TDG

the first step for a reliable retrieve is actually not teaching the dog to bring something back to you, but to spit out an item at your feet. if you start from that point and use a back-chaining proess, the coming back to you will be automatic. :) here's a neat [url=http://www.dogscouts.com/retrieve.shtml]article[/url] on the topic. it really works well!

if you just need an insect repellant, you can mix a few drops of essential oils in water and put it in a spray bottle. spray on legs and belly each time before going outside. you can combine any of the following: citronella, rose geranium, lavender, pine cedar, eucalyptus, tea tree oil, pennyroyal, peppermint, sage, rosemary. for an 8-ounce spray bottle about 25 drops of essential oils are usually enough, but you can safely increase the amount if you need a stronger repellant. this doesn't help much with scrapes and irritations from grass and other plants tho. i know from experience, since my own dog has a naked underside, even if the rest of his body has a pretty thick coat. if you need something to apply to your yard to get rid of insects, buy some (food grade) diatomaceous earth for sprinkling on your lawn and a bottle of pure neem oil. mix the neem oil in amounts of 2-3 tablespoons per quart of water and liberally spray it allover the plants in your yard, wherever you can reach. bushes, hedges, anything. it's safe for plants but repels and kills insects. the smell is not so great until it dries, but you can mix in a few drops of any of the above mentioned essential oils to make it smell more pleasant - especially the citronella, which is a rather strong insect repellant. the diatomaceous earth also kills fleas. make sure you apply it to the lawn when it is dry and you don't expect rain for a few days, otherwise it'll get washed off. all these things are safe and non toxic, but need to be reapplied after it rains. hope it helps a little. :)

usually you can find it at places that sell gardening stuff, farm and feed supply places, and sometimes also at health stores. i order things like that online most of the time. if you look for it at places that sell gardening supply, make sure you definitely do get the food grade stuff! :)

just a side note on a natural, gentle, non-toxic way of deworming. you can use food grade diatomaceous earth. it's important that food grade is used tho, not the kind you'd use for pool filters. it works slower than chemicals, so you'll have to use it daily for a longer time, but the advantage is that you avoid pesticides. for tape worms it works in about 2 days and for others in about a week, but you should continue the regimen for 2-4 weeks to catch worms in all developmental stages. it's one of the things that's good to keep on hand, since it also kills fleas and other insects in the environment.

great! :)

yeah, it's pretty annoying. the funny thing is that i [b]know[/b] it was WDJ who sold my address, since it's the only subscription i started under my maiden name (for credit card reasons) at a new address after we moved. everything else is either in my husbands name (first and last) or in [i]my[/i] married last name under different credit cards. i was pretty disappointed when i found out that the $20 only applied to the first year, there was no mention of any price increase for renewal anywhere. it's not the small amount of money that bugs me, just the fact that i was not made aware that i'd have to pay more after the first year i have read alot about and from dr. weil, and while i do not agree with all of his philosophies and opinions, he definitely has good advice. i enjoy learning a lot about health/wellness topics for humans as well as pets, and ther's usually a bit of wisdom to be had from many sources. :)

i do. :) i like the magazine itself, but not the publisher's business practices. ever since i subscribed, i get a TON of junk mail (and i don't mean email ;)) and i was kind of put off that they actually want to increase the subscription price by $7 (or $9, depending on which offer i look at) compared to the initial cost of $20 for the first year.

vets are generally not very educated when it comes to nutrition - what they learn is generally what the pet food companies tell them. he probably doesn't know the caloric content of the food, which varies widely in different brands. most "mainstream" puppy foods have about 1/3 less calories than the innova. feeding more doesn't necessarily mean that your dog can and does utilize all the extra nutrients. when overfed, most dogs only put on weight but many develop diarrhea. the fact that your puppy is lean is a good thing. a lot of people tend to overfeed their dogs, especially as puppies. there is a very distinct difference between "lean" and "thin" or "underweight".

have you tried the pumpkin? it really does work well. also i just read over your post again, if he weighs 7 pounds and you feed 1/2 cup of innova puppy 3 times a day, you are feeding [b]way[/b] too much!!! that is a total of 750 kilocalories a day, an amount more suitable for a puppy over twice that weight. please be aware that overfeeding a puppy isn't only going to lead to obesity, it can also lead to orthopedic problems from excess mineral intake (especially calcium). a food switch always has quite an impact on a pet's system, and some are a little more sensitive than others, especially if you aren't mixing the new food with the old for a few days - but in your case i think overfeeding is the main problem.

well, looks like it cleared up then. :) glad to hear that!

innova is a very high-quality, nutrient dense food and some dogs don't do well switching over from a less concentrated kibble. if you started out mixing the old and the new food 50/50 that might have been way too fast, causing stomach upset. it's better to start out with only 1/4 or even less of the new food mixed in with 3/4 of the old and very gradually increasing the amounts of the new food in the mix over a few days. i have noticed that a common cause for loose stools (or even diarrhea) when switching to innova is simply overfeeding. so reducing the amount of food a little overall might not be a bad idea. i wouldn't be too concerned about the stool being smelly, sometimes the body takes a while to fully adjust. if you need something to combat diarrhea, buy some canned pumpkin (plain pumpkin, not the pie filling premix!) and add about a tablespoon to each meal. this remedy also works for constipation should you ever have the need. you can buy a can and divide it up into several portions and freeze what you don't need immediately. are you feeding innova puppy or adult? it is certainly possible that the innova could cause a reaction, but i would find it rather unlikely. it is a very high quality food and lacks all the ingredients that typically cause problems. have you checked for fleas? has he been exposed to blooming plants he might not be used to? do you feed anything else but dog food? any treats? did you apply any topical treatments for fleas or ticks? shampoo? it might be easier to get to the root of the problems with some more background info than just the food. adding a bit of cultured yogurt to a meal once a day is generally a good idea, even for healthy animals without any problems. you can read more about that here: [url]http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=probiotics[/url] hope this helps a bit. :)

probiotics are an excellent everyday supplement but even more valuable at times of stress and illness. they have considerable health benefits in many areas. for an overview, you can look [url=http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=probiotics]here[/url]. supplements come in various combinations of cultures and in different forms, dried, in capsules, or in liquid form. what' important is to check for a manufacturer guarantee of the content of "viable" (live) microbes and their guaranteed shelf life. without looking for this information it is possible to waste considerable amounts of money on useless products. also, if an ingredient is listed as "[name of bacteria] fermentation extract", thhey ar[b]not[/b] live microbes, but only the product of their metabolic activity. these are beneficial too, but they do not have the health benefits of the live cultures. here's a short list of the most common probiotics and their effects: lactobacillus acidophilus - stimulates production of lactic acid, which changes the ph level of the intestines and creates a hostile environment for pathogenic bacteria. lactobacillus casei - breaks down bile acids, stimulates enzyme production in the body, aids in fighting allergies. lactobacillus plantarum - aids the body in fighting bacterial infections, prevents pathogenic bacteria from colonizing the intestinal walls. bifidobacterium termophilum - stimulates lactic acid production and is a beneficial colonizer after the ph level has been adjusted to create a hostile environment for pathogenic bacteria. bifidobacerium longum - aids absorption of nutrients and liquids through the intestinal walls, has tumor growth inhibiting properties. enterococcus faecium - helps production of vitamin B (this is an entirely different strain than enterococcus faecalis, which is pathogenic, so don't confuse the two. :)). bacillus subtilis - reduces nitrate levels in the body, stimulates production of the enzymes amylase (starch digestion), protease (protein digestion) and lipase (fat digestion), stimulates lymphatic and immune systems. last but not least - they are just as beneficial for people as they are for dogs, so it''s overall a good idea to look for a human-grade supplement and share it with your dog. pet-grade products are often of a lot lower quality but more expensive.

in my opinion, there are far better methods for training than the monks. if you are open for alternatives, read "don't shoot the dog" by karen pryor and "the other end of the leash" by patricia mcconnell. and i agree with cassie, a group setting is important for reliability around distractions and other dogs. check out [url]http://www.apdt.com[/url] to locate a qualified trainer.

P&G recently stated they "will no longer conduct tests on existing products", but every time they come out with a new one, it's still tested. one thing to think about: P&G spend many times as much money on ad campaigns for all their products every year than they spend on researching alternatives for animal testing. personally i believe in giving my money to companies who are honest, trustworthy and make quality products that are not tested on animals. for 3 years i've been using aveda hair care products and i will never go back to the crappy stuff like panthene and other garbage. yeah, so aveda is a little more expensive, but just like with quality dog food brands, you pay for better ingredients and you have to use less. a one-liter bottle of aveda shampoo costs around $22 and lasts me about 4-5 months. i have long, extremely fine hair that is a pain to deal with, and i'm really pleased with the results.

gooey, i also have a link for you you might be interested in. [url]http://www.seapet.com/VitaminE.htm[/url] this product is high quality fish oil with vitamin E and it is packaged in bottles. it's a lot handier than fiddling with different capsules (for fish oil and vitamin E) and a lot easier to feed in proper doses, especially if you have different sized dogs. this is the same grade fish oil the company also sells for human consumption, unlike for example the grizzly salmon oil, which is extracted from commercially farmed salmon that gets treated with antibiotics and other stuff. the price is awesome considering what fish oild capsules and vitamin E capsules cost. :)

sorry gooeydog, i had meant to add some more thoughts to my post yesterday, but had to leave the computer in a hurry, so had to finish my post quickly. yes, you should add some vitamin E as well because it's an antioxidant and fatty acids are very unstable, so the body needs additional antioxidants to metabolize them. i give my (22 lb) dog one 500 IU capsule of vitamin E every other day. when buying, make sure you are getting natural vitamin E, which is better and easier utilized by the body and thus only needs to be given at about half the dose of synthetic vitamin E. anything that says "dl-alpha tocopherol" is synthetic. also, kendalyn is right on in her post, heavy metal contamination in fish is a problem. unfortunately at the same time, fatty fish living in deep, cold waters are the best sources for omega 3's. human-grade fish body oil is the safest source, since the oil is molecular-distilled to remove contamination. so you need to find a middle ground you are comfortable with between feeding fresh fish and giving fish oil. personally i do the fish oil because it's easier to keep on hand.

the only fish problem i'm personally aware of is that you shouldn't feed salmon and other salmonids (e.g. trout) from the pacific northwest to your dog raw. they carry flukes that cause "salmon poisoning". these are killed off when the fish is cooked through tho. as for fish oil, a normal daily maintenance dose is about 1000 mg per 20-25 lbs of body weight, depending on the concentration of omega 3 fatty acids in the product. much less than that and you don't get full benefits out of it, especially if the product you buy has a lower EFA content to begin with. if you are giving omega 3's to treat particular health problems (joint issues, allergies, skin problems), the doese would have to be significantly higher. that's why the EFA content of most commercial foods is mainly just a marketing gimmick - you can't possibly feed your dog enough of these products to get a dose high enough to actually be effective. the same goes for glucosamine and chondroitin btw. it doesn't hurt that G & C are present in the food, it's just not worth paying a lot more money for a brand that has them but is otherwise of the same quality as one that doesn't have them. if you want the benefit from feeding fish, you'd have to feed it quite often, but you would have the benefit of supplying a fresh, unrefined, unprocessed product.

milk isn't "bad" per se. just like humans, some dogs are lactose tolerant (produce the enzyme lactase in sufficient amounts to digest lactose) and some aren't. lactose intolerant people and animals either don't produce lactsae at all or only in insufficient amounts. if your dog tolerates it and doesn't get diarrhea, there is nothing wrong with giving him some now and then. just don't give excessive amounts. "expired" milk isn't necessarily sour yet, and even sour milk is not toxic. there is a fine line between "sour" and "spoiled" tho.

it's definitely something worth looking into. my own dog has problems with pork and he tends to get diarrhea if i feed too much of it at a time. so he only gets about 2/3rds the amount of pork rmb's per meal compared to beef, lamb and turkey. i don't have a good source of chicken right now, so he rarely gets any. i've seen 10-lb bags of chicken leg quarters at my local supermarket the other day, for 45 cents per pound. whenever i see something like that, it really makes me think, where did that stuff come from and what did they feed the chickens, if they can sell parts for that price and still make a profit. :(

the easiest way to find out would really be to avoid the chicken for a while and feed a different protein source. one other thing i could think of is that it might not be the chicken itself as much as possible residue in the meat. is it just regular store-bought chicken? if so, you might have ended up with a batch that had a particularly high level of antibiotics. factory farmed chickens get all kinds of stuff pumped into them. other than that, is it [b]only[/b] the chicken that could possibly cause problems? or is there anything else you have been feeding the days before she gets diarrhea?

if you are using frontline, there's really no need to use a flea/tick collar. besides that, those collars have some really nasty chemicals in them that i would not expose a dog to. one of the most common ones is amitraz, which is for example used in dips to treat mange. if the frontline doesn't work, try advantix. i've heard from many people when one of the two didn't work out, the other usually did. you can also add a few drops of essential oil of pine cedar, citronella, rose geranium, lavender, rosemary, mint, eucalyptus or tea tree oil to shampoo and leave it on for a little longer than usual. any combination of the above will work. this is a natural way to repel insects and your pet will smell really good. my personal favorite is a combination of lavender, rosemary and mint. if conditions are really bad, mix a few drops of essential oils with water in a spray bottle and spray them on the dog before going outside to refresh the insect repellent properties. this spray also works for your yard.

you can just gently simmer it all in enough water to cover the contents of the pot. if your dog is large enough, you can leave the hearts whole. cut the gizzards to about the same size. if you start with cold water, a lot of the nutrients will go into it and you'll have a broth you can use. it gets even better if you toss in a few pieces of carrot, celery, sweet potaro and other veggies. add the liver last, just a few minutes before everything is done, otherwise you'll just cook it to a mush. if you want to make a complete meal, you can also stir in some oatmeal or brown rice. if you don't want to make a stew type of meal, toss the meat piecess into boiling water and gently simmer them for a few minutes. that way the heat immediately seals in the nutrients and not much goes into the water. keep in mind that this is not a balanced recipe. if you otherwise feed only commercial food, don't exceed about 15-20% of this kind of food per day long term, or you risk throwing off your calcium-phosphorus ratio. if you plan on feeding more or for an extended period of time, you need to add a calcium supplement or make up the difference by feeding raw, edible bones.

shake would be "gib fuss" (literally translated "give foot"). gib is pronounced to rhyme with lip, and fuss is "foos". the summary at [url]http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/languag1.htm[/url] has a few small errors but is more correct than the other one. :)

as long as you don't overdo it, there isn't a problem. however, i would do short sessions frequently rather than letting a lot of time pass inbetween. and don't trust your dog as far as showing you when he's had enough and is getting tired because chances are he'll just want to keep going and going. :)

starfox, which beach did you go to? huntington dog beach or somewhere up in malibu? usually i either drive up to malibu, or to surfer's point in ventura but would like to check out that dog beach in huntingtron beach someday.