Jessca

Hi Dolers, This is a very long story cut as short as i possibly can, so you dont have to read through a really long babbling story. I am having a bit of trouble with my mothers mastiff, Chevy. She is desexed and about 5 years old. She has been barking at the next door neighbours fence for many months (we cant hear it as its across our paddock) and they have put in a couple of barking complaints (even though i asked them to tell me if she is barking so that i know and can try to do something about it) and now they have put in a complaint that she keeps going onto their property. so one day i kept an eye out and watched and sure enough she was charging straight threw the fence next door. So we built a pen to stop her from going next door, the pen is located on the other side of the property (where we are close to our neighbours) in between our house and the fence next door. now that neighbour has complained about her barking. and she has also kept escaping from this pen, every time i find out where she has escaped she finds a new way out. My mother has moved away to another state, and i dont want to have to get rid of Chevy, so i need to find away to contain her and shut her up as well. i have found online the containment systems done by innotek, and other brands, does/has anyone had or used these before?? if so what are they like, do they work well, or is this going to an extreme that could be solved another way?? (Our property is a bit over half an acre) Then i know they have a contain and train system, would they also have a contain and anti-bark system?? Or would i have to buy the two things separately?? My mum thinks i should go and set up an electric fence (as opposed to the E.collar system) as you can get dog electric fences, would this be a better option?? or would this be worse than the containment system?? My mum thinks this would be better for Chevy, cause she'll get one shock and never go near the fence again, so its pointless spending (wasting in her words) money that i dont have on an expensive containment system. We are on our final straw (i think thats the saying) if this continues any longer the council will take control of the situation or we are going to have to get rid of her (which i really dont want to have to do). So any help, opinions, suggestions, anything, would be of a great help. Thanking everyone greatly in advance. Jessca.

Dr.Robert Holmes would probably go out that way. He's an amazing vet and behaviourist. (not sure how much he charges though) 0419384922 www.animalbehaviour.com i wish them my best, with their dog.

thanks Clicking Mad, Tess 32 and rubiton for your help, i'll try it out tonight on those different settings and see how i go. thanks again, its greatly appreciated.

It sounds like the autofocus isn't able to find anything of high enough contrast to focus on. It's not unusual in very low light. thanks so much for that. i was worried i bought a dud camera, the risks you take buying second hand i suppose. thanks again Luke

I recently got a s/h Canon 350D now i am a complete novice when it comes to SLRs, so i dont know whether this is normal or not and would LOVE some help please. i've been playing around with taking photos at dusk/ darker hours. and i've noticed that sometimes it will not take the picture, i half press the button so it focuses, then the circle flashes saying its ready, but it does not beep, and it wont take the picture when i press the button fully down. it only seems to do this when it cant find something distinctive enough to focus on (if that makes sense, so it would take a photo of my golden coloured dog, but would not take a photo of my black dog) i hope that makes sense. Any help would be great, thanks in advance.

thats great Tess32, you caught the fly in the picture and all. this thread is great, now all i need to do is save up for a 1.4 :D

i voted over 18 months, but i own dobies so they never mentally mature and act like pups till the day they die.

i neutralise to loud noises and unusual places, surfaces ect, by gently exposing them to it, but not over exposing. i do this because you dont want a dog who is scared of a certain surface or noise when they are older. i socialise to funny looking people (which can be classed as neutralising), and all other people/strangers, i socialise to dogs or all sizes, breeds ect. but unfortunately i did this too much with my boy, as he now sees all dogs as friends. with me next dog he will not be so socialised to other dogs, so that i am his world, not playing with other dogs. whereas our Mastiff was not socialised or neutralised to anything when we got her, so we struggled to take her any where, and couldnt have anyone over for a long time. till she started coming out of her shell and gaining confidence. she has only in the last 12 months been able to walk over our lino in the kitchen. which is great as when we got her, she would not walk on any other surface but dirt, as that is all she had ever been on.

yep extra protein for the dogs

thanks for that, i'll check it out. my other 2 are on E.P Holistic as well. maybe i'll put my old girl on the holistic as well. thanks again.

Hi Dolers, i have my old Pomy girl is on Eagle Pack Super premium Senior / Mature (green bag), whilst at pets stock i also grabbed a sample pack of the Eagle Pack Holistics Senior / Mature(pink bag). when i got home i compared the two the S.P has slightly more fat and less fibre compared to the holisitcs but other than that i could not see much of a difference. now considering the price difference i would really like to know if there are any other differences between them. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance. Cheers, Jess

There's that buffolo grass (i think thats what its called) that does not really have any seeds. most types of 'turf' that you get (the ones that come in rolls, and cost a fortune) dont really have seeds. sorry i couldn't be of any more help.

Thanks everyone!!! once i figure out how to use it i'll post up some picys. thanks again, YAY!!!

:( YAY i finally got a SLR!! I really couldn't afford it, but thought what the hell, i really want one and its Christmas. its a 350D (i know its old, but im no professional, and its all i could afford) it came with a twin lens kit 18-55 and 75-300 all accesories, plus a camera bag, lens bag and 2 memory cards i cant wait till it gets here!!! the pets are going to hate me YAY!!

thanks for the details. i'll do exactly that. i was thinking about email today tonight, but the health department is a much better plan.

thank you for your help poodlefan. Chevy is a bullmastiff X. i didnt know that, thank you, i'll have to look into it.

just thought id let yous all know that i found either worms or maggots(not quite sure which) in lenards human grade/quality chicken frames. the main concern i have with this is that all of their food is kept together in the one fridge, which means that all there food could possibly be contaminated. this was at the Lenards in Fountain Gate / Westfield Shopping Centre.

nope none at all, and all there water is always fresh and clean. she doesnt even where a collar and yes it is very scary about that vet, they are horrible, they gave Kaisers microchip in his lower back (as a 7 week old pup) and it bled for around 10 mins. our dogs hate it there, which is why we travel nearly an hour to go to a really good vet, where our dogs drag us in. and non of them have to wear muzzles. thanks for your help Poodlefan. ETA- with chevy being a short haired dog, and the state of the sore, how would yous suggest would be the best way to clip the hair??

thank you Arty. i have called the vet and am taking her in in a couple of days. after having soo many of them (this is probably the 10th) i feel so sorry for her, they must really hurt. i just glad that it has finally been diagnosed. four years of this is enough. time to find a preventative, if there is one. thanks so much every one for all your help. No chance you can get her in any earlier? A few more days and it will only get worse and she will need antibiotics. What do you feed? Dry food can often be an issue. Wheat isn't good for a dog prone to hotspots. Catching the spot quickly and treating it quickly makes all the difference. I haven't tried the Pyohex although I know FTPO has had good success with this and her goldie. I use Living Nature Manuka Honey antiseptic gel. I put some on my current boys tail when I noticed a small and obviously itchy spot which I knew what it was, and the thing disappeared overnight. There's lots of info here as well on hot spots treatments and preventatives, just do a search. we have no way to get her there earlier, our vet is 45 mins away, and we were there on Sat (why couldnt here have come up earlier ) she's on a 50/50 mix of Eagle Pack/Great Barko, but mainly gets chicken frames, meat, bones ect. Ahh im ordering some Manuka for Narla, so that should help Chevy. im doing a search now. thanks again for your help Arty, its greatly appreciated.

thank you Arty. i have called the vet and am taking her in in a couple of days. after having soo many of them (this is probably the 10th) i feel so sorry for her, they must really hurt. i just glad that it has finally been diagnosed. four years of this is enough. time to find a preventative, if there is one. thanks so much every one for all your help.

Yes she is, mum caught her scratching a fair bit during the night. Thank you for that FTPO. i'll go out and get some of the Pyohex. im calling the vet now (my good vet) how is it that the local vet couldn't tell what this is?? yet DOLers so easily diagnosed it.

Hot spots, i never even thought of that. im googleing it now to see if it fits. the vet did not take any swabs, all they did was give her a shot, i think it was an anti histamine. he was completely stumped. Thanks for your help Kosti. Forgot to add, these mainly appear on and around her neck. although she did have one on her face once, on the top of her head spreading down between her eyes. they normally dont cause her heaps of stress, although she does not like to come near us, as she knows we are going to put cream on it (neo topic) but the one that was on her face, must have been mush worse as she seemed to be quite depressed for the length of it. She also gets them at any time of the year, it seems to have nothing to do with the weather or season.

Day 7 cont' - Today's sore, Day 1 - thanks again for any help. Regards, Jess

Day 5 cont' - Day 6 - Day 7 -

Day 3 cont' - Day 4 - Day 5 -