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I tried several grain free diets and found the protein was just too high for our guys. Look for "brewers yeast" in your food that is bothering the dog. A high content of actual meat is not going to bother a dog, but must companies heighten the protein content of the food by added a lot of...

Your dog sounds like he might possibly be bloating! I'd RUN, not walk to the vet and listen to him. Seborreah in chows is almost always caused by food - or a thyroid issue. The treatment for the food related one is to offer better quality food to your dog. The treatment for the thyroid one is thyroi...

There really is no comparison.
Science Diet products are considered very "low end", and yes, contain all kinds of unwanted products.
Blue Buffalo is a premium food that is entirely grain free, so a much better choice.

Have you considered raw? It would solve many problems for you.

Just because your puppy is larger than your shitzu, doesn't mean his body is equally matured or developed. Larger dogs physically and mentally mature at a much slower pace. Stairs are not a natural obstacle for any dog and they have to learn how to master them, but they can't, if their bodies aren't...

Buying a dog from a pet store means you bought a puppymill dog. This means you bought a dog that was not bred for character, nor temperament, so you have your work cut out for you. Once you do relocate, or if you have time before you relocate, please consider signing up for a few levels of obedience...

Finding an airline crate shouldnt be difficult. In fact most airlines that offer live cargo sell them. They can also be purchased online, and in pet stores. You might even contact some local breeders who ship out of country. They would be able to tell you where they get their crates from. Chows are ...

I absolutely see the Shiba in your chow. Never believe a breeder who claims that the dog is purebred, yet can't o r won't show or provide you with registration papers to prove it. If your puppy was a purebred, it would have come with registration papers defining it's pedigree. This isn't a smooth ch...

UTI's and crystals ( especially if struvites) are very often a result of commercial dog food high in carbohydrates.
You may want to take a look at the food you are feeding and switch.

Yes! Switch from crap immediately. You don't need a vet to help you define what is a good food and what is a bad food, ( most don't know anyways), all you need to do is be able to read a label and understand what you are reading. ( and you seem to have a good grasp on that) One thing though... I don...

vent my frustration. Anyone who's attended my classes will tell you that one of the first things I do is put a choker around their wrist, and give the lead to a spouse or friend or companion or just another student, and tell them to mimick everything that you do when you try to walk your dog. - You...

He is well trained in all areas except loose lead walking. You just answered your own question. Who taught him to behave well on a show lead? If it was you, then you can teach him to behave well on a "walk" lead. If it wasn't you, then go of course to someone who can demonstrate to you th...

Louie is doing much better on the easy walk on my own personal choice. Cannot wait for his next class. That's my point exactly. This is not going to help you in school , because you won't be able to use it in school. so what is the point of confusing the dog, and again, it isn't equipment that teac...

My chows are pretty good....

I'm sure you'll be just fine with the dogs... it's their owners you have to worry about ( remember I told you this - you'll laugh about it some day)

I've tried to figure out what the standards are for certification on being a dog trainer in the US or even in MN

You could contact:
http://www.ccpdt.org/

They can point you in the right direction for sure.

Most trainers that I know of will allow new prospects to "audit" a class. It's not free, nor should it be, but they can see and judge for themselves if this is the type of training they feel they can accomplish. By the way, I did edit my blurb about "quality of trainers', because when...

Why is it that it's "rude" to spell out the truth.? You're not standing in front of me in class, so why am I going to teach you to do something over the internet without being able to correct any possible errors? BASIC level 101 training is come/ sit/stay/down and walk at heel. That is the...

we heard of a person taking their chow puppy to a "certified" trainer only to be told, that "chows are untrainable, unstable, Dog trainers, like ski instructors, and riding instructors come at many different levels of ability and you'll find that the lower the cost ones have more lim...

but he pulls like a maniac with a harness This is because your dog has never been properly taught how to walk on a lead - and a harness IS for pulling, it's not for any other use but. If a dog is properly taught to walk at heel, it doesn't matter what type of harness, equipment, or headgear you use...

Here's a Sneak Preview to our annual online auction that officially starts on the weekend. http://www.merlinshope.com/auctions/ Some items are already open and can be bid on. Many items being added daily! We've got some wonderful merchandise. Imagine winning all of that beef! psssttt... please pass ...

I do not believe all chows are 'allergic' to anesthetic. \ It's more than likely that the word: "allergic" is a very missed used term amongst everyone, for lack of an understand of what can go wrong during a surgery. There are studies out now proving that brachycephalic dogs who react poo...

Aspirin is extremely, extremely hard on a dog's stomach, even coated aspirin, and if I were you I'd have a chat with my vet about using this as often as you are, because it's an ulcer waiting to happen, and that might be why there is sporadic pacing and whining after some select meals. The use of As...

I was referring to all I've read that historically the chow was fed very little meat and mainly rice/veg. I think it depends what Era in China you are reading with regards to available foods. At many points in Chinese history, people in China, including farmers, were starving themselves, had little...

I think you might be confusing "high meat" with "high protein". This is only a factor for people who feed commercial dry foods to their dogs. People who feed their dogs a natural diet, don't need to worry about this. In the past, most commercial dry dog foods were comprised of po...

Do you think I am putting too much on her and starting classes too early? No! Education and socialization is never done too early! If you chow happened upon a group of dogs anywhere, she'd have to go to their school, from the moment she arrived. They would insist upon it, lay down their law of what...