All right, let's get our Wednesday afternoon underway. Firstly, Cheryl Shaw, Pet Chat. Welcome along. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Mark. And Dr David Tabbert, who, just because the son of a gun's having a birthday, he thinks he can walk in. He's also back from holidays, almost late. And here he is. Welcome back. I'm here. I'm here, but I can't see my present. Where is it? Where is it? Oh, I'm sorry. Cheryl ran out of time, haven't we? Yeah, we thought he was bringing the cake. Yeah, we did have that discussion. First up, as always, we are on Broach Watch. And what have you got for us today? Okay, it's in the topics. Oh, it's a frog. It's a cane toad. Oh, of course. It looks like a prettier frog than a cane toad. Who makes cane toad broaches anyway?
Well, they'd be out there. There's a market for everything, David. Exactly. Now they're coming south, there'll be even more market. And the good news is, though, David, I've got one for you, right? The good news is, that actually is your present at the end of this hour. Cheryl's going to take that off and pass that on to you. Give me a brooch. Have a cane toad. Oh, OK. Now, you're back from holiday, so you're not going to be too rusty for us to answer those questions? No. Give us a call. All right, let's continue now. Good afternoon, Justin at Coal Point. Your four-year-old poodle staffie goes a little bit hyper on the way to the beach. What's happening there, Justin? Yeah, it's like, once he realises what we're doing, and the other dog, who's a mob, so she said, we've tried ignoring the behaviour. We've tried to have any effect at all.
going off his nana by the time we get there. Yeah, the staffy is very strong in that squealing, as you said. Now, so the two circumstances that you've described, one going to the beach and one going to the park to throw the ball, are there other times where he gets really excited? Yeah, when he... We have a boat, and when he gets on the boat, he seems to get by the boat. He tends to, from the dinghy to the boat. Also, when we dock the boat, he did a Superman jump between the boat and the F-Wolf at Rathamines and really clonked up. So, yeah, he gets really super over. He's got to tie him up inside the...
Yeah. It's certainly a part of their DNA, I think, that level of excitement. But at the same time, the things you're talking about, like the boat, the beach, going to the park, chase the ball, they're very stimulating things that are going to get him really excited anyway. So we're not talking about episodes where, you know, for instance, if you just come home and he's going completely bananas for half an hour, these are actual, I would say, almost appropriate timing. Maybe it's a bit excessive.
And I think the things that you've already tried, like the pheromones are going to help, but the problem is he's still got the mental stimulation regardless of, you know, there's still this very exciting place that we're going to. This kind of problem, and I don't know if Cheryl might have some ideas, but one of the things I was thinking was I would want to see you work with a veterinary behaviourist one-on-one because I do realise like these guys, particularly the staffy in them, they're just super excitable and it does take a fair bit of work to get them to calm down and be able to travel to these places without getting... overexcited. You know, I don't want him to be comatose when he gets to the beach. He needs to get up and run around and that's what you want. And at the same time, I don't think medication is necessarily going to be that helpful, apart from the pheromones, obviously, which can be in the area, in the car or whatever. But, you know, he's not doing it all the time. So it's really about desensitising the travel, desensitising the excitement or the apprehension. My wife and I have got a really good coming home ritual that we do. So we've got to even a little one, like, jump in and they have to sit and have their treat. And then when they come in, same again in the kitchen, sit in their...
That's been working really well. Actually, just on that, you could try using the treat and having them small treats in the car just so that you can give them some treats when they're actually quiet. So reinforcing just what you're doing when you're coming home or getting them to sit, just getting them to be quiet and giving that reward in the car. The other thing that you could try is before you go out in the car, go for a walk around the block just to take some of that extra anxiety that the dog's having. So he knows he's going somewhere and he's super excited about it, but even just a walk around the block could take a little bit of that edge off and just settle him a little bit more. I think it's going to be a bit of reinforcing all the positive things in the car. So when he is quiet,
don't go yelling at him or telling him to be quiet. Just when he is quiet, reward. Yeah, that's just like more dogs yelling, people yelling. And then it all just elevates. So I think if you can try to keep it a little bit calmer, reinforce those treats, just small treats, have a little container you can shake and give a reward for that and it may help a little bit. But, you know, a staffy poodle cross, yeah, they're so excited. The other thing I was thinking was rather than, like, let's go for a drive to the beach, let's just go for a drive around the block. Yes. And if he's staying calm for that, then we can extend that drive a little bit.
so that you can get him used to the fact that, oh, he's driven to Whitebridge Cemetery and he's still calm. Well, you know, you're 50% of the way there. Yeah, the funny thing is we've taken him on big trips to Queensland and back and he's completely fine. He knows the reward of that beach. The cemetery, it's not far away. That's right. All right, best of luck with that, Justin, and good afternoon to Michael at Cessnock. Michael, your one-year-old Ronnie is also a very excited dog. What's happened to Michael? Yeah, g'day everyone. It's a very similar story, I guess. We bought it when there was a few of us in the house and now there's only two of us and it's still very late and there's just no one with us. He's in the air and he'll buy us all pretty much energy. Come home.
She's still a lady. She's absolutely gorgeous. She's just what she needs through the day. So, yeah, I'm just at a loss what to do. So, yeah, that was what I was ringing. So, Michael, how does she get to go for walks at all during the week? No, mate, not at all. Very, very, very early. I have a time coming home early and across to the park. I live not far from here. She just ran and got me through the grass and things like that. She's fantastic. So, like I said, when I do, I work too much now.
Yeah, a one-year-old dog needs, particularly a large dog, is going to need a fair bit of exercise and mental stimulation. And so, you know, if you're out all day, her brain is just starting to spin circles. So there's a couple of things. I think wherever you can, certainly trying to get her to go for a walk, it doesn't sound like she's going to be reluctant to do that by any means. It's just when you've got time. She'll drag me out of the gate. Yeah, whenever you can. I think 20 minutes or something is just going to help a lot. But even still, that doesn't sound like that's going to happen every day. And this is a dog that needs to be walked probably at least 30 to 50 minutes or an hour once a day. Every day, exactly right. Yeah, I totally agree. There was another Rottweiler, an older Rottweiler fellow, and that's where we bought the girls. And she was the stimulation around the yard first. Yeah.
Again, I'm now by myself sort of thing. I don't know what to do. I don't want to get rid of that. You might want to try getting a dog walker in. So if you're time poor, you might be able to find somebody who can walk the dog for you and give it that exercise it needs. And then when you do come home and it's jumping, you need to not rouse at the dog and not touch the dog. Just like what Justin was saying about when they have that coming home routine where you get a treat, get them to sit outside, then get them inside, get them to seat and give them the treat. So the dog walker is one thing. There's doggy daycare. I know this sounds really weird, but I tell you what, it makes a difference. And the other thing you can also do is making up a Kong full of food.
You need two of them. So you go to the pet shop or your vets, and you get these, particularly for a rotter, you're going to need a big one. You fill them with some food. They've got this hollow centre. Wrap it in cling wrap, put it in the freezer, and then when you leave of the morning, get it out, take the cling wrap off, and that'll at least help to keep her occupied a bit for the day. And if you can organise a dog walker, I think that's the other thing, and maybe that's going to be a couple of times a week. You could probably try and do a couple of weeks. That's a great idea. That's a great idea. That's what you need to eat. And I can see it in, you know, it's what you need to come home. And I don't agree on it because I know it's my fault. I'm the one frustrated.
Absolutely. So far, we've had, again, a lot of excitable dogs, so it might just be that sort of day. Well, again, look out the window. It's glorious. I mean, if we want to be outside, dogs want to be outside, and if they're kept inside all day, a bit like us, they go a bit stir-crazy. All right, and Cheryl, I know your topic's ready to go, so we'll get into that very shortly on Cane Toads, all right? It's very topical at the moment. Louise at Edgeworth, what's going on with your dog, Louise?
Hi there. I've taken on a dog that has been let go by a breeder because the puppy won't have any more splitters. So she's been de-sexed but just given up. So I've brought her home and I think she's had a pretty hard story where she's just been kept in a cage. So she doesn't know how to walk on a lead.
I already have a dog, but she won't play. This new dog is very possessive of me, so when my old dog comes up to get cuddles from me, the new dog will bare her teeth and snap at my old dog. So I just needed some advice on how I can socialise her or even get her out to text for a walk or play. So what breed is this five-year-old dog? She's a toy poodle. Okay, and your other dog?
She's a standard poodle. Oh, goodness. Calm down, Cheryl. Cheryl's all over the poodles. Well, my standard poodle is the most beautiful girl. She's such a lovely dog and has been pushing her ball to the other one, like, come on, let's play. And how long have you had the new one for?
About five weeks now. Okay. All right. So certainly there's going to be a time where everything's new. We're not sure who's who in the zoo. We've got to work out feeding routines, sleeping routines. And that's going to take a bit of a challenge. And that's for any dog that comes in. Puppies obviously are more adaptable because everything's new anyway. But for an adult dog, it's certainly going to create its own challenges. I don't think it means that it's a hopeless scenario by any means. I do think that you need to be a little bit more structured in how...
get this new dog to socialise and that is going to be a little bit disruptive to your regular routine with your other dog. So there's no doubt, you know, as soon as we put another dog in there, it changes everything. And in this case, you've got a dog that sounds like probably a bit isolated before. So, you know, feeding on its own, obviously, is still recommended. We don't want to just put everybody in the same room with a bowl of food because food is one of those things that they can certainly get possessive about. And for a new dog that's come in, it may actually be a trigger for some sort of territorial aggression or even fear aggression and so on.
So I would certainly make sure that we're feeding separately. I don't think that's the time to be considering how we mix the dogs. However, all the other times, and that includes exercise and cuddles and things like that, I would say both dogs should be on a lead whenever they're together, on their own lead, so that you have a degree of control over their behaviors. And then using food treats, which we've talked about a few times today, using food treats to both reward good behaviors, but also to demonstrate, like with your older dog. to be able to demonstrate to the new dog this is how we behave and that is so sit and stay and receiving a treat and doing it one at a time not the new dog first and then the other dog or vice versa i you know i don't think the order is necessarily important except don't do it the same order each time Okay. And that is a very, very simple thing to do. Two leads, food treats. And as Cheryl said, if they're in a little plastic container and you rattle them, then you're getting their attention with the noise and you can get their attention with their eyes. And if Julie Tolliday was here, she'd be saying, keep the treat up near your eyes so they're looking at you. And then when they've spotted it and they're sitting, then you can bring the treat down to them. And that way they're looking at you all the time. And then in the future, if you don't have that treat there, you can still engage the dogs and get them to respond. And that's just the very basics to get started.
Okay. I think you would need to socialise this new dog to your dog, but you're also socialising your older dog to the new dog. Yeah, gee, that's a tough road ahead, isn't it? But there are ways to try and get through this. Yeah, look, that might take a month or so, six weeks. It's early days for those two to be together, so it'll come good. I wouldn't be rushing down to the dog park until we've got these two dogs happy together. Sure, absolutely, good idea. Good afternoon, Brett at Whitebridge. Now, a bit of a warning here if it is lunchtime for you at your place. You might want to just focus on something else in the next couple of minutes. Brett at Whitebridge, German Shepherd, only six months old and is eating its own waste. I won't use the word waste. What's happening, Brett?
Looks like we've lost bread there, which is a bit of a shame. Well, we can just quickly touch on that. That is not an uncommon thing. I mean, dogs explore the environment, mainly through smell and taste, obviously. And, you know, if they're engaged and they're very exploring, like a six-month-old, we've talked about behaviours in young dogs. It's not unusual to see dogs doing that. A lot of people do get very worried about it, and I certainly think that, you know, when we follow up with people about things like worms and things like that, sure, we've got to be a little bit concerned about health concerns, and we don't want it to go on forever. So I would use...
We were talking about Kongs before, right, and chew toys and things like that to distract the dog when you might see it chewing on, feeding on its, what did Mark say? Waste. Waste. And, in fact, we have actually got Brett back. So, Brett, you're a six-month-old eating its own waste, Brett. Yeah. We've tried everything. We've spoken to a vet, and they said sometimes it's a lack of vitamin in the food. So we've given her a vitamin, but that just seems to hype her up and doesn't stop the behaviour. If we're with her, when she does, like walking or in the yard, we jump on it straight away.
We'll stop it, but she hovers around as if she wants to get to it. Yeah. And it's not the first thing in the morning. Well, Mark was saying that before. This is why we shouldn't let dogs lick our face. Yeah, totally agree. So, yeah, I don't know if you heard, we were just following up while we were waiting for you to get back on the line, but not an uncommon problem. I think the incidence of vitamin deficiencies these days is a bit rare because our diets are pretty good. You know, like if you're feeding a good commercial food, and I've heard people say, is it a lack of fibre? And often it's a very quick check and we can make sure that that's OK. That's usually not the issue. The issue is, you know, they're exploring the environment. Sometimes female...
Pups, for instance, as they're starting to reach sexual maturity at six months, will tidy up and kind of clean up the environment if you like. So there's a lot of reasons why it might happen. It's not unusual. In fact, I'd almost say it's a normal behaviour, but it's certainly unpleasant. Is it something that's going to continue? Well, we've tried the treat. She's gone from a puppy in four months to six months to a dog. She's going to be a big dog. And she's totally spoiled. But most things we're training her with, a treat, we'll get a response after a day or so.
And she's quite easy to train. But this one with eating her own place is continual. Well, she won't do it to another dog's place. Oh, that's great. Do you have another dog, Brett?
No, we have a rainbow lorikey. Okay. Just sometimes when there is a second dog, the dog can actually feel not real comforted in the environment it's in and that will actually make it eat the faeces as well, or the waste, I should say. But often with a female dog, it's almost like it's inherited that from its mother watching its mother clean up the litter tray and they often just have that overhang. But the best result is trying to clean the waste as quickly as you possibly can because that will eliminate her getting that taste for it. And the smell's gone. I would persist. You asked the question though, Brett, like is it going to be a long-term thing? I have seen dogs that have had this as a long-term problem.
However, in those dogs, I think there is some psychological problems going on. So at this stage, I'd say I don't think we're into that territory, but certainly you do want to put a stop to this behaviour at this stage. Cleaning up, absolutely, and continue with using food treats and distraction. Taking the dog for a walk. And also teaching the dog to leave it. That terminology, leave it. So no matter whether it be the faeces or whether it be a ball, leave it, and then they step away from it. That's a really good one with training. We really still want to make sure we get to Cheryl's topic. Sometimes you're happy to hold them over so you don't have to do any work, but Cheryl, this one. That's not the reason. He's telling the truth. This one, though, cane toads, they've been discovered, quite a few of them here in the early part of the week. So some of the things we need to know, Cheryl? Yeah, certainly it's a concern. There's been 19 found at Mandelong, which isn't very far away.
is what a lot of people don't realise, apart from the problem there's ugly cane toads, they are toxic to dogs and cats. Very much. Often we don't realise cats and dogs go out into the garden and they start, if they hear or see or smell something, they start actually investigating what it is. And so sometimes they will, like a cat, will actually touch the cane toad and a dog might go and touch it, but it also is more likely to use its mouth and nuzzle it. Now, when they do that to a cane toad, cane toads have glands on the side of their necks that ooze out this white substance that's really toxic. And if they get that into their mouth or onto them, it can really be a devastating outcome for the pet. So it's so important that if you are seeing your pet outside, investigating something, they actually cane toad.
like environments the same as snakes. So they go under tin in wood piles, empty pots, things like that. Anywhere that you would find a snake, you're more likely to find a cane toad. Outdoor toilets. Yes, yes. I grew up in Queensland and so we just saw cane toads all the time. And yeah, they were just everywhere. They certainly do really well in suburbia as much as...
you know, in bushland and wetlands is where they really take off. Yeah, and they don't understand why they've come this far so quickly to be in Mandelong. But, you know, there's lots of reasons why this can happen. I mean, obviously, we've been having a lot of floods and things have been, you know, the environments have been altered. But sometimes these have come because of our interactions as well, when we're bringing soil and, you know, leaf litter and different plants. And as we're moving those, sometimes these can be in it. So you need to be really vigilant. Well, let's face it, surely you only need one pregnant female to hitch a ride, wouldn't you? And that's all over.
That's it. You know, that a female, she can lay between 20,000 to 40,000 eggs. So just imagine one female, how much devastation can happen to the environment. The other thing is, apart from the reason they were brought in, they were brought in in 1935 to eat the cane beetles, they can eat just about anything else. Anything that will fit in their mouth, they'll eat. And they have no predators in Australia. So their survival is just unbelievable. So there's no natural predators for a cane toad. So we all need to be really vigilant. We need to be looking in our gardens when we're outside or in the toilet, making sure that we do not have cane toads. If you do, you can ring up the Department of Agriculture and they will help you out. And there's also a...
a hotline that they've got set up, and there's an app that you can get if you need to identify and get help. Oh, good. Yeah, that's good to know. So that's the free Toad Scan app. I just need another app and that's the one I'm going to put on my phone. Now, if you do think that your pet has been involved with a cane toad, please get your pet to the vet straight away because there is treatment that they can do because the poison that the toad gives to the animal is like Strickland. They start convulsing and they start having terrible saliva and everything. There's a number of toxins. So the toad is bufomarinus, I think it is, and so the toxin is cleverly called bufotoxin. It's the main one. It has a number of effects, as you said. The real worry is that it can actually cause heart rhythm.
abnormalities. And so when we see dogs that are affected by cane-toe poisoning, apart from decontamination, the other thing we need to do is assess their cardiac status and we may need to actually give them cardiac drugs to try and get their heart rhythm back to normal. Yeah, so it's pretty concerning. And they get so big. They're just huge. And again, it's just a long road for the dogs and cats that think, oh, I think I can have a go at this little guy and all of a sudden it's all downhill. Well, they hop around and they're small compared to a dog, obviously.
They're very attractive to dogs out in the backyard. That number, Cheryl, that you were talking about a couple of moments ago, it does take you through to New South Wales DPI Biosecurity. Their helpline number, it's a free 1-800 number. So that's 1-800-680-244. 1-800-680-244. I guess very important that we did squeeze that topic in today. Yeah, absolutely. We've just got to look out for our pets and also keep an eye out for these guys. All right, we've run out of time. Thanks again for coming. Dr David Tabbert, tan and all the... Did you notice, Cheryl, that tan entered the room about three steps before David did today? Mr Holidays. That's your birthday present. We spruce up your physique. Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Cheryl. Cheryl, we'll catch up with you next time.
Thanks for listening to this podcast from 2NURFM at the University of Newcastle. You'll find them all at 2NURFM.com.