Poodle wrangler

Frank- we are criticising the methods you are using in an attempt to train your dog. The evidence is that what you're doing isn't working: 1. Biting incident in April, 2. Another biting incident with the kids recently 3. Dog's bitten you. Do your kids ever have friends over? What if he bites one of them? Many parents will demand the dog is PTS and can have that enforced by council. Even if the dog's tied up, they might tease him (kids can do that sort of thing). I'm sure your wife does her best, but any parent will understand how you take your eyes off kids for 30 secs and they get into trouble. What's happening is NOT normal in any way. I've had various dogs since I was 5 years old, including pound dogs with dodgy backgrounds, and have never been bitten. Ever. I'm not a dog expert, but am not ashamed to say when I'm not managing a situation effectively and ask for help. In this case your whole family would benefit and I can't understand why you keep saying it's all OK? A biting dog is not OK! If you can afford the Falcon, why not some 1:1 training with the whole family?

Love boxers- one of our best dogs ever was a retired show boxer and she was older -5- but still full of energy. Perhaps you could exercise their doggy brains as well, if there are any problems? I find with my dogs a walk exercises both mind and body- even a quick one round the block tires them totally out of proportion to the exercise involved. Toys and training are great for tiring dog brains, too .

The dog has bitten it's owner now. For a dog to bite it's owner, deliberately- you must realise that this is BAD news :rolleyes: . Totally unacceptable. If he will bite you, he will bite anyone. Though you did antagonise the dog. It's not a good idea to grab a dog, pick them up and "scorn them". It's bullying, not training, not leadership. What are you going to do now?

Matter of judgement. I have an 18kg size difference, however, I made sure our new pup was a less dominant temperament. Little guy is the boss, but I'm always on the look out to see if the dynamic is changing. Both dogs are desexed which can help reduce tensions. At 10 months of age, nil problems with pup and existing dog.

Dogs aren't like humans when it comes to food- they can be fed similar food day in-day out and if they're hungry will eat. They don't need to be offered a smorgasboard . She doesn't look at all underweight. You should be able to see the last rib. I can't (perhaps just the photo?). Dogs are best kept lean. Don't stress and feed her what YOU want to :rolleyes: .

I'm another with a large breed that chooses to sleep on tiles sometimes. Also a thin rug. :rolleyes: That said, I feel better knowing he's got a cushioned option. Sometimes you hear a "clunk" as he plonks down on the floor (elbows, I think) which probably isn't good. Fur is actually good cushioning and one of the reasons to leave fur on a skinny, malnourished rescue (if at all possible).

I can understand she's unhappy that her dog's sick, but what would she have said if the kennel had told her (presuming they knew)? Would she have been any less angry when they said they won't be paying any vet bills? Kennel cough is aptly named . Highly contagious, flu-like illness. So, if you put any number of dogs together in close quarters, well .... Quite right that vaccination doesn't protect fully. Bit like the human flu vaccine - they can't cover every strain of flu and viruses mutate and evolve. One of my dogs had it after a short stint in a kennel, but really it's like kids catching colds/ nits and getting runny noses at day care. Just one of those things..

I was going to post much the same thing, though I'd say what our dog brings up is more yellowish. The dog poo varies in colour according to what I feed. Sorry, I'm not much help.

Ah ha! My standard poodle tried the sad eyes on me, too. He would eat his raw foods, but leave the kibble. I had his food in the fridge and every time I went to the fridge, he'd follow and look pathetic! What worked for me was putting his food down and what wasn't gone in 15 minutes, was put away and given back to him at the next meal. Took only 2 days for him to get the idea. Dry food is still the food of last resort, but he WILL eat it. Healthy dogs do not starve themselves. I don't know what work the OH does, but I walk our dogs past a building site and there's loads of half-eaten stuff left there. At the shops, someone who took their dog with them to the shop had to ask people not to feed her dog as it was getting fat.

I think you're better off on the leaner side. I'd be inclined to take the breeder's advice over that of the vet. Many vets say they prefer a layer of fat "in case they get sick" . My dogs always know where their next meal is coming from (me!) and too many risks of problems with too much weight on large and giant breeds.

Aspirin can really irritate the stomach lining, especially if NOT given with food. Rimadyl is one of the "non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs" (NSAID). All drugs have side effects and most NSAIDS must be given with food to avoid stomach irritation. They can cause stomach ulcers with long-term use and if not taken with food. I work with plenty of humans on these drugs and they prefer to get good pain relief, even with risk of side effects. They're not for everyone. Remember when Vioxx was pulled off the market (humans)? I had plenty of people say they'd be happy to run a higher risk of heart attack/ stroke etc., because they had poor quality of life with their pain . Talk it over with the vet. I'd prefer my dog to get pain relief even if there were risks of side effects. If the vet has no idea what's going on and this has happened more than once I'd think about another vet.

I'd suggest you go for a hydrobath and "blowdry". A force dryer should help get rid of that dead coat, but I'm not sure if mobile groomers have them- ask if they have a force dryer! Keep up the brushing, too. The right brush can help, too. What breed/ cross is Scrimp and what are you using atm?

I fed it to my mini poodle for a few years, with no problems. Our large breed pup (standard poodle) did poorly on it, though. I've switched dry food brands and add more raw bones, chicken necks/ carcasses, too.

1. No idea. I trained a cat to stop meowing at 6AM at a bedroom window by ignoring it for about a month. I cuddled the cat and cared for it, but am not a cat fan, so it wasn't hard for me to do. Owners were very happy and wondered how I did it. 2. Indoors- train them to sit. Outdoors- tough one- mine only do it rarely as they know to sit if they want to be let in. 3. Let them eat dirt. Won't do any harm. Giving them attention for doing it may reinforce the behaviour. If you really hate it, don't allow them access to areas where they can do it. 4. Corn isn't very digestible for dogs. I know it passes thru unchanged if my dogs eat it (can see it in the poo). 5. No. Dogs are best left to sort this out for themselves. I'm careful not to play favourites with our dogs. 6. Do you ever make "come" an unpleasant experience e.g. say come (from playing) and clip his lead back on? Keep practising "come" with treats until he's 100% WITH treats? Then add distractions (still with treats). Then intermittently reward with treats. Never say come and 'punish' the dog. Try to look from the dog's point of view as to whether or not what you're doing is 'punishment'.

Someone suggested a cheap, nasty can of dog food works well for their dogs. Something you can keep in the cupboard.

The best way to teach her not to jump up is to teach her to sit. A dog with bum on floor can't simultaneously jump. Reward when she sits (e.g. pats, attention, treat), ignore when she jumps e.g. turn your back as she jumps. Although you've rescued her and she's timid, still be a good leader and be consistent. She will feel more secure this way. Training doesn't mean being harsh at all. At our obedience club, a member was told off for kneeing her dog to stop her jumping (not hurting her), so it's strange advice.

Having used baby wipes on my face before, I'd rather not use it on the dogs. They're not as gentle as you'd think.

My mini poodle was fine on Supercoat for a few years, but I changed because our larger breed pup didn't do well on it (loose poos etc.).

I never had this problem before, but do with our larger pup. Perhaps it's also the larger volume of urine? Both my dogs are fed the same thing.

Well said. There's not a lot of logic to the "I've done it and my dog's survived" idea. I'm not perfect and have fed fatty offcuts before, too, but didn't realise it could contribute to pancreatitis. Now I don't. Each to their own.

If you do decide to go for an antibark ecollar- they're far cheaper to buy overseas, but it's illegal to import them ;). I emailed customs about it and they said federal laws apply to them and state laws apply when you buy within Australia. Still didn't make 100% sense to me, but they'll confiscate it on the way through customs. Good luck. Hope everything works out OK. We have a PITA neighbour who flaty refused to believe that her dog barked when she was out. She blamed our dog, though there's a bit of difference b/w the bark of a 30kg Goldie and an 8kg miniature poodle :rolleyes: . "Never barks when I'm at home". Too exhausted from barking the rest of the day ;)

I'm sure I've read about teaching your dog to ring a bell- one of those Asian-style row of bells you can hang near the door. Sorry, but my dogs just stand at the door, too.

Triangle of Temptation is a program pinned to the top of the Training subforum. Free to use and takes only 5 minutes extra to do when you feed your dog. Good not just for the food guarding, but also everything else it teaches.

It can be quite normal for older dogs to lose a little weight. Your dog's teeth were OK, too? I'd switch the Pro plan for a plain adult variety or even if there's one for working dogs and see how that goes. I think it's bad to fatten up a dog quickly, especially if not malnourished. No rush- he's otherwise healthy :rolleyes:. It may be that others would consider his weight normal. There was a thread recently about body scoring dogs (weight)- http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;hl=body+score. Basically some vets are so used to seeing overweight and obese pets, that they suggest a bit too heavy weight. Can you post a pic?

Malaseb should be diluted 1:50 with water. Mixed well. They used to suggest 1:30, but found the 1:50 just as effective, with less irritation. You quirt several drops into the ear, squish it around at the base of the ear, then let dog shake his ears and wipe away excess with a cotton ball? Idea is that debris/wax floats to the top of the ear and can be wiped away. Good luck.