bikle

The vet mentioned swimming too.

There are no dog pools in Perth are there?

Anyone know?

Will PM Pixi for advice and do a forum search too.

I've been managing my old boy's arthritis for years so am sort of used to that.

None of my dogs have ever been overweight so managing that is not an issue.

I'm used to adjusting up and down by half and quarter cups judging by the waistline.

Sorry to hear Horty

Poor Ebony.

There is a dog pool in Canning Vale.

I do not know the exact details off the top of my head but can get it for you if you are interested..

he's such a cutie amy

good work with the video editing.. wish i knew how :/

would love to meet up at the park sometime with the dogs

i head down to the park between thornlie n maddo metro a fair bit

let me know if u want to meet up for a walk!

Douglas and Georgia fight it out in the lounge.

K9: Just on the drive work, you need to stop taking away the ball when the dog barks, this causes frustration & will elevate drive, which is a plus, but with no way to relieve it, the dog will exhaust that pressure elsewhere, like the barking you are having.

It is time to add a no reward marker in your drive work, which in this case would be, your dog barks you stop immediately & give a NRM. Such as no, or uh uh.. It will mean to the dog you are not going to get the reward & if your timing is good, it will be paired with the bark.

It will then be in the dogs best interest to not bark...

Thanks K9.

How long do I wait after I give him the NRM before I throw the ball again?

The problem is that he has learnt that if he is persistent enough, he will generally get what he wants.

On the weekend he was told 'no' and then he barked... My guests, absent mindedly kicked the ball after around 10 minutes of the barking - rewarding him for his persistence.

Should I remove the ball and toys from him completely?

Are there other ways I can satisfy his drive?

He is not very food focussed.

K9: this isnt a reason to stop this work, unless you want too. There are always other ways...

I would train as normal, when he starts to bark, you come to an immediate halt & stand up straight like the Alpha & at the same time give a firm NRM as described...

He should stop barking, when he does, pause for a few seconds. Keep eye contact with him & make sure he is a little submissive.

Then walk to a new place keeping the same attitude, call him to you & give you trigger command & begin again..

It may take a few times but you will highlight what STOPS the game is him barking...

awesome. thankyou.

will put the plan into action..

my neighbors are very understanding, but hopefully i can get it under control before they lose the plot

K9: Just on the drive work, you need to stop taking away the ball when the dog barks, this causes frustration & will elevate drive, which is a plus, but with no way to relieve it, the dog will exhaust that pressure elsewhere, like the barking you are having.

It is time to add a no reward marker in your drive work, which in this case would be, your dog barks you stop immediately & give a NRM. Such as no, or uh uh.. It will mean to the dog you are not going to get the reward & if your timing is good, it will be paired with the bark.

It will then be in the dogs best interest to not bark...

Thanks K9.

How long do I wait after I give him the NRM before I throw the ball again?

The problem is that he has learnt that if he is persistent enough, he will generally get what he wants.

On the weekend he was told 'no' and then he barked... My guests, absent mindedly kicked the ball after around 10 minutes of the barking - rewarding him for his persistence.

Should I remove the ball and toys from him completely?

Are there other ways I can satisfy his drive?

He is not very food focussed.

Continue as you are - keep ignoring, but ensure that you are consistent with it. After a minute or so after he has quietened, THEN pay him some attention. He starts to bark again, and out he goes.

As always, ensure your 'pack leadership' status is identified by your dogs as being "up there".

Follow the NILIF program (Nothing In Life Is Free) - this will help him realise that his demands for what he wants when he wants it are simply not going to be met.

Make sure YOU instigate all contact, and not the other way around.

Don't forget that ignoring includes not only no speaking and no touching, but NO EYE CONTACT either.

As you've already suggested you will , control the activities of others around your dogs so that your behaviour modification efforts are not hindered and so that your dogs are reinforced and subsequently learn unwanted behaviours that they later have to be punished for.

Purchase ear plugs and have a supply for your guests if need be.

ETA: Fostering rescue dogs is an immensley admirable thing to do ;) but it does have an impact on the 'family pack order' with dogs coming and then going. Whether or not this has had a bearing on your dog's behaviour problem worsening or not is difficult to tell, although the idea is very possible. But as you say, by the sounds of it it has not been the singular initial cause, which is learnt behaviour from earlier on.

Thank you very much for the reply Erny. I think I am going to have to get very strict and consistent with this before it gets any worse.

Do you think that ignoring him is enough, or do you think that separating him from the group when he attention-barks is a good idea?

I am pretty sure that a lot of my problems are as a result of very unclear pack order in the house, and you are probably right about the fostering further confusing him.

Do you think I could effectively re-establish myself at the top of the pack whilst still bringing in fosters?

I would prefer not to stop fostering, as the rescue group I am involved in are fill to the brim..

And once I have shown him that I am pack leader, what can I do to minimise the fosters from confusing the pack order in the future?

Over the last few months my Douglas has developed a nasty habit of barking whenever he wants something.

I think that this is a result of the behavior being reinforced when he plays fetch. When playing, he places the ball at a person's feet and barks until they throw it. Obviously, throwing the ball is the worst thing that can be done, but others who do not know any better (and when I have not been around to ask them to stop), have just thrown the ball in an effort to keep him quiet.

Whenever the barking starts, I remove the ball/toy and leave the backyard completely.

My problem is that the barking has started in other scenarios, when Sir Corgi wants something. Georgia (my other corgi) may have a bone or a toy, or simply not have finished her dinner yet (while he has finished his) and he will bark continuously until I remove him, or he forgets what he is barking about.

He also barks when we are eating dinner, or when he wants to come inside, or when he can see us out the front and wants to be there too. The barking gets considerably worse when guests come over, or if another dog comes into the house (I foster for rescue).

I am intending on asking all guests not to play with him, and ignore him completely for the first 20 minutes.

I was hoping that separation may solve the problem, but on the weekend, the barking was a big problem (despite toys being removed and people stopped giving him attention), so I placed him in the laundry, where he continued to bark for the next half hour before he finally settled...

Any ideas?

From what I understand, 3 layers. Internal two using disolvables, external requiring removal 1 week after op.

Not quite. The uterine stumps will be tied of using suture material. Then there is the internal abdominal wall to suture using the same material as the tie off of the stumps (usually, unless they use clips to tie off) and then the external sutures that you see usually using a nylon suture.

oh ok. thanks for correcting me. :D

Sorry, no stats, but our standard poodle was desexed about a month ago. I was horrified when he decided it was a good idea to just jump straight up in the air for no reason only 2-3 days after the op. Fortunately, no problems with the sutures or wound.

Aren't wounds usually closed in layers?

From what I understand, 3 layers. Internal two using disolvables, external requiring removal 1 week after op.

thanks for that link kenDOL

seems that it's a bit more common than I originally thought.

I have heard of one case where the suture material broke down way too fast and everything opened. Otherwise any healing mishaps have been a case of too much exercise or lack of hygiene.

Thanks molasseslass

Did the vet say that this was a problem with the suture material, or just reacted differently inside this particularly dog?

I have had one remove her external stitches 3 days after being spayed, she was fine and had healed sufficiently to leave it. Another very active girl did something internally which caused a huge bulge to form along the incision. I can’t remember what the vet said it was, might have been to do with internal stitches but not sure. I had kept her crated for 3 days and then thought she would be ok so let her loose – she wasn’t. The bulge did go down over time. The rest have gone fine and I have probably done 15-20 spays

thanks for sharing your experiences cowanbree.

Hi Guys.

As the topic title says, I'm chasing some stats or experiences from people (particularly those that work in veterinary clinics) in regards to spey wounds rupturing.

I have heard of a case locally in which a bitch ruptured all layers of stitches 6 days after desexing, and by all accounts had been kept still and quiet.

What could cause this problem, and how common is it?

Has anyone on here had their bitch split her stitches after the desexing operation, despite precautionary efforts (such as preventing licking and keeping the bitch confined).

Thanks in advance for your help.

I had a foster that had his back dew claws removed and the recovery was surprisingly quick and problem free. The hardest thing is keeping the bandages on so that they don't become infected..

Hope Atlas has a speedy recovery too.

Great work guys!!

Love seeing all the new stuff that you come up with everyday!

Here are some things I did using PS while at uni...

how many patties do you think a medium dog (specifically a corgi) would need per day if fed the dr billinghurst patties alone?

if i was to feed this i would mix with raw bones n chicken carcases, but as a costing excercise, i am wondering how much it will cost to feed my 2 stumpies on this alone.

Oh I am so sorry

I had to PTS my baby rat 'Ninny Mool' a year ago. It still hurts now.

I bet they are playing together at the bridge now... eating peas n advocado.

Ratties are wonderful. I just wish they lived longer.

It might be due to the potting mix.

Dogs love fresh potting mix and mulch because of all the decomposing nasties in it.

(especially bloody and bone).

As the soil ages, and the smell goes away, you will notice that they will pay less attention to it.

The only way to stop the from doing it is to supervise them, or remove the plants from their reach.

With the poisonous plants, you will find that a lot of them will be the ones, that when snapped, leak the white sap.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/comlist.html << good site that shows all poinsonous plants and includes pictures.

I would suggest a metal crate rather than a soft-crate as you pictured.

A pup could chew right through the sides of one of those. They are more suitable for dogs that are already crate trained.

http://www.petsplus.com.au/pet-shop.asp?id=659 << would be more suitable. I would probably get a Large for a beagle and use something (such a plywood) to block off half the internal area for when the pup is small.

are his poos normal?

has he spewed?

pups sleep a LOT... if his poos are normal and he seems bright.. i would think he's ok.

no harm in getting him checked though

I personally think the first training new puppy owners get should be without the puppy - especially for first time owners.

I would have 100% preferred it that way. I could have just listened to the advice of the instructor without having a new puppy to worry about at the same time.

now that is a good thought.

Real Trainers are already doing it.

Do you means Real Trainers as in a business name or .. good trainers?

it more beneficial for the puppy & owner to attend recognise obedience classes anyhow....most kennel clubs have them.

apuppy free for all is a woftam.

I personally think the first training new puppy owners get should be without the puppy - especially for first time owners.

I would have 100% preferred it that way. I could have just listened to the advice of the instructor without having a new puppy to worry about at the same time.

what a wonderful name you have chosen.......

& you have shown good sense regarding your puppies health.

your dougie is as lucky as my dougie.........

Thankyou on both counts Dougie.

My Douglas means more to me than the world. I would not be able to live with myself if he caught parvo at PP -

I just can't imagine how the extra 2 weeks would have made a difference anyway - he'd still be the super friendly little moster he is now.

hi uforia -

i understand how you feel. raising a puppy is so confusing and you often get contradicting opinions on what you should do about almost everything.

i had the exact same query as you back when douglas was 11 weeks old.

so i started a poll. 70 people participated. of those 70 people, only 1 person said they had heard of a pup getting sick.

i took doug after his second vaccination - he was 12 weeks old.

it is something you have to weigh up yourself - is it socialisation worth the small chance u will lose your pup to parvo?

>> Link to my old Poll <<

Hijacking Bikles thread

Aziah, what would be the maximum weight for a corgi fully grown (are they fully grown by 15 months?) if they are big boned?

Sarge definetly weighs more than 12kgs but not sure by how much (going to the vet again at 5, re:his stitches, so will weigh him properly). You can feel his ribs easily and from above you can clearly see he has a waist.

Back to Doug,

Has he been vomiting at all? Other than the saliva? Maybe he has an upset stomach? Or MAYBE you were just blessed with the fussiest corgi in WA? And also, do you add fish oil to his food? When we did the dogs wouldn't touch their food, so now they have capsules instead.

Breed standard for dogs is between 10 and 12 kgs.

No fish oil is added to his meals. Tried sardines though.. he won't eat them. He likes salmon though... and will eat tuna sometimes - depending which way the wind is blowing.

He usualy has a vomit every second day. Always saliva only. He has always done it. Since we have had him so it is not a recent thing. Often after mad digging-related zoomies or playing with his tennis ball. Always saliva. Nothing else. He is an EXTREMELY drooly dog. It drips off his tongue like a tap.

I have spoken to his breeder about it and she has suggested it is because he is overly excitable and recommended that I try some naturopathic calming options.