Anna H

It took about half an hour for her to figure out that it was in her best interest not to pull... then worked on slowly introducing distractions (she's a very easily distracted dog) All up, about three weeks before she was reliable... but I must admit that she didn't get walked every day (naughty, naughty!) - it really should have been two weeks! K9 - on those special bonding exercises and treasure exercises, can you elaborate? My younger sis is having a bit of trouble with her pound pooch and bonding. ETA: It was in the general area, not the training forum.

Amhailte. A very important point that I neglected to mention in my post. Knobbles: Chelsea used to be quite happy to self-correct in a martingale as well, she changed her mind pretty damn quickly on the prong.

I couldn't have summed this up better myself! I totall agree

Anne's experiences with the prong are fairly similar to mine. It has been a fantastic tool for training my GSP to walk nicely onlead. I have two dogs that I prefer to walk together at the same time... so I invested in a lot of time teaching them to both walk without pulling INDIVIDUALLY. My Kelpie X has never pulled and lives to heel perfectly by my side, so that was easy. My GSP on the other hand was a right terror who thought that walking time was meant for lunging and pulling as best as she could.... right from a young pup. I found that halti's just 'managed' the situation and she hated it anyway (she also learnt how to pull in one!), Martingales' weren't effective either and she definately pulled like a sled dog in a harness.... but the prong, bloody brilliant! After investing this time (yes, I'm a busy person who also prefers to walk my dogs together) training to walk individually without pulling, I am now able to walk both my dogs side by side at heel TOGETHER. Better still, is that Chelsea is now on a flat buckle collar as she no longer needs/wants to pull... she is happiest walking next to me. It has been a lot of hard work, but worth it!

Cougar has something that sounded similar to this not so long ago.... 'cos Coug's is a bit older, it really scared the livin sh*t out of me. His was in the rear hind thigh muscle, about 5cm across. The vet removed it and sent it off to diagnostics, turned out that it was some sort of prior injury that caused the lump of scar tissue. Boy did I breath a huge sigh of relief. Wishing you all the best at the vet tomorrow... hopefully it is nothing to worry about.

I've got a GSP, same hard-to-remove hair.... Like sidoney suggested, I've found prevention WAY better than any cleaning method! I just recently bought a wagon too, and keep the dogs in the cargo area on a thick rubber mat. The back seats have normal car seat covers on them which protects them somewhat, but that's mainly for the dribble from the cargo area! When I had the coupe, I came across a back seat 'sling' type car seat cover designed for pets... had loops that went over the drivers and passengers seat, as well as two more loops for over the rear seats.. in between was a plastic backed fabric square that covered the whole area bewtween the front and back seats. That make any sense at all

Congratulations Vickie & Trim

oops .. double post

It was liver that Dr Harry was talking about...

Glad that it is all under control at the vets... fingers crossed for a speedy recovery for Busta.

Poor lil Busta... hope that gorgeous lil doggie is ok, I know how much you love her. Keep us posted - till then, try not to stress to much... she is in good hands.

It was pretty scary... The vet said that with the quantity of food that she had eaten, it was a good move for me to bring her down to the clinic... her symptoms were identical to those of a dog in the very early stages of bloat (paler gums, distended abdomen, restless, whining and just 'not right') and the vet definately felt it was better to get it all out rather than leave it in if at all possible. Obviously in our case, it was just because she was feeling very uncomfortable (can't think why! :rolleyes: ) but it could have been bloat - especially with the quantity she had eaten

All is well that ends well.... Took Chelsea to the emergency vet, as I figured that it isn't worth taking a chance on. The vet was quite concerned when she saw Chelsea, as her gums were a bit pale (in this case due to abdomen pain) and her belly was pretty bloated up. She decided the first plan of attack would be to try and make Chels vomit (in which case it couldn't be bloat) - it worked! woo hoo! But the vet did have to come out to the waiting room to get me to look at how much Chelsea had brought up! Honestly, I have NEVER seen so much in my life - and neither had the vet (which is really saying something). Gross... but interesting. She even made me re-weigh Chels to see the difference! Weight on arrival 24.9kgs Weight on departure 22.7kgs :rolleyes: That is a LOT of catfood! I'm off to get some sleep now... thanks to those who offered help

As for the distended abdomen... I mean, she's eaten a fair bit... how far does the abdomen bloat out? At the moment, she just looks like she's eaten too much.

She's whining a bit, pacing and wont settle.... She is also thirsty, but I haven't let her have more than a few licks of water.

There was only a small bowl left out for the both of them... it hasn't been finished. She is whining a bit to go outside... do I let her have water or not?

Anyone??? I'm starting to panic that all that food could be a real problem.

Could strangle that dog of mine (not literally!) right now, we went out for dinner... only to come home to two very well fed dogs. Both of them, more obviously Chelsea, had gotten into the dry cat food bin and stuffed themselves silly. The door to the cattery had accidently been left ajar! So, what do I do know? Chelsea would have eaten till she could eat no more... Cougar would have eaten some, but he knows when to stop so I'm not too worried about him. GSP's are a breed at risk of bloat, she seems fine right now, but how fast do symptoms come on if it is going to occur? I daresay she would have eaten at least a kilo of the stuff :rolleyes: Hopefully she will just sleep it off as no doubt she is feeling majorly full right now.

Yet, another reason not to use these

:p

Ditto on the NEVER EVER use those adjustable nylon flat collars with plastic clips.... not after what happened yesterday. See thread: Collar

Oh lordy... I can just imagine the neighbours looks now! Little tiny me with dog on e-collar with remote around my neck, treat bag around waist, pocket stuffed with her tug toy, water bottle and a massive bungee rope trudging down to the local park

Yes, they do... club members get a really good discount too. They have a huge mobile van with all kinds of stuff, at cheap prices. But City Farmers is pretty cheap for these, better prices still if you are a CAWA member. Buy a 6' one if you can...

OK, so anyone know where I can get a long lead with a bit of 'give' in it? Hopefully, it wont be much longer that we even need one...

PP - If you are heading where I suggested for puppy classes fabric limited slip / martingale is ok. ETA: Is this nylon rope collar a limited slip or a full check collar? Check collars are not allowed at the club, but limited slip are. btw... chain leads are terrible for dog training and aren't allowed, get yourself a cotton web one, or better still a good quality leather one. Nylon leads will burn your hand if the dog takes off suddenly (ouch!)