Kirra_Bomber_Zeus

My Mum had her dog's removed a few months ago. He is a rescue and for some reason can not handle anyone touching his claws. Even the vet cant cut them - last time he tried Jack pooped all over the vet office he was so petrified!! The other claws wear down from walking, but his dew claws were growing in a circle because he wouldnt let anyone near them. She didnt take the decision lightly though and did much soul searching before deciding to have it done I think if they were causing a problem to my dogs I would get them removed. Luckily for me, mine havent had a problem yet ! ;) Jen

oohhh that may be ok then. I can see that I am going to try everything here! (lucky hubby does not read this forum Jen

Thanks everyone - you guys are great! I went and had a look at the sporn halters on the website and they look good, the only problem I might have is that my Staffy has a bad skin condition and can scratch huge sores into her armpits, so it might be too uncomfortable for her. Wow, this is really hard!!! I do want to try and train my dogs not to pull at all - it's just so difficult when I am walking both of them myself. In all honesty I walk them much less than I should because I am a little afraid that I dont have control and that if they want to (and they have wanted to in the past ) they can take off, dragging me behind them like a water skier!! As Bomber can be a bit funny with other dogs and tries to "protect" me and Kirra at every opportunity, I really do need to get some control. I also find that me not having control limits the amount of places I can take them - and so limits their fun in the long run! Jen

Thanks Trace! Does anyone have a "Gentle Leader" - is this the same thing as a Halti?? Thanks again - sorry to be a pain Jen

Yep, it sure was! Jen

Thanks guys With the halti, can the dog still pant properly? (I dont know much about them if you cant tell ) Thanks Daisy2002, I will look up some info about the Sporn harness as well! Jen

Hello I have never used a Halti Collar before and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it might work with my dogs. I have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and another mixed breed (who also has a head like a Staffy). They are both very strong dogs and pull quite alot when I walk them. I walk both of them at the same time so I would like to reduce this as much as possible! I have tried harnesses but their chests are even stronger than their necks and I have even less control. I am trying hard to teach them not to pull (and have just read a couple of suggestions in another post which I will try out! ) but I feel as though I lack control with the flat collars, especially when I am trying to teach both at once! Any help would be appreciated! Jen

Dont feel like a fool Dremen! I had NO idea what I was doing when I started feeding raw - but you learn! One of my dogs has problem going to the toilet if I feed him chicken necks to many days in a row (but my other dog doesnt) and my other dog is allergic to beef, so sometimes you just have to play it by ear and figure out the best foods for your particular dog too. and dont worry, I didnt get that they would eat quite a bit less on a raw diet at first either (and I admit to picking up food and waving it in front of one of my dogs faces every time they didnt finish their dinner for a while ;) ) After I figured out there was just so much 'filler' rubbish in processed food and I was giving them 'whole' foods now I adjusted the amount accordingly (ok, and after I noticed my older dog was getting rather fat!!) Jen

Hi Greentea I gave Kirra (my Staffy) the same wormer as you when she was younger and she had the same reaction as your dog. I was terrified in the end that she would really hurt herself. I would say that giving your puppy the vaccintions and wormer all in the same day could have been a huge assault on his immune system. Reactions to vaccinations and drugs are more common than people think. Especially as not many people report them - then if they do - the vet does not want to admit it could have been the drug. Sorry if I offend anyone with that last comment. Its just that if you were in my position you would feel the same way! I can not worm, vaccinate or give my Staffy almost any medication at all now without her suffering a reaction. She reacted badly to her vaccinations, then the vet loaded her up on cortisones and steroids and within a week she had a horrible skin condition. I have been trying to get her better for 2 years with homeopathic remedies now. Its an absolute nightmare - she is allergic to almost everything now. She is even deathly allergic to bee stings, but also has a reaction to the antihistimine/steriod combo the vet will give for this!! Jen