Red Mal

I agree with Lab lover. Wth breeds that can be predisposed to dominance issues (moreso northern breeds) it can lead to 'challenging' behaviour, as they always like an opportunity to win a challenge IMO I wouldn't do it. I've never done it with mine, and I tell my puppy owners not to encourage it either. It's easy to win over a puppy, but not so easy to win over a large dog that is challenging !! JMHO

I've known breeders of my breed and others who have fed pups on Barf and pups on commercial food, with no noticeable difference in either. Pups have grown at the same rate regardless.

I would be giving him 3 meals a day still. Work out what he needs daily then divide. I would still be giving him complete pup food too and not adult, as growing puppies need much more protein than adults. If she is an large dog as an adult she will probably need 80-100 grams per meal. Pups should be on pup food until they are 8 months, as messing around with their digestive system at such an early age can be really detrimental to them as adults.

Not sure if someone has pointed out the home cooked food is fine regarding meat, providing NO cooked bones are given. They are dangerous and dogs shuldn't be given cooked bones ever ! Feeding chicken wings etc, is fine from a pup and I know many breeders who wean their dogs this way. Try reading "Grow your pup with Bones". It will explain a lot and help you out

I certainly wouldn't just in case. If a Bitch knows she is in whelp and thinks her activities will be normal (doing agility etc), it's possible she could ingest the pups, thinking she couldn't cope being active and in whelp. It depends on the dogs instincts and some ingest out of stress too. Just my opinion though.

I would tough love it too I'm afraid. It isn't easy, but worth it in the end Gorgeous puppy too, I love Ridges, I have a family of 5 of them that live in my street and they are lovely :D

There is lots of conflicting advice around, however, from my own experience of knowing other breeders having problems with bloat, I always feed mine from the floor. I also soak too, as unsoaked food swells when in the stomach as it becomes moist. If it's soaked first, it's digested easier, passes through quicker, the stomach juices don't have to work so hard and therefore spending less time in the stomach altogether.

Me too, exactly the same :rolleyes: My dogs have never had an issue, and they are made to wait to eat, until given the signal, and until then they must sit and drool ;)

My dogs have been jabbed annually for years, until about 18 months ago. I started doing research on the vaccs and the ingredients, bought a few Veterinary Manuals (that the vets use) and looked into it. I now job 3 yearly. I know most people I speak to also jab 3 yearly, and even though most of these people show their dogs, the showing fraternity is more or less of the same opinion, so vaccination card checks have been overlooked of late (even at Crufts) The reason I was first alerted was when I knew of several people that vaccd annually and their dogs had began having fits almost immediately afterwards or within a few days. I looked into this more and found some interesting information regarding the overdosing of meds. My older dog also contracted KC, when by all accounts he should have never had it, having been vcc every year Some vets here agree with it, some don't and still insist on yearly. Having said that, since the 3 yearly jabs have been introduced, we have had 3 Parvo outbreaks in the UK in the last 6 months, so it depends on what you see as priority. With the risk of Parvo on the doorstep, I'm tempted to go and vaccinate again, just to be on the safe side even thought I don't agree with overdosing on medication ! Parvo or Epilepsy = tough decision but I know I would choose

Your dog knows best in this case Dogs are supposed to eat meat yes, but MOST canned food is 80% water and only contains animal derivatives, NOT meat. It's just processed to look like and have the consistency of meat. Complete dry food is much better nutritionally for your dog than any canned food, and your dog knows this, which is why he is now refusing the canned food. The farting will be due to the canned food too. A good quality dry complete food will have everything in it that your dog needs (vitamins minerals and the usual protein etc levels) If you want to change to a BARF diet, you must research it properly first. You can give yoghurt fine, but not all the time, but it's very good for them.

I don't mean to be rude but grooming a big dog is way easier as you don't have to bend down, whereas you do with little dogs, therefore causing back problems RNR - There must be an underlying reason, why they won't groom Bloo, if it were me, I would ask for the reason, if you don't ask, you don't get Our mobile groomers never had a problem and had a few Mals on his list and he loved them too which helped and played with them afterwards

When we were in Perth with our Mal we used to have the mobile Groomers come (can't remember the name) but she loved it

I find it hard to believe that the Indian Wolf is the centre of all origins of Wolf, since the Arctic Wolf existed at the Arctic long before human habituation was discovered there !!! Just my thoughts

This thread has been extremely gripping and it has given me a lot to ponder. It makes me wonder if there are only certain dogs or certain breeds that do in fact have more wolf instincts that regularly surface etc Has anyone seen the film "Eight Below" ??? It's about a sled dog team who had to be left at the Arctic to fend for themselves and all but one survived. Well, apart from being a big box office hit, it was actually based on true events (if somewhat glamourised). These dogs were left and in fact only a few truly survived, but that was due to the fact that it was much later when the musher returned for them, meaning many of the dogs would have died through age anyway. These dogs who were bred to be sled dogs, being fed, cared for and nurtured by humans, were left with nothing but their instinct to survive, and they did for a long time. They hunted, lived in temperatures of -40, formed a pack structure and this structure remained for the surviving dogs even when returned to civilisation. The dog packs that have been released that still hang around humans to scavenge makes me wonder. Are they doing this because they feel they have no choice, or are they doing this simply because it's easier to scavenge and therefore guarantee survival, than go and hunt for themselves ?

Is this question directed to me, or the poster above, RM? I believe it is an instinct and that more dogs "know" it (instinctively) than we might think, but that the instinct needs to be triggered - and I don't think this happens frequently. I had a human-aggressive dog "nose punch" me in recent times and have come across the behaviour once or twice more over the years past. No it wasn't directed at you Yes I think, once we recognise something, we start to notice it more, although I think some people don't understand when I describe it, they assume their dog does it. My sister in law (again) is a prime example, always said her JRT did it, until I watched him and the behaviour was totally different, to the 'nose punch'.