poodlefan

I'd disagree with your view as to why showies rehome more Leo. Most show exhibitors are breeders too. As you said, they tend to have a few more dogs and keeping lower quality breeding dogs is a poor strategy in the long term. Breeding poor quality dogs is pointless - better to desex and rehome. I personally don't have a problem with people rehoming dogs responsibly - I have one here. She's over standard for toy poodle but a great pet.

Dougie raw egg whites have two issues: 1. They contain an enzyme inhibitor which can make them difficult to digest for a very young puppy or a sick or old dog or a dog with pancreas issues. 2. They contain Avidin which binds with biotin making it unavailable to the dog's digestive system. Apparently, you need a diet seriously deficient in biotin and to feed a lot of raw egg white for this to be a problem. Raw egg yolks are very rich in biotin. Billinghurt's view is that you'd need to feed a very poor quality dried dog food (which is frequently deficient in biotin) and lots of raw egg whites on their own to create a problem. I just always feed whole raw eggs - my dogs would get them in their veggie mix 2-3 timer a week. No hair loss here!

Raw WHOLE eggs are fine though Dougie!

Not sure what you mean there Poodlefan, I operate a Mobile grooming business & ALL our dogs are washed in fresh water, and also rinsed in clean fresh water. If you are not happy with what your groomer is doing then don't take it back. I have a fantastic rapport with all my clients, & make a point of know EXACTLY what is required. We are not all bad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing sinister Silverblue - I meant if you don't need a hydrobath to heat the water and are happy to add shampoo to the dog, rather than a tank, you can live without a hydrobath.

In my experience rehoming a dog sports dog is rare... not unheard of, but rare. I don't know anyone personally who's done it. There are plenty of obedience and agility dogs who were rescues or rehomes though!

The other advantage of DIY is it means you can have more dogs!! No way could I afford to have three poodles professionally groomed - and frankly I do a better job than many who consider themselves pros. The other real advantage of DIY is that your dog can always look good - not just once every couple of months.

The best way to know if your pups are getting enough food is to feel them. You should be able to feel rib without pressing hard. Weight alone means very little. I agree with Miranda - the diet does sound deficient. If you don't want to go the kibble route, there is always a well balanced raw diet. If your dogs have access to roo poo and carrion you need to use a proper CHEMICAL wormer such as Drontal.

Do you really need a hydrobath? I prefer to use fresh water and add the shampoo direct to the dog. If you have access to hot/cold water you can buy big plastic dog bathing tubs from some grooming suppliers. A grooming table is very useful - and saves your back.

yes you may be right there. We have recently adopted ourselves a 13 week old kitten which im sure the puppy thinks is vermin, she reacts quite odley high pitch barking, jumping at the window, I dont trust her with it, however she loves our older cat to bits, licks her and waggs her tail, more than she does us really. If you want more focus and attention from your dog, then you need to do more with her than cohabitate. Obedience training assists by building bonds of leadership and trust with your dog. You own a breed that was selectively bred over generations to be able to go out, hunt and kill vermin independently of direction from man. Most JRTs I know are little dynamos. Training and dog sports channel all that energy positively rather than having dogs develop their own amusements. Get her out walking and take her to a good dog trainer... you'll get all kind of assistance including how to teach her to enjoy being handled.

Border 14: Then don't!! A BC doesn't really require professional grooming. Why don't you learn to care for his coat yourself. Bathing, brushing and trimming are all within the scope of any dog owner, regardless of breed. DOL is the place to get all the grooming tips you'd ever need for your dog. It's also cheaper in the long run to do it yourself.

JRT = Jack Russell Terrier Some of the state JRT clubs hold races and earth dog trials for dogs. As you have a dog bred to be on the go much of the day hunting vermin, its best to give her outlets for all that energy... Flyball and Agility are other options.

I think more physical and mental stimulation would definitely assist with preventing the behaviour from becoming obsessive. Give her other things to focus on. What ever you do, don't inadvertantly encourage it. I'd suggest you distract her from it when you see it and don't allow it to continue. Is the water bowl a single source of water for her? Adding a large rock can stop her from emptying it. In my limited experience, dogs who do the digging/catching and tail chasing behavior can have very high prey drive...you might have a future JRT racing dog on your hands.

The behaviours of themselves sound quite normal. What might not be normal is how often and for how long your dog does them. Dogs can develop obesessive/compulsive behaviour. I have two water bowl diggers and a tail chaser in my poodle tribe. However the behaviour isn't prolonged. How much exercise/training do you give your JRT?

Old methods of dog training used to confuse physical dominance with social dominance. A lot of old time trainers have the scars to prove that those methods came with risks. Some dogs simply won't tolerate being pushed around.... why find out which dogs are of that persuasion the hard way?? K9Force gave me a wonderful piece of advice when I was dealing with an alpha wannabe in my dog pack... NEVER NEVER NEVER give a dog a reason to bite you...the lesson it will learn is that biting stops unwanted human behaviour... and dogs use what works. If it situation calls for physical intervetion then you need to find another way. I don't expect my dogs to share their food... it's not natural for dogs to share. I supervise all feeding to ensure that each dog gets its food unhassled by the others.

Forget (b) ..."I would do anything for her".. that's just not dog thinking. The behaviour your dog is displaying is resource guarding. Dogs will guard resources from other dogs, and from us in some circumstances. My understanding is that your dog does not necessarily have to see you as being below it in pack hierachy to guard... witness bitches guarding food from the alpha dog. Most dogs in my house will defend their food from each other but not from me. Personally I think the leadership bond is far better off being established through obedience training than just over the food bowl. The more your dog learns to take your lead and trust that you will build your leadership status. I'll defer to behaviouralists about the resource guarding but the last thing I'd be looking to do is make a resource guarder anxious about keeping highly valued items. Wouldn't it be easier simply to call you dog away from the bone, put her on lead, and then take it off her. It might save you some stitches and will stop your dog learning that biting means it gets to keep it's bone. A growl is a warning... heed it. Dogs whose warnings aren't heeded are the dogs that supposedly bite "for no reason"... It goes without saying of course that your dog should NEVER have food when there are young children in the house.

I wonder if the poor thing was suffering from heat stress or some form of gasto. Good on you for taking her..

My housemates two poodles are both debarked. It was after numerous complaints by her neighbours (at her old address) and the failure of a citronella collar to have impact that she had the ops performed. I KNOW how easily her dogs are triggered to bark so I have sympathy for her neighbours. Both dogs had great agility careers and have suffered no ill effects from the op. They should like they have laryngitis. My only concern is that they might get lost or caught up in something when we walk in the bush.... you'd never hear them.

A head collar is NOT a substitute for training. If you think a 35kg dog can't lunge wearing a head collar, think again. Furthermore, lunging wearing such a device is potentially harmful to the dog. Get a decent professional trainer to help you with this dog. Both you and the dog will get more benefit from training than from merely fitting a head halter.

How much exercise and obedience training are these dogs getting? Barking and digging are often classic signs of boredom/lack of stimulation. You own a breed of dog selectively bred for its intelligence and ability to work all day - how much time are you spending training and walking them?

georgiahand, if you want reinforcement as to why you wouldn't want to buy CKCS from a pet shop, I'll give it to you. Mitral Valve Disease Do your homework on the CKCS and you'll rapidly learn that any CKCS that comes from untested parents is probably heartbreak waiting to happen. Same goes for any of the cute little puppies you see. If you buy from a petshop you help condemn the parents of those puppies to life in hell. Do the right thing AND the smart thing and find a responsible breeder who health tests their dogs and who raises happy healthy puppies from bitches you can see for yourself. Timidity can be a a problem in Cavs -an happy outgoing Mum is one of the best indicators of the temperament of the puppies. Furthermore, you will probably pay less or not much more for a well bred pup as a pet shop one. Of course you will have to wait. Only puppy farmers produce puppies for impulse buying.

Nope, I'd say your average well bred Toy Poodle is as tough as an old boot and dead smart. Timidity is a temperament fault... as I type this the Toy Poodle in this house is attacking her larger mini poodle brother in play. There's a lot of growling and barking involved. Toy poodles are very trainable - their biggest problem is that people want to treat them like dolls or babies and not like the dogs they are. Lily my Toy has obedience and agility titles and is also a keen lure courser. They are a very popular small dog sports dog. However... being active and intelligent, an under stimulated Toy Poodle may be yappy. I wouldn't list them as a breed known for their quietness. That's not to say you can't raise a quiet toy but if quiet is high on your list, choose carefully from well adjusted lines and definitely only by from a registered breeder that health tests. I think Lily my Toy Poodle could handle living in a Sydney Penthouse...but she'd miss chasing the kangaroos too much. :rolleyes: Grooming costs are another factor to consider with any poodle - it doesn't come cheap.

Perhaps the easiest way to get a feel for what breed might suit you would be to visit a big dog show (and Sydney is the place for that). Not all small dogs are confined to the Toy Group. Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso for example are in the non-sporting group. Does your boyfriend have an aversion to large eyed dogs?

Have you had a look at all the toy breeds? An Italian Greyhound might be good for your situation. Have a think about putting a hall runner down your hallway - it will save the puppy scrabbling for traction and it will make a great racetrack. :rolleyes: How much exercise do you plan to give the puppy as it grows- will you walk it?

Dogdude: Nah, maybe just a few rule modifications. Jump heights should [edited to add NOT] be some kind of high jumping test... they could be lowered to say 2/3 shoulder height or something. A bit more judge training highlighting challenges for different shapes and sizes of dogs would be good too. Judges tend to come from the ranks of top competitors. You tend to see a predominance of certain breeds of dog there and just some exposure to the challenges of trialling other shapes and sizes of dogs should fix that problem.

Dogdude: OK dogdude... now that you've asked: *Being pinged for "exaggerated cues" because I bend to give the down cue at knee level... if Mr Kafoop's Golden Retriever can have the cue given in front of its muzzle, why can't my Toy Poodle? It doesn't help of course that I'm tall. I've challenged a couple of big dog owning obedience judges to give the down cue to my dog... they can't do it without bending either. :D * A small dog heeling 8 inches to the side or behind the ideal looks far more out of position than a large dog - and the scores tend to reflect that. Judges don't seem to understand that my dog wants to see my face as much as the big dogs. * Many small dogs are doing blind send aways to the box because grass height and closeness to the ground means they actually can't see the box. Same goes for dumbells for retrieve on the flat. * We littlies get the same length heel pattern from most judges as the GSD and GR's do... how many extra paces of heel work do you think my dog is doing? How many paces extra to get to the box, do the seek back etc?? * Judges wanting to do daft things like kneel next to the littlies for exams. They tend to crowd them a lot more too. Have a chat to someone who trials a small dog. In addition to the myriad of "when are you going to get a real dog" comments from fellow competitors (and occasionally from judges" they do face some challenges in comparison to larger dogs.