Tilly

I have a very high prey drive working line GSD ... and at the age of almost 9 years old he is just starting to "mature" and settle down but still has his crazy moments. Most days he is like a 2yr old on red cordial ... and if you give him an inch he would take it a mile. Our boy is very smart so you have to keep one step ahead of him and be very firm in dealing with him ... but having said I have never had an issue with his attacking my aviary birds and he has a spectacular recall. If you really want a GSD find a good breeder and discuss what you are looking for and they can help you pick the right pup for you. There are GSD clubs around the place - it might be a good place to start looking and talking to people.

My current boy loves training and seems to understand everything you say ... even when I told him he isn't going to get to play until after his bath (which he really didn't want to do) so he takes off and I find him sitting in the hydrobath waiting to have his bath. This was something he had never done before as bathing usually was a two person job to get him in ... Our previous boy made it seem like he was being tortured during obedience training - he did it but it was very unenthusiastic. He learnt by watching others and just did it himself ...

I have used the halti, gentle leader and the black dog one on our previous dog ... and our boy ended up slicing open his nose and pulling out of a number of them ... because once he found he couldn't go forward he backed up and pulled shaking his head. It was ok for normal walking and if I could get his attention before he reacted and moved him away ... but if he started reacting then it did very little to control him and he always ended up getting hurt ... and don't forget to back-up collar.

that is what I do - just scoop it from the lawn and chuck it in a 60 liter drum and leave it to the worms; that works, but takes a while till everything is broken down and turned into compost without any signs of pooh. This anaerobic digestion process has some advantages over the normal worm composter - it is totally sealed and obviously it is much faster (takes just a week). However once the bucket is closed I guess it is not a good idea to open it every time I find another poo on the lawn as it would allow air / oxygen to get into the bucket compromising the anaerobic process; hence I would have to store it somewhere else till I can start another batch - that offsets somehow the advantage...I might just stick with my worm compost system. You would probably need to have to have a couple of buckets - one in action and another holding the waste for the next load. If you had lots of poo to deal with you might need more systems ... I had tried worm dog toilet but I think I kept killing off the worms because I would forget the rule about "do not add poo for at least a week after worming" ... We just brought the round compost bins from Bunnings, dug a hole about half the height of the compost bin and then placed the compost bin over the top of that. We have two bins and move them maybe every 18 months or so if that ... we use one until it is full and then let it sit while we use the other bin - when the second bin is almost full we then relocate the first bin to another location within the yard - everything is well and truly composted by then - it is either used to full any holes in the yard or added to the garden. The compost bin's don't tend to smell - we also add lawn clipping, shredded paper, old potting mix from pot plants that get re-potted, and even extra kitchen scraps that don't go to the worm farm.

The website is http://www.dogfirstaid.com.au/courses.html ... the courses are 5hrs long and are run at 51 Wellington Street, Virginia and also Bankstown, NSW. They have a Facebook page as well - which I how I came across them. I have booked into the session on 2nd April.

Mmm ... It got my Rotti and 2 GSD's right initially. GSD pup is a miniature pincher ... but my cockatiel was a 99% Yorkie in one photo and 70% Welsh Corgi in another ...

Looks interesting ... we usually compost ours ...

I have just come across a website for a Dog First Aid course in Queensland ... and have decided to book myself in. I have a number of first aid kits and have had First Aid Training (for humans) for a good 15 to 20 years … and some basic common sense ... so I thought I would be ok when something serious happened to any of our dogs ... after all we are in Brisbane and there is Emergencies Vets not too far away. A number of years ago one of our dogs sliced an artery in his leg overnight and I found him the next morning laying in a pool of blood but thankfully still alive. It was at that point I realised that while I had first aid supplies, I didn't really have enough to deal with that particular emergency (I used up all my dressings and bandages that morning). I then went about setting up each of the dogs a first aid kit based on a number of possible emergencies (hit by car, stabbing - our dogs are security dogs, snake bite, cut feet, dog bite / attack etc) ... but over time I have become lax and have not maintained the kits. Stuff had expired or been used but not replaced. A little while ago, on a Sunday morning of course, our dog injured himself - not one but all four feet were badly cut up and again I found myself again unprepared to properly treat his injuries (I had bandages and dressings but no saline to flush the wounds and the dressings had deteriorated etc). It got me wondering ... how do you think you would go in a true emergency?

I have saddle bags for my GSD. I use it when I take him hiking and to carry some water, his water bowl and some first aid items. The advantage I found was when we started the walk ... the extra weight he was carrying slowed him down a little bit but as we got closer to the end of the walk when he was getting a little tired, the water was all but gone so the weight was much less. My boys are working line, very fit and very high energy ... Make sure the bags fit well and each side is even in weight ... and keep checking to make sure they are not getting too hot under the pack. Also be aware water sloshes around a lot ... so I found collapsible water bottles (1litre or smaller) better as you can squeeze the extra air out.

I recently saw an ad for NexGard ... but am a little worried about trying new products. We usually use Comfortis for fleas but it is the ticks I have concerns over. Is anyone using NexGard? Does it really work?

Try a nursery that sells water features ... I brought a small barrel designed water feature bowl ... it works well.

I often buy whole fish for my boys - they love them ... but I have started getting them gutted now because I was told about a dog who had eaten a fish but unfortunately it had a fish hook inside. I am probably a little paranoid but I don't want to take the chance ...

We have parvo in our area and we had a 6 month old rottie die from it ... so our dogs received the third puppy shot. Our vet also recommended it due to the circumstances. Our youngest wasn't well after the second shot and it was suspected he had a reaction ... but I opted to go ahead with the third shot anyway.

2 new bed covers ... left the beds out when no one was home for the day. Both boys are fine if one of us is home but once we are both away ... the boys do play and the beds suffer.

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