Rileys mum

Woohoo good turn out of GSP dogs. Gives me hope that I may be able to get my boy round one day lol. ;)

I'm no green thumb and despite my best efforts at removing weeds from by back lawn by hand they just seem to multiply. Someone suggested to me that the weed and feed sprays are ok to use around dogs just so long as it's dry before the dog comes in contact with it. Has anyone ever heard this, or used the product at all?? There's no way I want to put my guy in any danger but if it is safe around pets then it might be an ok option. If it was used, how long a time period would be needed before it's safe for a dog to be in contact with it? Cheers in advance.

I think I may have a few issues with ears. My guy has had infections which cleared up with treatment several months ago. Tonight I've noticed him itching excessively in one ear and it smells a bit yeasty. Not an infected smell just a ' something ain't right' smell lol. I have him booked in for tomoro to check it out but I think I may be one who takes shares in ear product companies too. Damn those cute floppy oversized GSP ears of his

Feel your pain lol. My 10 month old licks the crib stop off my wooden outdoor furnature then chews it to bits. I've taken it away now and am storing it elsewhere hoping he will just grow out of it. My guy has plenty of chew toys but doesn't use them ever. Don't know of any other things to try. Just a puppy thing I think

Having owned liver chestnut (rich dark brown) show horses I am anal about preventing sun bleached coats. U can use products like livamol or 'groom' but in my experience it won't stop sun bleached coats. It is great for ensuring new coat grows through nice and dark and healthy but won't protect the hair from bleach, nor change it from bleached to normal coat. Other than keeping the dog out of the sun or using coat uv protection sprays there's prob not much u can do to stop it. We rug the horses from head to tail in cotton sheets to stop bleaching but it's not really practical with dogs

If a lab is unable to 100% confirm a diagnosis surely it's more appropriate for the result to be 'inconclusive' than going 'well it kinda could be cancer, and the dogs had a cancer before so let's just say it's cancer' Dog has now had an unnecessary surgery, which is risky just in itself, and the owner is out of pocket for an unnecessary proceedure. Everyone always pulls the "well just be grateful it wasn't cancer" line, and yes I agree be grateful it isn't, but that shouldn't excuse the fact that a incorrect diagnosis was given by the lab. What if this dog now develops a major infection or complication as a result of that surgery?? I just get so mad that there is a mentality that it's ok after huge Amts of $$$ have been forked out for no reason whatsoever and an animal has been put through pain un necessarily. ***end rant***

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, I should have elaborated, he does heaps of other obedience training while out ( currently grade 4). I'm using our time out to have our play time and also train around distractions ( something I previously posted about and is improving every session ) I guess I wanted to try and shape a behaviour to teach him that crazy unstable behaviour isn't ok. He jumps on furnature, barks and whines and generally looses his mind ( in a fun way, he's just excited but I still don't want to allow the bahaviour if that makes sense) Any other methods I could use? As I said, I'm open to other ideas. This was one just recomended to me. He's nailed the fact that he lays on his mat, just not the staying there part. Perhaps I'm asking too much of him as far as time I ask him to stay there. I give him his 'free' que after 1 minute at this early stage but he's usually up within about 10 secs. The long lasting treat is a good idea thanks. He's my pride and joy and I just want him to develop appropriate behaviours

Hiya, My GSP has just turned 10 months and he's really trying my patience lol. He's beautiful in all ways but recently I've noticed that he is trying to push the boundaries a bit ( which is normal I know ) basically I just wanted advice as to if I'm treating this behaviour the right way. Ok..... Generally when I get home from work I will take pup for a long walk and play at the park. Over recent weeks, upon returning home he has been a bit crazy and not listen to me. This past week I have been putting a blanket on the floor and starting to teach him 'on your bed' to try and have a method of settling him. He has learnt that when I tell him to get on his bed I want him to go there and lay down. He does this very well but I've noticed that after a while he decides he's had enough, gets up and goes to walk off. At this time I ask him again to get on his bed and he ignores me ( or will go over to his bed, then get up immediately and walk off) how do I get him to stay there??? I've tried telling him 'no' when he gets up but it's not effective. Should I direct him to his bed every time he gets up and not treat him?? Basically I'm worried if I treat him at this time he will learn " well if I just get up she will tell me to go back and then I get a treat again". I usually treat him when he obeys me the first time and then intermitantly at random times when he's doing the right thing. Also, I've been using his crate as a method of 'time out' when I'm at home. Is this frowned upon. My pup is mighty clingy and I want to teach him that he can settle away from me and doesn't have to be around me 24/7. Is it fair to use his crate as a settle spot?? Hope I'm making sense here.

Ooh what a great topic. Such beautiful pups everyone has. I don't have Internet up and running. Can I email pics to someone who could post on my behalf????? :-)

I agree u sound extremely resentful towards your puppy. I'm not real sure what you were expecting but part of dog ownership IS picking up their poo, cleaning their mess and taking them to the vet when they are sick. If you are resentful for having to do these things then you shouldn't have a dog right now. Sorry if that sounds harsh but that's my Acvice to you. Staffys are very smart, energetic dogs who need committed owners. There ABSOLUTELY is a right time to get a puppy and the time isn't right for you. Sometimes taking advice means accepting things you don't want to hear.

As a raw feeder I've always been told that offal, especially liver is important in having a more balanced meal. I always freeze my liver a few weeks prior to feeding it but now I'm concerned. Is it still safe to feed?? Do I need to be concerned with feeding kidneys and brains too?

There is nothing more unacceptable than someone trying to justify an agressive dogs behaviour. I think the judge did the right thing in reporting it. As has been said previous..... The dog in question clearly was unwell and unhappy and let the judge know this with a warning ( witnessed by others) Don't need blood or marks for it to be a bite. The poor dog... The last thing it needed was to be in a show ring getting examined. Wish the owner would take some responsibility n stop blaming everyone else. Quite pathetic if u ask me. Big thumbs up to the magistrate with some common sense.

I had my cheeky monkey dog sneak a whole packet of chocolate covered coffee beans and ate the lot. Lucky for me he up chucked all on his own ( must have been too much for his tummy lol) and vet was happy with that. I had mocha pudding that day glad your pups are ok xx

Wow. This is all fascinating reading. **small update ** I have been seeking out opportunities to expose and train my pup with similar distractions that we are presented with at training. He is not consistently attentive but is definately getting better. I'm now treating him multiple times in a row while he's giving me attention and also using the mark word 'yes' ( which I use with my agility puppy foundation work) I have found now that he is watching me more while we are on our walks too and I have been double treating and big time praising him for it. I think he's getting the idea that it's extra special to watch mum lol. I appreciate all the helpful advice :p it's really given me an alternate way of looking at my training. Although I'm new to dog training, I have trained and competed horses for 20 odd years so I'm very in tune to alot of things. I'm not impulsive and analyse everything I do so people needn't worry that I'm gonna start dishing out un thought out corrections just because someone suggested corrections as a method. I appreciate all the ideas given After assessing things and considering the advice given I'm no longer going to let my dog approach and play with other dogs etc until he sits calmly for me and gives me his attention. If he is unable to do this I will increase the distance we are from the distraction until I'm able to achieve this. I will continue the reward system I've explained above and continue finding distractions to work with. It's all about consistency and patience lol. But we will get there ;)

I use treats once he gives me the desired outcome. I also use a clicker to mark the good behaviour prior to treating too. I have used the treat in the sense of trying to redirect him into a 'watch' command ( with the mentality of taking him right back to basics) but as I've said it's never successful during those times of complete distraction. I don't use the treat to bribe him into his attention, and, at this stage in his training I reward him every time he gives me what I ask. My dog will ' watch ' and 'leave it' at all other times the instant I ask. During his distracted moments he breaks out of a sit to a stand and will not sit or watch AT ALL. He knows these commands very well, just not during a distraction. I took him for a walk past the local dog park today which had several dogs running in it. He was very distracted by the dogs but interestingly enough I was able to get his attention easily with my watch command and he would sit and watch for as long as I told him. I'm wondering now if he is struggling during obedience class due to being mentally tired. It's not a long class but that may be another possibility. I'm confident he will nail the attention side of things, just gonna take some time.

Huski, what is your recomendation with the situation? Sounds like you have a dog that had similar issues to what I'm trying to combat. What worked for you?

Spectraining : that's what I was unsure about too. He is beautifully focussed for 98% of the work but it is almost as if he says " whatever mum, stop annoying me I'm busy looking elsewhere" when we hit something distracting. The other dog or person does definately hold a higher value in his mind than anything I offer at that time. Baring in mind his age, what do you consider to be an appropriate correction?

Thanks for the ideas guys. I do make him wait for his dinner which he will do for however long I ask until giving him the go eat command, but will try recalling him past his bowl now too and see if we can combat that He also loves his squeekie toys so I'll carry a small one just for those times of distraction. Another great idea ;) Good idea using the play with other dogs as the reward for focus. I'll implement that one. I'll be sure to check out the other two links aswell. Thanks again. I'll keep yas posted

I completely feel for you. I had two bullmastif dogs attack my Pup when he was 16 weeks old. Luckily no physical injury thank god. It's the most horrible experience. I had a lovely lady with her boxer there when it happened and she kindly let my guy have a play with her dog to get his confidence up straight after the incident. I have since found Though that my dog is now afraid if dogs bark at him and is petrified if more than one dog trys to play with him while he's off leash ( scared to the point of wetting himself which just brakes my heart to see ). But he is slowly getting his confidence back. He can now play with two dogs if he meets them one at a time first ( strangely he is super confident whilst on leash and will happily greet 5 or more dogs at once..... Go figure lol) I think the best advice I can offer is try to ignore any behaviour like fear or excessive submission. Aknowledging it seems to reinforce the behaviour. I found, as hard as it was watching my guy cower when a dog barked at him, i just had to ignore the unwanted behaviour and praise any confident behaviour he offered. Go out pretending like nothing has ever happened and your pup will pick up your energy. All the best and give your pup lots of cuddles.

Hi all. So I'm needing some advice my pup has hit the 9 month mark and he's mr sociable and interested in EVERYTHING that's going on around him. We graduated into grade 4 obedience today and it's become clear that , although 100% focused during work on the circle, the moment any distractions are introduced he becomes deaf as a door post and ignores me completely. I have his fave treat ( fritz) and he couldn't care less if I use it to try and re focus him. He is SO focused on the other dogs walking past him or the trainer walking past him. Now I understand he's still a baby and hes at the age where he's exploring things and has limited attention spans. I'm Absolutely exstatic with how he's progressing. I guess I was just looking to see if there were any methods I could use to get his focus back during these times where he thinks I'm not even there. I am COMPLETELY non existant during these times. The hardest part is that it's just pup n me in the house and unless we pass another dog out on a walk etc he really doesn't get exposed to the types of distractions presented during class ( for info he couldn't care less about dogs working in other classes around him, it's just when we do focus work with distractions in our class. I hope I'm making sense) thanks in advance

Yay. What fantastic news

Raw all the way.

My pup ( now nine months old) sleeps in his crate. Started him in the crate next to my bed. As others said, it makes it easier to take them out the minute they stir. Once he was sleeping through most of the night I gradually moved the crate out of my room and to where it is now. I can't rave about crate training enough. Best thing I ever did. Have a great time picking up your new pup sooo excited for you. It's a special day bringing them home finally isn't it

If his temp is coming down that's a positive sign.

Poor pup. I hope he starts improving As has been said, if he has an infection he will b very tired, sleep alot and not have much energy. Don't push him to play or take him for walks. He will tell you when he's feeling better and up for more activity. You should see an improvement in him pretty soon I would b thinking if it's just an infection of some sort. Mind you, my horse once had to have 3 different types of antibiotics until one did the trick. That horse actually had the same symptoms as your dog come to think of it. High temp, unable to put his head down to eat or drink. He had a version of human pharangitis. I'd be letting your vet know that you haven't seen any Improvement yet so they are aware of his progress. They may decide to switch antibiotics earlier rather than later. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery. Nothing worse than when our 'kids' are sick xox