Seita

Hi! She seems to be scratching around her neck and on her flanks and a bit on her front feet (but not much). She sleeps inside on polished wood floors or in her crate with a foam doggy bed (less than 6 months old). When she's outside she tends to lie on concrete under the house or out in the grass. I'll be trying the medicated shampoo some more this week and seeing how that goes. Also bought some aloveen shampoo and conditioner today and will try that at some point. I don't think she is reacting to the collar as that thought crossed my mind a few months ago so I left it off for a few weeks to see how she went but it made no difference. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that the itching is not that bad, there is no redness or marks on her skin anywhere and no sign of irritation. She scratches fairly often but it's not the excessive, obviously annoyed scratching... I started the topic to try and find an answer for her itchiness BEFORE it gets worse! I've had a dog with hot spots and a food allergy, I've also had a dog with a yeast infection in her ears and some kind of grass allergy and I don't want this girl to have to get to the stages of those dogs, I'd rather try and help her now before it gets worse. Thanks for your responses so far guys!

No, I didn't do that but I will give it a shot now and see how it goes. Thanks for the tip with the aloveen stuff too... I will definitely give it a shot! As for soap, its the sunlight soap which I only use on her whites (border collie) for show grooming to get them nice a bright. Also as mentioned I use Sentinel spectrum, so there is no flea stuff on her body as it's an internal product!

Thanks for the responses guys, in answer: Yep, I'm very certain that she hasn't got fleas... I have checked her over very thouroughly several times now and there is quite certainly no fleas. I have her sentinel spectrum which does fleas and I also have a flea/tick collar on her too. I have washed her with masalab but it had no effect on the itchiness. There doesn't seem to be anything in the yard that could cause itchiness, just grass and burrs which we are keeping cut down! I feed a barf diet with additions of flaxseed oil and LSA mix, plus sardines several times a week so she is getting plenty of oils etc. I guess it could be dust related... aside from regular cleaning how would I control that?

Ok, so my girl has the itches at the moment and there is quite certainly no fleas on her. I thought it might be dry skin so I started adding some flaxseed oil and LSA mix to her food (she's fed BARF) and while it helped a bit at first the itching seems to have worsened in recent weeks. I then tried using a different shampoo on her, one of the medicated washes instead of her usual plush puppy shampoo or sunlight soap but that hasn't had any impact. Could anyone suggest what else could be causing her to itch and what I can possibly do to try and make her feel better? Would one of the sensitive skin shampoos (like aloveen) possibly help to reduce the ichiness? Thanks for your responses!

Thanks for your responses guys. Bought one from dogquip, it arrived today. They had fantastic service and Ella loves her new tug!!

JJ - thanks for letting me know that dogquip do tugs, I have bought one from Kurt now and have to say his service was fantastic! Just waiting for the tug to arrive now!! :D

@ everyone's responses! I am curious though about what your dog actually thinks when you do start going off? I might have to try this next time Ella digs a hole!!

Errm... honestly I doubt that this would work. Dogs do not have logic which is why if you come home and find the dog has eaten a chair and you scold the dog for it, the dog will not understand that they are in trouble for eating the chair, the dog will not make that connection. It would be exactly the same if you scolded the chair, the dog would just look at you and have no idea what you were on about and it may even think it's in trouble because of your raised voice and your body language! But seriously your friend would probably be better off catching the dog in the act and scolding it then or putting some foul tasting stuff on the furniture so the dog no longer enjoys eating it! It would make a great home video though!

JeffnCel, I got a PM too and I just wrote my experience before and with the prong. Maybe just write why you went with a prong over other training collars and why you think they are great compared to other collars?

Thanks guys, the caninebodyworks ones look pretty good. JJ - I did stumble across the dogquip site the other day but didn't realise they did tugs, thanks for letting me know!

I need a new tug toy for my dog... but I can't seem to find anything decent! I'm looking for something like this which I found on fordogtrainers.com but prefferably from Australia! I have a border collie so I'm not looking for anything big. Can anyone recommend any tugs or where to get something like this from?

Fair enough, I did puppy school with them last year but found it to be pretty good. There wasn't much structure to the class then either, it was more just some free time for the puppy's to learn to play together and a small about of obedience training etc... I quite liked the way the class was run. It was a guy who ran our class so I don't know, things might have changed! I've heard good things about southside but I'm not entirely sure about what classes and stuff they run! Either way good luck with finding a club ;)

kathyinjapan, are you just looking to do some basic obedience with your dog? If your on the southside I would probably recommend southside dog obedience club or Bonney's runs classes at Durack and also further south I think in Mt Gravatt and Logan (check their website). I think asking you to do a private consult before starting up some basic obedience classes sounds a little suspicious!

Congrats! I'm glad she's working out for you!

Continued because apparently there is a limit to how many quotes you can include in a post: I'm sure there was, just from my perspective (out of the bedroom window about 5 metres from the scene and later with information from Will's fiancee and their other neighbour) it seemed a bit over the top but hey that's just my personal opinion. Thanks erny, I'm sure it wasn't and I know for next time that I need to provide more information so people do not jump to conclusions and I don't have to end up defending myself like this. Note how most of those statements begin with "I believe" hence personal opinion. Not once in any of my posts have I suggested that the police dog was poorly trained... I made a comment about the level of training and that was in regards to distractions (being my dog)... again with the assumptions. Thanks rachelle, I will remember next time to give enough information so that I do not end up defending myself. Oh yes, I've not only learnt a bit more about police dogs etc but also to keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself or else they seem to come back to burn me! Thanks for the enlightenment. Over and out!

thanks rachelle, like I said some of what I've written could have been written better. I have expressed opinions from my point of view, which is from someone who was at the incident and saw the whole thing pan out. I didn't want this thread to go into what was happening which is why I didn't give a lot of information about it to begin with. I really just wanted to know why the police would need my dog away so theirs could focus. The fact that it might have been for their own (and my dog's) safety did not cross my mind until someone mentioned it on here. I feel that some people have jumped to conclusions and I guess I probably have too. It's not like I put my dog out on purpose, when my dog was out the whole thing was just starting and I came out to find out what was going on... I didn't feel the need to post all this information so I left it, but people assume things. I never said there was, I did say that I almost made a comment about the level of training but I did not say that was a comment about how bad or good it was... for all the poster knows it may have been a comment or question in regards to why my dog would need to be away so his could focus - which you might notice was also my original question: I only added the whole story of what happened and thus my opinions because I was asked: Isn't that what opinions are about? And isn't that what these types of threads are for so people who have no clue (ie me) can learn a little more? Again with the jumping to conclusions, I never said that what the police did or didn't do was enough or not enough, I do feel the situation blew out of proportion a bit but hey am I not entitled to my opinion just like everyone else?

Thanks for your responses guys... I feel that much more educated and small now . I must appologise that my question and statements have come across speculative and suggestive, I think that a lot of what I have written could have been written and explained better which might explain some of the responses I've received. I honestly was only ever curious so I figured that the brilliant and diverse minds on DOL would be able to give me some insight into a world that I really don't know a lot about, which you have and then some... thanks for highlighting how little I know and making me feel crap about it.

Ok Hypothetical question here: (note I honestly don't know a great deal about police dogs and have not in anyway suggested that they are not trained properly) If there is a situation where a police dog is required to work (use your imagination) but there is a dog in a yard that is causing a problem, say barking at the fence and generally being a nuisance and no one is home. Would the police do something about the dog for it's and their dog's safety? Like enter the yard and restrain the dog or something similar? I really am just curious about what happens in these situations!

I understand the reason for the police being called, yes Will was violent (I don't know how, I wasn't told) when he woke up (probably due to the alcohol) so there was a danger and I'm not judging anyone for calling the police but I do believe that the police overreacted. I've lived next to these people for almost a year and have never known Will to be dangerous towards others in any way. His fiancee was outside and the police would not let Will know she was there, so he freaked out - honestly he's woken up from being unconscious to find that he is surrounded by police and has no idea whats happened, I would probably freak out too. I also believe that the police did use excessive force, there was really no reason from them to use the dog on Will after he came out of the house peacefully and calmly... but they did. This thread was never meant to be about whether the police were overreacting or what was going on with my neighbour... I merely asked why a police dog handler would ask for a civilian dog to be locked away so his dog could "focus". People have given me all kinds of great information which I understand. I can understand that a dog handler would want to create an ideal environment to work his dog in, I certainly would too if I were in such a situation. Like I said I just wanted to know why his dog would need my dog to be out of sight so it could focus... that has now been answered. Thank you. Thanks, I think everyone has already told me this!

Everything worked out ok, my neighbour is safe and he is getting better I've been told - he was trying to kill himself, which is what the whole situation was about the other night. The cops overreacted big time which made Will (my neighbour) overreacted and the whole thing blew out of propotion in a BIG way! But everyone is safe and the episode ended about 9pm (after 7 hours) on Sunday night. Cavnrott: Honesty I was never worried for my saftey, I know Will and knew that he would not do anything to anyone else Erny: I was never in any danger during the whole thing, nor was anyone else and because I never felt in any danger that's why I found the situation boring!! K9force: About the dog thing, I fully understand a handler asking for a dog to be put away for its and their dogs own safety. My main thoughts were more in regards to the dog being quite distracted by my dog, who was lying quietly in my yard for most of this. It wasn't until they moved the dog closer to my front gate that my dog started getting more excited and that was more from the police dog trying to go into my yard (gate was closed). The situation sparked my curiosity more than anything, what would the police do in a situation similar to this one but where the owner of the civilian dog was not home? The dog was very focussed once they started working with him, what I saw of him - 2 yards over and somewhat in the dark - he was really really focussed on the house and Will yelling at the police. I have no doubt that the dog was fully focussed on his job. Do you think they asked me to put my dog away more out of concern that she would try and get to their dog and just gave the excuse that they needed to focus him? Seita thanks for letting us know what happend. Your poor neigbhour must have a lot going on in their lives to think about killing themseleves. I am glad they are getting better. If the Police dog was trying to get into your yard because it saw your dog then this is not good. Was it off or on lead? If it was off lead it's poor timimg by the handler or the handler was new. If it was on lead still poor control by the handler and possabilly new to the job. But they all have to learn through experience on the job it the best way to learn. Who called the police in the first place? do you know what they told them. I don't see how someone trying to kill themselves would involve Police dogs in the response. It's all a bit funny unless they were told that drugs, bombs or protection dogs were needed. Edited because of my lousy spelling lol The police dog was on lead but he seemed young and pretty interested in what was going on around. But he did the job just fine when it came to the crunch. My thoughts were the same, that he might be still learning somewhat. Apparently the story goes a bit like this: Will has been depressed, Sunday morning took a concoction of pain meds and copious amounts of alcohol and subsequentially passed out. His fiancee found him unconscious and called the ambulance because she couldn't wake him. When he did wake he was very violent, so I believe that the ambulance called the police. Because Will is ex-military the police took the situation very seriously - he had knives etc. Will passed out again (maybe a few times) and when he finally woke up properly (he has no memory of the violent way he reacted) he was alone and surrounded by police so he freaked out and got a bit aggressive (vocally) which only made the police more concerned. The whole situation blew out of control I think and when Will finally came out (voluntarily and peacefully) the police used riot shields, the dog and a tazer. I also wondered why they had the dog there when I first went out to find out what was going on.

Sorry it's taken me soo long to get back to replying to this thread! I've been at work non stop pretty much for the last 2 days. Pinnacle dts: Everything worked out ok, my neighbour is safe and he is getting better I've been told - he was trying to kill himself, which is what the whole situation was about the other night. The cops overreacted big time which made Will (my neighbour) overreacted and the whole thing blew out of propotion in a BIG way! But everyone is safe and the episode ended about 9pm (after 7 hours) on Sunday night. Cavnrott: Honesty I was never worried for my saftey, I know Will and knew that he would not do anything to anyone else Erny: I was never in any danger during the whole thing, nor was anyone else and because I never felt in any danger that's why I found the situation boring!! K9force: About the dog thing, I fully understand a handler asking for a dog to be put away for its and their dogs own safety. My main thoughts were more in regards to the dog being quite distracted by my dog, who was lying quietly in my yard for most of this. It wasn't until they moved the dog closer to my front gate that my dog started getting more excited and that was more from the police dog trying to go into my yard (gate was closed). The situation sparked my curiosity more than anything, what would the police do in a situation similar to this one but where the owner of the civilian dog was not home? The dog was very focussed once they started working with him, what I saw of him - 2 yards over and somewhat in the dark - he was really really focussed on the house and Will yelling at the police. I have no doubt that the dog was fully focussed on his job. Do you think they asked me to put my dog away more out of concern that she would try and get to their dog and just gave the excuse that they needed to focus him?

Train him first and if he can't do it that well then use the other style for competition.

It's also called the euro, continental or military flip... if you look at any of the videos of crufts obedience dogs then they will be doing this style of flip. It looks very flash if done right but if your dog can't flip properly the wrap around the back looks tidier.

I know! That's what I was thinking. I was on the phone with my mum just before I went outside and we were talking about dog training and stuff like that, then this cop tells me to lock my dog up so his can focus... I almost said something about the level of training!

I am currently under instruction to remain inside my house due to there being a domestic issue going on with my neighbours. I have about 6 police cars, an ambulance, a paramedics car and a dog squad car parked in front of my house... so I am somewhat bored. What got me thinking though was earlier in the afternoon I was outside and my dog was bouncing around in my front yard, the police asked me to lock my dog up so they could get one of their dogs to focus. Shouldn't a police dog be trained to focus in all situations, isn't that the point?