persephone

*nods* The maltese is a baby puppy ..it is the owner who first needs some discipline Then THEY can pass it on to their puppy ......

Kashing... not to be rude, but are you really ready for the task of raisng traing a large powerful smart working breed dog ? You seem very new to the world of dogs, and seem also to have not much experience with puppies/dog body language /behaviour . Have you ever handled a german shepherd before? Have you ever had two dogs before? To ask if cats & dogs can be friends says to me that you have not been around many people who have dogs and cats living with them inside....that you have not done a lot of research into HOW dogs work..HOW they think, what they are capable of ;) Dogs can be TRAINED to live happily with any sort of animal ... provided you have the RIGHT dog, and a capable owner/trainer. My dogs & cats share beds and food .... BUT my dogs will kill cats who are wild . This is what dogs can do - they are SMART . Dogs can also be BOSS to their humans. If the humans do not understand dog language .... and WHY a dog growls/nips/chases ... then the human either gets afraid, or tries to stop the behaviour in the wrong way :D :D Then the dog can become the boss- or become very timid .. You are setting off on a long journey ...and I do advise you to do as much reading as you can!! Go to obedience classes- and just watch. Talk to neighbours who have well behaved dogs.... and read up LOTS on your chosen breed ..stuff like this is a start CLICK here

Hi- poor thing.. If the others are not annoying her, have them together when you're around- but not unsupervised Dogs can/will attack a pack member who is behaving oddly .

.. some reading foryou, siks- apologies if this is stuff you know CLICK here and CLICK here

probably not the best plan... but I wish you well, and I hope she is healthy enough to survive whelping/rearing puppies. Siks- has she been scanned for a microchip ? Be careful if she is still under someone elses' details ....you will be stealing someone's dog.

I agree check with your vet,and if she is healthy- get her speyed/aborted now.....but make sure you are the legal owner etc before doing so.

Just be VERY careful mouth>nose. A whisper , no larger than a fairy's fart , only - or you burst the lungs head down, rough towel, vigorous rubbing. If you are not familiar with the swing method.. don't! There are too many things which can go wrong.. one tiny drop of RR on the tongue .... I do a few minutes... much longer and there may be brain damage . I once worked on a pup for 15 minutes .. she survived, grew well,if somewhat lopsided ..and was forever happy and smiling, and totally clueless :D Dear Sarah ... she enjoyed every minute of her life .

Kashing- if you CLICK here you will find lots of sensible information for people getting new puppies You sound as if you will be having a busy Christmas!!

Doubt no more. Domestic ducks are , instead, often put into parks/creeks etc ,after the cute fluffy ducklings grow up .These then often hybridise with our native ducks - causing all sorts of problems.... do you know of dingoes, and the problems done to their gene pool by the domestic dog? Same sort of thing with wild ducks The Pacific Black Duck is seldom seen in its pure form now in NZ - due to hybridisation with Mallards !!! Australian ducks are in a similar danger. Around many towns/cities are many many prettily coloured ducks ... cross breeds... diluting the gene pools, and quietly killing off our native species. Fluffy ducklings and chickens should not be sold in petshops,or school fetes, either

darien... great shots! I think that first one is giving you a death stare

Helen- I like that one

I like this one of mine, too

well..no, but AFAIK they do eat berries and fruit in small quantities ..and they probably also eat herbivore droppings ...

I didn't even see them when first I looked !

Wow! You have nice 'bush!' where you are

dogmate- please take some time ...breathe... and before you rush into different foods- have a good read of this thread CLICKHERE It will answer most of your queries, and give you lots of ideas ! A good raw diet has all sorts of yummies included - muscle meat is but a part of it!

*nods* lack of respect has nothing to do with breed .

yep. Not a good thing ... Ok - a few things off the top of my head. 1: When kids have food dog is outside/crated/in another area. 2:when dog is fed- kids are nowhere around. 3 start T O T asap. CLICK HERE because there are kids involved, I would also suggest you get a GOOD trainer in to observe/advise .Someone here will know of someone with a good reputation . ;)

A 'strange scream' could well be crying with pain. A 'check' might need to involve tests to find the pain, and treatment to fix the cause of the pain. When they are at the vets ask how much it might be- that way they know in advance.

Poor old girl.... hope she's ok.

...and why I think it could well be related It could be a bug, developing..... or it could be some foreign body rattling around in his stomach... Best to have it checked out carefully .....

I would be a bit concerned- esp. if he has vomitted. leave him without a meal tomorrow morning- and see if he;s keen tomorrow night. If not - then I would be off to the vet ..

Don't buy much from petshops... all I would suggest is that the staff KNOW their products,and their dog/cat breeds and requirements

Agreed- it is very much an individual thing... I have seen both sexes behave very effectively as deterrents slightly off topic.. if buying another dog- you may want to choose a male .. click HERE for more info. on what may occur. A new pup/dog will also possibly copy/learn from the resident dog ..so you may end up with 2 barkers..hope the neighbours are nice folk