MissMaddy

A friend works for Stafford breeders. They only run opposite sexes together, and even then have had problems in the past. It's very dependant on the individual dog's temperaments. I have heard of a Stafford killing a Rottie of the opposite sex, so no guarantee another breed would help that one. A problem people have told me they've had is that some Staffords don't read other dog's submissive or pacifying signals, so a submissive dog wouldn't help. I love the breed, and it's great that you're doing your research. You should be able to find something compatible with your existing dog, but you may need to wait a while and do a lot of research to find something compatible with him/her.

I've bought the 15 odd kilo bag of large breed puppy. Will keep him on that for now, then decide whether to keep using it or change to another food once I'm nearly finished. I don't want him on the same as my bitch yet, cos she's not on a puppy suitable food (artemis maximal).

Thanks everyone. I got him large breed puppy after your advice Miss Danni and comparing the main ingredients, etc. The reason I personally don't plan to use ProPlan long term is that I feed my older girl artemis maximal, and am extremely happy with how she's doing on it. I used Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance for her as a puppy and young dog and was planning to do the same with this boy. I personally like to feed the 100% grain free foods, just a bit worried about it for a puppy as it's not a puppy formula (and despite being told high protein is ok for puppies, I still worry). I also didn't want to change what he was on too quickly or suddenly, so that was why I was going to use the performance, then change to a puppy food. I ended up deciding to go straight to a puppy food that appears very similar. He'll be on the large breed puppy for a while now, as I got a 15kg bag I think it was (or thereabouts). My biggest worry was changing his food over too quickly, but I'm happy this was as close as possible to what he's been on, but just not so high in protein and fat. Do you know if puppies over a certain age can actually absorb colostrum tworotts? I know with foals after the first 24 hours the gut's ability to absorb colostrum is almost nothing, so giving them any after this time is a waste. Do puppies continue to be able to absorb colostrum at this age? I know I sound a bit skeptical, just can't help wondering if it's more about marketing than anything.

I'm getting a puppy and the breeder currently has him on pro plan breeder bags. I'm wanting to get the same food for him until I change him onto what I want to feed him, so wondering what the equivalent product is? I don't want him to get an upset tummy as he's coming from another state and we're trying to keep his diet the same initially.

German Shepherd Dog League of Australia Okami. Yes, we are talking hips and elbows. Just found my girls survey cert, A stamp is for passing hips under the club's schemes, Z is for passing elbows. In order to participate in breed survey, a dog must already have A and Z stamps prior. Hope this helps!

I always get them confused, but they basically mean the dog passes the gsdcl requirements for hips and elbows. With hips, they must have 8 or less on each side, and elbows I think need to be below 2 on each side. I'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong, but they need lower scores by the shepherd club than dogs victoria to pass and be able to participate in breed survey.

a and z stamps for hips and elbows of parents. Also, both parents should be breed surveyed to demonstrate where they fit into the breed in regards to temperament, quality and confirmation. It is also important to visit breeders, meet at least the bitch the puppies are out of, and meet their other dogs to get a general idea of the temperaments they breed. If you wish to contribute to the knowledge about this breed, please answer the above questions. (Copy and paste them into a new post). Please only answer if you breed or own a pedigree example of this breed. You do not have to answer all questions Please keep posts limited to answering questions or for asking further questions if you require more (or expanded) information. See Photos of the German Shepherd Dog German Shepherd Dog Breeders German Shepherd Dog Puppies For Sale

I got one very similar from catch of the day for about $10. I had been using a dremel with a small attachment like on the dog one. I've found the battery powered dog one isn't very powerful and I have to be careful how hard I hold my girls' nails against it or it stops, and I think as she has pretty thick nails I'll probably burn the motor out pretty quickly. I think we'll be going back to the dremel pretty soon as it works so much better and quicker.

Thanks everyone, I'll have a chat to Steve and see what he recommends, and also have a chat to them on what they can do in the meantime. They don't have any food issues with bones, and their cat will steal the dog's bones without any issues. Usually the female is dominant over other stuff like toys, play, etc, and the boy had an obstruction last year, and has become food possessive since then, but will still let the cat stick his head in their bowls, it's just the other dog. I did tell her to just completely separate them so that feeding becomes a non-issue, but they also have the problem of when they're away and the dogs are in kennels, they are penned and fed together, so they'd rather see if they can sort it out before that happens. She's also worried that their play might be getting a bit out of control, which might be part of the food issue. She's had quite a few dogs, and is pretty sensible, so I think she has a pretty good idea of what's normal, and what's over the top. She was saying that after they eat they go stupid and run with each other and bark/growl, but their hackles go up, and they're pretty intense until they go to the toilet, so I think feeding time is becoming a pretty pressured time at the moment.

Thanks Shell, I have done the e-collar training with Steve and met him when he came down to do the workshop here and think he's fantastic! I actually thought about him, but didn't know where he was in relation to my Aunty as I don't know Sydney at all!! I'm pretty sure they would want him to come to their house, though, as they want someone to see what the dogs are like at home and when their food and bowls come out.

My aunty and her partner have been having issues at feeding time with their 2 fox terriers. She's had some recommendations from the vet about what to do, but I did suggest a behaviouralist to assess their behaviour at other times and feeding time to see if it's something that might just be escalating in the presence of food. She's pretty open to this suggestion, but wants to use someone recommended, so they get some really good, useful suggestions about how to handle the situation. They're in Inner West Sydney. Suggestions please?

Being picked up and shaken is exactly how a friend nearly lost her toy poodle many years ago. She had severe muscle damage for the rest of her life around her neck. I can see what you mean about the poodle body language poodlefan, the same friend now has 2 toy poodles, and my girl was a bit funny with them to start off with. She does seem to find them hard to read (and even moreso with the standards as they're her size and their whole posture does look very dominant), but now that they tend to mostly ignore her, she kinda does the same to them after the initial greeting.

I can feel it around 16, but my dog is at 4.

My german shepherd will work on level 4 on the dogtra in low to medium levels of distraction. I have checked this multiple times, so I know it's her true working level.

Hey laeral, you're in the same position as me!! I'm going to start training in drive again soon now that I've started to get on top of her obsession with other dogs and cats. I'm planning on doing the TID program Seita suggested shortly so that we can get back into it all. Just waiting to finish her run so I can put her outside and do some drive building work first.

I use Debbie Hall as well, and have found her to be really good. Although bowen can take a little longer to take effect, I always notice that if Zali was a bit sore somewhere that she isn't any longer after seeing Debbie.

I'm located in Victoria. My girl is 2 years old though, so I'm not sure if the puppy formula would be ok for her?

Thanks laffi, the artemis looks really good. It's pretty much between that and Ziwipeak, but at half the price, I think we'll try the artemis grain free and go from there. Oh yeah, and you just reminded me that we also have lots of extra farting at the moment, so I think we'll definitely try something else!

My girl is going really well. We're up to pretty much her maximum distraction level away from home, and she can now be safely off lead around other dogs, and I can be confident she'll come back when I call her. She's also become way more responsive to me without any stim out in public, and her obsession with other dogs has decreased (although she still has too high a value for other dogs and cats!). The best thing is that she can now have off lead exercise, so she's a lot happier and comes back from walks nice and tired!!

I'm in the same boat as you GTS. My girl has been on orijen for a couple of months, and she has been doing soo well on it. She has the most coat she's ever had (she is a show dog and I can never get her in coat to actually show until now), she's only been needing very small amounts to hold her weight and her poos have been very consistent and small. I have changed her back to natural balance as she was on that previously, but I'm not happy with how she's now doing on it after how well she did on the orijen. She's getting 3-4 times as much food (I'm now feeding her twice a day to split this), her coat is still good, but I don't think it will last too long, she's drinking a lot more water (which I don't like as her breed is prone to bloat) and her poos are much bigger and very inconsistant (generally they're not firm unless she's had a bone). I'm a bit stuck with where to go next, I have considered getting a mix made up by a herbalist with similar to what's in the orijen, and then starting her on a raw diet. I would really like to do this, but am not sure where to start. I am also considering trying ziwipeak longer term (she was on it short term and did well on it too), as she'd only need half as much which would make up for the higher price.

I used to feed Dick van pattens, and probably will while I sort out my raw diet. I found that it was pretty good, just not as good as orijen for weight and coat. I fed about 1 1/2 times the amount of orijen I've been feeding.

I heard from my local pet shop today. Around $117 for the 5kg dog food and the cat food doesn't come in bigger than 500g (Ziwipeak). Bit expensive for a bigger dog!

Wow, thanks for all of the replies! I'll be staying near Dandenong for the next few weeks, so will definitely try a few places out there mentioned. I think 200kg at once might be a bit too much though, I only have a dog and cat! I think I better get a chest freezer! I don't give her much beef as she gets itchy skin sometimes, and when she was a puppy every time I gave her roo more than once she threw it up. Have been using chicken, rabbit, beef rarely, and lamb. I found a place in Thornbury that sells extra meat such as camel and ox, but wasn't sure which would agree with her.

After all of the stuff that's happened with dog and cat foods, I'm thinking I'd like to feed them raw food so I know what they're getting and where it came from. I've always wanted to put my guys on raw, but this has been the push I've needed. So, as a result, I'm wanting recommendations on where to buy meat in bulk from. I'd prefer human grade, but pet grade without preservatives should be ok (that I know of, feel free to educate me if it's not). I'm in inner SE suburbs of Melbourne, but don't mind traveling if I can get it in bulk at a decent price. As I'm interested in BARF diets, somewhere to get fruit and veges would be good as well. Thanks in advance.

Just a quick word of warning to people using training treats. Check in health/nutrition about treats coming from China.