imported_Kat

Buttons is still young so make a game of it and teach him to give his paw. Thats the basis then work your way up to touching more of the paw when he presents it, and make a point of discretely fiddling with the nails and paw pads all the time talking to him and telling him what lovely paws he has. Start off with basics and always reward with a tidbit, and continue to reward him . You should get some results fairly fast. Also let him sniff and see the nail clippers, so that they aren't foreign to him. Good luck and happy nail clipping! 8)

LOL some dogs really are just too smart for their own little fur butt ! :D

Loads of congrats with the new fur baby and post pics asap! :angel:

You sound like you want this "

With regards to Elliot he lives in farming country so his owner thinks he was maybe stolen as a herding dog but being the pet he is he didn't know what to do and thankfully was returned to his Mum.

Words just can't express. I know what you are going through. When Meg was stolen we contacted all dog wardens rescue societies in the province. Also get radio time and get an appeal put out. The thieves hear that and they will get scared and probably leave her some place . I hope and pray that she is returned to you. Its hell I know, but don't lose faith and we are all thinking of you. *hugs*

Ok this is a very recent (last week) story that happened to a girl on another doggy board that Ive been a member of for 3 years. One of the members of our board had her 6 mth old Aussie shep called Elliot stolen. Two days later he came back with a note in his collar knapsack saying "your dog is useless, be thankful we didn't kill him". What a horrid thing to find, but thankfully little Elliot is back with his Mum.

ok Border Collie and Golden Retriever Doberman Pinscher : 2 Shetland Sheepdog : 1 German Shepherd : 3 Keeshonden :3 Shiloh Shepherd : 1 Boxer : 1 Kelpie : 1 Labrador : 6 Mini Poodle : 3 Papillon : 1 Foxhound : 1 Standard Poodle : 2 Toy Poodle : 1 Lhasa Apso : 2 Mini Schnauzer : 1 Chihuahua : 1 Pit Bull : 1 1/2 Malamute : 2 Border Collie: 5 Maltese : 1 "Heeler"(Blue and Red) : 4 Samoyed : 1 Saint Bernard : 2 Staffordshire Bull Terrier : 2 British Bulldog : 2 American Eskimo : 1 Jack Russell Terrier : 5 Golden Retriever : 1

Just a note on the crate size: don't buy a massive one. Remember everything will be new and scary to this little dog when you bring him home. Buy him a crate that is adequate for his size that he can stand and turn around comfortably. Dogs crates serve as their little dens and dogs feel more secure if they don't have a massive area to sleep in. It comforts them and makes them feel more satisfied and secure in a smaller area size. As far as crates go, (we call them cages here :P ), and the ones that I use when I foster pups at home are by a company called Rosewood. These cages are very durable and fold down fantastically flat, so you can carry and transport it or just store it easily. Good luck! :)

Thankfully not yet. I have a Golden who is over 12 now and I will miss her a lot when she goes (touch wood she will still have a bit to wait yet!), but when my Border Collie Meg goes I will be more than devastated. She is my heart dog and so very special to me.

Aww glad to hear hes doing fine :wink: its never easy walking out through the door and leaving your precious baby to someone else. I know how owners feel thats why in the practice where I work I try to reassure owners as much as possible and we as staff take a very compassionate approach with furbabes, to reassure them as well as their parents!

Hoping its just a trapped nerve or pulled muscle that your baby has. Good luck and keep us posted!

Priceless. Meg has been stolen before and thankfully managed to escape, although no one will ever know how, but I just thank heavens she did and that the man who found her by the side of the road after hearing our radio appeal took her into his car. I'm told shes a valuable girl from what shes achieved but no amount of money would ever replace her.

Unconditional and non judgemental love, which selflessley caused her to put her own life in danger to save mine a few years ago when I got caught in a mini rip tide. She is my angel :angel:

The gestation period for a bitch is 9 weeks as I am sure you are aware. A discharge at this stage isn't really common at all and it could be that your bitch is aborting the puppies. I can't give a diagnosis over the internet but you shuld get her to your Vet so he can take a swab and hormonal level blood test. That will give you a more accurate idea.

A pit is just like any other dog and any dog I notice walking down the street I look and admire just like any pupper! drives my boyfriend mad at times when i go awww look a _____ breed! :D

Yes alicat My dogs are wormed every 4 months as doing a faecal test is unreliable and doesn't show up dormant worms. Prevention is better than cure, and a dog with worms isn't always obvious. Not all worms are passed routinely in faeces and some tapeworms have long life spans and can live for months growing and feeding off the contents of the dogs intestines. The reason why the worm isn't passed when the dog defaecates is due to the specialised hooks called a scolex on the tapeworms head which helps it to cling to the gut when peristalsis occurs. Worming tablets and injections work by targeting the worms reproductive, locomotory and alimentary actions and paralysing these functions to unnatach the worm and allow it to be passed in the faeces if the dog has worms in the first place.

Ordinary cooking oil or vegetable oil. Use a few drops in each ear with a syringe if you can, massage the ear well especially at the base of the ear to float any wax then use a rolled up tissue to remove and clean the wax. Its more effective than eardrops and should be done as a routine practice every so often regardless of waxy ears or not, but no cotton buds! They are lethal and can perforate the thin covering of the dogs ear drum.

Hypothetically as long as time can be dedicated then yes. I would say hearing the living situation that an adult dog, not a puppy would be a very wise idea from a rescue centre. Sounds the perfect complimentary match.

Good luck for whatever furbutt you bring back. I would be just ever so slightly biased towards the Border Collie of course but from the look of him hes a dog that needs a very good run with dog company and a lot of work to be put into him to train him. Diablo looks like a real sweety too, like a GSD with Border Collie.

A lethargic sick puppy is never ever a good thing and I could list so many things as the probable cause but I am not going to give a diagnosis..Advice: VET ASAP.

yes cetainly. If it helps educate people then go for it!

7 weeks is not too young to start making motions of brushing your puppies teeth. Puppies should be handled from an early age and between the ages of 7 and 12 weeks is when they learn most and this is therefore the best time to start interacting with your pup. Make a game out of it and be very gentle just using a very soft bristled brush, but at his age I am very sure it won't be his teeth. As I said previously make sure he is wormed every week or every 2nd week, as even though you can't see worms in his motions does not necessarily mean that worms are not present in his gut, and puppies that aren't wormed can deteriorate rapidly and result in fatality in a period of less than 24 hours. Thats why its so vital to make sue the pup is wormed by the breeder starting at 2 weeks of age then its equally important that you follow up on worming until he is about 14/16 weeks of age then 3 times per year when the dog is an adult.

In our practice we Spay bitches from 7 months on providing they haven't had a season or are approaching their first season. In this way the hormone levels are dampened down and there is no risk of a pseudopregnancy or associated complications when the bitch is spayed. For bitches in season we won't spay them until 13 weeks after their last season. This way the uterus is reduced in size and there is absolutely no risk of a concealed pyometra. The reason as to why spayed bitches have incontinence problems is down to the vet him/herself and how accurate they are with surgery. There is a very fine ligature linked over the uterus that stems from the bladder and if this is damaged during spaying then the bitch in later life, along with decreased exercise shows signs of bladder leakage. My boss is extremely careful when spaying and its a standing joke in our practice between the staff that he takes more loving care with the ligature than he does with his wife :P Spaying reduces ovarian cancer, and pyometra and is greatly encouraged when we are educating owners. As far as male dogs go, we neuter from 5 months onwards. The sooner that the neutering is done, the better. ie; if the animal doesn't discover his anatomy then behavioural problems resulting from elevated and incoherent hormonal levels is less likely to occur. With respect to the animals putting on weight and getting obese, this occurs due to owner ignorance. Hormonal effects don't decrease as soon as the animal is spayed/castrated but over the following weeks the hormonal levels reduce from 100% to 20%, and this causes a decrease in metabolic rate. Also hormonal levels decreasing instruct the animal that (females especially) she will never have to care for pups and she can start to lay down fat for herself and look after herself better , rather than having to keep burning fat to convert to carbohydates for energy in order to look after offspring. If an animals food is decreased by around a third of what it was originally getting and with sustained exercise then the animal will remain healthy and won't be prone to lay down fat. This is all advice that we give to owners when discussing aftercare prior to and following the operation.

[img]http://sander.servehttp.com/kat/Meggie%20cute%20headshot.JPG[/img] Only if ya get bored and sorry shes mostly black :lol: