GenY

Thanks heaps for the responses :-) By way of background, he is dog reactive in that he is aggressive towards other dogs when I am walking him. He walks beautifully on lead... until he sees another dog, at which point he lunges and behaves aggressively. I'm not 100% sure how it came about as he has never been attacked by another dog (we've had him since he was 9 weeks old, so I can confirm this). He was also, on the advice of a nutbag Bark Busters 'trainer', not socialised appropriately, in that we were told to do puppy preschool (10 - 14 weeks of age), and after that we had to wait until the youngest dog in puppy school was 6 months old before doing their next course, and to keep him at home until then. Against my better judgement, this is mostly what I did. We did take him to the dog park with friends' similar aged puppies during that time, which was always fine and we never had any problems - in fact, he was really good with the other dogs. Despite this, I now know better and only use dog parks when they are empty and we happen to be walking past (even so, not every time we walk past). The other thing that may have contributed, is the fact that he used to have access to our front fence, where he would bark at dogs walking past. So yeah, I'm not 100% sure where it came from. For what it's worth, we didn't continue with Bark Busters as I came to realise that we had been given some poor advice, so I started training with a local dog training club. There was a Pomeranian in one lesson, that went nuts at him and he went nuts at it back. I stayed where I was, when in hindsight I should have moved to the other end of the line. In terms of expecting a mal x GSD to be calm and quiet, I'm not expecting that at all, and I don't want to silence him at all. It's just his jumping when waiting for food and walk time, involves scratching paint off the house, which I'd like to stop. I like the look of this TOT business (which I will definotely do) and thanks also for the link to that article - that's very helpful! Cheers, GenY

Our 1 year old GSD x Mal is a lovely boy.. I'm not even going to say 'but', because he really is. His only vice is that he is quite dog-reactive, which is why I'm going to start implementing some NILIF strategies. So I'm wanting to find out how others have started this... for example, when we go for walks, currently he's outside, jumping around like a twit, whining and so on. I'm not a fan of this, but I'm curious as to how others have approached this. He has done training and does sit, down, stay, heel etc. - all of them *pretty* well, but I reckon the stay is going to be tricky when he knows he's going for a walk. So.. how would you approach this? The other area where NILIF is going to be tricky, is feeding. Currently, both our dogs are fed at the same time and the same sort of thing applies. He mostly jumps around and whines (as above) until we come out with his food, then he sits and waits for us to give him his word. This works fine, but I'm of the impression that he should be in a calm stay until we feed him. Any other NILIF tips you can think of would be really appreciated - especially in terms of how it relates to training a very dog-reactive boy. Cheers, GenY

That is a great idea, I'll add that to the list :-) Thank you!

Our 10 year old dog is due to have some surgery tomorrow (removal of one anal sac) and I'm worried about how our 11 month old GSD x Mal will cope. They are generally not separated for long, but when they are, the youngster whinges and cries for his friend (they really are great friends, even though he drives the old girl mad sometimes). We had this situation a couple of months ago, but got around it by having a new roof installed at the time, which meant the pup went to a kennel and the old girl mostly lived inside with us while she recovered. That particular surgery was really quite minor though... So apart from bones, Kongs, daily walks, training and play sessions, what on earth else can I do to combat this, so that he doesn't drive our neighbours (and us) crazy? Evenings won't be an issue as both dogs sleep inside, but as he's quite rough and tumble, we will need to keep them separate during the day so the old girl can recover... Looking forward to seeing what others have to say :-) Gen Y

I'm not an expert, but I do know that years ago my family had two male dogs who were a couple of years apart. They didn't downright hate each other, but they were never the sort of dogs who slept near each other, groomed each other etc. They had some enormous, frightening fights from time to time but otherwise got along okish. When I had my first house of my own, I quickly decided to get a dog, and got a male. We decided after a few months to get him a friend and did a fair bit of research, most of which suggested that the easiest way to have two dogs that get along well, is to have a male and a female. This has worked really well for us and in the 10+ years that we've had dogs, the fights have been very, very minimal without any injuries and a quick "OI!" from us split them up. This could, of course, just be coincidence? Re one dog being inside and the other outside, if I did that to my dogs, one would absolutely get jealous and it would be a nightmare (I know because I tried it!). For that reason, the pup sleeps in a crate in our bedroom (this is quite inconvenient as he is 30-odd kilos and in a HUGE crate, which takes up a lot of space in our tiny house. The old girl sleeps on her bed next to him. Would love to know how you get on :-)

It's the same where I live, Roka, except it doesn't seem to matter what the size of the dogs are - around here they range from Chihuahuas to Great Danes (yep - my 10 year old 20kg mixed breed who isn't normally worried about off leash dogs, nearly lost her dinner when this thing came boundign after her, with the owner calling out to the dog, which was blatantly ignoring her). When these little dogs come running up to my young GSD x Malinois, he lunges, barks and carries on, making it quite difficult for me. I often get eye rolling from owners of said off leash dogs, because they think I'm over reacting when I ask them to put their dog on a leash. I'm doing a lot of training with my dog to work on his reactivity (he's also reactive to other dogs on leash, but nowhere near as badly as off leash dogs), but this is really hard when it doesn't seem to matter where I go or what time I go - there is always a risk that we'll run into an off leash dog. I'm in Brisbane and have phoned Brisbane City Council countless times. During a phone consult with Steve from K9 Pro (about my dog's reactivity), he suggested I write to BCC instead of phone, so that there is a paper trail. I've done this twice now, with zero response. They obviously don't care. As much as I'm worried for my dog, I also worry for my children when we're out and about, because I honestly don't trust people who don't restrain their dogs - which I assume is because teaching their dog to walk nicely on leash is just too hard - to be able to call their dog back. Anyway, I know my post doesn't offer you any consolation, but at least I take some comfort in knowing I'm not the only person driven nuts by off leash dogs. Cheers, Gen Y

You're not wrong! After first buying a couple of regular Kongs for my dogs 10 years ago, they held up for ages. I recently bought two bigger ones for my new dog, and they've faded considerably, which makes me question the integrity of the rubber. There's obviously some cost cutting happening there, as is often the case when businesses are 'on a roll' so to speak. Very sad.

A friend breeds dogs and has had a lot of success using Gerry King at Greencross at Redbank Plains... http://www.greencrossvet.com.au/GerryKing/Reproductive-Service.aspx Good luck!

How lovely you all are, taking the time to respond. Thank you everyone :-) I think asking him to throw the treat is perhaps a good step, because he sure does love his food. When I said 'elderly' maybe I shouldn't... he's in his late 60s, and a very fit man, so nothing funny there. He's always been kind to our dogs, always says they're lovely and our other dog (who is 10 and has known him the 9 years we've lived here) loves him - she apparently comes and grabs the treats the young pup doesn't want! The thing that gets me, is that when I handed the treats to the neighbour, the pup wasn't scared of him at all, took a treat from him and even got an ear scratch through the fence.. which is why I guess I'm so surprised that he's scared of him. Thanks again everyone. If anyone has anything else to add, I'm more than open to other suggestions :-)

My 11 mth old GSD x Malinois has 'known' our elderly neighbour since we brought him home at 9 weeks old but in recent weeks has been barking at him when he comes out of his back door (which is only a couple of metres from our (chain link) back fence. He has been our neighbour for almost 10 years and we get along well. Just to clarify, the neighbour is a dog person himself and had a Collie who died some years ago, so there is not a chance he has done something to our pup. He says he doesn't mind that the pup barks at him, but to be honest, I do. After speaking with him, I asked if he would be willing to give him treats when he is quiet, but ignore him when he barks. He was more than willing to help, so I supplied him with some treats. He gave the pup one while I was standing there, and a bit of an ear scratch and everything was fine. This morning I asked him how it was going and he said he won't take the treats from him - will barely even come near him! What the? So... does anyone have any advice they can share? Thanks in advance :-) Regards, Gen Y

I'm so sorry to hear this. It's so hard when they're sick and I really feel for you :-( When our old dog had bone cancer in his hip, we had a fair bit of time up our sleeve to think about what to do when he was at the end. I had heard a lot of people say that you just know when their time is up. Our boy had a lump on his hip that grew bigger and bigger. It astounded me that he wasn't limping, then all of a sudden he'd limp ever so slightly and we'd think "ok, this is it", and then he'd stop limping. We knew one night that he was officially in pain, when he stopped putting weight on that leg and was whimpering and in pain, despite being on Tramadol. We booked him in that afternoon and the vet said that the sudden change would have been the difference between the tumor not touching the spinal cord, and actually touching it. Anyway, more to the point. We have two kids, who were 3 and 6 at the time. As we're not religious, we told them from the get-go, that when he got too sick, we would take him to the vet and the vet would give him a needle to stop his heart, to make the pain go away. The 6 year old had questions about why we do this to animals but not to humans (can of worms right there), but the 3 year old was quite pragmatic about it. I had been adamant all along that we wouldn't have him cremated, so when the time came, we arrived home with a his body wrapped in a blanket and my mum, who was looking after the kids for us at the time, looked at me as if to say "Oh no, you really haven't thought this one through". Both kids asked to see him and say a final goodbye. I was too distraught to think straight, so I let them go to the shed, where he was wrapped in a warm blanket on the floor whilst my husband dug a hole in his favourite spot, under our lime tree. The 6 year old was a bit upset but I think it kind of sealed the deal for her, i.e. this is what dead means. The 3 year old, on the other hand, was very pragmatic about it and was saying "He's not hurting anymore" and wanted to help my husband dig him a comfortable hole, and did so. He still talks about how his tongue was hanging out, but I've explained that this is because he was completely relaxed etc. Now and then I will make a comment like "Since Simon has been gone" and my now 4 year old will say "He's not gone, he's in the back yard, buried in a hole!". Kids... :-) I hope you can find peace with the inevitable and make the most of the pawprints Bru has left, and will continue to leave on your hearts. Keep doing all the things he loves doing, and when he loses the 'spark', you will know. All the best.

Ok I'll get my mitts on some new Malaseb just in case ???? Strangles has me worried now. Will keep a close eye on him now. The vet did a scrape, yes, and showed me the mites under the microscope. He's quite active and doesn't seem lethargic at all.. also not off his food. But will definitely keep an eye on him. Thanks so much for the responses.

I should add that his diet consists of Black Hawk puppy food plus some Dr Bruce's raw puppy food and Omega 3, 6 and 9 supplement daily.

Hello folks :-) This is my first post on the forum, but I felt I needed to post. I have a 14 week old German Shepherd X Beligan Shepherd (sorry he's not purebred!). I noticed when we first got him (9 weeks old), that the hair around his eyes was a little thinner than it should be, but figured it was just a puppy thing. At his first vet visit, a few days after we got him, I didn't mention it as I had no concerns at the time. When we went back to the vet this week, I mentioned that his eyes weep a little more than seems normal - not gunky, just a little bit weepy and they seem just a bit irritated. Upon inspection of the eyes, she could see nothing wrong other than some slight irritation, which she put down to the Demodex she then found around his eyes, for which she prescribed a monthly dose of Advocate (he was on Heartgard + Advantage). My question is this: How long does it take for localised Demodex to clear up when using Advocate? Is it normal for the eyes to be affected (he doesn't appear to be scratching the eyes), and will the Advocate kill any mites in his eyelashes/eyes if there are in fact some in there? I feel terrible for the poor little love and would love for him to get better ASAP. The poor thing also has a bacterial infection on his chest/stomach area (little pustules that rupture and turn into superficial, pussy sores), which I was advised to treat with twice weekly Malaseb washes. The Malaseb I have expired in 2012 (which I only just discovered) - will it still be effective, or should I grab a new bottle? Also, is two washes per week adequate? Will it fix the infection or should I get cream as well? Thanks so much in advance, and sorry to be asking so much in my first post. Regards, GenY