samoyedman

^^^ Good grief lol.

That's not frivolity, it's lying - plain and simple. If you're going to lie to people then you will get replies based on your lies and you have no one to blame but yourself. Its not lying. Of course I can inspect my dog and as a person semi-new to dogs there's some things I'm not used to doing yet and my way of dealing with them is by having a bit of a laugh about them. I think most people here get that...but not all it seems. I don't take kindly to being called a liar...I think you're over-reacting.

Flycow: I use a groomer. To Molasses; cheer up, its Xmas. I'm joking around a bit here and Im kinda new to this. Pls note the emoticons I use are generally meant to indicate some frivolity in what I post. ;)

ok. The Samoyed people at the show looked like they were a bit more "down under" if you follow my drift...uncomfortably close for my liking

I hope you are intending to have your boy desexed then. Entires males must have their testicles checked weekly by their owners to make sure any cancer (or other nasty lumps) are found ASAP. You really need to be checking is tummy and genital area regularly either way, so I hope you can get over your own 'issues' for the sake of your dog. This is why I sooo need a girlfriend

I, ummm....don't like groping around down there...his gut is above his John Thomas. Call me old fashioned but it's a guy thing.

I'm feeding Nutro as well and my Samoyed's coat is amazing. The guard hairs are erect and his coat has a nice sheen to it. Plus he really enjoys his food...he's yet to ever leave any.

There's at least 3 DOL'ers who have had their fully vaccinated dogs killed by Parvo.

So I was at the Castle Hill Dog Show on Saturday and some Samoyed friends were giving my puppy a good going-over. All-in-all he seems to be a good pup except for one thing; after feeling his guts I was told I'm over-feeding him. Sure enough the next night for the first time ever he wouldn't eat a bit of food. He isn't sick or anything because this morning he wolfed down his breakfast. I've been told pups should have 3 meals until 6 months old. Is it best to cut back to 2 meals now (instantly or gradually) or to just cut down on quantities I'm feeding him? For us amateur dog-owners it seems like its such a fine line between over-feeding and feeding your dog properly. Thanks for any tips.

Of course, the more I think about it, its not like I HAVE to desex him, is it?

Well frankly I think that's a fallacy, dogs usually detect that a bitch is in season by the scent of their urine which is why in season bitches mark much more than they usually do. I have an entire bitch next door to me and my older dog who has been used at stud doesn't even notice, if she comes near the fence and he happens to be near enough to catch a whiff he whinges a bit, but once she moves away he forgets all about it. However this thread isn't about desexing and I agree, if you're not going to show him desexing is probably your best option. The funny thing is my ego wants to show him because I think hes a really nice looking samoyed. And Im not averse to the idea of breeding a littler through him then getting him desexed because he has a good pedigree and Id like toi put something back into the samoyed lines. I'm still pondering these things though I suspect I'll lean towards desexing soon.

It's no big deal samoyedman, I have three entire males here and they're no problem at all, if they're well trained and socialised I don't think you'd really know the difference although I will admit that I've never actually owned a desexed male so maybe I shouldn't be commenting. :D well he's an only dog which might make a difference compared to your situation. They told me in puppy kindergarten they can detect a bitch on heat up to 5kms away. If I left him entire its a bit cruel IMO and theres lots of evidence to support desexed males having less risk of health problems later in life such as testicular cancer etc.

Im taking him to a show on Saturday just to look around. Many samoyed owners tell me he has the look and temperament to be a good show dog but to be honest I mainly got him as a pet and the idea of coping with an entire male isn't something I particularly like.

At puppy shcool they told us teething lasts for about 6 months? It seems in larger dogs like ours the process isn't as drawn out? I thought puppy teeth were meant to be sharper than adult teeth?

Gees Louise, are you telling me he grew front adult dog teeth in A DAY? :D

Like all puppies my 18 week old Samoyed chews on things here and there but as yet I don't know if he's teething? He still seems to have his puppy teeth. I give him a pigs ear every few days and small (but safe) meaty bone with his breakfast every second day along with various toys. He has plenty to chew on. Is it possible he's teething and with all the regular chews he has his teething pain is being soothed and Im not noticing it? He's 18/19 weeks old now...shouldn't he be teething?

I use apple cider vinegar...works wonders and is good for overall health too. Put a few tiny drops in dogs water. I carefully rubbed some ACV onto his tear stains and it cleared up in 2 weeks.

Offer her a reward when shes quiet and wants to come inside. Thats what I've done with my puppy. It sometimes takes careful timing because they get so excited and start barking again. Indeed, I have the opposite problem...knowing when he wants to go out...somtimes he stands at the door, whines, looks at me and then wont go out! I ignored this once then he started to pee inside I'm thinking of installing a little bell inside the door and teaching him what it means.

Another question (sorry, I like to be totally informed ) if other dogs can be carriers, like my dogs that are vaccinated but could potentially come into contact with parvo when out on walks, is there still a high risk it could be in our backyard? Can parvo spread, that is, can a dog with the virus urinate on the footpath outside my house spreading the virus to my front lawn? Sorry if this sounds really dumb but I don't want my pup in any danger (we let her play in our front lawn) It can move (as I understand it) by people treading on it and transferring it to where they walk. And rain can wash it into new areas. I don't know if that is any help sorry.

My puppy eats pigs ears too. Just 2 things: 1) They are very high in fat 2) they can stain around the mouth (more of an issue with my Samoyed lol). I give him a pigs ear every 2nd day, alternating with a meaty bone every 2nd day.

It is a risk. Let me repeat bluntly what 3 vets and an experienced nurse said to me: "NO walks until fully vaccinated". Make no mistake, parvovirus is rampant at the moment. No doubt you hate seeing your puppy couped up and you are dying to take him for a walk. But its just not worth the risk.

While taking my pup for a brief walk tonight I came across another samoyed owner. I had a conversation with this guy and he strongly advised me to avoid touching puppy ears while they were growing. And he didnt mean the floppy exteriors. He was talking about hands-off the head area between the ears and definitely no scratching behind the ears as this can damage/malform the ear cartilage. Has anyone ever heard of this before? PS one of my samoyed puppy's ears is partially up the other is still floppy. He is almost 16 weeks old. Is this normal for one to be different to the other?

yes

I dont show any excitment much and he never jumps up and down. I show enthusiasm when he does something right like learning a command.

Thanks for reply Sas. :sigh: Kinda knew that was coming viz a vis the "what you do now is how it will behave as a dog". The thing is though just about *all* puppy-play is the sort of thing you don't want your dog to do when he grows up, but puppies are puppies and still need to have their fun. May I ask specifically what play you did with your pup? It would take an incredible amount of control on my own behalf not to have a little *very light* playful rolling on the ground with my samoyed...should this be avoided totally? He's so damn cute I can barely resist giving him a hug Re keeping him occupied, he's with someone for a lot of the day and sleeps the rest of the time. He's only had 2 vaccinations so can't start taking him for walks yet. When he's a bit older I will start taking him to work with me. I appreciate the advice.