Kirty

Two of my dogs are 'stubborn', although perhaps persistant would be a better word? Champa attended obedience to a fairly high level but if he is not in the mood, he will not do anything. If he wants something though, he will not stop until he gets it. For example, smashing a window to get to some rat food, or breaking the door off a garage to get into it (for no reason in particular). Pia is stubborn too. At obedience, she will not do anything if she doesn't feel like it. She can be hard to motivate, but even when using a treat she really wants, she just pretends she has no idea what you are talking about. For example, she has known "sit" since she came here as a 4 month old puppy. She has to sit before she comes inside and before every meal. But one week at obedience, she just plain refused to sit ONCE the entire time. And the other night she decided that she didn't want to sit before coming inside. She kept trying to barge past but I'd say "sit", she'd ignore me, I'd close the door, 10 minutes later I'd try again. This went on for almost an hour, where I gave up. She was very cute yesterday though. She is allowed on the couch by invite only. Yesterday she desperately wanted to get up though and I had told her 'no' a few times. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught her watching me very closely. When she decided my attention was diverted, she leapt to her feet and made a dash for the couch! I quickly turned to look at her, at which point she slammed on the brakes, pretended she wasn't doing anything and resigned to her bed! LOL!

Definitely need to see the vet. That is not normal at all. She could have a dead puppy or an infection.

He might have gotten something in his eye that irritated it, but now its gone. How old is the dog, and what breed? Has he ever had an episode like this before?

I chip everything that comes here - if the owners don't transfer the pet, so what, its still in my name so if it ever goes missing, they will call me. Chips used to be quite mobile but the newer ones are much more reliable. You also need to make sure the person doing the chipping does it properly.

That sounds perfectly normal to me. My two older dogs are very different in the way the deal with young, annoying dogs. Maisie will just ignore it and tolerate it, and as a result, other dogs tend to target her and pick on her. Champa however, does not take crap. If a young pup jumps on him or annoys him, he snaps at it. Not in an aggressive way, but enough to tell the pup that behaviour is not on. The pups learn quick smart that he won't tolerate it and they leave him alone, or submit to him. Pinning, growling, air snapping is all normal behaviour and not aggressive. If Bella had turned around and attacked the pup, that would be different. All she did was tell the pup to pull its head in.

I bought a 750g tub of Enzyplex for my very sick foster cat, but sadly he had to be PTS and I never even opened the tub. It is still sealed and has an expiry date of 03/11. If anyone needs it, I'm happy to give it away to a good home. Its expensive stuff (from memory about $80) but its been sitting in my cupboard for a few months and may as well go to good use. Pick up in Melbourne. PM me if you are interested.

Bit of both. They get a few chicken frames and a big bone once a week already, but I'm going to cut out some dryfood and add some mince. I know mince isn't ideal, but its better than nothing and as long as they also get bones, I think its OK.

I found this info from here: So it is not illegal to sell un-microchipped puppies unless you are commercial breeder. Puppies must be microchipped before they are registered with the council at 3 months of age.

You can also make up a solution of about 1 tablespoon of Biozet in about 250ml of warm water and use that to clean carpet, mattresses, etc. Just spray it on, scrub with a cloth and then wipe with a clean, wet cloth.

You are ABANDONING him!! How dare you!! LOL!! Definitely get some Biozet (you can get it from any supermarket) but don't punish him or he'll probably act up even more. Cheeky boy.

If you can, get some Biozet laundry powder to wash the doonas and covers in. It has special enzymes that break down cat pee. Normal stuff will get rid of the smell to US, but the cat can still smell it and will go back... Its possible there is a cat outside that's bothering him, or perhaps you have been working longer hours, etc. Some cats are stress heads and take out their frustrations on your possessions!! You have my sympathy - I have clean washing pissers.

I have tried Uncle Albers and was quite disappointed. I think I'll go to the produce store and stock up on raw meat. Will be good for all the dogs.

Thank you all so much for all the ideas. She was raised on Supercoat with the puppy raisers and did OK on this, but as she grew, it seemed to upset her tummy. So I switched to Bonnie (which I have always had good results with) and the runs stopped but she is still skinny. I will stick with the Hills and try adding a lot more raw meat. Thanks again.

Pia has just turned one year old. She has always been a skinny dog, no matter what I feed her. She was getting Bonnie puppy dryfood but I am in the process of switching her to Hills Active. She also gets 2-3 chicken frames a week and a raw bone once a week. She is now eating 5 cups of dryfood a day - almost as much as my Dane! She is still skinny. She is wormed up to date and seems active, bright, etc. Any tips for getting weight on her?

That is a lovely poem, thanks for sharing. Good luck getting your dog.

I would seek the advice of a good behaviouralist. Aggression is a serious matter and without meeting the dog, nobody can diagnose or treat the problem. If you let us know what area you live in, someone might be able to recommend a behaviouralist. In the mean time, limit his exposure to situations where he would normally act aggressive.

I wouldn't take him biking just yet. I think free exercise is recommended for large breeds until 12-18 months of age. So let him run around but don't 'make' him run. If you have a good, secure off leash area (and a good recall) that can be good.

My dog has stuffed himself on several occasions now. Latest effort was the vast majority of an 8kg bag of dry cat food... That time he vomitted in the car on the way to the vet, prior to that he just shuffles around like a barrel for a few days and then he is fine.

Kittens (like puppies) learn how to be good kitties from their mother and siblings. Ideally, a kitten should not leave its family until it is 10 weeks old. Unfortunately, kittens who end up in new homes before this time often exhibit inappropriate behaviours. To a certain extent, what you are describing is normal behaviour (testing the boundaries), but it needs to be nipped in the bud ASAP. Cats have a very fine threshold between "I like that"/"I'm having fun" and "I'm going to bite you". If you overstimulate a cat, it will cross the line and bite/scratch. So you really need to try to prevent him getting to that aggressive stage. Try not to play rough games with your kitten. Use toys (furry mice, feathers on a string, laser pointer, etc) to play with him and if he does exhibit rough behaviour, the game is over. I wouldn't necessarily use a water bottle, I'd just deposit him on the floor. Some people don't like scruffing a cat, but I have found it can be successful in situations like this. If he starts to bite, say "NO!", grab him by the scruff and put him on the floor or further away from you. Game over. Don't push him with your hands or he will attack them. If he comes back for more, pick him up by the scruff and put him in 'time out' for a few minutes. If you have a stand-alone toilet or small laundry, these places are perfect for time out. Try not to use his crate or he will associate it with being punished. Don't smack him or yell at him - be calm and assertive. I have hand-raised kittens before and they often go through a stage of biting and seeing what they can get away with. My little foster failure LA was a real biter when he was little! He would often come up for a snuggle and then attack my hands. He used to bite REALLY hard. I would dump him on the floor every time. Now he is the smoochiest, most affectionate kitten. He knows that behaviour is not allowed so he doesn't even try it any more. The most important thing is to be consistent. Good luck!

I think effort and education should rule over experience. I know lots of people who have had several dogs, but should probably have bought a pet fish instead. I also know some first time owners who go above and beyond to meet the needs of their dog, no matter what breed. I think all of my dogs would have been OK with first time owners - except for Champa who would put people off dogs for life! LOL!

Miniature Aussie Shepherd is not a breed, its a designer dog like an oodle. I get to see a fair few rare breeds at work - we had Basenji pups in the other day, one of the vets brings her Ibizian Hound and Pharoah Hound to work every day and I have also met some GORGEOUS Dandies. Trying to think of others... American Cockers (not rare I guess but certainly not common), Leonberger, um...

My boy is from a BYB. We got him 8 years ago, before I knew better. My husband wanted a GSD and found an ad in the paper, so off we went. Unfortunately, in his excitement, he obviously wasn't paying much attention because the ad was for a GSP not a shepherd! LOL! Anyway, we rocked up and were greeted by four 5 week old GSP cross puppies (the ad said purebred...). They were tiny little skeletons with massive worm bellies. The 'breeders' were feeding them nothing but rice milk and they had already been taken away from their mother. The mother was a purebred Lab and the father was a GSP. Our boy was the runt and we just couldn't leave him there. He was a sick little boy for the first week, but he was fine after that. He does have several issues - he has a dodgy shoulder, he has allergies and he has the canine versions of OCD and ADHD. I guess I'm glad we ended up with him because not many people would have put up with his destruction! Our three other dogs are rescues in various forms, and I will only ever own rescue or pedigree dogs in the future.

why were you accompanying an evil farmer? (who claims they are not evil just filling a gap in society laugh.gif they are different to the rest laugh.gif ) if it was me, i wouldn't be able to stop myself hitting them over the head. id be up for assault of a puppy farmer. laugh.gif they'd have to lock me away. icon_smile_mad.gif Because I was trying to get in with her so I could get some dogs out. Which I did. I happened to meet her one day when she was dropping off puppies. I pretended I was interested in breeding dogs and she gave me all the ins and outs, invited me to her property, etc. As a result, I managed to get quite a few adult dogs off her property. Unfortunately 3 of the rescues turned out to be pregnant, and when she found out she demanded the dogs back. Of course I refused, but that was the end of that arrangement. Thankfully I have just found out that another rescue group is now rescuing dogs from her property and they are doing so by doing the same as me.

I have seen two Salukis in the last month. One walking near my house, and one at the vet. The one at the vet was just a puppy and the lady was shocked that I knew what breed it was.

I feel very very sorry for this dog. BB's are one of the 'in' breeds at the moment - god knows where this poor dog has ended up. And I assume for the price tag he was on-sold for that this dog was entire. What a shame the breeder didn't bother to desex him. Only one way to stop BYB and puppy farmers - desex. ETA: And just looking at the breed pages, only 1 out of 4 listings is being sold desexed.