t-time

Yep! Same here I won't feed them if they have spring water (rather than oil) - it's the oily fish you want

I'm all for the crate in the laundry idea - at least she might be a little further from the neighbours OR: You can try DISRUPTING the routine... Get up in the morning, do what you want to do, make a coffee, have a shower whatever, BEFORE you go to the dog - make her WAIT. This way, you can also ensure that you will only be going to her when she's QUIET At the moment, you are simply rewarding her barking behaviour. She knows that you WILL come if she barks for long enough Make sure the neighbours are aware you are trying to do something about your barking dog, regardless of which route you want to take - a little understanding goes a long way Good luck

I'm curious as to how much the titre testing is??? :rolleyes:

Hi Mak Congrats on the new baby :rolleyes: Your little boy is only 8 weeks and you are just going to have to be very patient with the toilet training Because he is a toy breed, if you are taking him outside, everything could be seeming very "big" to him as well. You could try taking him to a smaller area to wee & poop. Make sure there is no playing and no talking until he does it! It could also be beneficial to have him on a lead so he gets to know this is "business time". Give him little clues and plenty of praise. Even if there are no signs that he is going to toilet, continue to take him where you want him to toilet FREQUENTLY! It's can be extremely frustrating but he will get it eventually Have you though about trying those puppy wee pads? I haven't used these personally but I know of quite a few people who have had good success with these - especially with toy breeds as they have a scent to attract puppies to wee on them and you can place them in discreet little places for puppy to go. With my current baby puppy, I have attached a bell to the wall near the door and I'm training her to ring it to go outside! Bichon breeds are very smart but also notorious for taking ages to toilet train. Keep your chin up, stay very patient, don't lose your cool. PERSIST

While I agree with you cavnrott, there seems to be a lot of variety in this puppy's diet at the moment Just talking about pulling it back to basics The chicken skyline is feeding should provide more than enough calcium

Miranda - did you check out that website? It basically said what you are saying ;) The only exception was that they recommended Chicken fat over general poultry fat ;) Once again - that's about actually knowing what's in the food ML - it's been "noticed" but you're not sure Have the ingredients changed without them telling you? I used to love Dr Harry and I trusted him (that was until my Frontline Plus didn't work any more :p) I'll stick with my Eaglepack at the moment! Thanks for the BARF patties- type tip ;) Once again, I think it would be cheaper to be adding my own ingredients together rather than paying someone to do it for me

First of all - love that website ML Ever since I've found Eaglepack - I don't read labels. My main issues previously have been more "moral" I suppose - how good a quality are the ingredients - what extra supplements are in the kibble - is that better and easier than what I'd been providing them previously. Also I like the idea of all the ingredients in EP being freshly sourced (ie human grade) and the effort they've gone to in securing many organic ingredients. I used to feed BARF but it became too hard to get all the ingredients I wanted/needed and then I found that large batches would not be eaten because the dogs or a dog wouldn't like a certain ingredient. They didn't eat that one ingredient then how were they getting that particular nutritional element?? I got too worried about them missing out on important vitamins etc. Now it's easy. I know they eat as much nice raw food as they want or like (yoghurt, veges, sardines, fruit, raw meaty bones) and then it's backed up with the high quality nutritious kibble. I still find myself adding extra omega oil but that's my own little "bent". The main dog foods I'm always horrified about are dog treats - full of salt and sugar and preservatives. It's no wonder dogs go whacko for Schmackos ;) The reason I feed the way I do now is because despite the argument that if you use a better quality kibble it will cost you less in the long-run - that was not the case for me. My costs went up considerably when I attempted feeding kibble only as per instruction so that only lasted for about 3 weeks Making the bulk of the meal with the ingredients I mentioned above is very inexpensive and then I add a small meal of EP kibble each day - that works out cheaper than feeding ANY sole kibble. So, my kibble more becomes one of my ingredients in my dogs' diets. I understand what you're saying about supplementing up your Supercoat with extra ingredients but surely it's better for your "filler" to be more nutritious to start with? ;)

Kangaroo meat is the LOWEST fat meat available and personally I wouldn't use it for a puppy because of that reason Puppies actually need more fat than an adult dog Kitakins - I must have missed something - why is your dog on rice? What diet are you talking about? Holistic vet?? Huh? Do you have a dietary problem with this puppy? With the runny poop - back to basics - boiled chicken and rice for a few days

Well skyline, you've gone from saying your puppy is eating this: on the 11th of Feb to.... THIS: on the 19th Februaury!!! SLOW DOWN DUDE!! You are introducing too many foods at once and it was mentioned a couple of times in this thread that you have to introduce different foods SLOWLY Lose the dog treats especially as most are sugar and salt based - and get your puppy's diet stabilised first. (And definitely read the ingredients on any dog treats :p) If you want to change to a better quality kibble then go for it but changing over will mean mixing the 2 kibbles (your current Supercoat plus the new brand) for at least a few weeks gradually reducing the old brand and increasing the new brand. SLOWLY!! Do not "finish this bag" and switch!! You don't have to feed milk and oats (and I'm wondering why you are doing it?) Water is sufficient and if it is to wet down the kibble, warm water will still do the trick. For now why don't you just stick with the chicken wings and mince and concentrate on changing over to a new kibble :D If you get a new kibble, there will be a whole variety of ingredients that your puppy will be getting used to at once which will be more than enough for his baby digestive system Good luck with the little poop monster! PS. Don't forget to worm him and get him vaccinated

Back to toilet training 101! Put them on leads and take them outside to the toilet as often as possible ie. every hour Lots of praise and treats when they do their business - they can't hold on forever! They will soon realise that wet feet are not too bad but a lot of small breeds hate getting their tootsies wet (You will probably curse the wet floors and couch though )

Sorry it's taken me so long to back My boy Tully was from AWL in Qld. We purchased him at the time as "Border Collie X" :D He was desexed and 12 weeks of age. Well, he was a dreadful sook when we got him home, HATED to be left alone even for short periods of time and after the first week, we thought "maybe we've made a mistake" he was beautiful but not behaving like the pup we thought we wanted but we persisted anyway. And he grew, and he grew, and he grew... We took him for his last vaccinations (a little late at 16 weeks) and the vet said "There's no way this dog is 16 weeks old!!" :D Turns out there are certain teeth that dogs lose at a certain age and he had NOT lost them yet! The vet said to bring him back when those teeth started falling out and then he'd give a final vaccination. It took another 4 weeks so as it turned out poor little bugger was only 5 WEEKS when we got him from the AWL - plus he had been desexed, and that's why he was so sooky - he was just a wee tiny baby when we got him :D :D He ended up growing to be medium sized - definitely not Border Collie size and there was definitely some wolfie in him there :D Perhaps the size of a large Labrador without the chunkiness :p (He was larger than my friends' Lab bitch who is at the top end of the standard). He was always a beautifully well-mannered boy, docile, gentle giant a little funny with "radar" ears and a bit of clutzy clown - very sweet but seriously a beautiful nature Very jealous which I think came from his singleton upbringing but good with other dogs unless they were with "you". Excellent "teaser" for the bitches - always knew when they were coming in despite his desexing at such a young age!! Anyway, I loved that boy... He was diagnosed with chronic HD plus "twisted bones" in his knees at 3 years of age. 2 months later he went down with a paralysis tick and never recovered I still miss him dreadfully Since then I've had several reports of "Tully-like" dogs - people who saw him always thought he was quite unique and weird looking - he was known as "The Ancient Disney Dog" amongst family and friends because he looked like he should be in a cartoon!! :D His coat was wiry with a thin soft undercoat - kind-of wispy and probably not such a thick undercoat as you describe in your dog... Thanks for allowing me to remember

I have to say - I felt like I was looking at a ghost My boy Tully RIP gorgeous boy :rolleyes:

Magthedag - you might end up with a case or two at some stage :rolleyes: About 2 years ago, stickfast fleas were found in the chook pens at the Caboolture Showgrounds - they have massive markets there every weekend where they sell poultry, livestock and occasionally kittens and pups The local vet and produce store got involved and a new animal house was built and the previous one completely bombed. Doesn't help all the people who unsuspectingly purchased animals during that time.

- (Good one ) Weeacre - thankyou for that link and info - I'm really not any good at putting up links etc Yes peoples, accidental death can happen at any time and any number of things could be the reason for death but the bottom line is: when feeding your dog, watch them while they do it, especially if it is an ingredient they haven't had before and if the meal contains something that *could* choke them, watch a little more closely If they are going on "inhale" a chicken neck or wing, then use common sense - it's probably not a good idea to feed your dog those particular parts of the bird. Doesn't mean that chicken is not good for dogs! Your dog chokes on kibble and therefore that's no good either???! It's like saying you choked on brussel sprout therefore they are dangerous!! Everything in moderation

Sorry, ChloeBC, I edited my post - must've been when you were writing too There are certain breeds of chickens that grow super big, super quickly. They are generally the large white ones with a red comb but the name escapes me at the moment (The ones I couldn't kill (!!) which are still in my chook pen!!) They remind me of the giant Michelin man in Ghostbusters - they get so fat and huge and white - they are actually quite awesome to look at, such is their size and they waddle around on these tiny little legs and are 3 times the size of my regular laying hens!! There are a more than a couple of breeds of chickens that grow super fast for the table They are MEAT BIRDS as compared to LAYING HENS

I'll keep saying it again and again: CHICKENS ARE NOT GIVEN HORMONES!!!! (Not since the 1960's!!) Antibiotics are given to keep the poultry healthy in overcrowded environments (like Inghams battery farms) which is why I have my own chooks in the backyard I prefer to know what my chickens have consumed And by the way, if you'd ever grown meat birds, you would know that these chooks grow hellishly quickly and unless you keep them very slim, they cannot physically hold their own body weight! If you don't kill them at 16 weeks which is what they are bred for(!!) and run them on, you can keep them quite lean so they can still support their body weight and then most of those birds when they lay, will produce double yolk eggs! It is the BREED which is enormous and they were BRED to EAT! Yes, buy organic if antibiotics bother you but chicken does not contain hormones in this country.

You could also try little dried fish treats, bits of sausage or cooked meat (so it's not too gross in your pocket) cat bikkies (occasionally - like a real treat) and cheese has been suggested I would not recommend using the kibble That is not a treat for your puppy - it is dinner Stick with items that a proper treats

Yes, you need to ensure your puppy knows how to swim - DEFINITELY. Drownings are far more commonplace than you would think and even "known" swimming breeds can go under In Dogdom, the older dogs will teach the younger pups to swimm, so even thought there might be aptitude and instinct, they still have to be shown how to do it.

Go for it! If you find the necks or wings are not being chewed properly ie INHALED, go for a frame (and make sure you only feed one in a day - a frame is a big meal for a little dog! ) 3 of my dogs are under 10kgs and eat necks or wings (whatever is on special) or frames. You just have to make sure they are chewing them. Injuries are RARE - Tangwyn - that sure is unusual for you to know of so of many raw bone injuries The most common bone injuries are from COOKED bones. Bones are the best tooth cleaner around, calcium plus, readily digestable - very good for your dawg!

You do find that a lot of dogs will be happier after a clip Even my oodley-poodley thing will get one centimetre clipped of and behave like that It's to do with the weight of the coat rather than them getting hot from actually having a coat. Dogs with a double coat are INSULATED - from the cold and from the heat. ;) Try the Mars Coat King and also when you are stripping/brushing/after a bath - try using a blow dryer and brushing against the lay of the hair. WARNING - it's best to be outside to do this task You will get LOADS of hair out at once so shedding will be lessened during the week Oh yeah - and your partner will just have to get allergy tests as suggested earlier in this thread. Clipped or not, the dog will still make your partner sneeze or whatever

Do you blow dry as well as brush? Try doing that before you clip your dog off Have you got a Mars Coat King? That's a great grooming tool to get out all that undercoat

My 3 littlies (all under 10kgs) are on the small dogs and puppies EP. They LOVE it I did try them on the Power formula but honestly, they were (abnormally!) bouncing off the walls for the entire bag!! Back on the small dog formula and their behaviour is now "normal" for them Also one of my dogs just wouldnt eat the Power formula so Hesapandabear gave me a Nutro sample - that was great too but it was all about timing and I went back to the EP for small dogs. I wouldn't hesitate to feed Nutro or EP. (Also I do add raw food including meat and sardines and the dogs get plenty of bones)

Personally, my breed is not tested in this country as it has only been here 6 years and the original import dogs were tested before they came to Oz. No doubt testing will be introduced at a later stage but at the moment, I have full confidence in the fact that the progeny of those sires have minimal problems as far as the breed goes. I would explore the tests that need to be done for Bichons - having not looked at the links provided, I would imagine the most important tests would be for PRA and/or juvenile cataracts. Plus the patellas should be checked by a vet for tuture reference for breeder if not yourself. Are you looking for a pet or potential breeding dog? I think if you ask why there have been no health tests for a specific problem, the breeders will be upfront. Obviously, you have already had one response of "It's not in the lines I use". Often, this is certainly the case and there would not be health tests conducted unless something untowards shows up in the dogs in front of the breeder. It is really up to you to decide whether that's a good enough response for you and whether the breeder will write something of a health guarantee about this into the puppy buyer contract If there is a problem that is particularly relevent to the breed, it is my suggestion that you contact the Bichon Club in your state and see if it is required for the breeders to do testing for these problems. Then follow up by inquiring as to which breeders do test their dogs. Otherwise, you might find that the breeders you have spoken to are being completely honest in their answers to you. Often a lot of the info available is American and they test for absolutely everything which may or may not be relevent to the breed. Once again, your choice of a pet versus a dog for a breeding program would affect this consideration. Best of luck in finding a Bichon

Joshie, this idea leans towards a fungal infection Calliech - great post and certainly food for thought for those that have explored so many options

Have you tried it Rappie? I think a lot of these old remedies have something going for them Look at how they are using leeches in hospitals now Really amazing