pebbles

Sorry, I've got no solutions at all and fortunately only ever had one dog which was a clothes line maniac - when Mickey, Miniature Pinscher was a bub he would leap up and swing on a towel on the line if it was windy then hang on and get blown around in circles. I wish I'd got some pics of it!

I feed quite a few chicken necks and two of my small dogs will just swallow them whole so those get smashed and cut into pieces. When I started Mick (small dog) on the necks I would hold them so he had to chew and now there's no problem with him, he chews! Perhaps hold them until your pup gets the idea that they have to be chewd then see how he goes!

Not sure if this is relevent but most of my dogs will do a few scratches before lying down but Jedda will scratch madly if the weather is hot. Her bed has a foam covered mattress in it and she will attack it when it's hot. I just take the foam out and put a cotton sheet in and she lies down straight away. She was doing the same on the couch until I put a cotton doona cover over it. Maybe worth a try?

I've been working on Jedda's recall and being a sight hound I really don't have much confidence in it, specially with all the rabbit scents around here. I've been letting her loose on a long trailing lead in a fairly confined area and she would come reasonably well to a treat. Tonight we went for our usual walk along a mile long track and being so cool she was eager to run so - bit the bullet and let her loose. She took off flat out and I had visions of a white and black flash vanishing into the distance. I let her run a fair way then yelled "Jedda, come". She did an about turn and came straight back!!!! Lots of praise but I didn't have her treat so felt mean about that. Put her back on lead for a while then let her off again on the way back towards the car, let her run ahead and when she got near the car I yelled "in the car" and she jumped in and was waiting for me. My heart is still thumping and I don't know when I'll be that brave to try again, lol. Not very newsworthy but I had to tell someone eta - not really a problem.

Eeeekkk sas, sounds scary stuff! I hope it's just an inside dog you are bathing and not a horse tied to a rail outside?

Thanks for all the replies - now I'm totally confused!!! Think I'll get either Sard or Sunlight, hopefully locally, and have a look around the sites for one of the other recommended ones. Settrlvr - Mention of 'Blue' brings back memories - many eons ago I had one breed on at Melbourne Royal and Cocker Spaniels the next day. Way back then you weren't allowed to leave until 8pm. Two Hour drive home, couple of hours sleep, bath the Cocker and head out again at 5,30am. Get to the Showgrounds, get the Cocker out and his whites are a lovely shade of purple! Must have put too much 'Blue' in the rinse!!! Needless to say we didn't do any good but got a lot of 'rude' comments lol.

Jedda, white and black Whippet has been having a mining venture in the yard and excavated where it appears former residents have had a bonfire so now she's a grey and black Whippet. I need some new shampoo so can someone recommend one which I can buy on line (and the site) as I doubt Mildura would have any special shampoos. Thanks.

Well, here's where I'm not going to be much help at all! Quick background - Sam (now 11yo)was about 18 months when he started having days where he wouldn't eat and slept a lot, was grumpy with everyone, probably a few times a month. Numerous trips to the Vet. whom I'm sure thought I was crazy as Sam would seem fine. Numerous blood , urine, faeces, etc. tests done, nothing showing up. The only thing was the not eating, sleeping and to me a slight hardness of the tummy but put his lead on and he would seem OK except I could tell that he wasn't quite right. Various medications tried, can't remember the names now but tummy settling type things and some antibiotics, different diets, etc. nothing worked. He still has these attacks ocassionally, nowhere near as often now but I was always expecting them to end in a hemorrhage or fit or something but just leaving him undisturbed to sleep or move around as he felt and he'd get over it. I doubt I would have noticed any change in him if he had been a kennel dog except for the not eating so it still remains a mystery. So not much help, was I?

On the days when he doesn't eat, is he still his normal self or does he perhaps sleep more, not be so energetic, anything different? My Sam has a condition and he wont look at food for 1 or 2 days, had this most of his life.

My goodness, if the dog is in so much pain that even touching his legs is causing distress, I feel that grooming is the least of the worries - a serious talk with the owner re medication, Vet treatment, advice re quality of life, etc. would be my first priority! Poor little fellow

Is the dog under Vet care? Perhaps have a chat with the owner to suss out if the dog is on any pain relief? Maybe the owner doesn't realise how much pain the poor fellow is in.

Thankfully I'm not in a tick area and as for fleas - seldom see any and if/when I do they are treated on an individual basis - bathing the dogs, spraying all areas etc. I'm just not keen on all these preventatives - why use them when 99% of the time there's nothing to prevent! I know people say they use them and don't have fleas - how do they know they would have fleas if they didn't use these products? Ticks are another thing, no tick problems here!

kim21 - I wasn't talking about the 'sulk' reaction but the physical reactions that some appear to have! Fortunately my guys seldom get the sulks about anything! Their 'not happy' reaction is generally more the vocal sort and that quickly gets stomped on

Good heavens! If the dogs are having that sort of reaction, why would anyone keep using it?

As I travel alone all my new pups go straight into a crate for the drive home and it's never had any adverse effect. Jedda, Whippet pup, came home in a middle sized crate which I also use for a Min Pin. she then went into her bigger crate at home. She will still squeeze into the Min crate at times and have a snooze, legs and head stick out in all directions

I should have added that the toy breeds are pretty notorious for hanging on to their teeth! Most of my Min Pins had to have baby teeth removed by the Vet. the bigger breeds seem to cope better with just shedding them!

My Whippet girl, 6 months old, had retained a baby canine which was as solid as a rock and the adult one was right through. She decided to try and rip the mat in the gazebo at a show and the tooth came out so depending on your pup's age I wouldn't give up hope yet as long as the adult tooth is in the right place.

Thanks for the link, cazxxz. I've emailed the contact in Mildura so hopefully!!!!! Sheesh, I never think to 'search' - dumbo me

Is there anywhere in the nth/west Vic Mildura/Swan Hill area) that stocks the patties? Like to give them a try!

I've got two who dig for different reasons - Jedda, Whippet 6mths just digs for fun, she will be running around and suddenly stop and dirt will fly everywhere. With the drought my yard has been just dirt now it's littered with craters which I fill in when she's not looking, if she's with me she will dig it out as fast as I fill. Mick, 2 years, Min Pin. is a insect hunter, if he sees one go under a rock or whatever he digs like mad to get it but they're long gone as he just digs where he saw it vanish. Afraid I haven't got any solutions, my yard isn't worth saving since the drought. The only hole Jedda started to dig near the fence I filled with old bricks and she hasn't dug there again.

It took 3 doses of Rimadyl to end up with 6 weeks of fighting to save Ben and we lost! My Vet at the time wouldn't use Rimadyl after that.

My Min Pin girl Pebbles had the same thing, her ear blew up to a huge size and had to be opened to remove the dried blood clot. She ended up with an ear that drops at the tip but seeing her show days were finished my Vet didn't do any propping up. Her ear is a bit thicker through now but doesn't worry her. She was fine one day then the next this just gradually got bigger, she didn't have any knocks, etc. that I know of just a burst blood vessel.

It can have short term nasty effects as well -from personally experience I would never use Rimadyl - there are other drugs which will do the same job, they all can have side effects but IMO Rimadyl should never be used.

Sometimes I think there's tooooooo much information and toooooooo many books written (often by those who know the theory but haven't the practice having read books written by those who know etc....) maybe some basic instincts could be handy at times! I'm not advocating 'barbaric practices' just the return to some common sense in the rearing of kids and animals! Ok so I'm an old fuddy duddy - you can tell me to go bag my head now

OK I know it's not the done thing and I've never rubbed a pups nose in 'it' always watched and trained, easier than cleaning up any mess. Being an 'oldie' I remember as a kid who wasn't allowed to have a pup going to any friend's homes (where there was a pup to play with rather than the friend, lol) and the normal thing was 'rub the nose in it' and put the dog outside. I don't recall any dog having temperament issues, being frightened, getting aggressive then or later, just always being friendly playful kids pets and not weeing inside! I'm not saying the training methods now aren't better but maybe, just maybe, some of the oldtime strategies worked as well not just with the house training but overall. Way back then a dog was a dog usually and unacceptable behaviour wasn't mucked around with. I grew up in a fairly heavily dog populated area (all the kids had a dog or two) and dog bites (to human) and dog fights were very rare and most of the dogs were playing together with their kids in the street. Any other 'mature' DOLers remember those days?