Jaxx'sBuddy

put cornflour on the nail where it is cut

i use frozen green beans (thawed out) added to the dogs meal as a "filler" when i want dogs to loose weight. they like them, it fills them up and has very little calories. i suggest that you tell your Mum that if she wants to give the dog "treats" then she should give it thawed green beans. that way your mum can feed as much as she wants but with no weight gain for the dog.

i have a neighbours dog who barks all the time. my pup started to join in so i went to the back door and called her (oi!!), told her to come to me and then put her into a time out room or on a tie out EVERY time she barked at the dog. she was in time out for 10 mins then allowed to go into the back yard. it took 3 days to train her to ignore the dog. now the other dog can bark all day and my pup doesn't react.

i have fed my dogs a raw diet for years but i chicken :wink: out when they are puppies and i feed half raw half kibble until they are a year old. i introduce all the different meats/organs/fish with the kibble (ultra premium kibble EVO) so that by the time they are on raw they aren't fussy. i also feed raw fish. i also believe that with adult dogs it is good for them if the have no food for a day sometimes, ie once a fortnight i would not feed them their meal at night and they would be fed the next night. now i know some people will disagree with this but my dogs have lived well beyond what the "normal" age range is and most people when they saw them did not believe me when i told them how old they were. they always looked and acted much younger than they were. they were very seldom at the vet and didn't seem to get any of the ageing diseases that seem common. i am having trouble finding a good "old fashioned" butcher who can supply me with brisket and other bones suitable for a puppy. i have given the pup roo bones but there is no way she can chew those so i am on the hunt for supplies in Adelaide. if i find good suppliers i will post here.

thanks kja. that was an excellent explanation and i enjoyed reading it.

i also use a product called "piss off". it is for cat urine but works on any urine. it neutralises the smell. i got it from a pet shop.

it seems you are doing everything you can and you are patient with your dog. maybe a behaviouralist would look at the situation with fresh eyes and be able to come up with suggestions. sometimes we are too close to a situation and we can't see the trees for the forest. i sympathize with you...i also feel better when my dog is happy.

one thing i do is never let my dog see me clean up any accidents in the house and i don't let her see me pick up her poo from the garden. i don't know if this is right but i figure a pack leader doesn't clean up after the pack. also, i don't want her to think that i am interested in her poo in case wants to be nice to me and she leaves me a present!!!!!

Hi Jaxx'sBuddy - Welcome to DOL I know that the whole getting back at me is a human emotion, and I can guarantee you that I have absolutely no resentment towards my dog. It was actually a bit of a shock to me when he first started doing this, because he has been so good up until recently! The problem is, he is doing it when I am asleep, and I would love to go back to basics, but I never catch him in the act, so it is hard to correct the problem right there. And I do take him out all the time. He goes out about 5-6 times a night from the time I get home to the time he goes to bed (I smoke, so everytime I have a smoke outside, he comes with me...). I am going to try to contain him in a crate until I can resolve the problem, but I have hurt my back, again, and the crate I have is extremely heavy. I am going to get my brother over tomorrow night to get it out for me. I personally dont believe in negative re-inforcement (yelling for him making an accident) but as I said, I have not been able to even catch him in the act to even correct it. This is where my problem is, because I cant stop him in the act and then take him out to "finish" his business so to speak :rolleyes: I really, really want to get a behaviourist in, if not just for the toileting issues, but his anxiety, for his sake. I just need to find a good one, and the funds to have it done. I know it is the best thing for him, because all I want is for him to be happy, and I have realised that perhaps he is not entirely happy with the way he has been behaving recently, more so that before, and that really does upset me. I dont want my dog to be unhappy! sorry i wasn't clear...you don't yell at the dog, you yell at the pee or pooh as if it has crawled in from outside and doesn't belong in the house!!!!! you let it know that it belongs outside and never in the house....you make a lot of fuss telling it off...probably best not to have your neighbours see as they may think you're going nuts!!! i knew someone who did this once and never had another accident inside. as i said, i haven't tried this but it did seem like you had tried everything and this was a bit left field. i agree with you, i never yell at my dog and i don't use negative re-inforcement. good luck!

if at all possible it would be great to have a behaviouralist help you. IMO dogs never try to "get back at you". getting back at people is a human emotion that dogs simply do not have. if you think he is trying to "get back" at you then the dog may sense you have some resentment toward it and this may excacerbate the problem. if my dog has an accident in the house then I know am not being vigilant enough so maybe you need to go back to basics and contain the dog if you can't supervise and take out regularly for toilet breaks. maybe this will reinforce the behaviour you want. i haven't tried this but some people, if their dog has an accident, yell at the wee or pooh and tell it off for being there. ut is important not to look at the dog when you do this but make sure the dog sees you telling the wee or pooh off!!! i have been told this has worked for them, especially if you can't catch the dog in the act.