Stitch

If you are new to this I would suggest that you contact your local vet hospital. The vets or the nursing staff will usually be only too happy to show you the technique to tube feed.

Try moving the pen outside and set it up just like inside when you are home. Of course it would have to be near the door and under cover. Put her in it and ignore her, no praise, no reassurance,etc. - do some activity near her outside for at least 30 minutes - read a book, etc. See what she does. She should settle down if you wait long enough. Your mindset during this should be one of quiet confidence, like it is just part of your everyday routine. If she settles then try moving back and forth though the back door, all the time doing your own thing and not looking at the dog or interacting. Don't tell it that it is good, just ignore it. You can progress from there but that experiment should tell you what to expect if you are not there.

Taking the pups/dogs outside to toilet has to become part of your routine - part of owning a dog. It has to continue until, one day, you find that they are asking to go outside all by themselves and remember sometimes they ask silently, by their body language only. I have found that medium to large dogs learn very quickly, some automatically will not soil inside unless their need to go outside is ignored or not noticed - small dogs usually take much longer, sometimes many months, and they can appear to be trained but then revert to being unclean which just means that the initial training hadn't really gone on for long enough.

You have to catch the unwanted behaviour in its very first stages which is not always easy. You then have to interrupt the behaviour in the area you don't want to be soiled and then encourage the dog to the place you want them to toilet and then praise if they do it. You can do this by using a word ie. no or by clapping your hands or whatever but it should be short and snappy. Personally I try to think for the dog/puppy. When I let a puppy out of its area inside or when I bring them inside I always have them on a lead so I can monitor them. I take them outside to toilet hourly or whatever I think their bladders need to empty and I tell them to 'do wee' and then praise them for doing what they are told. They of course have obsolutely no idea what I am talking about initially but after many repetitions a behaviour and word association is established. My adult dogs all urinate on command which is very handy especially on a wet night.

As a matter of interest, who walks the dog each day?

Puppies/dogs are instinctive so it is incorrect to humanise their behaviours by thinking that they are trying to 'test' you in some way. When you are not at home the level of distraction is not high but when you are home there are many things to distract a pup. As their brain is not fully developed yet it is reasonable to assume that the conditioning your pup has received in order to toilet train them to the level they are at has become confused because of the lack of confinement that was allowed and the distractions in their environment. As others have said, go back to square one, confine the pup to a smaller more manageable area. Keep them away from areas you don't want soiled and when they are out of their designated area keep an eye on them at all times so that you can correct an inappropriate behaviour. And, be consistant and patient.

Yep, that's what I have been thinking - how to get more calories into what she is eating and still be healthy. I was thinking Eagle Pack dry food instead of the Hills but it is hard to obtain without putting in a special order and waiting for it to arrive. I have never fed the Satin Balls so I will have to find out about them.

I breed dogs and I am currently running on two female pups. With all my experience both in showing and also in obedience I still do not recommend anyone doing this unless they absolutely have to. I put in a lot of work with any pup I run on, especially socialising, walking on lead, general discipline, etc. and with two pups, to do the job properly, it usually means double the work. You also run into the problem sometimes of the two dogs bonding to each other more than to you and also the problem of one constantly trying to dominate the other. Unless you know how to recognise the potential behavioural problems before they become permanent, you only make more problems for yourself for the future. I would suggest, as others before me have suggested, that you buy one, train it, socialise it, etc. and then say 6mths down the track, get the next one.

Yes I used to add Livamol to all my dogs dinners however I started to notice that they developed more tartar on their teeth than in previous years. I can only think that it is from the Livamol as this is derived from molasses (sugar). Sugar being very addictive it probably does make them eat well but I am really trying to get away from that now.

I currently am running on a puppy from my last litter. It is nearly 4mths old now. It is from lines that are new to me so its growth patterns are not what I am used to. It is all legs and very skinny. I feed a raw all natural diet and use Vets All Natural. I have even started to give it Hills Science as I have found it likes it but it doesn't body up. It is on two meals a day - any more and it starts to lose its appetite. As it is, every 4-5 days it only picks at the food, then the next day it is back to eating again. Anyone have any ideas on a diet that will put some weight on it? I purposely haven't been changing the diet too much as I have found it tends to have a detrimental effect on appetite.

You obviously care for your dog BUT you need to do what all us caring dog owners do in Qld. which is: * check your yard is escape proof & has nothing in it that can be chewed that you value * go around of a night time and get rid of all toads you can see - and this needs to be done regularly * get someone to use an animal safe spray for spiders and crawlies - or do it yourself - and get rid of the nasties * give the dog water and chew toys, etc. and let the dog enjoy the outdoors and being a dog!

I would like to be able to keep multiple dogs together without them being aggressive towards one another. Major difficulty is keeping bitches together without fights. I notice Caesar Milan had an episode on it but I have serious doubts as to its reliability if I was not around (and even if I was).

Just read your post. If they are in the Brisbane area then Phil is the Repro. Vet at West Chermside Specialist Vet Clinic and he is very good.

I don't feed piggy ears to my small/medium sized dogs unless I am there to watch them as I have known dogs to almost choke on the last little bit however I have had no problems giving piggy ears to my Dobe boy who really loves them. I think what you have to also keep in mind is that they have a big fat content and also the chemicals used in their drying process and therefore not overfeed them. Other than that most of my dogs love them except for one of my girls who just wants to carry it around continually looking for a suitable place (in the loungeroom) to 'bury' it!!!

What about teaching him the stay then gradually increasing the time he has to stay. Then you could progress on to moving away, then increasing that to being outside by himself. If he gets used to you always coming back then that should reduce his anxiety. Of course it would have to be a very gradual process.

You can buy a product called "LECTADE" at produce stores and probably vets which is specifically for this purpose. It is an Oral Rehydration Therapy and comes in sachets. You mix Sachet A with Sachet B in a specific amount of water. I have always found that sick dogs know that it is what they need and drink it up no problems at all. I suppose if they were very sick then the syringe would have to be used. It has saved me many visits to the vet over the years! :D

Thanks for that, I will try the Teatree Lotion.

One of my girls is getting what looks like midge bites on the inside of her ears ie. little red lumps (not right inside the ear but just on the inside ear flap over an area of say a 50cent piece on each ear) I applied Advantix to her back, as it says that it will keep mozzies away but this doesn't seem to be working. She shakes her head quite a bit now - they must be itchy and of course this aggrevates them more. I also have been applying the Neotopic H lotion which is an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory with local anaesthetic. Because of the head shaking I checked her inner ears (just to be sure) and they are pretty clean inside - no problems there and none of my dogs have fleas. I burn an insect repellant overnight when she is confined but during the day, when she is outside, seems to be when the insects attack as the mozzies etc. have made a comeback here because of all the wet weather. Perhaps instead of the Neotopic it would be better to apply a teatree lotion?? I have also started (very carefully) to spray a small bit of personal insect repellant on the outside back of her ears. I don't know what else I can do. Anyone got any more ideas?

Thank you so much for all your responses. I have printed them out and will pass them on today.

Thank you for your replies. I told him it might just be that the dog is so stressed with its new environment and that with time it will settle down but in the meantime he should start teaching it things, go to obedience training which has always been really good for my dogs. I think that it is just the non-stop nature of this dogs pacing that is getting to him and that he is worried that he won't be able to put condition on it. He wants to do the right thing and not do anything to make it worse. Another thing is that he just doesn't know what its background has been so it makes it twice as hard to deal with.

A friend of mine has just got a dog from the pound. When he is not with the dog, like when he goes out or if he has to put it out into the back yard etc. it paces back and forth along the fence line, it just keeps going. The dog was very skinny and he is trying to fatten it up but it never rests except when it is given one on one attention. He hasn't had it very long, under a week - has anyone had the same problem and do you think it will settle down? Is there anything he can do to help it? Would obedience training help to create a bond or understanding that would help to calm it down?

Thanks very much for that idea. It will give it a go!

Now that would be good - can you tell me how??????

I have a two year old bitch that is house trained and very clean however I have to watch out for her behaviour that tells me she wants to go outside to pee, etc. I can't leave the doors open 24/7 as we live in a toad area and the screen doors have to be shut for mozzies during the day. When she wants to go out she tends to run/frisk around which I know from experience means 'let me out now'. Is there any way that I could train her to actually come to me or even to bark at the door as her behaviour is OK when I am up and about but not the best when I am asleep. We have had very few accidents of a night time but I don't mind getting up for her as long as I know, which is hard if I am asleep at the time. Any suggestions?

Thank you for your response Erny. The distance between the dog and the mower will have to be over 500mtrs I suspect which may prove challenging in itself. The dog only has to hear the mower at a distance, even if he is in the house and the mower is down the back paddock. Any thoughts on why this phobia seems to be getting worse as time goes by?