Madeleine

We had toilet training nightmares as we used the emergency mat thing while one of ours was little....huge mistake - she will now pee on the bathroom mat occasionally. I had to take them outside and COMPLETELY ignore them (I still ignore them until they've gone), it originally took half an hour sometimes but it had to be done. One is also a shy piddler as well - so I have to pretend I'm not looking at her especially.

Thanks guys - good suggestions!

Ok for all of you groomers out there..... We have 2 pugs....and this is our first serious summer with 'adult' coats - so we are slightly new at ths. Of course pugs shed heaps - it's well known, and I certainly don't expect a fur free house, clothes, washing machine, couch or car ever again.....(I even find some dog hair at work....) I'm just wondering if there's anything else we can do to 'help' this situation...... Firstly I wash them and condition them - for the shinyness and the ease of removing the 'never ending excess' of fur. Then once they're dry....do the brushing..... We have 2 grooming utensils - apologies don't know names but one has a metal loop which seems to work quite well to get rid of most of the hair (but I'm forever on the hunt for something better), especially if we backcombe, but it doesn't collect it, so the other is a rubbery thing with spikes to pick up all the loose fur once we're finished with number one. Does anyone have any other suggestions?? And how often would you recommend brushing and washing at this time of year? Thanks

I'd be thinking along the lines of bullying, discrimination etc. If your husband is on the committee and didn't know about it??? That is very strange. What a bunch of idiots. Such a shame the housing market is so crazy at the moment. They can't change the by-laws and expect you to abide by it when you had your dog prior. Also - they would require evidence that dogs hurt/injure old people, and in the wording that ALL dogs carry diseases etc that could be potentially harmful. BTW we rent with our pugs and although it is difficult to find a decent place - there are pet lover property owners out there that will agree to pets - especially if you can prove how well you've taken care of them etc etc.

I think a skin scrape to rule out mange would definitely be appropriate. It is so treatable but can get so terrible in some dogs - definitely worth the check while it's not awful.

Our pug was 8 weeks and she screamed and screamed despite being distracted with treats and having the area iced prior to it... - it was awful - but necessary.

We use Royal Canine - I would have bought Eagle Pack but it was hard to find a stockist, you had to order it in advance - as we were running out fast I decided to try RC from Eukaneuba(sorry for the spelling) and my dogs love it. I don't have to do anything with it to get them to eat it as I did with the Euk...adn well now I'm hesitant to switch. We buy 1 huge bag at a time (12 or 15kg) and we feed our dogs 2.5 cups a day so it lasts us awhile!! I don't buy more than one bag due to that reason. I also give them chicken wings, sardines and natural yoghurt and I just buy them from the supermarket.... I do have some trouble getting appropriate toys. The place we go to has heaps of stuffed toys and we have a long waitlist for 'surgery' in this house in order to fix bits and pieces that are ripped out...and I'm scared they'll eat the stuffing while we're out and get a bowel obstruction! I do buy their dried/smoked bits and pieces sometimes for the dogs as a treat - they love it and some of them are on ground level so they can pick their own. Obviously we can take them in to the store which is great as when we're wanting to fit a winter coat or harness etc when we buy them it makes it a whole heap easier so I definitely recommend that when you open your store!

it's worked - is sitting quietly at my feet now, didn't come to me for reassurance and is not being a sook!

Our 8 month old pug is just experiencing her first storm since she's been with us..... She is currently running around the house barking her head off.... My plan: ignore her, and when she's finally still, reward her - is that the right thing to do?? She's generally a bit of a sook.

Some people with a lab in our puppy class wore vix for a few days on their arms and legs - whatever the pup was biting at. I'm no behaviourist but it might help your kids until the order is definitely established. From what I know labs are great dogs with training, but can be a real handful without it! It might be a really good lesson for your kids how to show dominance over a dog and how to train etc.

We also have a dyson that we don't know how we coped without....and a leather couch - but the colours must match the dog otherwise you see the fur!!

Our class was excellent....even though there was a 14 week old standard poodle desperately trying to play with our then shy 10 week old pug. We had a 'time out' pen as ours was in a paddock next to the vets (which was excellent), so if ANYONE had seen any misbehaving they could pick up the perpetrator and pen him for no more than two minutes....it worked, people would pick up other owner's dogs and pen them. I don't really believe in the small vs large breed thing...my dogs will always be small, and there will always be large dogs at the lake or at the beach that they need to get on with and know how to stand their ground etc. so I have no problem with that. The instructor did speak down to us on occasion...but she was only a young thing and she was doing the best job she knew how....she's becoming a wonderful vet nurse at the practice. There was a great mix of 10 minutes at the beginning and end for a free for all, and while we were being educated, the dogs were allowed to play.....I thought it worked really well...and they gave handouts etc with useful info on them. We also did a training part - just sit, stay, come and drop but they went around and individually sorted you out if you were having problems, that also gave the opportunity if you were having other probs to have a quick chat about those too. It was also free!

Thanks Erny and PugHugger....off to buy a crate or two this weekend

Please help me..... I have 2 adorable pugs..13 months and 8 months old... Before we got our second one, our first used to sleep on the floor of our bedroom, and had a 'just in case' mat in the ensuite that she would use in emergencies only. This was fine...I slept my 8 hours, so did my husband and things were working well. Then came number 2....(had been with her breeder till 5 months)...she came to us with demodex so was itchy and wasn't toilet trained - so that's when the sleeping became an issue....They've since been moved onto the tiles so Zara would learn where to go - ie was in an area with enough room for bed, bowl and toilet...which was fine - that worked ok, except they ate the walls and started crying at 5.45 am when the sun was getting up....So there went that one.... Next have tried having them sleep loose in the house - for the first couple of weeks it was great, I could sleep till about 6 which was better than 5.45 so I was kind of happy....now Zara is missing the 'just in case' toilet/mat mark, and pees about a metre away from it - on the carpet....consistently....it must be at around 4am that she goes so I don't catch her before to take her out...and currently they're waking me at 4.30 (I am a light sleeper - they don't wake my husband but as soon as there's movement outside our door I'm awake). I am crazy tired right now....and it's absolutely doing my head in. I've also tried letting them into our room at 4.30 after they've been outside but by that time they're full of beans and I'm awake awake so there's not much point, and they won't settle. SO - I'm thinking that a crate is my only other option. I won't allow them to sleep outside - we have noisy neighbours who they bark at - they're noisy till about 11 some nights and they start their motorbikes by 5am as well. I don't want a complaint against them barking....and there are heaps of cats around so that'll get them going too....and as I am a constant worrier, I'm concerned that if they do manage to corner one about their bulgy little eyes....and there goes my sleep for the entire night.... Anywho - my questions: 1. 1 crate for both dogs or 2 separate crates? (they've been sleeping together though since we got them....but am worried as it is warming up so they might not want to snuggle - should we get one big enough for them both to sprawl out in?) 2. Do we literally go back to training like we would a baby puppy?? ie making the crate a nice place to be, rewards for being in there etc etc and ignoring whining etc. 3. what typ/brands of crates are best? 4. Are we really mean doing it to them now?? And does anyone have any other suggestions?? (apart from me taking some sleeping tablets so I don't hear them? or ear plugs) Thanks in advance from a cranky tired woman.....

She has come good - at about 11 last night she perked right up and was playing with Koto again, and thismorning she was absolutely fine....weird.

We're in WA - she hasn't had much contact with other dogs lately....she's not got the runs or vomits though (have just been checking the yard AGAIN). She's perked up a lot since the ibuprofin shot - hasn't eaten much dinner at all (EXTREMELY out of character....not that she can't stand to skip a meal or two )

We got home from work thisafternoon and Zara was shivering/shaking - really bad, didn't say much of a hello and didn't want to jump up which is extremely unusual - and no kisses - even more unusual....so it was off to the vet - he doesn't really know what's wrong with her...checked her all over, and pretty much we've come up with a fever and a sore tummy - but no vomiting or diarhoea. So she got an ibuprofin shot and a couple of ibuprofin to come home with and 24 hours observation.....(looks like she is coming to work tomorrow - my patients will be impressed ) A couple of days ago - I'm not sure with the wind etc over here or someone 'dropped' it into our yard....there was about a third of a polysterene cup from boost juice (they're quite large) that both Koto and her must've eaten. She's still doing normal poos and wees...and she's not dehydrated - but am thinking that would most likely be the problem (but Koto is fine....)....don't think she's poisened as we don't have any around...and if someone was trying to bait them surely Koto wouldn't be well either - and Zara would be sicker.....Any thoughts?

When we had our pug done we tried our best to keep her quiet - didn't work.....We thought she had herniated at the site - but it was just excess fluid build up - thank goodness! BUT it was because she was such a psycho running etc - the vet told us not to worry about it and it was absorbed in time. I can still feel her internal sutures 7 months later! Try not to worry about them - maybe increase their 'chewy' things - chicken wings only last about 20 minutes here...but maybe include a couple of larger bones or some pigs ears to keep them rather still for a few hours??

Have you thought about going to an animal physio about this??? We see humans with this ALL the time and in the majority of cases it is highly treatable....If it's related to particles in the ear canals that control the dogs balance - I imagine it is treatable with certain positioning of the dogs head - as it is with humans. I couldn't recommend you see an animal physio more highly as they are the most likely to offer suitable recommendations - even on moving your dog. If the animal physio doesn't know anything - I'd call a vestibular physio in your area and ask them about it - they might give it a try!

Have just read this thread - and one of my pugs does this too!! It is SO ANNOYING! She is 12 months old, and the little monster used to do it when she was younger...I've tried time out, distraction with a toy (it's hard to constantly carry a toy around with you), I've tried rewarding good behaviour (dried liver is much easier to carry around than toys), yelling in my lowest growliest voice, stomping my feet.....she'd stopped for a few months.....but it has started again - I will give the squirty thing a try...but she loves water so she might just play with it....*sigh*. She only does it to me too, wouldn't dare do it to my husband.....

Hi I am a physio that treats humans (although I sometimes wish it was animals....) My Mum has an Australian Silky Terrior who did his ACL 8 years ago. We went for the conservative treatment, although we did a gentle 'rehab' type program, ie instead of walking for an hour a day, he went around the block, we limited his jumping (ie on/off couch etc) and gradually built up his exercise regimen over a period of about 6 months. He started walking around the block, then walking zig-zag through cones, gently jogging first in a straight line, then the zig zag and so on. He is now 14 years old....and hasn't developed arthritis - thank goodness! I'm no animal expert - but that type of exercise is what we do with humans to gradually stress and mould the scar tissue forming in the knee. Hope that's some help!

We've been treating our pug for ?8 weeks now with Ivermectin for generalised demodex - the mites are visible microscopically but surprisingly she hasn't lost hair....she was getting pustules on her tummy, neck, muzzle and one paw. We have been told to treat her for 12-14 weeks with Ivermectin....that it can take that long to work due to the life cycle of the hair. We are due for our second skin scraping Tues (the one 4 weeks ago was still positive), however she has picked up so much within herself, and all last remnants of spots have gone, the smell has gone, and she has stopped scratching completely - not that she scratched much in the first place. I am extremely suspicious regarding herbal things...fair enough they need a good diet, lots of cuddles etc as they're a bit precious with it, but eventually their immune system should attack the mites as the initial problem is that the system doesn't recognise the mites as something that shouldn't be there. Good luck with it - and let us know how it goes!

Ah dogs can be so funny. My OH gets grumpy at me bringing the dogs into the bed....but they don't wake him up, they wake me up so I think who cares?? Does your OH get along with the dog Shmoo?? You don't want him associating the OH with bad things ie not being able to sleep with you as he has done for so long......he might take it out on the OH and make things worse between them! You're trying the crate thing so ask OH to have some patience.

I know a bit about human drowning like that.....I would watch her for things like coughing and possibly lethargy. If she didn't cough straight after though and swam in she's probably fine. One of my pugs doesn't like going in the water at the beach anymore since she got dumped by a small wave....but she still goes in when it's calm. I think if your other dogs are fine about swimming then the pup will most likely still follow suit.

Both of our pugs snore....but not all the time (funnily one of them is going to town right now). I am also a light sleeper, but have found that if I can't hear their soft little snores (the loud ones do still wake me), then I can't get to sleep as I'm wondering what they're up to! We have found that by changing their position/angle of their head we can eliminate their snoring completely....if their chin is up they generall snore, so maybe try adjusting his position?? I have been woken several times when my pug sneaks into bed and tries to share the pillow - as the angle is too much and the snores are so loud!! Getting some weight off will help - same with human snorers!