive - works out at a good price and goes a long way/ It's my preferred training treat - it's non-messy, has a shelf life and is grain free.

We've had an hour of shush - just snuck out to check on dinner and he sounds fast asleep (let out a big sleepy sigh) so he's obviously in bed - so that's good. Seems all he needed was a cuddle. He slept on my feet last night - technically on his spot/blankie - but very obviously on my feet too. He's such a mummas boy.

It's OK Snook. There are no real answers It's hard. A money tree would help ;) I just went out - I did wait til he was quiet. Gave him a big cuddle, refused an offer to play with his stinky toy, slipped him an extra little blue pill and put him back in his bed with a jumper I had hanging on a hook in the laundry. So far we're into 20 minutes of comparative shush. I'm pretty good at reading his body language - he's been blah all afternoon - I think if this had been a work day I'd have probably crated him for the day.

Blurgh. Maybe he's just feeling sooky. Maybe he's feeling off. Maybe the penny has dropped. Maybe he just knows I'm home because there's a ragout simmering on the stove - it was that or starve tonight - these long days of tip toeing around the house are taking their toll on me too. We was a bit flat when I put him out this afternoon and he's been out there for an hour now carrying on like a goose. Not enough for the neighbours to complain - but engough for me to know he's really pissed off. Not entirely sure how to stop him / re-set him Any how - vet next week and then placement the week after. urgh.

Woolworths/Coles sell them down here so that'd be the cheapest place to look. Heaps cheaper than a Furminator (my last Zoom Groom cost around $12) and can also be used in the bath to really scrub the skin. They're same idea as a curry comb but with fatter teeth that feel a bit more grippy. Yep - looked them up - have seen them and never given them much thought. Maybe one day when I have a job again... the furminator was my last splurge for a while

Woah - what a huge start to the year! And yeh - I get that bold part - but hey - we all start somewhere :) At least they're the nicest bunch of year 12 kids on the planet :)

Thanks for the tips. Wil have to google a zoom groom ...

Awesome :)

Hrm - I wouldn't go as far as "it sucks" LOL - but it certianly isn't as good as the awesome youtube videos made it out to be. I got the short haired one. So I'm ok there. We used to use a stone thing on the horses to pull winter coats - would this be similar? I didn't realise the furminator was OK to use on a wet coat. Thanks for the tip. :) Certainly not showing here - or after a 10 minute tool - it's just that in the past one or two good sessions a few weeks apart with the curry comb was enough. Vigorous brush - ideally in a circular pattern, good bath, run hands opposite direction to coat while still wet, rinse well, towel dry & another curry comb Worked a treat. This year - just hair every where - like a walking puff ball - you couldn't touch him for a bit there. Covers on everything - being washed weekly, pulling chunks of hair out of the washing machine, vacuuming a mimimum of 3 times a week. It was really insane. I'm reasonably sure he's in good health - he had a full clean bill of health including bloods done in November. Think its just the seasonal stress I outlined in original post. He enjoyed it - a lot more than the curry comb. I was just expecting buckets of hair - like I said - I got about the same, maybe less than the curry comb. Oh well. I'll still use it - I was just expecting magic. Glad I didn't pay full retail for it.

Wow. Wow on so many counts. love it.

Leave it out too - let her sniff it when it's just sitting there. But don't be too concerned - mine just leaves the room I'm doing & I try to not "chase" him with it - if he goes up the hall I do the front half of the house first - but all in all - I leave him alone and he usually goes outside when I do it. That said - he's not overly concerned with it - he stayed on the couch while we moved the couch the other day - and only left after I turned the vac on and he realised I was vacuuming behind it.

I've got nothing. Just wanted to pop and and wish you well. It's so stressful when you can't quite get on top of their health.

Great point Snook - its always nice when your afternoon goes faster :) As for changing walk routines. He does need consistency - he's always been very methodical and routine based so I'm hesitant to let him go back to old habits on the AM walks - we've really mixed up the PM walks - we have three great spots now full of really great sniffing options. I think I'm just going to have to get up early enough to get the longer walk in from now on (before it gets too hot - the sun has real bite over here - it's insane) God I hate mornings - this is about to be 3 weeks of hell for me - with or without him being naughty ;) Also literally just found this app: http://www.dogmonitorapp.com/ which I'm going to pop on my tablet and phone. Will be interesting to see what it offers. Negatives include that if he is loud there's noting I can do about it and I'll set it up to watch his bed but wont be able to track him when he's outside, but the positive is that at least I'll know if he is crying and should be able to see if he just spends his days chilling. If he is naughty we can find a way to try and stop him the next day. Plus if he cries all morning I can tell hubby to leave him in in the afternoon.

Before I start - Yes I know they're not strongly recommended but I was desperate. We're drowning in hair here. It's so bad. I put it down to the move - You know we had those few 40 degree days in Sydney mid-to late November and a few very warm days before that too - as early as October. Then we arrived in NZ and it was cold - Scottie was wearing a jumper to bed and I even took a snuggle safe with me one night - It didn't warm up til Christmas. Now it's warm - most days - highs around 30, lows around 15. He also had a few baths in quick succession - three between arriving in NZ on 25/11 and xmas day - he usually gets a lot less - I only really bath him if he's rolled in poo. And I think it's just played havoc on his coat. He's always dropped a lot - but I was at my witts end. So I looked on youtube, read some reviews, searched here, took none of the advice from you guys* and ordered one on ebay for less than 1/2 what they retail for here. (*I did see Jumabaar said on one post she'd use it in limited cases eg on geriatric dogs - that was enough for me). It finally arrived today - after a stuff up from NZ post and we gave it a try. I'm not entirely in love with it - I don't think it's worth what it sells for. I got similar amounts of hair from him as I do with my $4 rubber curry comb. The "quick" release button to remove hair doesn't work well - I had to remove the hair from the brush myself. It does feel nice in the hand. He seemed to enjoy it - Usually he goes bonkers and silly when I curry comb him - cant keep him still for love nor money. This time he was sedate and offering his neck, chest and ear area - all around the collar area to be brushed and making happy grumble sounds. He even wandered away and came back for more. I'll keep using it - i mean it cost bloody $50 including post -and I really hope it helps with the amount of hair in the house - but I sure as heck won't be recommending it any time soon.

We've (read: I've) had a really slack week. I had last wednesday "off" - Needed to do some house work. Then hubby was home early last friday, Monday was a public holiday and I took tuesday "off" because I felt like it. Yesterday he did 4 hours straight with only some whinging at the 30 minute mark. This week was supposed to be the week we hit 7 hours every day but I slacked off - now I'm paying for it with nerves. I put him out this morning for a bit and he was whinging a tiny bit, let him back in 20 minutes later as we had a knock at the door and he was quiet the whole time (he was quiet before I let him in too). Have just popped him back out now - aiming for him to be out til Hubby gets home from work. Starting to really worry about doing this 3 weeks in a row. I am working 8.30 to 5.30 + travel time and we don't have a suitable back up if it all goes bum up. We could use the dog sitter I found - she has vacancy twice a week but we don't have the money for that. He'll probably be on his own 7.30 am til 12-ish. then 12.45 to 4.30. Have been timing and measuring my walks with map my walk - so I can get a decent idea of distance (I'm so bad with guessing) turns out what I was calling my "long" walk is only 1.9 km and now we're not stopping to sniff as much we can belt that out in a lot less time than is ideal. I can get it up to 2km with a long sniff along a fence. Aiming for a much longer morning walk every day I'm on placement (we have a route - I hate it it feels too long - sadly it's still less than 5km which is what we were doing most days in Sydney). I suppose if it goes bad we'll just have to crate him in the house and hope the neighbours don't complain - they're pretty good -but I don't want to test them! At least the one closest to the room we'd crate him in is at work similar hours to hubby

Yeh - i chopped before i posted ;) & i agree i actually said this before here i was thinking they couldn't catch him & their there patting him! Fools really.

Just an observation - I don't think it's entirely appropriate for you to copy what this person probably assumed a private conversation into a public forum. I'd be peeved, actually livid, if I ever found a facebook conversation of mine repeated verbatim on a public forum.

great idea

Sorry for you loss.

Nah - not a wombat. Baby pygmy hippo :)

I was hoping for a list specific to dogs - thankfully Scottie can't use a multitool! (but all human suggestions are welcome too!)

It's probably borderline anal - LOL but I get it - my parents are campers - they've got full sets of camping utensils etc - and i think in full on, life or death evacuation it pays to know you can up and leave. I'm a stressy organiser - it would make me feel better knowing that everything is sitting there ready to go and all you need to do is drive out the door. Dobe Mums post about the shelf life of kibble has made me think too (as did another poster). I might pop a bag of ziwipeak in the mix - it has a long shelf life (21 months I've just read) so it could be a feasible addition to the bag. Long lasting and easy enough to swap out and feed before it expired. We'd have well over 3-5 days dog food then too. As for spare tags - I got the shits a few months ago - I'm always swapping scotties collars then not having a tag - so I got two from ebay (they were a good deal - computer engraved - nice and clear to read - Much nicer than the last hand engraved tags I got from mister minute and MUCH cheaper - I can link you if you like LG) The plan was so I didn't have to swap tags when ever we swap collars. Unfortunately over here you have to register your dog annually and he's supposed to have his council tag on at all times - so that went out the window as I only have one yellow council disk.