(Part 2) Best products from r/DogCare

I second trying a soft collar. There are ones made out of flexible material as well as the inflatables. Amazon has quite a few. I'm sure your local pet supply stores carry them too.

My spaniel just had soft tissue surgery on her ear last month. I used this and she did fine.

One of my dobes was a foot licker and would cause a lick granuloma on her front leg just above her foot. I used a double layered baby or kid sock. I used adhesive or paper (medical) tape to keep it on. Sometimes I used an ace bandage instead. Both worked pretty well.

The dobe stood without moving so much as a paw for over an hour when we tried using the rigid plastic cone of shame from the vet. She won. We took it off and went with wrapping/socking it. I've never had a dog that adapted well to the rigid cones.

Hope you find something that works for her.

I have a GSD mix and the only thing (other than hide and seek) is that I bought a chicken and barn dog game that she loves. Here's something similar:

http://www.amazon.com/Plush-Puppies-Hide-A-Squirrel-Pet-Large/dp/B0002I0O60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382228088&sr=8-1&keywords=squirrel+game+dog

Generally, mine is only into it if I give it to her--so I doubt she'd play with it that much while I'm at work. If he's food motivated (mine isn't) there are a bunch of toys that will dispense food while requiring him to figure out a puzzle. Here are a couple examples (but there are a ton more):

http://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Seek-A-Treat-Shuffle-Bone-Puzzle/dp/B0038WP1YC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1382228265&sr=8-2&keywords=dog+food+puzzle

http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Games-Star-Spinner-Treat/dp/B00440D8GU/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1382228265&sr=8-10&keywords=dog+food+puzzle

Good luck!

A good brushing outside once or twice a week with a regular ol' pin brush would be a great start. Even a cheapo bristle/pin brush like this would work fine for a start.

You may find you want a slicker brush (closely spaced pins comb through to remove dead undercoat fluff, detangles), a blade type deshedding tool (furminator or similar; removes fluff), a wide toothed comb, blunt tipped scissors (trim feathering and snip out tangles), or a de-matting rake (cuts through mats that are too tangled to brush out). But, start simple with a pin hairbrush and see how that goes before you invest in tons of tools.

If you want to bathe her at home in the tub, you'll want a non-slip mat for the tub floor, a long hose showerhead attachment, a fur catcher over the drain, a helper to hold her and feed treats, and good quality dog shampoo and conditioner. Leave the drain unplugged so she's never standing in deep water. Brush her well before bathing or else the water will make tangles worse. Get her coat really wet all over, lather with diluted shampoo (avoid eyes/ears), rinse out thoroughly, especially checking that her belly doesn't have lingering shampoo. Repeat with the conditioner. Towel dry, then air dry. Cool air dryer if you've got a hair dryer with that option (no hot air).

Make sure the food you are feeding her is a decent brand. Check out dogfoodadvisor.com and compare your food with other options. Many "popular" food brands like purina or beneful have very little nutrients. If you are feeding her something that you feel is good for her, try adding in some supplements like Missing Link. There is some sort of deficiency in her diet that is keeping her from growing proper nails. My corg gets walks every day on pavement and I still have to grind her nails down once a week, if you need a comparison of proper growth.

For a short fix, you can use flour or cornstarch to stop the bleeding. I suggest buying some qwickstop from a local pet store, which is what we use in the grooming shop for quicked nails.

You can also buy soft claws for dogs, which is a plastic cover you can glue onto her nails to protect her nails. Soft Claws. You may have to train her to leave them alone.

I'd recommend an exercise pen. It's helpful for house training/crate training. Here's the setup we had for our puppy (the wood chips were her potty spot instead of pee pads), and at about 12 weeks we were able to remove the potty spot entirely.

Also:

• more things to chew on than you think are necessary, ideally with different textures (my puppy likes bully strips, pigs ears, ham bones, and beef knuckles)
  
• brush/nail clippers/ear cleaner (depending on the breed)
  
• enzymatic cleaner for acidents
  
• poop bags (this one comes with the poop bag dispenser too)

Don’t reduce the protein, reduce the carbs/grains. No rice. Use canned pumpkin or cooked sweet potatoes instead. Why the chicken and rice diet? Has she been getting organs and bone? Chicken and rice is not a complete diet and can lead to trouble long term. If she’s been eating chicken and rice for most of her life transition to any new food very slowly. Reduce treats or meals and go for longer walks. I weigh my dogs every couple of weeks. It’s a good habit to keep the pounds from creeping up.

I make my own food and follow the recipes in this book. They are complete and balanced. they can be lightly cooked if you’re uncomfortable feeding raw.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B3BDJW6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_frwcBbBJ3RPHH

Don’t feed her diet food from the vet. Prescription food is crap. Just read the ingredients. People think I’m kidding, but they put sawdust in the food to coat the GI track to reduce the calories abdorbed. It will likely have powdered cellulose or just cellulose in the ingredient list, which is the sawdust. If she needs to lose weight, reduce calories and exercise more.

Just searched the w/d ingredients list. This is directly from the Science Diet website.

Water, Pork Liver, Whole Grain Corn, Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Egg Product, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 ...

There is hardly any meat, lots of grains, and the sawdust. The first four ingrients should be meat. She is much better off with you improving what you feed her now and counting calories.

The best dog bed I've found is this toddler mattress, although any would do.

They are build stupid-well, and are cheaper than the comparable dog product. I don't even have a particularly large dog (45lb Golden), but this mattress allows her to stretch out, and she absolutely loves it.

It could be that she doesn't like the sound the clippers make but what I've noticed while working is that most dogs don't like the pressure you put on the nail before you actually clip them because you're trying to avoid the quick.

I'm a groomer but before I even went to school for that I use to do everything for my dogs when it came to grooming, bathing and caring for their nails. When the time came to clip the nails I would slowly put pressure on the nail so I could clip it and avoid quicking them but it would freak them out because I was doing it that way.

I looked up videos of people using peanut butter to occupy them while you're cutting the nails and to take very little bits of nail off in one quick snap of the clippers and when they didn't react to it I would praise my dogs and let them know it was okay. Most of my dogs have black nails so I did it that way and now they're all comfortable with the nail clippers and the Dremel. I kept a routine on them and cut them every 2-3 weeks so not only will they get use to it I can keep the nails short. Now I just clip them and dremel off the sharp corners.

These are the nail clippers and dremel I have and that I personally love. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002ARUKQ?pc_redir=1411784168&robot_redir=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003TU0XFU?pc_redir=1411972862&robot_redir=1

You can get the clippers at Petco, Petsmart or pet supermarket and the Dremel you can find in the automotive section of Walmart.

Something like this HiGuard LED Dog Collar, USB Rechargeable Glowing Pet Collar Night Safety LED Light Up with Nylon Webbing Perfect for Small, Medium, Large Dogs (Large Collar[18"-24" inch / 45.7-61cm], Neon Green) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P9YVKKW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hH3XDbBKRT2N3

Sophia Yin's The Perfect Puppy in 7 Days is great.

Along with shade, I would highly recommend this “coolaroo” dog bed. It allows the breeze to flow under and through the bed and my lab loves his.

The Original Elevated Pet Bed By Coolaroo - Small Nutmeg https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZQSENK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7Qo2AbB8P04EV

I really like DooRight. They are biodegradable and pretty thick. They open really easily too. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G0D3VZ2/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_pNoiub0GSAH01

If there's a place that does DIY doggy baths near you, use that. A proper dog tub is elevated off the floor, so it's easier for you to bathe them. Plus, they'll have attachments for you to tether your dog so they stay in the tub and don't fight as hard.

Both of my dogs aren't huge fans of baths, but when I bathe them in a professional setting (as opposed to the human tub at home) they're much calmer.

If bathing at home is your only option, try buying a suction cup tether. Something along these lines might help:

Rinse Ace Pet Bathing Tether Straps, 2 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002IJR9U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_zu9kDbFR35N3B

If you want to go overboard: Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training, Vol. 1: Adaptation and Learning

Easy reading: Excel-Erated Learning: Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn and How Best to Teach Them