Badbee

We saw Steve about 10 days ago and he gave us some insight into her problems that we hadn't thought of. He also suggested some easy to do training and advice. First we bought a Crate for her to have inside to help her to self settle. That has worked really well. He also suggested we give her Petark Calm each day and that together with the collar has certainly made a difference, he gave me some training exercises to get her to focus on me when we are out and we are practising that. As for the kangaroo mince it was a human grade mince had no preservatives and I bought it in Coles Steve suggested it was too high in protein for Abby, and suggested beef. Chicken or lamb so we have stopped the kangaroo and gone to the other meats. I said to my husband today that on a scale of 1 to 10 she would have been a 3 /10 six weeks ago she is now a 7/10, so we have come a long way and we are still working on improvement. I am grateful for everyone's suggestions and so pleased we went to see Steve. A final comment about the kangaroo. Mince - my son has two golden retrievers very active dogs who eat anything funnily they refuse to set kangaroo.

Reading these posts makes me want to share how much I would love a miniature schnauzer puppy to add to our family and have as a buddy for Abby. But it probably won't happen because my OH thinks it will be too expensive, not just to buy a puppy but to take care of it. We have spent quite a bit on Abby over the 6/7 months we have had her but I would hope they by getting a puppy we wouldn't have the issues we have had with Abby. I look at the puppies for sale often on this website and dream. Kelpie cuddles good luck with your dream.

Well we saw Steve on Thursday and what a great experience. My OH and I walked out of Steves feeling so much better. We have been doing the tight thing and the suggestions Steve made were manageable and easy to follow. To start with we have bought her a soft sided crate for her to go into during the day to give her some independence and a place we she can settle herself. She is asleep in there at the moment. We also started her on Petark Calm and have taken her off kangaroo mince as according to Steve it is a high protein food and she would be better off on chicken, beef etc. We have also begun to train her to sit on a small mat where we treat her when she sits a relaxes. We will take that with us when we go out to cafés etc and hope that by continuing to treat her when she is on it she looks to us and ignores the distractions around her. So all in all there is not too much and this is a very simplified version of what we are doing. She already seems more settled but that might also be because I feel more confident I am doing the right thing by her. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUGGESTED STEVE HE IS SUCH A WISE MAN. :) :laugh:

I am taking my dog to see Steve Courtney today, I have also sent you a private message. Birgit

Pet insurance is something I have been thinking about. We have one dog. Is it worth getting!? What sort of rebate do insurance companies give? Which company is worth considering . Birgit

We do Sheena but only in the morning when we wake up and only if we call her up. The place we stayed at in Bright last week didn't have any rules about the furniture or the bed for dogs. I suppose it depends on the owners and to a certain extent the dog owner too, Abby is small, clean and has no fleas etc. so I don't see her as a problem. I would hate to stay in fig friendky accommodation that is dirty or flea ridden and I have read some posts where that was the case.

Hi everyone, I thought I would share the small Inroads we have made with Abby since my earlier posts. We are still seeing Steve C in about 10 days and looking forward to whatever insights and suggestions he may have for us. On the plus side the Adaptil collar has calmed her considerably, she no linger barks or growls when our family visits and she goes up to the family for a pat. she still tries to go towards other dogs when we are on walks but we refuse to stop and we keep walking and she gets over it. We just came back from holidays to a Bright and we had to sit outside cafés with her (unfortunately Australia is not as easy going as Europe for dog owners) where she would growl at people who walked passed, not everyone only some people. By the end of the holiday if someone was walking by I would say her name make her look at me and give her a treat until the person walked passed. She knows this now and is somewhat better. She is still a Velcro dog but. From what I read that is in keeping with her breed. So thanks to all of you for your support when she was in her extreme state. We are all looking forward to our meeting with Steve because I sam sure we still have heaps to learn.

Thanks for that. She seems a bit sleepier than normal, not as active or attentive. I will keep an eye on her, we live close to a vet I won't hesitate to take her if she stays like this. I know mini schnauzers are predisposed to pancreatic conditions that's why I was asking.

Hi I am probably just concerned about nothing but this morning my miniature schnauzer 12 months old drank so much water I have never seen her drink as much. She mostly just goes to the water bowl and drinks a small small amount throughout the day. I noticed the colour of her urine was also quite dark almost orange. What colour should it be?

Has anyone ever bought nothing on anything from vetpethealth.com.au they are advertising a pack of 3 small Adaptil collars for $118 which seems very cheap. A single collar cost me $79.95 at the vet. Just being careful. The reviews I have read on their page are all very positive, but would like to make sure they are legitimate before I spend the money.

Hi just a quick update on Abby. The Adaptil collar seems to have toned down her reactions and behaviour. Today when we went for a walk there were more dogs than normal and while she reacted her reaction wasn't as strong as previously. Bec from pro9 also suggested I try training the behaviour interrupter and I have started that which she loves and responds to really well. Small steps until we see Steve in June.

I gave been trying do eggs by to do this but I just can't seem to get it, any suggestions?

Thanks for the feedback, I have been trying to do sone calming exercises I saw by kokopup on YouTube and have been a little more successful with that this afternoon. Will continue trying what I can.

Good to hear that someone else saw a difference so quickly. What type of training do you mean?

We are going to do that until we see Steve, interestingly our son who is a big man and grandson came to visit this morning and she didn't growl at him, she let him touch her and sat next to our grandson on the lounge, she never did that, so perhaps the Adaptil collar is slowly working, is that too soon? I wonder.