skycat
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Everything posted by skycat
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I don't think there is anything wrong with rearing kids and pups in the house together PROVIDING that both learn, understand and obey the rules. I was brought up with dogs in the house, and one of the first things I learned was that the dog was not MY dog, but my father's gun dog. He was also a family pet, but I had no right to tell the dog off, or tell it what to do: this was when I was very young indeed. I also remember my dad teaching me how to treat the dogs properly as I got older and then learning how to make them sit, lie down, stay etc. but they were never my toys to play with like an
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Strained muscle? That is always worse after resting until things have loosened up again. Trouble is, without knowing exactly what the problem is you are likely to run the dog again the moment he is sound, and possibly set him back even further. Difficult to gauge without being an expert on dog anatomy, which is why I get mine to a good back/bone man if they are still lame a couple of days after injury, even if I can't find anything wrong myself. The number of times the back man has immediately pointed out a pulled muscle or damaged tendon to me I can't count!
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Several things spring to mind: NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN AND PUPS TOGETHER UNSUPERVISED. Learn to put meat, desirable food items well above where a dog can reach. If the pup is being brought up in the house crate it when you are not there to supervise it. Teach the pup the rules of the house by being bossy, not cruel, but firm and fair. Don't let a pup do its own thing in your house. It is your house, your rules:; by which I mean, that letting a pup run around with child when you're not about is setting it up to fail. Don't let the pup get into temptation; think about everythi
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I strongly advise that you see a really good professional who can teach you how to 'read' the pup. If you don't have a whole heap of experience with timid or damaged dogs then you may stay stuck in a sort of fog of misunderstanding between you and the pup. The only person I would recommend is Jim Greenwood, who specialises in damaged and unsocialised lurchers, though he does deal with all sorts of dogs. It could well be that your pup was never properly socialised where he was bred, or he could have a nervous temperament as well, which would just make things even more difficult for him. Onc
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Excessive Moulting And Can't Hold/control Bladder.
skycat replied to RossM's topic in Working Dog Health & Training Talk
Owners who won't take an obviously sick dog to the vet don't deserve to have one. I know vets are expensive, but we owe it to our dogs to see them right, and this dog obviously has a problem, quite possibly hormonal as suggested. Or could be diet related, or even stress related: could be a lot of things, but not doing anything about it is tantamount to criminal. Poor dog. -
http://www.towsure.com/product/Metal_ScrewIn_Dog_Lead_Stake
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Sad to hear this.
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In answer to your original question, it is extremely unlikely that playing will cause a twisted gut: just watch a litter of pups play like lunatics just after a meal. The causes of twisted gut (bloat) are many, but are very rare in young pups: more likely to happen if the adult dog inhales a lot of air while it is eating and there is some underlying physical attribute (very deep chested dogs seem to be more prone), but I've never seen it in my life in my own dogs, of all shapes and sizes. If it were more common then we'd hear more about pups dying from it. It really is very very rare indeed, b
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Agree with Socks there: spaying can cause rapid weight gain, and because it is caused by a lack of hormones rather than too much food, you won't shift it much or at all. The only thing you could try is a vastly more active life, which ain't easy as any dog has to fit in around its owners. A 3 mile mooch every day is nothing for a dog, even a small one.
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I think it also depends on the amount of experience and knowledge the owner has. Much easier to start off with something that isn't too driven. Personally I wouldn't like a pup that simply has to chase everything and anything from a very early age. And it also depends a lot on the breeding, temperament and individual mindset. I've had pups from the rough coated line I keep who haven't even tried to catch a myxie rabbit at 3 months, but at 6 months they've run straight up to one, picked it up and retrieved it with virtually no training. At 3 or 4 months most pups that have more 'nose' in t
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One thing stands out in that photo of the muzzled Greyhound and the hare: poor feckin dog! Chasing its heart out for nothing! On the quality of such action photos I have to say that Darcy's photos in the Hare and the Swift Hound take a lot of beating. And anyone who is willing to lug heavy equipment about all winter, year after year, and run with it too, just to get those shots, deserves every accolade we can heap on them. That kind of dedication is rare, in any walk of life.
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Only read or watch it if you don't mind the main characters getting killed off, usually off scene, or when you start the next book the death of a character is referred to almost in passing: that really annoyed me! But, brilliantly written, atmospheric ... and that's just the books, haven't seen any of the TV series at all, and don't want to right now. Maybe one day.
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Salukis especially, but all dogs, are social animals. They don't appreciate being shut away on their own. Every single Saluki lurcher I've had has been reared in the house and they are easy to house train and very relaxed if you understand their mind set. Imagine being taken away from everything you know, your brothers and sisters and mother, and being shut on your own in a kennel: this might sound anthropomorphic, attributing human emotions to dogs, but the principle is the same. Remove a young animal from it's mother and littermates and you have a very lonely, scared and unhappy pup. It make
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If it's the front rim of the ears that are getting frayed going through brambles, try not to wash too often as it softens the skin. Unless they get infected, never happened to my dogs, I leave well alone. Scabs will build up and form a protective layer. Eventually the skin gets covered in scar tissue and won't bleed any more: takes a few years mind!
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Did anyone ever see a film about a bloke who went and lived near wolves in a similar environment. He'd been asked to go and monitor the wolves to see if they were responsible for reindeer deaths? Turned out they were living mostly on lemmings and eating the odd reindeer that died from some liver disease that was affecting the herds. I'm fairly sure the film was based on true research, but there was this mad few moments when the lemmings (I think it was lemmings at any rate) invaded his shack and he was eating them by the dozen.
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Yes, his constant drivel and his attempt to 'own' the wolves, calling them 'my wolves' really annoyed me, as did his comments about 'watching over them' (WTF?) and watching them grow up: he was with them for 3 weeks the first time, and even less time the second visit. Total muppet, but amazing footage, if blighted by his suppositions: the pups were starving etc etc, like he knew everything about them. Sorry, don't mean to sound miserable, but that kind of self-obsessed and uninformed drivel rather ruined it for me. On the plus side, it did show just how wonderfully curious that young wolf
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What To Feed Dog On Holiday?
skycat replied to Country Joe's topic in Working Dog Health & Training Talk
Chappie is one of the few tinned foods I'd feed in an emergency: basically rice and fish and far fewer flavourings, colourings etc than many others. Plus, it shouldn't give him the runs, unlike feeding a complete food that he isn't used to. Having said that, feeding a good quality complete such as Purina Pro-Plan will have a less disastrous effect on his guts than some cheap crap food. Just remember that you'd only need to feed a small amount: far less than you would if you were feeding raw, in terms of quantity/weight, that is. -
If a pup is not properly socialised before 12 weeks of age it can struggle with facing the big outside world. This is why it is so important to get them out and about, beyond your yard or garden fence, before they hit the 'fear' stage. Even if they haven't had all their jabs, carry them out for small walks so they can get used to the goings on in the world. Not all pups show a definite fear stage, and what turns one pup into a quaking wreck may not affect another. It depends on temperament and breeding, but even the more timid pup can get over this fear so long as you stay calm, don't make a
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At 14 months old, a big dog of 27" will barely have finished growing his bones. The muscles are also immature at this age, and only once the skeleton has finished growing do the muscles start getting their real power. Young muscles can't hold the dog on the turns at speed. I doubt his shoulder blades are completely grown either, and if he's anything like the big male dogs I've had in the past he'll be all power at the back end and unable to control his speed or direction from the front. Just be patient and give him more time, but keep up with sensible exercise: not all fast work. Get some stea
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I can't believe people are still arguing about putting wet dogs in kennels. As I said before, common sense should tell you not to put a wet dog in a kennel in winter or other cold weather, but in the summer, yes, when it's red hot and the dogs are panting like steam trains, I take mine down to the lakes for a swim, then home again, and they go into their outdoor kennels which are full of straw. They are dry within half an hour and very grateful to be wet and cooled down even if they do dry out fast in the heat again. In the winter, even after exercise and not real hard work, they never go
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This problem sometimes happens if the pup has been reared in a closed in space, like a stable or shed with no outside run, so it has always had to empty itself in the same area and on the same type of surface on which it slept and ate. The only way to cure it, in my experience, is to take it right out of that environment and start again. Preferably in the house in a crate with bedding and newspaper: bedding one end of the crate, newspaper at the other. Taking the pup out a VERY frequent intervals will eventually teach it that it doesn't pee or crap where it sleeps. If the pup is timid or f
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She will have ruptured or over stretched the ligaments that hold the toe in the correct place. If a dog puts its foot on a stone, or in a hole and the toe is forced up it is easily done. I doubt the toe will come right now, but on the plus front, I've known lots of dogs with knocked up hind toes and they don't generally cause much of a problem, unlike with front toes. Cut the nail right off, and keep it cut back permanently to avoid her catching it on things and bashing the toe up even worse.
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I saw in the paper the other day a dog chasing seagulls ran over a cliff and killed itself: if ever I move back near the sea I'll be sure to keep my dogs away from places like that, as has been said, they need to be born to it to know the danger. Actually, not sure if that would work as I've had dogs kill themselves running where they've run all their lives Beautiful place though
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A soup is very different to a big meal of meat/bone etc. Liquid is absorbed through the stomach lining within 20 minutes of ingestion. Solids take a lot longer: several hours depending on what it is made up of. Whilst I don't think it is particularly dangerous to exercise slower dogs on a full stomach, a lurcher or sight hound runs the risk of bloat (torsion) if it is run hard on a full stomach. No dog will ever run completely empty if it is fed every day, so the phrase 'to run empty' is a bit misleading. I prefer not to work or exercise a dog on a full stomach, no more than I would do it mys