dee lee

Simple answer - do you wish him to dictate pace or do you want to do it. He's only going to get bigger. Teach him to walk on a loose lead regardless of what pace you are doing. how far in front do you let the dog before corrections? As long as he is not pulling on the lead. If he pulls and you let him, you are teaching him that he can pull to get where he wants. When he weighs up to 30kgs you will regret that!!! If you do a search, there are quite a few, very helpful, threads in the training forum about how to et your dog to loose lead walk- well worth checking out sooner rather than later.

Being new to Goldies, I have been shocked at how many people have no idea and think that they are longer haired labs. I thought everyone knew about goldies. My girl has medium length wavy fur, and I have seen a whole range of coats- all in pure bred GRs, all perfectly normal. Then you have the colour discussion. Cream verses deep gold. To me, they are all beautiful. :D

I'd prefer one really long walk if I had the luxury of time and a choice. I love a long walk. In reality we get a 45min-1hour exercise session early, followed by some incidental walking later in the morning before I go to work. No time for night/evening walks, mores the pity. These days its all about time management, not enjoyment.

Every weekday I get up at 6am to take Honey, a GR, on a 40min run or on alternate days, walk to the park for some fetch. Then we walk the kids to school and onward for our daily coffee. Home via the park for a final toilet stop, then if my OH is working early, she will be home alone from 10am til the kids get home after 3. I get home at 6pm- if I can manage it we will go the the park, but mostly not (cranky, tired kids are not always able to be wrangled). From then she is my shadow and once the kids are in bed we will watch some tv together. I wish I could manage the evening park visit more often, but console myself with the fact that she gets a good 4 hours with me in the morning, and the school/cafe run is a big attention pay off for her- She gets LOTS of extra attention then. Weekends, aside from chores and the occasional outing, Honey gets less exercise (ball thrown at the school while the kids play on the play equipment) but is with us for most of the day. To be honest, she fits in with us. She is pretty happy, quite fit and mostly sleeps when we aren't doing stuff.

My OH, as I mentioned before, isnt a dog person. But... he never complains about our dog and frequently says he is happy that she makes me so happy. :p Even with our previous, extremely difficult dog, he went out of his way to help me cope with her. He was amazing. Then, despite what must have been a very negative experience for him, he was very supportive of me getting our next dog. His only stipulation has been no dogs on furniture. That's no biggie. So aside from the fact that I cant "share" my dog with him, there is not much of a downside. I just am more aware of being totally responsible for my dog. Point is, not all non-dog people are incompatible with living with dogs. It can work. ;) Moselle, to be honest, I'd probably struggle with having 7 dogs in the house too. But then, I think I'd struggle with that many dogs, period! It does seem a difficult situation. I personally think dogs are best inside, but of your outside dogs are happy (and many are) I think its not a bad compromise to have your littlies inside.

Delee, it'd just be my luck for you to convince the OH & get a tibbie....& it turns out to be the only one in the world, totally not typical. And you chase me round the kitchen with a hatchet while your OH cheers. :p Does that happen often?

I couldnt agree more. Mita, speaking of admiring- Tibbies are up the top of my 2nd dog list thanks to your wonderful posts. ;) I dont have the room for another large breed and dont like smaller dogs as a rule, but I'd happily have a Tibbie! (if the OH would let me... grumble grumble...)

Thank you so much. I have to give a little plug to Ruthless and her photography biz here- she took a whole heap of gorgeous photos of Honey not long after she came to us. That photo is my particular favourite. She even managed to capture all that lovely white fur on my black pants!! ;) Oh thanks so much! And dont cry, you'll make me start again!! As for the car... Still waiting on the bloody bank. Grrr NEXT week and I'll be able to report how Honey likes her new car!

Even when she goes to the toilet in the children's room She truly is a beautiful dog, Deelee, and I think she too has been blessed to have you and your family in her life. ETA: It doesn't seem possible that it was a year ago !!! ;)

Thanks everyone, we absolutely adore her!! ;) I know, Sas, she has healed us. Honey and I visited a GRR fundraising fete a couple of weeks ago and as soon as I saw Wendy, who I adopted her from, I burst into tears! I am getting a little choked up about it now actually. All happy tears though. As for another one, Bub,.... I wish! But I'm happy just to spoil Honey for now.

My OH is not a dog person and I initially railroaded him into getting a dog. If he had his way we would have no pets at all. ;) Despite that he has been soooo good about having a dog. I insisted that the dog must be allowed inside and he is fine with that, as long as she doesn't get on the couch or bed. I have no problem with that. He even takes her for a "wee walk" before he leaves for work and shhh, dont tell anyone, but I have even seen him pat her!! As for the fur? Well she is a goldie, so it is a major issue- but more for me!! He is not the world's tidiest person so doesn't even notice the fur- though probably because I spend all day, everyday, sweeping it up!

This time last year I brought home my beautiful Honey. It was one of the best things I have ever done. Not a day goes by that she doesn't bring joy into my life. She truly is my heart dog. (thanks to Ruthless for this beautiful pic!) And the kids think she is the best dog in the world too! I just wanted to share that with those of you who were part of our journey before, during and now.

We are waiting for our brand new Renault Koleos (hopefully getting it next week ). We had it shortlisted with a Forrester but when we did the comparisons the Koleos had more interior and boot space, plus had much nicer detailing. It has 6 airbags, built in window blinds, front and rear cup holders, a chilled gloevbox and HEAPS of hidden storage space- including under the floor. For about $5k cheaper we thought it was much much better value. A big thing for us was that it has no "hump" in the floor in front of the rear seats. We like this because the dog likes to lie down there most of the time under the kids' feet (she gets nervous in the car :p). Plenty of room for her and a couple of mates in the boot though (GR don't you start!! ;) ;) ).

I LOVE hipstamatic!!!

Honey is a rescue Golden Retriever, possibly not well bred (we dont know an extensive history) but definitely not crossbred. She is in great shape and looks beautiful. She is my constant companion in my local wanderings around our high foot traffic area and we get stopped for pats and chats frequently. I always take the opportunity to spruik breed rescue and spread the (negative) word re DDs. I agree visability is the best approach. Isnt that odd?!! :D I occasionally get that too and am always shocked- I cant believe not everyone knows what a Golden Retriever is!! ;) I think you may have hit the nail on the head though- the average person has way more exposure to DDs and crossbreeds than purebreds these days. :D

I think everyone is being overly dramatic. The OP said they would be allowing the new dog outside time- just will be having it inside during the day when no-one is home. My dog is in this situation and gets plenty of sunlight when her humans aren't out or working.

I prefer to feed my GR twice a day to minimise the risk of bloat. Being a lab, I'd be concerned he would wolf his one meal down too quickly. My GR gets 45mins to 1 hours hard exercise (we jog or play fetch) every morning. Earlier this year, It took me a few months to get the food right, where she wasn't too skinny or putting on too much weight, and now she gets 1 cup of dry food in the morning, 1 at night. One pigs ear during the day. She weighs about 27kgs and looks fantastic. I'm sure she would LOOOOVE more food but I'm a bit tough like that.

OMG-All that mud- its making me twitch with horror!! :p I must be too OCD- I'm always too busy cleaning up to think of taking photos!!! I agree with Brennans Mum- they are all so FREAKIN cute!!!

Ooo I do love the french bulldogs I would LOVE to own one of these guys someday just scared because I have a big I don't want him/her to be hurt or stomped on I think they are usually pretty robust little dogs. There is a very feisty one (and it's pied, Ruth!!) that goes to a park near me. I know Honey isnt as big as Kei ,but this little pup has ten times as much attitude as her. She takes on all the bigger dogs and plays with them. She is divinely gorgeous!!

Oh, that's so sad Bluefairy. I cant answer your question. Last year my dog was pts and I missed her, and having a dog in general, so much that within 3 months I had a new dog. Its such an empty, lost feeling isnt it? Do you have a timetable for the yard? Maybe use that time to research a new breeder, get on a waiting list for a rare breed, something that makes you see the dog bed at the end of the tunnel. Hugs, I really feel for you.

Yeah, with you on the slobber and hair- thats my BUT too. I often think the next dog I'll get will be a shorthaired breed, but the goldie temperament is just a perfect match for me.

I agree with this. Increase offlead fines and have a 3 strikes system that incurs a much larger fine. Having extra Rangers wont help IMO, they are never available when you need one, no matter how many there are. Also, if an area attracts over a certain amount of calls over offlead dogs, then clear signage should be erected by council- ie "Offlead dogs will be fined" etc, outlining the fines. We have "no dogs offlead" at many parks, obviously this needs to be reinforced on the street. Poo pag dispensers are fabulous too. I am on the border or 2 councils- one that uses them and one that doesn't. Guess which one has more on street poo? (mind you, there are always the knobs who wont pick it up regardless... but what can you do about them aside from a good slap?)

Honey has a delicate stomach. She has had no problem with most of the premium dry foods that I have tried her on (she has been on Artemis for most of this year and we are happy with that), but often if she eats something else will get the runs for a day or so. Yesterday she had the squirts in the morning. She only had 2 variants on her food- On Sunday I gave her some left over roast chicken and she had a bone on Saturday. She has had both foods on a regular basis and has gotten the runs once or twice from each, but mostly has been fine. She is perfectly well, just seems to have a sensitive tum. Is there anything I can do to build up her gut flora so that she will be able to tolerate other foods better?

Oh god yes, I have seen my cat torture a poor wild mouse for a good half hour before eating it. :D Good luck CW EW, crossing fingers its not their rat!

When I leave my dog home alone, I have a busy buddy kibble toy for her (link here)-basically it drops kibble out of it as it rolls around. She also gets a pigs ear and sometimes I will put kibble in used toilet rolls with the ends pushed in. Has stopped any inappropriate chewing- though she is a goldie, not a bull breed!