Inherited Dog - Australia

suki1964

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Be careful with cod liver oil as it contains quite high levels of vitamins A and D which can be toxic in excess. The active constituent of cod liver oil is omega-3 essential fatty acids but there are actually higher concentrations in fish body oil (just sold as fish oil).

To add to what Suki advised about BARF you may find this booklet useful, just ignore the bits where Orijen is recommended (it is good IMHO, but real food is better)
http://www.orijenpetfoods.co.uk/acatalog/ORIJEN_White_Paper%2809%29.pdf

Also need to go easy on the offal as well

A couple of eggs a week ( in shell) are fine. I often give mine the ones that are left from a box - not fresh enough for me to want to eat but ok for muttley

olias

I used to live in Queensland and paralysis tics were a problem. Not sure if they have them as far south as Sydney, If so then you need to keep a watch for them as they can kill in less than 24 hours if not treated (symptoms include weakness in the legs, laboured breathing etc). If you live in an area that does have them then one of the stronger flea treatments can help, but needs to be applied regularly. Also Oz has a problem with heartworm in dogs, can't remember if its an injection or tablets you need to combat that, but a call to your vets should put you right.

Make sure it has shelter from the sun and plenty of clean water (the amount of poor dogs I saw tethered in full sun with no water would make you weep.

Olias

MrsTinks

Olias mentioned them - I was going to tell you about the paralysis tick too they can be lethal so really do keep an eye out for them. Keep her vaccinated in line with what your vet recommends and you should be fine...

Definitely no cooked bones! Chicken bones especially splinter when cooked and as mentioned they can perforate almost anything on the inside - leading to a very painful and slow death!
Meat on the turn... personally I think JUST on the turn may be ok for beef and lamb - but definitely not raw chicken which is more likely to contain salmonella... Fresh raw chicken (or rabbit etc) is perfect for her.

Generali

Ok, so to summarise:

- No cooked bones
- Raw chicken drumsticks are/are not fine?
- Leftover roast meat off the bone is good
- She has a kennel under the back deck which gives plenty of shelter and she also drags an old duvet under the concrete based pagoda so I think she has good shelter
- Give her a bit of liver/heart now and again but not too much
- Worm her (tapeworms and heartworms) every three months

She won't obey commands except if I point to the garden and generally shout and stomp about a bit she'll go in there. Usually at least. Well sometimes if I'm being honest. So sit is the one to teach her first right?

So how do I do that? I've got some doggy treats so do I say "sit", push her bottom down and give her a treat and some praise? Then after a bit she should do it by herself. Sound about right or is there a bit more to it than that? Is she too old to learn stuff like that?

I'll post some photos soon. It's chucking it down today and I only send photos to England of it being nice and suny to make you all jealous (ha ha).

Seriously though, thanks for taking the time to give me some advice. She's had a lot of cooked bone in the past year and will not be getting any more. Oh and while she loves cooked rice she won't eat veggies. I was giving her my leftover chicken, bacon and pea risotto and AFAICS she was licking the peas clean!

foreign_correspondent

She certainly is not too old to learn - and if you make it fun and rewarding for her, it will add a lot to her quality of life - mental stimulation is really important for a happy dog!

here is a youtube which shows someone teaching a dog to sit - may be handy - keep it positive and fun based on the dog getting rewards and praise when she does it right!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6KQAqa7wNI

suki1964

You got it:D

Raw drumsticks and wings are fine

Ok so the training.

Now my dog has favourite treats. These are cheese bits and liver. Two foods that are so highly prized, he will lie down and roll over and play dead for them :rotfl::rotfl:

First you need to get the dog to come to you when called - call, treat, praise.

Keep that up till she comes the minute shes called, treat every time she even looks at you when you call her name.

For sit make sure shes come to you and is looking at you. I hold the treat up in front of me ( out of reach of dog but let her see it) and say sit. Just say it the once and as soon as the bum starts to hit the deck - treat. If it hits the deck then its treat and praise like " good sit" and more treat.

Some sit you move to stand, hold the treat in front of her nose and move it up so she has to fool ow by standing. Once again use the command "stand" and treat and praise "good stand"

Start like that - 10 mins at a time two or three times a day. Find the treat that she cant refuse ( not peas) and you should make headway on day one.

Once you find that treat then you can really train a dog to do anything (within reason) I use the treat reward system with all my dogs. A lot of people prefer clicker training but I personally never got the hang of it.

As other posters have said, you do have more parasites to contend with out there then we do here, It may well be worth popping into the vets and asking what treatments they reccomend and then go buy online

Generali

People were asking for photos of aforementioned dog. She's called 'Lady' (I inherited the name with the dog):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44246911@N03/4067596650/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44246911@N03/4066832871/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44246911@N03/4066840421/

lostinrates

Cute, Gen. How's the training going?

Like suki, I lean towards rewards based training, though I do incorporate what for ease I'll refer to as clicker. BUT, its also important to make it easier for you both with your posture and the way you prepare and thn shape her training. I also combine a vocal comand wih a simple gesture: I find response to a gesture is far better than a comand which in practise can be lost in a flurry of other words to people around you.

The gestures are formed from the way I train and are simple and not to noticeable to people: its not semaphore!

Sit is a good one to start with for a reason.

Wine_of_the_World

Please remember you need to give heart worm tablets monthly. You can get an injection from the vet which lasts for one year and therefore saves a lot of hassle, but if not you can buy heartworm tablets from the supermarket. They are liver flavoured so even a fussy dog (like mine) will eat them.

Do you have the vaccination certificates as it may have already been given?

Flees can be a real problem :mad:. The best are the "spot on" treatments, you just put the ointment on the back of the dogs neck and the dog is protected for one month (or two weeks for paralysis ticks). I use frontline which is expensive but works.

Also, to keep your dog cool outside in the hot summer :T (love the summer) a wet towel on the ground / wetting the dog's coat in the morning can really help make your dog much more comfortable, as can feeding ice cubes!

Hope this is helpful, and I havnt confused you!

foreign_correspondent

oh, she is lovely!!!

She looks very relaxed with you there - which is remarkable considering her past and the things that scare her - I know you said you weren't really a dog person, but I think Lady thinks you are!

She has got such a lovely face!