huski

And empty plastic bottles! Micha will be seven years old this year and he still gets the biggest joy from playing with the big 1.5 or 2L plastic bottles! I just make sure I take the lids off first

I have never fed milk but I do feed natural yoghurt which the dogs love, is good for them and helps them with digestion

I'm not familiar with cockers at all but could she be going through a coat change or have her adult coat coming through? I feed tinned sardines and mackeral regularly as well as raw egg as they are all good for shiny, soft coats

Thanks Laffi. I feel so upset seeing her like this as she's not a happy little dog at all. I'll tell mum she can take her to the vet today and at least the cortisone shot will give her some temporary relief, fingers crossed we see a positive change with the elimination diet. It is so frustrating as she was doing so well on chicken based kibble for quite some time and now she's had a total turn around. Cherry may be ten years old but she still looks and acts like a puppy! Mum actually bought her in the car to pick me up from work a couple of months ago when I was working at our local Westfield, and she was holding Cherry in her arms outside the shop doors waiting for me. About ten people asked mum how old her puppy was and a few asked her if she had just bought Cherry from the petstore Apart from her allergies and dodgy back legs she is actually a pretty healthy dog

Ok - I just spoke to mum who wants to take her to the vet because the allergies have gotten worse since last night and she's chewed a heap of her fur off She's growling when mum tries to pick her up and I think it's because she so uncomfortable If she gets a cortisone injection now, can we still put her on the elimation diet? Will having a shot of cortisone mess up the elimation diet or will it be ok?

Thanks Stormie, the vet gave us some tablets after her cortisone injection and I think they were antihistamines. They didn't make any difference, once the cortisone wore off she was back to constant itchiness. I am house sitting for my cousin until thursday night but I will pass all this info over to mum and will see if she can start Cherry on the roo meat and sweet potato today.

Cherry would try to eat the turkey wings and she would probably try eating the roo tail but because she struggles with bigger bones she will end up guarding it and she'll probably hide it somewhere like my bedroom Thanks Laffi I will try her on some roo meat and sweet potato, I don't think she's eaten either before.

Cherry struggles to eat chicken wings so I think roo tail might be a bit too much for her? I can do blended sweet potato and roo meat though Should the sweet potato and meat be raw? ETA: Micha and Daisy eat turkey wings and necks regularly but they would be way too big for Cherry, I can try and get turkey mince though!

Thanks Laffi. That's a great idea. I can get roo based BARF patties, would something like that be ok to feed?

Sorry to bombard everyone with yet another allergy thread But I'm not sure where to go from here. Cherry has always, for as long as I can remember (she's ten years old) had allergy problems. She's one of those dogs that seem to be allergic to almost anything, a flea bite can set off major itchiness all over her body, she's generally always worse in summer, red meat seems to set her off etc. I had her on Royal Canin and she was doing ok for around 18 months and then in December she had a 'break out' and has been itchy to some degree since. I changed all the dogs over to a raw diet around November and I thought it might have been the red meat (her dried food is chicken based, red meat was the only thing I introduced that she didn't already eat regularly) that caused her to get itchy again. So I put her back on to RC for a couple of months and there was no change. I took her to the vet and she had a cortisone injection at the start of the year and this seems to the be the only thing that's helped her. I have recently in the last few weeks put her on to Artemis for senior small breeds and while she's eating it with gusto (she's always been a picky eater) she's still itchy and last night she chewed herself almost raw, she's chewed some of the fur off the inside of her front legs I don't know if it's food related as there seems to be no main cause, RC was chicken based and so is her new Artemis food. She has eaten chicken based food for several years now and never had as bad a problem like she does now for about 2 years. Should I put her on a diet of chicken and rice to see if she's still itchy? Is there anything other than food (i.e. a grass allergy) that she could be reacting too? She doesn't go outside much at all and only part of our yard has grass, the rest is timber decking or brick. I feel so upset seeing her like this and I will try anything before putting her on cortisone regularly. She seems to spend all her time biting her skin and scratching herself, even after I bath her or put some soothing lotion on her like calomine. What else can I try to help her?

Wow TSD, congrats on a great first trial!! You must be so proud of Zig Capanash, congrats on the CD title!

Sorry to highjack, kja, I was just wondering for those who use dremmels how much they are and if there is a particular 'type' of dremmel that is best to buy?? Or is there just one and you have to get the right attachment for it?

Another Artemis fan here - I feed raw to two of the dogs but Cherry and the cat are on Artemis and wow, I have never ever seen my cat in such amazing condition, her coat is so soft and shiny it's almost hard to believe! Cherry is loving the Artemis too and is really enjoying it.

I agree Di, I wouldn't be expecting solid obedience from a nine week old pup either Never punish a pup for toileting in the wrong spot, at this age the error is yours not the puppy's - she doesn't have the bladder control to hold it and if she's toileting inside it's either because you weren't fast enough to take her out and/or she's confused about where to toilet. If I catch them 'in the act' I would pick them up silently and put them in the right spot and give lots of praise and I would *never* punish them for toileting after they've already done it. I would be ignoring her when she chews on the screen fence and I would only let her in when she's stopped - teach her that chewing gets her no attention whatsoever and waiting quietly means she can come inside. Remember at nine weeks she's only a baby so don't expect too much for her yet.

It sounds like a part of the problem is that your friends dog isn't particularly friendly or receptive to other dogs? And that you want to teach your dog some manners when meeting others? I wouldn't think the manners part is so much about more socialising, but socialising in a controlled environment and getting your pup to be calm and focused on you, not the other dogs. If it was me I wouldn't want to socialise my pup with a dog that was DA. It sounds like the small dog is uncomfortable - if it was a bigger dog, would you still be persisting with socialising them together? It doesn't sound like your friends dog is a very good influence?

I don't agree with crating a dog all day, as some people in the US and even the UK advocate - so ignore anything you read about crate training that tells you to crate the dog all day when you're not home (so 8 hours etc). However, a crate used properly is not different to a dog bed :cool: My beagle LOVES her crate and went in it the second I set it up, she likes having her own space and she doesn't think of it as a cage - it's like a den. Crate training is very useful at night time for toilet training, crate the pup at night and when it cries get up and take it out to go to the toilet so you avoid having the dog mess inside the house. Of course you don't have to crate train but it can be very useful and the dogs love them When it comes to toilet training, she's only young so hasn't got any real control over her bladder. During the day, take her outside on the hour every hour. Take her outside after she's woken up from a sleep, after she's played, after she's eaten or drunk water. Watch for her looking for somewhere to toilet or sniffing around for a spot and pick her up and take her outside. Give her lots of praise and a treat when she toilets outside. As she gets older her bladder control will improve and she'll be able to hold it for longer.

Hey playm8, glad to hear Cooper is growing up nicely. How did he go recovery wise after the dog attack? Hope he does ok when meeting other dogs etc When Daisy did the jumping thing we used the NILIF principle (nothing in life is free) to teach her an alternative behaviour instead, seeing as jumping up is generally an attention seeking thing. That is, every thing the dog wants they have to pay for first - i.e. pats/treats/attention etc. Every time we gave her attention we would make her sit first. If she tried to jump up, I would tell her to sit, and I would ignore her until she was sitting nicely at my feet and then I'd give her lots of praise and attention. She had to learn to "pay" for the attention before I gave it to her. Now when I come home, she runs up to greet me, and automatically sits at my feet waiting for a pat

MrBeans, I would seriously consider getting a behaviourist in to help you sort this out as it sounds like you need a solution ASAP. I will PM you the details of someone in Brissy

I find the triangle of temptation article here is great for teaching and strengthening stays - remember that as a little pup you can't expect them to stay very long as they do lose interest. http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=64101 TOT works well for beagles as they are generally so food driven!

Lilbailey... TID stands for training in drive

I would reward. ETA: To clarify, if I gave the dog a command to do something (even if that was 'stop' or 'off') I would praise them for complying straight away. For example - some nights Cherry goes into the backyard and barks. If I call her to me to get her to stop barking, I give her a treat for doing the right thing.

Oh she's just gorgeous!!

I wouldn't touch Bark Busters with a ten foot pole, I never recommend them. Being a franchise you have no idea what the actual trainer you end up getting will be like.

I don't think anyone is debating, we all find our dogs do well on various diets. However, you came across as quite concerned about the quality of ingredients in various dried foods so I think it's natural for people to recommend looking into feeding a raw diet. I feed raw to two of my dogs and Cherry and the cat are fed on Artemis, which I'm very happy with. BARF is not the only type of raw diet to feed, either.

I don't find it expensive and I don't even buy things in bulk - you can buy a lot of the raw meaty bones in bulk and freeze them, which goes a long way to making it cheaper.