ravenau1

I find the Thundershirt really effective for my Aussie boy. He isn't badly thunder phobic but would shake really badly, whine and drool a lot. He still shakes a little with the Thundershirt but his recovery time is much, much quicker now.

I've used the DAP spray in the past on advice from a Behaviourist we were seeing for my Dobe girl, Astrid. It worked really well to calm her. Unfortunately her issues turned out to have a physical source so it wasn't the solution to our problem, but it did help.

The only time I've ever heard my Aussie Shepherd growl is in his sleep! He has a low, quite menacing growl which can be pretty interesting to wake up to in the middle of the night. He also groans, whimpers, wuffs, snores and snorts.

Some nights I have my hubby, my Dobie and my Aussie all snoring away :p

Shiftwork house here too, with frequently changing shifts as well, usually week about. The dogs adapt really well, for them it's just normal life :)

Agree with Persephone, sounds like half his problem is he's picking up your anxiety.

Have you tried nutrigel? Great appetite stimulant and totally non-stressful to smear a tiny amount on a toy for him to lick off.

What happens if you try using training treats? Will he take them? Easy enough to use pieces of cheese or cooked meat even if you are doing nothing more than rewarding him for looking cute..

have you tried feeding him somewhere totally different...I'm thinking *really * different like in the car in the carpark of the local dog park. Ok not a long term solution but you need to break the cycle of not eating so some times this needs way outside the square answers lol

Yes it is a shame your vet didn't get you to start a food diary when this all started - but start one now and see what shows up..

Basic advice would be offer one sort of food for each meal and RELAX.

Definitely try this, it saved my sanity when my Dobe, Astrid was young. She was always a finicky eater, and all the usual tricks did not work and it was always a cause of stress here. She only really started eating well when we got our Aussie, Dragon. She wasn't unwell, just not that interested in food.

We now have a 9 and a half week old Dobe puppy and she eats like crazy.

My Aussie is the same. He's not a barker in any other situation, he's fairly quiet and laid back, but at agility he just goes nuts :p for him it's excitement. We are working on it pretty much as Nekhbet says

Can recommend Dr Kate Lindsey also, she is wonderful.

It's an interesting topic. My Dobe does indeed use her dewclaws a lot for holding/manipulating things, so I am glad she has them. But at the same time, I have to keep them carefully trimmed and filed because she also tends to use them like Velociraptor claws.

She was about 3 months when it started happening. And I didn't start taping until around 4 months if I remember correctly! There was some debate at home as my Hubby liked the folded ears, but I didn't :D we now joke that we have one ear each! She's not a show dog so doesn't really matter but with the next pup if it happens I will jump right on it.

Your little one is gorgeous :D I love Ridgies!

I'd consider taping. I left it too late with my Dobe girl (being unsure) and waited until both ears went 'flying nun' before taping and ended up with this :laugh:

My Dobe girl went through a humpy phase this year. It seemed to be mostly when she felt good or was happy/excited after play etc and she would air hump most often. Was pretty funny actually. We didn't encourage it as such but yeah, it's dogs doing dog stuff. :)

My first lot arrived today and the pup was very happy! The isqueak was his favourite, but the squeak stopped working after about 3 minutes.

Got mine yesterday and the squeak stopped before I even got to give it to the dog lol, I squeezed it a couple of times and that was it!

They gave me the option of a substitution, refund or waiting until what i had ordered came back into stock. Can't ask for more than that, really :)

I got an email today saying two things I ordered were out of stock, but it didn't say anything about isqueaks, which I ordered also.

I don't have any advice re fleas unfortunately but I just wanted to say that Meowington is probably the most awesome cat name I have ever come across :D

So i was just wondering what things are said about your breed that you find you have to correct people about?? :)

Temperament!

They are not vicious dogs, and they will not "turn on you" when they become an adult.

We get this one all the time too, with our Dobe :laugh: It used to really annoy us but now we have a bit of a laugh about it, and even bought a print of this old movie poster for above the bed!

http://cinebeats.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/they-only-kill-their-masters/

I got my 20kg bag in late May from Wendy here in WA and have had no problems at all :)

Use them a fair bit too :) Had a problem once when they sent the wrong item, but they then sent the right item on the day I contacted them and included and postage paid envelope to send the other item back. Very happy with the service!

i would also be getting a 'beware doberman patrolling' sign or something too regarding the vandalism.

I would not be giving anyone the impression a dog of mine is something to be aware of, especially of the council investigate a complaint against my dog. That's asking for trouble if you ask me.

I have a sign on my gate that just says "Dog on premises", does the trick without using 'beware' etc, picked it up at our local Bunnings.

One of my cats, Jinx, came to us through just this circumstance! It happens quite often in kennels and catteries apparently In our case the cattery owner held onto her for nearly a year before rehoming her.

My favourite breed is the Dobermann. Some days my least favourite breed is also the Dobermann :laugh:

We're on our second tailed Dobe and still have not had any issues, she lives on a farm and rough and tumbles like any rural dog... Her tail is always held up and out of the way, not at all a table clearer like the ridgeback X' tail! It's certainly not thin like a greyhound tail either, I've seen greys at work before that have broken the tips of their tails, but I just can't imagine how a Dobe you do that unless you slammed it's whole tail in a car door or something??

Same here. My Dobe holds her tail up high, mostly curled over her back and it's nice and thick. It certainly wouldn't damage easily at all. It's pretty much the same thickness as a GSD or Lab tail, and all the tailed dogs I have seen come from her breeder are the same.

Perhaps a thick healthy tail is something we should be breeding for if some dogs have really thin, fragile tails?

Might be a bit off topic, but does anyone know why some dogs' teeth seem to get plaque much worse and faster than other dogs? My 7 year old rescue rarely eats bones as they upset his tummy, yet his teeth are almost perfect. My 2 year old Aussie gets bones 3 or 4x weekly plus I brush her teeth as often as I remember, but her teeth are horrible.

Wuffles, I know it's not dogs but still relevant I think. My folks have two cats, both from the same litter and have eaten all the same food etc. One has nearly perfect teeth and one has had heaps of dental problems. None of the vets really know why

Don't get a Doberman if

* you want a dog that will obey other peoples commands without checking with you first

(including husbands, children etc) :D

* you like having a shower and going to the toilet alone.......

* you want a social butterfly who wants to be everyone's friend.

* you don't like walking/exercising regularly

* you can't establish and keep leadership, they will dominate you if you let them

* you don't want/like a lot of love and attention from a dog

:laugh: So true!

Hi Everyone

some updates and news from BlackHawk,

We are now in branded packaging, due to so many other products out on the market in the same white bag, but being a totally different formula, we decided BlackHawk needed to be in branded bags so BkackHawk consumers could be guaranteed that they are purchasing BlackHawk, All retailers should now have the branded bags,

We have definitely NOT put our prices up at all even with the branded bag, so please dont let anyone tell you we have, from feedback some have used the branded bag as an excuse to raise the price,

We will be launching a new formula in the next couple of months, which will be a lighter formula,

For those wondering about our New shampoo range we have received excellent feeddback and some great testimonials which will appear on the new website,

You can also see updates on our Face book page,

If anyone has any questions please email me on [email protected]

Regards

Sherel

Is it a new 'light' formula or is the normal food now going to be lighter? :) thanks

So sorry