RuralPug

Initiative and problem solving are my personal markers for intelligence. This study merely measures an eagerness to cooperate with an ability to learn and remember commands. I would rate a dog who learns by itself to lift a latch and raid a pantry as more intelligent than the winner of an obedience competition who starves to death loyally at their dead master's side rather than open a cupboard or go out of the doggy door and alert the neighbours to a problem. A well trained dog often says more about the trainer (and their willingness to experiment to find the motivational trigger for individual dogs) than about the breed. Case in point: see a clicker trained alpaca here.

I'm glad you've found something that works for her! Natures Gift is actually a reasonable quality kibble and the picky puppy I have here scoffed it down in preference to raw (which I KNOW her breeder fed her although she warned me she was a picky eater I just didn't believe her because picky eaters just don't happen in pugs until they become senior citizens). She now eats almost anything I put down for her but it was driving me crazy when I first got her to have a broken pug like that!

Something like this perhaps? Try searching online using the tags or "soft crate backpack" or "dog carrier backpack" and you are sure to find something that not only will strap neatly on top of the luggage on your bike but will also double as a backpack in which you can safely carry the dog when when hiking. Or if you don't want the hiking park or the soft part try searching for "travel crate small dog" if you want a hard plastic version or a wire version. Wire versions can usually have covers purchased for them. I love that your dog accompanies you on your biking/camping trips!

Sorry I missed this earlier, One question to consider would be were any or all of the brands of kibble you tried grain-free? I think those brands all have grain-free puppy versions. well at less two do anyway MfM as MfP and Wellness as Wellness Core. Try a completely grain free version, maybe she is actually gluten or corn intolerant? If you have tried grain free then I would be looking at whatever ingredient was common to all the brands you tried and assume she is intolerant to that ingredient, which could easily be a type of protein - and then try to find a kibble that doesn't share that ingredient. Ignore the tiny trace elements and stuff because if she is intolerant to it it will be at least 10% of the product (I am basing this on it moving through her system so fast). If you run out of alternatives there is always prey model raw feeding to fall back on...

They started about the same time as ARA changed from being Winter Appeal for Victorian Animal Rescue Groups then! All these groups are great! NARGA Give it to Rescue is another FB group where people can offer goods or rescues can say what they urgently need.

I wasn't aware of that group, thanks Scottsmum! Have they been going long? Very similar to this one, started out helping Victorian rescues and these days services the whole of Australia, but if more state based groups started up then ARA could concentrate mainly on the states that didn't have one. ooops a bit sorry

His phone number is public on the ANKC judges contact site - I will private message you with that number,

Edit can be found in the little grey cogwheel at the bottom of your post. Wow! That is a huge difference in size! Might fit a pony!

Hi George, not sure when Peter Frost's classes return, should be running again by then. No need to book, just turn up at Bulla with your dog, a lead and your money ($25). Yes the Exhibition Centre aka Calabria Club is the venue. On the one occasion that I went Peter didn't do table training which was actually where I most needed the dog to get experience, so I didn't go again, but if your breed is not normally tabled for examination then his classes are truly excellent.

I tend to agree with you, but there are some countries (Scandinavian mostly I think) where there is a shortage of unwanted dogs. It is good in that case. I don't think there is any shortage in the USA, so unless they are purebreds being imported for rehoming by breed specific rescues, then I suspect it is only the popular and cute that are being imported which is not what rescue is all about.

Since there is no like button for Troy's posts I'll just say "Thank you, Troy" instead!

I hope a NSW rescue collects them - from the photos looks like they might also come in handy to use instead of E-Collars after desexing surgery. Would suit cocker spaniel size I would imagine. Thank you for your generosity. Kajtek!

I'd discuss it with the breeder. There might be a third option, depending on how far away you are from the breeder or if the breeder could recommend someone near you. You could take the pup at 8 weeks, begin training and return her to the breeder for the time you are away, Unless the vet is student is very very experienced with monitoring inter-dog reaction I wouldn't leave a baby toy breed puppy AND a two year old large breed in their care for 10 days. One or the other but not both. Fourth alternative would be to put your adult dog in a reputable kennel for the 10 days you are away.

Unfortunately cranberry is contraindicated for cystine stones. It is excellent for struvite stone prevention as it acidifies the bladder.

That should certainly be reported to the body with whom the dog is registered. Shonky breeders incorrectly register "fad coloured" frenchies as accepted colours otherwise they can't go on main register. Decently bred frenchies rarely need any corrective surgery. It is the fad colour greeders who are creating this problem. It is very very sad that the general public pay such inflated prices for unhealthy animals.

I have never had direct dealings with a dog suffering this type of stone. Predilection to this is believed to be hereditary.You certainly will need to monitor his diet for the rest of his life, unless you want to try surgery to redirect the urine release away from the penis into a new, created opening which can safely pass bladder stones even of the largest size. Mastiffs I believe are prone to this condition and you may be able to source a home made cystine precention diet from Mastiff groups. There is no other commercially produces alternative that I am aware of. The Hills UD diet is low purine. low protein and there seems to be strongly differing schools of thought in veterinary research circles whether or not diet can assist in the future prevention of cystine stones, as they are not directly caused by bacteria in the bladder but by a congential defect in the kidneys which does not process the amino acid cyestine correctly. Ph of the bladder needs to be kept very alkaline to prevent cystine stones, so alkaline in fact that it may encourage the development of different types of bladder stones. Here are a couple of references that you might like to check out: What are cystine bladder stones? Canine Csyturia Email Group

to your post Melrose and I'm seconding everything that you said.

Yes, they are a breed that needs to be worked a lot so teaching him the boundaries of what he is allowed to have and what he is not allowed to have is nearly a full time job at this age! Hopefully other Brittany owners will drop in with answers. You might ask @The Spotted Devil who has working line Springer Spaniels and has to keep ahead of them as pups!

There is currently an ad on Scumtree from someone (claiming to be a DogsSA breeder so that they could get around Scumtree's rule of no more than $500 a pup from non-registered breeders, but I bet they are not) wanting pure bred prices for "Designer French Bulldog" pups which they PROUDLY claim had 10% Pug in the mix (to improve brachy problems with hybrid vigour?????? OMG). I reported the ad the Scumtree, but sadly it is still there...

But then you could quickly prove that they had falsified registration papers so the state body should transfer incorrect colours to the limited register at the very least. Better still to suspend or throw out the member.

Yes, juice knows about him too but the senior is first priority.

That can only be your decision. Puppies are a lot of hard work, they need constant supervision and/or a safe place where they can do no damage. The person who spends the most quality time with the pup will be the pup's favourite person. Older dogs have already settled into a temperament and you can judge straight away whether or not they are going to 'click' with you. Since you are intending to remain at home for quite a while (half of a puppy's life) it is probably really important to discuss whether to get a puppy or an adult with the other members of your household. Really you are adding another family member, not a garden ornament or electronic device to be switched off when you are not there (I don't mean that in a harsh way).

I can ask foster carers in that area to take a look for you.Do you have an impound number?

He was both. Some of the dogs were fighting dogs. Some of the cats were bait cats. But the breeds that sell for ridiculously high prices (including incorrectly coloured French Bulldogs) and certain strains of Ragdoll cats were apparently regularly shipped interstate for sale.

You can't possibly do as badly as I did. I thought I had taught my last-pug-but-one to speak on command, but once I had had my first cochlear implant and had some hearing returned, I found that I had actually taught him to open and shut his mouth like a goldfish.