Duracell Dog

Yesterday, I took my 13 month old Doberman (female, intact) to our regular dog class. I've been conditioning her to the Halti for months, and yesterday was the first time she wore it outside of the house and garden. She was a bit reluctant with it, and did a few face scratches, but she settled down about 15 minutes into the class and didn't seem to notice it.

However, the base of her tail suddenly "flopped". About an inch is in a stiff outward position, but then there's a downward slope. She can move it and wag it fine, but it's been down, instead of up, since she wore the Halti at class.

Other than the Halti, there was nothing different about the class.

There was no jerking of the Halti, her leash was loose, no pulling. Is it just a coincidence that her tail suddenly decided standing tall was boring, or could there be a reason she's not holding it high anymore?

On the 18th, I started coughing. On the 23rd, I went to the doctors, because the cough had gotten worse rather than better, and I'd started feeling queasy, dizzy, had a fever, etc. I just thought it was a bad cold. I was given a weeks worth of Amoxicillin and was told to take 3 spread out evenly throughout the day.

I took 1 on the Wednesday, and have been taking one at 6AM, 12PM then 6PM daily.

I only have 3 more days of antibiotics. I'm a bit worried that I'm still dizzy, queasy, tired, feverish and have this terrible cough. The cough has actually gotten worse. It's like a bubbling in my chest, rather than a dry, itchy one.

I've never needed antibiotics for anything, but I was told by my GP that they'd start to work by late day 2/early day 3, and just improve. I don't think there's been any improvement. Should I head back to the doctors, or is this a not common, not uncommon thing?

Apologies if this is the wrong category.

My Dopie-Dobie is too bouncy to teach!

She's a year old as of earlier this month, and has always loved our training sessions. As she's gotten older, she's just gotten more bouncy and excitable. Whenever I get ready to start a training session, she goes crazy.

It's impossible to teach her anything now. With the commands she already knows, it's great, because she finishes them very quickly. If I say "Si-" she's already sitting. However, I'm trying to up her obedience level, and I can't get a closer heel if she's bouncing around all over the place.

I've gone from cheese, hotdogs and tennis balls to plain old kibble. I take her out for a few minutes before I even start a training session so she can wear herself out a bit, but instead of bouncing around everywhere, jumping on furniture, nibbling at hands, wiggling her tail and moving too quickly, she pants while bouncing around everywhere, jumping on furniture, nibbling at hands, wiggling her tail and moving too quickly.

I've tried springing surprise training sesions, as well as doing them randomly, cutting back on them, making them more boring by doing really easy commands and getting fewer treats, but it doesn't make a difference at all. She's driving me crazy.

Occasionally, if I breathe deeply, I get a sharp pain like I'm being jabbed with a needle just under my 3rd rib (from the top) on my left side. If I breathe very deeply again, I feel a pop or click and no longer have the jabbing feeling. I don't generally do that, as it really hurts...I just breathe gently until it goes away shortly after (just a few seconds) and then I can breathe however I like with no problems at all. I've had this for a couple of years, but it's only an occasional occurance.

I also get the same feeling just above where my heart is, right below my collar bone, and take the same measures to get it "back to normal".

What is it? Something to mention at my next visit to the doctor/GP?

I'm curious as to how you find out if your dogs' parents, grandparents, great-grand parents (etc) were healthy. My dog has a decent pedigree, with more "CH"'s in front of names than not, but I'd be interested to know the health part of her genetics.

Her breeder had the dam and sire's elbows, hips, eyes and ears done, as well as some other genetic testing which came back clear/clear on both parents ("CVI" and "VwD" tested), but I'd like to try and discover any health problems in my dogs' lines. Just out of curiosity. She has allergies, and pretty manky skin, but I'd seen both of her parents, and they didn't appear to have flaky skin or anything.

Appearances can be deceiving.

As I said, just out of curiosity. Would I be able to find any health problems in, say, her great-great-great grand sire if I dug around enough? (and where would I start?)

I'm in Devon on holiday, and the person who offered to look after two of my dogs hundreds of miles away back home lost one and he was hit by a train yesterday evening. She's lying for whatever reason, keeps changing her story, saying she was out looking for half an hour, then all day, then the postman tried to catch Toby, then she saw him go left and right and then left again out the door, etc.

I'm obviously upset, but can't leave until tomorrow morning. That's when I am leaving. I sent one of my mates around to the dog boarders house to pick up my other dog the day the boarder lost Toby, so all bar one of my dogs is safe now. The same person who picked up the second dog, went and collected Toby from the boarders house today, and took him back to my house.

I paid the boarder, and expected her to take more care of my dog than she would of her own. She didn't do this, and she's claimed to have called police stations, rescues and vets when, in fact, she has not.

She's trying to blame me for not warning her of his bad recall. Apparently he got out the front door and wouldn't come back. I don't believe this. He doesn't run without chasing something, and he knew he had to come back when he was told. Her story doesn't add up at all, but I can't do anything about it.

Thankfully, the man who found Toby on the tracks was kind enough to call me, tell me what happened and offer to take him somewhere.

I'm going to contact the post office of the dog boarders area and find out who delivers mail there, so that I can ask if he/she saw Toby and tried to catch him like the boarder is claiming. I've also removed all advertisement and MISSING posters around the internet that I put up.

I'm going to try and take the boarder to court, but what exactly can I do? Will anything actually happen? Technically, she damaged my property. I just want to make her life hell. I've looked after her skittish, badly trained dog for years, and I've never lost that dog. She didn't even have Toby for 24 hours before she let him run away, didn't chase him and let him get killed.

So. Can I do anything? She seems to think there'll be a few tears and that's it. She's ignoring my calls, and didn't reply to my messages (telling her what time someone would take Toby away, when I'll talk to her next, etc) so that just adds insult to injury. She isn't accepting responsibility for killing my dog.

Her husband claims she's "very stressed by it all" as if she should be happy as Larry. She doesn't seem to realise what she's done.

My Doberman has injured her tail, somehow. She was running with the entire pack, perfectly fine. next thing, her tail is flopped and just flailing around. I gave a quick check of it, and it seems fine, can't feel anything out of the ordinary. However, I'm not a vet. I'm going to wait until tomorrow, because it could very well just be a bruise. If it's no better, we'll be heading to the vet.

Just wanting to know how much it would cost to have a 4 year old dogs tail docked? It's usually about £20 a puppy, no anaesthetic or anything, but she's a dog, and would need all sorts of pain meds...

Just after a rough price.

Taking back the pups when the new homes can't handle them? Making a piece of paper that says "You can't breed this dog"? Keeping the pups for a a week more than is necessary? Having "Ch" before the dogs name?

I have a strong opinion on this, but always wonder what other people think when they answer "I want to breed my dog?" questions on here.

I know this'll ruffle the feathers and all, but I'm genuinely curious as to know what the general public thinks of Pit Bulls as a breed.

I have a friend, who I'm not going to name, who swears her Pit Bull was from a good breeder, but wouldn't hurt a fly. The dog is obviously badly bred because A) Pits are compeltely Illegal in the UK, and B) a well bred fighting dog would be a fighter.

Pit Bulls were bred to fight bulls, and then dogs, in a pit. This is simply what they're bred for. If your Pit Bull is "sweet as sugar" or simply "wouldn't hurt a fly", then it's a badly bred Pit Bull. It's like saying your well bred Jack Russell is afraid of rats.

If you have a well bred Pit Bull who doesn't need a muzzle when in the house, then good job.

I'm not bashing the breed. I'm just saying, a friendly Pit Bull is a badly bred Pit Bull, just like a Doberman who loves every stranger is a badly bred Doberman.

What dogs were bred to do isn't their fault, but it doesn't mean they're any nicer because we admit to it being the humans' problem. When asked, I said I'd never have a Pit Bull, because I don't support crappy breeders and I wouldn't be able to deal with an aggressive dog.

Almost everybody I've met, who's had a Bully type dog (usually STaffordshire Bull Terriers, the only Pittie owner I've met is my friend) says that "it's not the dog, it's the owner!" but I disagree. With a dog that is bred to be a loyal animal, such as a Pekingese, bred to yap when strangers approach, if it becomes aggressive, then it's mainly the owners fault. But with a dog bred to fight, such as a Pit Bull, aggression is a pretty sure thing, assuming you get the dog from a good breeder.

Most people nowadays say a good breeder is one who wants to better the breed, so that would mean breeding in the intinct to fight, because that was what Pits were originally bred for.

Some can be sweet, but a decently bred Pit Bull will do what it was bred for. You don't have to train a Jack Russell to kill rats, just like you don't have to train a well bred Pit Bull to fight.

What do you think about Pits?

I'm not sure whether it'd be worth the extra £100 for an extra lens.

The camera is the same (Nikon D3100) but one costs £399.95 and comes with one VR 18-55mm lens, and the other, costing £499.95, comes with one VR 18-55mm lens plus a 55-200mm Non VR lens.

I'm after a camera to photograph nature & animals, mostly fast moving creatures (dogs running/playing, birds flying...) but am not sure whether or not the extra £100 would be worth it. Would the Non VR lens come in handy for what I want the camera to do?

I've had to replace multiple ID tags over the last few months. I've only recently started buying them again. I used to use ID scrolls instead, because they were a lot cheaper, but found the bottom kept falling off.

Now I've found that the tags wear away so quickly. My 10 month old has gone through three tags already.

I'm keen to try these new ones I've found, as they have a "rubber" cover over where the details are, and it's self-repairing. That would stop anything being rubbed away. But I just feel they don't look as sturdy as the usual disc tags...Has anybody used anything similar to these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Personalised-Medal-45mm-...

I'd be after the Bronze and Nickel finish, if that makes a difference...

I've just rescued a little Shih Tzu from a terrible home, who kept him in a crate for his entire life, and "didn't feed him everyday, because it's too expensive." I've just groomed him up a bit so he can see and isn't covered in mats. I can see and feel his back bone, ribs and breast bone. He was fed on IAMS wet pouches, every few days, apparently. His crate was dented, where the kids used to kick it and scream at him until he growled.

He's got terrible teeth and an underbite.

I'm going to shave off all his fur, leaving only a thin layer. That way, it won't be painful when it grows back and he'll be comfortable. I can always put the heating on if it suddenly gets cold. Despite that, I think he has an ear infection, in both ears.

I've purchased twelve pouches of IAMS. I refuse to buy more. it's a terrible food, and IS too expensive, considering it's complete cr@p. I free feed my six on TotW, so "Gizmo", as he's called, will be able to help himself to that during the day. I'm going to mix in the food I use with his food, but once he's finished off his 12 pouches, that's it. He'll have to get used to totally TotW, as bad as that sounds.

He's so underweight, I'm nervous to give him exercise. How should I go about building up his muscles? Should I start now-ish, or wait until he's a more healthy weight?

To us, a smile means you're happy (normally). But to dogs, a show of teeth is a warning.

Do dogs learn to associate our smiles with happiness when they're younger, or are they always a bit confused between happy/mad with us? They must end up realising that our smile doesn't mean we're warning them eventually, because of all of our body languages. But do they grow up knowing our smiles are different to their "smiles", or do they have to learn it?

When there's someone at the door? Something in your yard/garden? A dog barking at them? A stranger talking to you? Do you ever allow your dogs to growl? If so, when? When do you stop your dogs from barking or growling?

Just out of curiosity. Someone told me I should never, ever, ever under ANY circumstances let my dog bark, growl or tense up around me, and if she does it, to instantly push her into another room and leave! Yeah...Not gonna happen.

I was just wondering what you consider to be the "right" amount fo barking, and when you allow it, or if you allow it at all.

Around 6 months ago, I started going to the "Cadets". Since then, one of the Corporals has been saying to a friend, who also goes to the same detachment, that he fancies me. I'm really awkward with that sort of thing, but have to see him twice a week, and he's a nice guy who I'm on friendly terms with. I just don't like him in that way! It was awkward enough over a social networking site when he described someone exactly like me who he likes. Trying to tell him that "I'm sure she just see's you as a friend" was hard enough, and I didn't even know him then. I now know him and class him as a friend, and don't know how to go about the whole thing. He seems to get offended really easily, and has had multiple girlfriends break up with him in the last 6 months, and I don't want him to think he's "unlikeable".

I don't know how to let him know that it's not gonna happen without making him feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. I've never had to do anything like this before, and am dreading seeing him next week. He gets all red in the face and flustered around me, and I feel bad for the fact he has to sit in a small room with me and teach me first aid! What makes it worse, is that the friend who told me he likes me is close friends with him, and was told not to tell me. I kind of wish he hadn't told me now.

So come on Yahoo-ers...How do I let someone down gently?

Signed,

No Experience. :-P

I have a 9 month old female intact dog. About a month and a half ago, she started getting small bald spots. She has three now. One on her hind leg, one on the side of her body, and two (one very large one) on her neck. We thought it was due to the food change, so we switched back to our old food, but the bald patches have been getting steadily worse.

We've been putting Germolene on them daily, because we noticed small scabs forming on the large patch on her neck. I took her collar off, and the scabs stayed away, but we've kept using Germolene, to see if it'll make a difference.

She doesn't seem to be in discomfort with any of the bald patches. Not itchy or uncomfortable or anything. We're going to have her checked by a vet, because we are quite worried about her. We'd have had her checked sooner if we thought it could be ANYTHING serious, but we have 5 other dogs in the house, and if it were something like mange, at least one of the others would have it. Everybody else is fine.

I'm thinking maybe a hormone deficiency? Just wondering what other people think it could be. Just to clarify again: we are going to get her to a vet. The only difference in said-dog is the fact she's now 4 clumps less hair than she was 2 months ago.

I have three dogs, so I've put this bit together from all three time-tables, so that it was less confusing.

7:00AM - 8:10AM: Continuous fetch-game in a field.

8:40AM - 8:55AM: Sit-Down-Sit training session in the house.

9:35AM - 9:50AM: Heelwork Training session in the house.

11:10AM - 12:05AM: Light training and games in the garden.

4:00PM - 5:10PM: Training on a closed-road.

6:10PM - 6:40PM: In the field with a ball (all three dogs together)

7:30PM - 8:50PM: Training on a closed-road.

This is for three dogs. I've gone from when the first training session starts with the first dog, and when the third training session ends with the third dog. Just wondering if it's too much? I have nothing to do much the housework and garden work all day, so...