5dogs1cat

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]Sounds like the little darling truly loves you. That's a shame that your wanting to give up on her, but if your not willing to give your unconditional love to her and feel she would be better off in a new home then it's probably for the best. Things to think about are you are enabling your new pup to be spoiled and an attention seeker. I have 5 dogs and when I come home I ignore them until I am ready to make of them. My dogs have learned that they are not to fight for my attention such as crawling all over me and jumping up etc. When a dog does an action and receives the attention they want it will be a new learned behavior that will be repeated. Dogs learn from repetition and what brings them rewards. If the dog jumps all over you and you end up giving in to the dog the dog has just learned a new behavior. What would be great is for you to read up on the NILIF policy. This way the dog learns a new default behavior such as sit to earn rewards. The dog wants attention, sit nicely is a great way to earn attention. When you leave the house the departure should be the time the dog gets a nice treat such as a Kong stuffed with cream cheese, treats etc. My dogs get a RMB when I leave and they all line up when they know I am leaving in anticipation of that wonderful bone. My home comings are not hyped up etc. Another thing you could invest in if you plan on keeping this pup is a crate. Crate her when you are going to bed so you can get some sleep. Rescue remedy can help take the edge off and crate time should mean something positive such as a treat. The crate should mean time to sleep or time to rest. Dogs thrive on rules and like to know the do's and don'ts of the household. A dog left to it's own devices and slowly trains the owner is going to be so difficult to live with. My 5 dogs, 2 Newfoundland dogs, Rottweiler, Alaskan Husky and Dobe mix all came to live with me as adult dogs. They all had "issues" and at first were not good house dogs. I molded and created them into perfect house dogs that make me very proud and a joy to have around. I am alone as well and my dogs really are my friends and my buddies. I love them unconditionally. They are also wonderful tools for meeting new people, getting involved in doggy things, going to dog parks, attending obedience classes and having new people in your life. Your dog should not be a burden your dog should be your joy. It's also a good way to meet new people as dogs make you more approachable [/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]My Rottweiler went through a period of seasonal allergies. First I would rule out parasites such as fleas. Next is to get a diagnoses from your Vet, if it's a bacterial infection of the skin then you can get either selsum blue shampoo or sugar body scrub. Sugar is a great way to combat bacterial infections.[/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]If it's allergies a home prepared diet is best as you know exactly what is going into your dog and you can choose organic foods. By choosing organic you are avoiding pesticides/antibiotics/growth hormones etc. Have a good canine nutrition consultant help you with planning a diet as you will need to do an elimination diet first. Dr Pitcairn is a good starting place if you pick up his books he has some great diets to follow. If you prefer kibble I have seen dogs with allergies do fantastic on California Natural or a good quality grain free.[/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]For herbs and supplements for my Rottweiler I used astragalus root which I gave to her daily. This herb helps moderate the immune system. I also give her turmeric and ginger root daily and I feed her sardines and wild Alaskan salmon for the omega 3 fatty acids. If you prefer to give a fish body oil supplement be sure it's of good quality and is packaged in capsules etc as fish oil is so unsaturated that it oxidizes quickly. If your dog is on kibble/canned (I prefer canned) and you give fish body oil (never fish liver oil on kibble as you can over dose on vit A) always give a vitamin E supplement with mixed tocopherols d-alpha (not dl-alpha) and beta, gamma and delta tocopherols. Many vitamin E supplements only contain d-alpha which is only one part of vitamin E and may not be that healthy. [/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]I also found a nice calendula lotion that works very nicely for the skin as well :)[/FONT][/SIZE]