bloss344

Is the expressing actually painful for the dog? I had Bob's emptied on Saturday and he screamed and fought it. The vet said they usually don't carrry on quite that badly, and the stuff was normal looking, no infection. He was going to teach me how to do it but with the way Bob carried on he said there was no way we were going to be able to do it easily.

Hope she gets some relief from the Rimadyl. They are amazing how they bounce back with some pain relief. Thinking of you.

The stop start thing is pretty indicative of colitis. Of course what the colitis is caused by is anyone's guess. Often dog's who have loose poops don't have much of a tolerance for fats in their diet. Fat is inflammatory to an already upset intestine. The boiled chicken breast, fat removed and rice diet is ideal as long as the dog isn't intolerant of those two ingredients. Hope the meds help.

Because you didn't feel comfortable with his attitude at the class. I think it's worthwhile ringing and explaining why you don't think this class is for you.

Are all the classes going to be 2 hours or was it just the first one. I don't think 3 year old Bob would cope with 2 hours!! Perhaps look for somewhere else that suits your needs better.

:p

Bob's an anal gland leaker. I use psyllium which is cheaper than Metamucil and it helps a little. He's also quite a nervous dog and the vet said it's like skunk glands for him, something scares him and oops. Doesn't smell good though. I'm going to talk to my vet about the antibiotic treatment that cowanbree mentioned, worth a try.

I'll be there watching and cheering.

Cute puppy. I get my goldie in 2 weeks and I've named her Leah too!!!!! No helpful advice that hasn't been already posted except I've done some research on puppy foods and have decided to gradually change her over to Eagle Pack large breed from the breeders diet.

I think we all become a bit dyslexic when we start doing left and right turns. Dog's learn primarily by body language not voice cue. Test your dog, turn your back on them and cue them to sit verbally and see what happens.

I haven't done it either but as I understand it the turns are taught in the static positon giving the dog a solid idea of what 'heel' means in regards to position, then forward movement is begun.

Bob is very, very much my dog and for a long time would totally disregard OH. As he has matured and settled down he's becoming much more responsive to OH, which is great cos OH is able to enjoy Bob a lot more now that he can interact with him a bit more.

We are fortunate at Croydon in that they now don't begin moving heeling until Basic 2. Dog's are usually around 9 months or older at that stage. They do static heel position earlier though.

Thanks for the instructions on rear shaping. I'd heard about the phone book but no one seemed to know exactly what to do. Sometimes it's the blind leading the blind. We won't be able to make it to KCC park but I'll try to catch up with you at some point if I need a demo.

It's been a while since I taught Bob to heel, but it was by moving off and praising for the correct position. Since learning about the static position I've gone back and retaught him the correct position. It's made a big difference, to the neatness of his sits, drops and stands when heeling. I like the idea of teaching the static position with focus before any movement. Heeling takes so much concentration by the handler and dog, it's a good idea for the dog to know the actual heel position before having to actually walk along. We are still working on rear end awareness. Bob's a stretch model and I think it takes a while for the message to get from his brain to his butt. How did you teach rear end awareness? I like the left about turn, but Bob's pretty good on both and great on the left turn too. He stays in close for those but tends to go a bit wide on the right turns.

Good fun thread. One excuse I heard recently was "he doesn't like doing this" when a handler was to cue his puppy to drop. I figured that was code for "we haven't been practising this during the week" Another one was "my dog won't focus on me because he's a retriever"

Yeah I know, sometimes I just feel plain foot dyslexic. Our instructor asked last week whether we've noticed which foot we automatically step off with during the day when not with out dogs. She's positive it's left. Can't say I've noticed.

Nat I'm wondering if you were feeling a little anxious, you know, first kiss and all, and your dog was picking up on that. Geez I feel like a voyeur [sp].

Is it only when he goes to kiss you? What about a hand on your shoulder or brief cuddle? Sitting on the couch etc? Just some more questions that might help the experts. I experience this with Bob who is extremely jealous of my OH, we are slowly working through it. Pack hieracy is good too, me of course, OH, then Bob. It's an intereting one.

I went back to basics with Bob. Doing short sits like puppies do and then releasing. Gradually increased the time. Ed shouldn't move with you if you step off with your right foot. Perhaps work on that too.

When I trained Bob we taught the dogs 'stay' and 'wait'. Now the new trend is to teach the dog not to self release as Jules said, therefore when the dog sits or drops we shouldn't need to tell him what else to do if that makes sense. Bob's pretty good, in staying when I leave him without either of the commands, but I did spend some time over the summer break working on this. I guess one difference between stay and wait is that Bob will realise there is probably a recall coming up if I tell him to wait, but I'll return to him if I tell him to stay.

Well done Leo. :D :D Congratulations Great pic.

No, mutts can have just as many problems as PB', and it's a fallacy that they are in general healthier. My vet told me that one of the worst cases of HD he has ever seen was in one of those 'oodles'. My mutt has allergies, food intolerances and is inherently very nervous.

I've been frustrated with Bob at times, especially when we first started training. Now I give myself an imaginary slap across the head, take a deep breath and instigate a game if we are at home, or take a brisk few steps if we are at training, as soon as I start to feel frustrated.

You could also try washing the affected areas with something like Malaseb or other medicated anitbacterial/antifungal washes. Even if it's an allergy with the yeast as a secondary complication it should give some relief. I usually wipe out Bob's ears when I bath him with a face washer wrung out in diluted medicated wash. His allergies seem to be environmental rather than dietary, but I keep him on a very simple diet nevertheless. Staffntoller's suggestion of Z/D is a good one. If you go that route or an elimination diet remember that it may take up to 8 weeks to see a result and that during this time your pooch cannot have anything else, not even a little bit, otherwise you won't know if the diet is working or not. A home prepared elimination diet doesn't need to be balanced, adult dogs have plenty of mineral reserves to keep them going. ETA: a link with some info http://www.labbies.com/atopy.htm