poodlefan

What is his heart rate?

That's very true, but an imbalanced Ca:P ratio shouldn't be caused by the milk Poodlefan. Cow's milk has an ideal great Ca:P ratio for puppies, around 1.3:1. Ah, OK. I thought it might be light on for P.

I'd say your dog is too young to start any kind of serious agility training on obstacles. How long is that wait list? You'd not be allowed to train at my club until he was 14 months old.

You need a balance of calcium and phosphorus to promote healthy bones and joints. My guess is there there is an imbalance here.. perhaps too little phosphorus.

To provide another source of mental stimulation for the dog. For the challenge of training my dog towards a defined goal. Because the dog enjoys it. To spend time with like minded dog folk.

That's the beauty of the one I had. You simply unscrew the actual spigot from the wall and screw the new mixer/shower unit on in its place. Ditto. Then screw a shower hose onto the second outlet. I did mine myself. All I needed was plumbers tape to make the attachment watertight,

Ted made it through CD after a lot of trials and a break of several years. He would never have made it through out of sight stays.. we did start training but he found them very stressful.. so that was the end of his career.

What if the dog cares more about a self rewarding behaviour than any positive reinforcement you could offer?

I got the dual tap for the Whippet - he's the only dog I bath in the bath. The poods got the specially plumbed spray flick mixer in the laundry.

Absolutely. Because dogs need to know the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Unless a dog experiences a negative response, how will it know that the particular behaviour in undesireable? As you know, all animals will increase behaviour that is rewarding to them and diminish that which isn't. You want the behaviour you don't like (from mouthing, to jumping to peeing on your leg) to diminish. Deflecting or distracting those behaviours doesn't always work, particularly with dogs of tougher character. Sometimes negative reactions are called for.

Sounds like the same thing I've got Ellz - you explained it better.

Head for a plumbing supplies place. I'd recommend you buy a two outlet tap that takes a screw on shower hose on the second outlet. Then you can buy a good shower hose. It's easy to replace your bath or sink tap and a lot more effective than the rubber hoses you fit over the tap outlet. If you want the rubber type, head for a hardware store. I've seen them at Bunnings.

Which ACT training club are you a member of Cleo? I may know someone I can put you in touch with to assist. Details of trials can be found on the ACTCA website and you will need to obtain an entry form and submit it before the closing date.

I thought you'd left the pup with your OH? Cheap dog food is false economy. You have to feed more of it. I'd stick to the better brands and feed some cheap RMBs to supplement it. Chicken carcasses are dead cheap.

Well colour me confused by the whole thing.

Unusual name for a female

This wouldn't be the first registered breeder to sell pup aged 6 weeks. It does happen.

Awww crap Chewy - sorry to hear this. Go gently Elliot - and know you were well loved.

Trisven's photo of Prince says "uncertainty" to me, perhaps with some fear.

Sounds like you need a new vet I agree. How a vet can treat a puppy with life threatening diarrhea and never check a faecal sample is more than a bit frightening. I'd have thought they would eliminate a lot of other causes before labelling the death of a 14 week old pup from a disease which included diarrhea as "genetic".

Yep, vet visit in order. Five days is a long time to wait. What did the other pup die of.. I hope like hell it wasn't parvo and within the last 12 months. Take a faecal sample with you if you can. Ask about a test for coccidia.

What makes you think its "jealousy"? Why couldn't it be simple dog aggression?

Thanks Poodlefan, will give the parks a miss, Mason is too heavy for me to pick up at the moment. Timing is everything with dog parks. You could go when its super quiet and leave if someone else comes. He can also go to the beaches there can't he. You can usually find a quiet spot somewhere. It is important that he gets out but 10 minutes on the lead in new places is not a bad way to do that for a pup.

Your puppy is mouthing. Because he no longer has littermates to learn bite inhibition from, you'll have to teach him. How long have you had him.. the reason registered breeders keep their pups until at least 8 weeks old is because they teach each other a lot until that age. Search on "mouthing" in the puppy problems sub forum. You'll find a raft of threads created by puppy owners experiencing what you are - its perfectly normal puppy behaviour. He's months away from teething. He doesn't have hands to touch and feel as he explores the world so he uses his mouth. Have a good read of the training section of Dogstardaily lots of good tips there. Your partner needs to read it too. No point being frustrated.. better to shape the behaviour you want to see. He's a baby. He needs guidance and training. He needs training just as much as a German Shepherd or a Border Collie does if he's to learn self control and manners. Book into puppy preschool and I'd suggest you do at least 12 months obedience training with him - Pugs can be quite good at it. ;)

So many variables.. it depends on the size of the pup, its temperament, the behaviour of park users and their dogs.. . For a pup that lacks confidence? I'd be delaying it until he's more confident. For some dogs.. never. One things for sure, you don't want him interacting with other offlead dogs whose behaviour you don't know about because if there's trouble, their owners sure ain't going to get there fast. If a dog approaches with no owner close by.. no interaction. Pick him up if you have to. If a dog approaches ask the owner "what's he like with pups". If you hear anything other than something like "great, he's really gentle and patient".. then no interaction. It's not so much the number of dogs he meets IMO that's important now but the number of times he has positive interactions that encourage him. One thing's for sure, he's not going to learn confidence when he's on his back. ;) If you must go there, ask owners to have their dogs onlead initially. It's no guarantee of a completely safe interaction but its better than nothing.