luvsdogs

Here's some kong recipees from their website. http://www.kongcompany.com/worlds_best.html And how to get a puppy used to the kong. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/error...hewtoy-training

My 2 present dogs are the biggest diggers we've ever had. It's like walking through a mine field. Have to be careful of every step especially now as the grass is growing in with the warmer weather. They both got better as they aged & only dig now after rain. Try feeding her her kibble b4 work by scattering around the yard. She will take time to eat it all & then investigate in case she's missed some. By this time she's ready for a sleep. As mentioned the favourite method of stopping this is to give them their own digging pit. Another method, which with your little ones could be dangerous if they enjoy running around the yard, is to put chicken wire over the lawn where she digs. Some have said they stop digging & you take it up & others have said to leave it there for the grass to grow through.

Tilba had her 1st heat at 10 m/o. I had always planned on getting her spayed after her 1st season which I did. But after reading about possible complications from having it done too soon afterwards I waited 4 mths. With your little girl coming in so soon, I wouldn't wait that long because she may cycle more often than the usual twice a year. But I would wait 4-6 weeks at least. Keep her away from other dogs, only outside in your yard if it's totally secure under supervision. You need to do this for at least 3 weeks. Tilba was really good at the time, nothing like I was expecting. She only spotted blood every other day for a couple of weeks & was happy to spend most of the time inside.

I wouldn't be feeding a food that had corn as the 2nd ingredient. It's extremely hard to find a food that doesn't have some sort of corn product without paying through the roof for it. It's the same with beet pulp. I used to feed Iams large breed to my son's dog years ago. I believe they changed their ingredients in recent times.

This is another christmas sig of Ruby. I'm going to swap between the two from now until christmas. Pity, we can't have two signatures at once! Sorry to Hijack your thread tobiecav, but I love showing off my gorgeous girl! Both great but definitely prefer the original one,.

Beautiful photos, I love the 4th one the best.

Awwww, she has such a pretty face.

Thanks Gretel I have posted a whole bunch of Christmas photos in the photo thread if you want to see some more Me too, it inspired me to make a Christmas siggy, only basic, it's the best I could come up with. Off to see the rest of your Chrissy pics.

He's had a cortisone injection once or twice when he was having a super dooper allergic reaction, but I am keeping the regular cortisone treatments as a last resort. I want to try everything else first. I'm sorry to hear about Jedi's allergies. Has he had them for a long time or in recent months only? I know how disturbing it is to see your dog scratch constantly. April used to do that many years ago & luckily I finally found it was a flea allergy & she never had a problem after I discovered Advantage after putting up with it for a couple of years. Prior to that I tried different foods, omega oils on her food & a couple of cortisone shots. From Sept to May each year she would come out in crusty sores & the only thing that would clear them up was a iodine solution, until more appeared.

I haven't been abl3e to watch any of your clips , keep getting a 404 error message saying video can't be found.

As said dogs can bloat from a number of causes. Such as exercising too soon b4 & after exercise, eating too much kibble i.e. if they get to it behind your back & then drinking a lot afterwards ( the kibble expands in the gut) which is why it's sometimes recommended to soak 1st.

I would have supervised sessions every day with Nala so they become used to each other & when the pup grows a bit & you are sure they get on, then they should be able to be left in the yard. I'd make sure she is properly socialised to all & everything she will encounter for the rest of her life.

Congratulations on your new to be puppy. All good advice given. An excellent web site for everything puppy/dog is www.dogstardaily.com Here you will be able to download the book by Dr Ian Dunbar 'Before You Get Your Puppy'. It will take you through choosing a puppy to the 1st couple of weeks in his new home. There's also "After You Get Your Puppy", I'm not sure if you can still download that as well but you can certainly use the search engine to get answers to your questions. There are also videos to watch on lots of topics. I didn't use a crate until I got Tilba. I have had dogs most of my life. Needed to as we had a 6 hr drive home after picking her up. They are good when you need to take puppy somewhere in the car & for toilet training. I still use it in the car & it's somewhere to put Tilba while I instruct at my dog club. The most important thing you can do for a puppy is to socialise it from the day you bring him home. If you intend taking him places with you he'll need to get used to it from the beginning. As well he needs to meet lots of friendly vaccinated dogs & all types & ages of ppl. Good luck can't wait to see pics.

Must be a staffy thing, we have a couple at my obedience club that do it all the time.

at Molly. Banjo only does a half frog. So does Tilba. My son thought she had something wrong with her leg.

When I 1st started instructing at my club it was all traditional stuff. Heeling, stays, figure 8s, weaving etc. Since changing over to positive training in 2000 we have a 4 week beginners class which teaches life skills like loose lead walking, food bowl manners, touching all over, calming, watch, a very little heeling as well as the basics. We also encourage tricks. The next class expands on all the above as well as longer stays, food refusal, scent work, retrieving, some agility & more tricks.

Never thought of that b4, something worth trying.

We haven't either, will have to get onto my instructor & start practicing.

I made sure I watched it & enjoyed it even if the bcs didn't do all the hard work.

I'm guessing this is a cattle dog pup? I can't really help you because I was going to say to teach using hand signals but in your circumstances I don't know.

I'm glad you're going to a behaviourist. Will be interested in what they say & how your little girl improves. You were given good advice so won't repeat it.

Loved it.

It's amazing what passes down that lead from you to the dog. I know it happened with April. He knew you were stressed & turned off. When I used to take April to my 2nd club they had a graduation test once a month. I tried not to show how nervous I got but each time April would work terribly. We were in the same class the whole time I was at that club, which was a couple of years. We started in that class because we had done 2 yrs at my club. I gave up & concentrated on my main club.

Good advice all around. The only thing with one of your responses was that you take his food bowl away. I would not do this. The best thing to do is stay with him while he eats, & add some tasty treats to the bowl at least 3-4 times a week. Food is the necessity of life & he shouldn't be put in a situation that he feels he needs to guard it. Get all family members to do this, the children with supervision. He will soon realise that someone watching me eat means something good will happen. Also a good idea to teach him to wait while you put the food bowl down & give him a release word giving permission to eat.

Wouldn't he come in a crate in the plane? Everyone I know that picked up their pup from the airport came in a crate. In fact the crate I use in my hatchback for Tilba is the one my cousin gave me that her lab pup travelled in. If you have a station wagon the best idea is to get a pet barrier at the back of the back seats. When I used a harness on April she got all tangled up & I had to take it off. I used to use 2 of those straps that go into the car's seat belt connector.