Oops, sorry, I should have posted and let you know that he was fine, was just that one day he was poorly.

However, he did develop some sneezing and runny nose a few days later so i took him to the vet anyway.  He had mild kennel cough (though he didn't really cough, just the sneezing really), his chest was wheezy and temperature was 103.  After a week of anti biotics he is fine, just got to take him back for al check up tomorrow and hopefully the all clear.

Alison

I can't remember if it was on these boards or somewhere else but somebody was having toilet training problems with their pup and some advice was posted.

The advice given was to use the absolute most favourite treat their pup liked, ie: ham or chicken and whenever the dog/puppy peed outside, reward it with a piece.  Also included was to ONLY use this for that purpose and that purpose alone, not to give any to the dog at any other time.  This reward was to be extra special for when he or she peed or pooped outside.

I decided to give this a go myself with Bertie and bought some cooked chicken for him.  I broke some pieces up and put it all in a tub and kept it by the back door ready.

Every time Bertie peed or pooped outside, I gave him a piece right there and then.

I only started doing this last night.  It seems to have worked incredibly well, so well in fact that he thinks it's a fantastic game to keep asking to go outside just to get his piece of chicken! rofl.

I have never been up and down from my seat so many times in my life, in out in out! lolol!  He was doing a little pee every time we went out to start with and getting his little piece of chicken.  Now however, he seems to just think he's going to get it for asking to go out just for the sake of it, great fun this new game! lolol!

Anyway, if it was somewhere on here that this tip was given, I would like to say  thank you, it's been great fun today! lol!  I would also like to say to whoever it was that you coulda warned that it might just work too well! lmao!

Hopefully this new method will continue to work, will be great if it does  and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone else trying to teach their pup where to pee etc.

Alison

Yes, I do intend to go to the vet in the morning anyway, am a bit peeved that the nurse didn't seem to think it necessary but can't be annoyed really cos she's not to know really.  I do wish I had insisted on taking him in today though.

He's sleeping now and I'm going to have an early night just in case and so that I can be up bright and early to book an early appointment.

Will let you know how he goes.

Alison

Ok, today Bertie was sick around lunchtime so I rang the vet for advice.  Spoke to a nurse who said to just keep an eye on him if he was ok in himself which he was/is but to give him either chicken and rice or scrambled egg for his evening meal, just a small amount and if he kept it down, he could have a little more a couple of hours later.

Well, at around 4pm he was slightly sick again in the park, not much but nevertheless was sick.  I rang the vet again when I got home and spoke to a different nurse who said pretty much the same thing.

I waited til quite late before feeding him and scrambled up one egg, he only ate a tiny amount of it, wasn't impressed  with it at all.

About an hour later,  he brought it up again.  The vets is now closed til morning, there is an emergency one if I get desperate but at the moment, I don't THINK it's an emergency.

A bit more background.  Bertie is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, 14 and a half weeks old.  He is fed on James Wellbeloved Puppy and his treats are bits of the dry food or some bland small  bone  shaped  dog biscuits which he's had from day one and I far from over do it with treats.  The past few days, he has had a couple of different things, only the smallest mouthfuls though.  This morning, I gave him a doggy choc drop, not something that I would normally give any dog but we went to a doggy party the other night and the lady who held it gave us a party bag each of treats to bring home and the bag contains various biscuits and things.  I only gave him two things out of this bag so far and that includes the choc drop.

Now, it is possible he has reacted to one of the two things from the bag, specially the choc drop.  However, I am concerned that he may have picked something up  either viral or seemingly edible to a dog that has upset him.

He seems just fine in himself, no different to normal really except maybe finding it a bit difficult to get comfortable some of the time.  He's been alert and playful, though is quiet tonight but that's usual for him in the evenings right through to bed time.  

I have just let him out for a poo and that's lovely and solid, no sign of problems that end.

If he should be sick again tonight, what would you advise me to do?  Rush him to the emergency vet or carry on just keeping an eye on him for lethargy, dehydration etc?

It's hard to know what to do really as I don't want to rush him in for the slightest thing but don't want to leave things if there is any risk of him having picked something up.  If he's fine in himself I guess that's got to be a good thing.

In all my years experience with dogs, I've not had to deal with a poorly puppy! lol!   Even if I had, it was so long ago that I can't even remember it.

Anyway, if anyone can give me some  guidelines as to what I should or shouldn't be doing etc, I would very much appreciate it.  Should I try him with some scrambled egg again in the morning if he goes through the night without being sick again?  Or should I take him to the vet first before even trying?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone might be able to offer.

Alison

I think you can be forgiven for not wanting to stick your arm in a load of nettles! lol!  I doubt many kids will venture into them either, ouch, I accidentally sat on some in the summer, only a thin feeble bit of nettle but oh boy, did it sting! lol!

Alison

People may feel uneasy seeing a dog muzzled but they should and probably will also realise that you are doing it to be responsible and that he can't do any harm with it on.  

If I see a dog muzzled, I do feel nervous but realise it's there for a reason, will keep  my dog near me, on a lead if necessary til the dog has passed and I think "good responsible owner for muzzling the dog".

Also, dogs can be muzzled for various reasons other than aggression.  I met up with two miniature schnautzers,, one was muzzled, my first thought was that it was aggressive but on talking to the owners, turned out he just ate everything on the ground and was muzzled to stop him doing that and eating something bad.

I think the majority of people will respect you for muzzling your dog, it will show that you are considering other peoples and other dogs safety in doing so, yes, you will get a few that are scared but they will be the minority.

Good luck.

Alison

It really annoys me too, I cannot stand it when people just leave it, fair enough, sometimes you may not actually see your dog do it but in general, most do and some pick up and others will just walk on.

I know a woman who picks her dog poo up, we were chatting one day and she got fed up holding the bag of poop and threw it into the bushes, I was so gobsmacked that I said nothing, just couldn't believe she had done it, a poo bin was only a few yards away too.

Another example is a guy the other day, out with his dog, was chatting with him and his dog did a poo, he got a bag out and said "this is the bit I hate" and I said "oh it doesn't bother me".  Anyway, he walked over and was "looking for the poo" but without real intention of finding it, I offered to help look for it but he was having none of it, apparantly it makes him heave picking it up, turns his stomach big time.  Why then does he have a dog?

I could go on and on and on but won't, just thought I would give a couple of examples of irresponsibility.

Alison

Yuppypup, you're quite right, it was a Canicalm and I did wonder if British Dog had stopped selling it as I visited their site recently and couldn't see it on there,, that was a good collar.

Yup, the one I bought off ebay is an Innotek and I have to say, I really didn't like it much at all in comparison to my first one.  The price of the first one was £65 and the Innotek was something like £25, big difference in price and big difference in quality too.

Hopefully I won't ever need one with Bertie, he's only a little pooch and I don't think I would want to put one on anything smaller than a full grown Cocker Spaniel size at least and Bertie is a Cavvy and quite a small one at that, he may get to be a biggish one, who knows but if the parents are anything to go by,  he will remain fairly petite.

He's not a barker at the moment anyway, bless him.

Alison

"How long ago are you going back?
About three years or thereabouts.

The one I had, I bought from British Dog.  It had a setting for beep only, one for low correction and one for high correction, you had to manually set it.

If the dog barked, it would beep, if the dog continued barking after the beep, the static correction would kick in and like the modern ones, it would allow 30 seconds between barks etc.  It was quite a good one which I did sell on via ebay eventually.  

I did find I needed another one as quite some time later, Honey (my previous dog) started to bark again so I made the mistake of buying one from ebay, a cheaper version.  The seller stated they were uk based but it turned out they were having the collars sent over to the customers from Canada so it didn't carry the kite symbol and didn't meet with British Safety Standards.  It had no beep setting on it or anything, just an automatic static that kicked in.  I used it once and then like the previous one, only put it on her but without a battery in it so that it actually did nothing but the fact the collar was on Honey was enough to stop the barking.

I still have this collar tucked away in a drawer, not quite sure what to do with it to be honest as I don't think I want to pass it on to anyone else in case it turns out to be one of those that have been known to burn the dog's neck.  I'll bin it probably when I eventually get around to digging it out. lol!

Alison

Thanks for all the replies.  He is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel by the way.  He only mounts other dogs, doesn't do anything at home etc etc.

I do try to distract him, sometimes it works, other times not really.  He doesn't seem overly persistent with it at the moment but I will be keeping an eye on him.

He will be neutered at six months so not too long to go really, hopefully he will stop after that, if not, I will have to try and find a way to stop it.

Yes, I do know the woman who shouted at him, I'm not keen on her to be honest as I have heard her shout at her own dog and she also smacked him over the face once cos she was trying to get him to sit on her mobility scooter and he got on  one side and jumped off the other.

I just avoid her now as I don't want any conflict.

Will let you allknow how he goes on over time.

My previous dog, Honey was a spayed bitch and she used to do it too but only ever to my friend's dog, never did it to any other dog! lol!

Alison.

The static correction collars can be very good but you must make sure you buy a good one and not go for a cheap option.

Also, it should only be used under supervision and not left on the dog for any length of time.

What I did with my old dog was put the collar on, it only actually needed to be switched on a couple of times and she stopped her barking.  After that, I would use the collar but leave it switched off.  However, it was never on her for more than an hour to two hours tops and I believe that is the recommendation for max time on the dog.

Alison

I would have reported it to the local Dog Warden and possibly the police as well, that way, both authorities have a record of the attack and can take action if another one is reported.

Alison

Ah good, thanks for that, yes, I will avoid those who can't handle normal puppy behaviour! lol!

I do take his toys with me but at the moment, he's way to distracted by all the interesting smells and other goings on to take any notice, it's all still very very new to him, bless.

Fortunately most of the doggy people I see are quite happy to just laugh at his mounting, phew.

Alison

Ok, Bertie is 13 weeks old now and absolutely wonderful, does as he's asked and has become my best buddy.

However, I have one thing puzzling me and that is that he mounts other dogs, yes, actually mounts them already! lol!

So far, I am ignoring it because I don't really know what if anything I should do to stop it.  I'm not bothered about it and the dogs he does it to are usually not bothered or they will just tell him off quickly which is fine, he needs to learn obviously that not all dogs will accept puppy behaviour etc.

However, there is one lady I see in the park with her dog, who also wasn't bothered by Bertie's antics but the woman was, she was shouting at him to leave and getting really annoyed.  I was actually annoyed with her because for starters, I never raise my voice to Bertie, no need and also, you can't go shouting at other peoples dogs, specially a pup that young who probably doesn't actually realise as such what he is doing.

My guess is that it's a puppy dominance thing rather than a sexual thing.

Anyway, does anyone have any advice on whether I should try and discourage this behaviour and if so, how?  

I'm happy to continue to ignore it for the time being at least but don't want to end up with a dog that mounts everything in sight including legs of passers by etc so any advice on what if anything I should do would be very much appreciated.

I will be having him neutered but obviously he is too young at the moment so I need to know what to do between now and when he does get neutered.

Thanks in advance.

Alison