Benji's Mum

There's a sulphur powder called 'Pestene' from the produce store which is cheap, goes a long way and it's worked well on bedding too, probably best to check with a vet first if he's sensitive. I've been using it for years plus flea shampoo and never had a problem.

...and don't leave him alone near power cords... They make a big bang and a fireball when chewed - not good at all - luckily she survived.

Maybe his teeth are bothering him. Has a vet checked his teeth?

Two weeks is up, any news? How is she?

Oh no, that's very sudden and a shock for you to find her. She knew she was loved and lived a wonderful, peaceful life. RIP Kiah.

RIP beautiful Blondie Bear. He'll be waiting for you to gallop together forever.

That's dreadful news. So sorry to hear it. My GSD was 14.5yo, too. Stay strong for her.

I was taught with horses never to sit near them, always stay on your feet so you can jump away quickly if need be, so I tell my kids the same thing around dogs. Because the ONLY time in 13 years that my GSD nearly bit a child was when he was lying down next to a sitting child and the child leant on his guts to push to stand up and he snapped up in the air next to her in pain.

Honestly, you can't turn your back on them, not even for a minute. If you have to go and do something, separate them first. Eg on a lead and take him with you, in a crate, in an enclosure or out the backyard with the back door locked with the kids inside.

As a mum of 2 small kids with 3 dogs who are all capable of biting but haven't had the opportunity, I just want to add how unacceptable I think this is. I feel the children must be supervised and protected at all times, either by you personally or by putting the dog in an escape-proof timeout area.

Hi, I hope things are getting better for you and your family. We bought a pound pup of a working breed last year and had similar problems to you at first but the issues have really died down since we implemented similar recommendations to the above. Our garden fences are 7 foot tall, and if they are breached we are philosophical and I have heard OH say 'she didn't do that much damage'. Our 2 working breed dogs chew every power cord in sight (explosions within 24 hours of arrival) - we do not leave power tools in the backyard anymore and they are watched like hawks when inside. Just yesterday he told me to 'move Benji's bed closer to the children, he's such a loving dog'. I suppose what I am trying to say is that prevention is better than cure and to save our sanity I built a large enclosure as well (but only use it when I let the chickens out). I really hope things work out for you.

Poor old chook. RIP. They have personalities, we still have some of our original girls about 7 or 8 years old, tough old girls. Mine prefer the cold, snow doesn't seem to bother them.

Suggest doing it on the lawn, the concrete looks a bit hard and slippery. She might hurt herself otherwise and the lawn will get a water too.

They've been in and out of jail during the 13 years they've been there - I haven't seen them since 1am, they were heading off to **** and other places (some great talent in ACT for single ladies!) but hopefully they got debarked. Thanks, recording them is a good idea - I played opera music back at them once years ago, poor OH, he says to let it go...last night they got very frustrated when my dogs wouldn't bark! My little rooster, who I haven't heard crow for a week, was treated lovingly at RSPCA. They said what a sweet little bird he was. Edited to remove name of nightclub they went to.

Well, good luck, KW - I know how you feel after my neighbours tried to make my dogs bark this morning from midnight to 1am by whistling, yelling and barking at my fence. To my dogs' absolute credit, they didn't make a sound the whole time. The rooster has gone, although there may be another from looks alone, so I was planning to ask the neighbours who gave me 3 layers to apologise to the crazies, or maybe as you say, not bother. They are ferals - when they couldn't get my dogs to bark at 1am they made the landlord's dog bark until he yelped. ETA - Supposed to be 3 layers but one was a young rooster just starting to crow. I warned my other neighbour and he said he hadn't heard him, but, obviously, it's difficult to keep all your neighbours happy. Good luck again KW.

KW, I asked my neighbours what times suit them. When one neighbour was over the other night asking for reinforcements if my other neighbours got nasty (he was worried about the party they were having but I politely declined BTW) he promised me that my dogs were not a problem. I asked him when his tenants work and sleep and I've tried to abide by those times. There may be rules but I find it's best to negotiate with the affected parties. I even managed to negotiate with the nasty neighbours this morning as they have a new tenant in their rear flat - I considered being sworn at for one bark at 9am unreasonable and told him. He said he's on holidays for a week and I promised (but not very nicely after a sleepless night with a migraine, I'm afraid) I would do what he wanted so he could sleep.

To give the dogs access to greenery when we have a dirt backyard, we have grown wheat in low-sided tubs and the dogs love grazing from them. Definitely helps their appetites, and might help with your weeing prob. Edited to make sense - too many distractions! Good luck with your new pup.

Poor fellow must have really hated being locked up. All I can offer is to just keep talking to him, try and keep him as calm as possible, keep telling him to be quiet and reward him when he is. I acknowledge when mine bark by looking for the reason. If there is no real reason, I say something to that effect, but if there is a reason, then I tell them they are a good dog. They now seem to understand that they are only supposed to bark if I need to be notified eg a visitor. It can take weeks or months to replace a habit permanently, have patience, keep talking to him and cuddle him lots. Best of luck. HTH.

How awful. Yesterday I noticed the neighbour's JRTxShih tzu pup had a magpie and the parents were screaming desperately, but by the time I got the neighbours from their front step to the backyard, the little bugger had ripped it to shreds and was tossing the bits joyfully in the air. Not impressed.

My dogs love their dry food when it is mixed with kitchen scraps, as I said before. They particularly enjoy it mixed with leftover yoghurt and milk diluted, pasta, rice but they don't like bread (and my chooks will only eat brown bread - not white! fussy girls). Please note for your dog's health that there are a few scraps that obviously can't be fed as they are toxic such as onions, citrus and potato peel - the chooks will eat potato peel but not onion and citrus which go in the compost.

Mine get Coprice Dry Food but they stick their noses up at it unless it is made sloppy with kitchen scraps. They prefer kitchen scraps and fresh bones.

Very sweet, he doesn't seem to be permanently scarred! Please note that when I use reinforcements like this I verbally warn them/ask them to be quiet first a couple of times, maintain eye contact, reinforce and then reassure them a lot afterwards. IE, only when verbal commands have failed.

It does work when the dog can see you because I've used it both for barking and dangerous behaviour eg when she's jumping on me, and it worked. I don't have anyone else here to help and it's impractical for me to carry something noisy all the time and hide whenever she does something wrong, so I tried to link the noise with a positive voice command and reward asap. (This problem child came from the Pound at 4 months with some serious probs!)

Maybe when the mystery noise happens, say a special word and try and associate the two for the dog. After a while hopefully you can phase out the mystery noise. It's been just my luck but I've fixed my dog and the neighbour has acquired an early-morning yapping pup...where's those saucepans! ETA - Noise can really scare a pup, so use it sparingly.

My youngest was an excited barker but I told her 'Quiet' everytime she barked and did all the NILIF things and she has really settled down. I have tried to keep her as calm as possible all the time and fed her at different times of the day. Now she only barks when necessary but it's taken 4 months, with one major setback when a zoomie visitor stayed for a while.