Tilly

I give raw is ok for a healthy dog ... I think if your dog was unwell or something then lightly cooked is better. They usually only get 1 a week ... sometimes 2 if I am wanting to get rid of a few extra eggs.

For the first couple of nights when I got my GSD boy he was extremely vocal and would only sleep in his crate when I was laying on the floor beside him with my fingers through the side of the crate. Over time I moved the crate into the bedroom beside my bed so I could sleep on my nice soft bed rather then the hard floor ... and then over time moved the crate further and further away from the bed before eventually moving it out into the lounge room.

I thought I would provide a bit of an update ... I have had numerous discussions with council and various departments and have been provided with the following information... Basically the council do not distinguish between public and private land when it comes to a dog bite - so there is no difference between your dog biting someone in the street and biting someone in your backyard. The Brisbane City Council also does not have any stipulations on fencing requirements for normal dogs. They just specify "adequate fencing" - ie fencing sufficient to keep your dog contained within your yard. In my case - had I not been home and the boy was bitten - both the child and his mother could have reported the bite. The matter would be investigated and the investigator would take witness statements and then ask me to defend the claim. Because I would be unable to defend my dogs by saying it was provoked (because I didn't witness it) there is a very good chance the dog/s would be declared dangerous if there was a reasonable belief that one of my dogs had bitten the child. The fact the dogs are behind a secure fence may or may not be taken into account (depends what the investigator argues) - they do not give consideration to the fact the person was trespassing in order to access my dogs. The only way I would be able to defend my dogs when I am not home would be to surveillance camera footage to show the dogs were provoked, ie hit by a stick - which wasn't the case in this instance. The use of signage and no trespassing signs would make no difference to a dog being declared dangerous ... it may make a difference when it comes to legal action. Basically the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008 is written to protect the idiots and doesn't help a dog owner who is trying to do the right thing. I have written to both primary schools in the area (they are basically side by side) and asked them to consider the dog education program for their students or at least put something in their newsletters about the incident. I have also organised for a builder to come out and see about modifying the gate to close the gap between the house and the gate and have put shade cloth up to close the gaps in the palings, I will just keep replacing it when it gets shredded by the dogs. I will also look into getting some surveillance cameras - but that one might take a little while.

When my boy cut his paw I used Betadine and rested him in his crate as much as possible. I also avoided walking him in public unless he had a bootee on to prevent picking up an infection.

I think brown is better then white ... my boys also love their rice from time to time (mainly leftovers) but I don't think it is necessary in their diet - just a bit of variety

I found this article ... the bits I have found seems to look at diet as being helpful.

I did some serious ringing around during the week and eventually found 2 places that sell them. I found one place ... and was happy with that until I checked them out online and found they sold puppies!!!! So I went back to the yellow pages and found another produce place a little closer. My old boy is now on his bed (after pushing his younger brother off it) and is very happy with the new cover ... at least his bottom isn't sitting on the cold concrete anymore I am sure the youngest will be working on wrecking his bed so he can have a new cover on his ...

When I brought my little boy home at 8 weeks he was very vocal so he would whine when he needed to toilet (which was fantastic) ... he was going about every 4 hours During the night I would have him in his crate and when he started whining I would pick him up, take him outside and tell him to "go toilet". Once he went to the toilet he would go back inside and into his crate. He only had one accident in his crate and they were really my fault - I had taken him out to toilet (he did a pee) but was sniffing around and I needed to get dinner started so I put him back in his crate ... but he needed to do a number 2 so he started whining again and I ignored him because he had just been outside. He seemed so embarrassed by the mess he tried to hide it under his blanket The first night he slept through I woke up in the morning thinking I had slept through the night and didn't hear him ... expecting a mess in the crate I instead found one sleeping little boy and no mess ... mind you he peed like a fire truck when he did wake up and go outside.

:hug: I just love little lambs ... both are soooo cute

The youngest had his obedience class this morning ... both dogs are now laying out in the backyard enjoying the little bit of sun they can find. I am inside freezing my butt off while I do the dishes, washing and trying to clean up the house a little bit. I was going to give the boys a bath today but it is a little too cold and they would rather sleep ... might see how it is tomorrow morning

He is very cute glenncol

There is very limited amount of meat on bones these days - as most is cut off for human consuption. The mince is cheaper to buy and is easier to get from butchers and bundle up - I can get extra fat added for colder weather or keep it lean during the hotter weather. I would love to be able to buy chunks of meat for the dogs but frankly if I can't afford to buy it for myself then I certainly can't afford to feed it to my boys in the volumes they eat it. I am not at all concerned about them having part of one of their 2 meals as mince and veges - they still get a fair chunk of their meal as something solid to chew.

I give my boys mince because a lot of their bones don't have much meat on them ... if my older boy gets too much in the way of bones then he gets clogged. His mince (about 500grms) is mixed with veges, offal, liver etc and is only a small portion of his daily diet. He also gets chicken necks, chicken frames, chicken wings, brisket bones, turkey necks, rabbit (skinned and gutted) and fish (whole).

;)

Glad your boy is doing much better today VickieP ;)

When I was feeding dry food I found the amount listed on the side of the packets were way too much food for some dogs – if I fed the amount recommended then I would have had a very fat dog. Offer him what dry food quantity you feel he needs and remove what he doesn't eat ...

I had one well behaved, mature older dog ... then added a young pup and ended up 2 delinquents!!! I was hoping the older, mature dog would teach the younger one some manners and encourage good behaviour but instead the pup broke my well behaved one ... the pair are double trouble!!! While I want to kill them both but really I couldn't part with them ... as tempting as it might be ;)

Another excellent vet is at Animal Options at 8/29 Blanck St, Ormeau 5546 6756. I took my youngest there when he had an allergic reaction - his regular vet told me it wasn't an allergic reaction but a hip/joint issue - so I took him to Animal Options for a second opinion and was extremely happy with the treatment he received. Dr Rowan Kilmartin may not say much but he definately knows what he is doing. Edit to add: I was thinking of taking my youngest back to him for his foot/leg injury ... but thankfully this morning he is a lot better. He just holds it up now when he wants sympathy but he keeps forgetting which foot he hurt and holds up the other one

NILIF

Absolutely broken ... we need photo's to see just how broken he is

My youngest is constantly on the move always looking for something to get into or destroy ... but once you put him in his pen or his crate - he will sleep. The older boy probably sleeps during the day (when he isn't with the pup) ... and at night (about 18 hrs a day if you are not home) ... but is up and eager to get going if he thinks you are about to do something or when he hears something he feels needs investigating.

Incident 1 - I would not correct as a growl is part of a warning between dogs. I like my dogs to give a warning if they are not happy rather then just go in for the bite. Agree with the removing of the toy - as this can cause many problems with dogs in off-leash parks. Incident 2 and 3 - personally I wouldn't tolerate. I would be checking with a vet initally to make sure she wasn't in pain or had a medical issue and then work on her training. I would remove her off the furniture/beds and start looking at pack leadership and NILIF.

Agree with poodlefan - getting professional is the best option. We had similar issues with our dogs when we got a last GSD pup. I could only have them together under close supervision. The older one would attack the younger one when he came too close to me, he would growl at the pup when he tried to eat his own food (they are fed near each other but the pup is in his pen), he was constantly bullying and would just go for him for no reason. I found I had to be extremely strict and re-inforce my pack leadership. It was one thing for the older dog to correct the younger boy for being annoying etc but I wouldn't tolerate any nasty behaviour. I can now leave my boys together during the day but I still put the younger boy in his pen at night with the older dog sleeping on his bed beside him (fence between) - otherwise they tend to get into mischief rather then sleeping.

Does anyone know who makes them? Or if I can buy them online? Getting desperate ... don't want to have to look at my old boy's sad face because his bum is now sitting on the cold concrete

My youngest got his leg caught in a fence yesterday and bruised his toe and shoulder ... $500 + later he is now on painkillers and Metacam. With the carry on I was sure he had broken his toe ... but thankfully he hadn't. Have you checked the paw, foot, leg for sore or warm spots? Look closely between the toes for any cuts, bites, redness. I would also be looking at resting the pup for a couple of days in a crate with toileting on a leash only - just to give the ant-inflamms a chance to work.