Inka3095

Oh that poor little darling pup <3

I'm with Petplan too; my friend recommended them to me after her cat got lymphoma and needs ridiculously expensive vet treatments - it has all been paid by PetPlan without a fuss (though it does take ages to come through)

Very true... when I was explaining what a 'shiba inu' was I had more than one agent say 'HAHAHA as long as it's not a rottweiler or german shepherd or something hahahahahaha' I was like -.-

I've found it's a lot easier if you've got someone who'll vouch for the dog. Makes it hard that you're planning on getting a puppy so don't know the dog yet. I'm about to move into a house that was 'no pets' but after talking at length to the agent about the type of dog I have, and getting a verbal reference from the current agent confirming there has been no property damage or noise complaints she changed her mind and allowed us to have our dog there.

Thanks so much for the input everyone She is 100% safe from other dogs when unsupervised as I have her inside during the day when I'm not home, in an exercise pen. We don't actually visit dog parks yet so there won't be any issues there either. My concerns are just about when is the best age to do this procedure for my dog. She's 6 months now, and I haven't been aware of any seasons as yet (although my vet friend said sometimes they can be missed on their first cycle if there's really minimal bleeding etc, and I'm not a breeder so have no idea what else to look for). So I'm just trying to decide if I get her into the vet asap or if I wait through a season then do it in about 3-6 months time. :) Sorry to those who think I'm a bit silly for getting to this point without having made my own opinions, but I have been doing a lot of reading around the topic as the time to desex her gets closer. Guess it's one of those things where the more you know, the more you realise you don't know. I love this dog a lot, and really want to do the best thing by her.

Thanks so far guys. So for a shiba sized dog, when would be best age be? That is, when is a dog her size fully grown/mature? And Is leaving her to have her first season and the risks associated outweighed by not early desexing?

There is no question of whether I will do it or not, and I have thought about it long and hard in the past as well, I'm just asking about current knowledge and opinions around the subject. It doesn't matter if I hate the idea of it or not, I've signed the contract and I won't be breaking it.

Hey guys, apologies, I do feel this has probably been done to death on this forum, but am interested in the current thoughts regarding female canine desexing... I have a 6 month old shiba inu I need to get desexed asap as she's probably heading for her first season and I've heard it's much better (healing time/surgical complications/mammary cancer risk) to do that before their first heat. I have signed a desexing contract as she's a pet only and I'm not trying to wriggle out of it, I know she's going to be desexed but I've been putting it off because I'm so worried it's not the best thing for her.... I know a lot of my concern is anecdotal/rumour/opinion and don't have a lot of actual science behind my trepidation.... But I've had quite a few fosters and have never had a simple, problem-free spey with any of them. One got an infection, one got an enormous seroma/wound dehiscence, one scarred really badly and another took a really really long time to recover from the anaesthetic/surgery. Whilst I loved my fosters, they weren't MY dogs; with my first actual 'forever' dog, I'm feeling even more worried about the whole thing. I guess I'm after reassurance it's the right thing to do by her long term..... These are the cons I'm aware of/have read/have been told about 1) surgical complications including recovery time and unnecessary/100% elective invasive procedure 2) spey incontinence 3) decreased energy levels/increased lethargy 4) increased propensity to become overweight (owing to the above I assume) 5) decreased performance in concentration tasks such as obedience training and decreased physical ability in dog sports 6) growth problems/joint problems 7) some reports of altered personality 8) 'dropping coat'/shedding more frequent and less 'cyclical' so more difficult to control Pros: 1) decreased risk of tumours 2) eliminates risk of pymetra 3) no risk of unwanted puppies 4) more convenient for owners (less mess and less moody/unsettled dog during cycle) 5) no fear of being booed out of the dog park if you're silly enough to take your female dog there whilst on heat So... given that list... please let me know which ones are ACTUALLY true and which are simply rumour? Also, I have spoken to a vet who does sutures that are located under the suture-line and have no bits sticking out (I forgot to ask if they were dissolvable or not) which apparently discourages licking/chewing on the stray bits. Has anyone had any experience with these or should I stick to the traditional simple-interrupted sutures that you normally see? Sigh. Sorry about the questions. Thanks DOL people <3

Wow, thanks guys. I think I'll just throw out the packets I have because I really don't want to even risk anything happening to her. Would you guys have any safer, natural treats that take them a long time to chew? She loves chewing but gets sick of the bully sticks/pizzles I give her so I'm looking for other (SAFE) ideas! Rawhide treats ok? She seems to chew the flavoured straps into a gooey ball then swallow it, then regurgitate it back up and repeats that a few times before eventually swallowing it and then burping ferociously... elegant hound...

Do any of you guys feed your dog these "Healthy Naturals Beef Spare Ribs" treats? http://www.masterpet.com/Vitapet/Vitapet-Treats/Healthy-Naturals-Dog-Treats/Beef-Spare-Ribs/ You can buy them in Safeway or Petstock so readily available, and the website says they've been air-dried, not 'cooked' so they're safe for a dog to eat. However, I was watching Cinder munch hers to pieces this morning and saw it was breaking up into REALLY sharp looking shards that she was then eating.... I'm no expert but they didn't look like they were GIT friendly.... Am I being paranoid? Do these shards just get digested quickly so they won't cause problems? I was happy feeding them to her because she loves pulling all the meaty bits off and then chewing the bone bit; takes at least 20 minutes of happy chewing time so I'd be sad if I couldn't feed them anymore, but I certainly don't want any intestinal problems due to pointy bone shards.... I also feed her the chicken bites variety which just looks like dried chicken necks to me. Are these ok? Any opinions? Thanks guys

Awww I love that guinea pig story <3

That is pretty funny!

Mt Eliza Pets has a huge range of doggy Christmas stuff this year. I just bought my shiba some antlers and a 'bib' with fluff and bells on it. I'm sure they'd have other costume type stuff but if not they have so much other Christmas stock!

I feed my pup out of a kong, never a bowl. It started when she enjoyed the new food I tried on her a bit too much and ate it so fast she would vomit. I tried the Kong while I investigated other options then realised it 1) keeps her busy for 10 minutes which gives me time to get ready 2) gives her something to do that keeps her mind busy for that 10 mins instead of just gutsing in 5s 3) is easy to clean and cute to watch her eat out of it (well I think everything she does is cute, so that's a given really) If your pup would handle a kong it might keep her ears out of her food?

I have a pen that has a roof which means I get peace of mind when I have to leave my 6 month old pup alone. She has everything she could want in there, except her people, so she'll scream whenever we're home and she is in there and can't get out. She has no 'off' button and will carry on without ceasing for hours if we're home. However, when we go out, she just sleeps, doesn't even chew her toys or pigs ears or anything. She will go in there willingly to nap when the door is open but hates being in there when the choice is taken from her. I can't break her of this behaviour because ignoring her doesn't work and any negative attention is still attention so just makes her worse. I'm just hoping she'll grow out of it in time.. fingers crossed

Thanks again :) I don't have a collar on her at all while she's inside with me because 1) she hates it and tries to chew it off which, because she's twisting her neck around all the time, she is then reminded her of her tail being there, which causes her to chase her tail and then the spinning starts... something I'm trying to discourage strongly 2) I've been told it will cause her fur to rub/mark - sorry I'm just going on other people's shiba advice, I don't personally know if it's going to do any damage to her coat/s long-term But if wearing a collar will help her settle more with a leash etc, then it's at least worth a decent try :) She coughs and sputters and chokes very quickly with any neck pressure, so tugging on the lead usually leads to all sorts of dramas, which is why we switched to one of those harnesses that tightens under the legs when they pull, because she was too difficult to train not to pull and would choke herself until her tongue went purple every single walk which increased my frustration with her to walking AND home. Not great. So now she runs from the harness and cringes when I put it on her, then irritably snaps and worries at it during each walk because it's annoying I guess. But until I can enroll in a good training/obedience class this will just have to do because I cannot train her to walk nicely. No method I've read about or been told has worked with her yet. She doesn't care that I stop when she pulls, she just hangs herself on the end of the lead trying to pull whether we're stationary or walking. I've taken her to two different puppy schools, the first was quite basic and the second was the positive reinforcement only type, that had very little idea what advice to give when she doesn't respond to things. For example, her leaping on my legs is met with being ignored, then when she gets down and is nicely 'paws on the floor' for a bit then I'll give her some attention. This has been for months, and she hasn't decreased the amount of leaping on my legs by even 1%. I know it's me and not her that's bad at this training thing, as dogs are only as good as you show them how to be, but I have to say, the whole thing is making me weary at the moment. I hope she and/or I improve as she gets older.

She hates her lead/harness and spends lots of time fighting it/twisting her head around to bite it or just leaping on my legs when I use it but if I just go out with her she mucks around with other things. After a pee I give her praise and a treat but don't want to rev her up too much before bed because she screams even more than usual in her crate when I do

Thanks for the great tips Brookestar, really appreciate it :) Just a couple of questions from that if you wouldn't mind? At the moment, I'm taking her out on leash before bed and she's simply not peeing recently. Can try 3-4 times over the hour or so before we put her in the crate for the night and she just mucks around, sniffs, plays, chews on her lead, leaps on my legs etc etc. Not sure what to do about this.... Also, to get her trained to the 'wee wees' command, I don't think I'm doing it right I was told to say the command just before she pees, but because she's so unpredictable with her wees, she doesn't do the 'sniff sniff circle wee' thing all my other dogs have done because she mucks around so much. So I can't say 'wee wees' just as she's peeing or just before she is, because I don't get her in time and she's already mid-pee by the time I say it, OR I do, and it distracts her and she turns around and stops peeing. I could scream! Any ideas? And finally, saying the word 'yes' after peeing is better than 'good girl?'

Feeding TotW mixed with big-dog RAW patties to encourage my pup to eat it Considering trying Artemis next but only for something different, she's doing pretty well at the moment with good energy levels, a nice coat and relatively solid poops. Hard to know what to compare that to though as I haven't had her on anything else for long enough to make a decent comparison (she didn't like the Royal Canin I tried on her first very much

Aww you're lovely thank you :) It's that feeling of defeat when you've had about 5 carpet-cleaning-free days and you think she's FINALLY getting it then !BAM! giant pee stain and an innocent face saying 'what??? when you gotta go' If I'd had lots of toilet trained dogs before perhaps I'd think this one just needs more time, but I've had about 5 fosters over the years and only one of them was toilet trained (came that way). The rest were unreliable at best and a beagle who actively refused to pee on grass in preference to carpet. Thanks for letting me know you share the frustration though, appreciate it! LOVE the 'Gents' sign lollll. Cinder just found her bed drying in the sun and dragged it all over the backyard... now muddy and needs another wash. She's lucky she's so cute I swear....

This thread has made me feel a little better! I came in here because I'm having a lot of trouble toilet training my Shiba who apparently are a very 'clean' breed who essentially 'toilet train themselves' so I wasn't expecting much trouble. However, she's still toileting on the carpet in the lounge room at times (I'm blaming this on myself because clearly she needs closer supervision) but last night she peed in her crate for the first time.... I went to bed at 1am and she (after 25 minutes of trying) eventually peed at that time, then at 7am I let her out. She's held on longer than that overnight before so I don't know if it was a desperation thing or just a 'I feel like peeing now' thing... I can't seem to train her to pee on command, no matter what I try, and I don't think she even associates the word I use when she pees with anything. I praise and treat her when she pees in the right place and have her on lead now to pee in the mornings and before bed. However, she does neither easily. Takes at least 20-25 minutes of sniffing around every time, even after 6-8 hours overnight without a break.... I've done the 'umbilical' cord thing with a lead and it makes no difference, she just won't pee! And then when I give up and decide she's a being from outerspace that doesn't have normal bodily functions, I turn my back to do something, she leaps over the barriers to the lounge and pees in there... and of course I can't rouse on her because I rarely catch her in the act. I'm obviously doing something wrong, and it's so frustrating. She's 5 months old now so should be improving, not going backwards >< I'm tempted to take her to a vet to check for UTI just to rule it out, but I'd be surprised if that were it. Her bedding is now soaking away so hopefully it won't still smell like urine when it's dry, but I'm just annoyed with myself that I can't even train my dog to pee in the right place. The breeder is extremely surprised and said she had NO issues with her for the first 9 weeks of her life, so clearly it's not the dog, it's her owner ><

Homeless Hounds Animal Rescue is having an information night at Blackburn Animal Hospital this Thursday night at 7:15pm (1st Nov) if that's not too far for you? You could talk to some of the HH team and see if they feel right for you - pm me if you'd like any more information :)

Yeah it's weird how personally some people seem to take this stuff. I don't see the need to fight over it, as we're all trying to do what's best for our dogs by even thinking about it or discussing it.

Hahah, I love the thought of a nice wild dog whipping open a can of Advance behind a handy tree :D I just read the ingredients of my turkey flavoured 'Big Dog BARF' and it contains garlic..... Ok, call me ignorant, but garlic is poison to dogs is it not? Why would they add it to their food??

She just emailed me this link http://www.skeptvet.com/index.php?p=1_12_Raw-Veterinary-Diets please don't think I'm on a 'side' or trying to create controversy, I'm simply looking for evidence that one diet is better than another. And it's all interesting stuff regardless of which side of the fence you're on