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Ummmmm....NOPE You seem to have covered just about everything I can think of

No Nan - Greytmate meant that a greyhound can be good as an only dog (that is "by itself with no other dogs") but a lot of breeds need company Greyhounds are happy to be the only dog but they are also fine with other dogs and pets If you think you might like a greyhound do have a chat to Greytmate about adopting They are a lovely breed and if you adopt one, the rescuers make sure that the one they give you will fit in with your lifestyle and a cat-friendly one if you have cats etc. There are so many other breeds we could suggest :D Why don't you have a look at the breed pages here on DOL? You might just find a breed that you love

Have you tried the watering can thing yet??? Fido's Flea and Tick Rinse??? That honestly should work :D Add Eucalyptus Oil from the supermarket as well. I use Advantix on my dogs 'cos of the ticks and yes, the chooks get lice and give them to everyone which is worse than fleas Very expensive exercise but much better than the thousands we have spent on tick serum at the vets. Worming at the moment is the Gopet 2 in 1 Heartwormer and all wormer once a month

OK. So if you've never had a dog before, there are a few more things you could think about so we could help you decide:) Long-hair or short-hair - shedding or non-shedding?? How much exercise are you prepared to give a dog? How big is your yard? City or country? Big dog/smaller dog? You obviously like Mini Schnauzers...are there any other breeds you like? Just a few more things to think about

Awesome pic, Poodlefan

Sorry to say it but despite all your walking and toys, he is BORED The wall has become interesting because it "does" something when he bites at it and it tastes unusual - hours of fun What's even better is that YOU are now playing with the wall Move him somewhere else away from a plaster wall. Try setting up an outdoor run of some description. At least there is more to look at. Can your OH have the dog closer to keep an eye on him? You could also try hiding food treats around the yard and then letting him go find things - hours of fun Obedience will continue to help him and once he gets to a higher obedience level, he will be more likely to obey OH inside at home. If the only time he gets left alone is when you are all out or OH is upstairs then I would suggest the dog is experiencing some level of separation anxiety as well. Crate training would be of benefit here, if only to have the dog safely contained in a place where he cannot destroy things when you are out and then somewhere that is "his" space when you are at home. Hope these ideas help

They got the wrong breed for shaggy dog Should have looked at Tibetan Terriers In all seriousness, they will need to clip the dog. A coat on a pup of 4 months is nothing like a coat change, is nothing like a growing adult coat

No! I am not suggesting for you to eat dog food I don't know where that came into it? The rescue dog is called Ty? And your Chi is called Zoe? You say Zoe is not eating dog meat. What are you feeding Zoe? And Ty is getting the Bonny and the canned food? The meat and bones are very good for both of them. Maybe the rescue dog, Ty, is not doing well with the Bonny dry food and canned food. This could be giving him an allergy. Can you answer these questions and then we can help you more

Have a look at the kibble on the shelves when you go to the vet I will guarantee you that will be what is recommended to feed your pup The diet and frequency of meals sounds great

Yep, basically 1000mg per 10 kg but I give all my dogs up to 10kgs a 1000mg dose The 25kilo dog gets 3 x 1000mg capsules. The dogs also get canned oily fish (sardines) at least twice sometimes 3 times a week.

Nope it's called Wandering JEW The Jews wandered for a thousand years or whatever it was in the bible (not religious sorry) and the plant does the same thing, hence its name - it's a prolific groundcover and produces all types of allergy in dogs. If I was any good at this computer stuff, I'd provide a link. Sorry. Bini, you can try adding Apple Cider Vinegar to his water and also bathing his paws in it. I'd persist with the delicious( ) cream you've got as well. I would suggest taking your dawg to a Naturopath/Homeopath and treating the problem as a "whole dog" issue. The saliva is producing the red stain on his fur which is indicative of an underlying allergy to something. It could be something as simple as walking on cut grass (I've heard that some dogs react badly to this) or I too would suggest a grass seed or prickle but this should really only be a localised paw rather than all his feet. If there's a rash under his belly (or has been in the past), once again, I would suspect an allergy to something. Have you changed his food at all recently?

Glamachic, I would be trying to get an extra feed into your pup Little breeds don't have big tummies and therefore, if you feed her smaller more frequent meals, she will feel full and content rather than waiting such a long time before feeds and her tummy getting empty and she's really hungry. Try feeding her at least 3 times a day - morning before you go to work, afternoon tea when you get home and then another feed later in the evening. Even better if you can manage 4 feeds. Provide a little more variety in her food - a lot of kibble does contain cereal fillers which can go right through puppies and then they are still hungry. Do check out the worming situation again. Absolutely NOTHING wrong with giving your puppy raw chicken or red meat of any type as long as puppy is supervised with the bones. Choking is the ONLY hazard. Do have a look at the link provided for Dr Billinghurst. And do more research on BARF. This should give your husband a better overview about the diet of dogs. And DO try to convince your friend that she should not be feeding any cooked bones. Yes, potentially expensive operation for a pierced gut - why risk it? Doesn't make any sense why some owners think they can potentially risk their beloved animals' life when there is a much simpler option. Don't cook the bones!!! Tomatoes and mushrooms are fine (but I have one dog who will absolutely REFUSE to eat tomato ) so get some bolognese into that puppy (minus the onion!) (And where on earth did you get the PUG idea??!! Last week it was a Chi!! Still guessing??!!)

I'd also look at the diet. Just because your Chihuahua is ok, doesn't mean that the rescue will do well on the same thing Do first try a medicated shampoo like those already mentioned because the hypo-allergenic stuff is for dogs with sensitive skin and not for dogs who might have bacteria on their skin This could definitely be the cause of "smelly dog" If his skin is clear and he is still smelly, have a look at the diet and make sure he/she has good quality food. Most supermarket brand foods have cereals as fillers and a lot of dogs' systems disagree with this. Have a go at feeding a premium kibble and or a raw diet and his skin/smelliness will improve. There are many premium foods which are formulated for dogs with skin problems. Also, and this is for both the OP and SLLH - are you both making sure that you are rinsing out ALL conditioner? ;) Any leftover conditioner will flake off and look like "dandruff". Try doing a final rinse when you bath the dog. Pour over a quarter of a cup of white vinegar in a litre of water. Hope these suggestions help

Hi Smithy The Cairn I do agree with you about the essential oils but you've gotta watch it - a lot of the oils sold at the Reject shop and similar are actually cheap synthetic fragrances in an oil base - usually dipropylene glycol (sp?). It's much better to pay more for the real thing Real plant extracts and good oils for the skin. Also no matter if the fragrance base is genuine or not (ie NATURAL), some dogs are just outright allergic to certain herbs or fragrant plants. The chances of this increase if the oils are just fake fragrance. You are lucky that your dog does not seem to be having a reaction to your choice so if it works for you, that's great. The difference is that doggy fragrances are specifically designed to suit the skin of DOGS ;) Also, if my dogs rolled in poo - there's no way I'd be spraying it with something pretty to cover it up!! That dog would SO be in the tub Also Plush Puppy have a fantastic range especially suited to wirey coats - it's called "Ruffy-Tuffy" or something

My friend actually develops the dog fragrances for 3 major companies in Australia ;) He tests them out on his own dogs and if he can't still smell it after a week, he goes back to the drawing room and starts over This is one case where "Tested on animals" is a bonus

Gawd! I spend so much more on my doggy shampoos than my human ones I've seriously thought about giving it a go My dogs coats are MUCH nicer than my own hair ;)

Don't say ANYTHING to her Not a word If you talk, it's a reward that she's gotten you to respond to her whinging ;) No attention! I know it's hard... :D At the moment she is only a baby and she sees you as Mum and her one and only protector (lol, I'm sure your OH won't mind being referred to as "Mum"!! ) As she gains confidence in each situation, she will become more independent. The quiet ones are always more like that IMHO. Make sure she meets heaps of people and is put in heaps of different situations Don't force her, but also, don't reassure her if she seems to be reacting badly to something that scares her. Take treats wherever you go and let her "find" them from other people or if she's scared, distract her and treat her I have a shy dog and it's taking a lot to bring her out of her shell. A mate in the backyard isn't scary but another doggy, even friendly, is a threat. If I'd had her as wee youngster, it would be taking a lot less time to socialise her so remember that now is the optimum time for your pup to be experiencing lots of new things :p Good luck with it all ;)

Yes, feeding her outside is a good idea ;) I think getting her used to being outside without you is going to take a bit longer. 20 minutes outside playing with nate. 5 minutes for you to go inside and get them brekky WoW! Playing happily kids, but now it's brekky time (even if they are content to keep playing, I would interupt the cycle and create ROUTINE ) Eat brekky and you stay with them for another 20 minutes. 5 minutes inside and then go back out and play with them again. By the time an hour is up, puppy should have eliminated TREAT! and then you all go back inside until lunchtime and then the same routine. Jusy stay outside until puppy has gone and also you may want to do this separately, especially if Nate does not have certain meals. Increase the times gradually. Word of warning though, don't go back out if puppy is whinging and carrying on at the door. This is why I suggest to "break up" the playtime. If she's doing something good like playing and having fun, she will be rewarded. If she's whining and scraching at the door, there's no way you are going to pay her any attention! Every time you want them to do something, there will be a treat. Remember that puppies have very short attention spans. Even if she is quiet for like, 20 seconds, then is the time to reward her! Also, a crate inside so puppy knows when you leave the room, she's safe and can be content for a few minutes and you will come back when she's quiet - with a TREAT! :D Start with pup in a high traffic area like the kitchen or loungeroom so there are only short periods of being by herslf. Give her something to do in the crate - tying a toy down low in the crate is a good one. It's not that she doesn't like being outside, it's that she likes to be near YOU

Excellent! If the pest control company don't do the yard, then make sure you do the watering. All you'll need is another lot to hatch and you'll have adult fleas again In a few days, if the dogs are still itchy, give them a nice warm bath with something soothing for their itches. The bites will take a while to settle down

RM00 - I have a box of AdvanTIX sitting right in front of me and it says NOTHING about heartworm :p Just the bitey parasites :D You scared the bejeezus out of me because I give my dogs monthly heartwom treatment and Advantix and my vet never said anything! :rolleyes: PHEW! ;)

Wrote you a u-beaut epic earlier that disappeared into the techno ether ;) As instructed above - vacuum everything - use a flea collar in the bag to kill the suckers Wash everything (don't forget the dog jackets too!) - use hot water and eucalyptus oil or Woolwash in the mix Spray your carpets and rugs - use flyspray (it's much cheaper than flea bombs and special sprays and it does do the job) but make sure there are no animals around for the day - don't forget that flyspray is deadly to fish in tanks and birds in cages Don't forget your yard. It is most likely where they all are seeing as you have wooden floors: Get a watering can and fill it with water. Add 40 mls Fido's Flea & Tick Rinse, 30 mls of Eucalyptus Oil. Water every bit of ground in your yard. Repeat every 4 - 7 days until you KNOW there are no more fleas. This treatment is only toxic to insects. Contact the real estate if you have only just moved in - they *should* pay to get the property treated for fleas though there might be an issue now that your own dogs are there. QUICK! Hide the dogs!

Hi H3113n No matter how much they like the smell of the soup, no matter how much they beg, no matter how much they batt the eyelashes on those gorgeous brown eyes - DO NOT FEED COOKED BONES!!! Cooking bones changes the molecular structure making them splinter easily as the dog gnaws. Those little splinters are swallowed and the gut acids cannot digest them readily because they are cooked. They CAN pierce the stomach or bowel which results in one emergency visit to the vet and VERY expensive operation to fix the problem. You could however, take the bones out of the pot a little earlier and give the gristle, cartilage and little bits of meat on the bone - just NOT the bones :p Always give your dogs RAW meaty bones - never COOKED bones. ;) (And I don't care if your childhood dog was always given leftovers including the last bit of the roast bone. If you feed cooked bones you ARE increasing the risk of injury to your dog :D )

Hi Bret Reward what you want to happen Don't rub her belly when you go up to her/near her. She now thinks this is what is required of her Just ignore the behaviour and praise her when she greets you with a nose or a paw or comes up to you (Note that at the moment, you are coming up to her and giving her a rub - she doesn't even have to move! ) Maybe to start her off, even treat her when she comes to you rather than vice versa! Any time you spend with the separately is good for them ;) Make sure they get "alone" time away from eachother and you If one has to go to the vet or away somewhere for a period of time, you are just setting up separation anxiety for all of you if they don't get their own alone time as well Sounds like you are doing a great job

Well why on earth would they want to have their OWN couch! ;) I think you might be expecting a little much too soon, especially as they can't even get onto their couch easily Remove the other couch or barricade it off somehow Put their toys and fun things on the blue couch. YOU go on the blue coach with them. Can dogs see blue?? What colour is the other couch?

I'm another one for Australian Bush Flower Essences There are a few types - my girl has been on one called "Confid" (for confidence) as Rescue Remedy chilled her out so much she would go to sleep - not so good for the show ring