kelpiecuddles

Stick with the collar and get a lead made out of lightweight chain, not nearly as fun to chew on so pup will eventually give up :)

Thanks Erny, no other symptoms at all. She visits the vet regularly for a manicure and the vet always comments how wonderfully healthy she is :)

She's white there so I doubt it would show very well in photos. She does have naturally thin hair on her underside but there is an obvious patch developing, this is the first time it's happened and she's 5 year old so a bit odd...

I have noticed that Josie is rubbing the fur off the deep part of her chest where she lies on it, it's not itchy or inflamed, I'm certain it just a side affect of her breed being deep chested and heavy combined with how she prefers to sleep. She has a lovely cushy bed to sleep on so she's not sleeping on anything hard, any other suggestions of how to reduce it? It just looks like the same way babies that sleep on their back rub the hair off the back of their head.

I have a Bamboo deshedder which is basically the same as a Furminator. I have a new blade for it there but haven't put it on yet and the original is heading for 5 years old now! I have a strategy of using the deshedder when they have their bath(as in actually in the water), it gets heaps off and they look so nice afterwards. Do that once a fortnight and it's working great for us :)

It works for us, my neighbours dog would bark at me if I walked downthe sideway near their house, once I got to know the dog he now barks if he hears me walking but I just say in a friendly voice "It's only me Rocky, that's enough" and he settles :)

Still plenty of grooming that goes in to a hairless breed to keep their skin nice, a toy would be a better option

Deleted my post because I was having a bad brain moment and thinking of the wrong thing I'm treating and don't want to confuse the OP.

Bahaha, Sascha does the same thing, I remember taking her sheep herding and the sheep were still so she just figured, bugger this and lay down to watch them, the trainer thought it was great that she was 'conserving her energy'.

Yep, in Vic you have to have someone such as a vet who is your supervisor or employer, which kind of makes it not worth it because any vet with half a brain isn't going to agree to let you nick their clients :laugh: In NSW you get the qual and you operate independently without anyone supervising you

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BARKGUARD-START-KIT-CITRONELLA-ANTI-BARK-SPRAY-STOP-BARKING-DOG-TRAINING-COLLAR-/330825608377?pt=AU_Pet_Supplies&hash=item4d06be2cb9 It sounds like you are very stressed, I really do think you need to work out why he is barking but this might be an option to consider, I have found them very effective for my dogs that just bark for the sake of it. At $50 a bit more affordable too, the batteries and refills are also very cheap on ebay

Not to mention that reporting levels have increased dramatically, in the past if you got a mild bite by a dog you'd likely be told to leave the dog alone and that it served you right for annoying it somehow, now if you turn up at the hospital for even a tiny little wound from a dog bite it's reportable, no mandatory reporting for cat bites! I've been bitten by 4 dogs over time and never reported any of them, they were all bites for a reason when I was trying to assist the dog somehow and it was fearful or similar so I don't blame the dog.

If it's that bad I think you'll struggle. I always start off with lead work around the coop, lots of praise/treats for ignoring the coop, then over time progress to off lead, also work on ensuring he has a good 'leave' command. I agree with rozzie though that at least in the short term you are going to need to fence off the coop

Have a look at kmart or Coles for a cheap small crockpot, I have a little white ceramic one that cost me about $10 at Coles, too small for my dogs but would be great for something little like a tibbie pup. I just put the lid up and if I want to cover the bowl for some reason I put the lid on, if he's flicking water inside you could stick the lid on for ten minutes :)

Fair enough, i'll see what I can find

Rebanne where do you buy your parvo shot from? I'm quite comfortable giving injections and this is the only one I really would like to do a bit more often as we don't put dogs in kennels, etc

Best water bowls I have are big inserts out of old slow cookers, got for a couple of dollars each at the op shop. probably a bit big for a little breed puppy yet but if he's still doing it as he gets old this might be a good option for you, they stay nice and cool too.

Actually I agree with you Ricey. If they can't find homes for them what are they supposed to do? Stack them in to cages like sardines... To me though it's the same as people who get so up in arms about management of wildlife numbers in closed systems with limited resources, they'd rather let skippy starve to death slowly as long as they can say they protested against a cull...

I shared the page on my facebook, I have a few animal loving family members who live in the CBD who I'm sure will struggle to pass up the opportunity for greyhound cuddles. :D

He's never 'gone for anyone else' until he has, and what happens if that someone else is injured much worse I know it's her dog but I'm actually surprised that they aren't able to place a dangerous dog order on him, at the very least requiring that outside the house he must wear a muzzle.

I fully recommend the burping method of anyone ever gets in a possible bloat situation and is trying to settle a belly full of gas before things progress to be really serious. The authors of the page I was reading recommend having one person hold a large dog up on their back legs while the other pats and rubs them from their belly up over their chest, if you only have one person then put the dogs front paws up on a couch or similar while you do it. Within 30 seconds of me doing this Josie belched loudly 2 or 3 times and felt obviously better. they recommend keeping on going until the dog is no longer burping, letting them down to rest their hind legs if needed. De-gas can also be used as off-label medcation(it's a human medication for bloating) Obviously this isn't a treatment for full-blown bloat and a vet is the best option then but might help if you are a long way from a vet like we are or if it's only at the very severe gas sort of stage.

My fabulous husband actually found that little pearl of wisdom on a page about management of bloat, he was reading the page out to me while I had her paws on the couch burping her. After she settled I told her to hop on her bed and she jumped up on the couch that I had been burping her on, something she's never done before and when I told her to get off she turned her back to me and pretended she didn't hear. Figured she was feeling better since she was up to the typical basset 'sorry I don't understand what you mean' front. :laugh:

Thanks guys, she was very upset at one point which was when I was thinking we were up for a vet visit and I actually had to get her up on her back legs and burp her like a baby, thankfully that seemed to settle it as we got rid of the worst of the gas then! Had she not settled any further then it would have been straight to the vet because it was getting worse by the minute until then, she was pacing, wouldn't lie down and was whimpering, something I've never heard her do before . When I was at the chemist today I bought a packet of de-gas to put in the cupboard which was mentioned as a first aid for home option to hold off bloat and buy a bit of time.

Maybe, I can talk to my local supply store they are pretty good about my weird requests. Think I just found the culprit though, just sent the girls out and Josie went to the toilet and out came about 3/4 of a box of bird seed! The silly bugger's nicked the budgie seed and eaten what was left of it and nearly done herself in with it. She's looking a lot happier now. Kind of nice to know there was a reason other than her regular meal that probably caused the drama.

I just worry about doing it incorrectly given I've never seen it done before. I did look at diagrams last night but I suppose if things are that dire you aren't likely to make the situation any worse than it already is if you follow the instructions properly. What about her next meal? I'm thinking I'll give her nothing this morning and then a small meal tonight and follow up with the twice daily meals after that. Where do a get a needle from and what size? I can't see the vet being forthcoming with a needle if they realise what it's for!