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Trim claws when the dog is relaxed and sleepy. I wouldn't bath the pup to often, there is no need. Blow dry with the dog facing away from the air flow, you don't need to blow dry the face. Tell him NO when he bites the brush and use one hand to hold him still and the other to do the brushing.

The tension on the blades maybe to high (how easily can you slide them apart?) Clean and matt free dogs are the best to clip, working through knots and dirty coats make the blades work harder and heat up faster. Also check the clipper is properly greased, if that is getting hot, the blades will also.

Jo - mostly clicker work. I don't do hand touching for heeling. Maybe I could teach him to heel on the RHS? Might be good physically and mentally. Just a thought as hand touching can make a few things easier. But you can do an A recall, probably not what you call it over there! But where you get the dog to stay and then you walk off and get him to come in at heel while you are walking, to make it harder you can turn to the right so he has to go out around you to get into the correct position. You can also use 'twists' as a way of sending him in a new direction and then back to heel. Hand touch can get him to move away from you to the side, and you can practise bringing him in and out. You can throw in an occasional bit of leg weaving, changes of pace, walk backwards, sideways, get him to jump into the air etc etc. These are the things i try with tara as I find heel boring. Change how you give rewards, get him to chase after a bit of food by throwing it to keep the movement and excitment going.

What sort of training are you doing with him now? Do you use hand touching?

Propalin does seem to loose effectiveness every 6 months, or when the bitch would have been in season, you can boost the effect by using Incurin tablets for a few weeks, then the propalin seems to work OK again. Or you can use the Incurin tablets instead. Herbs - agrimony works, you can see a bit more at www.csjk9.com and look for 'Hold It' in the herbs section. Car covers for seats or picnic blankets with a waterproof back can be used as covers to protect the bedding underneath and are easily washed.

Try saying that fast a few times. :D I dare not!! That was a mercy plucking That was a mercy plucking That was a mercy plucking That was a Percy Mucking......... hmmmm who's he then? ;)

My old girl had it and recoverd over a week. She didn't have any ear infections.

A few years ago I took on the grooming of an OES, the owners had been told to just trim the hair inside the ears. I had a look in there and pulled a few hairs out only to find at the other end a huge ball of wax and hair, resulting in the dog having to be knocked out to have this hair/wax ball removed and an ear infection treated. I covered for another groomer for a few months, she had this evil tempered Shih Tzu with foul ears, owners weren't bothered. I plucked and cleaned the ears, next visit, the dog was a much nicer temperament and the ears looked a lot better. There are plenty of other stories like that, perhaps vets don't get to see so many because it is the groomers who are treating the ears by getting them plucked and cleaned out? Then any residual pproblems (and I will tell owners if they need to keep a check on the ears or go to the vet) may then be seen by the vets when the dogs have cleaner ears? I know with my own breed, if they aren't plucked, the ears get waxy and smelly. So I am in the pluck until they are cleaned out group, I have not heard of a dog that has developed ears problems from being plucked

What a clever dog! He is getting you trained up very well! Firstly, stop filling him up with schmackos! At 13 weeks my pups are on 4 meals a day and yes, the portions are tiny. What did the breeder have the litter being fed on? It is best to go back to what he was on originally (so long as it was a decent brand), put it down, then as soon as the dog walks away, pick it up and offer a meal at the next meal time. Do NOT offer extras or titbits between meals.

My dogs get fed 'the evil kibble' and they can and do manage to get into the packaging (without the need to scissors or a knife!) their nice, strong teeth manage just fine. My 10 year old giant just won yet another RCC, this time at Crufts this week with a big entry for the breed! Her diet must suit! She beat the barf fed dogs

For those who didn't know you can watch these events live along side other events like Mary Ray in action and display teams http://www.cruftslive.tv/

and next time, don't worm before a car trip! I like to do it when there will be a couple of quiet days.

KK, what have you changed from going 'by the book' to now, so that the diet is working for your dogs?

I'm just wondering about those people who have tried their dogs on the BARF/raw style diets and felt their dogs didn't do so well on it, why you came to that conclusion and if you think you managed to give your dogs a good, balanced diet on the BARF/raw. Please keep this as a friendly thread and not a BARF v commercial diet argument. I'm just interested in why some dogs have not thrived as well on the diet as they do on commercial foods.

O_o wow ... I used to go through 15 kilos is 2 - 2 1/2 weeks of RC!! how do you manage that! Wow, how many dogs are you feeding that to?

I have a friend who is allergic to a dogs wet nose, brings her out in a rash wherever the nose touches her skin.

I would stick with a rubber top that can be easily wiped over.

Just what I was going to say. You need to be able to easily clean the table - think how many different body fluids can end up on a table over the years of use!

I have an electric table and it does just what you want.

Depends how you want the ear to be set. What breed is it?

Strip the top of the head to keep the colour. Clip ears, cheeks, throat etc. Clip bum. Clip belly and if there is enough hair beneath, you can start to trim in the angle to make the chest look deeper. You can also trim in the eye brows. Has she already had her face clipped? it can take a few goes before they are confident about it being done and used to the clippers. As she gets older you will need to keep assesing the lines you have used to see if the beard needs bringing further forward to lengthen the head shape. Trim under and around the feet. Trim the toe nails. Trim the tail so it is smooth and not looking like a toilet brush the coat should be getting raked through on at least a weekly basis, so remove undercoat. With my pups, I strip them at about 3 - 4 months old so they have a harsh top coat in, in time to be shown at 6 months old (the earliest we can show them here). The coat is going to have to come out at some point, so i think it best to get rid of it early on so the pup looks better and better as the coat matures on the maturing pup. Do come and share some photos in the breed thread.

It's the fat that causes the problems, some dogs are more sensative to it then others. One of mine had it but was fine after treatment to stop the bloody diarrhoea and vomiting. Didn't need to go on a drip.

I would think you'd be able to smell it, if it is an anal gland problem. It is rarther pungent!

What is the surface of the pen? If it is all hard standing, he might just prefer the sand as the closest thing to going on the grass when he isn't in the run