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We haven't had issues with cutting the dogs supply off to cortisone, Vets haven't had any issues with taking dogs off Cortisone. Cortisone in tablet form is a drug that you can administer as you wish, up the dose when neccessary and lower the dose or cut it off where you can. I'm not sure what you're referring to when saying it can cause more harm than good, I think you're confusing Cortisone with Crack or something?

My dog has been on a low dose of Cortisone for the last 8 months I think, he got it whilst he was still growing. It was our absolute last option, we tried everything we could think of. If I could turn back time, I would have got the allergy blood testing much sooner than we did. If it's diet, well you can't rule that out for a while yet most likely as it can take 12 weeks for the body to de-tox, food allergies are pretty rare as well. Could be a simple contact allergy, where washing the feet with malaseb and apply an anti-inflam cream where possible. The Cortivance Spray is worth a try, still Cortisone but safer and only intended to use for short-term issues, Neocourt cream is also another thing people use short term.

7 weeks of age is far too young to be expecting anything. It's pretty poor form that the breeder of this dog let you take it at 6 weeks of age. Puppies need to stay with their Mums and litter mates up until 8 weeks to finish off their bite inhabition and toilet training (learn to toilet away from their beds and eating areas). You'll need to watch your puppy like a hawk, don't allow her free access to the whole house. As soon as puppy wakes, finishes playing, after eating and every hour, take puppy to the matt and use your toileting command and then gentle calm praise when puppy is doing the right thing and then big praise when puppy has finished remembering to use your toileting word in there i.e. Good Toilet! Puppy may not be reliably toilet trained until it's 4-5 months old, so don't expect too much, sometimes you think they understand and then they go and prove you wrong, so don't assume they 100% understand when you've had a good run, continue the training. In addition, no repremanding puppy when she has an accident you didn't see her do, jsut clean it up with a special pet accident spray that removes the scent. If you catch puppy toileting in the wrong area, you can give a firm NO and take puppy to the area they are meant to toilet and stay with them until they toilet. Be careful here though, be too firm and you'll scare the dog and it won't want to toilet in front of you.

My dogs hate the Dremel, mine makes a horrible noise. I just file my dogs nails when they're asleep, if they wake up they're typically too doopey to care.

We went through a really bad period when my dog was a puppy, none of the methods people suggested worked, many things would make him more wound up. One day when he was 5 months old he got over-corrected for it and never did it again. Just shows that all puppies are different, there isn't neccessarily a one size fits all method for biting. Typically people start at the more positive gentler methods and then work their way up to more firmer methods if the previous don't work.

I'd set puppy up where it's going to sleep as an adult. If you're not 100% on dogs sleeping inside, read up on crate training Haven't heard that one before. What do you want the puppy to toilet on? A puppy pad? If so just use those. Secret to toilet training a puppy is watching them like a hawk and taking them to their toileting spot as soon as waking, after eating and meals and every hour. This is something you'll probably have to play by ear, not many young dogs can be trusted inside by themselves with free range to the whole house. Start off by being a good back leader and having clear and consistent boundaries. When young, it's ideal to confine them to a room, dog run or crate whilst out.

Puppies sit a lot, don't be concerned about it as you haven't taught other commands yet. To teach the name, you just want the pup to give you attention, so you can start off this by saying the dogs name and then giving a treat, so the dog learns that it's name is a positive thing, just remember not to repremand your puppy by saying it's name only i.e. DANTE! Then next you say the dogs name and only give the treat when the dog looks at you, this is also the watch command. 3 x 5 minute sessions a day and always finish on a positive note. Next is to teach your puppy to sit, there are a few different ways to do this, one way which makes the puppy think is just to hold a treat out in front of the puppy at nose level and as soon as puppy sits say Good Sit and give the treat, or you can raise the treat above the puppies head as many puppies will sit doing this, but not all. It's a bit of both, it's a great game and it's a little challenging behaviour. You can try growling like his mother would do, this sometimes winds puppies up more if they're a bit full of themselves, you can use a water pistol, however when using a water pistol try and ensure the puppy doesn't see the water pistol otherwise they'll only behave when they see the water pistol, I used to keep it tucked into the back of my pants LOL With the water pistol you can growl at the puppy and if puppy doesn't back off then squirt so puppy learns to listen to the growl so you won't always have to walk around with the pistol. Just remember any repremand that you give needs to be followed up by praise as soon as puppy is doing the right thing, this is how they understand what you want

From your question, I think you already know the answer. Time to treat your dog like a dog and be a Leader

You need to decide on one method and stick to it otherwise you're just confusing the puppy. Keep the feed area away from the toileting area. This is all about taking control of the situation. Many people once they get their puppies pratice restraining the puppies, i.e. having the puppy on their side, it's commonly referred as submission, but I guess this particular one isn't too harsh or dangerous when dealing with baby puppies. With my own puppy I would use the nail file when he was sleeping, puppies sleep very deeply and even if they wake up they tend to be too doopey to care too much. Perfectly normal. In puppy pre-school we were taught to teach the puppies a command called "Feet", what this is, is you get something the puppy can step their two front feet onto, depending on the size of the puppy, perhaps some yellow pages, in one hand you treat the puppy and in the other hand you brush the puppy. The puppy will soon come to enjoy brushing as it associates brushing with good things.

Ideally you want to have the puppy in the area where it's going to be long term, maybe get a hurry on with cleaning up the laundry. Your house and yard need to be puppy proofed. Walk around your yard and look for any areas your puppy could hurt itself, fall or get out and fix those areas. Yeah, that's not a good start for toilet training. Yep, you'll have to puppy proof your balcony. With my breed, we can't have them running up and done steps so many Dane puppy owners build ramps, you can do so pretty cheaply if you do it yourself. Containing is fine whilst a puppy, just make sure you use the same toilet training method i.e. scented toilet training pads. Many families are open to crating as it gives them a piece of mind that the puppy won't be running around the house. Not all puppies cry but if you lift the water bowl an hour before bed, toilet puppy before bed and then get up 2-3 times during the night then you should be on the right track. My puppy was sleeping through the night at 11 weeks but they're all different. Ideally you don't want to confine your dog for long periods of time when you're not there unless it's in a proper dog run outside, if you have a backyard, puppy proof it and utlize it. Have you considered a dog run? You can get them from eBay for pretty good prices.

May just have to wait this one out. This is an approx. guide as to stages puppies go through which may help you: http://www.k9force.net/index.html?row2col2=develop.html Sounds like you're doing everything right though. Good Luck!

Completely normal, it's all part of a growing puppy, rather cute too may I add LOL

Your puppy could be going through a fear period which makes them more jumpy, some are more effected than others during this time. There is a bark collar called a Jet Air available (Delivers a quick discharge of cold compressed air), although I don't think it's advisable to use dicipline for barking from fear.

Static bark collars are not inhumane if used correctly. What's more inhumane.....a static pulse collar that is uncomfortable not painful or having the dog put to sleep which is a common option in these situations for many people who may not be so dog savy. To the poster who thinks they're inhumane you may be familiar with the older models that weren't such a great representation, these days they have so many levels, warning beeps and so forth that the stimulation you would get from one in many cases (depending on the dog) is no more than the static you would get from touching a TV when it's static Citronella collars could be classed as inhumane as they're actually toxic to a dog and if the dog shifts the collar and ends up being squirted in the face/eyes that's not a great outcome. Like others have said, the easiest way to prevent this is to bring the dog inside. If you don't like dogs inside then you can confine the dog to a room or a crate, problem solved :rolleyes:

Puppies do grow out of this typically but you want to be setting her up for success rather than faliure i.e. you know the situations where she urinates in excitment so be extra aware, don't interact with her as soon as you go outside, wonder around for a bit and ignore her and wait for her to settle. Ask your friends or other people who want to interact with her to just ignore her until she settles. Having a dog inside or out is a personal choice. Mine are inside 24/7 with the door open so they can go outside. A dog is pack animal and you are its' pack so it's natural inclination is to be with you, they're very social animals, in saying that some dogs prefer being outside and some would prefer to be inside but cope fine outside.

With a puppy, they may not be reliably toilet trained until they are 4.5-5 months old. One of the most important aspects with toilet training is that when you're home with puppy you never take your eyes off them, you watch for their toileting cues and take them to the toileting area. Remember the times puppy will need to toilet such as as soon as waking, after meals and play. When puppy starts to toilet, give calm praise using your toilet word such as "Good Toilet". After puppy has finished playing gives lot's of praise and have a bit of a play. Any accidents puppy has inside the house will need to be cleaned up with either a special pet accident spray or white vinegar and wate to get rid of the scent that tells the puppy to toilet in that area again. You want to have the toileting area at least 1.5 metres away from the bed and feed area, dogs naturally will not want to toilet in these areas. Crate training is a fantastic way of toilet training a puppy, do read up on how to crate train first. When crate training a puppy you only want a crate large enough for the puppy to stand up and turn around, anything bigger gives the puppy an option of toileting in the far corner. In addition you will probably be best off having the crate in the room with you as 'some' puppies will cry to let you know they need to toilet, to start with this may happen 2-4 times per night. If your puppy isn't a crier when it needs to toilet you'll need to set your alarm up to take puppy out to the toilet. Doesn't really make a difference, dog knows it's not grass :rolleyes: Thing to understand is puppy doesn't have much care factor of where it toilets. The puppy isn't going to become aggressive by you spending time with it. What you are probably experiencing is some rough play and challenging behaviour that the puppy would normally do with it's litter mates i.e. who bites hardest wins. It's your job as the puppies new guardian to read up on positive leadership and how to become your puppies leader and how to set boundaries. General rule is, don't let puppy get away with anything now you don't want it to do when it's older. Play biting and even more serious nipping is a common issue with puppies, it does not mean your puppy is aggressive, it's simply being a puppy and seeing what youre boundaries are. Get your puppy toileting in the area where you want it to toilet as an adult, toileting outside is fairly normal and I wouldn't discourage it, praise puppy when it toilets on the lawn as well, you want your puppy to toilet when you take it for a walk or to a friends place on the grass, you don't want to puppy crossing its' legs so to speak whilst it's waiting for it's matt to show up. Some people use Lime on their lawns, I've not used it before and I'm unsure how safe it is to use with puppies. Do you have a flea problem? Just your typical spot on treatment you buy from the Vet is more than suitable. Absolutely normal and to be expected, almost like a toddler who is toilet training, they want to learn but sometimes they're just too young to start and don't have full control or recognition.

I know someone whose dog has just been diagnosed with the same, they're controling it with diet....no fat, so meals are cooked everynight.

I can't comment in regards to toilet training but I did use the method to teach Dante not to chew things he shouldn't. If he took say my shoe, I'd pick up the shoe and scold it.......he thinks shoe is bad and doesn't go near shoe....weird but it worked....could leave him inside alone from 6 months of age. Whether dogs can reason is a whole other story, however dogs do understand cause and cause & reaction i.e. e-collars/scat matts/e-fences/bark collars etc.

My personal experience with drugging a dog isn't positive, I put him down 3 months later as his condition became worse, he was a complete nut job by the end of the 3 months of prozac and beta blockers whilst behaviour modifcation training was happening for DA.

I was under the impression Sarcoptic Mange was the easier of the 2 to work with, simply use Advocate and results in 2 weeks?

Dante is on a very low dose of cortisone, not enough to cause long term issues. Stormie, I can't get my camera to focus on such a small area, arg! Went to the vets today to pick up some anti-biotics as he now has a secondary skin infection, Vet said increased pigmentation was normal in allergic dogs too.

Tricky decision to make. I know with Danes many people don't run them together until they're fully grown. I let Dante with Leila at 5.5 months as she is old and won't actually hard out play with him. So I guess you'll have to see how they actually interact, how rough will they play, how tolerant will the older pup be of the younger one etc. You may want to pen the puppy initially until they're used to each other and just have them out together for supervised play?

I might just head up to the Vets and get them to have a look to put my mind at ease 'cause google searching always comes up with worse case senerio. I tried to take photos but the camera wasn't able to focus at such close range. Yep, he's on cortisone and has been for some time. He has just started on his allergy desentising injections.

Thanks for everyones responses, I'll try and get some photos later in the day. It's hard for my breeder to understand exactly what I mean until she can see him as it is normal for new spots to occur with Harles, so figuring out what is normal and what is not is the thing here. At the time when the spot starts when it's tiny there is some irritation around it and brown stain to the skin around it....Stormie typical to the condition he gets on his neck which i believe is the secondary skin infection but when the spot because bigger it is black not brown.

We use his treatments for allergies and have no issues in the food or directly in the mouth.