Carolk9s

Be careful there, a bite or scratch from even a healthy cat can be nasty, these kittens could have something worse. About how old are the kittens? Are they moving around on their own pretty well? I sure as heck would not bring any into the house. Feeding them, well it's a hard call, of course you don't want them to starve but unless they are really skinny they might be doing alright on their own.

AARRGGHH! Silly me didn't realize I was not logged on. I have the courage of my convictions, the above post was me. 8)

Just to make sure I understand, is this ONE combined behaviour or two separate ones? I'm thinking it is one combined, is the pup focusing on just one spot of the rug or the entire rug? If just one, I'd wonder about a scent or something under the rug that is getting his attention. If it's the whole rug, either a timeout in a crate each time he does it or giving the correction (saying NO) and redirecting his attention to a toy. Perhaps a squirt gun with water would help too, he starts to dig or bite at the carpet, he gets a shot of water on his shoulder, he stops, looks around, toss him a favorite toy and say GOOD DOG! Reward the desired behaviour as soon as it happens, I'd even reward him just for stopping and looking around. If I think of anything else....

I'm sure Bitter Apple works for some even most dogs but my Aussie mix thought it was a tasty topping. What absolutely did work with her was Vicks Vapor Rub. Of course it didn't hurt that I did not mind my house smelling like Vicks :D I let all my dogs take a sniff from the jar before putting it anywhere, each one immediately wrinkled their entire face up in total disgust and backed away. After that, just bringing out the jar would cause them to edge away from me in case I unleased that smell again! I would imagine the menthol in the vicks affects their mucous membranes, it might even cause them mild physical discomfort to breathe it in. Their avoidance of close contact with it was total after the initial sniff.

Well of course one of the most important things your pup should learn is that its 'because I said so!' :D Just like children, she'll need boundaries. I think you would be doing alright by starting her 'formal' education now, I did with Candy and was so proud of her in class as she already had some basic ideas of what I wanted of her. The trainers style may be something you want to emulate, or it may not. We ALL train just a tiny bit differently, a smile, a pat, a different inflection in the voice. You can certainly adopt ways that you see in the trainer if they fit you and your dog. But always remember, this is you and YOUR dog. There were some lessons I modified for my dog, I'm far from an expert but have done this before :lol: so I decided on what would work best for my dog and what would not. So many little things, such as if I am putting my dog on a stay and I will return to the dogs side, I use the word STAY. If I want my dog to stay briefly then come when I call, I use the word WAIT instead. Just my preference, can certainly be done using just one word.

Hi Pipersmom, First, congrats to you for adopting this pup! Perhaps I should say this 'teenaged' pup! :D How often are you practicing obedience with her? How long do your sessions last each time? Being that she is at 'that age' where dogs just wanna have fun, keep your sessions short, no more than 10 minutes at a time. You can still practice 4-5 times each day but you want short happy sessions. Always try to end a session with a success, even if you have to go WAY back to something she has known for days and days or will reliably do for you. Even something so simple as asking your pup to make eye contact with you, like a 'LOOKIE' command. I still praise my dogs when I ask for eye contact and get it. You want your pup to think 'gee this is fun!' After training, do you play with your pup a bit, throw a ball, play tug, whatever? I feel having a play session after a training session is a good thing. Do you use food training treats in your sessions? I like using food during training but some do not. If you do use food, remember to treat EACH time as your pup is learning a NEW behaviour. Once you can reasonably feel that your pup KNOWS the behaviour, start giving a treat just every other time and give verbal/physical praise the other time. Gradually phase out the food treats but keep up the verbal/physical praise. I don't have experience with a dog that alters from morning to afternoon so I'm not sure what to say for that. Is it possible that you are putting too much stress on the pup by training too often or for too long each time? Lets see what other minds on this list have to say.

I am really looking forward to the grand opening on Oct 19th. I live in Richmond and plan on visiting and am even considering doing volunteer work there. I was a volunteer at the present/old building, for multiple reasons, one of which was MY safety, I had to give it up. I like the idea of a large indoor walking track for the dogs.

Time for a quickie, (new boss doesn't approve of surfing at work...IMAGINE!) Perhaps if you buy a small pack of puppy pee pads, put a pad down in the spot where she last peed. Pretty much know she will pee in the house at least once more right? :D If she pees on the pad, save it! Don't throw it away! Next time you take her outside, take the pad too. With luck and good karma she'll pee on the pad again. Immediately flip pad over and press pee into ground! Transfer scent to the ground where you want her to pee. Praise praise! [size=6][i][b]OK, ya'll stop laughing now that aint nice!! :P [/b][/i][/size] I know it's farfetched, I really don't know yet what else to suggest.

Hobbit, I've heard that some vets will charge for a prescription, I do think they are being a bit grabby to do so. If the dog was tested at their office, it does not take but a minute and the office visit is already being paid for. I'm very grateful to have a vet here that I trust, one that has an open mind, one that is willing to save me some bucks whenever she can. For example, last week while Jesse was suffering from an apparent attack of gastritis and was at the vets all day for monitoring, I had previously made an appt to bring Brittany in due to a bump on her head. The bump turned out to be just a sebaceous (sp?) cyst and nothing to worry about in its present form. I had Candy with me, we put her on the scale to check her weight. My vet charged me just $7 for this visit. She gave me a break I'm sure knowing that I was spending a good deal for Jesse (that came to $355.90) When I asked to have his thyroid tested, she asked me if I was sure I wanted to do that as he 'didn't look like a low thyroid dog' to her. He was lean and fit but his coat was dry and brittle. She mentioned the cost, I said it did not matter. She certainly did NOT argue with me just wanted to be sure I knew of the cost. Turns out Jesse did have low thyroid, when the results came back she admitted she had learned a little something and would file that away. I reminded her that Jesse was an active agility dog which is part of why he was not chubby.

Micheline, I really feel for you, it does sound like you are doing many right things, some dogs challenge us to get creative and try other things. Just now I'm due for a meeting with my new boss but will check back later. Does she act fearful in the back yard? Can you perhaps set aside a really long time, like an hour, if need be to just sit out there with her? Take a good book or something? This might work best the first time she is taken out in the morning, she MUST have to pee and perhaps just waiting her out with calm patience will help her decide that the backyard is an ok place to pee again. If she has poo'd in the back, are you keeping it scooped and cleaned up so she doesn't think 'oh my, what a nasty place, I'm not going here!' :D I check back later, keep the faith!

We want EIGHT photos! :P Just kidding but would love to see at least one! I do not know squat about color genetics but I'd be cautious about saying words like NEVER and IMPOSSIBLE when it comes to mixes especially

Oops, now I see you are in Australia, do you know if there is a tattoo registry in Australia?

I would imagine your dog would be safer in a collar during and shortly after a move. I do think the chances of a dog getting their collar hung and strangling are small however, you can do a few things to tip the odds even more in your favor. You can purchase break away collars, HOWEVER, if he escaped and someone was able to grab hold of the collar, should he pull hard, collar will break away. Same thing with a collar that is part thick elastic, he might just back out of it. You should also inspect his new yard, get down to his level and look for potential problems, anything that might snag should he push against it or into it. There are also martingale type collars that will only tighten to a set point, not enough to strangle a dog as long as the collar has not been severely twisted in the process. You may want to consider getting your dog tattooed, not all chip readers are the same and not all places have readers. I like the idea of microchips but they are far from fool proof. A tattoo can be seen and read by anyone with sight. Of course once tattooed you must register the tattoo/dog with a reliable registry. I cannot remember, are you in the States? If so, National Dog Registry at [url]http://www.natldogregistry.com/[/url] is one such. Lastly, as soon as possible, take your dog out on leash in the new neighborhood and let them scent mark. Fill 'em up with water first! :D Encourage them to mark in your own yard in a few different places. Walk them along the side of the road, if there is a telephone pole at the corner, even storm drain areas. Of course you don't let them pee in your neighbors yards! :lol: If your dog escapes, maybe a scent trail will lead them back.

Very cool Horsefeathers! Here's the proof that poodles are very athletic dogs under all that lovely hair. He's a handsome fella! Congrats.

Thanks Bensam for the info on coat stripping. I did not feel it was really uncomfortable as I've seen it being done at shows and the dogs were generally ignoring the person doing it. Like you said, when it's done as an ongoing maintenance of the coat, it does not bother the dog. Heck in regular brushing of Jesse if I unexpectedly run across a snag in his undercoat it pulls and he lets me know it!

Sounds like Duck is a quick learner! I doubt you did any lasting harm by accidentally dropping the can at the wrong moment. If she still likes to um, 'nibble' on others, yes they can use this method as a deterrent also. You can also link a word of disapproval to the dropping or shaking of the can, something like NO or AAHHTT! I know, what on earth am I spelling there, that's the best I can do, I hope it makes some sense. If you use the can and the word together, you will eventually be able to stop her or correct her just with the word. That way if the can is in the other room; you don't have to go run and get it then come back and tell her you're shaking it for what she did 5 minutes ago! :D That's a joke folks! Do remember to praise her lavishly when you see her make the decision NOT to chew on you or other things she's not supposed to.

Flyball? Frisbee? You both forgot the PRIMARY purpose of border collies. AGILITY! Now too many border collies are saddled with people who are just too slow, after all who can keep up with a ZIP ZING dog? Without lots and lots of 'away from me' work, borders might decide to make up their own course as you huff and puff and try to catch up. But to see an excellently trained border collie flash around an agility course and nail every obstacle perfectly, well not only does it take your breath away, it also makes you want to pack up and just go home. :D I cannot even think that fast!

Quoting from the info limited guest, "The moment a breed gets popular AKC registration is sought by people within the breed. Just ask the JRT and Border Collie people about that if you want to see the fur fly :lol: AKC registration does absolutely nothing in terms of 'ruining' a breed - unethical breeders do that little job along with irresponsible owners." Not totally true, not ALL Border people embraced AKC recognition. The MAJORITY of folks who raised WORKING Border Collies wanted nothing to do with the AKC. Their dogs were bred to work not just to look a certain way and conform to a rigid standard. These folks fought against AKC recognition, the battle got bitter at times as it pitted Border breeders against other Border breeders. The working dog folks fear that AKC recognition and standards will ruin the working dog. Time will tell on that one.

Just a funny way to remember, there's no NOISE in MALINOIS.

Well I do want to feed my pack a decent food, I also want it to be affordable and available locally. I also would like to be able to feed both of the older dogs the same food, having 3 dogs I do not want to have 3 different types of food to juggle. I do not want to do BARF, I do not want the food to have to be shipped to me and I'd like to keep in the range of no more than a dollar a pound. Heck I think they already eat better than I do anyway. A local belgian breeder has been feeding Wayne Dog Food for decades, many of her dogs hold multiple titles in varied fields, her dogs have huge amounts of energy and they live well into their mid teens which is pretty good for belgians. Her Midas was just shy of his 16th birthday when he died. Wayne's second ingredient listed is ground yellow corn. It can be very confusing, our old mutt we had has kids lived to be 15 and he was fed plain old Purina Dog Chow.

All the Mal people I know say it like MAL-in-wah. I am on a belgian shepherd list and have seen many a post about the mis-pronunciation! Now can you say Tervuren? :D How about Groenendael? :D Even those of us who have the Groens sometimes mumble when we try and roll that one out. One guy upon being told that the dog he just met was a Belgian Tervuren, yelled way over to his wife that the dog was a Belgium Treefern. Here is a link to the American Belgian Malinios site [url]http://www.breedclub.org/ABMC.htm[/url] Mali's are indeed a versatile breed that can exel in many areas.

Perhaps Science Diet has changed since I switched to Pro Plan but for many years it was an excellent food for both Jesse and Brittany. Jesse was on S.D. adult and Britt was on S.D. Lite. When I felt Jesse was ready for a senior I looked for a food that I could feed to both of them. I decided on Pro Plan Senior, I was quite happy with it until recently. Both older dogs have been on Pro Plan Senior for over a year. Pro Plan has recently been reformulated and I'm not sure I like it. Upon opening the bag I noticed that it was darker in color, smelled different and overall seemed 'heavier' than before. I wrote them, their reply was that they added fish meal and Vit. E. I am wondering if the food is much richer now do to those additions. Jesse has been eating the new formula for just about 3 weeks, over the last week he starting picking at his food and just about stopped eating altogether over this past weekend. He has apparently suffered a bout of gastritis. He was at the vets Tuesday and Wednesday. Bloodwork was normal, xrays normal. After 24 hours of NO food and practically no water, he's been started back on a GastroEnteric Diet with hopes of gradually restoring his normal diet. He's to be on Pepcid Acid Reducer for a week, afterwards I will watch him closely for any signs of distress. I may have to consider a diet change. My dogs get MINIMAL 'table tidbits' as it is tho they do love their raw carrots.

eggrolyn, Science Diet is a very good food, if Duck is doing well on it, I'd stick with it. I now feed Pro Plan Senior to the older dogs and Pro Plan Adult to Candy. When Jesse was younger, Science Diet helped turnaround a very skinny dog with some skin problems to a dog with good weight, great skin and a beautiful coat. For him, that was the food that worked best. If Duck has good energy, good skin, good coat and firm stools, S.D. is fine. Make sure you don't overfeed, I've mostly found that the recommendations on the packaging is too much for most dogs. How old is Duck? Are you feeding puppy or adult?

I am guessing that repairing the small hernia was why the cost seemed so high. Just guessing mind you, did they know about it prior to surgery? If not and it was found as the result of surgery, you kinda got a freebie! Hope your little darling is back to her normal self soon.

Jacsmom, the thyroid testing is costing $77, I have it sent to Michigan State U. as I've heard they are one of the top two testing facilities. I think it would be a bit cheaper to have it done locally, but [b]I[/b] feel better with using MSU. Many people on the belgian list suggested it.