Tubbles

I also do regular cleanups. The thing I have noticed is that even with all the poop picked up; on hot days I would have flies congregating under the carport roof. I think because its a nice cool area. My main strategy is to send the kids out with one of those electrified tennis racquet fly swats. They have some fun and the population of flies is very effectively diminished! In fact atm we're struggling to find one or two. Its also good for mossies. You could also try setting up some eco flytraps from bunnings near that area. They're quite effective but disgusting to clean!

Kirty my guy had the same thing. I was quite worried because like your guy he was underweight and not in very good health. He quickly appeared to be develop quite a nasty chest infection and was coughing up thick brownish coloured mucous by day two. My vet put him on doxycycline 100mg twice a day initially tapered down to one atm. (Just to make sure it doesn't come back) I also add 1/2 tbsp manuka honey 25+ to each of his meals which seemed to help a bit. It still took a few days, but the coughing and discharge has stopped completely. Although the poor little guy still has to stay in quarantine for another three weeks due to possible mites! Will confirm with a skin scrape tomorrow. Hope your guy is well otherwise.

I really like Cesar Milan. Especially his philosophy on exercise, discipline and affection. But I do not limit myself to one viewpoint, nor would I attempt to try some of his methods. I tend to expose myself to lots of different training methods and incorporate what I perceive to be those most relevant to me. I have often noticed at some dog obedience clubs that a misbehaving dog can find itself on the fringes of a group or asked to leave altogether. Some owners are even advised to consider putting their dog down. I love the fact that Cesar is willing and apparently capable of working with these types of dogs . I also love the role that Cesar is playing in highlighting the plight of rescue dogs and letting people know about puppy mills (or as I prefer to call them puppy prison camps)

Water spray works well I have found; a bucket work even better! I always keep a bottle handy near the front and back doors. My cats do not go into other peoples yards as quite simply they are too fat and lazy and quite content to sun themselves in my yard or take a nap inside. I keep them very well fed. It is more my bird that I am worried about (he is a rescue that flies outside and comes into roost in my laundry at night). My cats and dogs are fine with him but several of the neighbourhood cats around here are bird killers. My elderly neighbours cat is one of the worst offenders but I think he is finally getting the message that he is not welcome. Despite his odd soaking his owner and I are still on friendly terms. I also do not tolerate dogs that are not cat friendly in my yard. Its happened twice so far. One actually managed to grab my cat briefly with intent to kill. I ended up chasing it off with a shovel. My poor cat suffered some internal bleeding but escaped with her life.

Wow! It never occurred to me to be annoyed if a friendly dog came up to mine. And it has happened numerous times on and off leash. Sometimes I have even deliberately created these scenarios just to teach my dogs how I want them to respond. I also find the idea that anyone would kick a friendly dog abhorrent. I have put a lot of time and effort into socialising my dogs with others and I expect them to take other dogs and anything else coming up to them (including cats, birds, kids) in their stride. They are allowed to show interest (afterall they are still pups themselves) but that is it. My hope is that by exposing them to, and dealing with situations, that they will in the longer term respond calmly and obediently and let me deal with a situation if there is a problem. This paid off for me the other day when a young toddler...... offleash..... and without any responsible owner within metres came charging up to my dogs screeching "doggies" , arms and limbs akimbo. My 8 month old Rottweiler was put into and sit and wait offleash (we were in an offleash park at the time). However my 6 month cavalier cross disgraced himself somewhat pulling excitedly at his leash (still in training) to greet the child. Poor dad was horrified and was racing behind with no hope of intercepting his son. But his expression was priceless and still affords me a few laughs. By the time he arrived his son was calmly patting the "vicious rottweiler" and appeared to have survived his encounter! ;) Hopefully he learnt to keep his son a bit closer........it could have been the road he ran too. But hopefully he also learnt not to judge the breed. Needless to say I did not ....kick .....the offender or yell at the owner. Btw the puppy primary course we did also taught us how to try to prevent dogs crossing roads without permission. We did the usual sit and wait, then cross but we also practised walking our dogs along the kerb and not allowing them to put a paw onto the road even if we gave them a tug on the leash. If the dog tries to go onto the road it is simply pushed backwards and the command off spoken in a deep loud voice. I try to practise this everyday during our walk. When my cavalier cross got out one day, because my son forgot to close the gate, he raced along the footpath for a short period down the street, making no attempt to cross the road, then turned around and raced back home. This could be useful to practise with your dog just in case it ever manages to gets out again. My dog trainer friend has taught me that it is far better to create possible scenarios and teach your dogs the appropriate response than to wait and possibly face a disaster.

My first Rottweiler was large and scary looking but wouldn't hurt a fly. He loved kids, people and other animals including dogs,cats and even a goat. In those days you could walk your dog off leash almost anywhere. I was walking along the crest of a curved road when a car pulled up with 5 males. They all proceeded to get out of the car and started walking towards me. I wasn't really paying much attention as I assumed they just wanted to take a walk. My Rotty ever curious came bouncing up the hill after hearing the car door. No barking, just a friendly goofball wanting to say hello. It was only when those guys raced back to their car and took off with their wheels screeching that I realised I might have been in danger. The irony is that he just wanted to be friends, but they saw a Rottweiler and fortunately for me fell for the "he must be aggressive" stereotype!

why did you do that? geniune question, if it was your dad's house and that was his wish why do it? My dad knows that If I am coming over for a visit the dogs are coming too. Thats my condition for visiting. I dont like to leave my dogs at home on their own and have only done so twice for a short period because I had no other choice. It was raining that day so they could not stay in the backyard and I had no intention of leaving them in the car. They were crated inside because it was the easiest option. Besides I am obviously having a good influence on him. The other day he actually helped me walk my dogs! I may have to record the "incident" for posterity! :D

Jeez, I hope none of you are my Secret Santa this year...I'll never get a pressy Yep my chrissy presents on hold too. :rolleyes: Poor dad nearly had a heart attack when I bought the dogs over for a visit. He was adamant that they could not come inside (definitely not a dog lover) but we're working on it. New carpet didn't help my cause either! I calmly brought two crates in and two pups, before putting the kettle on. :D I'm pretty sure he bought the vaccuum cleaner out as soon as I left, even though they're paws never touched the floor

Have to admit that on the very few occasions I have stayed in paid accomodation, before I acquired my dogs, I wouldn't have objected to people having animals if allowed, but I sure as hell objected to some of the scum management allowed in. :rolleyes: The idiot next to us accidently opened his outside wardrobe door to reveal his own personal druggie garden setup, plants. lights everything. We changed places first thing the next morning.

Wonder if Paris Hilton sneaks hers in in a designer bag !!! I personally dont travel much but if I was caught out I'd happily sleep on the side of the road with the dogs for a night or two. I did that with the kids and they were actually legally allowed to stay in most accomodation ! I usually want to just keep driving with a nap or so in between for an hour or two, so I'm too stingy to pay for a whole night.

I agree. They are wild animals, not domestic and do not deserve to be caged up and forced to perform tricks for profit. I also noticed the way that guy was whipping one of the poor lions and wouldn't be surprised if that is common practise. Guess the lion had had enough abuse and decided to give its tormentor a taste of his own medicine.

Hi Aussie Lover, My Baby girl is around the same age as yours. She did her first 4 weeks of puppy school and loved it. She's almost completed her first four weeks of basic obedience and we're planning to continue. Your class sounds quite different to ours though. The dogs are generally calm and so far friendly. Classes are divided into small groups of four or five. Class starts fairly promptly and usually comprises short chats interspersed with longer practices sessions. Our trainer spends a lot of time walking around the group checking that each exercise is performed correctly and providing advice or assistance as required. We do a little bit of socialising and then head home. Mischa usually heads straight for her crate for a few hours afterwards! Maybe you could check out some other dog obedience classes in your area. The other thing we discovered was doggy daycare! Mischa loves it and does the Cathy Freemen sprint to get to her section the moment we get in. She spends the entire day playing and socialising with her doggy mates under supervision and comes home tired and relaxed. The big positive for us is that she is extremely comfortable around other dogs.

Why is it that beauracracy so often overides commmon sense and the greater good! I dont know about other areas, but here it is mandatory to microchip and register a pup at 12 weeks. I know I was at the vet at 12 wks exactly because as a responsible owner I wanted to make sure that if my "baby" ever accidently became lost, that I maximised my chances of recovering her. This poor dog is young, pregnant, not microchipped and unregistered at approximately 8 months! She is in grave danger of being put down, or worse still having her pups at the pound where they are less likely to survive. Surely it is better to keep her out of the pound and just inform them of any relevant contact details should the owners come looking? I took in an abandoned cat that otherwise risked being seized and put down at the pound. I knew who the owners were .... and sorry but they were deadbeats who did not vaccinate, microchip or desex the cat and allowed her to become pregnant very early. When they were finally evicted they took a leftover kitten that hadn't been fortunate enough to find a better home and abandoned the mother with no food; leaving her to scrounge amongst the ample rubbish as best she could! I took her home vaccinated, chipped and desexed her and have since rehomed her. I make no apologies for not following so called due process and sentencing her to further trauma in a pound where her future was extremely uncertain! Btw not once have those owners returned to try to pick up their cat!

Done!

Well I now have to put in front gates to stop my cats being chased because of idiots who let their dogs off leash and wander up and down the street. I grabbed one womans german pointer in my front yard that had wandered in and was getting ready to chase my old, slightly tubby and very lazy cat which she had spotted lying in her favourite part of the front garden. The dipsy owner meanwhile was about 5 mts up the road with a couple of kids in tow. I explained the situations rather politely and her response: Yes he probably would chase the cat but he wouldn't know what to do with it even if he caught it!

Astro looks like a real sweety. Hope she feels better soon and they get to the bottom of it.