Sharna3

LOVE these, particularly the lab on the couch - beautiful colours and what an expression! gees if I was as 'bad' as you, I'd be pretty happy :-)

Hi All I have a 52kg mastiff x who is allergic to chicken, beef, pork and lamb (lucky me right). So far is thriving on fish based kibble (Eagle Pack holistic sardine/anchovy) which we supplement with eggs, sweet potato and kangaroo. But - supply of eagle pack is dodgy at best - we struggle to get it and since he can put away a HUGE amount of food, I'm pretty much constantly looking for food. Have tried Canidae but it seems to be turning his poop black and pretty smelly. Someone has suggested Purina One Salmon formula - does anyone have experience with this food? Or can anyone suggest an alternate fish based food? Can't contain chicken. Which rules out 90% of foods. Any suggestions greatly appreciated :-)

bless you, bless you, bless you. If only the world had more like you - Rex was incredibly lucky to find his place with you and went to the bridge loved, healthy and happy.

Yep, we have a special spray for after we clean up any spots, that removes the scent - he's not gone to the same spot twice. We still haven't caught him inside, but did discipline him for marking on a chair on our patio - and since then nothing in the house - but we're restricting his "run" of the house and will persevere! Thanks guys :-)

Hi All, Our (just) 12mth old Mastiff x pup has suddenly started marking his territory in our house. He's been toilet trained since about 4mths, and only started cocking his leg about 3mths ago. Then, out of the blue last week, we started finding little puddles of pee in odd spots around the house. We are taking him for the chop in the next 4 weeks ... will this help solve the problem? Obviously - we are trying to catch him in the act so we can do the "uh-uh!" but he's remarkably sneaky... :D So I am hoping that chop-chop will help

Sensationalism at its best. Even the reporter in the clip was over dramatising it. I wonder how the girl "tried to save" the dog? Yanking at it or pushing at it? Easy error in judgement on the mother's behalf but talk about milking it for all its worth and making a mountain out of a molehill! Love the "two alaskan malamutes, like these ones" bit .............!!! Bloody useless media.

Are you still in contact with the breeder?? Maybe get some feedback from them if any other pups of theirs have shown the same behaviour?? Or if its from either parent??

excellent, thanks :-) I'll check it out too.

Is it chicken free??

Thanks, will certainly check it out. Our vet came to the same conclusion - she thinks that the risks or downsides of taking him off puppy food already is much less than the posssible side effects from cortizone. I have to agree so this is what we are going to try now. She's suggested Hill z/d or Royal Canine Hypoallergenic ... Hi Erny, we have already been down this road and (typically!) Harley hates it, refused to let us put it on him a second time .. I'm definitely going to look into these , I figure that as the vet said at least then we can hopefully identify or cross it out as a food allergy... last step is the Dermatologist, but the vets quoted us $500-$1000 for the visit...

He's just gone 7mths old, and is gaining 1.2-1.8kgs a week still, so I don't think he's ready to switch to adult ... though that would solve lots of problems !! but my vet is very wary of messing with his food at this point. . . :-(

Hi All, I have a giant breed puppy who has some kind of allergy ... we have tried cortizone tabs which work wonderfully but are not great for a growing pup; cortizone cream - very little help, oatmeal shampoos - no help, cortizone spray - bout the same as cortizone cream, antihistamines - little if any help.. The rash is on his belly, under his tail and in his ears but his feet are A-OK as is the rest of his body. We are trying numerous things with the help of our fantastic vet but its seeming more and more likely the issue is a food allergy. When we first got him home, we tried him on chicken necks which he absolutely loved however the two times we tried him he ended up with bad diarrhea :-( So I am thinking possibly the allergy is chicken. Ergo, even though I am not planning on messing with his diet by doing any food elimination trials, I am trying to source a chicken free puppy food .... Does anyone know of any brands that do a large breed puppy food without chicken? Note: He's currently on EP Large Breed Puppy as its the least chickeny I could find so far.

Hey everyone! I have to confess ... My puppy is 5 & 1/2 mths old now and I still sometimes sigh and feel a lack of love. But - then he looks at me and I just fill with warmth. And then he drops on command and I am just so proud. I do think he's cured me though of ever getting another puppy. But - it definitely DOES get easier. Poor little pup is stressed and scared and needs a hug... as for all the 'advice', listen with a smile and then take what rings true to you. Everyone is a expert I think!!! Only advice I can offer: routine! And, everytime pup goes #1 or #2, use a word and after a couple of months, you'll have a smart little bugger that wees or poops on command. SO helpful! xxx keep the chin up and don't be afraid to let him/her cry if you need 5.

Name: Harley & Jazz Nickname: Harls, Harley-my-Harley; Jazza, Jazzabel, Jazzabang, Banga Breed: English Mastiff x; Siberian Husky Gender: male ; female Age: 16.5wks ; 6 Picture: Where did you get them from? BYB masquerading as legit; rescue (from a vet she was given to as a last resort) How often do you exercise your dog? daily, different types (training, walking, playing) Do they know any commands? H: sit, wait, drop, ; J: all obedience Compete in any dog sports? No Favourite treat: anything! Favourite toy: paper; Harley Funny habits or quirks: H: very vocal dreams; J: sleeping spreadeagled on her back What's their personality like? H: dopey and lovable and suspicious of non-family; J: quick, efficient and ruthless Do they get along well with other dogs? H: yes; J: so long as they let her be boss! Are they scared of anything? H: lots ! J: nothing What training methods do you use? Positive reinforcement? Corrections? Positive reinforcement and corrections.

Wow, I'm so proud of Harley, but reading this thread makes me realise he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed! Harley is 16.5wks old and weighs 27.5kgs - he's a big boy! He's brilliant at sit and wait (stay), about 80% on drop and walking on a loose lead, his recall is quite good but he suffers from distractions too. Luckily I can still catch him! He will sit for his food and not move until I tell him 'free', he'll drop anything out of his mouth if I tell him 'out', he'll roll ontohis back for me if I tell him 'show me'. He sleeps all night and if we don't want to get up when its his wake up time (6am) he'll quite happily go back into his 'room' and amuse himself for another couple of hours. He is doing very well with toilet training - our biggest frustration is that he'll go just outside and wee on the mat But he is the most loving little man, still trys to curl himself onto my lap even though he weighs nearly half as much as i do already and he LOVES cuddles. Dogs really are the best people - when my dogs look at me with that love and trust shining out of his eyes, wow. What a feeling. Yay for dogs!

Well, trip to the vet was well worth it. Our vet thinks its definitely an allergy and unfortunately its developed into a skin infection as well :-( He's on antibiotics, cortizone tabs for two weeks and medicated shampoo once a week... poor little man Vet is hopeful it is an allergy to the fleas he had (no sign of fleas on him now, she checked) and that once we get the infection gone and allergy down, we can just treat it by preventing the fleas as much as possible... So will see how next 2 weeks goes - he's going back for a check up then - next step is referral to a dermatologist if it seems to be something else. Thanks everyone for your advice though, much appreciated as always

We've had him to the vet about it already - the last time 2 weeks ago.. Vet last time said its fleas which we think he's picking up from obedience classes. That's what led us to switching his flea treatment to every two weeks & bomb the house. But I don't think its just fleas - though I'm sure they didn't help - we suggested allergies to the vet last time but she wanted to do the flea road first ... now that it hasn't worked I guess she'll suggest the next step :-( He's just as bad this morning so we're off to the vet in an hour . Will let you all know how we go. Re the Wandering Jew - is that a viney creeper with purple flowers? There is one of those along our back fence but the dogs have no way to get near it as we're on the low block and there is a retaining wall and garden between the lawn and the fence ... would they have to touch it for it to irritate them?

We have a 4.5mth old pup and he is scratching himself crazy. Every day we find bright red or bleeding patches on his stomach ... now on his knees as well. He drags himself along the ground (be it carpet, grass, paving, etc) to rub his belly or chews and chews. We've tried: Flea treatments: bombed the house, treat him every 2 weeks (only been doing that for one cycle though), put all bedding in the sun, vacuumed the house Calandula: he HATES it.... won't let us apply it (did the tea version) Illium cream: stops the itch temporarily ... Collodial Oatmeal shampoo: doesn't seem to help at all Diet: switched him from Advance to Eagle Pack a month ago = no improvement... worse, if anything. The vet thinks its fleas - but since we were there two weeks ago and we've done the extra treatments (Revolution) and bombing etc., its not improved... tonight we got home and the red patches were worse than ever :-(\ Any ideas to even just stop him itching would be great .... ? I think we'll be taking another trip to the vet tomorrow ... but I need to ease the itch for my poor little man ....

Darkrai - beautiful shots, very well composed, love the bubbles and your brother and niece :-) Kirislin - that looks like fun but hella scary! becandcharch - looks like a lovely moment :-)

Hi All, My puppy is a 17wk old English Mastiff x and up until this week was doing brilliantly with his toilet training. Sleeping from 10pm - 6am and then crying to get us up to let him out; during the day taking himself outside to toilet, going great guns. Then, in the last few days he's peed inside three times - its odd because the door has been open so he's actively chosen to not go outside. We are wondering if it is an attention thing - though he does get loads of attention - or maybe just because we've had some cold days & rain he doesn't want to get cold / wet? ... even though I've seen him wander out in the rain to toilet. Or is it normal for pups to have a bit of regression in toilet training and we should just soldier on ?

Hehehehehehehe

Here's my fave recent 'caught' moment ...

Thanks once again. I will definitely do more research and talk to a few breeders. I'm not too worried about aesthetics, I just want to balance as best I can the time he has all his hormones and the time he doesn't to ensure he's sound of growth. But I do appreciate the opinions and advice offered here too :D

Thank you everyone, I knew that I would get some great advice from DOLers, we aren't too worried about him accidentally fathering pups = there are no entire females he'll be around and he's in a very secure yard and only out and about with us. Definitely happy to wait and prefer to do what's right for him. Thanks again

Errr your aiming for a healthy dog - so what only purebreeds deserve to grow to their full potential? Cross or not he's still a very large dog and I would wait. Vets dont necessarily provide an unbiased view on this by the way Thank you Nekhbet I was thinking 18mths from what I've read/been told. And I agree, he might have crossed breeds in him but he's still mostly eng mastiff and therefore a giant breed.... and just cause he isn't pure doesn't mean I shouldn't do the best for him. He deserves the best I can do in my opinion! I don't think my vet is biased at all - I just think they need to advise on sooo many breeds of dog its not fair to expect them to be an expert on breeds that aren't nec mainstream, ie labradors, fox terriers.. if you know what I mean. So would rather ask owner breeders, even if Harley isn't 100% pure ... he's still 70% and that means big!