ChristineX

I've Irish Terriers, and my male (about a year after I got him) suddenly became aggressive to my female, particularly around food, human attention and at times personal space. We eventually traced it back to displaced vertebrae - the chiro put them back in place and the aggression (and intolerance of other canines) disappeared. Until the next bout of displaced vertebrae...... which for Duke is pretty much a revolving door. A good vet check first - and then a behaviouralist (recommendations from here would be best) if the vet check is clear. Duke has spent four years with a dog shrink (related to his dyscopia when faced with other dogs and being outside the house), and his painful back very clearly made things worse. ChristineX

One of my problems, as my two have gotten older, is that they don't say Ouch, or show pain until they are at the point of already having collapsed - so I make that decision, which is, less activity but a few more games inside. It's one of the challenges in owning Irish Terriers.

I dont usually have a lot of people around here, drunk or otherwise. Normally Duke and Kate are all over people (yes, maybe a little out of control), but the night our drunk (beligerant) neighbour came around (okay, yes, Duke did kill his cat, but it was in our backyard, bit a sleeping Kate and shredded my hand!), I had a dog in a perfect sit on either side of me, in full leg contact - and they sat there while I dealt with the neighbour. Completely their choice to do so too. I was ever so pleased when that neighbour moved out...... Duke has also been known to be unappreciative of aggressive, high on drugs loud people - apparently they flip on his protective "shred the threat" switch. And Mum's often drunk neighbour had Duke in perpetual protective fence-running mode (only along the shared fenceline). Which promptly stopped when the guy moved out. So yes, behaviour certainly does change (Duke more so than Kate) around chemically impaired persons. These days, I take note and appropriate action, depending on circumstances.

Duke and I ran into one while waiting for a class - 9 month old male, totally ignoring his owner, came over. Lessons learnt: 1. Even at 9 months, they are ultra dominate to other dogs (judging by this one) 2. Tenacious - 15 minutes after the dumb owner had finally caught his dog - it was off leash again. Duke and I now waiting in the car - corso had to be peeled off my car by dumb owner as it was attempting to get in and get to Duke. I think they are really nice dogs, but you do need to be able to maintain control at all times. The dog above went for every single dog that came into that park. Owner was completely clueless. Training from the moment you get your dog is therefore highly recommended.

Do I care? Not really - I like that Duke has a good time - even if it's a bit messy to clean up after!

My Irish Terrier Quin (RIP) used to purr - mind you, the room had to be quiet for it to be heard. Apparently in Irish Terriers it can be a family trait.

Well, the pathology is back. Kate has had 3 separate melanomas removed, the good news being that all margins are clear. (which means, no identifable tumour left behind.) The vet staff tell me that with clear margins, the outlook is good (well, yeah, it is for most cancers). It's a worry that two of these have sprung up in the space of 5 days, but it's now a matter of keeping an eye out for any more of these. I think that we've given Kate the best chance she has to hopefully die of an advanced, disgracefully cheeky old age and she's been told No More Lumps!!

Well, Kate has had her operation - which went very well. Charmed the pants of the vet staff (typical Irish Terrier). The bad news is that they found three lumps, all of which were removed. We are now waiting to see what the path report says, and I am trying not to panic, given that in humans, finding three lumps close together when melanoma is suspected is what is called a bad prognostic indicator. Otherwise - given that these three lumps were just above the hock on the inside of the leg - Kate shows no signs of remembering that she has stiches in. Which is good, as it means I don't have to put the elizabethan collar on her (I don't think it would go well with doggy doors, or with Duke!) Mind you, getting the antibiotic tablets down here is a whole different type of fun! I am determined, she is having the full course!!

Lots of people are looking, so here is what I have learnt: - melanoma in canine mouth and toes is very very bad news. - melanoma on the skin otherwise is 80% melanocytoma, which is a non-malignant form, with the other 20% being malignant. - in dogs, as in humans, melanoma is resistant to chemotherapy, and radiotherapy is a control mechanism. - best bet for cure is surgery to an early stage melanoma. Fortunately for Kate, it currently looks as though we've caught it early (which means I am hopeful for a good outcome).

Young Kate - who is 13/14 years old - earned herself a trip to the vet on Saturday with a change in skin spot -over 4 weeks its gone from a watermark stain to pitch black with a little nodule in the centre. The vet just rang back - melanoma. Its in an easy to reach position, on the inside of the hind leg and I think it should be easy to remove. And assuming melanoma in dogs is the same in humans - I am starting to seriously freak out (should I mention that I work in cancer research?) Given Kate's age, I'm thinking things (ie research) overnight, but probably we'll take her in on thursday for a good pre-op examination, and if that clears her to go for an anaesthetic, then she'll go for surgery on friday. Thank god I have overaccumlated leave! Vet said "good catch", it's still that small. Doesn't every one check their elderly dogs? Does anyone have any experience with melanomas in dogs? Hopefully good ones? Please?

Duke did this to himself once - overhumping a cushion..... Cool water got the swelling down, but I think he had been wandering around a while like that so we had a quick late night trip to the emergency vets (totally useless, that lot - they were too scared to touch him!) and a visit to our normal vet the following morning for pain relief and anti-inflammatories (he was still walking funny). New couch has no removable cushions for a reason.

Snickers, what sort of situation do you have? A lot of the local dog clubs will help you work thru issues with your dog, and a lot of them do have contacts with local dog trainers that they know and trust. Bark Busters - last I heard, it's a franchise, you buy into it and get a couple of weeks training and a handbook. I've not heard of too many good results, and I've heard of some real disasters, too. If you have an issue that is more behavioural, let us know and we can direct you to those people here in perth. Dogswest have a list of clubs and contact details, if that helps. Christine.

I'd say that's really possible - before I got Duke, both Quin and Kate were ruled by the weero - and I mean totally ruled! Duke however, I have always thought that he'd started killing other creatures long before I ever got him as a wayward adolescent. His first owners were not particuarly forthcoming with information on him when they surrendered him to the queensland breeder. It's quite possible that if he'd been brought up with chooks, that he would consider them part of his territory. After all, they were originally irish farm dogs, so they must have been relatively safe with chooks and things.

I've got Irish Terriers - and the last year in the old house, Duke killed about 20 mice - not counting birds, lizards and anything else that dared venture onto his territory! He often woke me up at 3 in the morning going thru furniture to get to the mice. Kate, my other IT will help with the tracking, but its Duke that does the killing. One headswipe and toss the body. Here at mum's its been more magpies and the odd rat (he's very pleased with himself over those, too). So far the cats around here have been a bit too quick to get back over the fence. I think that any of the terriers you try, you need to look for one with high prey drive. My first male IT - you'd hear him yelp as a mouse ran over the top of him! Mind, I wouldn't want to put Duke anywhere near chooks - that would be the very definition of self-serve for that boy! But a dog like Duke would be happy to be a day pet as long as you had a nice doggy door for him to go do his hunting at night. I currently kennel him at night otherwise he's out hunting cats.

Steve Courtney's weekend seminar in Drive that he did in Perth last year! I learnt so much!