bark

Hi All, I often give my dog some soft plastic milk containers or the pasta containers to play with and strawberry containers with treats in them to occupy him whilst I'm at work . He loves running around with them and biting them, especially around the handle. He will bite bits off but doesn't eat it. Does anyone know if the plastic will cause any harm to his teeth eg make them blunt or wear them down excessively ?

Mine gets a mix of raw human quality food and premium dry food in two meals per day. Normally he's goes 3-4 times per day and I find the quantity determines how many times he goes - I've finally been able to put some weight on him

Hi peigirl, I can imagine the amount of stress you and your dog are going through. My pup who is 8 mths old had been diagnosed in May with an inflamed bowel brought on by food intolerances. Since then he's been on 2 courses of Metronidazole (the second course was a stronger dose) and Peptosyl to dry up the diahrhoea. I have since found that he's allergic to rice, pasta, roo, veal, yoghurt, Hills Science Diet kibble and was advised by the vet to completely change his diet to foods he hadn't eaten before such as Walthams fish and potatoe dry food which worked well. He's now on Eukanuba Response Fish and potatoe (both Walthams and E Response are only available from vets) which agrees with him. He finished his medication yesterday and his pooh is now formed and solid so I'll be introducing vegetables slowly back into his diet. I'm aiming toward one dry food meal of Eukanuba Response and one fresh food meal per day. Think twice about administering probiotics as I understand that many commercial brands contain the good bacterial AND pathogens which could add to the problem, in my case the inflamed bowel. I must admit that my sister who is in the medical field helped identify some of the foods my pup should stay away from ... but I didn't tell my vet that as he probably wouldn't agree with a human doctor interferring in animal food intolerances.

I hope Devo makes a quick recovery as it's unsettling to seem them dash outside with the runs. My pup also suffers from food allergies including rice and recently I had to add yoghurt to the list. He's currently on Metronidazole (anti biotic) and Peptosyl to help with the diahrhoea and on Eukanuba Response. He's half way through his meds. and it's so funny to see his expression when I administer the Peptosyl which has a disgusting smell and taste.

I thought my pup was the only one to wee on his front leg. At 3mths he started to cock his leg and now at 8mths old he mostly cocks his leg against a bush, tree, post, low lying branch, etc and does the odd squat, either way he still hits his front leg. I can always tell when he's done a wee because he licks his leg. It's funny to watch when he doesn't get his balance on 3 legs ;)

Nellie, The day my pup was reported to be barking non stop was when he was recovering from his castration complicated by an allergy so he was being starved that day. He barked because he was hungry and I assume feeling miserable. Since that incident he's been relatively good and each morning he eats part of his breakfast in his bowl and when we leave for work he gets the rest in Kongs to eat during our absence along with a variety of toys. At the time the trainers told me I had to work out why he was barking and on that occasion it was because he was hungry. With the recent school holidays, I've discovered him barking for approx 1 minute because the neighbour's daughter was kicking her soccer ball around which coincided with the time I returned home from work. As soon as my pup saw me he immediately stopped. This noise was new to him (we don't have kids) which was why he was barking. We bought some black plastic to put along the fence to block his view into the neighbour's yard but it's 50/50% whether it will work because whilst he won't be able to see the cat he can hear the soccer ball being kicked around and bouncing off the wall. I'm working on training my pup to accept the eg noise by going outside when the ball is being kicked around, diverting his attention to sit, come and play with him to show him all is fine, I'm not concerned about the noise and neither should he. Only downside to this is I have to be present when the noise occurs.

Hi KatLek, You're not alone, I received a verbal complaint from a neighbour because my pup was reported to be barking non-stop fro 30 minutes. As far as I'm aware they haven't complained to the Council but I did speak with 2 dog trainers and my vet for advice, which is very similar to what everyone has already said. I also extended an invitation to the neighbours for a "meet and greet" session which they accepted ... but never showed up. Hopefully you'll have more luck. For me this is a work in progress as I speak with different people for alternatives on how to deal with the issue.

My pup gets a variety of sardines, chicken breast, chicken necks, pasta, mixed vegetables, beef chunks and Iams kibble (he's allergic to Hills Science) or Waltham's fish and potatoe based kibble (low digestive) made by Royal Canin. No fresh bones at the moment because he doesn't chew before gulping them down. As you may have gathered he suffers from food allergies and I am still discovering what is in and what's out. At the moment rice and roo mince is out. I'm experimenting with Natural Balance kibble (available from Qld, Vic and WA only).

Some of the necks will glide down his throat and some of them are more stout at one end which will choke him - which I could hand feed. I like the idea of freezing them in meal portions or groups - Good one Noisymina When I finish the batch of necks in the freezer, I'll include chicken wings or even alternate between them. I love this forum with all the great advice I receive.

What you've said puts the no bones argument into perspective and I understand your point about bone size however I'm not clear on chicken necks. My pup is 10kg and a small dog, should I give him whole chicken necks which I know will be gulped down in one go? Chicken wings aren't on his menu as yet but I'm thinking about adding them when I can supervise him to see how he goes.

Thanks Shoemonster, Sounds as if carrots and nylabones are the way to go with the odd chicken wing and pigs ear.

Admittedly he's a real guts when it comes to any food which is gulped down really quickly - the vet said the only thing to do is divide his meal into smaller portions and give a bit at a time. At 9wks of age he gulped down a whole chicken neck in one go and still does, so I now cut them up. I haven't tried chicken wings as yet.

I'll add a Nylabone to my shopping list. The denta sticks are they the sort you buy at the supermarket by Pedigree? Do they contain alot of preservatives?

1/day it is - thanks. He already has a couple of rope toys and a mix of kongs and I would rather "over do it" on the dental hygiene than under do it. When he finished his puppy pre school the trainer gave each pup a complimentary toy and a sample strip of rawhide. The rawhide bone maybe different but the strip (yellow in colour) was finished within 10mins and gave him the runs later that day.

He used to be fed beef brisket bones which the butcher would cut into a manageable size for him to chew on probably between 7 - 10cm long. Funny you mention carrots because I had given him a whole one well before the bowel problem and he loved it. Is there a limit on how many to give per week?

My pup is 6mths old and about the size of a very skinny beagle. We visited the vet after a persistent bout of diahrhoea where he was diagnosed with an inflamed bowel. During the consultation, he vomited up some yellow liquid and a bone approx 5 cm long. The vet said it wasn't good and the bone must have been in his stomach for a couple of days, trying to exit through the rear but couldn't so it had to come out at the front end. As a result of this and informing the vet I had seen a piece of bone in his pooh which was about 3cm long, the vet advised me not to feed my pup fresh bones anymore because he's not chewing or digesting the bone which can cause an obstruction and internal damage. Given that, how do I keep his teeth clean and breath fresh? I would prefer a do-it-yourself way which doesn't involve me brushing his teeth which would be a struggle to do.

Thanks Rogue, Tempting hey. Pity you're not in Sydney otherwise he could have a few sleep-overs with you He is easy to train but what impresses me is his ability to stand up for himself (no fighting involved) in the dog park when surrounded by 3 big dogs who have rumbled him a few times.

Thanks Rachelle

Hi Rogue, He's a real cutey most of the time but we do have to be firm with him as he does try to push the limits. When we got our pup we never intended to breed or show him because we wanted him to be a companion first and foremost, besides he' just had the snip so it's too late to change our minds! Just after we received our pup, the Secretary of the NSW Manchester Club informed me there was a M and F available from Melbourne, which must be the breeder you refer to. We got ours from: KAZKEI Keith & Karen Irwin Goulburn 2580 Ph/Fax:02- 4821 0544 Email:[email protected] From what I understand Kazkei are active breeders where as some of the other advertised breeders in NSW no longer breed mannies.

Hi Rusky, When I was researching into the breed I didn't come across the info you've just told me ... but now he's become part of our family and will be with us for life. How did your mum keep the carpet clean? We have light coloured wool carpet and a mat made from the same carpet, placed outside the door which has become very dirty from his paws.

Hi Rogue, Cool, finally somone else with a mannie. I have attached a pic when he's about 3mths old. We have recently installed a dog door but my partner want's the house alarm on which prevents our pup from coming inside, when we're not at home. I have seen the UK site and will check it again for any advice. We're in NSW, Sydney.... couldn't you tell by the house alarm

Hi Showdog He wears a coat with the recent cool weather and yes he gets breakfast before we go to work. As he's recovering from a bout of diahrhoea, he gets a small portion at his normal breakfast time and another small portion just before we leave for work. Usually we give him a brisket bone and a filled treat toy along with some other toys to keep him occupied in our absence.

Hi Hesapandabear, Thanks for the list of reasons. I spoke to the Vet this morning and she puts it down to a combination of his recent operation, the change in routine and no food - which you mentioned. I had considered early morning walks but 4am is a little too early ... I start work early and leave early to spend the rest of the arvo and evening with my pup. You're right I do need to nip it in the bud before it turns into a regular thing and you've certainly given me a few things to think about.

Hi BellasPerson, What a great idea I'll have to get myself a spray bottle and try it out. We have a Manchester Terrier, which judging by the number of questions I get isn't a very common dog.

Hi All, From what I read, this looks like the right place to get some advice on how to manage a barking problem Background: I have a puppy who is now 6 months old. My partner and I work during the day and both leave home early when our pup is put outside. He's kept busy with toys, treat ball and a bone. Midweek when I return home from work he has a 1 hour walk or a visit to the local dog park and remains in the house during the evening, until the following morning. Our house overlooks the house of our neighbour and regardless of whether the neighbour is in his own house or in his backyard, our pup has started to bark at him. I have tried to introduce the dog to this neighbour but the wife doesn't seem to be interested ... it may have something to do with being a cat owner. ... no their cat and our pup have not had any interaction. When we hear our pup barking we always investigate then either tell him to be quiet or take him inside the house. Our pup was starved for 24hrs on our Vet's advice because of an upset stomach and diahrhoea. Our neighbour told us our pup was barking non stop for 30 mins during the morning and their cat had not been outside. This is the first we have heard of our dog barking like this. What do we do?