Einstein

Goodness! I'm glad they are o.k.

I'm glad you posted this. Willow is doing the same thing. We have gone through more toys in the past couple of weeks than I care to count. What toys does your pup like?

Does anyone have a chew proof harness they like? Willow is a Chow/Border Collie mix. He has a narrow neck area with a bit wider mid-section. We have moved up from the medium which fit his neck/chest perfectly, but the mid-section area needs to be just enough bigger that he needs a large. The medium mid section is just a bit too tight, enough that you can't get any fingers between the harness and him. Unfortunately, the smallest adjustment on the head part is a bit too large, enough that he can get his mouth underneath and chew through the harness. He is 40 lbs. I like using the harness because he can't slip out of it easily if he gets spooked or too excited. He is getting better, but I like the assurance that he can't just pull it over his head like a collar. I also like to leave the harness on with his tags and such just in case he gets loose. We are very careful and he has never tried to run, but I don't want to test that. His coat is completely black, so the harness also shows up at night when we go for a walk.

I think this is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31023237@N03/...57607794558568/ Hopefully, I did this correctly.

Wonderful! You guys looked great. The kids and I always enjoy going to herding demos. It doesn't matter to us if it isn't perfect, it is always fun to watch.

He does try to hurry up and swallow when I tell him to drop it. I forgot about the replacing trick. Thanks for reminding me. We are at the point that he knows his commands well when we have the clicker or a treat in our hands, but if we don't then he is 50/50. We are trying to wean him off the treat/rewards a bit, but I swear he seems to know when we don't have anything in our hands. He is a smart little bugger. Thanks for all the great advice. I know he will still be a puppy for a while, but there are times I think, "Aren't we supposed to be passed this stage yet?" My first two chows seemed easier, but then again it has been over 10 years since we have trained a pup. I think some of the challenging training memories have faded a bit.

Hello, I've searched the topics, but I haven't found a link to the information I am looking for. If someone knows of one could you please let me know? Willow is now 6 months old. He is half chow and half border collie. The difficulty I am having is trying to keep him from eating things that are not food. When we are outside he likes to taste everything. When we are walking or a family member is with him, we are working on the command leave it. He is doing well with that, but I still can't trust him to be somewhere I am not. Such as he has to be in the same room I or another family member is in to be sure he is not trying to eat something he shouldn't. Right now we gate him in the room we are in. I can't let him just wander through the house for fear one of the kids have accidentally left a lego piece, hair band, etc. on the floor. The kids are required to pick up after themselves, but being kids sometimes they do forget. My question is once a dog has this trait, do they ever out grow it or is it something we will always have to be diligent to watch for? Plus, he likes to eat the plastic pieces off of dog toys that break. We do try to pick out things that claim to be indestructible, but he still managed to swallow a small piece of one. Luckily it was small and passed through, but really how tasty is plastic? He isn't an obsessive chewer, he just likes to eat odd things. My hope is that when we are home he will be able to wander freely through the house with my other chow searching out family members and hanging out. Chewbacca, my other chow, is very particular so we never had this issue before. Any tips you can provide would be appreciated.

Do not let your guard down even if you use a muzzle on one or both of them. My 14 yr old chow, has broken several muzzles. When he was 4 or 5 he started getting aggressive when the vet would examine him. He would greet everyone walking into the vet, and leaving the vet, but once the examination would begin he would start to snarl. I did not want anyone to get hurt, so we decided to use a muzzle during examinations. Man, that just set my dog off. Just as above he would do everything he could to get that muzzle off. After breaking them (or when I took them off) he would immediately calm down. My point I guess is that muzzles are not foolproof. Please use caution.

These are hilarious. It's good to know other dogs have their moments too.

Thankfully, my son and husband are allergic to cats so we get to miss that one. My parents had a lot of interesting names for us kids too. Willow is a good pup, and fun to be around. I'm hoping he will grow out of the need to taste everything. If not, at least he will respond to 2 names.

He eats everything and anything when we are outside. It wouldn't bother me so much if he didn't want to throw up the stray mulch piece he manages to nab. I swear he is going to think his name is "leave it" instead of Willow.

Willow was recently doing the same thing. It turned out to be the beginning of a yeast infection in his ear. We have to put drops in his ear. When he is done with the medicine we have stuff to clean his ears once a week or after he has been swimming, had a bath, etc. Since his ears are still floppy, apparently he will have an increased chance for problems if we don't clean them regularly.

I've heard rumors that if you mix avon skin so soft with water and spray on it is supposed to help repel fleas and mosquitoes. When I looked it up, I saw mixed reviews. Some swore by it and others said it didn't work very well.

Ewwwww. The posts on this thread crack me up. Thanks for the laughs and advice.

oops, sorry I missed that thread. I thought I saw them all when I searched. Thanks for the tip.