poodlefan

Mine get theirs in goat's milk every morning. I warm the milk a bit and the Jointguard mixes easily into it. :D I'd highly recommend the product but shop around.. prices vary amazingly. There is a thread here about the cheapest sources of it.

This question is probably akin to asking what the best breed of dog is. The short answer will be the food your dog does best on. Determining what that is will be governed by your budget, some research and your dog's individual digestive system. My dogs do well on Artemis but it its not the bulk of their diet. They eat more raw meaty bones than anything else. The only advice I can give is to remember that your dog is a carnivore to to err on the side of foods with more meat than cereal. For a breed like a Stafford that's prone to skin issues I WOULD feed a premium kibble and I'd avoid gluten where possible. There are websites that review foods but they are not Australian based.

Sorry, but there are alternative explanations for many of those behaviours commencing with excitement, youth and lack of training. "Dominance" isn't necessarily a dirty word or something to be worried about. As you've identified, it tends to be reflected by confidence. What matters is how you train your dog to behave and how you encourage her to do what pleases you, rather than pleasing herself. Folk looking for top sports dogs will often deliberately choose the more dominant pups in the litter because of that confidence they have. Some folk tend to explain all dog behaviour in terms of a constant conspiracy by dogs to get the better of us, that's simply untrue. Did the person who said this have any dog training qualifications or did they just watch a lot of Cesar Milan shows?

None of mine. Only one occasionally starts the night outside the bedroom. By morning they are all there.

:p

This situation puts me in mind of the serenity prayer: Line 2 applies here to your daughter and her relationship. If your daughter chooses to behave like a doormat with her partner, nothing you do will make a difference. She's a grown woman and can make her own choices. Stupid choices often have consequences and now they're finding that out. You may not agree or approve but you cannot live her life for her. All you can do leave the door open between you and be ready to pick up the pieces if she wises up enough to move on. Perhaps you're so wound up about the dogs because you think they fit into the third line. It's not illegal to BYB pups and Im not sure its illegal to sell them unvaccinated. At any rate, its happened, you cannot change it so find a way to deal with it because the horse has bolted. I appreciate its not fun to deal with this but acceptance that this is the life your daughter chooses to live may assist.

Bridie, I really think you need to take Bindi's food bowl into the vet and have them show you how much food to give her. Once you have that, she should get NOTHING but that food. No treats, no sneaks of other dogs bowls. No food from your plate either. Even if someone else did take her to get the weight off, unless you learn to discipline yourself not to overfeed, she'll be back at square one before you know it. You are literally killing this dog with kindness. You need to understand that her weight will take years off her life and see her in pain before too long. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but that's the reality you confront. Do what is right for your dog, harden your heart and help her.

The only thing I can suggest is that the gundog instinct to have things in their mouths be channelled into teaching them to retrieve and leaving items around that they can direct the instinct onto. Are you obedience training this pup? If you can't afford the op, pet insurance would be a wise thing to have.

If you have his details, why not give them to your insurer when you make a claim and let your insurer chase him.. that's what we pay them for :p

I think she's a bitza - not an F1 and I see more terrier than anything else. It would probably be a better fit for her size but we're all just guessing. Terrier docks have never been that short. If she has got terrier parentage it might explain why some idiot would dock her to "make her look like one" the way morons used to do Rottie crosses. If it ain't docked but a bob, TT's can be natural bob tails.

Has she got a bobbed tail or was it docked? She looks pretty straight behind.. have you got a side shot? I see terrier.. possibly Tenterfield and Stafford .. in the mix. Not a lot of Kelpie there IMO.

Yep, to reduce any potential bacterial load on the chicken. Cooked chicken is also easier to digest. If you haven't got time to cook it, buy some cans of Hills I/D - its cooked chicken and rice.

I think 'working' aussie these days means a dog not bred for show ring, they might do some pet herding, sports, companion dogs, service dogs things like that. The "working" Aussie my friend has comes from working herding lines new to the country. The breed does work O/S.

Mine wear collars outside the yard. Any other time they're nekkid. Personally I think a loose collar is a bigger hazard than a tighter one. Your dog can't pull backwards and escape if the collar is twisted or he's hanging by it. DOLers have lost dogs to collar incidents. I've learned from their loss.

Proheart? I use this. Heartguard?

there is an old thread that was started due to the Orijen scandle. Basically, most food isn't irradiated. Orijen was because the meat wasn't cooked (or somethign along those lines). EP isn't irradiated. You can ring the reps to check on all your favourite foods. Most of the manufacturers Aussie sites will tell you. If the food is made of meat products sourced from US FDA approved (ie human grade) sources, AQIS does not require it to be irradiated.

If this continues, I think rehoming one dog would be in both their best interests. Imagine the stress of being at risk of attack (or wanting to) 24/7. No fun for either dog and certainly no fun for you when a carelessly left open door can create a blood bath. Hopefully it won't come to that but this is an issue to talk over with a behaviorist.

Personally I'd always recommend buying the breed you love and doing what you can with it. There are those few who buy working BCs because they think the dog alone can make them win and they usually get a rude shock about those expectations. These are hair trigger response dogs - your training, your contact criteria and your handling have to be spot on to drive one well. If for some reason you cannot do dog sports with the dog you own I(think career ending injury or unsoundness), you'd sure as hell need to want to live with it come rain or shine. A working BC or other herding breed is a big commitment in terms of providing appropriate stimulation for the dog. Talk to those who have them and do right by them before you make the commitment.

But Polly is spethal FHRP.

There are also working line Aussies in this country and they bear a very strong resemblance to the working BCs - much lighter and leaner, far more drive. If you're interested in working line BCs for agility, PM Vickie. She'll tell you that unless you are a very good handler, you won't get the best from one. For every one that wins, there will be another barking and spinning in frustration because its handler cannot cue it fast or accurately enough around a course. I think there are easier dogs for a novice handler but I'll defer to Vickie on that. No point in owning the Ferrari of the agility world if you're not capable of driving like Michael Schumacher.

Bwahahaha that post is awesome. I'm reading it now - and it should TOTALLY be a sticky post so that daunted newbies like me don't feel so bad :D I just had a read and had a very good laugh! You people feed your dogs maccas??? I don't even feed myself that! When you spend as much time travelling around the state at all hours of the day and night as dogsports and show folk do, you tend to end up at Maccas quite a bit. I'm a regular at my local one at about 5.00 am on quite a few weekend mornings as I head out to shows. Gotta love the fact that you can get a decent cup of coffee on drive through. Its the big franchises with drive throughs are the only places I know of where you can get food and drink on a steaming hot day without havinig to leave the dogs alone in the car or where you can easily park a dog trailer. In summer, there aren't many other options if you are travelling by yourself and can't leave the dogs unattended. Maccas Gundagai looks like a dog show car park on some weekends!

Jesus.. news both old and inaccurate. Definitely the standard of journalism I've come to expect from that show. Not all imported foods need to be irradiated. Nor are they. Nice one TDT - a good scare campaign.

Of course we are! One thing you can be sure of is that people here do want the best for your family and your pup.

Oh, I forgot to say at the outset. What a gorgeous pup!!!!!

Yes, why? Because he's the only child you say the pup doesn't seem to react aggressively to. I suggest you start rotating the feeding duties among all three children. The food provider is the bringer of good things. I don't know if it will help adjust the pup's attitude but it sure can't hurt.