Lena.

I'm really curious about Blackhawk and waiting patiently for my sample bag. Mia lost a little weight when she wouldn't touch her Hill's Science and I had her on rice and chicken to get her appetite back. Hope Blackhawk would be the right dry dog food for her...

I am not you would call a "clean-freak"... I don't mind a bit of clutter, a little dust doesn't freak me out, and some marks on the floor don't faze me. My idea of 'clean' is a very loose meaning of the word. I like lived-in and a little disorder.

Now that we have Mia in our lives, I have vacuumed everyday, sometimes twice a day. Because she's a sneezer and a sometimes drooler, I have now added steam cleaning the floors as part of my everyday life. She gets a good brushing every morning after her walk. Just a little scratch session, or if when she feels like shaking after a day-long nap, I'm back to sweeping my twice-vacuumed-and-steam-cleaned floor. After an afternoon of cleaning the floors, and I watch her sleeping snuggly (I can vacuum around her and she won't wake up!), I can't help but feel slightly bitter... I should be napping too. Oh I'm glad I love the cheeky bugger but this is just too much work for a non-cleaner like myself.

Or maybe Mia and my hubby are in cahoots into making me clean more.

And as I post this thread while waiting for my floors to dry, she wakes up and shake-shake-shake again. Do your dogs do this too?

Thanks so much for the creative ideas! Only thing is, Mia's not easily excitable with treats and even with big tail waggin', she'll gingerly nibble treats given to her. She's so darn unexcitable, I feel like we adopted a cat! Will have to wait until we have a goggler dog to try out these tablet tricks.

It's Day 3 and I'm getting the hang of making her take her medicine. It's definitely easier as a 2-man job and the most successful attempt to date was when she only spat the tablet out once. I felt like I won the lotto that night! LoL

Now if only there's an easier way to make Mia not shake her head ferociously after her ear drops and 2 minute ear massage...

LoL Funny responses. Got a week's worth of medicine for her and I hope it gets easier.

This morning, I tried to straddle like Tilly said since she flat out won't sit down. She's so big (and I'm so short), it's like I'm riding a horse. Wrong technic. It took us 10 attempts before Mia finally ate it. Will have to see if she's more cooperative if hubs here to help. Oh my growing pains with this girl...

Omg! Success!

I was uneasy with the whole shoving the tablet deep in her mouth since her mouth is as big as my hand. LoL

Thanks so much for the tip... Now I gotta do it all over again tomorrow and the next...

Ok.

Tried your suggestions and she just keeps spitting it out. I was holding her mouth closed for a good couple of minutes and she still spat it whole. LoL

Can I crush it and put it in her food? How I miss having a dog that just wolfs down food like it's going out of style...

Just wanted to ask for suggestions how to make my dog take her tablets/medicine...

After just a little over a week of adopting Mia, she's been lethargic and our vet diagnosed her with an ear infection. I have the drops for her ears but I'm also supposed to give her Clavulox in tablet form. I tried to put the tablet in her food (she's on a bland diet of boiled rice and chicken) and of course she ate everything except the tablet.

Do you have tricks you use to make your dogs take their medicine? My girl's not food driven, eats her food slowly and gingerly, and very docile. I attempted to put the tablet in her mouth but she kept spitting it out. LoL

Please help. Her eyes look especially sad because she's not feeling well.

Many thanks to everybody's advice! Just a morning-after update...

I put a blanket I used around me while watching tv on her bed in the shed but moved the bed where she can directly see the back door. This morning, she wasn't on the concrete... She used her bed! Don't know if she was there all night but, you're right, she'll sleep where she's most comfortable, concrete or not.

Really appreciate all the help guys.

Thanks guys. I feel a whole lot better reading your replies.

It's raining here at the moment and might be a good time to ask the hubs if she can stay in the laundry room for tonight. Still a bit anxious to make sure she's getting comfortable with us.

If she cannot see the back door from her bed, my guess is she'll probably never sleep in it.

If she must be outside, I suggest you buy a proper kennel and position it with a clear view of the back door.

Bingo! Her bed is slightly hidden inside the shed. I'll move it so she can see our door. Thanks so much!

The back shed is roughly 20 steps from the nearest door. The past few days here in Western Sydney has been cool/cloudy actually. I read somewhere that I should put a jumper I've worn on the doggie bed so maybe she can smell me, and not her new bed. We'll try again tonight...

Thanks so much for the replies and advice. I'm being a complete worry-wart and I just want to make sure she's comfortable. LoL

Here's a quick pic of her. Will post more at the Spitz thread. It's massively long!

Hello Everybody!

New member here and just adopted a beautiful 5-year old Akita over the weekend from the Sydney RSPCA. We have never owned an Akita before but fell in love with her. She was left by her family when they moved overseas. Mia's starting to warm up to us and getting used to her new home. She's ok to be inside the house when we're home but at night, the hub's prefer her outside. I'm working on him to let her sleep inside, at least in the laundry room, but we need to have a doggie door put in first.

We have an empty shed in the backyard where I put her doggie bed and toys. Her food and drinking bowl are also in the shed. The past couple of nights Mia's been with us, my hubby and I noticed that she's not sleeping in her bed. In the mornings, we'd find her asleep on the concrete walk in front of the workshop also in the backyard. Should I be worried that she's cold? Sorry, if I sound a bit silly. I've only had inside dogs in the past. The only other covered area in the backyard is where we have the bbq and picnic bench. I am hesitant to try and move her bed there but being a total furball, I'm worried her hair will be all over the place.

Would appreciate any advice. Many thanks!

p.s. Don't know if it's relevant at all but she's also recently desexed and RSPCA removed a benign mammary tumor.