tesslc

Thanks guys - I'm nervous to use listerine as it stings (a lot). I've used it as a home remedy for myself and I can testify that it is bloody painful.

I will give the betadine a go hopefully it's healing up in the next couple of days.

So our SBT boy is prone to hotspots. Actually it's been a couple of years since he's had a bad one but we had him on different biscuits recently and Lo and behold he's got a cracker on his cheek.

Usually I put Ilium Neocort on at the first sign and the spot clears up quickly. This time round I've been using it for a week and a half and it's not clearing up. Initially it scanned over and became pus filled underneath. I scrubbed the scab off, bathed it with salt water twice a day, dried it and kept putting the Neocort on. The infection cleared up in a day but no such luck with the hotspot.

I'm now bathing it with betadine every two hours, drying it completely and putting the neocort on. I've tried an anti fungal on it but that made it worse. At the moment it's not getting worse but not better either. I know he has scratched it once but he doesn't seem to be scratching it now (possibly because I've been smashing it with the Neocort).

Any ideas??

We have an entire English SBT male and he is beautiful. He socialises with other dogs reasonably well although he has had a few scraps with my parents entire male Bull Arab. He also had a few scraps with our SBT girl when she was alive, but that was her who started it. He would always pull away repeatedly and we could call him off. He plays well with most dogs he's introduced to.

Our girl became aggressive after she had pups and our boy got too close to the whelping box. After that, there was a period of about 6 months where the smallest thing would set them off. She stopped when they fought under my feet and I copped a canine in the foot. Both of them were so guilty and we never had another problem.

I think there's a couple of points here - plenty of SBTs live happily in multi dog households without an issue, but they do tend to be more aggressive then some other breeds. Any little/big dog relationship has its risks as a small dog can get hurt by accident. If your Cairn is not aggressive at all, and you introduce the SBT as a puppy (especially a male) I don't think you'd have any issues but all the same I'd take the precaution of not leaving them alone unattended to begin with (until the SBT is 12 months or so), feeding them separately etc

sardines or mackerel seems to help with skin stuff.. good luck!

Oh yeah - every post that talks about skin issues I repeat how my boy's skin went from being shocking to perfect on sardines. It makes up most of his diet now (mixed with biscuits, eggs and chicken necks).

Also try not to bath him too much. If it's contact allergies, that might not help, but my vet told me the natural oils in their skin/hair will heal or prevent most skin allergies.

Hi all

As an update I had a quick chat to them and they were aware that the barking is an issue, although they admitted they didn't hear it as much as we did, simply because of where their windows are positioned. I explained that I understood she's still a puppy, but the barking all night was getting a bit much. Since then - no barking!

The girl admitted she had been a bit slack walking their dog, as she'd come down with the flu, and that if she wasn't worn out, she tended to bark all night. I'm hoping they will be concious of this and make an effort to walk her every day.

And yes - BB did tell them to Baaa at her (which apparently makes her bark even more )

We had a similar issue with our dog, although it wasn't related to worming/fleaing. He was fine, no skin allergies or anything, when we first got him. At about 12 months old, he suddenly developed terrible allergies - we couldn't find any 'trigger' as such. His diet hadn't changed, we hadn't moved house or used a different shampoo. All of a sudden he had continual 'hot-spots' (infections from him itching himself crazy) and general skin irritation. We spent a lot of money on medication, creams and medicated shampoos but nothing helped. Eventually, our vet suggested stop bathing him, so we did. Thankfully Ted isn't a 'dirty' dog, and spends a lot of him inside. We only bath him every 3-4 months, and hose him down with water only if he gets muddy/dusty.

We also feed him tinned sardines 4-5 times a week with his biscuits, as well as eggs and chicken necks. His diet is pretty bland (he also has food allergies), but he now has the softest coat, and he hasn't had a single skin allergy since. I did notice when Woolies had a sardine shortage, that his belly was quite red, but I wouldn't call it 'irritated' and as soon as we got him back on the sardines, it cleared up immediately.

I would try an elimintation diet first. Also, has anything in Archie's life changed that may be causing him distress? A new neighbour or dog that may be setting him off?

Maybe you could approach it as more of a friendly curiosity that at the same time makes them aware you know there is an issue, something like:

Hey I noticed *** seems to be barking heaps more since Bark Busters was here, have they got you doing some sort of training with him?

Might start more of a conversation rather than it sounding like an accusation if you know what I mean.

That's not a bad idea - I probably could approach it in a "how are you finding BB? We are thinking of getting training for Tully (our fence barker)" then work it into the conversation. Things are a bit tense since they reported us to the council so it might break that awkwardness as well by making it seem like we are taking their concerns seriously.

When we got Tully Ted was 2 1/2. Tully was 6 mths so I was too worried about her being bowled over but did think Ted might play too rough - especially as he had grown up with a ridgeback and wolf hound. He was fine - he instinctively knew he had to be gentle with her. I sat outside with them for a couple of hours and my OH was on annual leave so they spent 2 weeks together day and night supervised.

I made sure Ted had some time away - usually cuddling with on the couch.

If you are worried about Wilbur's reaction put him on a lead to start with and stand by a door or gate so you can easily separate them if need be. Unfortunately sometimes puppies don't understand the big dog wants space so you need to be able to keep the pup away if need be.

I don't want to go to the council - hopefully an anonymous letter will be enough. I feel horrible for the dog - poor thing's throat must be so raw!

I am wondering whether Bark Busters suggested the dog sleep outside as part of its 'training' as the barking only started after BB attended the first time.

Thanks guys. Jemmy the same neighbours complained to the Council about our dogs barking at people walking past, which is partly why the relationship is strained.

I actually hadn't thought about a note in the letter box. I'm going to do that tomorrow.

Hi all

This topic may be in the wrong place but I need some advice on whether to approach our neighbours about their barking dog.

They've got a German Shepard - maybe 8 mths old. When they got him he would bark at our dogs through the fence so they weed matted their fence. That stopped him barking at our dogs but for the last week he has barked ALL night. And I mean all night non-stop.

The first night I went out and had a look - our dogs were fine but I thought there might be a snake or something. Nope. He was just standing at their gate barking at nothing. They were home (in bed I assume). Since they he's barked every night.

They had bark busters there last week (before the barking started) and again today, so they must be trying to fix the problem. The thing is our relationship isn't great and I don't want to make it worse by asking them if they are aware their dog is barking all night. But I also don't know how many more nights I can go on being woken up every hour by their dog barking!

Any suggestions??

I think Sandra's post covered pretty much everything.

Our SBT boy has skin and food allergies - for the first 12 months he would get rashes and hotspots almost continually. I spent a fortune on creams and washes for him but nothing worked. Then our vet told us to stop bathing him. Now he is bathed every 3-4 months and we have not had a single skin problem since! If he gets dirty I fill his pool up and that gets most the muck off him.

In relation to good allergies make sure you feed your girl good quality biscuits if you aren't going for a completely raw diet. Tin sardines are also really good for their coat and skin. Our dogs get no scraps or ''human food'' unless it's just meat (no marinades) pasta or rice. After the third time our boy was in the vet overnight with a food allergy we decided it was better to be safe then sorry.

Will he chase a large ball(like basketball sized)? We have some similiar to this at work, they are in a number of sizes and are very hard and shiny so chewer dogs can't get their teeth in to them. Only really good for dogs that will play solo soccer around the hyard with their ball though.

She fetches her Kong (what's left of it) and a tennis ball but nothing bigger. She'll only chase it 5-6 times before getting sick of it and laying down to chew.

Her favourite outside toys are palm fronds and coconuts but obviously these are no good for inside!

Definitely Goughnuts, they are tough but also replace toys for life if they are chewed through to the red warning layer.

Bugger I threw out my ball after the Am Staff chewed it through to the red, I should remember to remember which ones have guarentees. She also ate two Hurley's!

Lol our Hurley got eaten by the ride on mower and is still going strong!

One took her two visits and a couple of weeks to destroy, the second one lasted two hours. She has Go-cart Tyres for toys at home.

I was thinking of turning to some sort of tyres as a final option!!

I'm going to give the Goughnuts a go. My girl isn't fussy when it comes to chewing - as long as she can get a grip on it and chew she's happy. I've never seen a dog so determined to destroy something - it can keep her occupied all night if we don't distract her!!

Thanks Little Gifts - my girl LOVES pulling the stuffing out of anything. I used to just buy soft toys from the op shop but I got sick of picking the stuffing up from around the yard. I guess if they are confined to inside toys it's not so bad.

Kelpiecuddles that was Kongs direct response. I didn't actually ask for a replacement from Petbarn but I did explain the situation and they certainly didn't offer a replacement. Maybe I should push harder.

Really wow that's great. I was really disappointed with Kong they just said I must have bought the wrong size (I got the up to 30kgs size - my girl is 17kg). I will give the Goughnuts a try.

Hi all

I need some suggestions for toys for extreme chewers. Our SBT girl loves chewing but nothing lasts long enough to justify the costs. We bought two standard Kongs and they lasted two days. I bought one of the extreme Kongs (the black ones) and she had the top layer off in a week and the second layer by the next week. I can't afford $40 for 2-3 weeks of play.

I asked Petbarn if they had anything stronger - she suggested the Gorilla version of the Kong and gave it to me cheap as they no longer stock them. It felt like it was made of tougher material but in two days the top layer is pretty much destroyed.

Now she only has her chew toys inside in the evenings (and today as I was at home so she was inside during the day). When we are at work she has the Nylon bones which hold up a lot longer but are no good for inside as they scratch our couch.

Any suggestions? She loves her Kong but I cannot justify the cost for the little time that it takes her to destroy them!

I remember about 12 months ago when we started looking for our girl - it was pretty much impossible to find a breeder who wasn't flaunting the fact that the pups were blue or had blue blood lines! Very sad. The blues I know all have health/skin problems and we wanted to steer clear. Thankfully we found our girl with no blue lines.

Where in NT are you? I know of a trainer that might be able to help you out. There is also a behavioralist in Alice Springs who comes to Darwin regularly.

I gave to say the vets up here are pretty useless and I haven't found one I really like. Another reason to be excited about leaving at the end of the year :)

Hi Remarkabull. We are in Darwin. Any suggestions would be great!

Ok I will take on board everyone's comments. I should note our dogs are separated when we are out so no chance of us coming home to a disaster. I am worried they will continue to fight though but there are only limited options for specialist help in our area (we are in NT for some reason my profile keeps defaulting to QLD). There are behavioural classes on a Monday night but I'm not sure how specialised they are ????

Hi guys

As an update - since our girl was desexed we've only had one fight - when the dog across the way (also as SBT) approached our fence and our dogs started going crazy - first at that dog and then each other. All bluster and noise thankfully and they calmed down immediately. I spoke to our vet, who has SBTs too, and she said that can happen when they both get worked up as one thinks the other is being aggressive toward them.

Anyway our pup is leaving this weekend (is it horrible to say finally lol) so all will be back to normal at home. Also I'm going to start running with our girl and taking her to agility classes in addition to their usual walks. She has A LOT of energy and the vet suggested all her pent up energy could result in her lashing out.

In saying this, she has calmed down quite a bit since her op. Eg stopped jumping up on the door while I am preparing food. Gets out/down when told the first time. Fingers crossed!

Our SBT bitch had two seasons before she was speyed. Her first day she was quiet and sooky. From there on in she was hyper (she's hyper normally so not much change there) but was also restless through the night. We walked her on lead and that calmed her down a bit. By day 10 (when the fun male stuff started) she calmed down. Although she didn't get that far with the second heat as she was already booked in to be spayed.

We are keeping them separated until she heals - hopefully she will be back to her usual self in a couple of days!

They went ahead and speyed her - just said there's more risk involved but she's back to her normal self this morning. Since she got home our boy has been very interested.

Last time she was in heat she got very snarky at the start with our boy and he wasn't showing any interest in him at all. Now that I think back her behaviour was quite similar I just wasn't expecting her to be in heat again so soon.