Recent content by ClantyreSheltie

I almost think marking has nothing to do with testicles in dogs. My male dogs will pee in the house on occasion (excluding the male with some kind of weird water balance problem), but it's peeing, it's not marking. It very clearly tells me I didn't get them out in time. It's not three squirts on...

No, not at all. Neither will feeding raw make them want to eat stock. I love when I hear that. The only thing my herding dog is not allowed to do is lure course. They frequently have CAT tests at the farm where we train/trial, and the coursing teaches them to run in big straight lines, which I...

When it ran through my house, I mixed Slippery Elm with local honey and spoon fed it. It seemed to soothe their throats a bit. It was apparently so yummy I had a malingering dog! He only coughed when I was feeding this mixture. Totally fine otherwise. Liar!

Questions: 1) do I need to worry about brucellosis? - Probably not. MDR-1 sensitivity to stock wormers is a much bigger issue. 2) Is herding something you can just occasionally take a dog to? - depends on how serious you want to be about it and what your dog can remember from one time to the...

Killing livestock is not normal in herding breeds, and raw feeding and prey drive are not interrelated at all.

Fire the shock collar trainer immediately. There is no need. I'll say that honestly, the best thing I ever did was to cover the window behind the sofa with vinyl rice paper. The dogs don't have any idea that window exists, and I still get light. Then I'm not constantly fighting their view. The...

Juvenile Kidney Disease is horrible. We lived it, she made it to almost five years (18 months post diagnosis). There is no cure, you can't bring back kidneys. And the dogs look totally healthy until the end, when they crash fast and hard. Our girl finished her MXJ and was running the weekend...

Keep a good log, including times of seizures. All of River's have been within an hour of eating (suspicious, yes?). He has still been eating the same foods as the other dogs, and Purina products will never cross my door again, for dogs or cats, as that seemed to be what pushed him over...

Yes, absolutely, essential oils are on the list of triggers. I love essential oils, but they never go on my dogs. I have one who had three seizures within 20 days, and changing the food stopped the progression. He has had two since then, but they were months apart. He also has a water issue...

You can do all the desensitizing and stuff at home, but as a sometimes groomer I find it simple to muzzle the dog (I just use vet wrap), stand it up and trim nails. I only have one dog (my mother's dog!) that takes someone else to hold it. They know if you are afraid or anxious and that makes it...

Most vets glue neuter incisions nowadays, so no need for a cone of shame.

I prefer my dogs to work for me because they want to, not because of adverse actions if they fail to. It's *really* hard to do the fun things with Shelties with that kind of training and reinforcement type. You can't e-collar train weave poles or any agility, certainly can't e-collar a dog into...

I want to know what vet uses removable stitches for a neuter? Most use dissolving stitches or glue. I've had three animals (two dogs and a cat) neutered and none of them have had either visible stitches nor felt the need to mess with the site.

I just put out $700 on a dog who ate about a pound and a half of cat food and assorted dog treats. He bloated (no torsion), and got to spend the night at the vets office to make sure everything moved appropriately. I have never given peroxide, and in my case, my vet did not think it was a good...

Good working dogs have "off" switches. Working Border Collies work, then come home and lay on your sofa. They shouldn't be itchy to work 100% of the time. They do need mental stimulation, and can get edgy without it (I see this in my own working Sheltie), but not anything five minutes of A-Frame...