chaos_chick

Not sure if this'll help, but my vet gave me a tube of Troy Repella Cream for flies and biting insects and it worked amazing on those annoying fly bites in summer. Its only about $7 a tube and worked wonders on my boys.

I had this problem with my boys too. I have an almost-7 year old sheltie and an almost-1 german shepherd pup. Whenever they play, it looks like they're fighting; all the teeth and yaps come out and when it sounds like one of the dogs is in actual pain, its the instant 'NO!' and the water spray (my boys hate it). I always thought it was serious fighting, but then two minutes later, they'd be curled up against each other asleep, or licking each other's paws. My advice is that if you feel that the dogs are pushing the whole 'playful-fighting' too far, then break it up.

Whereabouts are you located? I'm sure someone here could suggest good behaviourists in the area.

Next time you get those sorts of comments, use some sort of snappy response like "Odd, because she seems a lot easier to train than most irresponsible pet owners." or if they say make those stupid 'small yappy dogs' comment or 'bad behaviour/untrainable dog' comments you tell them that all dogs can be trained, not just the breeds they like. Don't let them get to you!

Okay, I'll be the first to say I'm on a lifetime membership and I think its well worth it.. $250 for a lifetime membership, but thats for my lifetime not the lifetime of my dogs. I can bring any number of dogs there. Also have the 24 hour a day phoneline for trainer help in case I need help with a problem when I'm not at training. I decided on that training school because after the free trial day, Blade responded better than he'd responded to any other training method we'd tried with him. In any case, I have no qualms about bringing my dogs to them because I like their methods and they work. Only thing is the class costs are ridiculous. But I guess they gotta make something back from offering lifetime memberships.

My sheltie is dead-scared of the water spray bottle.. among many other things. The minute he sees the bottle come out, he BOLTS and hides even if it isn't intended for him. I use the spray bottle as a 'punishment'; a quick spray in the face stops Blade from doing any unwanted behaviour (when he knows what he's done wrong), and he'll drink from the same bottle. The minute I make a sharp 'ah!' sound, he knows its followed by the bottle, but doesn't run from it, he just drops and gives me a sad look because he knows whats coming :D least I don't have to chase him around the yard!

$71 for C5 down my end of town Silly really, because another vet just 5 minutes down the road does it for $55

Some dogs don't respond to ignoring (like my pup! He just barges his way back in or does something to catch your attention), so maybe you should find the 'punishment' that best suits your pup. My german shepherd hates getting sprayed in his face with one of those spray bottles, so all I have to do is say 'no!' and give him a little squirt (or even just show him the bottle) and it's an instant problem solver. Blade won't nibble or bite toes and legs anymore which is a real helper.

Argh, yeah this is happening with my GSD pup too At first it started off with him just gently nibbling occasionally, but its grown into a real problem. He doesn't just nibble, he clamps down on anything (my hands, pants, shoes, ankles, anything he can fit in his mouth) and doesn't let go. He doesn't listen to 'no', loud yelping, putting my whole hand in his mouth doesn't phase him one bit and neither does the loud, growled 'bah' sound and a gentle flick on the lower jaw (that was suggested by a dog behaviourist)... And he just barks and growls like all hell while he's at it... Its the same when he's playing with other puppies. He's 9 weeks now so I've enrolled him in a puppy obedience school... Going there on Sunday for the first time and boy will I be glad to...