Erny

I picked up some goats milk from A today. () Keeping it in the freezer as I'm first going to get faecal sample analysed (dropping sample in tomorrow - he's not been pooing much in the last couple of days, so hopefully I'll manage to get some in time to get it to the Vets and subsequently to the lab). If you'd seen my boy today, apart from the fact that he is too lean and not bulked enough, you'd be thinking he was full of good health and nothing wrong. At my parents' property (acreage) he ran and ran and ran ..... having a jolly ol' time.

Oh! Silly me. Will try to get a photo of one. Although I am now thinking I'm grasping at straws by the "rough pads" idea.

The thing is Madamoisellemika, she won't be learning how to navigate her own way out to go to the toilet. Admittedly, I swiftly picked my boy up in the first couple of days of him being home, to whisk him outside for the very reason you state, but that was not every time - it was only when I saw the need was very urgent. You only have a tiny dog, but she is just that ..... a dog, no less. Work to reinforce confidence and building her confidence to as much as it can possibly be. She'll need that confidence - especially as to her the world is even so much bigger than it is for many other dogs who are larger. So she needs even more confidence to better have her cope with it through her lifetime. IMO she shouldn't need a blanket for confidence. If she's feeling the chill, try a little dog coat, but promote 'standing on her own four feet' as much as possible. Congratulations on your new pup. Enjoy her. Just try to keep your end goal in mind so you can work towards it. Start as you mean to finish . Cheers Erny

I will very much enjoy this, I'm sure . My dog hasn't been well of late and have had to put drive training on hold for the time being, but gathering the info so I can use it when we can return to drive training will be excellent.

Of my boy as he is now, you mean? I can take an updated one tomorrow and post it later in the afternoon. He is looking somewhat better since he's been eating last couple of days. Thanks Danois. I'm keeping my mind open to anything that could be possible, at the moment.

Lisa - thanks. Sorry, I got to your message too late to call you. I've sent you a PM though and will call you tomorrow. I believe in honey as well and on other occasions have administered Active Manuka Honey with good results. My boy loves it, but I knew he was really feeling unwell when about a week ago he went to eat it but then dropped it from his mouth and walked away. That was the day I rang the Vets again, but because he was not completed his course of antibiotics they wanted me to continue with what I was doing and to merely remove the food (EP) when he didn't eat it, not try other foods. I did that over the next several days, but the amount of food he was consuming became progressively less and less. I've since put some in water on a couple of occasions when I wasn't so sure he was drinking, to make sure he stayed hydrated. He drank that ok. He's still loving his cooked chicken (and so might he .... chicken fillets, skin off .... 4 - 5 of them a day - he eats better than I as I think many of our dogs do!!). But only one very small stool today and it was runny (albeit thick). Roll on Tuesday when I can take a stool sample and take it to the Vet for pathology examination. I want some answers !! On the upside .... since the chicken, he's quite boundy by comparison to what he's been over the last week.

Thanks to you both. Andisa - I am interested in the goats milk. Was also considering giving cottage cheese. I believe that has some wonderful qualities to aid health issues as well. My boy has never had either, so I'm not sure how he'd cope with it. Where abouts do you live, Andisa .... perhaps I can try? He's eating the boiled chicken with enthusiasm. However his stools are now very runny (since feeding the boiled chicken). He's had boiled chicken before when he had an earlier upset stomach and he came good within 24-48 hours. Back then I thought it must have just been a bug that he'd gotten over. Anyway - I can't think that it is the chicken that is the problem. Strangely, when he wasn't eating, or barely eating, his stools looked better than what they do now that he is eating (chicken, at least). Over the past 24 hours I have on a couple of occasions given him a few pieces of the EP kibble as treats for doing something good. He's now eating that with what appears to be some enthusiasm that has been missing over the past week or so. I would try giving him enough EP to comprise a meal, but at the moment don't want to go mixing the meal contents otherwise I'll get myself confused with what is doing what. Faecal sample will be dropped to the Vet's this coming Tuesday (I had to wait a week after the last antibiotic), so it might give me some answers. I've given him a couple of dollops of yoghart over the last 72 hours to help his system recover from the antibiotics. He loves the yoghurt - no hesitation eating that. At least he is eating something of substance - at the time of posting, his loss of weight and my uncertainty that he'd eat anything at all was the most concerning. The thought of having to wait 4 whole days without him eating something of some decent measure wasn't something I felt he would manage to cope with at all. As it was, he was looking weak in the body. Since the chicken, he's got a tonne more bounce back, even though he has runny stools. I'll let you know how the stool sample results go. Should know that Wednesday/Thursday next week, I expect. I'm also getting them to check for worms as well. He's only coming up due for a wormer, but I don't want to worm him unnecessarily, especially with his stomach being out of sorts. The other thing they're going to check for is giardia. I don't know if they have any other things in mind that they'll be checking for. Dogbespotted - I'll check up on zinc deficiency. Ta much. You helped me so much with info when my previous girl was so ill. Here you are supporting and helping again. Cheers for that . Erny

Yeah .... it was probably a silly thought. I think I'm thinking about it too much and hoping to find a solution fast. At least I've got my boy eating again today. Over the last week he's been on and off his food, then off his food almost completely over the last 3 days. He has no weight to lose and his 2nd and 3rd ribs were showing. On boiled chicken now and for today at least, he's been enthusiastically eating that. Forget the question about the rough pads. It probably has naught to do with naught.

I know that the pads of our dogs' paws should be rough for traction. But I was wondering if it is possible that more roughness than might be expected could relate back to dietary insufficiency. Does anyone know? I'm have a couple of health issues with my current boy and I have a couple of Vets on the go investigating each one. One is a structural issue. The other is a digestive issue. Whether they could possibly be related is yet to be confirmed or denied. My boys pads (including the upper pads on the forearms near the dew claws) are considerably more rough than my previous girl's, and he is only 9 months old and hasn't had a lot of exercise on surfaces that I would expect would cause them to be more rough. I'm only pondering (as you do when your dog's not well and the Vets haven't reached a diagnosis and remedy) and am expecting most replies to be along the lines of "they are supposed to be that way". I guess I am thinking on the track such as we do when our finger nails don't grow correctly, or we have dry and/or rough skin - sometimes those things can be indicative of insufficient something. Just investigating the possibilities outside of the square.

Why do you carry her out .... and why in a "blankie" ???

I agree with the activity of play/running stimulating the urge to 'empty'. I built up word association of "quick quick" as a toileting cue for my youngster from the moment he came home. I was able to use that for both urination and defecation. When I wanted to encourage defecation I would go to a spot where he'd last soiled (defecated), point to it (to encourage him to sniff) and give the toilet cue. It worked. So in those early training days, I tended to leave the most recent 'land mine' where it was rather than pick up straight away, although I don't need to do that now (he's now 9mo). It isn't perfect, but I find that if he has it in him, he'll 'go'. I also made it that when he did the first poop of the morning (outside of course) he'd get his breakfast. So he's now in pretty much in that habit now.

"As Far As I Know"

I don't know - personally, I hope it is. Schutzhund comprise of numerous aspects (tracking; obedience; etc) and I believe to even a higher level than the usual obedience trials. I have sent an email requesting info pertaining to agenda. When I get a response I will endeavour to post it up here. But if you want to know sooner, maybe a phone call to the contact person?

Thank you. I knew Eagleheights were intending to have her out and was just waiting for details. Melbourne has been really spoilt of late - most of the seminars I have been to have involved interstate travel. It's been a bit like Christmas, really, as we've been lucky to have had a few good ones running down here. And the fact that this one is a hop skip and a jump from me is an added bonus!! .

I agree with Dogdude ... IMO the Balabanov DVD's are worthwhile getting. I like the way he trains.

The only things I have seen of him are via a couple of his DVD's. It's been quite a while since I've watched them but from what I recall there was demonstration of training/behaviour modification making use of the PPCollar - in that one I thought he was more harsh than what I would be but the dogs did seem more hard-nosed than fear based and the ultimate result was good and prompt. Either the same or a separate DVD showed some e-collar work but I recall he went through the 'finding the dog's working level' as I do. Overall, my impression was that he works the dogs harder than what I do but again, the dogs did seem 'tougher' than your general pet at home dog. Midol - I need to re-visit the DVD's I have. It was quite a number of years since I looked them up. I vaguely recall how he has text come up on the screen and I can't help thinking he said "this stim is too high" (words not verbatim) rather than as you have sited it. Perhaps I'm wrong or perhaps we have different DVDs or perhaps you mis-heard him. I'll check mine asap. I'm not defending the man, but I'm just not certain that what has been said is correct. I have watched Ed Frawley with interest but haven't taken much if anything to the way I conduct my own training. I recall there being a segment on one of his DVDs where he points out the cons of certain training equipment. He was talking about the PPCollar and explaining how the links can spring apart when in use. It was demonstrated in the DVD. I know this can occur and when PPCollars were legal for use here in Victoria, I used to hitch a 'fail safe' with some dogs "just in case". In my own personal experience though, I've never seen or had a PPCollar give way like that. I do work differently to him though. Regardless of all that, I'm a bit shocked and surprised at the "hit the dog over the head with a shovel" comment.

Leerberg has some merit in some of the things he says and does IMO. I don't agree with all of it (then who agrees with all and everything of anybody), however his clientele seems to comprise much of stronger working lines than that which predominate my clientele list. Still, I read and watch him with interest and do find some things he says of value.

Ok - so break it down into smaller increments. Run to 'gee' her up and then throw in a couple of normal walk paces, back to a run/jog before she has a chance to lag, then throw in a couple of walk paces. Work to increase the number of walk paces you can do without her lagging until you can predominantly walk rather than run.

Wonder if they'll have scones, jam and cream .

That's the name of them! Thanks - as per my first post, I'd forgotten what they were called. But that's them.

Regardless of the industry and even if that bloke was God, I wouldn't trust him. I never trust anyone who feels the need to "bag-out" anyone by name. People like that IMO haven't got the strength of conviction to be able to support their own methods and so feel they must trample on anyone else whom they perceive as a threat. It makes them feel empowered and higher up the pedestal ladder, but they only create an illusion for themselves and hope to woo others over under the same blanket of illusion. Instead of debating the points that have been raised against their own methods, they cast personal attacks. At the very least it is unprofessional and taints his own integrity assuming he has any.

The link below might explain it better than I can, but from what I gather it is about having the dog feel trapped and pushing him way into defense drive to achieve the bite. In other words, the decoy scares the bejeebies out of the dog and as the dog has no flight option, he is forced to fight for what he perceives as his only means of survival. What a horrible way to train. Table Training in Protection Work

Even if it takes a further week beyond that one, Jen21, I'd keep at it. Two weeks is IMO a fairly good marker to inidicate that behaviour is improving and what you're doing is working. One week .... you might make progress but it might be so subtle as to not to realise it. But here's hoping one week will do it :rolleyes:.

No idea, Midol. And for his carry on I didn't feel like honouring him by a visit to his web site.

Definitely clear any possible underlying cause (other than age) for the cataracts, but there are some eye drops that I believe have been successfully used in the reduction of this ailment in dogs. It was actually developed for use in humans, but they found that whilst they didn't have the success rate in humans, they did very well in dogs. Let me know if you need a link for it (I'd have to search for it) or at least perhaps raise the topic with your Vet.