All right, our Pet Chat team, they are here. The ladies of Pet Chat are ready to go. Dr. Fiona, g'day. How are you, Mark? Good to see you. Fantastic. Now, you said last time you were here, you were saying to me a minute ago, you had like this world record number of calls. It was so good. Yeah, it was really awesome. Was it 13?
I apologise. I can't remember the exact figure, but I was under the pump, but it was great. It felt like 13. Right, Cheryl Shaw, you're here as well. Yes. And I know you'd love for those pet-type calls to come in today. Oh, I love calls. It's just so great because we all learn so much when people call in. We do. Now, of course, we kick off its brooch watch now. You're wearing, easy, a dog paw brooch today. It is. So we're going to be talking about nails and feet and why it's important to keep those nails nice and short. All right, looking forward to some of that. Looks, of course, coming through at the moment, ladies. So are you limbered up, ready to go? Yes.
Hang on. There we go. Are we not ready to go? Yes. I wasn't ready. A big win this week. Of course, everybody that goes will be put on the radio. You're in the draw to win $50 from Dozer & Co as well. So who knows? You could be a winner this afternoon. Good afternoon, Jennifer at New Lantern. What's going on with the two colleagues next door there, Jennifer? They're beautiful dogs. We've just moved in a week ago. Yeah. And the owners who leave at 8 o'clock make them howl and bark all day. Oh, yikes. Yes. Apart from confronting the neighbours, which I don't want to do quite yet, have you got any magic solutions?
Look, this can be a real tricky situation, Jennifer. It is, I think the long story short, I definitely think you are going to have to nicely but openly discuss with the owners. Understandably, that's a bit sticky because you only just moved in. They may not know what happens while the dogs are home alone. Do you happen to know, have any other neighbours commented or do you know what they normally like at all? No, no.
Yeah, okay. I would start by just being really open and friendly, but definitely you need to be – well, I would discuss with your neighbours because they may not know what's going on. I guess depending on the response that you get, it is nice to be able to – Resolve it without escalating it. If they did need any advice, definitely I'd be recommending they go and have a chat to their vet because there's lots of different options in terms of behaviour and training and medication if needed. Cheryl, did you have something to add? With that, Jennifer, sometimes when there is a change in the environment, dogs will be a little bit more reactive. So it may not be that they are doing this all of the time. So like Fiona said, having a discussion with the owners, just saying, you know, have they normally barked and has this been a thing? Or is it just that it's new sounds and new people and new things? Because often dogs do just take a little bit of time to assimilate to new people coming into the environment. Yeah.
Yeah. Also, there's a public school opposite. And I think a lot of people walk their dogs and their kids there. High traffic and high stimulation for the dogs. Yes. Yeah. Unfortunately, Jennifer, I don't have a magic pill for you. But start, I think, definitely being open and communicative and positive with the neighbours and, you know, offer to assist in any way if you can or help out. And fingers crossed it doesn't escalate to a noise complaint to the council. I'd never do that. Yeah. Start by approaching them would be my suggestion. And hopefully you can work on it together.
Yeah, mate, I was thinking maybe if I offered to throw them a few treats with their permission and see if that would tone them down a bit. Look, it's worth a try, but I'd definitely be discussing with the owners first to see if that's something that you're happy to do. I mean, they may be dealing with allergies or they may have aggression between them if something yummy comes across the fence. So, yeah. All right, lots to think about there. Best of luck with everything, Jennifer. And as Jennifer was saying, ladies, there's so much of the new environment and then the school and then people walking their dogs. And, of course, if the owners are gone, they've gone off to work or wherever they do, and they potentially may just be oblivious to everything that's happening. Yeah, definitely. I mean, if you're at work, you don't necessarily know what's happening these days. I'd be surprised if...
The owners didn't know that they were barking, but maybe they generally don't. And, you know, new neighbours, new bits and pieces going along, it definitely could be escalating things more so than normal. All right, best of luck, Jennifer. If you have a question for our Pet Shop team this afternoon, 49216216 is the number, and everybody that goes to wear is in the draw to win a $50 gift card. Thanks to Doze & Co for raw or fresh diet for dogs and cats, their treats for them.
Dr Fiona, you're a record of 13 calls. We're struggling to get there today. Come on, people. Call him with your question. Let's go. Go to when you are, team. Any pet question, we don't care what it is. In the meantime, Cheryl Shaw, though, we've got to fill in with your topic right about now, aren't we? I think we should talk about nails and making sure that people are aware of the problems that can happen when you allow your dog's nails to grow too long. Overgrown nails are a really big problem for particularly your senior dogs. So when you've got dogs that aren't walking around a lot and they're sort of quite sedentary, their nails tend to overgrow. Now, with, say, a Labrador or a Golden Retriever, something like that, they can often slip on stairs.
And this can create a really big issue for them because if they slip and slide on the stairs, they'll often become quite anxious around the stairs. They'll stop going up and down stairs. And it is a real issue for owners to try then to get them to overcome the problem of going up and down stairs. The other thing with nails, if we're not regularly checking the nails, nails, particularly in the dewclaw, can grow around from the toe itself into the pad. Now, that's quite painful. Not only is it painful, it can actually cause an infection. And Fiona, that's a common one, isn't it? Because people overlook that little nail.
Yeah, definitely, Cheryl. And often I would comment actually in cats rather than dogs. We see it a lot. Again, as you said, senior cats, because they're probably not using a scratching post as much as possible. And as they are more sedentary, it can be harder to notice. But yeah, super painful. It's almost like a little nail.
or a little, yeah, something embedded in the toe and it can really be painful for them. Yeah, I know we see a lot of that where we've got to actually cut the nail and take it out, tell them to either go to the vet or to bathe it and things like that. It's so important that we are watching the nails. And nails can grow really quickly. In some dog breeds, they do grow very fast. I know that some people struggle to cut their own dog's nails and I'm one of those people who will say, get a professional to do it because often your own anxiety when you're taking the dog's paw and you're trying to do it and you don't always know the correct way to do it. Often people will cut it straight across, which is certainly not the right way to do it or you're going to cut into the vein. But getting it on a 45 degree angle and making sure that you're not cutting through that.
that vein or the quick. It can be quite difficult to do. So making sure that you are, number one, checking how long the nails are growing. We don't want the dog to have the toenails tapping on the ground. If you hear them tapping on the ground, it means that they're too long. Ideally, a dog's nails, if they're standing, shouldn't be touching the ground at all. So that's a good way to check. If they're touching the ground, they need attention.
The trouble is if the dog's nails are long, one of the things that will happen, as the nail strikes the ground, it will put pressure back into the nail bed itself and that can create a really big problem. So sometimes you'll end up with a dog that there's so much pressure that it causes obviously pain and the way the dog walks will be varied. Instead of applying its pressure evenly as it walks, it will tend to tilt over and lean to one side and prevent it from walking properly. Now this leads to a lot of problems like things like the toes can get arthritis in them and the carpus can actually, or the wrist area of the dog can become impacted. So instead of the dog having a nice healthy foot and everything supports it, the dog's body weight, it alters. So this is an important thing to remember that the dog's health can be compromised just because we've overlooked the nails. So I think it's important to make sure that you're honestly watching those nails every two to three weeks. If they're needing a trim, off you go and get that done because it is so important to keep those nails nice and healthy. And I guess as you've addressed, if you're not sure how to do it, get assistance for someone who does know. You know what? There's an interesting thing with nails. Often people will buy a set of nail cutters and they'll have a little guide at the back of it and it says, you know, put the nail in here and then cut. Honestly, if you do that, the nails can very...
dramatically, even on one dog's foot, and sometimes that vein will be where you're going to cut, even though there's a guide there. Even the experts get it wrong sometimes. It's actually quite easy, obviously, with clear or pink nails to be able to see where the vein is, but the black ones can be a bit of an issue for people who aren't doing it regularly, and cutting through that quick is very painful, and they're not going to forget about it. No, they won't let you forget that one. All right, nice work on that, Cheryl. Good afternoon, Lisa. You are trying to hatch some chicken eggs at the moment there.
Hello. Yes, I am. It's actually my grandson. I think he's got about five eggs in the incubator. But based on what he's researched, it doesn't look like these eggs are fertile. And I'm just wondering how he could have known if they were fertile before he put them in the incubator. So it's your son that's got the eggs in the incubator?
My grandson, but yes. And did he get them from another supplier or they're from his chickens? Yeah, well, the property where he lives, there's a couple of roosters as well as chickens, so he's just grabbed them from the property. Okay, and as far as you're aware, he's sort of keeping them at the right temperature and things? Correct. Okay. Short answer, I'm not 100% sure on what to advise you, but I am aware that if you can get them in the right light, there are changes within the egg that you will notice with fertile versus non-fertile. Do you know if he's been doing that?
No, I don't, no, but I'll check that. Yeah, the actual technique or the intricacies, Lisa, I can't tell you off the top of my head, but there is a way to do it and there's a timeframe to do it and all sorts of things. So see if you can potentially maybe find a reliable resource or someone he can speak to that can give him the correct information. But they won't necessarily all be fertile just because there's roosters in there. All right, best of luck, Lisa, and for the grandstand as well.
Right across Newcastle of the Hunter 2 and URFM 103.7 Pet Chat is continuing. Cheryl Shaw and Dr. Fiona answering your pet questions today. And they'll be answering yours right now, Sharon. Your six-month-year-old pup is spending a little bit too much time in the toilet.
That's it. Tell me more, Sharon. Okay. He's a very boisterous little six-month-old and he must urinate. We've got tea papers all through the house because we're two-story and we're an older couple and it's been a wet winter. Yes. We take him down twice a day, but he'll save them up and come back and urinate on the paper where he won't go outside. And I'm just wondering, he's doing about 10 to 20 weeks a day. Is that normal for a puppy? I'll just backtrack a little bit. So what breed, Sharon? He's a toy poodle.
Okay. And look, we've had five toy toodles before him and never had this problem. I don't know whether they were born in spring and we've just got a dog that's in winter and it's more difficult for us. I don't know. Okay. And so you said, so you've got the pee pads around the house and did you say you take him out twice a day? Yes. Okay. You need to be taking him out 20 times a day. Yeah, this gets a bit hard because we're a double story and we're not.
My husband's 80 and I'm 75. Yeah, okay. My suggestion to you, so his toy poodle six-month-old bladder is probably the size of two marbles. So it does not take long to fill that up. And what I recommend to people, Sharon, is that we treat him like a toddler, toilet training. My recommendation would be that you're taking him out after every time he wakes up, after every time he eats or every time he drinks. And if one of those things doesn't apply, then at least 30 to 45 minutes to start with. We put those...
We've got a couple of those lawn things and we put them on our top deck and he's got access to them. And we were taking him out there and saying, you know, do wee-wees or whatever. And he was doing that for a while. And so we thought he'd go in and out and do them. But no, no, he'll come back in and he'll go out there and look around and do things and then come back in and do it inside. Yeah, okay. He's trained himself to think that inside is the toilet.
So what we need to try and do is retrain him and provide him with every opportunity to do what it is that we want. If the upstairs-downstairs is an issue, it might be he has to be confined to either one level or a particular room or something to help you manage that issue. But at the end of the day, he needs to be taken on the lead to the area that you want him to toilet in and provide the opportunity for success. Okay. If the rain stays off, this will be great. Look, I empathise a lot, Sharon. I have two dogs, neither of whom like to...
go outside in either the rain or the wet and it is a real issue and they know what they're supposed to be doing and it can still sometimes be a challenge, Aaron. So even if he knows technically where you want him to go, if it's easier to do it somewhere else, then he will choose to do that. Yeah, yeah. It's just persistence. It is persistence, providing the right opportunity, lots of rewards and, you know, they're smart little dogs. Oh, tell me about it. He's wicked though. He's got a little streaking in this one.
Best of luck with that, Sharon. All right, 49216216 if you have a question for our Pet Chat team this afternoon. A couple of minutes left for you. And we'll also take a look at our Dog and Cat of the Week if you're looking to expand your pet family. Next on 2NURFM, Cheryl Shaw is here along with Dr. Fiona and everybody that makes their way on air with us this afternoon in the draw for a $50 gift card thanks to Dozer & Co with raw and fresh food for dogs and cats. Speaking of dogs and cats, ladies, we're giving people the opportunity to expand their family with our Dog and Cat of the Week. What do you reckon this cat, Chasey?
Gorgeous black cat. Josie's pretty cute. One-year-old female black cat. Looks like she's got a pretty good outgoing personality, keen to interact with people, loves a pat, loves a snuggle. She looks like a good fit for lots of families. Yeah, this is like pretty much the, I mean, if that was a dating profile, there would be nothing but people swiping whatever the correct way is. I don't even know which way it is. But yeah, Chasey looks great if you're looking to add a catch to your house. Absolutely. We'll move on to dogs now. And Pepper, a 16-week-old Staffy Cross. Ladies, the best type of home environment for such an animal.
I think she'd be great for someone that's got a bit of time and effort and energy to put into training. Still a young puppy, so definitely the ability to mould her to fit into your environment. She's been well socialised, seems to be friendly with those that she meets. The pictures on the website show her at the beach, which is super cute. Obviously, the typical puppy stuff. She would probably need a nice, secure backyard and be better with older kids, just probably because she's pretty boisterous at her age. But yeah, if you're looking for a puppy to add to your family, then she looks pretty cute.
and Dr. Fiona as well. Well, we kind of have to narrow it down to the winner of the $50 gift voucher at Dozer & Co. And ladies, who are we going to give that to today? Definitely, Sharon, I think. She's the only one that actually had a dog or cat. Yes, that too, however. Congratulations, Sharon. We'll be in contact with you once again to organise that coming your way and another chance coming for all of our callers next week. Super quick, though. It looks like the ticks are starting to be on the move again. Definitely. Well, I mean, you know, this last week we've had some glimpses of some beautiful weather, which is so exciting to be not raining, but it also means the ticks are going to be about even more so than normal. We have treated quite a few cases this week for dogs and cats with tick paralysis. So definitely, without fail, mate.
sure your pet is on a good preventative don't be even a day or two late because it really does provide an opportunity for ticks to attach and start feeding if you are the type that maybe forgets occasionally or is a few days or worst case scenario a few weeks or months late we've got a brilliant new product for dogs that's an annual flea and tick injection so if you think that might be something that would be suitable for you and your dog give your vet a call and book in for that so something really exciting that is a great option for people who maybe sometimes forget or don't want to have to worry about their dog It's prevention running low. It is that time of the year where the warmer weather, the moist weather and the nasties are back. Dr. Fiona, thank you so much. A pleasure. My pleasure. And Cheryl Shaw, we'll catch you next time as well. Yes, thank you. Thanks for listening to this podcast from 2NURFM at the University of Newcastle. You'll find them all at 2NURFM.com.