Aphelion

Mine have arrived out of order too. I'm so glad I went back for the wubba friends and ballistic friends now! Can't wait!

I got order number three today (no sign of order number two)! There had been no tracking updates for ages, but it seems to have arrived anyway. I got a wrong sized safestix though and the small is pretty small for my boy. I've contacted cleanrun about it though.

I was happy for my giant pup to be in his crate in my bedroom all night. For the first week or so he needed one toilet break at about 2am. During the day I think there were times when he could wait an hour or two at 8 weeks without needing a toilet break, but it was safer to take him outside more often than that. If he had to be on his own during the day, then he was left in a puppy pen joined to a crate. Even that is not much space for a giant breed. At 8 weeks a giant breed already takes up most of the space in the largest sized crates. He does have a divider in in this picture, but not much was sectioned off and he barely needed that at all to be honest. And it only takes a couple of weeks before they fill up most of a normal sized puppy pen too. I used waterproof lining not because this was somewhere for him to toilet in but because however his water was secured, it ended up tipped everywhere. He also never plays or eats food from a Kong while I'm away, no matter how hungry he is. He doesn't appear that stressed, but he just very quietly lies down the whole time I'm away. So I tend to think the more safe space you can provide, the better. They need as much mental stimulation as possible, and it's already a huge shock for them to suddenly be without mother and litter-mates who they are used to spending all their time with. A crate is too small for that length of time in those early weeks for sure. When they're quiet and not drinking all night because they are asleep, the giant breeds can do quite well, but at that age they can't hold on for anywhere near that length and crating for that long would be extremely unfair. Indoors for toilet training with a giant breed would be quite hard too. My boy almost never made a mistake inside, but he was unable to hold on for the entire 2 hour puppy class we went to, and he'd take himself off to the most tucked away corner...but especially compared to the little puppies...a lot of mopping was required for just one accident on lino!

:laugh: Love them! More expression could surely not be conveyed than what Bosco's managed. That's a spectacularly gorgeous sad face!

And you know those times when you're really thirsty and really tired at the same time?

haha! I love them all! Here I was lining him up, looking all regal I thought, but he had a go at the face Justice is making in the 5th shot.

How about when you line up a shot and sometime between your finger heading to the shutter button and actually pressing the shutter you end up with something like this... Anyone else have any non photogenic moments? :laugh:

I don't think you can get it in Australia any more. Something to do with imported pet food Gamma irradiation. Aphelion is in NZ. We don't have many stockist over here. One of the few decent quality foods we don't miss out on I guess! We have a few others like TOTW. Bit sad how expensive they are compared to Canada and the US. I see people there complaining on forums about the prices of those foods, but it really doesn't compare to what we have to pay. Yeah it's not cheap! Where in NZ do you live? :) I'm in the capital. :)

I don't think you can get it in Australia any more. Something to do with imported pet food Gamma irradiation. Aphelion is in NZ. We don't have many stockist over here. One of the few decent quality foods we don't miss out on I guess! We have a few others like TOTW. Bit sad how expensive they are compared to Canada and the US. I see people there complaining on forums about the prices of those foods, but it really doesn't compare to what we have to pay.

These are all so cute! What a bunch of smiley dogs. :D I don't seem to have that many smiley photos, considering how smiley the pup is! Or I'm ruining most of the photos because I'm in them. Here's an older picture of a fairly restrained smile (compared to his often huge goofy grin)!

Orijen. I think it's the best quality for the price it sells here. Food like Royal Canin are almost as expensive, so I thought I might as well pay slightly more for Orijen. I wish there was a cheaper alternative with decent ingredients. My pup has allergy issues, although I'm not sure what if any foods contribute at this stage. I tend to be quite careful all the same. I think I need a chest freezer so we can go with raw instead!

That's great! A fair few of those would work for my Leonberger too. I also get told all the time that I should charge people to pat him and that I'd make a fortune. Each person who tells me that looks really proud of themselves, like they've solved the dilemma of what must be a huge food bill. I always try to laugh it off and agree, but the type of people who suggest that always seem to insist that I really should. Funny! Not something I'd ever thought of, but I can see how it would trip non-dog people up. My breed conversation goes like this quite often Them: What breed is that? Me: a Leonberger Them: A Whatburger? A HAMBURGER? Them: Me: Um, sure. You got it! :laugh:

And you can always train them to use the entire garden as a bed. Gradually, you also have less of a garden to take care of, win-win! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqawY9812bM

That really is heartbreaking news. I'm so very sorry.

My parcel was delivered to work when I was away and my helpful boss opened it to see if it was anything urgent. The next day he handed me the box very sheepishly and apologised for opening a 'private' parcel...I had no idea why he was acting so strangely until I opened the box and saw the safe stix on top. That's pretty good.

I was going to buy one, but that thought crossed my mind and I just couldn't bring myself to get one I got one anyway...but I may not be taking it out and about! :laugh: I'm half embarrassed to see it in my yard but I've told myself not to be silly - I know what it is - can only wonder what the neighbours think! :laugh: I think it was on another forum, someone said a stranger yelled out a comment about it. Mine is so not going to leave the yard! :laugh:

I was going to buy one, but that thought crossed my mind and I just couldn't bring myself to get one I got one anyway...but I may not be taking it out and about! :laugh:

I didn't take out a policy at that stage, but actually the one I was thinking of taking out excludes contact allergies anyway. Wish I had gone with something like Petplan now though, because allergies can be so expensive to manage if they get out of hand. Particularly with a 70+kg pup who needs a pretty decent sized dose of most medications.

I've never had them before, but from the reviews I checked out I'd guess not as durable. They are supposedly made to last and so that they will keep squeaking if punctured. They are cheap enough that I thought it would be worth trying a few...and the squeak is rather unique sounding too! :laugh:

I've got the Kong squeezz toys still to come. I thought they might be a hit after he was so taken with the isqueak, so fingers crossed!

I feel like someone who makes that kind of comment is pushing it anyway, particularly when they don't understand what they are criticising. It's hard not to respond slightly defensively to something like that. People sometimes ask me why I muzzle my dog. They almost always say that while they are patting him, and when he clearly has his mouth wide open while panting, so that actually biting would clearly be pretty easy. It's a halti and he doesn't love it, but it prevents me being dragged off my feet during a bouncy moment. I doubt I'd have so much patience if someone just started off by telling me it was cruel...and I'm usually pretty patient!

I only passed four people on my walk today. Two were kids talking who ignored us, one was an adult who called out from the other side of the road "that's a horse" and the other was a kid who made a petrified sort of noise as we walked sedately passed. I've had heaps of positive experiences talking to people who start off with the typical comments. Passing the scared kid today reminded me that's it something that has almost never happenes. There's something about the giant teddy bear, often kids who are very scared will still tentatively approach and pat him, and they always look so proud of themselves afterwards. Also, most kids ask me really politely if they can pat him before touching him, so there must be lots of parents round here doing a good job! Quite often when one person asks to pat him, it's like it gives everyone else in the vicinity the permission to also pat him. He quite often he ends up on the ground with kids hanging all over him (and a few adults usually too). Just as well he thinks he's so awesome, that it's totally normal for him. He makes the most of it. Quite a few of the people who start with the typical comments turn out to be really interested in the breed and what they are like to live with. Many people have offered to take him off my hands. :laugh: So although it can be a bit frustrating at times (sometimes I try really hard to avoid eye contact so I can just keep walking) mostly my experience has been positive. The pup prefers the sedate stop start pace in summer anyway. I do think the original comment about it being easy hardly makes it onto a scale of rudeness though! Honest, a bit blunt, and straight to the point. Sometimes I do end up smiling and agreeing as I walk past someone who comments "he must eat a lot", even though he really doesn't.

Mine arrived the day after it said it had been processed in NZ.

Just stumbled on this thread and I love everyone's before and after shots! Here's my boy at 8 weeks old (he had huge ears, compared to his litter-mates)! :laugh: At about 18 weeks One year And one year, eight months

I'm not sure either. I wanted a chillybuddy, but their largest size is too small for my boy. The cool coats look to be large enough though, so I wonder if they're worth trying.