BittyMooPeeb

Kristie I am so sadded to hear what has happened to Barker. There seem to have been so many sad accidents with collars lately . We found these one available in Australia - they are breakaway collars so that dogs cannot get strangled. I know it is too late for your Barker but it may help your other dogs. Hugs to you http://www.barfnsw.com.au/breakaway_collar.php

I'm so sorry to hear about Teabag, Tiger_bluez. It sounds like you had a very special bond. Gail

So sorry for your loss. Chopper looks like he was a wonderful boy. Gail

My beautiful Mohini. You trusted me to keep you safe and tonight I failed you in the worst way possible. You came to me near death, and you took your recovery and surgery so well, and never failed to give me a happy smile and wag of your tail. And then when you were better - well there has never been a happier dog. Eating, sleeping, driving in the car, going to the vets - you showed immense joy at every wonderful (and ordinary, and not-so-wonderful) moment, jumping, squirming and smiling the biggest smile with your big beautiful eyes and lovely wonky smile, I am so so sorry Moe - my only job was to keep you safe and ensure you had a good quality of life - it is such a simple thing and I failed so badly. I can still feel you in my arms and see your big goofy smile. My heart is breaking and no amount of tears will ever be enough. This is a mugs game . All of the so called 'successes' will never make up for how I failed you tonight. ;) . I want to scream and scream, and make it all not happen but I cant. Why did the risks seem so manageble when they so obviously weren't? Goodbye my sweet Moe. I miss you so much. Please forgive me.

double post

I dont think you can 'cure' behaviour problems - 'curing' implies a once off solution, and working with behaviour issues is no different from any other dog training - it has to be constantly reinforced. For example, making yourself a supremo pack leader may greatly improve fear associated problems, but you always need to stay in this position - you cant lower yourself in the pack and expect the problems not to return. What will change though is the amount of effort you need to put into maintaining the ideal situation (whatever it is) because: - once a pattern is established, your dog will only need reminding of it, rather than training in it (just like the effort to reinforce recall is much less than teaching recall in the first place) - the new regime will become part of your life and you will just do things in your normal routine. A dog that has been agressive in the past will also need lifelong management to reduce risk to other animals and to people. This may mean things such as - secure fencing - no off lead excercise - being muzzled in public - being put in a dog run when children visit etc etc (these are just examples - what each dog needs will differ) So it's a definite "no" for a cure . Rehabilitation, along with ongoing training and management can however allow you and your dog to live a happy, normalish life I'm not sure why the OP indicated that seeing a behaviourist was not a desired option. In my opinion is is ESSENTIAL in this situation. I've used DogTech in Canberra and they are fantastic ;) . A good behaviourist will be able to assess your dog and advise you on how much improvement you can expect (ie is the dog able to be rehabilitated or not). Best of luck

Hugs to you and Lilly. I hope the results bring some good new Gail

Sorry Puggles but yes you are missing something ;) . The ultrasound would be to see if his other eye (the closed one) is functional, and the reconstructive surgery would be to create eyelids and open the eye up. His right eye has dry eye and is vision impaired (the vet thinks as a result of untreated dry eye) and the right eye is closed, presumably a birth defect. This is Jackson (aka Jogar Mr Wonderful (desexed by us this week, so not so wonderful any more :wink:)): Thanks to those who PM'd or rang . I now have insider info on how to get an appointment in Canberra, and have the names of Sydney specialists if we decide to go up there instead. ETA: the area around his eye is shaved to help clear up the infection he had. It makes him look a bit freaky.

Hi all, Thanks for everyones responses I talked to the vet this morning to clear a few things up, and yes it is Optimmune that he is thinking of. Jackson needs to see an eye specialist for *both* eyes (which is what several DOLers said, but I thought that the dry-eye could be treated by a non-specialist vet. He probably needs to go to the eye specialist becasue of the injury caused by the dry-eye being untreated for so long). Problem is that there isnt an eye specialist in Canberra . One does down from Sydney for one day a month, but you cant book ahead (they send a card out to all the vets saying which clinic they will be at, then the vet has to ring up all of his/her patients that want to see the specialist, then the patient has to get on the phone and hope to get an appointment - they book out really quickly). I havent been able to get my own cat in yet So .... now I'm looking at alternatives like taking him to Sydney to see an eye specialist. Does anyone have any recommendations, particularly if they give a discount to rescue? If he needs an ultrasound, and then possibly reconstructive surgery on his left eye it is going to be expensive.

If he sees the specialist it will be for the other eye (not the one with dry eye). Of course he will get ongoing medication for his dry-eye . My question was about why the medication is so expensive, and what natural alternatives there are. Edited to add: Just to clarify, his dry eye has been seen and is being treated by a vet. It is the vet who suggested looking for an alternative to the expensive prescription medication.

We've got a foster just arrived who has one eye closed up and the other eye has had dry eye which has not been treated in the past so he has lost a lot of sight in it . Apparently the vet said that medication he will need for his eye costs $80 per month Does anyone know what he might be referring to, and why it cost so much? He also mentioned 'natural' alternatives may be available to treat dry-eye. Does anyone know about these? We have no idea what has happened with his other eye - I cant find a scar - it is just closed over as if he never had an eyelid. His eyeball is in there though. An eye specialist comes down to Canberra once a month, so we may have to book him in too see if there is a way of finding out if his closed up eye is functional, and if so, whether eyelids can be created. For now though we just need to make sure he doesn't lose the last bit of sight in his open eye. He's a 3yr old purebred Lhasa Apso (with papers). We traced the breeder but she is deceased.

dont wash her jammies or blankets in anything that has enzymes in it (like a lot of washing powders do now) as it can easily cause skin irritation. Episoothe is a better product for dogs that have skin problems - you can get it from vets usually. Make sure you dry her off well after a bath and dont put her jammies on if she is still damp. Hope this helps. Gail

that would be the Petway Aroma Care Spray .It's the one i always used as i owned a dog wash business also and still have some stock of it.You can use it as a rinse in the hydrobath or as a spray after they're dried.You can also get an aroma care shampoo now which has the same smell Wonder why you can't buy it off them at the moment? It really smells great and lasts for ages Just because they are so busy here. I could get some if I could pin them down! It is a normal shampoo so wont do anything special for a white coat, if that is what you are after. I use Fido's whitey britey (my name - I cant remember what it is called) for a knock-your-socks-off glow on a white coat

I had a foster dog who developed a skin condition once. The vet told me that it was probably a food allergy relating to the coconut the 4legs is rolled in I did change his diet and it did help, but who knows ....

I can sympathise feralpup. I had what I thought was a great day of training on Wednesday, till the instructor said "you've got a great dog there, pity about the handler" . The bad part being of course that it is true :D . Still, *I* have fun (and I've improved a lot - Imust have been awful to start with) Great advice Kelpiechick

Hi Leopuppy, Do you achieve this by increasing the distance in small steps? If so, how do you increase the distance/time? By luring or other sneaky means the first few times, or does the dog just naturally go further/longer once they have the shorter distance/time down pat? Thanks everyone else for your comments. I'm not worried about different judging styles too much, but am always analysing my training methods, and this test made me question whether I was on the right track. Sounds like I am (as far as DOLers are concerned )

My baby girl did her advanced obedience test today and she got a lower score than some dogs who I thought didnt do as well as she (we) did (insert evil green jealousy emoticon here ). The explanation came in a talk from the judge after the testing, that she gives higher scores to the dogs that do what they are supposed to do, even if it takes owner intervention, than to dogs who are just given the commands they are supposed to get, and occasionally stuff up. Made me think, as I have always assumed that inconsistency is much better than imperfection. eg I would rather my dog walk with a loose lead and the normal commands for heelwork, and occasionally miss a turn, than having the dog on a tight lead, dragging it around turns, and doing a lot of verbal correction or reminding. Obviously in this particular test it didnt pay off points wise, but what about in the long term? Wouldnt it be better to have - say - great heelwork 90% of the time and the other 10% a disaster, than 100% mediocre heelwork because the dog is getting a lot more cues than is considered acceptable? Or am I on the wrong track ...? My thinking was that it is much easier to increase the frequency of a good performance than it is to fix up a not-so-good performance.

I've tried the channel method, and then guides with Piobaireachd. He was going well with guides but got bitten mid-weavers and wouldnt look at them after that, so we have started retraining with Susan Garrets 2x2 method. Its been slow as Peebs prefers to be told what to do rather than working it out for himself, but we are making progress which is great, and tonight at training, we usually run straight past the weavers, but this time Peebs went through the first two without having to be asked, getting the entry right and everthing, so I am very happy and will keep at it. the channel method for us was no good at all. After a year of classes (and some infrequent out of class practice) peebs still couldnt even run through a wide channel - he just didnt get it at all.

SMS, can you post this in teh 'sticky' health thread (if it is OK to do so copyright-wise) Gail

I feed mine once a day and am now wondering if that is the right thing to do (since reading how many feed twice a day). When I give chicken necks or bones they do get these at a different time from their meals though ... (I started with one meal a day because my first dog was never interested in breakfast)

Nope - I am NILIF through and through for behaviour problems and use it a lot in general too . For quite bad behaviour problems I have withdrawn all affection for a period of time, and reintroduced it as a reward for desired behaviour. But generally all dogs in my care get plenty of affection and cuddles. Some just have to work for it and have it on the floor rather than the couch

Hi Sally, Good on you for taking positive steps with your new dog! The suggestions already given are great, and I just wanted to add: - make sure you tell the trainer at the classes you are going to about the dog snapping and growling, as they will be able to help you with that. - Boot camp (or NILIF) seems harsh - who wants to have a dog that you cant cuddle and enjoy? - but she will not be in boot camp forever. Once the ground rules are established, and she is not fighting against them or showing undesirable behaviour, you can start to reintroduce some of the things you would like to do. (if she ever goes back to bad behaviour, go back to boot camp!) - some things, you should probably stop all together though. These are (just from what you have said in yoru post): * feeding her when your children are fed * treating her as another child or a human family member. You should find that treating her more as a dog will benefit her, you and your family and you can still have a loving, rewarding relationship with her. Behaviourists can help immensely by setting out a program tailored to your family and your dog, and help you through it to the point where you are no longer doing anything that seems 'unusual'. I love DogTech here in Canberra - they are in all states though :wink: Good luck with her (or is he a 'him'?). If you PM me your email address I will send you an article on NILIF. The think I find the best and most successful to start with is a feeding routine that involves the dog waiting for its food, and providing behaviours you request in order to get her dinner. If i have problems I might: - serve up the dogs dinner (after the family have eaten). Take the dog and food outside. Put the food where the dog can see it but not get to it (ie on a table or ledge). Go back inside, shutting the dog out. For 10 minutes . If during this time the dog plays up (barks, scratches at the door etc) they get told off verbally "NO" or "UH UH". - when the time is up, and the dog is behaving well, go outside, tell teh dog to sit and stay, and move to put her food down. If she does *anything* at all apart from sit and stay, food goes back up on the table and you go inside for 2 minutes. - repeat the above until the dog sits quietly while you put her food down, wait 10 secs with the food down without doing anything but sitting and staying. (I put the food 1-2 m away from the dog so it is not too hard). The dog doesnt need to understand 'sit' or 'stay' to do this - they will know it by the end of the night though! Be prepared to go in and out all evening on the first night while the dog works out what is required of it and chooses to do it. Hope this helps, and remember that if your children are in any danger of getting bitten, get professional help.

If all else fails, you could change to NuShape foods. They just put the food on yoru front porch I'm glad to hear that Barney is getting over his 'issues' with the Lite'n'easy driver.

I wouldnt use them because they have soap in them (be careful of the new anti-bacterial ones too - I wouldnt like to put those chemicals near eyes) I use cotton make up remover pads and either: - tear stain remover - water - pooch face wash from Alt

Didn't you have a #30 handy? :wink: