~*Shell*~

My godmother's cavvie has a problem with them too - he either throws up after them or has very loose bowel movements the next day. Egg is the only thing they could think of that would be causing the problem (she feeds raw). Zero (my husky) on the other hand is intolerant to artificial colours, flavours and preservatives but loves a raw egg (or 12) when he can get hold of them. Since feeding them to him, his coat is softer and more shiny - and he just loves them! I think eggs (like in people) will always be something that people will have differing opinions about.

Maybe take a trip to your local nursery and ask - they'll be able to show you what certain plants look like and if you get a list of names you can google and find out what is toxic to dogs and what isn't. I know my dog loves catnip (funnily enough my cat loves it too!) but it gets eaten faster than we can plant it!

While i'm not a fan of tinned, if it works, it works! I'd be trying natures gift or the pedigree naturals tinned food.

We went out to see steve at k9 force over the weekend and he taught me how to use a prong with Zero. Our walk last night was fantastic - no possum chasing, no pulling and best of all no peeing on everything! I'm very happy - steve even sent me all the info we discussed on saturday today, so i can follow it all up at home!

We use Aloveen and a whitening shampoo (plush puppy) on Zero (depending on the time of year) - If you don't need the extra white i would definitely use aloveen. It's very mild and gives the coat a nice shine.

Zero is on 1.5 cups of kibble and went down to a cup on orijen (and yes, it was the trial pack). I asked my vet about it - she said that it does it to some dogs because of the high levels of protein something about the way it's absorbed (she used a lot of big vet words!). Apparently she fed it to her dogs (she has 4) - all same breed, all within a kilo of eachother and 3 were fine, one went absolutely nutso on her, even after cutting it down to half of what the pack suggested she was a crazy dog!

Zero got a little hyperactive on the Orijen (i've been told it's because of the protein) but i would like to give it another go in a few weeks. I'm having trouble getting hold of it - where does everyone get theirs? I emailed orijen but they just said to contact someone in australia about it...

Zero's incision weeped a little when he was desexed (though he had had a testicle kicked back up inside him by his old owners, so had a 10cm gash on his tummy) and we took him back to the vet - he had been licking and caused an infection. It was a few days after it had been done though so i doubt what your dog has is an infection already...

I would be telling the whole story to the vet and have them decide what they need to test him for... It doesn't sound to me like he's just being grumpy!

For me it takes about an hour and a half to two hours (I'm still only training though and i don't have much experience atm) for a clip that looks presentable - I'm slowly getting better but I've found that a lot of people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to their dog eg, a woman asked me to give her "groodle" a clip that suited a standard poodle - had a picture of what she wanted and everything. Trouble was her dog was matted down to the skin, was incredibly dirty (and stained) and didn't have wool! When i told her i couldn't do it she yelled at me! Apparently she bought the dog because she wanted it clipped like a poodle, without having a poodle - she didn't realise that her dog didn't have the wooly poodle coat! I do a pre clip (if matted), bath/dry, #10 bum/arm pitts/feet clip, body clip (depends on what owner wants) and then scissor the face and ears and clip nails. If the dog needs it i also do the anal glands. I will hopefully get faster as i go, though it'll take a long long time I'm sure!

That sucks Tony! I know how you feel - Zero caught it off a dog at the park and ended up with a pretty bad case. It took him about 4 weeks to stop coughing (but as i said it was pretty bad) and then it was another two weeks after that before i could even get him up to a run without him getting puffed out and tired very quickly. I think it's probably up to the individual dog - maybe talk to your vet and see what they have to say.

I would be heading to your vet for some advice. It could be what you're feeding or just something that happens to your dog...

Sounds like she hasn't been here very long. Make use of a forced air dryer, blow out everything you can + brush brush brush to get rid of as much undercoat as you can. That way you'll be able to make a good assessment of the feel of the guard coat. It may just be that with so much undercoat you can't feel it properly. It'll also take some time for the coat to adjust to our temperature and climate - her coat could be completely different in 6 months time! Once you know what her coat feels like you can use a salt spray (make sure she has some oil in her diet though!) to "toughen it up" a little. Avoid bathing too often, it'll soften the coat! I've heard that a run on the beach and a swim also help - though I'm not sure what will happen if you let her get too much salt in her coat - I've seen a couple of wire haired dogs that have quite badly damaged coats (wire hair that beaks if you bend it) from swimming in the ocean everyday and not having the salt washed out though this was teamed with a not great diet so i'm not sure how much was the salt and how much was the chum food...

Zero throws up after drinking too fast - vet checked it out and said it's probably got something to do with the amount of scar tissue in his stomach (he was abused) and that it was fine. I would be asking your vet about it...

Back in the bath to have it washed off would be what i'd do... I'm a little paranoid about it though - my cat squints for about an hour after i do his - i think it just shows how many chemicals are in it.

I agree - even if it is only a subforum in "training" or something. A lot of people have been posting things that I would take straight to a prefessional - it'd be easier to sort out which problems can be dealt with on your own and which you should consult a trainer or behaviourist about!

Zero is allergic to preservatives too - he gets sick as anything (not so sure it's not an allergy, rather an intolerance) off many foods. We've finally got the balance right (i tried orijen, made him hyperactive and even after an 1.5 hour walk, he was still climbing the walls) with pedigree naturals and bones. It's not exactly what i would have liked to feed him but i'm reluctant to change after people recommended orijen and it didn't work very well for us. I'm going to try eaglepack holistic in a few weeks - i just want to let his stomach settle again before we try the switch! It's amazing how much diet can change their behaviour! What do you feed your dog Rusky?

Are your dogs double coated Norskgra? I don't know much about them - I only just saw one in person for the first time at the million paws walk!

We blowdry the coat (dries out any mud and blows any grass out of the coat etc) and then brush brush brush (slicker and undercoat rake). Then a wipe over with a damp chamois and yet more brushing. Makes Zero's white whiter and his grey darker. It's the routine we use before we go to Zero's photoshoots (helping a friend with the "animal shots" part of her photography portfolio) - and it makes him look gorgeous! I'm sure people who show their dogs would have better routines!

My boy had a very invasive desexing surgery as he had had a testicle kicked back up inside him by his previous owners and it hadn't dropped back down. They had to put a 10cm incision in his abdomen but even so he came home the same day. He was happy to sit around for a couple of days because he was so sore, but then again, he was two and a half, not a puppy. I'm sure your girl will be fine!

When we give Zero tablets (admittedly he is quite a bit bigger than yours!) we get some liver, chop it into pieces, put the tablet in one piece and use his "catch" command for them. We use 3 pieces, vary which one has the tablet in and he's never noticed it!

Zero gets sick off of a lot of things and Optimum is one of them. I still hesitate to use supermarket food (too many fillers/low quality ingredients), though have found that Zero can only have pedigree naturals (which he's on to lose weight) and supercoat (lots of picking up to do when he's on supercoat!). Have started him on orijen this week and so far so good.... if he doesn't get sick over the next couple of days, we're sticking to it!

Personally i would add more food - especially things like eggs, oily fish and even some olive oil (they make Zero put on weight like crazy) - and see how much your dog will eat safely (watch for bloat though!). I would do it gradually though so as not to cause an upset tummy and you can monitor the weight gain.

Hey! Someone who does it exactly the same as I do! Those crazy sibe owners huh?

I've been told that you can't get too much calcium from natural sources. I think you can from supplements but i wouldn't worry about the amount of bones in their diet. Zero gets heaps of bones atm because he's on a diet, and he's had no negative effects (he has very very clean teeth though - the vet couldn't believe it the other day!)