Liza

Your photos are stunning! As for the biting advice, when Keeda was in her biting stage nothing worked as well as a spray bottle - same with her barking at night stage. Good luck!

We did something similar with out doggy door, but ours was clear. As others suggest, try replacing it with a clear bit of plastic or maybe thick clear rubbery-type stuff (I'm not sure what it's called). It only took Keeda a few minutes to learn how to use it because with the clear door, she could see us waving the flap back and forth and calling for her on the other side.

Yeah, I had no idea that jumping may have been dangerous at that time. But when I found out a while later and got really worried, I went on another forum and asked them - they said not to worry and if she's jumping on her own, she knows what she's doing better than I do. The jump command was rarely used after being taught anyway - I didn't want to encourage her

I'm confident in the strength of my relationship with Keeda for reasons that are too numerous to list all at once Coming when called while there's other dogs around is something we're working on and that definitely isn't perfect, but I don't feel that it diminishes my relationship with my dog. She and I will get through the difficulties together

Ah, I should've taught Keeda to 'come' before anything else. I was completely inexperienced dog-wise, and now come is the only thing she won't reliably do, at least not when theres other dogs in the area >.<

Keeda only has one disaster blow-up point - but it's a big one. Other dogs. I've tried everything I could think of with consistency and yet she insists on running at other dogs to try to play! And if they're smaller dogs and snap at her, she snaps back and that's NOT good. I'm not letting her off a long lead and am constantly practicing her recall, but I don't see any improvement at all >.< There are far too many dog approach disasters like this to list them all individually It baffles me how she can be so darn great at everything that is expected of her except for this one thing - and it just has to be a very BIG thing.

I was thinking about this today and did a search, but didn't find anything about the topic (unless I'm blind :/) What was the first command your dog learned when you got him or her? Let's rule out potty training. Actually, the first thing Keeda learned was 'Jump'! Wow, what a mess that could have become! I read about clicker training and she was my first dog, so I decided to give it a try and started clicking and treating every time she jumped up on her own, then associating the verbal command with it. It worked like a charm! She was about 1 and a half months old when I got her and this was the first thing I taught her, took a couple of hours in all. Thankfully, she now knows what 'No Jumping' means as well xD So, let's hear it - what was the first thing your pooch learned?

I just rang up the Success Veterinary Hospital about Titre Testing and they said that they do it, but the price for the needed tests adds up to about $221 as opposed to about $70 for vaccinating! I thought the tests weren't meant to be that expensive :S

I'm also getting a feeling that she just isn't hungry in the morning. She isn't the poor starving dog my mom thinks she is after she wakes up. I know for a fact that she eats chicken necks just fine - I just offered her 2 necks and it took her 15 minutes of coaxing to eat them! She hates eating dry food in the morning, I thought she just didn't like dry food, but then she also didn't eat a chicken wing, which I thought was because she wasn't used to them, but now she barely ate her chicken necks, which she's gladly had before! When I suggest this to my mom another argument will surely ensue >.<

As I found out, Keeda is only about 13kg, not 20 like I thought! We dug up the vet papers from last time we visited - she was already a bit overweight at the time of weighing, so we feed her 1 in the evening. I have no problem feeding her twice a day, but my mom insists on feeding her a substantial amount in the morning PLUS her recommended daily amount of the BARF patty.

Bubbly, we go to Success Veterinary Hospital on Hammond Road in Jandakot. We mainly started going there because it's no more than a 10 minute drive from my house, but he seems like a good vet from my limited vet experience. Keeda hasn't needed to go except for for her desexing and vaccinations (knocking on wood here), but he always takes care to explain things to us and is nothing but kind and patient with all the animals I've seen him with. As I said, though, my experience with him is limited to routine things such as vaccinations.

I'm wondering, how do you -pronounce- Titre tests? I want to call up the vet Keeda and I visit here in Perth and ask whether or not they offer Titre testing, but I have no idea how to pronounce the word! Is it Tee-ter or Tai-ter?

She's not super fit, but we often go to the nearby woods for long walks and such and she rarely runs out of energy when we're out. My boyfriend and I actually drove by the regional park I wanted to try going to - Beeliar Regional Park - but all the gates were shut! I wonder if regional parks are closed on holidays :/

Ugh I am just about ready to quit TAFE, get a full time job, and move out of this house as soon as humanly possible. My mom doesn't seem to understand that dogs don't NEED 2 meals a day - that I'm ALREADY adding the chicken wings/necks ON to the BARF patty amount that she's meant to have daily. Keeda didn't like her chicken wing today - when I'd rip up little pieces and feed her she'd be fine. But she hated actually breaking it apart and eating it herself so after half an hour of coaxing, feeding her little bits, holding it for her, etc., I decided that I've had enough and tossed the rest of the wing out (she ate about half of it). My mom went crazy. Something along the lines of: "I'm not letting you starve the dog to death! I'll feed her when you're not looking!" I tried to explain to her that the chicken wing is NOT meant to be another meal for her - her main meal is tonight. She'd hear none of it. ("Well the amounts on the box are WRONG. I know how much she SHOULD be getting." - exact quote) She always says: "Well when you were little WE didn't starve you and even now you eat what you want." I said: "Well then let's feed her chocolate - I ate a piece last night. Let's let her sit at the table, I'm allowed to sit at tables, so should she." Anyway, I'm now looking on Seek for full time jobs.

Keeda is a mix of Australian Cattle Dog, Kelpie, and Beagle. She's about 1 year and 10 months old and she hasn't been growing visibly as far as I can tell.

Thanks for the replies. Shell, that's the same site I saw, except I wasn't looking at the Basic backpack, but the Hiker pack, which costs between $110 and $140, depending on the size of the dog. Poodlefan, I kind of assumed that the weight would be distributed at the whithers as on a horse, thanks for reassuring me! And my apologies on not searching for this before posting, it totally escaped my mind I'll definitely go do some looking.

Thanks, guys. Badboyz, so your dogs get one wing or neck in the morning? My mom has insisted on feeding Keeda FIVE chicken necks today. I didn't put up too much of a fuss because I'm hoping with the diet change I'll be able to get it through her head that she isn't calling the shots anymore. We're feeding one patty this afternoon and I'm encouraging her to use peas instead of treats (which, as you guys suggested, my dog loves!) Is five chicken necks way too much? I mean they're tiny....if I keep feeding her 5 per day like my mom says plus the patty, will she gain even more weight? I'll also tell my mom to heavily cut down on the treats unless it's peas.

I've heard some talk about dog backpacks, saying that they can put excess strain on the dog's bones/joints to the point of causing long term health issues. Does anyone know if this is true? Now that it's getting colder and I've realized that dogs on leash are allowed at the nearby regional park, I was toying with the idea of getting a backpack for Keeda and going on hikes on weekends. Also, if dog backpacks are OK and won't cause any damage, does anyone know a place in Perth (or online) where I can buy them at relatively inexpensive prices? The ones I've found online so far cost between $110 and $170.

Thanks for the tip! My mom actually dug up vet papers and it turns out she weighed only about 12kg when we last went to the vet, which makes a lot more sense. I'd love to feed her once a day, but I know that's one thing my mom would never go for How does this sound to start off with: 1 chicken wing in the morning with chopped up and mashed carrot, maybe beans, other veggies, a bit of vegetable oil mixed in, and a raw egg with a shell. 1 barf patty at night (or maybe 1 and a half?) 2 patties are suggested on the pack, but it also says to reduce that amount if I plan to feed other things as well. Question about eggs - would one feed a raw egg with a shell whole, or should I break the shell into fine pieces and let the egg pour over the rest of the veggies? I also read that tomato is bad for them, but then saw photos of meals with bits of tomato in them. Are tomatoes unsafe to feed?

Thanks for your advice. My boyfriend and I actually just got back to my house - I've decided to take some people's suggestion here and try feeding Keeda BARF patties mixed with chicken wings and vegetables. We'll see how it goes, it depends, but I'm also open to feeding her dry food with the patties. My mom doesn't know yet, she's out at the moment. I told her before that I was considering raw food with vegetables, but I don't think she knew that I was being serious.

Thank you for this! What's weirding me out a bit is that I can't figure out if our vet weighed Keeda in pounds or kilograms. I mean, the last time the scale showed about 20! but 20 WHAT? Seeing as a beagle is normally meant to weigh about 20 lbs, I'm leaning toward that? But why use that system when the rest of the country is using kgs? He said she was a BIT overweight at that time, but not by much...I wonder how large a 20kg dog would be (I'm still used to using lbs from my U.S. living days). I'll have to figure it out before measuring off her food!

Apologies for the very late reply, we just got our internet fixed after a few days of downtime. The router is still cutting in and out so I'm trying to make it fast! To those who inquired - the brand of sausage my mom has been buying is Protadog Laffi, my mom would never accept feeding her JUST dry food, she thinks it isn't 'good enough' I'd like to feed raw food, don't know if I am able to seeing as I honestly would not be able to bring myself to handle the organs and whole animals and such :S The BARF patties suggestion sounds great and someone suggested to look for a Better Pets & Gardens in Perth, but so far I haven't found where it might be. Does any other shop sell them? SarasMum, we used to buy Advance, but Keeda liked the taste of Purina Beneful more - which is the better choice? She hates dry food in general, we usually have to hand feed it to her or else she'll leave it there all day and ants get into the food. I tried taking her bowl away if she doesn't eat the food within 10 minutes and then giving her the dry food again at dinner time to eat if she's hungry, instead of feeding her the sausage, but my mom thinks of that as overly harsh and feeds more scraps to her later in the night if I do this >.<

settrlvr, here's what she is being fed now: I don't know where Better Pets & Gardens is in Perth, but will look it up right now. If I can get there by public transport I can do it Tess32, thanks so much for the breakdown. I'd love to feed Keeda barf, but I don't think I can bring myself to feed her raw heart and other such things! I'm on my way to becoming vegetarian and while I realize that my ethics shouldn't dictate my dog's diet, I think I literally would feel sick handling all of these parts of dead animals Slabs of meat, wings, and other such things I'm fine with, but actual organs and such, I couldn't do it. *MURRAY*, thanks for the advice! I never knew you could get chicken frames for 50 cents Then again, I haven't often shopped for raw chicken before. We have a couple of butcher shops and kiosks at the nearby shopping center and I'll check out their prices, as well as looking at the other places suggested in this thread. Jaxx'sBuddy, I never knew dogs liked green beans. I know Keeda likes to chew on carrots, but have never tried green beans. Maybe I'll give it a go! Thanks a lot

settrlvr, I definitely like that idea and I'll be sure to tell her that she will be responsible for any issues that were caused by my mom's feeding habits. But I also heard that vets don't like the idea of raw food - so if something does happen to Keeda and we take her to the vet after I've started feeding raw, would the vet not be more likely to blame the raw diet on the issue? I'm in Western Australia Thanks for your reply!

Caesars mum, thanks for your explanation. I certainly want to look into feeding Keeda raw food and I see now that it should be pretty affordable for me. The site I'm on basically gave an example of the daily intake of food for a golden retriever and gave 3 more explanations for smaller dogs. Out of the other 3, Keeda's size seems to be closest to the Cocker Spaniel breed. It said to basically feed the Cocker Spaniel sized dog 1/4 of the retriever meal, with some specifications. If any of you have time, could you please tell me if this sounds about right? 2 chicken wings 1/2 egg 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, kelp, alfalfa powder 90mg vitamin C and E 1/4 teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil 2 vegetable meals per week. It recommended carrots, turnip, parsnip, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, dark green lettuces, celery, mixed and matched, not all fed at the same time. -------- My mom is going to absolutely freak if I start feeding Keeda 2 chicken wings per day instead of her precious chunk of fake meat Poodlefan, I've secretly started cutting down on the sausage type stuff, even giving her only 200g instead of 400g and yet she's not getting any smaller! I'm worried that if I allow my mom to add things in during mealtime, she'll just add it into the bowl and then give her more when I'm not there. What really gets to her is the idea of Keeda going all day without 'snacks'. I've tried telling her that she can cause serious damage to my dog's health, but my mom refuses to even read any of the material or explanations I've presented her with. She just brushes it all off saying that those trainers, breeders, etc. etc. don't know anything and are being too strict >.< Heck, every time I make Keeda heel when we're on our way to the park she makes sure to add in a "it's like the poor dog's in prison" comment.