RuralPug

can be true!! Never ceases to amaze me how breeds with such different needs can pop up as a result of the same search. Look at your example - two of my fave breeds of all time are on that list: Australian Terriers and Pugs. I would never recommend both as a good match for the same family!!! That said, I often recommend breed selectors as a foot in the door to get people starting to think about matching their lifestyle to a breed. :)

Back to metal trays - I have only one wiith a metal tray (49" and pink LOL) and I cut a piece of flooring vinyl (tossed out free from a carpet laying place ;) ) to fit the tray to protect it and it works really well. In between uses I can pull out the vinyl and F10 the whole lot thoroughly. One of my crates has no tray at all LOL and I line that one with a bit of flooring vinyl too so that the bedding does not get caught on the wires on the bottom. :)

It might not be a behavioural problem. Your girl's eyesight is best for moving objects at a distance and it might be that she simply does not recognise familiar people if she is downwind of them and cannot scent them. Or it might be an article of clothing, like a hat, that they do not usually wear that changes their silhouette into that of a stranger who needs to be alarm barked about. Think about what was done on those occasions to make her recognise you - was it come closer, or speak to her or take off a hat??

You will need to crate train her and to teach the autistic boy just one single thing - to leave her alone when she is in her crate. That way she will have a safe place to go when she doesn't feel that she wants to share her toys or be cuddled. Plus she will soon learn that if that child doesn't understand when she wants peace that she can go into her crate and be left alone. Also whenever she gets too enthusiastic in play and nips, she can be sent to her crate to cool off a little. I would start crate training ASAP before this escalates.

Have you a gazebo? With no walls you can erect a gazebo and park the car under it for shade. Sandbags instead of tent pegs if it is hard surface. And a crate fan for the crate, but you may need to acclimatise him to the fan noise if he is very reactive.

Okay. So have you tried to make the pen her happy place as demonstrated in the video? I'm not sure that you waiting for her to fall asleep before leaving is actually a good thing. Does she have toys, chews etc in the pen? Have you tried getting her interested in interactive toys? Your focus at this stage should be on helping her to feel safe, comfortable and enjoying her pen time. Of course she loves being with you, but she needs to feel ok when you are out of the room as well. If she came from a bustling family home then perhaps a TV or radio with the sound on low will help her to feel comfortable alone. If she is howling and biting the gate I might be tempted to toss a sheet or blanket over the whole thing so that she is fully enclosed, then not remove it until she is quiet. That is a last resort though, it is not positive reinforcement.

Yep. It's a cross bred dog. Probably bred without any health testing of sire and dam and sold for more than a pure bred.

Thanks LG. I would just be doing pet treats as there is only one human in this house! It is very basic, but considering the price and that it will do what I want it to do without exploding I think I'm going to grab one. :)

Thanks Vehs That's good to know!!

OK, so I was in ALDI yesterday and they had dehydrators for around $40. Instant dreams of more home made treats, but I managed to hold back. Have searched on here for threads re dehydrators but really didn't find any reviews of the ALDI ones. Are they worthwhile or should I keep waiting for a better brand to appear second hand? I'd just like to know of anyone has tried the ALDI one or will I be the guinea pig LOL?

That is a fantastic video PK!! You would do well to actively train her to be happy in her pen as per the video, but eventually the carry-on will stop if you keep calm while its happening so as not to reinforce it. And yes, please we need baby spitz pics!!

Contact the Labrador Retriever Club of WA. I'm sure that they'll be able to tell you the best all breeds shows near you for labs and they will host one or two Labrador-only shows a year, which would probably be worth the trip to Perth to see. :)

Less than 24 hours? OK give her a chance to get used to the new routine. The best thing you can do is NOT to fret. If you are anxious about how she is feeling she may well pick up on your anxieties and hers may escalate. So stay calm and enjoy her! A chat with her breeder might give you some guidelines on how long it will take for her to settle in. Remember she is a dog, not a human, so pretty much lives in the moment. Of course she wants to be with you when you are there, but I bet that most of the time you are out of the house she is either sleeping or happily playing with all those lovely toys!

nooo..way too skinny .... Great for dog chew bones though....

II would imagine that gravelly soil would be excellent, as drainage is the key. Sounds like an enzyme type, works on the same principle as septic, so frequent applications of water are still essential. I can imagine that in gravelly soil, breakdown without added enzymes would be very slow if just burying the poop so you might well get very good value from a doggy septic!

The other thing to consider is a long car ride ride with a new puppy which may become motion sick. Even though he will grow out of it very quickly I would be buying or borrowing a crate for his first ride. Keep on hand spare towels for possible clean up and clean bedding and a garbage bad or something to pop any soiled bedding in. A packet of non-perfumed baby wipes is also great for clean-up.

An indoor play or baby gates to confine your puppy to one room while you are at work is probably the best way to go. Also handy to pop puppy in while you are too busy to watch him! Your breeder should be able to recommend a good style and size of playpen and should also be able to recommend to you methods for keeping your baby cool. :)

Really depends on your soil type. I had one that worked brilliantly in sandy or loamy ground but was useless here in clay soil. Mine came with specially bred worms that needed to be topped up every 12 months. It's important to keep the water up to them so you need to take that into account if you are on tank water with no dam.

a Friends with a Valhund often have a hard time convincing people their girl is not a GSD/corgi mix! | LOL I can recall when Mum had in her yard, one mini wire dach male, one griffon rough and a heap of pugs. Fell over myself laughing when one visitor assumed that the griff was the result of an accidental mating between the dach and a pug!

One would sincerely hope that (a) it was NOT a planned mating and that (b) the stag X was the dam. I really believe that accidents like that should NOT be permitted to be sold entire, or even given away entire. Pass the litter to rescue for desexing before rehoming and take precautions (recommend desexing of parents) to avoid a repeat. Agree there is a lot of sad out there with careless breeding.

Enthusiastic second to Gruf here. The horse whitening shampoos seem so much better in white dogs. Always apply pre-diluted, as you should with any shampoo on dogs anyway. And never overlook the old fashioned "dry" shampoo of rubbing in then thoroughly brushing out finely ground bran, leaves a more sparkly finish than chalk.

States may differ. Basically you should be having this conversation with DogSA if that is the state that you are resident in, and that the dog will be resident in. And the paperwork doesn't all have to come with the physical dog...some can precede the dog and your state body might give you a "pending" ANKC registration that will allow you to enter shows, just depending on the last quarantine boxes to be ticked to change the "pending" to finalised.

Ask to met the parents, and see for yourself their temperament with people. If the breeder shows or competes in dog sports with the parents, then then temperament should be stable around other dogs. There are three equal aspects to temperament, in my view, which are: (1) Genetics (2) Lessons learned from the dam in the nest and (3) Raising of the puppy to about 18 months old, which includes early socialisation by the breeder and socialisation and consistent treatment by the puppy buyer.

Another good one - a first dog that will be a guard dog and attack intruders but also be a good, easy to manage family dog. Yes! Another common one. Of course, they also expect the dog to be able to tell who is a burglar and who is just reading the meter! (OH, I do miss rolly eyes!)

LOL I have to laugh at all the people who want their cute puppy to be (a) non-shedding but not needing expensive regular grooming (b) pre-trained but a baby puppy so it can "grow up with the kids" and © require no regular exercise or enrichment but know heaps of tricks to impress their friends. I calmly tell them, that provided they are not fussy about colour/pattern (this breed does not come in different colours), they should get one of these: link