mowgliandme

I can confirm that petidtags.com.au are dodgy - bought one for my puppy from there ages ago and selected the size and colour I wanted. Received an email saying that I'd ordered the standard large red bone size (which I had not), emailed them and got no response and they have no phone number to call~ I got the big red bone tag a week later but it definitely wasn't what I ordered and despite the message that came with it "if youre not happy just contact us" never got a response! I got a very pretty one in a local store a few weeks later though

Nexgard is good for fleas and ticks -it is a chew and lasts one month We used to use nexgard and interceptor together but just switched to Nexgard Spectra which does heartworm, intestinal worms (except tapeworm) and fleas and ticks (and will give virbac once every 3 months for tapeworm)

Wow i cant believe a vet would object to wearing a muzzle on occasion! Will see how we go and then do a few consults at different ones if required

Sorry sarsplodicus - I dont believe anyone was trying to be mean! Thank you for the well wishes Its just that is an issue which tends to get people up in arms and there is evidence that the "reinforcing fear" idea is not how giving treats to a scared dog works! I dont like to get into such discussions online but please do check out more resources on the theory behind counter conditioning and desensitisation~

Sophia Yin has some great work that highlights counter conditioning and desensitisation I've used these techniques with a variety of (previously growling and biting) dogs to get them used to used to grooming or seeing other dogs~ I think we will drop into the new vet a few times and see how we go! ~ It was probably just a once off in hindsight as she has never acted like that anywhere and normally is pretty fearless/gungho

Can I ask how you vet shopped to find your vets? Did you go in when they had no issues to a few of them? Did you need to book appointments etc? I feel like online they all look pretty much the same - some just have more tech and staff than others~ I've also got a few more recommended ones but not sure how to go about it!

I'm not against that philosophy but I would vet shop to make both me and my dog happy (and I don't think I would be happy if my dog was always miserable at the vet) It would be pretty hard to determine and compare vet skills (vs qualifications which are pretty similar at most vets) without a little bit of shopping ~ I have always had dogs that love going to the vet

I definitely liked the second vet more in terms of ideals and trust (and would go there but only if she was happier there) and we could do more trips there but it is not super close and would take almost an hour return~ I doubt they would let us just go into exam room (where she was uncomfortable) to drop in though? and she was very happy in the waiting room as it was, so not sure that going there would really change much - perhaps they had done a scary procedure in the room before we went in, or she smelled another animals fear and thats why she was scared? So it could be a once off thing in that case - hard to say at just one visit!

So the first vet is where I have been taking Mowgli since she was a puppy, she has been there quite a few times (I’m a bit of a hypochondriac), she did puppy school there and sometimes she goes when I take my friends dog too. It’s also the closest to my house and has lots of fancy equipment. She loves going there, bounces in the door, chills out when she is not being examined~ However generally speaking I disagree with some of their practices: · puppy school was not positive only and scared many puppies unnecessarily (not Mowgli), · at her first checkup one of the vets said she was “dominant” at 10 weeks old when she didn’t like having her eyes examined and wiggled (since then we have worked on handling more and she is great with it) so I feel they are behind the times · insist on yearly C5 vaccines despite what the AVA says and · they have been sort of pushing to have her anal glands removed which I don’t feel is necessary (she did scoot sometimes but it has been reducing over time quite considerably!) Second vet comes highly recommended by many people including dolforums, positive reinforcement puppy school (though shes too old for it now), does the 3 year vaccine and yearly kennel cough and in general the vet was much gentler with her and explained everything to me~ It’s a bit further and not as high tech looking as the vet we normally go to though. However, she hated going into the exam room, was her usual happy self until we had to go in the room and then cowered and crouched and even whined when we were in there. The vet gave her treats and was just lovely to her but still she wasnt fully relaxed. She is normally very relaxed and happy everywhere, she even bounced into the emergency vet that one time we had to go and has never acted like this before anywhere! Should i just stick to where she is comfortable? or hope she improves with the second vet? or find a third one? Here she is all grown up~

Im pretty sure that is a "dogs on leash" area too - or at least thats what they showed on the news.

Well I'm glad it wont make her fearful - that was my biggest concern! I'd rather I get hurt than she does Think I'll continue my vetting and picking up in such situations! even if i look like a bit of an overprotective dog mum but she's my baby!

That is such a good philosophy to have!

That is true but I was talking to two of the dog club instructors so I thought they would have known better! Or at the very least had control over their dogs... We are going just for distraction practice as Mowgli aces obedience/tricks pretty much everywhere Ive taken her but there are few environments where lots of dogs are on lead to practise in.

Thank you MrsRB I think i'll continue to keep her quite protected as I have been doing...just didn't expect that at a training organisation I would have so many unruly dogs and that I would have to!

Firstly, does picking up your dog when there are other unruly dogs around cause it to fear dogs? Is this the same as if your dog is stressed verses calm when picked up? And secondly assuming your dog is “dog social” which mine is, should I let her play with dogs much bigger than her who are also dog social, but boisterous, I’m afraid that she will get injured or trampled, she has been stepped on a couple of times by bigger dogs and I don’t want her to fear them. I have been carefully vetting the dogs she plays with so they are similar in size, age, good temperament or compatible (bigger dogs that play gently with little ones) and speaking to the owner before letting them meet. I also recall her from situations if I feel dogs are getting too hyped up. As a little bit of background, Mowgli is very chill, gentle and she will ignore barking lunging dogs and just lay down calmly watching me...normally i just position myself between her and dogs I don't want her to meet, but if i feel that the owner does not have control of their dog and could let go and I cant move away (e.g. If i'm taking to them). I will pick her up so she's out of harms way, she's pretty happy both on the ground and also being picked. However at the a training club i went to they said that this will cause her to fear other dogs, which is not what I want! Should i be letting her "sort it out" and get used to being approached by less obedient crazier dogs...or stick to preventing it? I am happy to be wrong!

Other than the usual clumsiness of running into walls, trees and couches...? She loves being muddy, sandy and messy but if she's got a leaf or even a *gasp!* flower petal on her foot/leg she will refuse to walk one step! (I've done so many injury checks on her in the middle of a wilderness walk thinking that she's hurt herself and its just been a leaf stuck in her hair) If the door is open she will definitely sneak into the shower or bath and then demand to be blow dried after If its muddy outside she will run inside and wait in the bathtub for a foot wash - I suppose thats a good thing though She also likes to climb onto the outside table and whinge for someone to help her down She is quite a cheeky character!

I absolutely agree on the larger dog stuff, its so weird and annoying to have to buy a large harness or bed for my clearly quite small dog! And then there is hardly anything much bigger for the medium or large dogs at all

hehe she is a super cheeky monkey ...stole my sock and ran into the couch today! but its her birthday (this photo is not from today as my phone is too full to take any more photos - so her hair is shorter than that on the face)

More indestructible toys! Other than that I would love something which can wrap around the couch legs - like a hard canvas with velcro, so that toys don't go under the couch ALL. the. time... I'm pretty sure my pup is teaching me to fetch!

I do have clippers but I am a bit attached to the hair and I don't really want the shaved poodle face for her - i have cut it very short on the sides of her face and on her muzzle so i don't think she would have any issues seeing (its more like the Maltese look and doesnt blow into her face) You know I even ordered this book when you first mentioned it to me a while ago but it got lost by Auspost so I ended up getting a refund - reordering it again today! Thank you Heheh I am not 100% sure if is definitely due to the hair either, on the first day she was very well good and didnt hit anything and then the second day, she jumped into the bath when i had just gotten out of it and then ran around the house wet and bumped into two walls...so i think its mostly a just when excited thing! She is a pretty laid back dog most of the time with the exclusion of going into zoomie mode. I am also completely uncoordinated and always have a few bruises from walking into door frames and tables...so hopefully she hasn't learned it from me! :P

hmm then I dont know... perhaps the brand has changed the original brush over time or their one has softened through use?

What do you mean by soft? I have a Les Pooches green (soft) brush which has polished ends (so theyre not scratchy but they are still metal) and a flexible body which I really love. Activet have a similar product for cheaper but I think the ends are still a bit scratchy compared to the Les Pooches one.

Probably not super necessary! My understanding was that heartworm needs to be done every month (or the yearly injection) and intestinal worms done every 3 months, but typically people find it harder to remember to worm every 3rd month as opposed to monthly on the same date...and lots of products combine the two and then need to be given monthly I take her camping a lot, every weekend or second weekend (including into areas with paralysis ticks and fleas) so I would rather have her covered but if she was just a homely dog that went to the park (in a non tick area) I probably wouldnt get such comprehensive coverage Everywhere we go also has lots of dog poo the council even sent out letters to every single house complaining about it last week

Boo ...do you know if there is something which just does tapeworm?

That's unfortunate that there is nothing that can be done in NSW It may even be different for different councils in Vic? but thats what my council (Glen Eira) said to do!