CP*

That's great a DIY grooming on the northside. Hope they open before mine go into the spring shedding.

I give my dogs cat treats because they are smaller and usually not full of sugar like dog treats. BUT - there is an ingredient they put in cat treats that dogs should not eat. I am afraid I dont know what it is - I buy my cat treats from Pet Barn and the manager always checks the ingrediants for me before I buy to make sure the bad one isn't in them.

When they intubate for surgery the tube can sometimes scratch their throat and mouth and it can become infected and therefore sore to eat. If it isn't from this she might just be going through a stage - I would try sprinkling a little garlic powder on the food to see if that interests her.

My Shelties love the eagle pack esp the Duck and the Natural Formula, not so keen on the Anchovy. BUT I had problems with the chicken formula, one of my dogs got sick from it - was throwing it up. Since this happened I found out you can contact eagle pack for samples packs if you want to try before you buy.

I have foot lickers. When they get antihistamine or a steroid shot the licking reduces dramatically - for them its an allergy to grass. I know other dogs in my area also lick around their genitals for the same reason - close to the ground, ergo allergy. Try giving her some human antihistamine (there a few websites that give the doggy dosages, or you can ask your vet). Also for dogs that lick a lot, they can develop the dog version of athletes foot. You can use any human liquid antifungal for this -but it takes more than one dosage for it to work.

I do a lot of bushwalking with my shelties and can end up with half the forest floor caught up in hocks, pants and tail. I put baby oil on my hands and run it through their coats - mainly on the tips and in the areas where seeds are most likely to stick. This not only reduces the amount of seeds they get in their coat, but also makes it easier to pull the seeds and burrs out. For keeping fur in check I put on a baby onese (on my dogs that is) - light weight cotton all-in-one overalls that button up the front (so you can leave the crotch open for toileting. I use them for bushwalking in winter so they dont end up covered in mud. I brought some white ones and striped ones but dyed them brown so they better matched the colour of my dogs (and the mud). They are about $6-10 at childwear shops or you can get the trendy bonds ones for about $20. I got the idea from dog owners in the colder parts of the US.

This isn't unusual - esp at his age. They do tend to settle and get more confident of being alone as they get older. I have clingy dogs and did private training for out of sight stays (for obedience purposes). You can do this at home by teaching stays and then moving further away, then moving towards the door, then opening the door, then standing on the other side of the door and then working on stays with the door closed. It is a longish process in increments but it does work.

I just found the blog too Vickie. How sad they thought he was goofing off. It has been really hot over in California - don't know if that contributed but something to think about when we run here.

I just heard that one of the BC members of the US World Team (agility) died at practice while running the course. The dog was in the 26" (large) group and was called Focus (Hob Nob Sharper Image), owned by Geri Hernandez from California. It is would have been his 5th birthday tomorrow. The dog was given CPR all the way to the vets but could not be revived. Poor pup and owner.

At flyball your dog needs to be good around other dogs and show no aggression.

How exciting. :D I wonder how I put my name down and if there is a wait list. I have been sooooo waiting for this in Canberra. I was canvassing people for putting together an informal group but this is even better. I've been putting together little routines at home with a dog that just loves to dance (well loves doing tricks and loves music) but I want more.

How old is Tyson? Heart murmers are more common than most people realise and will often resolve themselves as the dog matures. In fact in humans up to half of all children have heart murmers. A mild heart murmer is really nothing to worry about unless there is some major underlying heart condition, which the vet would probably have pointed out. If he is young I would get the murmer checked out again when he is breeding age.

I do worm every 3 months (Canex). But i go bushwalking most days and my dogs are constantly eating roo and rabbit poo on our walks. Otherwise I doubt I would bother unless they show signs. I only flea them if they show signs of fleas. I also read recently that all the disinfectants we are using on our floors could also be impacting on our dogs and cats as they walk on the floor and then lick their paws. We can't win.

I give mine both vension and sheeps ears. The venison ears are great because they really have to work the end so they give the back teeth a good workout. They are also the lowest fat chews I have found and Australian sourced. The only issue I have is the size - I cut the tips off (or ask for smaller ears) because if you think of the size of the ear when its not dehydrated its huge and my dogs' stomachs are not that big.

My female runs away when I get her harness out - but thats because she hates wearing it. If I get her martingale she comes up and sticks her head out to have it on. There are some situations though when I do need to use a harness so its just too bad. It is a pain to drag her back inside to put it on or to put a harness on a floppy dog. A friend I go bushwalking with (thats when we use harnesses) has exactly the same problem with one of her dogs. Her dog is 4, mine is 2 so it isn't something they have grown out of or gotten used to. I think they just dont like the feel of it in comparison to a collar. My male is fine with having his harness on - he also has to wear it more often. She might always dislike it but once the dogs are out walking they forget about it. In obedience you will need a flat collar anyway rather than a harness. I agree it is better to train on a flat collar (or martingale) to begin with while she is learning to walk nicely.

I saw a behaviourist about this issue. One additional thing I was told to do was to play the sound when the dog is eating so they get used to it as background noise and are too focused on their food to worry about the sound. I was also told to turn the volume up slowly. A couple of other things you can try is to play clanging, banging kind of music - classical within lots of percussion is good, and to take them to shopping centre car parks where there is the sound of trolleys and cars and horns - lots of different noises.

I think this is an urban myth. It is doing the rounds of US and Canadian dog forums as well. Based on human physiology it doesnt make sense - the constriction caused by cold internally would probably expel air and the water will not stay cold for very long in the stomach anyway. But I can understand if the dog drank to fast because it was hot - then it may take too much air into its stomach, or it was panting heavily when it was drinking. Human athletes drink cold water when exercising as cold water is absorbed more quickly and therefore they are able to rehydrate more quickly, it also cools core temperatures. I currently work in (human) medicine, but I assume there are similarities between mammals.

I have always had cats with Shelties and they are very compatible. I have never had a problem with them trying to herd cats, although they will try to play even when the cats ignore them. Shelties tend to be very gentle with small animals.

I agree it depends on the dogs personality and how you use it. I use it both at home and in training. I have shelties and the greatest reward for them is my attention and affection, so being removed from me, or each other, works effectively - esp in calming them down. Also helps for excessive barking. At agility I use it for my male because he gets very silly sometimes and it helps him focus (put him on the fence or in the car for a short period), but my female just becomes withdrawn so I wont use it on her when training. And definately its great when I need to calm down.

I know what you mean re seperation anxiety - not true anxiety, more like they just miss you heaps. True anxiety is a lot harder to treat than just giving them a kong I thought your recommendations were good and it is really important for the pup to learn what it missed out from its mother. I meant luckily the frustrating part of puppyhood (lets not mention adolescence) is over fairly quickly compared the years of love if she puts the time in now.

Please please be very careful how you deal with this. I had problems with a young pup and got poor advice - esp from a recommended behaviourist, so I offer you this from my own hindsight. Remember your pup is the equivalent of a 5 yr old child and has all the inherent difficulties experienced at that age. If you got your pup through a breeder, please contact the breeder. He/she will have considerable experience withthe breed and probably with dogs of the same temperament (esp if they are selling such young pups). I got the best advice from my breeder. 6 weeks is really young so it has missed out on some critical development and you may need to compensate. Like any child, the pup needs guidance as well as routine and boundries (and lots of hugs). If you get a behaviourist make sure they have experience with pups - and if they start talking about adult dogs or recommending adult techniques - RUN!!! You can do long term damage, please dont use techniques designed for dealing with problem adult dogs. Has your pup got somewhere 'safe' to go? Small children and small pups are not a good combination. So give the pup somewhere safe where he can go if he starts feeling 'threatened' where your grandson cannot get to him. That gives him another way to deal with his fear besides biting. But you will need to teach him to go there instead of biting. Sounds like your pup is suffering from seperation anxiety - this is really common, you just need to give him something to occupy him like a kong. Most of all dont forget the hugs and praise. Its easy to forget they need to know when they are doing the right thing so they can learn. Heaps of praise and affection will make him always want to do the right thing. He probably wants to even now but he needs your help to learn the right way. Stick with it - it is worth it and this phase wont last long. GOOD LUCK!!!

They are really high in calories - a small dentabone is 105 calories and a medium 188. That's about 1/4 and almost 1/2 a cup of dry food respectively.

Thanks for the recommendation for PetPlan. I have been looking at insurance and narrowed it down to 2 - neither of which were underwritten by Hollard so I was a little worried about security. At what age did you get insurance for your dogs or have they had it from pups?

If I want my dogs to not use a particular part of the garden for toileting I feed them in that area - I just scatter some food around for them to 'hunt' for. As dogs dont tend to soil the feeding area they stop using the area to toilet. Has worked 100% so far. After cleaning out the urine smell can you scatter his dried food around in the morning for a few mornings and see if that stops him. Also - I have steps on my back porch so I got a long plank and made a ramp for them go up and down as pups.

My dog had exactly the same symptoms when he had a grass seed in his ear. The quicker you get the vet to take it out the less likely it will lodge deeply.