Lablover

My little is currently undergoing surgery due to intussusception. Please, may he survive. I was allowed to visit him before his operation, half an hour ago. The little guy was so happy to see me. He sat in my lap wagging his tail, before he was taken away for the operation. Little guy, please fight, please.

I am sorry to report that the expected improvement overnight did not occur. He has deteriorated a little since yesterday. About 20%. He vomited again, so is being fasted today. Further blood/urine results will be in later tonight. The vets still think it is worthwhile trying to save him. I am numb, and very upset, as I am starting to worry that we are prolonging his suffering.

I am so happy I must have pushed the enter button twice, sorry.

My pup has shown further improvement overnight. His colour is slowly improving. He has not vomited the water offered. He continues to be a little more alert for longer periods of time. He ate a spoon full of food this morning, and has managed to keep it down. He remains on the drip. Our vets are feeling more confident that my pup may recover. Hopefully the worst is behind us.

I am having my lunch so thought I would pass on how the puppy is progressing. He continues to pee. This morning he went for 2 tiny walks on the grass. His jaundice is 50% compared with the initial day. He remains on the drip. He was offered two small drinks this morning, and so far has not vomited, yipppeeee, (he is being treated with anti nausea medication -Stemetil). This morning was the first time he has shown short periods of animation. HE WAGGED HIS TAIL!!!!!!!!!!! ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are not out of the woods yet, but at least he has not regressed. I am so glad the liver is such a forgiving organ.

Further tests have shown that my puppy is not affected by Canine Leptospirosis. At least I can stop worrying about that particular disease. He remains at the vet in a critical condition, but we are all fighting on. They are now nearly 100% sure he has digested a toxin. It could have been anything!!!! Further tests will hopefully show us something tomorrow. He is keeping company with new friends. Snake bite victims. Poor darlings.

Kez, I am an Eagle Pack feeder. What additions do you feed your dogs? I am probably confused as my dogs are working labradors. From my knowledge it is very rare that Greyhound trainers go to the added expense (and therefore pass it on to their clients), who feed top quality dry food. I am interested to hear of the extra's you provide?

The results from the first titere level are expected soon. I have been waiting by the telephone all day. The pup remains critical. No better but no worse. He started peeing again yesterday afternoon. Strange that hearing he resumed peeing made me so very happy. I could not care if he peed everywhere for the rest of his life. The stress of waiting is hurting beyond words. Poor little fella.

The day before yesterday I noticed early in the morning that one of my pups hads a loose motion in his run. I thought nothing really of it. The same day after travelling to training (he comes with the old dogs) I noticed he had vomited in his travelling crate. No problem. Cleaned it up and he seemed his happy self. He only ate a little of his dinner. All three signs of something amiss concerned me so apart from a few hours sleep I stayed up with the pup just in case I felt a dash was necessary to the emergency vet. He slept well, maybe a little distressed but nothing I could put my finger on. He did not have a temperature and was drinking and toiletting OK. When I woke up yesterday to the sounds of him vomiting he was a different dog. Very lethargic, droopy eyes and laid back ears. I took him outside to toilet and he chased a few birds!!! (gundogs don't you love them, never too sick to chase birds). I checked him over after offering him some cooked chicken which he ignored. I was horrified to see his eyes had turned yellow and his tummy had a yellow hue. We raced to the vet as he was obviously suffering from jaundice. Blood tests have been performed and the results have shown liver damage and kidney failure. He deteriorated through the day. The FBE and ESR results are normal. The final diagnosis is expected tomorrow morning. He finally is drinking a little and is passing urine (2 hours ago). He is taking a little more interest in his surroundings but is still critical. The signs suggest: Leptospirosis!!!!!!!!!! or hemolytic anemia or some other biliary cause (toxin/infection). There have been dozens of times I have visited the vets with my labs over the years for treatment even with the most mundane insignificant problem and walked away from the vets thinking I am a definite worrier. I cannot believe how quick this puppy has gone down hill. Today I have been bleaching all hard areas. His litter brothers remain well. They have been allowed to do anything they damm well like today. Edited: Sorry spelling.

Sorry for the late congratulations. Great news.

Dogs have to know the command/concept before they can relate IT to the vocal cue. It sounds as though you trained your dog and yourself on your own. Good luck. Better than being us, sheep, LOL. Try to keep your vocal cues as short as possible.

Some of the other high quality dry goods which address certain physical problems (ie skin and allergy) are worthwhile as well, but for a base food, Eagle Pack in my opinion in the best overall. Sure it is expensive like all the other high quality foods, but you get what you pay for.

Buy some cheap wire and stakes, and cage the washing line. Sometimes by denying them the washing line for a period of time, their focus moves to other things, like, that new garden bed you have just planted. When I have a young pup at home I always hang the washing out with them close by. They learn very early not to touch the washing, by gentle methods.

:D Trust me I am far from superhuman. As mentioned I have been told I am odd as I have only lost my temper twice in my life, and this was when I rode and trained for 3 days events. The first time I ever lost my temper, was when I was training an ex race horse. I spent months and months calming him down. I worked him slowly and methodically. I lived in Coffs Harbour at the time, so took the opportunity of riding him every morning at sun rise along the beach. One day he bolted on me. So I thought to myself OK, you want to go, LETS GO. He never bolted again.

I apparently have been told on multiple occasions that I am odd. I never lose my temper when training my dogs. Really I do not have a temper when I think about it. Have you ever felt guilty of confusing your dog when trying to train and lose your temper and felt guilty afterwards? Edited: I must ask visiting friends to find my glasses. LOL. My typing is getting worse.

Phew. I definitely need to find my glasses to read this whole thread. I baby sat a labrador for a friend, who picked up the dog yesterday. The dog arrived completely wild and is a field working bred labrador. The owner complained the dog constantly pulls her over when she "tried" walking it and will not return after thrown a retreive. Naturally LOL after the owner left and the dog had time to settle, I took him for a walk. I laughed so much as this dog dragged me (and I am not small) and flipped me over with the lead. Over the course of 5 days of the 14 month old lab staying with me, I trained him to heel, sit (and at distances), stay, return with an article. I used timing of praise, timing of negative reinforcement and knowledge. The owner rang me today and cannot believe the change in the dog. Hopes it continues. Timing of praise and correction is nearly everything. Focus and experience is the other (everything).

Sometimes a change of antibiotics is necessary.

I may feed my own dogs semi frozen frames. Remember too, wholesale human consumption poultry are butchered young, so the bones are quite soft. I would not feed older carcasses donated from a friendly neighbour, for this reason.

I for one, and it is my own opinion, there is no way, to achieve what I require in my dogs, purely using positive enforcement.

I must say some of answers surprise me, especially those who train for so many types of different events. Some types of training concepts marry up very well. Others I think are best done one at a time and in certain orders. Some are, well, um contra indicated and if trying to reach the top titles, it seems to me at least, you can play in many but be master of none. Do others think so too? I am a worrier.

I hope, I make sense after a few Christmas wines. From my experience with Setters, which is fleeting, but interesting all the same to me, they are a breed that depending on their lines (working/show) can be difficult to train using classic methods. For example, obedience titled UD setters in the ring were a sight to behold. In open paddocks or in their yards were uncontrollable. We also have working setters in the field used in Setter trials, where their game finding ability at very long distances was the most important requirement. Depending on your dog, I still think the basic known, then reinforced commands with a very high FAIR standard need to be applied. Not all breeds are born/or should be trained equal, let alone with their own individual personalities. They all have natural instincts which we as their keepers need to keep in mind.

Here we have a setter!!!! Lovely dogs but boy oh boy do they have noses on them and how they love to follow a scent. From my experience you cannot train a setter as you would an average non gundog, or a retriever like a labrador or golden. Your standards have to be very high. I will be back, friends just dropped in.

Sam Adams, I think you make perfect sense. I have a word in my vocabulary: TATLAD. Try and think like a dog. FHR: My dogs know English - vocal cues. Starting with their names. All the same (I think) I know what you are implying. I feel dogs need to know the concept/exercise before they understand the vocal cue. To those who have shown interest in the gundog training, the group meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm, around the Berwick area. It is free of course!!!! We all get along well. Any age gundog is more than welcome to join us. PM me if interested. Warning: Retrieving trials are life changing.

Great so far guys. I will post some more thoughts soon. I have a list of about 40!!! Over the last couple of weeks I have started a young gundog training group. The dogs range from 5 months to 12 months. The reason why I thought of my list was because of this group. Man they are hard work, LOL.

Thought this would be a fun topic. I will start with five long standing "rules" I live by: (1) Dogs do not stop hearing - they only stop listening (2) Without focus from the dog you cannot teach it (3) Never expect a dog to do, what he has not been trained to do. (4) The sit command is the most import command. It can be used so many ways. (5) Never ever show off. Training is training. Testing is testing.