Jumabaar

Be bold IMO- if its something you want then take risks to make it happen!!

Yes, you are quite right. Even the people I meet at the dog park outside of research interests are probably more interested than many people that own dogs. If they are out there walking their dog off leash every day they are more committed than the people with dogs I never see because they are always in the yard. Haha, sounds like a story I have heard several times in the last couple of years. I'm on my second vet honours student and have just about stopped being surprised about what they do and don't get taught. :p Sometimes it seems like an impossible task. But, there are a lot of people like you just quietly plugging away. I think they are making a difference. Just in small increments. Thanks Corvus.

I really like the paw picture!! For some reason cute little pawsies always make me smile! Thanks for sharing

I did see an improvement in my Finnish Lapphunds coat with it- didnt sun bleach as much (She is black). I actually use it as an extra source of protein for the Kelpies to help with weight maintenance- they have dark shiny healthy coats regardless of what I feed them so who knows if it helps with that. I wanted to use seaweed to darken one of my dogs eyes (so I didn't have every second show person tell me about them sigh) but it made her burpy LMAO so gave it away! As with everything depends on the dog and the balance you already have in what your feeding I guess as to how much benefit it gives.

http://www.ozpetshop.com.au/product_info.php/products_id/105 I use something like that on my Kelpies to get rid of undercoat. Using warm water will help loosen some of the coat when you wash her. I also just get a fine tooth comb and brush till the cows come home with a big coat dump! Additives- you can look at Livamol. It won't help get rid of her coat any faster but it will make it grow back in nicely.

Well... I'll defend myself here. I think there are people on this forum that are essentially average dog owners, or at least the sort of average that is slightly more interested than average, which is why I asked this in general and not in the training forum. People new to dogs and people with a rescue dog or a dog that isn't as easy as other dogs have been and so on. Thanks for the support, though. ;) I'm just kicking ideas around at the moment. There's this PhD that seems to sap most of my creative energy... ETA Grisha Stewart is doing something like this in the US. I watched her organic socialisation dvd a while back and was really impressed. She is very good at distilling body language down to the most simple and useful bits. The average australian dog owner is not interested in their dog enough to jump on a forum. I wasn't really talking to you in regards to Joe Blow, more the people who came on and talked about the international people who they WOULD go and see talk about this. Over half of DOL and most of the general population wouldn't know these people and so I didn't see that it was necessary to stick the boot in so to speak because I interact with people who should know better and know how little they know as well as your dog owner who doesn't realise their dog is so matted it can't walk. Most trainers see people who want to fix their dog or are proactive about it, people who research dogs once again see people who are interested in dogs. I tend to cop the people who tell me their dog has never been outside the backyard.... Once again I like the idea- I think people THINK they already know this, but they don't. It is just one of the many areas that I think people need to be educated on for Australian Culture to change towards animals. I think vets should spend more than one semester doing a tiny little subject on behaviour. They are most people first point of call with their pup so unless you educate them appropriately then your never going to get more detailed information to pet owners. I can make a suggestion and people will say they call their vet, and I hear back that their vet didn't think it was a good idea- simply because a vet is not a behaviourist. But how many vets think they are??? /rant I am probably just disheartened after my last few jobs that have not been the most amazing ones. The type where vets don't know there are specialists in different fields, and with groomers that can't even identify different breeds. But money is money atm and I figure if I manage to educate a few of their clients then I can hold my head up. I might be being harsh but that is my experience.

I agree with this. Working with 'Joe Blow' every day It is scary how little they know about their own dogs!! Apparently trying to eat the groomer is completely normal, freaking out at the sight of another dog (also normal) that a wagging tail is ALWAYS happy etc. The people that frequent this forum.... Well defiantly not Joe Blow!! Joe Blow don't care who Steve is because he doesn't market to them, they don't care that the person has even read anything about behaviour. I know I would much prefer Corvus than most of the instructors at BOTH the obedience clubs I attend who still say that tugging automatically causes aggression and that to solve a reactivity problem you just avoid other dogs!! Joe Blow currently ARE the teachers of the dogs out there so is it any wonder that dogs are so poorly socialised and understood. Anyone who has read any current literature or goes to seminars is who needs to be teaching people how to read their own dogs body language so they can keep their dog safe! I think this would be an amazing idea but it would take a while to reach the people that really need it.

I use it for all my dogs. The only thing to be aware of is that it can put condition on your dog very easily! I use it to keep my Kelpies weight up when I am doing a lot of work, I also find it keep their coats nice and shiny but it may also reflect the natural diet in general.

I have not heard of any problems with its effectiveness. Comfortis only works after the flea has bitten, so it is possible that you still have an infestation in the environment that is not completely controlled but they are not able to infest your dog. Perhaps look at treating the environment and see if that resolves the problem.

Mine all do dog sports and get walked on concrete etc but I still have to cut their front nails. I usually do their dewclaws at the same time but they don't seem to grow much. I would guess it hits the ground and wears away when they are lying down or 'landscaping' the back yard. All of mine learn to sit and present their paws to have them trimmed. It is part of the 'My Paw' game they play- I hold their paw and it is mine until they relax. I try and play it with them before meals when they are growing up so half my dogs actually get excited about getting their nails trimmed! When I am not being lazy I do it 1-2 times per week so I only have to take a little off each time because of their black nails.

Thanks for that - I have been reading as much as I can since I found it. Now I am not sure that it would be a paralysis tick as we are in Queanbeyan (near Canberra) and the pooch was found in Bungendore. So perhaps it is a cattle tick or some other tick?? It sure looks like the picture of a partly engorged paralysis tick. I will keep an eye on him and take him to the vets first thing in the morning as he seems OK in himself (no symptoms of any kind) Have a look at the colour of the legs- that is a good way of identifying a paralysis tick vs other common ticks as opposed to going on the colour of the body. Please just don't ask me what colour means what type of tick because i can't remember the song (long story). http://www.ingleburnvet.com.au/ticks.htm That link kind of shows what I mean about dark/light coloured legs on the different ticks. Just trying to confirm that those pictures are correct. ETZ another link http://www.thevets.com.au/ticks.htm

Could def be an infected tooth- My girl broke her baby canine and the swelling came up in the space of two hours. She however was not off her food or in any visible pain. I guess it will be a long and sleepless night. I hope she remains stable and is easy to fix. I wouldn't offer any more food or water in case they need to knock her out first thing tomorrow.

I another that agrees! I have my holistic vet that I go to for annual health check ups or if I am not able to diagnose the problem myself- she is over an hr and a half from where I currently live so a three hr round trip. I have 5 other vets that I go to for everything that I do know about based on their prices. I have had a dog in vomiting very lethargic and had diarrhoea. The vet did not take temp or pluse or listen to the stomach!! Just gave her some anti-nausia medication and antibiotics. Another that tried to book my dog in for an entire day and wanted to sedate him for an X-ray of his foot- I politely asked if I could pop him up and ask him to stay and after a very doubtful conversation regarding the dogs unlikeliness to stay in position he had the X-ray awake and behaved like a star. I know most dogs wouldn't but it would only take a client 1 minute to see it wouldn't work if the dog was not going to stay. You do need a vet that will actually listen to what you say and keep good records! I hope to find a good vet that isn't so far away. I have found going to sydney uni at camden not tooooo bad as the interns are all very up to date (not necessarily the vets themselves lol)

The environment that the bacteria require to keep a hot spot going is wet and hot. If you take away the moisture the conditions become unfavourable so the bacteria don't become established etc. So drying the area out will stop many hot spots. This is not to say that all will respond because sometimes there is a more complex situation which requires prescriptions but for most changing the environment is enough. The cause often helps with treatment- so if it is a flea bite hypersensitivity, a general/localised skin condition. My girl gets one 7 weeks after every heat so I assume it is something hormonal so treatment for her is desexing in the next month or so.

Also there is an opportunity for desexed animals to compete for the major titles in obedience. This is not the case with showing. So why should people that are forced to keep their bitches entire to compete be penalised for that same fact? People have the choice in obedience so I am not concerned about there being a limitation.

None if that stuff works on serious hotspots jmo though Ultimately you want to treat the source of the problem with hot spots. What flea preventative are you using, and do you treat the environment as well as your dog? Many dogs get hot spots from flea bite allergy. It can happen with just one bite so ensuring that you have good flea control is a good start. I use curash on my dog when she even LOOKS like she is getting a hotspot or is excessively grooming an area. She has gone from losing all the coat around her rump to just losing undercoat because we dry the area out before it gets out of control. I do agree about seeing a specialist who has far more experience than your average vet. You can research who you want to see and contact them to see if they do need a referral from your vet- some do some don't.

Kirty- my pup had diarrhoea from 3-8 weeks of age. She was normal size until 4weeks of age then stopped growing. She is a little stunted (about 2 inches shorter than what I would have expected) but that is about it. She stayed on as I didn't know if it would be something continual but she now has an iron gut. Intestinal problems can crop up as they grow up when more demands are put on the dogs system- i.e.her system could fulfil the needs of a 2kg pup but not a 2.5kg pup. It could be a lack of digestive enzymes or a mechanical problem with the small intestine or some pathogen changing the environment.

Oh wow!! When can I visit LMAO. He is divine!

Does she digest the chicken and rice well? You could discuss Enziplex with the vet to see if this helps with digesting new foods (idea from the whole chicken). And protexin which is a probiotic. It defiantly sounds like there is something more going on but I used these for a pup that had chronic diarrhoea as a pup with some good results. I also used chinese herbs when conventional medicine was failing. She had been put on Scourban but it did nothing. Pups that I have used since have had dramatic improvements from scourban inside 24hrs. Scourban is given for small intestinal upsets- so increased fluid in faeces and increased frequency. Hope this helps a little!

What kind of power dryer? Is this specifically for groomers? I'm guessing my hair dryer won't cut it This is a link to some of the dryers- http://www.petnetwork.com.au/cgi-bin/shopping.pl?page=dryer1.htm I know people on the forum have found cheaper (less powerful) ones which would be fine for using to see the skin

I just found an appropriate sized box out of wood- I think it was meant to be a coffee table. I stuck some rubber matting on it and used a normal bowl on it.

You could also try elevating her bowl- it should be approx 4inches below the top of her shoulders. But it if continues I would be talking to a vet

Oh WOW!! I wish we had something like that here in NSW. I have given up on club herding- the dogs just get frustrated and so do I with having different instructors and having to wait for indefinite amounts of time! Hopefully I can find someone to do private with like this!

Does anyone know why some dogs do this? My dog seems to have that too, though to a lesser degree. He will always prefer to have something in his mouth when he first sees me after work or something. In his case, he will only pick up his own toys, and if he can't find anything within like 5-10 seconds he gives up and runs back to say hello with nothing. But the first thing he does when someone he really likes (it's really only me and my OH) arrives is look quickly around for a toy to hold. I believe it is excitement displacement. I think dogs have different thresholds where they will need to do something to manage their internal state, and different things they will do as a result. The more excited they get the more they revert to instinctive behaviours. My dog that does this has always been mouthy. I guess that excitement for him tends to come out in mouthy behaviour. It's socially unacceptable to mouth people as a general rule, so he carries something around instead. What amuses me is that he walks while he does it, like Roova's bull mastiff. When Erik is excited he runs and jumps, but Kivi is much better at containing his excitement. He'll run where he has the room, but he's perfectly happy walking in circles. The more excited he is the longer he walks around holding something. Demi also greets me at the door with something in her mouth. I will admit that I actually trained this in an attempt to get her to shut up when I got home.... Demi can bark (loudly) AND hold onto toys, shoes, paper etc

Better contact the AVA Steve, they will put you in touch with one of their veterinary behaviourists who will charge you squillions to fix the problem slowly and scientifically. Yes you should always show the dog the desired behaviour, yes you should reinforce the right behaviour. But once again they make punishment seem like it's simply beating the dog or taking out anger management issues O_o If in doubt, totally malign that which you dont understand :rolleyes: Don't forget with lots of drugs ;) I have actually found Veterinary behaviourists a lot less heavy handed with drugs than regular vets who are after a quick fix!! And they don't cost any different to non-veterinary behaviourists, who also sometimes seek out drug therapy to allow dogs to be given a chance to be trained out of their problems!! I don't think this is set out to be the answer to everything, but there are so many trainers and vets back in the dark ages of training so client education is the only way to train the trainers! Pet people often don't realise there are positive methods out there because they are going somewhere that trains the dog the way that they have for decades. I don't think that all issues can be delt with positively but people need to know that it is an option, particularly early on when their pup is starting to get mixed messages about what it is doing. Really the only downfall is that it hasn't addressed punishment fairly as a training tool. I think this is because in the wrong hands it does get out of control. I believe when it is used by someone who understands that dogs can't speak english, and has a fair understanding of how it affects dogs it works. When it is used by someone aka the people who hit their dog when it comes back to them because it ran away you are going to get into problems and it is these people that the behaviourists are trying to target. Giving them piece meal information on why their dog isn't improving when it is being hit and giving them an alternative. It is these people that I think this is aimed at.