Allpets Question and Answer

We have 2 13 week old puppies from the same litter and they keep fighting. I\'ve read you shoudl have puppies from the same litter, is this true and how can I stop them fighting ?

Hi, Sibling rivalry can be a problem even as young as 13wks. Luckily you have them nice and young
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Hi,
Sibling rivalry can be a problem even as young as 13wks.
Luckily you have them nice and young and should be able to help- of course they will always be playing and play biting/mouthing but if you think there is an element of dominance developing you need to establish who is becoming top dog.
Whoever is becoming top dog needs to be reinforced as top dog ie. fed first/attention first and the subordinate dog treated as second - this is what they are probably trying to establish already themselves.
Try to feed separately , never give 1 toy between them so they both have a toy to distract them at the one time,
plenty space so as not too confined and \'getting on each others nerves!\', head collars when walking them together for maximum control, plenty exercise to use up their energy in a productive manner.
Try not to give too much attention to either dog initially so that they are not fighting between each other to get attention-if fights need to be broken up use a loud noise /water squirter rather than direct interaction to avoid them fighting to get attention from you.
There is an excellent handout in the LIFELEARN section of the website, under DOGS -BEHAVIOUR -SIBLING RIVALRY which goes through the subject in detail.

Hi there,

is there a vet in drogheda who could treat small lizards as well. My spanish lizard (ca10cm) doesn\'t seem to eat

Hi, We treat lizards in Drogheda but are not exotic specialists - we treat routine condtions. S
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Hi,
We treat lizards in Drogheda but are not exotic specialists - we treat routine condtions.
Should the lizard need a specialist Bairbre O Malley in Bray is excellent.

Hi i have a 19 month old black scottish terrier, who in the last month has seem to have gotten very fat. She is walked twice a day but lately she cant seem to walk as far as she used to. Am i feeding her the wrong food? She refuses to eat the dog nuts and i am giving her 1 tin of food a day. ive tryed her on many different foods, but she will only eat dog food.

Hi, If your terrier is neutered as she probably is she will have a lower metabolic rate than
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Hi,
If your terrier is neutered as she probably is she will have a lower metabolic rate than before she was neutered and will need less of a calorie intake now.

Dry food is generally much lower in calories and the dog will be much more satisfied but when they are used to tinned food this can be a difficult transition but is possible;
it involves gradually mixing in the dry food quantities, only putting this mix down for 5 mins twice daily and taking up if not eating,
no treats/ human foods in between!
i would transfer her on to the rd tinned food first ( low calorie /high fibre) and then over time mixing the rd dry food in.
If you phone the clinic one of the nurses can do a weight check with you,tell you the amount of rd food needed over the day, how to gradually introduce and guide you step by step to the target weight.

She won\'t be too happy with you initially but will feel much fitter within weeks -they can lose 22% bodyweight in 12 wks on the rd so it works!