spottychick

Name: Pepper Nickname: Pep/Pepsi/doofus Breed: Dally B/W Gender: F Age: 7 Picture: Where did you get them from? A stupid BYB who had negligently caused the death of the other puppy by leaving them home alone in a paddock full of horses and other animals all day. A friend told me about it and that there was one 6 week old puppy left there in danger of something similar happening, so I grabbed this one to "look after" and ended up keeping her. How often do you exercise your dog? Every day at least once, usually twice Do they know any commands? Lots Compete in any dog sports? No Favourite treat: Bones Favourite toy: Toilet roll innards LOL Funny habits or quirks: Wont go anywhere near dog pooh - will actually wrinkle her nose and look all offended and kind of pick her way around it. Once there was some on a narrow path and I couldn't get her to come past it. She fought her way through prickly bushes instead ROFL What's their personality like? She is the ultimate Diplomat. Tries to love every person and every animal she meets and tries to get them to play Do they get along well with other dogs? Brilliantly Are they scared of anything? Not that I know of What training methods do you use? Positive reinforcement? Corrections? Positive reinforcement - a bit - mostly she just picks up on what I want really easily and just does it - with or without treats/reinforcement. But she gets told she's a good girl a lot - mostly coz she is No corrections needed with Pepper - even when she was a puppy - I think she just followed the lead of my other - well trained dogs. If I was going to enter her in some kind of competition I suspect I'd use a bit of correction training tho.

hee hee 10 mins x 3 or 4!!! Isn't that forest gorgeous! I took a lot more photos but most of them are just 2 blurry white things racing through trees

Warning - lots of really bad photos ahead Okay! We did the walking off-lead for the second time today (when I say "walk" I actually mean run like crazy of course!!) I thought I'd lost Tango several times - he was a bit less .... erm .... well behaved this time - but it's not HIS fault is it? How can he be blamed if all these wierd little black furry hopping things kept racing across the track and his prey drive kicked in (I have no idea what they were - I only saw a blur of movement). But he did come back every time - even tho a couple of times it took almost 10 minutes of worry before he appeared somewhere on the track - Pepper comes back and stays with me no matter what.... and looks around for him too! Took some pics but be warned they are fairly rubbish - mobile phone, dogs moving like maniacs, me moving too - doesn't add up to spectacular pics but I wanted to get across the feel of it all. Our story begins with an eternally hopeful Tango sitting in the back of the car for an hour (after I opened it to shake out the blanket) willing it to move somewhere and a bored Pepper blocking the hallway so i couldn't get anything unpacked without tripping over her: So - we got in the car and headed just down the road a tad, I let Tango off lead almost straight away - before we got to the forest. "Woo hoo! How good is this Pepper!!??" And they're off!!! Oh Lord - where did they go??? "Here we are!!! You should see what's round the bend, man it's AMAZING ....." "So is there a treat in this or what?" ...."Oh wait - I think that was one of them pesky black furry hoppy things....." ".... gulp, yum.... er what was I talking about before? I forget - got any more?" ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ETA Fixed a mistake

Brilliant! :D Nice dog!

Oh that is a horrible experience - I've had something similar happen and one incident where the dog actually had it's jaws around my dogs neck - I can well understand the bourbon and reluctance to go out with the dog - but it will pass (both the bourbon and the reluctance LOL) So glad your little sweetys okay

Yay Trim!! ANd Daisy

Thanks Rysup - the coat was originally bought for my other boy dally who was quite a lot bigger than Tango - but it also caused him similar problems - tho not as bad. I think the coat is an older style coat and had a couple of design flaws. I've found people chatting in forums about having to modify them by sewing extra pieces to hold it up at the neck. I've seen other Weatherbeeta styles since that look better. The greyhound coats look like a good idea - I had a look at the Chilli coats and they look fantastic - shame they're Canadian because it would be nice to support locals and especially locals who are on DOL. I'll have a look in the commerical/greyhound threads and see if anyone here makes something similar.

Here you go. Warley's coats are the only coats my ratbag will wear. http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry4581222 THey look good and sturdy - I like the way they are shaped instead of relying on a long strap to hold the sides together. But they have velcro.... maybe not such a problem when the velcro isn't flapping about like it does on the one I have.... oooh wait - I just read through the other (long!) thread on it and you can have ties instead! Cool. Thanks for all the suggestions - I'm checking them all out now! Excitement

Hmmm possibly! He's a dalmatian but he's not crate trained - yet. I'm waiting for some spare cash to buy a crate and give it a go. THanks for the suggestion!

Hi folks Mr Tango is having trouble dealing with Tassie's very cold weather. He has put on weight but he still doesn't have much in the way of fat or bulk to help him keep out the cold and he comes from NSW North of Sydney so he really isn't used to this kind of cold. Unfortunately he totally freaks out and runs out of his basket if I put a blanket over him but he is ice-cold in his bed at night and you can see he's having trouble staying warm. I have a weatherbeeta coat but the design of the coat is not good. It slips around all the time and when he tries to sit or lay down it gets caught under his bottom and nearly chokes him by pulling tight at the front. It also slips right back from the neck so half his back is uncovered and it drags around his back legs when he's wearing it. Also, he really REALLY hates the noise the velcro makes - he gets all skittish and worried by it. And I hate how the velcro sticks to everything and picks up so much hair and lint. Anyway, he was remarkably good about having the coat put on - went all smoochy and wriggly like he knew it was something spesh! BUT once he tries to lie down he gets very upset and wont settle - and I don't blame him. SO - has anyone got any ideas about the best dog coat to get him, preferably without velcro - and that doesn't slip back from the neck. Alternatively are there any clever coat makers in here who might be able to help? Thanks in advance for any thoughts. PS Pepper wouldn't mind a decent one too For when she's not in her bed snuggled under a comforter of course. Oh and weather-proof or water-resistant would be a bonus but not essential as it's mostly about wanting to help him stay warm.

LOL SO good you wrote it twice Oh go on - I'm curious now. Or PM me I love discussing doggy diets - I'm so tragic

Hmmm it's still a bit vague isn't it. Perhaps they mean to give him that much to eat in total - that would be my take on it. I'm sorry to be a bit thick, but I gather you buy special "dog" type meat so that's why it has dog instructions on it (as opposed to buying ready-made BARF or human grade meat)???? But I think it depends on a few things. How active the dog is, how old, does it live outside, what the weather is like (mine eat more in winter because they use up so much energy staying warm - dallys don't have much of a coat) etc. I think energy requirements differ so much from dog to dog. And I think it's more standard to find commercial food telling you how much they THINK you should feed your dog than it is when you embark on the raw food journey LOL The point I think is to work out what's best for you dog and that can be a bit tricky. But you can get rough guides. This might help Food calculator And this site might help too Link

Sorry mas - I'm not sure what you mean. Who said it and can you give the context. I know I've seen something similar before but I cant remember what or where - I just tend to feed my lot whatever seems right LOL. I'd guess it's referring to in total - ie with veggies etc but I'd have to see the comment in context to be sure.

Hey erny - I don't know if it's "safe" - but I've fed it to my dogs and not had any issues and I'm just giving a purely personal non-expert comment However, it's not something they get very often (in fact almost never, only when it's an emergency and I have absolutelynothing else to give them - oh and once when my dog was recovering from being poisoned as part of transitioning her to normal food she got weetbix and vegemite as part of her recovery diet). I remember years ago it was recommended when I bought a puppy from a breeder and I think it was fairly standard at the time. But there are better things to feed them Personally I don't have a problem with feeding some good quality grains (not wheat) to dogs as part of a balanced diet as long as they aren't allergic to them.

LOL Yep, that's the beauty of walking dogs off lead if you can. I sometimes stand in the shed at the recreation ground while they run around - except Tango tends to hide in there with me LOL I will walk them in most weather except thunder storm, severe downpours and - here in Tassie - snowy blizzards!!! (they are the worst!) The dogs aren't interested if its a blizzard anyway. That reminds me of a sign I saw on a shop in Derby today that said: "Winter opening hours, Mon - Fri 10 am till 3 pm..... unless there's a blizzard".

If you must feed tinned food the Nature's Gift ones are actually pretty good. Made up of good quality chicken meat (no offal or rubbish bits) and either rice or oats and some veggies. It actually looks sort of nice and not at all like other canned dog foods. I actually think that would be better for the dog than supercoat dry food - but that's just my view. I don't know about the other varieties coz I cant feed my dogs beef etc but I was told by people who visited the Nature's Gift factory that the tinned chicken stuff was made with high quality ingredients and very healthy. There's nothing wrong with sometimes giving the puppy some weetbix or oats (oats are better) - but they should be good quality rolled oats. Quinoa and millet are also good alternatives.

Oh that's great news - except for the 8th one, but sadly I suspect it's already too late - the fact that they took the four to a vet suggests they had a problem with them.....

That's really vivid and lovely Robbi!

LOL That's a lovely description of what you're doing - and good on ya for doing this for the horses and for Jed ANother relit candle and I've replenished the oil burners at the same time. Those coffees were fantastic and I've eaten myself to the limit in here - well.... almost :D Hope Jed is improving tonight!

I bought a roll of them so I dont know what they are worth each. So if you ever need one let me know Once I've found mine hee hee

Yep VC. I've got some - somewhere..... this moving house thing is a nuisance! I used to check his ph levels a lot but nothing changed so I stopped doing it. But yeah, I should do it now and again.

Thanks for your comments everyone! It's great to share these moments and pocs - even if they are a bit shoddy . I don't know about other dogs but dallys REALLY need somewhere to race their little butts off so it IS fantastic to watch their joy when they can do it. My old girl used to run up to 40 ks a day beside my bicycle with no effort, they are very athletic dogs. I should say I think the TOT programme can take a lot of credit for helping Tango gain confidence and focus. I thoroughly recommend it and thanks to the person who shares it here for free (cant remember the name k9 something??? ) And yes you're right kirst_goldens, if Pepper wasn't such a brilliant natured girl this would all be so much harder. Love the siggie bertandsally - but what's a "fertinator" exactly hee hee

Thanks VC I saw it!

That's so cool!!!

Actually MM - he's getting close to a "normal" diet (for my dallys anyway) now I keep an eye on things but he is now getting fed so well the vet reckons he's better fed than she is LOL He still gets rice but it's brown rice cooked in a pressure cooker with miso, a range of veggies, tumeric, herbs and sometimes a bit of chicken for flavour. He also gets a variety of food including tinned Nature's Gift chicken and rice/oats, a smaller amount of minced chicken (compared to Pepper), eggs (soft boiled), yoghurt/keffir, chicken necks/wings/carcasses, cottage/ricotta cheese and the odd treat of cheddar cheese, rye bread/ryvita and even some all natural dried fish treats (tiny bits) - for training and to reward him when I put stuff in his eye etc. I make up the bulk of his meals with the rice/veggie mix and add freshly pulped carrot/cabbage etc and lots of water plus some ACV then add some protein picked from the above choices and yoghurt to help with digestion. He also gets flax or some kind of good oil in his meal and sometimes a couple of fish oil capsules straight from my hand (he loves them and regards them as a treat!!) I've built up the amount of protein he gets slowly and kept a watch on how well he is going with weeing - I look for a good strong stream LOL - and so far he is doing that still - but if I get worried I give him a bowl of water laced with something yummy (eg a bit of milk), as someone in the dally thread suggested, to make sure he's flushing out well. So he's doing pretty darn well in the food department The muscles are possibly developing because he's walked at least once a day whereas before he was walked ...er .... NEVER. I have to also tell you that he's become more and more playful - almost every day now he starts barking at me and grabs something to run outside with so Pepper and I have to chase him. He's very good tho, if he grabs something he shouldn't I just have to gently say 'no' and he drops it immediately and looks around frantically for something he CAN have hee hee It's very cute to watch Then he tears around the yard hurling the toy or whatever in the air and catching it. He is also fine playing "tug-a-war" and doesn't growl at me or snap etc when I grab the other end. But he is not good with Pepper if she grabs it!!! Oh and he's very strong! I tried to move him in my direction when I had hold of the other end of an old slipper and I simply couldn't budge him!!!