Got Spots

Having been unable to control our scratching with just antihistamines + the tea we have resorted to a new cortisone spray from the vet dermatologist - Cortivance Apparently it is inactive in the bottle, active on the skin but by the time it reaches the blood it is inactive - that is how she explained it I am finding i only use it when things get out of hand and she is distressed - approx every 2 weeks about 2 sprays on her tummy. Takes the edge off things. Also she has terribly dry skin and the Alpha kerri bath oil made her so glossy and smell great - as a rinse and not washed out. Her scratching and itchies decreased drastically afterwards. The vet dermatologist also suggested the body suits from fluppies - however it is stinking hot up here in queensland and I just couldn't subject her to 6 weeks of experiments - 2 weeks suit on the whole time, 2 weeks suit off inside on while outside, 2 weeks suit off and see how things go. This is because we don't have a clear atopy vs contact allergy there are features of both. For now its occ antihistamine though haven't had to resort to one for 4 weeks since I have used the spray 2x . The tea and the kerri bath oil if she is really flaky.

I would invest in Crate Games. I got it not long ago and have watched it about 4 times just to master the initial stages. It is really good and Susan Garrett adapts the crate for so many things. Big thumbs up . Though getting the dog to "pop into a sit" when you put your hand on the door has been quite challenging for my 2.

The drugs are completely different there shouldn't be any problem giving them at the same time. My human patients are on both quite frequently and we give them at the same time

The vet dermatologist also recommended Alpha Kerri oil diluted with water put over the dog after a bathed then toweled dry. Not washed off. It apparently helps with dry flaky skin which we have which seems to make problem worse

She has BARF and rarely has a drink before bed

I am in the process of crate training my whippets and things are going well However, 18mo female is unable to go all night without going out to the toilet If she is inside she lets me know and I take her out it is usually midnight - regardless of what time we go out for pre-bed wee's sometimes 10pm We want them to sleep on the balcony and have been either crating or tying up our older whippet, and leaving the younger one free HOWEVER, little toad usually goes hunting at night and barks Put her in her crate last night and she wet in there and then scratched the plastic tray out in the middle of the night causing me to have to get up, swapped the bedding and put her back, but the scratching continued so ended up letting her out when she was quite for a minute. Then she barked. ARRRGGGHHH cant win What can I do to get her to last through the night????

I went to a vet dermatologist the other day Apparently the older style sedating antihistamines have a higher rate of success in dogs. It seems to be trial and error with dogs, antihistamines only work in 30% of dogs. I was recommeded Polaramine, Sorry I can't remember the dose If you search this topic then it is in here somewhere

Hi Jane Barron is an excellent trainer who does puppy school at Rigby st Vet Surgery www.allanimalvet.com.au - in Nambour She also teaches agility at Suncoat Fundogs in Caboolture and does training at Pawtential dog training - www.pawtential.com.au in Woombye Big thumbs up she is awesome - clicker training method to get the dog thinking

Thankyou I have made 1 with cutting the t pieces in half but had to file out the ridges on the inside - bit tedious but they work Would still like to see your invention

I have tried VAN but it makes the skin allergies much worse, so I have had to ban all grains - thankfully it has worked i do miss the smell of the VAN - smelt great Are you close to the Sunny coast or Brissie (partner travels down for uni) I have a bag of VAN opened last month that I cannot use and am looking to GIVE AWAY - 5kg puppy if anyone is interested

The classes didn't get smaller for me They did class 1 and 2 in small groups of max 10 then we were all dumped in 1 bit class 3 of about 30 - we quit after that You were only special if you had a border collie, then you got special treatment in front of all of us in class 3 We were not impressed

Have made a couple of batches of slops but needs a little work The toads turn their noses up at it and prefer BARF patties - spoilt buggers Have been using pumpkin, carrot, broccoli, bok choy, beans with yoghurt, eggs, and other treaties May have to adjust the recipe slightly

Thanks guys She is lovely The little toad Lucy had me wrapped around her little finger, no more territorial behaviours from her NILIF is in and the whippeteers have to work for affection and love

I can sympathise we had a similar experience at a training group Check chains where standard and if your dog pulled or was a bit of a challenge a halti was prescribed and dogs were dragged round the training feild or looked dejected with oblivious owner going yeah it makes a difference - NOT Teaching drop was to body slam the dog - took me 4 weeks to undo that Change classes or schools it doesn't work and there are other ways ie clicker which work so so so well As for treats use higher value treats at training ie Chunkers Something they don't ususally get

Hi All esp Huski We met Jane today at our house for 2 separate issues; 1. Anxiety and fear in an 18mo whippet - improving but I want more 2. Aggression in the other whippet i can't predict We had a wonderful time talking with her and me the wonderful Sharni the completely non-reactive Greyhound Bit eye opener - Bella the anxious whippet isn't too bad, But Lucy the aggressive whippet makes her worse b/c she is Territorial of myself, partner and house/grounds She charged and snapped at the poor greyhound who paid no attention We found a cause of problems and have some plans to sort things out, separate training classes and heaps more socialisation as we can with my evil schedule 6 day shifts, 3 days off, then 5 night shifts - all 13 hours each - I have no Life

We are coming from the sunny coast on Thursday and are staying til Saturday when we will put the dogs in the kennels for the day and go SHOPPING - haven't told OH yet but he will work it out fast enough. I have just said explore I didn't say where - he he he The Weekend bit is organised by the Caboolture Sports Dog Club for dog trainers - more intense I am excited about the Friday - though haven't yet got my projected roster past the end of next week - BAH oh well, have lots of sick leave up my sleeve anyway

I usually do obedience in the afternoon - we find we get better focus after some light exercise a gentle walk, not too intense just to take the edge off their energy, for me it would be on lead walking beside me if possible. We are working on this in our household From my observations at obedience you can pick the dogs that aren't exercised they are feral It isnt to wear the dog out at all just so they don't have heaps of pent up energy they feel the need to get rid of I know Cesar Millan is contentious but - Exercise - Disciple (ie obedience) - Affection it works for us but we do it our way

I would contact the Advocate people and send them pics so they can look into that batch of Advocate - most companies are very interested in these nasty things It may prevent other nasty things happen especially if it is a contaminated batch

Yep excitement plus here Who is going to the one day and who is doing the weekend??? I will be with my whippies at the one day

Hi I am trying to build some agility jumps but the cups just are not working for me I would like them to be adjustable Does anyone have any jump cups they are willing to sell me - ideally I would like 2 sets but am flexible Pretty pretty please Alternatively does anyone have any ideas about how to make some adjustable ones please

i considered vebo - but postage was heaps more and they were more expensive

I went to petstock and petbarn and I had no issues they were more than helpful Just say you are thinking about gettting one and want to see how your dog will react and if the size is right They didn't care that I didn't buy them that day Petstock were better they just left me alone the whippies thought it was a great game being told to hop in or on - one person sometimes went to the back of the cage and called them Also great socialisation at the pet shop with lots of other pets around.

i recently bought a crate after much umming and ahhhing Best thing ever Got a really good deal from these people in Brisbane - best price I could find and I added beds and covers and they didn't charge extra for freight REally quick to i got it within 2 days Excellent quality The covers are canvas and fantastic the dog who is thunder scared loves going in their to hide and voluntarily will go in there to sleep have had to do very little training at all with them A sneaky thing to do is to go to your local pet shop and try the crate sizes out with him for the best size - very valuable I ended getting a 30' for my whippies and there is heaps and heaps of room and they are really light to move, I can comfortably lift them. They also pack up really easy and flat btw i did a lot of research on the net and these were by far the cheapest Website - www.pethomes.com.au An example of a blue canvas cover - also comes in brown http://cgi.ebay.com.au/COLLAPSIBLE-DOG-CRA...=item563221ebe0 36' is $92 30' is $64.90 30' crate cover is $30 - excellent quality tough canvas, the brown one is ripstop two 30' crate mat was $30 - they are really good quality Good luck

big thumbs up here a recent convert and the skin issues have been helped so much They look so so so good - glossy coats, decent breath adn clean teeth I do a bit of homemade and Dr billinghurst patties - they work out to be about $1.60 per patty if you buy a box and I only feed a half a patty each - works for us adn they love it, it doesn't last long in the bowls supplemented with sardines, yoghurt, omega oil, chicken wings, lamb, offal - whatever else they can eat

oh oh oh I am going to the Camp Tailwaggers course in November - took the plunge and I can take my dogs with me. quite excited Also my trainer who I meet on next Friday knows Steve well and organised him to come to the Gold Coast YEAH