samoyedman

which one is more readily available (I'm in southern Sydney and both seem hard to find)? which one is considered to be more nutritious for dogs? which one is normally the more expensive? which one is better for coats? Particularly a Samoyed coat? I'm tossing up which brand to get and Ive narrowed it down to these two, so any help is appreciated.

Yeah looked at the Nutro list of distributors and there isn't one within cooee of the Southern Sydney suburbs

I'm in Sydney's St.George area. I hear the above 2 brands are highly regarded. However, Ive been to various pet stores and supermarkets and no one seems to sell them. Any tips where to locate them?

Its just that all the advice Ive got from here as well as in books says no long walks until they're full-grown or about 14 months old. Their bodies arent properly formed yet and those long treks may have an effect on it. Would you take a 2-3 year old kid on a 2 hour walk? Because thats what its equivalent to. I repeat, Im only saying what others here (and books) tell me.

wow, should you really be taking a 4 month old puppy on 12km walks??

*cringes after reading this thread* Why do girls always make us male animals out to be such male animals? Hope you're all males in your next life, then you'll understand what effect you have on us :cool:

any thoughts on this? I'm going to be rigorous with my adherence to alpha behaviour when I get my pup next week. I will be eating first, walking through the door first, and not patting/playing with him until he earns it. Then he will be rewarded in spades In keeping with the "Alpha program", a though occured to me. Might a pup/dog think we're subservient to them if they see us cleaning up their poo in the yard? They must think something about us cleaning up after them since they know its their waste.

With a long hot summer ahead of us I think it would be good for my samoyed puppy to cool down by munching on ice. My plan is to freeze margarine containers full of water with treats spread through it. Not only does this cool the pup down, it keeps him busy and gives him nourishment when he munches his way to the treat. My concern is I have heard puppies have a tendency to swallow before chewing objects properly. Ice shards can be sharp and I'm wondering if I'm being paranoid about this or is ice fine for puppies? Same goes for rawhide bones...good for pups or can they splinter and choke a pup? Thanks for any tips.

Can I add a question to this? I dont have a doggy door yet. For me to take the dog outside requires the step of opening the door (obviously) so the dog can go to the grassed area to eliminate. I plan to eventually get a dog-door, but in the meantime, how exactly do you overcome the fact the puppy doesnt know how to get past the door to outside? Will it instinctively walk to the door and start pawing at it indicating it needs to go?

Consider this; is a dog who mindlessly obeys its master time after time after time without question and becomes like a robot more "intelligent" than a dog who does a command 2 or 3 times then says to itself "hmm whats in this for me? I'm not going to do this anymore." :-) Have a think about that.

do you buy your own BARF ingredients or the frozen Dr.B patties in shops? Whats the verdict on the frozen patties?

Perhaps you need to reread my post more carefully. "No onlead EXERCISE" doesn't mean that: * The pup never leaves the yard * The pup is not socialised or trained * The pup spends no time on lead It means that the pup is not EXERCISED by being walked on lead. Am I making myself clear? If you are not doing it for exercise then you are doing it the right way IMHO. Before the age of six months, Darcy went to regularly to shows, dog club, friends houses, the river, the beach, on holidays and a bunch of other places. He was shown and he attended obedience training. However he was not exercised by being walked around the block on lead. Point taken and thanks for advice.

wow! Any Northern breed like my samoyed going without a walk for 6 months would go nuts. Surely its ok to take them for a walk around the block after about 12-14 weeks?

Nope, never happened to me :D

I'm no expert, but I must say based on my reading and limited experience that does sound very young. I'm getting my new puppy at 8 weeks which I think is usually the arbitrary minimum. What breed is your puppy?

Fixed.

* No poo/wee except where its told to * Doesnt bark much * Doesnt chew valuable items * Easy to train * Doesn't dig holes Has anyone ever owned Wonderdog and what breed was he/she? :p