Corinne

I admit I stole this from another Forum (not French as it happens) but thought it might be more appropriate here.   An Englishman, Welshman and a Frenchman out walking, found an old bottle and gave it a rub etc etc one wish each etc etc. The Welshman says, "I am a farmer, my dad was a farmer, and my son will also farm. I want the land to be forever fertile in Wales." With a blink of the genie's eye, 'FOOM' - the land in Wales was forever made fertile for farming.   The Frenchman was amazed, so he said, "I want a wall around France, so that no one can come into our precious country. Again, with a blink of the Genie's eye,'POOF' - there was a huge wall around France. The Englishman asks, "I'm very curious. Please tell me more about this wall. The Genie explains, "Well, it's about 150 feet high, 50 feet thick and nothing can get in or out." The Englishman says, "Fill it up with water."

Found this: When travelling in Europe with your pet, be aware that there are several different species of ticks which not only transmit the above diseases but can also seriously affect your pet's health by transmitting: European Ticks Rhipicephalus (Transmits Ehrlichiosis) Dermacentor (Transmits Babesiosis)   http://frontline.uk.merial.com/flea_tick/dogs_tick.asp#ticks The Rhipicephalus is the Brown dog tick and that other one sure looks like the 'fat leathery grey one' you discribes to well

There are Ticks in the UK but just not SO many but I do believe it is on the increase. Your chosen method of exacusion is up to you BUT if you squash them you would have to be very very careful as you would be releasing and nasty disease that the tick may have been carrying and so putting yourself in danger of catching it. My neighbour (strong stomached woman that she is) puts the tick in a twist of paper and sets in alight.  She has informed me that the tick will then explode but I will just take her word about that. If you remove the tick with your fingers there is a possibility that you may squash it releasing the yuck stuff as above.  When you touch a tick you really should wash your hands.  Using the gadget makes it easier to remove the critter and prevents it coming into contact with your skin.

You might want to check yourself when you get up in the morning as well if you let your dog or cat sleep on your bed   That is how my neighbour got hers, it dropped off the cat onto her bed and then moved onto her for desserts 

Talking about bugs, does anyone know what those things that look like ladybirds are called?  Red with dots but bigger, flatter and duller in colour than the ladybird I know and love.   Never seen a more rampent lovefest going on than with these little devils!!!

There are a few different designs of tick remover around.  Just need to find which are available where you are and one you are comfortable using. The type supplied by vets in Germany near Strasbourg is: 0015 - Tick Remover http://www.gunaccessories.com/Coghlans/first_aid/firstaid.asp 

Suffacating ticks is really not the way to go!  Most health professionals agree that smothering ticks with petroleum jelly, finger nail polish or other such substances do little to reduce chances of infection or contracting disease.  A tick that is coated or smothered still has enough oxygen to live long enough to continue its feeding.  It is during this feeding that transmission of organisms takes place.  More drastic measures such as burning the tick or killing it with a sharp object can actually increase chances of more fluids being released into the tick's host. It is after the first 24h that the chance of disease being past is increased and it seems that those little blighters can hold their breaths pretty good   Worrying about moving the head, at apprears, is really not abig issue. 1. Grab the tick by the head or mouth parts right where they enter the skin. Do not grasp the tick by the body. Without jerking, pull firmly and steadily directly outward. Do not twist the tick as you are pulling. 2. Using methods such as applying petroleum jelly, a hot match or alcohol will NOT cause the tick to "back out". In fact these irritants may cause the tick to deposit more disease-carrying saliva in the wound. 3. After removing the tick, place it in a jar of alcohol to kill it. Ticks are NOT killed by flushing them down the toilet. 4. Clean the bite wound with a disinfectant. If you want to, apply a small amount of a triple antibiotic ointment. 5. Wash your hands thoroughly.

Very very sorry to hear about your wife it must be a difficult time for your all. Have you taken Ian to the vets yet? Alsation (aka German Shepherd) are sensative dogs and do get very attached to particular people.  It is very possible that Ian is understandably missing your wife and also picking up on your grief to. I am no expert in these matters but have found some advice from the net that sounds well worth trying. You should spend more time playing with and training this dog. Take him through a lot of motivational training exercises in your yard or while on walks. Give him something else to think about. Get him some new toys (giant raw hides etc, etc) You should also spend more time grooming the dog - even if he does not need it. This provides personal contact. If the dog is a house dog, leave a TV on during the day when you are gone. Basicly you are both going to have to work together, try and keep the contact between you upbeat and positive, as hard as I am sure this will be right now.  And I know this might sound a little silly but lots of talking (does not matter what, prattle on, sing a song) will reassure Ian that he is not dealing with this on his own. All the best  

I would FIRST rule out any possible illness as all the symptoms could well point to that as the cause.  The aggression towards other dogs (that is not normal for your dog) is a common indicator of your dog being in pain. Little difficult to see from your picture but your dog looks like a German Shepherd, is it?  How old is he? German Shepherds are very sensitive dogs, you do kind of have to have one to believe that so I would not rule of depression.  There are many good German Shepherd web sites that have experts who could give good advise on this problem. One being:  http://www.germanshepherds.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB4 Bests of luck

I would advise you against using Frontline as I think it has stopped working, the little blighters have adapted to this particular poison! Before you scare all those that use Frontline (and I am sure it is a lot) would you mind just justifing why you believe that frontline no longer work?  I have no idea if you are correct or not but am just a little mistified how it could come about so am willing to be enlightened.   Being the first to admit not being an expert (or anything near ) in biology or such like,  I am confused how ticks have learnt about the specifics of frontline and how to fight it's effects.  I would have thought that those ticks that have come in contact with it have 'hopefully' died and so unless some living tick comes along and had a feast on that dead tick (or did some other thing I would not like to even imagine ) I don't see how the poison gets passed on to living ticks for it to adapt to it. I could see that there may be a possibility that dogs that have been treated with Frountline for a log time may loose some of the effect from the treatment but again I would not be able to say if it is actually possible for that to happen. Last point for the original poster...I don't think you can expect any tick treatment to stop your dog actually getting a tick so you can expect to be removing quite a few (if the start of this year is anything to go on) but if the dog is treated for ticks then at least you will be removong dead'uns

There is not norm I'm afraid. It is just going to be trial and, hopeful not to many, errors.  You could try it for a week and if she stays clean for the full time you could expand her area just a little.  Continue on unless she then errs, if she does then just go back to when she was ok and try again. I really don't think that this has anything to do with her being not good at getting the 'hang of things' more than any other dog but more that we humans have a bad habit of expecting our dogs to know what we expect of them without really making it crystal clear   I am sure we are all guilty of that at sometime or other.  I thought that mine would know that ringing the bell was so she would be let outside for a pee and that it is not for being let out to bark at the local cats

Like a lot of rules this is just another one that differs between France and the UK, or should I say the rest of Europe.  In the UK it may well be ok to go on the drugs companies expiry date but in France they have chosen to go by a fixed period (1 year for revaccination).  If you live in France or plan to bring your dog regularly then it is going to be necessary to have the Rabies jab done based on the minimum requirement of yearly.  We take our dog to a vets in German (10 minutes over the boarder) so have only had one experience of the vets in France but found France to be so much more expensive.  Rabies is done yearly in Germany also.  We have been issued with the new European union pet passport that is in both German and English but to my surprisingly not French also.  No surprise (but personely disappointed) then to hear that the UK issued one is ONLY in English. Just to give a guide on costs.  Our dog had her yearly injections done in July, including rabies.  Injections cost 39,40 Euro, Microchipped (for the sake of new passport) 25,50 Euro and the new passport, a bargain at 1,98 Euro giving us a total of just over 77 Euro. 

If it was separation anxiety you would have more obvious signs than a just the odd poop on the floor in the morning.  You would more likely have peeing and crying. If the poop is solid and normal looking I would rule out the upset tummy also.  If the poop is not solid then I would start with cutting out the scraps, hard I know (my husband being one of the worlds biggest offenders) but it needs to be done so you can rule that out and maybe start to re-access the dog food you are using.  Get some plain dog biscuits to give at your mealtimes instead if it will ease your conscience   However, if it all looks normal then it sounds like it is just a habit.  Your pup should be able to hold it all night but if she does not really know that it is not acceptable to do one during the night if needed then no real reason why she wont and once she has done it a few times it then just a habit.  I am no fan of a cage but if it help to break the habit overnight there is no harm done if she uses one as her bed for the night.  Another way is to confine her to a small area that can be completely covered with her bedding so not leaving her an area she will feel acceptable to use as a toilet. All dogs have their own digestive schedule   As a guide our dogs is as follows (German Shepherd also renowned for delicate tummies).  She gets fed at 4pm and then again at 9pm when she goes to bed.  The 9pm is because if she does not eat soon before bed she will be sick (yellow bile) during the night.  She is up at about 6:30 in the morning but poops at about 9am on her morning walk and then again at 2pm on her afternoon walk with the odd one then in the garden at who knows what time but before she is in bed at 9pm.  She is 2 years old now but has been clean through the night from before she was 6 months old.  Sounds like it is just going to take a little time and a redirection.  Best of luck.

Living in the outskirts of Strasbourg (67) with my husband and daughter.  Been here for 2 and a half years with 18 months to go before we move back to Germany.  I left England 3 years ago with my 14 year old daughter, spent 6 months in Germany before coming to France. Moved here because my German husband was posted to Strasbourg with the Euro Corps. So don't really fit into any of the categories of people you find on here...don't have a holiday home, don't own a property in France and my daughter goes to school in Germany as we are only 10 minutes from the German boarder.  That all said, I am still an expat enjoying her time in france  

France is 'officially' free of rabies but this does not mean that the odd case does not come into France.  One case being only a couple of weeks ago in the South West of France which travelled through Spain from Morocco. http://tmb.exodus.ie/exodus/news.asp?id=40832 You would have to be very unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to met up with one of these infected dogs but it is better to be safe than sorry as far as getting your dog vaccinated.

I am of not help as I have had the same problem and as yet have also failed. My neighbour did not even know what a Cranberry was even after seeing a picture of it on a box of Ricola Lozingies.  So not populer over here I think. All I could find in the shops along that line is Grape juice and lashings and lashings of prune juice...Mmmmm nice

I have been racking my brain...which may well not have taken me much time I am the first to admit, but I am having a problem coming up with gift ideas for two French teenage boys. Not had much experience with teenage boys...well not since I was a teenager myself which was a long long time ago. My teenage daughter, luckly, has yet to show much interest in them as yet...thank god. The boys dad has been nothing but fiendly and helpful to our family but is always adament in refusing anything in return so I would like to get his two sons a gift. Basicly, what i need ideas for is a gift each for a 12 year old boy and a 14 year old boy. I would like to get them something 'English' as we are the first real experience of anyone English they have had (poor sods). My daughter is the UK for the holidays so I can get her to bring the gifts back with her, size permitting. Both boys like doing things like skate boarding, motocross, baslicly anything that leaves them with scared knees. So any ideas your can throw my way will be greatly appreciated. Does anyone know if there is anyone famous in motocross in the UK that a French boy might of heard of? Now there is a stab in the dark or what.

I could go on forever with tit bits but will try to minimise it for now. The Alsation is back to being called a German Shepherd. Funny but even in Alsace (the region of France the name Alsation came from) they will not know what an 'Alsation' is. Having a German Shepherd/Boarder Collie cross, you will have your hands full...having two....enough said :.) BOTH breeds love company, stimulation and lots of direction. The German Shepherd in particular likes to know who the leader is (and make sure its you!) and being told what to do. Find out where your local dog club is NOW!. The age that they let dogs join does very but some have puppy kindergarten which are perfect for getting your pups socialising with other dogs. Go along to the proper classes to see if it is the club for you and to get a feel for what you should be trying out at home. Training two at the same time will be quite time consuming and will (as F24 has said) be better if you train each independantly. That could mean two seperete people training a dog each or that you tie one dog up while you train the other. They can learn by watching each other but they can also learn the bad things too. With two you do need to make sure that both look on YOU as the boss!!!!! as two can have a tendance to gang up together. I have been told that having two the same age is more than doubling the work. They are NEVER to young to start learning the little things though so start now. Simple things like getting them to wait to eat until you give an order and teaching them to give you a paw on request are good basic things for you to enforce boss status. Also good to get kids (if you have any) to take part in this bit also as they also need to be seen as higher up in the pack than the dogs. One more thing that you can do to show that your boss is to not let them on the furniture and beds. The top dog always gets the best bed so make sure it is you and not them. We do not allow our dog in the Kitchen and did this by hanging a bead curtain so if she tried to sneek in we would hear her and could shout No. She then thought we could see through walls LOL One other thing we found useful is to use a bell (we use a wind chime) so the dog can tell us when she wants to go out. When you are training the pups to go pee outside and you are really going to have to do one at a time as they will just go out and play together. Tell him/her what it is you are going out for (NO play while you are out is important) then help them knock the bell with their nose, give them loads of praise and out you go. Then, job done, back in you go. If they don`t go in 5 mins or so then go back in and try 10/15 mins later. There are many many forums on the internet that you will probebly find really useful being a new dog owner. I have used one or two German Shepherd specific sites that give great advise and have no problems giving advise to and breed/mixed breed owner.

I remember seeing a post a while ago about someone wanting a low maintenance garden. The query and suggestions were around plastic/membrane covering and then topped with bark/mulch. I have already done this so did not add my two pennys worth ... until now. Now I can say...low maintenance...NOT. Don't get me wrong, if it is to make all that time spent weeding a thing of the past it's a winner BUT if it is to keep your garden looking fairly tidy for long periods then I am afraid it is not proving to be that way for me. Everyday, 3 or 4 times a day I have to go around the garden picking bark (and we are talking a few handfuls each time, nicely spread out of course) off the grass and put it back on the flower bed. All I need to do now is to identify the little bleedin critter and find a way to stop them. This critter will firstly remove the bark from all along the the edge of the flower beads. Then from around every bushe, tree and plant. Once this is done, it/they will start digging small holes all over, down to the plastic and in some cases start pulling the plastic up as well. All the while making sure that the displaced bark goes over the garden edging (a good 2 inches higher than the flowerbed) and spreads out over the grass. So what is this critter? At first I blamed the dog, but after consideration and a test on what happens when I am out on a walk with her she has been ruled out and as she is a big German Shepherd, any hole she digs is easly identifiable. Next it was the neighbours cats but if and when they have dared step foot in my garden the dog will start running around like a nutter trying to track them down so thats them ruled out. So...and I promise this tale of whow will come to and end real soon...my guess is that the critters are birds but as yet have no solid proof. Have I sat on the balcony and watched for ages to try to catch them at it...yes. Does the dog spend a lot of time in the garden as a possible gard dog and deterant...yes Is there any let up in this distruction...no I will admit to feeling a tad bad about deniying birds access to any possible tasty worm that may be lurking below the plastic but there are plenty of other gardens they can go dine in. So, to conclude, this plastic/bark option is proving far from maintenance free!! Has anyone else got this problem or more importanty, solved it?

My money is on a sling/bite or such like. You said she got a bit angry and was growling with you. This is very normal for a dog that is in pain and means no ill will towards you. Our dog got bit on the inside of the mouth by a bee. After a mad dash round we found her hidding (and I am sure sulking) under a bed with a swollen lip. As for rushing to the door, dogs can hear and smell things well beyond our ability but they don't have enough sense to be able to judge whether is is actually worth so much fuss )

I think that you might need to ask yourself why you are getting a puppy and not a dog from, say SPA. If its so you can have the fun of having a pup around and so you can teach your dog how you want it to act (i.e. not on furniture, not posesive over food, general house and interaction mannors)and not have to deal with a dog that has habits (good and bad) tought by others then I would say dont get the pup until you have the time to look after it yourself. Can you really trust the breeder (temp mum) to teach your pup the important things to ensure it becomes a well balanced dog? If you will be in the UK for the majoriety of the next 7 months then I would suggest getting one there. As much as you have probebly fallen in love with this pup, I am sure that you would feel the same when you see litters of pups in the UK.

The hubby got a quote to cover me for health Insurance (forgot to ask the company) . 200 Euro a month and thats only 30% of the full cost as the German Army pays the other 70%. Is this reasonable????

These sites might help http://chienplus.com/repacceuil.html http://www.chez.com/cnea/favorite.htm

Im sorry I can not help with any recommendations of real estates as we rent and have not had that much to do with the company we deal with to be able to recommend them. Just thought I would mention that properties in Strasbourg centre are very expensive so looking a little further a field will get you more for your money.