mita

Sorry I put this in the wrong forum. should be Health. I'm so rattled after losing Gracie.

Posted on wrong Forum. Should be on Health.

I have a small dog that when I put the key in the back door open grille when coming home, barked & barked. As soon as she barked, I'd turn around not facing her & stand completely still. When quiet, then, I'd turn again & start turning the key. As soon as there was a noise, I'd repeat. Wouldn't matter how often. I did this consistently day after day....& the penny dropped. Noise meant what she wanted completely stopped. Quiet meant what she wanted, got done. Persistence & consistency worked. She just stands & waits quietly now, watching me turn the key. If there's any backsliding....I just do it again, but it usually just takes one turn back & ignore & stay still....for the bark to fade out. My reason for training her not to bark in this situation is that the folk next door have a young baby....& the little dog's bark can be quiet piercing and disturbing. The bedroom section of their house is close to that grille door onto our deck.

Gracie had antibiotic induced nausea recently & wouldn't eat. The vet advised giving her Yakult to drink. She lapped it up, with no adverse results. She eventually went back to eating normally so the Yakult was not a long term thing.

I've never had occasion to try it myself....but one of the breeders told me to give a dog a ginger nut biscuit just before travelling, if it had a tendency towards car sickness.

I'd be asking my vet to check her anal glands to see if they needed expressing or whatever.

Isabella, good on you for asking for ideas. Long time back I had to do the same re a problem with a sheltie we'd got from a breeder (separation anxiety in that case.). An experienced dog behaviourist, like Erny (in the post above), taught us all about pack behaviour & what that meant for understanding what was going on. And how I & all the family had to train & interact with the Sheltie. It was a real eye-opener....& we followed the advice consistently. There was a huge difference in the Sheltie's behaviour as a result of us changing our behaiour. And the problem was solved. Is there a vet in your area who could recommend a dog behaviourist who could help? I was pointed towards the dog behaviourist thro' the uni of qld Vet Clinic. Such help was worth every cent to me....& what I learned I was able to apply to later dogs we got. Best wishes. Also, as showdog suggested, have a chat to the breeder.

I had to get weight off Gracie the tibbie....on instructions of the vet. She put on weight just thinking about dinner time & was a real porker. This is what has worked well for her....& made her coat look beautifully healthy: Mainstay of her diet is Tuckertime dog roll (chicken & rice) only from vets. Very nutritionally dense so a little goes a long way. (portion per kilo dog weight is given on the roll). I add grated raw carrot for feeling 'full' in tummy (Dr Harry's old trick). Little....very little... sprinkling of a quality dry food (Science Diet. small, seniors). Only treats are the Eukanuba ones for small dogs....& a couple of petite Greenies a week for teeth. Oddly....all of this has proven economical, too. Gracie is much trimmer.

Great story on ABC TV last night's Australian Story. Two Australia reseachers are half-way thro' developing a totally different way of treating cancer. Small nano cells are filled with targeted amount of chemo that enter & destroys cancer cells. These lock into the cancers itself. Small amounts of chemo are only necessary....so no after -effects. The researchers are up to treating dogs that have cancer....& the results are brilliant. It stops the tumours in their tracks, shrinks them....or in one case the whole cancer just collapsed, destroyed. In the program, they showed an owner bringing their lovely Lab for the injection. Next step will be human trials....& it's hoped that withing 3 or 4 yrears, results will be clear on how it helps humans. Here's all about it on the ABC website. http://www.abc.net.au/austory/ This will be one of the greatest breakthroughs for treating cancer in humans & in dogs.

Kymbo, it's lovely isn't it how a second dog in the family seems to know it must become the doggie carer for the blind dog. At least your Pap does the work & opens the door. Shelley the Sheltie used to give a special single-sound bark to tell US that a door had to be opened or Danny carried up the steps. We used to say she was calling 'Work!' Even our neighbours used to respond if they heard Shelley. They'd call out to us...'Shelley says Danny needs something!'

We had a Sheltie boy, Danny, who gradually went blind. I can add little to the excellent advice given by Showdog & Puggles. Just overall, I made sure he had familiar tracks througout the house & garden....& that nobody moved things onto those tracks. Another thing I found was that he could get a fright if someone just touched or grabbed him...even with the nicest intentions. So the rule was that people had to say his name so he got the idea that someone was near before touching him....& it always had to be done gently & gradually. No sudden grabbing. We were also lucky to own a second slightly younger Sheltie girl....who was a born organizer. If Danny ever got stuck somewhere or wanted to get up steps & couldn't....Shelley would give a special bossy bark to tell us. Also Shelley made an excellent guide dog for Danny in all ways. He's follow behind her doing everything. If we weren't sure where Danny was, we could just tell her, 'Find Danny'....& she'd lead us to him.

I only get Tuckertime Dog Rolls...available through vets 1.5 & 3 kilo sizes. Highly nutritionally packed, so feeding is economical re number of grams per a dog's weight. Brilliant stuff.

Mita, try a kitchen/catering suppliers warehous for a large shallow oven tray. Brilliant suggestion, Dru. I'd not thought of that. I'd gone in another direction....looking at auto supply places, hoping to find a large shallow tray for collecting oil. But no luck. But a catering warehouse would be full of large shallow trays....especially for use in commercial kitchens. I'm still keen on using the Breeders Choice kitty litter....& like the idea of packing towel underneath as others have suggested. To provide a back-up soak-up & to stabilize the surface so the small dogs feel they're more on solid ground, rather than sinking into the kitty litter (yep, my small dogs are short-legged & one has a weight problem.)

Happy, I think this was the TAFE course part of which was the clipping & grooming (where we took our Sheltie as a practice subject.). It seems to be located only at the Ithaca TAFE (Red Hill & Ashgrove area) which is north of the river....but still pretty close to the city (just up the road, past Red Hill & Normanby...& you're onto the freeway.) http://www.bn.tafe.qld.gov.au/courses_and_...p?courseid=1913

TAFE at Red Hill/Ashgrove had wonderful grooming courses. We used to take our Sheltie there as a 'practice' subject. The students would do her grooming under the supervision of a qualified person. They were all wonderful....& our Sheltie would come home looking like a million dollars.

I haven't done it yet.....but I've been considering training the small dogs to use something like a very large kitty litter tray. I'd like to find a really big but shallow tray (that I'd put on a plastic tarp from the El Cheapo shop). Then I'd fill that tray with something like Breeders Choice kitty litter, which is composed of soft papery pellets. I've heard of other people doing something similar, but using artificial turf on the top, instead of kitty litter. Can be bought by the metre at places like Bunnings & easily hosed off.

Good advice from all the other posters. Just adding that your neighbour also needs to have a game-plan in case it's not your dog that's responsible. He needs, too, to figure out a way to keep his chickens safe from predators. If he has them in a chicken run....there are old bush tricks to safeguarding the pen against foxes or wild dogs.

Well said. Much the same scenario can apply to people.

Our elderly Sheltie had an opposite reaction. She was first started on an arthritis medication...name started with 'R' (Rimadyl?) It made her very sick. Vet changed her to Metacam & she tolerated that well. But her best improvement came after a Tibbie breeder recommended a course of Carthophen injections. They worked brilliantly for her. There's some info on Carthophen here. Also mentions a product called Osteo-Eze (but I've no experience with that.) http://www.thevets.com.au/arthritis.htm

Speaking only for myself....we own tibetan spaniels (Brisbane), which also are a short-nosed breed like pugs. Such breeds are susceptible to heat stress because dogs don't sweat to get rid of heat, but pant. So their respiratory system isn't crash-hot at expelling heat. Our tibbies have access to the house during the day...& our house is well insulated because of the Brisbane heat (film on windows, insulation in ceiling & even the special heat-resistant roof paint. We also have air-conditioning (but not always turned on). There's a doggie door leading to a small fenced courtyard where the tibbies can go out to the toilet. We also do not walk the tibbies in hotter times of the day...& in summer do not walk them very far at all.

Same here. Our good vet actually told us to use polaramine...as it's the same in effects as the 'doggie' one & is heaps cheaper.

My Gracie has needed her anal glands expressed often. After she eats, she rubs & rubs her bottom end on edges of the furniture, obviously in discomfort. The vet nurse recommended adding 1/4 teaspoon to her dinner (she's only little). I've been happy to see that she's much less uncomfortable. At that dosage, the container of Metamucil seems to be lasting forever.

I wonder how many vet nurses in vet clinics also are trained dog groomers? Or if there's any dog groomers working out of vet clinics? I'd heard that a vet nurse at a nearby vet clinic, did clipping. When our tibbie girl was getting v. prone to hotspots, I asked this nurse to clip her. Frankly, I was ready just to see a shorn tibbie....but better able to deal with the humidity that gave her hotspots. I was stunned at what a beautiful job this vet nurse/groomer did. The tibbie girl was a knock-out. Face looked wonderful. The bottom fur of her tail had to be cut back, because hotspots were appearing there. That vet nurse made it look gorgeous...where the lower section was clipped but the lovely upsweep was not. A finishing touch of a little red ribbon separating the two sections. Needless to say, I've kept taking the tibbie (& her sister) to this lass. Not only does she make the tibbies look beautiful...but she discusses all the medical or hygiene needs for what she's doing. The cost is great, too.

What a beautiful boy! With his stunning good looks & lovely nature, his memory will be engraved on your heart forever, Ellz.

That was a great gift you gave the little Wonder Dog... even tho' your house now seems so quiet. The light that's gone out is now making heaven shine brighter.