tracey83

Have a chat to Australian Air Express - thats how we send our reptiles around Aust... I think we pay around $50 for Syd to Melbourne... A lot quicker and less stressful for the animal too than going by car...

Our vet recommended Megaderm for our pup at about 12 weeks old as he had dandruffy looking skin... whilst it cleared his skin up and stopped him from itching it also played havoc with his stomach... lets just say cream carpet and puppy diarreah don't mix well!!!!

You could try giving sardines a bit more? I know that works with our boys... they both have them for breaky each morning....

QUESTIONS 1. What is my relationship with the breed? (ie breeder, first time owner etc) We have two Weimaraners - a 2 year old and a 10 week old - both males 2. Where and why was the breed first developed? As everyone else has said :-) 3. How common is it in Australia? I find a lot of people don't know what I'm talking about until I show them a picture - or remind them of the counting dogs on Sesame Street! 4. What is the average lifespan? 10-12 years 5. What is the general temperament/personality? I find that they have a fairly good temperament - they do have a tendancy to be stubborn though, and I know mine definately have selective hearing! They are very loving dogs too and love to be a part of the family, not just left out by themselves constantly. Our boys are outside during the day and come in when we get home at night until bedtime, then its back out to their beds. They are happy and it works for us, but each dog is different. 6. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult? They seem to be able to just go and go and go... A the moment we are a little slack with walking but always make sure that we play a lot when we first get home. Once Jaeger is fully immunised the walks will start back up... 7. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with? I was a first time dog owner, however my partner wasn't. So long as you are prepared to be strong and make sure that they know that you are the boss you should be ok 8. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods? Our boys are by themselves for usually about 10 hours a day during the week - so far thankfully we have had no problems at all with them apart from a couple of holes in the middle of the yard. We always make sure that they have plenty of toys to keep them occupied though. 9. How much grooming is required? Our boys are both shorthair - so its really just a bath when they get a bit stinky. Other than that when they shed you do end up with hair everywhere so a regular brush outside is probably a good idea. 10. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)? I would say yes to that - only because our older dog has never been around young children, only from about the age of 7. He can be quite full on so may be a bit too much. With adults he is fine. 11. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of? What the others said... 12. When buying a puppy, what are the things you should ask of the breeder? (eg what health tests have been done (if applicable) and what is an acceptable result to those tests so the buyer has an idea of what the result should be) As above

my in laws have a dalmation that was diagnosed with a heart murmor at the same age - my advice would be to get the pup checked over 100% to check for any other issues... it turned out that Tyson has cardio myopathy and they said that he would only live for 6 months - 5 years later he is still with us! he takes human medication for it each day and isn't allowed to overdo it, but he is great!

We feed Saxon Cobber Working Dog... he has always had Cobber right from when we picked him up from the breeders at 8 weeks old (mind you, then it was Cobber Puppy!) He absolutely loves it and it is nice and cheap too... $30 for a 20kilo bag...

Saxon is just starting to slowly recover from KC that he picked up whilst at a boarding kennel... I didn't realise that it could stick around for so long! Thanks!!!

With any training it's just a lot of repetition. We would put Saxon on his mat and tell him to "stay on your bed"... now when he comes inside, we just tell him to lay on his bed and he does... he doesn't stay there all the time, but if we tell him to get back on it he does... It didn't take very long for him to get the hang of it..

Saxon has a tendency to be irritated by our grass as well, especially when its been raining alot. We try to keep it as short as possible and this seems to help a fair bit. We also have some stuff (I can remember what it is called! Sorry!) that the vet gave us to put on his feet to stop him from licking and chewing them. It doesn't hurt him to have it on, but tastes horrible (or so we are told!)