Mystiqview

I have had both too.... Once no water before anesthetic... Others are allowed water..

I would possibly allow some water.. I would be mindful if you have a dog that drinks buckets and buckets.. IF this is the case, then allow some water, but can I describe "sips" First up maybe when you get up..

Forget what it is called..

But basicly.. if the dog had a hard time pooing... a section of the inside of the poo tube can stick out.....

There is a cream you can buy...which will relieve any discomfort.. and that piece of skin will go back inside.

Not a great help.. cause I damn well cannot remember the name. The thing I am thinking of is not REALLY normally bad...

If the dog is going in tomorrow. mention it to the vets.

Who here makes Aeroplane Jelly??? What do you think the "gelling agent" is????? Gelatine!!!

What is Gelatine

If you read that.. you will never eat jelly again....!!!!

What is Dog Food

I've never been a big fan of jelly...But you're right Mystiqview - I'll never eat it again!!!!!

Gelatine is also something commonly used in many a pastry and sweet at your favourite restaurant or bakery. I did two apprentice blocks cheffing when I first left school... hmm we had it in powder form and also in leaf form.

I never did like jelly... Trifle, or anything else that has jelly in.... Chocolate on the other hand.. never can get enough!

I rarely use tinned food... I have used a tablespoon of the gravy style ones when I had a dog not wanting to eat dry food.. But prefer if I need to feed raw.. Get turkey tails by the 16kg box. chicken frames. pure 100% chicken frame mince... Much nicer than tin food.

Who here makes Aeroplane Jelly??? What do you think the "gelling agent" is????? Gelatine!!!

What is Gelatine

If you read that.. you will never eat jelly again....!!!!

Emulsifiers such as Lecithins (E322), help mix ingredients together that would normally separate, such as oil and water.

Stabilisers, such as locust bean gum (E410) made from carob beans, help stop these ingredients from separating again.

Emulsifiers and stabilisers also give foods a consistent texture. They are used in foods such as low-fat spreads and other sweet and savoury foods.

The most common gelling agent is pectin (E440), which is used to make jam. Gelling agents are used to change the consistency of food. Thickeners help give body to food in the same way as adding flour thickens a sauce.

Also:

What is Dog Food

Phers,

Dont forget the good ole Condese crystalls.. still good stuff. Damn hard to get though

Kitkat,

Border Collies don't have long hair huh??

Advantix is oily. So in that regard... just as good/bad as creams.

Actually I have found it at the moment to cause sores on one border who has a really thick coat. It sits on top, glues the hair to the skin and allows moisture to get under it, causing a sore.. Not good.. Frontline Plus last time I used it was useless for fleas/ticks.. so am weighing up options on that account.

Centrogen is either aerosol or pump spray with a lovely purple dye in it. Great all round anti-septic for want of better description. Have found some fly repelling with it.. Not a lot. Another good one is Iodine or Betadine. I am allegic to Iodine.. So I use Centrogen.

Pottys White or Dermoclens cream, great for rebuilding tissue.. Paw paw ointment is also a great cream to rebuild skin.. Not a lot of hair around fly attacked ears.. They chewed it off for you.

Gotta love the people who say to use sump oil.. damn toxic stuff. even for humans.

They are probably the same people who like to use sump oil and concrete to weight dogs ears down...

ETA: Sump Oil.. Bushie rememdy from way back.. Maybe cause that was one of the few things they had on the farm to use to stop the flys from eating the ears further. Certainly not something that is needed to be used today.

I use the TROY Insect Repellent fly spray.

Seems to work well.

Only once have a I had ears attacked by flys. I use Centrogen spray (purple spray) and some potty's white.

It will be interesting to compare the active ingredients with Frontline Spray.

Will also be interesting to compare to Permoxin. It does not come into a spray, but you can put in a spray bottle and spray the dog.

Also would need to spray dirt areas, bedding and flea bomb the house

Eileen,

Sorry then..

Erny's post is good as always.

Undexed bitches can get very homonal.. I would keep an eye on her. She maybe coming on heat.

Eileen,

Is your bitch whole or desexed?? From 9 months, you can expect hormonal changes. An idea.

With this kind of issue.. It is very hard for anyone on a forum to really comment cause we cannot see the interaction between your dog and the other dogs.

With 'agression' issues, that is what is really needed. An experienced person to actually SEE what is happening... Sorry..

This maybe harder than it seems..

But are you able to try and stop her from cleaning the puppies??

In humans acid food is a common cause of mouth ulcers..Stop eating acidy food and they go away..

Just looking at it from a different way.. I know if I eat too much pineapple (love it) I get mouth ulcers..

Applying the same principle.

Ilovemypippa:

Is your bitch whole or desexed?? Every 6 months sounds hormonal.

In a nutshell, she told me that more dogs get killed through not enough socialisation than will ever die of a disease they'll pick up from being out in public

there are heaps of articles, this is one about early socialisation

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/earlysocialization.html

Ian Dunbar has written some great stuff and I should have the links but can't find them, if I find them I will pm you. Some people do take puppies to the ground choosing to risk disease against an unsocialised pup, many others take the pup to the ground but don't let their feet touch the ground. All of the people I am speaking of have identical dog education they just prefer not to take a risk and it is a personal choice. There is so much you can do without putting the puppy at risk of disease. I see so many ill socialised adult dogs but a lot of the damage has been done when they were tiny pups. I would never buy a pup from anyone who didn't raise the litters in the home, preferably with children and lots of normal social activity within that home. Socialisation starts at birth and continues on.

It comes down to common sense.. If you take an unvaccinated pup to an offleash park for instance, then you are courting trouble. I am not sure if my local markets still allow dogs (there was talk of stopping dogs in October), but I take my puppies to the markets from 8-10 weeks. I have borders and they are not that small at that point either. I carry them through the markets. They get the sights and sounds of the markets without being on the ground. I also take my puppies to a vetinary run puppy school from 8 weeks. There is also a local private establishment that runs puppy schools in a private residence. That is also good. The obedience clubs do not take puppies until at least 12 weeks of age. IMO that is too late for puppy socialisation. The obedience clubs have no say in that as it is park of the ANKC and CC rules of association.

Each person and breeder are different in their opinions. I am different from most in that I have virtually an open house when I have puppies (thanks to an Ian Dunbar seminar I went to). They are generally trusted friends. Prospective puppy buyers are also welcome, strictly controlled conditions. Other breeders quarantine their household until the pups are gone. Unless there is a parvo or like outbreak.. the risk of getting those is far less than poor unsocialised puppies. Especially with Aussie Shepherds and Border Collies.

Training is the same.. There are numerous schools of thought and programs. The key that was brought up on another thread was if you choose a program, stick with it for a good time before changing to another program. Those people who take a little bit from one and a little bit from another, are generally the ones that come unstuck somewhere along the line. Programs are there because they are a system. A system works if it is is followed. And in training, most systems allow some flexibility in their school of thoughts for those people who may not be able to do one point or another.

Someone posted the comment that on a forum there are so many ideas and opinions. You get a room full of trainers together and you will get the same. The difference with the web is it is accessible to far more people. There are some things like Erny has said are better shown than tried to write out in story book. And I agree 100%. Some things you have to actually do yourself. I went to a Susan Garrett agility camp a number of years ago at Uralla. I did not have an agility dog, and while I understood the theory, around day 5, I was starting to lose it because it involved in the people working with their dogs. Agility is the same as show jumping. You need to know your horses stride to best guage the distance between the jumps to get them in.. That I understood as I did some show jumping years ago..But unless you are there doing it with your dog, the theory is then hard to follow.

Basicly, Forums are great for bouncing around ideas. You may never use the information you read, but like Rusky said, it broadens your mind.

Many new puppy owners do not know anything.. That is why my puppy pack is something like 30 pages long... Training everything from crate, toilet to lead and basic sit, drop, stand and stay. vaccination, worming, other health stuff a list of recommended reading.. you name it.. They even get a basic demo of training with one of the older dogs here before they leave.. so they know how to fit a head halter, choke chain etc..and how each is used.

I know you did not mean they were mean or anything.. just putting the old tongue and cheek in about the rolled up newspaper..don't hit the dog.. hit yourself for being forgetful.

Laffi,

I think I said Advantage for fleas.. Advantix for fleas/ticks..dyslexic fingers??

You can clarify the mystery then for me...

Spectrum.. Does it cover Hydatid tapeworm - these are different from common tapeworm..

poodlefan..

The dog owner needs a lump of 4x2 (newspaper) on the back of the head... Then training..

Ooops.. How stupid of me.. that requires thinking and work.. Lets just get a band-aid instead.

Walking beside me on a loose lead. Not formal heeling (or that stupid looking waltz handlers do with their dogs where the dog never takes their eyes of the handlers face)

My dogs do that stupid looking waltz you refer too. I obedience train and trial. I love it, my dogs love it. The stupid waltz has the dog looking up at the handler, with a grin on their face and their tail wagging. I much prefer this to a dog who has their head down, walking beside you because it has to as it is attached to the other end of the lead. My dogs wrap naturally.

I have been trained to use a head halter, as well as a choke chain/martingale. I prefer my chain. Puppies learnt to walk beside me at 8 weeks through praise, flat collar and food. Generally wtihout a leash. I teach off lead 'heel' before onlead. Many trainers inadvertingly tug on the lead when they say heel.. If you do not have a lead in your hand, then you cannot do this.

I have a flat collar for when we are walking around the shops etc.. We can go for a pleasant walk in the park without pulling on a flat collar. My command for that is "with me". My dogs through TRAINING have learnt the difference between HEEL and WALK POLITELY. None of the "fun" you had mentioned earlier has been taken out of it. As soon as you cannot have fun with your pet, then you should get out of it.

Like what Erny has said.. Head halters and the rest are quick fixes. They do not correct the problem. If they are that great, then why does in most cases the dog starts pulling as soon as you take it off???? No one wants to spend the time or energy in training or learning from others.

It is good to do it yourself. It is also good to look outside of the square occassionally. You may not use another person's training techniques on THIS dog THIS Time.. But you may need to use that technique on the next dog. Or it may work for someone's else's dog.

Reading through your posts, and please correct me if I have read them wrong, but it comes across on one hand you want to know about other training methods, but then you do not want to look at other training methods and are closing your mind to the uses of other training tools. [Flame suit on]

I go to club, there are some good trainers and bad ones.. That is life.. like there are good drivers and bad drivers. I have gone to private establishments.. Some good and some very bad.. I have also gone to seminars.. One I had to drive 14 hours to get to.. But it is all stored away in the mental toolbox for later reference if needed.

EBay has some good second hand training books on there that are not necessarily expensive if you are chasing books. Koehler is old, but some of the ideas are still around today. Some of his methods are no longer considered the IN THING... but some of it also gives you a good understanding on the WHYS. Karen Prior's book on Positive training is also good. Not suitable for all things all the time, but again it is a good read.

But to the OP.. Do a google on some of the products you sell.. Maybe try Halti or Head Halter.. I think even Black Dog once upon a time had a page giving instructions on how to fit and use a head halter.. Likewise for a sporn, Martingale and Choke Chain. Haltis dont fit too well to dogs that have long or stout muzzles.. Black Dog or Gentle Leader is better there..

The problem with chains and slip collars... Very few people I have seen in clubs REALLY know how to use them, let alone teach someone how to use them properly and effectively, hence they are greatly misunderstood for being tools of severe punishment. A dog on a flat collar pulling is exactly the same as a dog on a choke chain pulling.. It is still choking.. The only difference is the chain is thinner than a collar and is biting in more..

I have seen prong collars for sale in a commercial pet shop up here in Brisbane.. It had the plastic capping on its end.. but they were not fastly fixed and could easy come off.

Each training tool has its place and is not cruel in itself.. Its the dumb person on the other end of the lead that causes cruelty through not knowing how to use it.

GaleK,

If the harness you use does not have those fleece bits, then it could be conceivable that it could pinch in those places. Especially if the straps are not a stable width.

If you put fleece on head halter bits, then it would not leave marks on the fur either.

Some suggest here that we might be overdoing it with all the various anti-flea, anti-worm, anti-everything treatments, but I prefer to be cautious and take a trusted vet's advice. I don't want dogs to have worms, fleas or ticks, so I treat them according to current vet advice. Prefer pharmaceutical products too as "natural" doesn't necessarily mean less toxic.

I am glad you put that in.. Natural does not mean it is harmless. Some of the worst poisons are found naturally.

Grass eating can be for a number of things..

As mentioned, it is eaten to ease an upset stomach. It is also eaten to aid digestion. It is perfectly normal.

I would only be mildly concerned if they gorged themselves on it.

Poodle Wrangler,

Have you heard different to the 'old' worming regime??

I have not heard any different recently from what I had posted earlier.

Ahona,

Your breeder should be able to give you what medications the puppy is on, as well as that worming regime. Do not forget to ask about any heartworm medications, as not all breeders heartworm their puppies. Many up here do.. again climate related.. Most I know use daily tablets.. I dont like them only cause I forget to give them daily.. I prefer the monthly ones.. 1st month, heartworm.

I am sure other people who are in Melbourne should be able to tell you about fleas..

But with warm weather and rain.. Tis a season they love and thrive in..

Capstar is also a good flea tablet. This only kills the adult fleas on the dog. It is good to be followed up with frontline plus or advantage (fleas only version) which breaks the cycle on the dog by killing the pupae and eggs.

But both of those products fall down if the house/yard has a flea infestation, as you are constantly reintroducing fleas back to the dog.. So if that ever is the case, you should also wash bedding, vacuum carpets and if necessary set off flea bombs in the house and go for a spin away for a day.

There is bedding that uses dacron (pillow stuffing) and shadecloth which inhibit the growth of flea nests. Both of those products fleas dont like to live in.

All I will say on Paralysis ticks..

If your dog goes outside, it can get ticks. Possums, Magpies, Bats, kangaroos etc.. are all native hosts to paralysis ticks.. If they are in your area.. then the dog can pick them up.

If you go to the park where there is long grass and a creek.. and your area is a paralysis tick area, you can pick up a tick.

It can take only one paralysis tick on the dog for 24 hours (or less in some cases)to cause paralysis. To get this treated by the vet will set you back $300 or more. Depending on the severity of paralysis. If severe paralysis occurs. the dog will die, or may suffer heart of lung problems for the rest of its life. As the paralysis attacks a large muscle.. And can leave scarring.

Some areas do not have paralysis ticks.. common dog ticks if enough get on an animal can cause paralysis.. they are certainly not as big an issue as paralysis ticks

Ahona,

The ones I listed are what I use on my own dogs.

I will have to go into the vet and ask specifically what Spectrum covers. There was another thread on it and for what I could find out by going to the online places that sell it, it says it does tapeworm, but does not list Hydatids. The products that do these type of tapeworms normally specify that they do them..

He should have been wormed at his breeder from 2 weeks onwards.

The general all worming guide is:

Every two weeks until they are 12 weeks of age

then every month until 6 months,

then every three months for the rest of their lives.

Drontal is the best all wormer.. It has the highest hit rate, and is for most dogs, the most gentlest on the stomach as compared to other brands. Paratak Plus is slightly cheaper and comes in second to Drontal. With all wormers you should rotate the brands a little as they have different compositions and this is to also check to make sure worms do not become tolerant to one brand.

Heartworm:

I use Proheart as while it is a moxydectin product and some collies will react to it, it has a two week reach back. I give a tablet to my puppies at 8 weeks before they leave me, then every month for the rest of the dogs life.

I cannot use products like Heartguard and some other heartworm products as they are Ivemectin based and they should not be used in collie breeds.

There are daily heart worm products that you can buy.. the downside to this, is they should be given at roughly the same time every day.. You have to remember to give it to them.

If the dog has not been on heartworm treatment (puppies excempt) then they should be tested at a vet for heartworm before going onto any heartworm medication. This would be for adult dogs or dogs bought from a rescue or rescued where you do not know the history of the dog.

Fleas/ticks: I am in high paralysis tick area.. While our property here has been paralysis tick free for the last 15 years.. it is something I will not get complacent about. That is to say, I do not always give Advantix/Frontline Plus or the other tick products every two weeks, but I do twice daily checks of my dogs for paralysis ticks. Even on tick preventatives, at least a daily check should be done on dogs in paralysis tick areas.