Mrs Rusty Bucket

He won't get sick from the baby poo. The water absorbent stuff the nappy contains - is another matter. I would want to check with a vet about that one - or even ring the product service number for a nappy company (look up huggies on the net or whatever). If it's a peatmoss based product, might be ok, but if it's one of those gel crystal things - bad - very bad.

Go Dog Power His website has imploded with all the doggy people visiting.

They've got webcams but none available from their website. Their website is very poor quality and they use popups which get blocked by most browsers these days. I don't know why they'd go ahead with newpaper publicity when their website isn't ready. Does not compute. I'd get the basic website up and working properly and I'd get at least one public webcam working - even if it's only on their own dog. And I'd like to know what they do on extreme (or worse) fire days. That is the number one reason I don't want to board my dog in the Adelaide Hills in summer / fire season. Same problem as that place near Canberra - all those dogs burned. Sad, very sad. And I'd second about the hygeine - just like a motel, sharing a bed that another human has used is one thing but a dog? I suppose all dogs get bathed - but mine likes to find smelly things on long walks in the country and roll - yuk.

paulp You think a better view of the horizon would help but how do you tell a dog that? I have found in my personal experience of motion sickness, I was fine if I kept looking at the bottom of the boat (fixed point of reference) or I was fine if I looked at the horizon. But I could be wish-I-was-dead sick if I mixed between the two. I would be fine lying down inside a boat with my eyes shut, but not if I was helping on deck (mixing between horizon and boat fittings). I'm wondering if maybe the little dog is getting an unpleasant mix of visual references, not being quite big enough to keep a fixed view of the horizon unless it's sitting on someone's lap. Hence the raised sitting position might help as well as blocking the view altogether. Just as long as it is one or the other, ie the dog doesn't try to sit down when it should be looking out the front. A road with lots of bends will mess with the horizon too, so if the road to the coast is through some hills, I predict trouble. I think the car travel problem - dog in a closed view box - was also on one of Victoria Stillwell's It's me or the dog episodes. Our OP can try one method then the other if the first doesn't work for her dog. I also take Frosty on a daily ride to our local dog walking oval. It's not more than five minutes by car, and maybe 10 minutes if we walk. But I'd drive her because she needed to associate the car with good things. She now views it a bit like her personal crate/kennel. But she still is a bit reluctant about actually getting in. Once in, not real keen on getting out - unless we are at the beach or the oval. Sigh. She takes treats and water in the car now but when I first got her, she was way too stressed to accept a treat in the car.

Pin Needham (Glenside Vets) breeds Chocolate Labradors, if that makes you feel more comfortable. It wouldn't hurt to ask. I don't know what he'd say about vaccination spacings but he was the one that told me how long to keep my dog away from unknown dogs until the final booster would be effective (two weeks).

Ruthless You're in NSW. It is illegal for their cats to be a nuisance - ie keep you awake at night. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/con...998174/s31.html It seems like someone complained to council and now the owner has to do something to keep her cat(s) in at night. Keep a log and let your council know every time those cats wake you up.

I don't know what the recommended spacing is. I got my puppy from AWL and at 10 weeks she'd had two of her vaccinations and I just needed to organise the third, about a month later. I don't know how old she was when they got her. I know they had her at 8 weeks because that's how old she was when they desexed her. Yes I hear some of you faint with horror, but she seems ok to me. Norskqra, if you've been breeding for 30 years, and you're asking for vet recommendations, may I ask what happened to your usual vet? If they're interstate - they may still be able to recommend someone here.

If you're at Forestville, visit Goodwood oval (without your puppy) on Fairfax street off East Tce? around 5:30 onwards - maybe later if it's hot, and ask the local dog owners where they go. I use Colonel Light Gardens vets because they're close to me - I usually get Zoe and she's good. They have about 5 different vets in there so if one isn't sure they can ask another. Some of them are better at explaining and doing thorough exams than others. It will be up to you to ask questions - write a list before you go so you don't forget if you get frazzled. I use for the annual vaccinations Glenside Veterinary Practice on Greenhill road - near Lestrange St. I know the head vet Pin Needham and he's president of the South Australian Obedience Dog Club - so he runs an excellent puppy pre-school at his pratice with class sizes limited, and is great at explaining everything - especially if you ask the right questions and if you are a regular there, you can use their kennels for boarding. I only use for emergency boarding or if Frosty needs boarding with vet treatment. They also have a hydrotherapy pool and treadmill. The spread of vaccinations that your vet suggested doesn't seem wrong to me. But if you want a second opinion - I'd recommend Pin or Dr Stirling. Puppy school would be wed or thurs night depending on how many puppys are available. You can do puppy school before all the vaccinations are done. http://www.glenside-vet.com.au/home/index.cfm

Have you tried blocking her view out? I've heard some people have success by putting the dog in a box in the footwell. My dog was chronically car sick but if she stretched out across the back seat and kept her eyes firmly shut she would be ok. Fortunately for me, she figured this out on her own. I have read about dogs on rescue remedy and ginger still throwing up. Ginger tablets for motion sickness you can get from the chemist. Myth busters did a thing about motion sickness and the ginger tablets were better than nothing but not 100%. I'd follow the directions on the pack, if you want to try and give a child dose to the dog. Neither rescue remedy or ginger work for me. I use something from the chemist containing dimenhydrinate and take at least an hour before travelling (boats sometimes get me). But I wouldn't give it to a dog without talking to a vet first. Some things that are ok for humans are deadly to dogs. I'd try blocking her view first. Ie putting her in the footwell (check it doesn't get too hot) or in a dog igloo or similar so she can't see out.

Pretty sure the police would be interested in someone wandering the streets and threatening people with a metal pole.

really reliable recall by Leslie Nelson http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB810P for those scary moments when the dog clears off without you. My dog craps when I'm not paying attention. Not usually dangerous, Always Very Embarrassing if someone else has to point it out to me. Most frequently happens when I'm picking up some stranger's dog's karma crap - the crap you pick up because otherwise you will be the one that steps in it.

poochmad If you'd read the whole thread you'd know that 1. the woman doesn't speak English 2. the road is too busy to cross.

huski Do you want to make this woman stop? Or do you just want to keep your dog safe? If you want to make the woman stop, IANAL but I am sure she is acting illegally by threatening you with the weapon, you need to collect evidence for the Police. From a safe distance as soon as she raises the pole - photograph her with your phone (or whatever camera you have available). Then protect your dog. Keep a log of the date and time and description of every time the woman raises her pole threateningly at you. Take someone with you for the times you're likely to encounter her, as an extra witness and photographer. I find people who really are freaked out by dogs find dogs non-threatening when upside down. A dog can't launch an attack (at least as far as they know) when the paws are in the air. But this leaves you very vulnerable. Given this woman has managed to pass you without hitting you or the dog despite her fear, I hope you'd be ok if you do roll your dog over and then huddle over the dog protectively between the dog and the woman. If she hits you with the pole, she's in HUGE trouble if you decide to press charges. But you really need to want to make her stop. If you do get the police to come out, they can organise an interpreter for her, and organise her some help with desensitization, and let her know threatening people is not ok in Australia.

This is pretty basic. It depends how quick you want to open the door and how much warning you get and how persistant you're going to be. I put my dog on lead and make her sit and ideally "stay" and I make the person at the door, "stay" too. They can't come in until Frosty has greeted them outside - this is to prevent accidents when Frosty gets too excited. Certain people just make her burst with excitment so to speak and I don't want that on the front carpet. So I yell through the door "Just a minute" so they know I know they're here. And then I sort the dog out. And if the dog gets up before I invite her, I shut the door again. And I repeat that until she calms down a bit. And then I take her outside to greet the guest. Except when it's the gas man. In which case I tell him "I've got her", then I shut the front door and the back door. We don't like the gas meter reader for some reason. Doesn't help that he seems scared of dogs, and Frosty knows it, and he eyed off the neighbour's beer on her back porch and she told me. It may help to have treats but I've never bothered with treats. Getting to greet and sniff a new person is enough reward. The more the dog isn't doing what you want, the more you make it wait. If it's totally out of hand, I have been known to take the dog out the back and shut her out there and then deal with the door but this isn't great - well it's ok if it's an ancient and frail relly but not so good if it's the gas meter man or the lawn mowing man.

hmm My dog rolled in something dead in the local drain and that was pretty smelly, but a thorough wash with johnsons baby shampoo - especially between the ears and the shoulders (stinky things rolling target spot), got rid of it. For mildew type problems around the house, I use vinegar (dilute 1 to 10 if using in a spray bottle) and bicarb soda. Use an icing sugar shaker to sprinkle the bicarb and then follow up with the vinegar spray, and wipe off. I guess (not making promises here) dilute vinegar and bicarb would be ok to use on a dog. I'd hose it off. Shannon Lush (cleaning queen) suggests using mint tea for dog wash, especially to discourage fleas. If you have fresh mint, use a large handful, steeped in a kettle full of water and allowed to cool off - and then add to a bucket of cold water and use to wash dog. If using teabags, use several instead of the fresh mint. I have no idea if that will help with fungal type stinkies. Have you figured out exactly which bit of the dog is stinking. Have you washed the bedding (add vinegar to the rinse water). Whats his sleeping quarters like (including anywhere in the garden he likes to hang out). Is he rolling or walking in something obnoxious in the garden? Wormwood is pretty stinky and a common garden shrub. Compost heaps or bins are also quite stinky, same with drains (ie where the rain water goes). There may be some damp bit of the garden he likes to hang out in that the stink is coming from. Anal gland stink - I'd describe as some vomit making combination of dog poo and sulphur (rotten eggs) - more skunk (not that Australians would be familiar with that one) not really mildew / damp like.

My dog used to get very car sick, I think she's a bit better now but she's not real thrilled about going in the car. I did a trip from Adelaide to Mudgee last April with the dog. I was worried I wouldn't get through the Adelaide hills on the main highway, but we did make it. I'd stop every couple of hours and take her out for a couple of laps around a local cricket/footy oval - every little town has one. Some are really nice - despite the general lack of water. I didn't feed her beforehand. I offered food on the breaks but she wasn't very interested. Same with water but she did drink some. Usually two full laps of an oval got a number 1 and 2 - hooray, didn't have to worry about that in the car. The build up from when I first got her. She was terrified of being in the car and just panicked. I was extremely worried just getting her home from the pound. A friend that I stopped off at on the way - suggested putting her on the front seat, where she sat very still and hugged it, the whole way home with her eyes firmly shut. So for the first few months that's how we travelled. But if I ever fed her before a long car trip she'd up chuck it, so I started lining the seat with newspaper and towels so I could just peel off a layer of newspaper and change the towel - I also carried a bucket so I could rinse it off etc... this was good mostly. She was better when she was tired and slept. Ie on the way home was generally better than the way there, wherever. Stops and starts are nearly as bad as winding roads. Once her third booster vaccination was effective, and I started taking her to local dog parks for exercise, I'd take us in the car. My favourite morning one was about 1.5km or less than 5 minutes by car. When we started, back in late January - she would hug the seat and keep her eyes closed, but now she will sit up and look out the whole way. For longer trips she only sits up when the car is stopped at traffic lights. By last April, she was still in hug the seat mode. She also had the occasional upchuck episode but only if I'd mistimed feeding. Ideally feed dinner the night before and set off with no breakfast. Or only feed the homemade casserole portion (2 hours or more before set off) and none of the dry food. The casserole seemed to digest quicker than the dry food which seemed to be still intact 8 hours later when she upchucked and the car trip started over 4 hours after breakfast. Chicken wings didn't seem to digest much either in that time. I can't look at pink frosting any more. I did use a car harness but she was fairly able to move around in it, however she'd just stretch out across the back seat shut her eyes and not move. If she'd upchucked by tailem bend I'd have turned around and found a boarding kennel for her. But she was ok. I think if the problem had continued then I would have investigated making a covered crate for the back so she couldn't see out. She seemed to work out on her own that keeping her eyes shut helps. So maybe blindfolding might help a dog that doesn't learn this might help too. I think the short car trips to the dog park (which she loved being at) helped alleviate the association between car and feeling very ill so I never had the problem where she'd start drooling before I got her in the car. PS: forgot to say, when I got her in December last year she was 10 weeks old, by January/Feb about three months and by the road trip, pushing 7 months approx. She's a year and nearly two months now, and she still hugs the back seat with her eyes shut on trips longer than five minutes or when she doesn't know where she's going / recognise where she is.

I collect sticks from time to time and put them in the ok to chew pile, or Frosty gets them from the prunings pile. So plenty of wooden things for her to chew on, that's ok. Those rawhide bone things went from taking several days to chew, to 20 minutes and that quantity of rawhide all at once gives her the runs so she only gets the occasional slice of it now. She loves chewing tennis balls to bits but she's also very good at finding abandoned ones so I have an infinite supply. Have a similar supply of squishy (punctured) soccer balls and the like. Sometimes she will fetch a shoe to chew, she'll chew it if I don't pay attention. If I'm not home, she will just hug it and sleep. So I tell her "fetch" and then give her something else to chew. Sox are a worry. Takes her about 2 seconds of chewing to render those unwearable. Trick is to have enough interesting chew toys around and to encourage chewing of what you want chewed. From time to time I do a toy cleanup and give her a new toy rotation so that she doesn't get bored with the old ones. Ideally this should be weekly. I have a horse rope lead for her. Several actually. They take longer than the webbing ones to "cut" through and double as a handy tug toy :S. Frosty's mouth on a bit of webbing sounds and works exactly the same as heavy duty scissors.

I second what those said about finding a different groomer, and staying with your dog next time, just to make sure it's all ok. I don't understand why some of you think 22 months is too young to start training. In my club - we've had lab puppies graduate grade 5 ready for CCD at 11 months old or even younger and they're supposed to stay in puppy class till they're 6 months old, and they're only supposed to graduate one grade per month. Labradors that like food are super easy to train. Grade 5 - includes "stand for examination" which should allow a groomer to do their job without a battle. Some of them do shed a lot of hair though. I like the rubber curry combs they sell in horse / equestrian supplies shops. Haven't tried a furminator - is a lot of money to spend if you're not sure if it will work well or not. Have seen a "rake" used on a Golden Retriever - which worked much better than the curry comb on that particular dog.

I'm not sure how blocking the rear window is "illegal". There are heaps of vans driving around town with no rear or rear side windows. And trucks. Drivers see by using their mirrors. And there is this sparkly new invention - a rear facing camera - you can get this installed after you buy your car (after market). The nissan patrol has one that is integrated with the rear vision mirror - so even if you fill the entire back up with camping gear - you can still see what is out the back - the picture is displayed on the rear vision LCD (ie the mirror). Of course if you accidentally reboot the computer because your phone bluetooth isn't working properly - you can't see out the back anymore... So you need to block the dog's vision. And the dog probably ought to be harnessed to the front of the ute tray too, to take the fun out of lunging. And if you don't have some sort of heavy duty roll cage for the back - anything in there, in a roll over, is cactus. Canopy, ordinary crate make no difference. :rolleyes:

E collar - legal in QLD. Not legal to use in SA (words like not allowed "put on collar designed to shock"). I did a ring around and it seems that SA RSPCA staff and SA Police do not know this rule. So people do use them in SA. Especially for the "invisible fence". I think they're not legal in Victoria either. Not sure about other states. I am stuffed if I know why e-collars are not legal in various states, but electric fences are. There isn't a whole lot of difference in terms of the "cruelty" level. And owners who abuse e-collars - though most of them have time out limits and voltage limits - these are the same owners who are going to abuse cricket bats too. People get hysterical about the tool when they know nothing about how they work or how they feel, and don't look at the user.

Hi Lukebee If the vet wasn't worried, I wouldn't be. I've seen Border Collies with any combination of ears pointy and ears floppy, and in between. It may take 18 months for the ears to decide where they're going to be and the dog may have some control too. And I've seen plenty of dogs including BCs with one ear mostly up and one ear mostly curled over (semi erect/floppy). I have heard of strange "corrective" measures that I wouldn't recommend, like cropping ears - no longer done/legal? in Australia and some people who show dogs using a method I do not know to stick their dogs ears up to conform with their breed standard. Border collie breed standard says "semi erect" for ears, ie the tops curl over... http://www.bccnsw.com/standard.html That's what my cattle dog x ears do, except breed standard for cattle dog is pointy ears. I suspect she's got a bit of BC in her.

I have a dog that likes to pull She is very good at heel in training but just going for a walk - when we come to a road, training, slip collar and etc all that goes out the window. She's getting better but for now, something that gives more control than a flat collar and doesn't strangle or risk neck injury like a slip collar is good. I used the gentle leader nose band thing for a while. It works, you watch a video and experiment in the back yard to get a reliable fit (vet assistant was no use here). You have to fit it super tight behind the back of the head and in a puppy that would require regular checking and even the product blub says not for puppy under 6 months old. I ended up using a front attach harness similar to the premier easy walk (same people as make the gentle leader). Mine is called a softouchconcepts sensible. Not sure where you get them in Melbourne, you'd have to send the parent website an email to ask. Mine was fitted on my dog by a delta trainer that sells them and she showed me how to adjust it as puppy grows and how to check the fit is correct. http://www.softouchconcepts.com/ The front attach harnesses - rotate the dog around the attach point when they try to pull so the pulling effort is deflected and not as effective. This would definitely stop a lunging dog without strangling it and is far less likely to injure the dog than something attached to its head or neck. They can still pull a bit, but the difference for me - is going from two hands firmly on the lead rope, and feet planted to one hand on the lead rope with firm light grip. Back attach harnesses work like sled harnesses, you wouldn't need to push the pram at all...you could probably get in too and be carried along by a pulling dog.

My dog is pretty fond of Jatz biscuits. If you can't find any dog treats that are vego (vegan or dairy and fish vego?), try the human biscuits. That's if you don't want to make your own. I also use wholemeal bread (sometimes with promite/vegemite), carrots, bits of sweet potato, dried fish, fish sausage rolls (made by a local dog bikky company), cheese (though this is a bit messy and she's not always interested). And she likes banana, but like yoghurt, doesn't work too well as a treat. I have also seen yoghurt drops and carob drops, which my dog eats but isn't wild about. My dog and I are omnivorous so we quite happily use treats and food with meat in them too.

I wanted to buy one of those retractable leads for my dog but I'd probably have to put a wire tracer on it to stop her biting through it, and build the reel end of it much stronger. She's a catte dog x and the shop guy said don't bother. Clearly they're not up to the job with a dog that can really pull - he would have had the broken ones back. The other problem with these (or more like the dog owners) is that if the dog on it does run circles around any other dog, it does cut. I use a horse rope lead, and loop it round my waist and clip it back to itself when I'm not using it. It's soft on my hands, and doubles as a tug toy, and takes quite a long time to chew through, not like the webbing style leads that my dog cuts in two inside 30 seconds.

I've tried getting in the car and driving off (very very carefully) along a private road. It does not make my dog want to jump in by herself or any easier to catch so I can lift her in. So I wouldn't count on that technique. If you can use the new toy to lure him in, or at least put his feet in the car as a first step, that might work. Otherwise maybe a small milk crate with some padding on the top or an esky with some of that nonslip matting on it might work as an intermediate step. It seems like he just doesn't know it's ok or that he can actually get himself in the car.