RiverStar-Aura

I too have found that the RC pack recommended feeding is excessive. Kirah is 6.2 kilos and gets only a tablespoon twice daily and Zeus (14.4 kilos) is on 1/4 of a cup twice daily. According to the pack, Zeus being highly active should be getting 2 and 2/8th cups Nothing can substitute your eyes as being the best weight guide and if you're thinking your dog still seems on the rounder size, just cut back even more. The trick to food is getting the energy in vs energy out ratio correct. You might find that you're giving her more food than she's actually burning off so her daily intake needs reducing. If her weight is around the 22ish mark, I'm guessing you're feeding her the RC Medium. Edit: don't be afraid to really cut back on her food to allow for any treats she's given during the day too!!

If you dislike the labrador's shedding, then a beagle may not be for you. They also shed like mofos!! As for wandering, any dog can be willful if you're not willing to put the work into training them. There are quite a few gorgeous beagles who frequent my local off leash park and they don't wander off at all. They are a lovely breed though, but as an owner, you must be willing to work with, and adapt to each dog's personality and breed characteristics. My experience with beagles comes from owning a beagle x JRT and this is not a cross breed I'd ever recommend to anyone not willing to learn about both breeds. Zeus is the most gorgeous dog in the world (in my mind), but he's been a challenge for me his entire life. I've been used to the terrier mentality, so wasn't prepared when I brought Zeus home from a pet shop. It's not so much that beagles are stubborn, it's because they forget to listen. They get so switched on to what they're scent tracking that they forget about their entire surroundings. The sniffing is not a problem provided you're able to get your dog's attention back, which can be a challenge. On the forum I think Huski would be a great person to offer advice on beagles; she lives with Daisy, aka The Evil Beagle!!

First double post

Wow, that's impressive. Does that mean the reward you give her for coming back to you is more high value to her than chasing her prey? And I'm guessing that chasing her prey is very rewarding indeed! How do you reward her for leaving such an incredibly high value item? It is doable but I find it very hard work, personally. Zeus is also high prey drive (maybe not to the extent of Wisdom though!) but he gets ultra excited about chasing moving targets. I've learnt from K9 Pro (Steve and Huski) that it's more about yourself and becoming more of a question mark to your dog. By keeping your dog guessing, and not knowing what you're going to do next, it increases their drive and response to you as owner -- your dog wants to come back in case he/she misses out something exciting and ultra rewarding. I don't know if I even have Steve's concept correct, but that's how I've interpreted the training techniques set for Zeus and it's working so well! Zeus's focus on me is amazing; he hovers around me almost on tippy toes eager for what I'm about to throw at him next. Zeus is far more focused on myself than his surroundings and is a pleasure to work with -- he's always been an eager/keen learner, I just haven't really understood how to tap into his focus and energy correctly. As for the rewards, I was told that when a dog is 'in drive', they're inhaling their food and not really tasting it so it doesn't matter what the food is. I think by training in drive, the dog is more malleable and open to anything you throw their way be it food or a tug toy. I alternate between food and Zeus's favourite duck toy as he gets highly stimulated by it and loves to fetch and tug with it. Edit: feel free to correct me Huski if there's anything I've completely misinterpreted. (I wouldn't be surprised really )

Zeus was the epitome of a non-reliable recall. He got to the point I needed Steve's wisdom and skill to teach me how to perfect his recall. Zeus started running off at the dog park into the adjoining Westfield car park to explore and it wasn't until a few months back that another park regular came back to tell me he'd seen Zeus crossing the busy highway. Until then I hadn't been worried because he'd always come back and I stupidly assumed Zeus was only next door exploring the car park. The main reason I couldn't recall Zeus is because he had a threshold and once he'd passed it, he was gone. He'd literally stop in his tracks, look at me, then continue running off -- it was like he was giving me the finger and blowing raspberries at the same time. It wasn't until seeing Steve that I've now got his recall under control. I learned that because of Zeus's high energy and self confidence, he deemed me as being far less interesting than exploring across the highway and that I needed to change this. Steve set me up with a programme to up my self worth in Zeus's eyes and while it's hard work, I have to keep my attention focused on Zeus at all times, it's paying off. We're both still working with Steve's programme but so far, Zeus has recalled every single time. He still tries to nick off into the car park or across the road but he's stopping, looking and choosing to return to me rather than run off. I'm beyond proud of my boy and so very thankful to Steve because without his help, Zeus would never have been off lead ever again. I couldn't risk him being hit by a car, nor would I want to put a driver in that horrible situation either.

Thanks for the advice, but after bathing Kirah this morning with her normal Bio Groom Wiry Coat, she's come up lovely -- gorgeous texture to her coat and fantastic shine!! I guess I was just looking for something to help maintain her coat rather than bathing her monthly as I'm worried about stripping too many oils from her coat. Living outside she gets quite dirty, but I suppose I will need to bath her moire often if she's out in the elements more than other dogs who spend a lot of time inside. I worry that even monthly bathing is too much, especially when my other dog Zeus always looks clean and can go 6 months without looking dirty or having a 'dog' smell. I comb and brush her every second day to avoid tangles too. Kirah definitely lives up to her 'earth dog' terrier-ness -- she's always scrounging and foraging in the scrub and dirt!! :laugh:

Just wanted to see if anyone here has heard of, or uses this product: Cowboy Magic I'm contemplating giving it a try as it states it helps in repelling dirt, dust and sand and I'm interested to see if it will help improve Kirah's coat -- especially since she's mostly outside and loves to snuffle around in the dirt!

Electric windows are a pain with dogs but I make sure I have the lock turned on so only the driver window works. Too many times have I had my dogs stand on the buttons and open them. Never had them fall out though.

I am so sorry about your darling little Smudge. RIP sweet girl.

I've only ever owned dogs who still have their dew claws -- I don't even know if it's common for terriers to have them removed or not. I'm very cautious in keeping them neatly trimmed because I've read about dogs who've needed surgery to repair torn dew claws and boy does it sound nasty. I guess this is yet another area that prospective puppy buyers need to be educated in. The amount of poor dogs left suffering with overgrown dew claws is horrible and I can only imagine they'd be as painful as an infected/ingrown toenail in humans. Edited to say that I've never had a problem with my dogs' dew claws.

Or it could be Panoramis which is flea and heartworm?

I also think it depends on the dog. Kirah is very stranger wary so won't really perform at all for others -- mostly because she prefers trying to get back to me or watching me to make sure I'm not going to disappear. Zeus on the other hand, I've witnessed some fantastic behaviours when he's handed off to equally fantastic trainers. He just loves learning and will give his full attention to whoever demands it, but he's much more easy going than Kirah!

Aussie Terriers are my heart breed so my dream dogs would be a pile of them!! Also Norwich Terriers, but they need stilt legs -- bending over for training gets old!! Oh and Salukis -- gorgeous dogs!!

:laugh: raineth! I too travelled to see Steve but it was no where near 600kms!! About 1 hour 30ish minutes.

Great advice!! I think you've hit on one of the main problems of off leash parks -- people and dogs think it's a free for all and a place to 'go crazy'. BoxerB, an obedience club will help a little, but not with the interaction side of things. Obedience is not really allowing the dogs to interact with one another so whilst it will help with your dog's obedience, it won't help with his socialisation skills. Even just taking him to a park on lead might be beneficial -- if he gets too boisterous, pull him aside and distract him with games like LAT. It's a fantastic way of distracting high energy dogs!!

Should the dogs be able to stand inside the crate?

I'm not trying to say that older people can't own large dogs (they're generally the most loveable sooks!) but more care really needs to be taken with kids and dogs -- ALL dogs. I guess families become far too complacent that 'oh my dog wouldn't hurt an ant' and bam! This is what happens. I guess I was trying to say that anyone trying to pull an attacking mastiff off a child would be unsuccessful, and a 70 year old woman would have far less chance of success.

Oh. Both articles referred to in the thread mention nothing about a 24 year old man at all and because they said the boy and mother were visiting their 70 year old grandmother, I assumed it was her dog. Especially as she was the one trying to rescue the poor child. If the dog was owned by a young man I apologise for my assumption, but again, it's a silly choice to leave the dog in the care of someone else, especially a 70 year old woman when she's baby-sitting her grandchild. She should never have been put in that position -- why bring the dog too?

Such a horrible thing to have happen, but it's another example of a person (70 year old woman) owning a completely unsuitable breed. There was NO WAY she'd be able to pull the dog away given her age and the size of the dog (mastiff cross) and saying that the attack was 'uncharacteristic to the dog' is not an excuse. The poor family.

DancingBC, I have an Aussie Terrier (6.4 kilos) and a Beagle x JRT (14.8 kilos), who's built much like a Kelpie. I've tested out the wire crates in Pet Barn a few months ago and the Animates medium size would be plenty big enough to fit both dogs comfortably. It does sound like wire crates or airline crates are the way to go -- especially if soft crates can get hot as my car gets parked outside a lot. The other suggestion I was given was to strap the dogs in low so they can't see out the windows, but all the products I've seen that attach a dog harness have a lot of leeway, which wouldn't stop my guys from being able to see out the window. Sometimes I wish it was legal to spray paint the car's windows black!!

For now, crating the dogs in the car is to help curb their reactivity (barking/trying to lunge) to things outside the car. Kirah barks and reacts to other dogs on the footpath and even motorcycles when they pull up behind me at traffic lights. To try and stop the carry-on, I've been told to try a covered crate to block out the cause of the barking. Zeus isn't too bad, as he seems to be reacting to Kirah's barking. I hadn't even thought of an airline crate -- thanks for the suggestion as I'll definitely look into them too! I do have plans to get into agility, but I haven't thought that far ahead. I've seen people leave car boots open with their dogs happily lying in crates that way rather than setting them up outside but this would only work if you can park close to the training area. There's definitely a lot more to think about than I first thought, but so far it seems that one crate per dog is the way to go rather than having the two dogs share the same one.

Sorry for starting so many topics -- I usually don't like starting them as I feel I'm clogging up the forum -- however, I've taken my dogs to see Steve (K9 Pro) and crating both dogs while in the car has been suggested to help curb their reactivity to other dogs we drive past. As there are so many types available, I thought I'd ask which would be a) safer/safest and b) best suited to my needs. I only drive a Getz so it's quite small and as such, my dogs must travel on the back seat as Getz's don't have much boot space -- unless I completely fold the seats up so they rest against the back of the front seats (60/40 ratio) See photo below: Would buying a wire crate be safer to use with the seats folded up or would a soft crate on the back seat suffice? Also, do I go for two crates or just one larger size, depending on what fits in my tiny car? Then I guess, how would I go about securing the crate, or can I leave it not strapped in? Logic is telling me to anchor it in, but I'm not sure as I've never crated dogs before. Any suggestions will be much appreciated! Thanks guys, and I promise no more new topics for a while! :)

I feel that it's more obvious having two dogs and needing to share the love. I love both Kirah and Zeus but I love them differently. Kirah is the type of dog who sh*ts me to tears but is just so damn adorable, loving and endearing that I can't help but love her and her flaws. Zeus on the other hand is my gorgeous goofball who I absolutely ADORE working with. He's my smiley, happy doofus and whatever he's doing he has an infectious, goofy grin and makes me happy. I love them both so much, but in such different ways. Poochie was my childhood dog and I loved growing up with her around and love her for different reasons to my current two as well. She had a love of all people and taught herself to climb ladders because she just wanted to be with me as I often sat in my cubbyhouse reading. I can still see her now using her front legs to pull herself up each rung -- the sheer determination to reach the top still amazes me! The more I think on it, the more I think that all my dogs will be my heart dogs but for entirely different reasons. I will never love each dog the same, nor will one dog replace another and more importantly, I believe my heart is a big enough place for all my gorgeous bubbas: past, present and future. :)

I've read often on here about all the DOLers's heart dogs and I've since been wondering, how do you know? To date I've only ever lost my beloved Poochie, 3 years ago now, but she was my first dog and the one I grew up with for 16 years. Her loss was the most painful thing I've been through and I felt my heart break at her death. I loved her (and will continue to love her) with all my heart, but I'd like to know -- do I cherish her so much because she was my first childhood pet or because she was my heart dog? Is there a difference between heart dog/childhood pet? Is it possible have a few heart dogs? How did you all happen to realise you'd found your heart dog? Would you care to share the defining moment with the forum? I'd love to hear some lovely stories of how your heart dogs came to be!!

I've been trialling new kibble for my two dogs for over 6 months now and have been unimpressed with the results of both Nutro and Wellness. I have about 2 kilos left of a 3 kilo bag of both Nutro and Wellness that I have no use for. Rather than throwing the food away, I thought I'd post here to see if I can find a better home for it. The Nutro expires at the end of August and the Wellness sometime next year. PM me if you're interested so I can see about getting the food shipped off ASAP!