GoldenWei

Faith had her babies early yesterday morning. We ended up with 4 girls and 2 boys

congrats bel :)

Two weeks to go here, poor girl has started to leave half her food..... unheard of for a golden! Must be getting a bit crowded in there! Pretty sure there is more than 6 that was seen on u/s, could be double figures.

Just be careful. The first 12 months of the pups life are the most important, I would be very wary of how fast he is growing ESPECIALLY if he is large and big boned anyway. I don't like supercoat at all, I did raise my first two goldens on it however that was 20 years ago now and it was the best out there.... The formula would of changed over time and I just think the protein level is far too high in supercoat to grow a golden slowly. Hip and elbow problems occur in this breed, just be very careful how you go about raising him as feeding him incorrectly can contribute to hip and especially elbow dysplaysia.

Yeah, they ALWAYS think they are starved lol

I would get him off supercoat asap, definitely before 3 months of age. Change over slowly as to not upset his stomach but I would be putting him on something with protein no more than 24% and fat about 12-14%. If fed incorrectly they can have growth problems. I usually put mine on a premium Adult food at 3 months of age, the protein and fat content is much better... they don't need puppy food. I have heard that the eagle pack large breed puppy food is quite good for raising pups on, however this was a couple of years ago and the formula and ratio's may of changed. Puppies, especially those breeds who are prone to joint issues more than others (eg goldens), shouldn't be too fat, you should be able to feel their ribs fairly easily. They need to grow slowly. Dr Karen Hedberg wrote a great guide for raising puppies and how much weight they should put on... at his age, no more than 1kg per week is recommended. The guide is on the National Golden Retriever website: http://www.ausngrc.org/assets/khedberghip-elbows.pdf

Congrats :) Thanks :-)

I have a litter of goldens due about the 11th of June. Confirmed last week :-)

A hip replacement is a prosthesis or artificial joint. I can't believe you are not covered though. Is this the same for all insurance companies? Most of the insurance companies are underwritten'd by Hollanrd... they may vary slightly but we chose pet plan because it was a different under-writer, I don't if they would cover TPLO either (I haven't looked) but when RSPCA insurance decided not to pay for a simple hot spot because it was caused by flea control prevention (my dog had a reaction to frontline and ended up with a hotspot) we changed insurance companies. So far petplan have been good for us, haven't had to claim for a while but have claimed over $8000 for two claims, we got all of it back except the excess of $100 in both cases.

Not really a brag, but, I entered the Sydney Royal with my first homebred weimaraner longhair. We successfully provided the mornings entertainment as he was very HAPPY, but also very naughty in the ring, probably made worse by my not so great handling skills. Even the judge was having a giggle at him. I was quite embarrassed by his antics, however looking on the bright side of it he was so happy at the royal, nothing fazed him. He's not quite 7 months old and handled it so well, the rides the atmosphere the people, everything. He was the only one in puppy so had to go back for group specials the next day.... I am pleased to say that he was much better behaved the following day.... which was good as there were heaps more people watching!!!

Through the night there I would get up personally, try every 4 hours at first.... try letting her out at say 10:30pm, getting up at 2:30am, and then 6:30am. Puppies don't sleep much longer than 6:30am anyway. If you want to leave paper in the laundry, I'd think about getting some fake grass from bunnings, think someone else may of suggested that.... she may chew it though. Can you put up a shade sail so she has shade outside? You will probably need to do something eventually unless you stick in a doggy door.

Don't leave her in the crate for that long. Depending on your yard if it is really puppy proof and theft proof I'd be inclined to leave her in the yard with some toys and things to keep her occupied etc. Depends where you live though I guess. Otherwise a laundry that is tiled and EVERYTHING out of reach may be a safer option. She SHOULD be able to hold for 5 hours in a couple of weeks. 20 years ago when I got my first golden she'd be left alone in the yard for that long, when I got my second he was left alone with my first from 8 weeks in the yard for more than 8 hours. Looking back on it I probably should of been more careful, but no harm ever came to him. We did things differently with our third.... which was only 6 years ago. We stayed home full time for about 4 weeks between us, made sure he spent time both inside and out with our older dog, he was left alone with him outside after that. Puppies adjust, and if its safe to do so then I don't have an issue with puppy being outside alone for that length of time.... if its not safe then you will need to come up with another arrangement. JMO

I remember when I got my first puppy, a golden, oh boy was it a shock to the system. I was 18! Lots of good information here already re toilet training. Goldens can be destructive, they are very mouth orientated as they are a retriever, bred to retrieve so are a bit mouth obsessed. She will eat leaves. All my dogs have done that, both the goldens and the wei's, more so the goldens. Just watch the sticks and stuff that will probably come next. She needs to keep her mind active, lots of toys, lots of games, they aren't a breed to put in a crate and forget about.... no breeds are. You have a baby, babies are hard work. Keep her mind active, start training her now, just a few mins at a time, things like sit and down, she will pick it up very quickly. Any pics of the little girl :D

Don't force/drag him or he will hate it, he's got to want to come to you, he's only a baby.... use food.... lure him to you with food, once he is in the position you want, ie next to you, give him a treat. I'd also stop using the word heel until he is ok with walking close to you, use lets go or something along those lines. I'm not a fan of check chains personally, but it's your choice if that's what you want to use.

ok cool, probably not related to my Henry then, gorgeous girl thou

Awwww she's soooo cute... her head looks a bit like my Henry's head when he was a baby..... which kennel is she from if you don't mind me asking.... also, if you haven't already, come say hi in the Golden thread :-)

The diet looks pretty good - is the chicken mince minced frames or human grade? Depending on how much mince you are giving you COULD be unbalancing it if its human grade, but generally if you are only adding a small amount it shouldn't affect it too much. Is your breeder easily accessible, I'd be asking the question about their lines and if they can/do go through a stage of east/west feet, and if they can see him & feel him that would be better. My golden was terribly east/west as a baby, but as he has matured he's much better, not 100% but heaps better than what he was, he's still maturing, he isn't even 2 yet. I had a diet similar to what you are feeding but I didn't have him on puppy food after about 3 months, I put him onto an adult food because in general they have a lower protein content, but this puppy food seems pretty good in that respect.

Definately contact your breeder as they would be the best person to help you. labs and goldens are prone to this if their diet isn't correct, also, they can go east/west due to their chest being narrow while they are growing etc, once it pops out so to speak (its hard to explain) the feet straighten up... but... I would make sure the diet is correct as well as their are no guarantees that it is because of how they are growing. Is he a good weight, and is he down in his pasterns as well or is he just a bit east/west? What is the protein & fat content of the HS?

I guess it depends on how long you leave them, if they won't come out on their own I'd get them pulled sooner rather than later, I don't think anyone can say whether she will or won't have issues without seeing them, and even then it would be a guess and no guarantees. Where-abouts in NSW are you? Maybe take her to a vet who deals a lot with breeders and ask there opinions. What does pups breeder think?

Hi Catherine, welcome to DOL. How old is your pup? I haven't had much experience in growing mouths, I have large breeds and my pups mouths have always come good... ie, sometimes they will have two teeth in the one spot/area while the adults are coming through but the baby teeth have always come out on their own, but this doesn't always happen. I have no idea about poms, but I would expect that their mouths/bite should be a normal scissor bite with no remaining baby teeth once the adults have come through. Hopefully someone with more experience will come in and answer your question.

OK thanks, will fix them.

Not if they are put on correctly. I have the original C Crate pens purchased of the original makers and they have not shifted, they would be 10 yeas old or more. When you fold them put the tops on the same side together then fold together the section with no tops. Ok, my springs definitely move too much!

ahhh ok cool, thank you sway. I thought that because the springs were coming out it was stopping it folding properly :)

I ordered a pen last week from nfs supplies.... its a Aeolus pen - according to the box...... dump question, actually two dumb ones. Is there a trick to folding them back up once you are done with it, and has anyone replaced the springs with cable ties... I hate the springs, they come off too easily.

Awwww Gemelo soooooo cute.... I am partial to the odd one out lol. I like the red merle's :) I have two rising stars, like you Gemelo from my very first litter: Wynwhisper Wicked (LH) - Jasper Wynwhisper Evita - Ava They are making their debut on Dec 8th.