Bubitty

Hi Guys Since this thread is up I would like to crash it! I am after a camera that I can point and shoot but be able to take decent looking pictures at night. I like to take pics of food and the lighting in my house is very poor. I have an old canon that looks ugly when the flash is on but its all blurry when there is no flash. Is there anything that takes better pictures under poor lighting?

Bitty is 15 months and still has a puppy licence. She is regularly bouncing Bubby, sitting on his head, teasing him with toys and enticing him to play, squeezing into his crate for a cuddle, chewing on his ears etc etc I have videos of them playing when she was 9 weeks old and it seems to me her body language now is exactly the same as when she was 9 weeks. I wonder if this has any impact on the way he treats her. He just lets her run riot on him.

Back to breeder if you can. I do it all the time and I find it gives the kids a nice change of environment. They meet other dogs, follow stricter rules and get to do different things (last time one of my kids was a demo dog for something or other that my breeder was involved with). They settle very well when they get home, straight back to their normal life. The way I see it, the breeders were the ones who gave birth to these babies so they are the second best candidates to take care of them (with you being the first obviously!)

Found an ad on Dol listing about a golden wanting a new home and a Mummy who will spoil it. Thought to myself “OMG! That is ME!!! I am the perfect Momma for this dog.” Rang up breeder, launched into all sorts of garbage and crazy talk. She invited me to come over and meet her dogs to sort out whether I even wanted a dog at all. Met Bubby, was so impressed by how pretty he was so decided to put a deposit on him but I was feeling very uncertain about the whole dog thing so I asked the breeder to keep him for another month (this was so I could get used to the idea of ruining my life) One month later we picked him up, brought him home, he was everything they had promised (we thought maybe they exaggerated a little but apparently not!). 2 years later we bought Baby Bitty off them and she is divine. To me they are the best breeders in the world! I send the kids down for babysitting and grooming frequently! My dream is to show one of their dogs (my next dog whenever that is!)

I have two goldens who adore each other. One only has 2 overly happy brain cells and it just wouldn't occur to her to be upset about anything. The other is so mellow, fighting or snarking would be too much effort for him.

Thanks for your help everyone. Unfortunately the pulp was exposed so vet didn't think it was appropriate to send us to the dog dental place. She has had her tooth pulled out, is home from the vets and is currently by my side offering play bows with a toy in her mouth! Poor toothless Bitty! No tug for a while! I must say I was expecting her to be more quiet. She is zooming around with much gusto!

I guess someone would have to work them to know......... My breeder thinks they should be able to do all things goldies are meant to do. But I guess if they end up in homes like mine, you never know if they can work or not really.

I am just curious the colour implications for Staffords. Say I went crazy and started breeding from light goldens, no health testing etc. Down the track I would get dodgey dogs because I didnt health test but I guess the light colour is not causing the health problems and I assume an ethical golden breeder who happens to breed light goldens will have healthy ones as opposed to my dodgey ones. So am wondering if this is the case for Staffords or is there something wrong with the blue gene in the first place. Hope that makes sense! I am not a "science-y" person!

So its not the blue gene per say that makes the dog have problems its the "ethics" behind the breeding and the fact that they are only going for the colour?

I am really curious but don't want to derail Dee Al's thread. So can Blue staffies be well bred and healthy? I didn't think a colour could cause health issues. My work colleagure had a Blue Staffy (bought from a puppy farm) and the dog was on all sorts of meds because it was itchy and had rashes, hotspots etc. I suddenly remember this after all this talk of blue staffies so am curious.

Thanks guys. I feel a bit less anxious now hearing about your experiences. Will go to bed now so I can line up early and be the first one in at the vet tomorrow. Thanks for responding.

WhiteEagle and Earthdog can you tell me how long it took for your dogs to recover from the tooth removal?

Has anyone ever had a dog's tooth taken out? I think the pulp is exposed.

It is the carnassial tooth. A chunk has chipped off and there is still a bit of enamel dangling from the top of her tooth.

I will be taking her to the vet ASAP at 9 am tomorrow but I want to know what my possible options will be. Can they give her a crown? Do filling? Will it be a major procedure. Please anything anyone can tell me to let me know what I will be in for tomorrow. Edited to fix, vet not dentist.

On weekdays we go to bed at around 10-11pm and I get up at 5.45 am to walk the dogs. They are free range and sleep where ever they like. On the weekends they will sleep in until 10 am, even Bitty. They basically don't get up until I wake them up whenever that may be. Bitty used to be let out at 7 am on the weekends until she was about 10 months. She used to "Woof" when she needed to go out. Now she seems to just sleep until I wake her.

Dont fret! I left my puppy home alone a yr ago when she was a wee puplet and she was just fine! I left mine alone in the yard with an open laundry room lined with some fleece and towels for her to sleep on. Yard was well fenced and didn’t have anything which stood out as dangerous! Just the usual, grass, trees, bushes. I left out a lot of toys, treats, contraptions and a nice big neck bone. She was fine. Didn’t cry, didn’t bark, didn’t destroy anything. Once my best dress feel onto the porch next to her and it was untouched when I got home. I frequently leave washing hanging at nose height, she has never touched any of this. What I would recommend is a few training sessions and games before you leave. This way puppy is exhausted and will use time away from you as rest time. Don’t be too worried! Not all puppies are menacing!

Great stuff!!!! If you don't try, you'll never know! I've taken several leaps of faith during her first year and they have all paid off!

My pup had access to the kitchen, the lounge room, hall and study. I think initially there was a bit of restlessness at around 5.00 am in the morning but she'd always just grumble if no one was awake and then settle down again.

ohhh thats a hard one and something I battled with many months ago................. I think when she hit around 9 months I just took a leap of faith. I started by leaving her inside with her brother while I went on a short 2 hour grocery shopping trip. Then gradually it was a 4 hour shopping trip and so on. I also would let her sleep outside of her crate. So say at 10.30 pm she was sleepy, I would let her be free range until morning and then check the house in the morning to see if she got up to anything at night. I think you sort of gauge them and how trustworthy you think they are and then take that leap of faith. You do know what they would or wouldn't do deep down though I think.

Yes they are fine. My dogs have a bowl of chopped bananas and a cored apple each every morning.

Hi bub - me being pushy again.. I did reply to your lovely mesage so hope you received it... Having a bit of trouble on the old computer today ! Might be because i am supposed to be working I did get your message! Heheh and I should be working as well! Now it is mandatory that you MUST post a piccie of your babies up! You can't have lab puppies and not share!

Bitty will paw me, jump on my lap and if I am still ignoring her she will maul my entire face with licks! Just this morning she put two dirty paw prints all over my tracksuit! I really don’t mind her silliness because we are never “at war” with each other. To me she just sort of crashes through life with a bit too much optimism and I reign her in gently when I need to. Like one time she made a beeline for a man at the dog park, ready to mob him (she REALLY loves men!) but I called her and she sprinted back straight away. I find it interesting that she is incredibly pushy but ever so obedient whereas Bubby is a gentle placid soul but is probably more stubborn.

What would you define as pushy? I find Bitty very “pushy” but incredibly sweet! She will try anything under the sun but when I call her out on it she sits, gives me that adorable Bitty smile and is like “Aww Ma! I’m just a puppy! Can you blame me?” followed by much bouncing and many puppy kisses. I don’t discourage it! I enjoy it as she obeys the core family code of conduct! Bubby is not pushy but what Bubby wants, Bubby gets. Bubby is the Bubfather!

Hopefully soneone can help you with triangle of temptation because I personally have not used it. Clicker looks like this: http://www.arcatapet.com/fullsize/11116.jpg It makes a crisp sound when you press the button. You can start off by waiting for your dog to say look at you, press the button (ie click) and feed the pup a treat straight away. I started out with just puppy focusing on me and clicking and treating whenever she made eye contact. A few days later I taught her to target (touch her nose on my finger wherever I put my finger) and gradually build on from there. Basically just do lots of reading and find things to teach her. Labs are super smart and should pick things up very quickly. I LOVE this site: http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Leve...vel/1Level.html I have been steadily going through the levels slowly day by day. When you are more comfortable with training you can teach your pup tricks such as "Say a prayer" or "Shame"! All very fun and make great party tricks!