dee lee

Oh RnL, a third whippet?!! I wish my OH had progressed so far. But as I said, tiny steps... PS- the worming bit had me giggling!

Ooooh, dont tell anyone, but I have thought about that ... But I think I might end up needing a foster carer if I did that though. MM, we have discussed his "fears" and they may stemmed from being forced to pat a neighbours' Great Dane as a small child. I don't think it did anything, but it was very big in comparison to him and from the sound of it his parents weren't very respectful of him being frightened. His family have never had a dog either, so its probably a lack of familiarity or learned enjoyment of animals. As a sufferer of an unjustified extreme fear of heights, I know it doesn't take much to create a phobia. ;) Hence why I have been very intent on helping my daughter to lose her fear of dogs- despite Honey's best efforts, that remains an issue, a lot less extreme but its still there.

Don't show ME that little one!!! :D I have mentioned getting another dog in passing, just to test the waters, but judging by the "NO WAY" and the black look, the conversion is by no means far enough for that!! :D

Oh Bub! Sorry, thats vewy sad.... Well, they may be in cahoots behind my back- during the afore mentioned conversation, Honey let out a little whine and he said "See?!! She is not happy you are talking about other dogs!"- perhaps they have been talking? :D Hmmm... I shall have to be very observant...

He is a very stubborn man, I'm not expecting miracles! It does sadden me immensely that he doesn't love dogs, like me, but we have been together for 18 years and have 2 kids so I have come to terms with it. I think deep down he is scared of them, Honey is an absolute sweetheart and I know he feels completely comfortable with her which helps.

I should clarify my comment- that was my experience and that comment was made by one of the staff there, its quite possible that it isnt policy, just more of a generalisation by the staff member. I was quite annoyed at the time by the comments. I totally agree about the yard (obviously ), Honey only ever goes into it when I go out there, or if I leave her there with a bone. I have had a rescuer I contacted express dismay at how hard it must be to have a dog in the inner city- Hardly! I have 3 enormous parklands to choose from all a 10 minute easy walk from my house. Plus 4 small parks within several blocks. Sadly there is a common notion, by many people who have only had dogs in large yards, that it is cruel to have them in the city. I fear this seems to also be the case in many rescue orgs.

My OH, as some may know, is NOT a dog person. I have complained about it before- he is not even ambivalent, he just doesnt like dogs . Luckily my kids and I ADORE them and more than make up for it. :D He is happy that having a dog makes me so happy and does rise to the challenge and helps out with caring for Honey when needed. But I have come to accept that his feelings wont change. So it was a nice suprise this morning when I was waffling on about a couple of different breeds I'd like to own, he forcefully said- "NO, only Golden retrievers, why would you want anything else? They are the perfect dog for us!" Awww, Honey is melting him...

have you nominated them? www.mdbaawards.net.au Yep, just did. I'm sorry, but I refused to pay the money knowing that in likelihood I would not pass. Having a paved courtyard, no matter how high my fences are etc was a big NO NO according to the RSPCA. BUT, I do think home checks are important- I was very happy to have GGR send someone (a volunteer, who incidentally turned out to be someone I now know to be VERY involved in rescue :D ) who lived nearby. I enjoyed chatting to him about how we shaped up and his experiences of having a GR in a terrace house like mine. I do understand that I may be in the educated and responsible minority of people who want to adopt dogs, but he and GRR didnt know that and I was treated with respect, which I very much appreciated. I get that rescues are constantly out of pocket, but I was really moved by the heart displayed by this organisation. It certainly was the polar opposite of what I had experienced before.

I feed the normal adult Artemis and recently tried a small bag of the maximal. It was too rich for my dog and she ended up with the runs. She's back on the normal stuff.

I agree, the RSPCA is ridiculous about homechecks- a few years ago I was interested in a dog there, they wanted to charge me $50 for a homecheck (redeemable only IF I was accepted) and then warned me that because I have a paved yard it was unlikely I would pass. I decided not to waste my money. Another rescue allowed me to adopt without a homecheck, but the dog was unsuitable for my family (foster person assured me the dog was calm and non aggressive- NOT the case) I got no support and the situation ended badly. Finally, my last experience involved a (free!!) home check by a lovely guy who brought us coffee- we passed with flying colours (despite our work hours, children and small paved yard!), they matched us with the most perfectly suited dog and sent her home with us for a 2 week trial, fee payable after that if she worked out. I have nothing but good things to say about them and regularly recommend them to anyone looking for a dog.

I have had very bad experiences with some rescue organisations and wonderful experiences with others. I had equally diverse experiences with registered breeders. I think that for BOTH, you need to take into account that the people you are dealing with are passionate about dogs and have the dog's interests at heart, not yours. I also think that for BOTH you need to "shop" around until you find a rescue organisation or breeder that you can work with to find the perfect dog for your circumstances, and that will give you ongoing support if needed. You shouldnt dismiss all rescue orgs and breeders because of singular (or even several) bad experiences.

Done!!

I love the shorthaired gundogs. I was put off having one by many comments about over-the-top behaviour. I got an adult GR instead and adore her, but would love a GSP, pointer or Vizsla in the future. I know several people who own Vizslas (with small kids), and yes they are nutty and "spethal" , but they are such lovely dogs and the ones I know live in small courtyards in the inner city. None of these people jog their dogs, just walk them in the park once a day. Same goes with GSPs. MY friends' older GSP is so wonderful with their 3 year old and she gets a game of fetch at the park a day. Also, in the last year I have watched 2 gorgeous liver GSPs grow from VERY naughty pups into slightly boisterous, lovely young dogs. I was shocked at their craziness when they were pups but its been wonderful watching them mature. I am sure that if your relatives really love dogs and found a good breeder of either breed they would do just fine. ;) ETA: I forgot to say- I jog with my GR and she never gets above a trot, most breeds would be able to cope. Staffies make GREAT jogging companions.

Just a quick update. Its been a couple of weeks now and I haven't had a single recurrence of the protective behaviour! :D I have been much more aware of maintaining leadership, but I feel what has made the biggest change has been my increased reinforcement of her recalls. I think I had gotten a bit lax with the rewarding when training and since I have upped the treat/enthusiasm level she seems much more focused on me! Der... funny about that. I probably wasn't being too attentive from time to time (not helped by being up at the crack of dawn to walk her!) so now I'm thinking her "pay-off" was entertaining herself. All signs seem to indicate that. Anyway, thanks again guys. Its been a happy result and I'm much relieved!

Poor Bubby! If its any consolation, I think Honey would do the same thing. Poor love gets so confused sometimes. ;) I may have to try it! When we play fetch, my little bimbo can run around and around in circles looking like she is saying "which way did it go, which way did it go?" Bless their sweet pretty heads.

Phew, what a draining day for you! Just goes to show, despite all precautions, these things happen... and can keep happening!!

1. I have always given my dogs a treat when I have left the house. My previous dog (staffy x) was left always left outside and got a bone or a kong; if my current dog (3 yo GR) is left inside she gets a (less messy) pigs ear, if outside, a lambs neck. They have always been so excited about me leaving because of the treat. :p 2. is trickier. What you need to know right away is that if you leave something chewable out, it WILL get chewed and it will be YOUR fault!! My best tip- Shoe baskets are great for protecting shoes. As for furniture, you can get bitter apple spray that you can spray on anything your pup may have its eye on. And if you cant trust your pup not to chew furniture, put it somewhere it cant harm anything if you cant supervise. If I had to leave my staffy x unsupervised for even 5 minutes as a pup, I would pop her outside with a chickenwing. I found as she got older I could trust her inside unsupervised (but NEVER when we werent home!!! ). Oh and yes, go to the puppy forum like Persephone said!!

This is good to know- as much as I try to stop it, my cat and dog both like to "sample" each others food!

I dont know about BoW Wow, but I just signed up with PIA (Pet Insurance Australia)- its been recommended a lot on DOL. It cost me $17 pm with a $500 excess and it has a $14,000 limit. I was pretty happy with that. Have you done a search for topics re insurance? That's what I did to come up with my choice- people regularly ask about insurance in here.

Flea bombs use toxic chemicals so I wouldnt use one unless you really need to. You may be lucky and the Capstar and your topical treatment may do the trick. But yes, you can get bombs from the supermarket and they shouldnt damage the carpet.

You can get Capstar at vet, pet shop, supermarket- but Supermarket is the cheapest. It works within 30 mins to kill the fleas for 24 hours. You can wash the dog without affecting the efficacy. You may need to bomb your house and use capstar for a few days if the fleas have established themselves.

Could be a skin infection from a hotspot? I would try some betadine paint on them and see if they improve. My GR had a contact allergy recently and after the rash subsided, the skin had been irritated and had some pussy red lumps. After much googling etc, I decided it was probably a staph infection and my choice was to either get some antibiotics from the vet (which anecdotally were not always successful) or try betadine and see what happened (then followed by the vet trip if it didnt work). I would rather not give antibiotics unless absolutely necessary and thought there was no harm trying the betadine. Happily it worked a treat!

You were misinformed. Any of the Spaniels (except the IWS) requires stripping OR clipping unless you want it to be a matted mess. They don't look like the ones on the pet food ads without work. Most pet spaniels are clipped a couple of times a year. If she's a gundog lover then a Brittany (no clipping required) might be one to consider. Really? I cant find any reference to this, especially the stripping (tried to find my research but cant so just have done a quick check on breeders sites). Occasional regular trimming of hair on the feet, ears and mouth is the most I can find. hardly high maintenance. I have a friend who clips her Cocker herself just for ease of cleaning (she swims in the harbour a lot), looks terrible :D , but she finds it easy and it does the trick. She has even offered to give Honey the once over! :rofl:

I would have thought a Springer would be perfect! My information is contradictory to Monah's. Springers were on my last short list and in the process of researching, I was consistently told they don't require any clipping or special grooming- if pets, that is. Also that one hour of exercise and training, daily,would be sufficient. One hour of good exercise is satisfactory for most dogs I would have thought. Certainly is for my very active Golden Retriever. I can second CrazyDaisy's Golden Retriever recommendation, AND the shedding comment too! Though they'd want to be REALLY tolerant of shedding, mine is blowing bucketloads again- twice a day sweeping of tumbleweeds here! :D Worth it for the lovely GR temperament though.

I briefly switched from normal Artemis to the power formula (Ospure) for my 3 year old GR earlier this year. I was having trouble keeping weight on her as we were exercising A LOT. While it did help her to build and keep her weight, I found it made her more sluggish and the extra weight manifested as "heaviness", so I stopped and increased her servings of the normal Artemis. She is perfectly fine now. She is a Golden Retriever though, and I would imagine a Borzoi would metabolise the fattier food much differently. It certainly did do the trick for bulking up.