Rascalmyshadow

Being a groomer I have asked many customers why they chose a xbreed rather than a purebred, most of the replies are because they don't want a show dog. I myself have had byb dogs, pedigrees and rescues. At the moment I have one of each. I originally didn't go to a registered breeder because I wanted a poodle with a full tail (before docking was illegal) and every registered breeder I spoke to wasn't interested in keeping me a puppy with a tail.

For the past 17 years I have always had poodles until I lost my old girl at the beginning if the year, as much as I adore them they are not so compatible with small animals. The 3 dogs I have now make me so proud everyday because I have my chooks (including 4 week old bantams), rabbits and cats all out in the daytime and all 3 dogs are so gentle. It's the first time since I was a teenager that I can safely keep multiple species.

Personally I think 3 is the best, we have had from 1 - 7 over the years. I lost my old poodle earlier this year and it's the first time since I was 17 that I haven't had any poodles in the house. I have 3 other dogs and even though I miss having my poodles I'm not sure if I can go back to 4. With 3 it is so easy to give plenty of one on one but with 4 I found it a lot harder. Also I have 2 boys with 1 girl, my girl even though she is under 2kg she's not a fan of other females and I don't want to set of my boys peeing in the house so I don't know if I would have another male.

My mum uses dogs country club and kennel resort and she has been very happy. They also doggie day care.

I thought it looked like great product but my 3 dogs didn't do too well on it. All lost muscle especially along their spines and their coats became dry and thin.

I want to get a booster seat for my two tiny dogs, there are quite a few on line and I want to make sure it is good quality and easy to clean. Does any one else use one or have any preferences on brand.

3 dogs is my perfect number, it allows one on one time while giving the other company, I find it is still quite easy to walk all if them, if one ends up sick and hospitalised the other will usually fret less and three is more fun than two. We have had from two to seven while we rescuing and I found two males and one female is the best combination.

Rascal greats us at the front door if we've been out, with either my slipper or a toy in his mouth and does this weird smile and whine all at the same time. Astro is very loyal, when I take them to the off leash park he sticks by my side while the other two go off and sniff everything. Claudia my tiny chihuahua always makes me laugh, but the best is when I sit down, she jumps up onto my shoulder and drapes herself around my neck. If I'm in front of the heater she will sleep like that for ages.

My old poodle girl used to do the same thing until she found the perfect hiding spot. She also used to do it while carrying around her rubber chicken, was almost as if she was asking me to help hide it.

Sorry to clear up some confusion, I put jumpers on her when she is cold but she will take them off at some point, I have a few that fit nicely but she is like Houdini. I do have a microwaveable heat disk but because she digs in her bedding I'm too scared to use it incase it burns her. I have switched back to a commercial diet because I've tried them on BARF patties and VAN (which I still have a big bag of) but I didn't like their condition on either. Their coats weren't nice and they lost muscle tone. Now they all look great. I feed them at 5:00pm (as well as breaky), I can't walk her in the evening because its too cold here, she just won't go. I take them all out to the toilet about 10:30-11:00pm before I go to bed then I let them out at 7:00am.

I have a smaller crate but I can't fit her heated bed in it, she gets very cold but will still take jumpers off. I can't lock her up and be worrying she's freezing all night.

Claudia has slept in bed with us since the day she arrived but both her and Astro are so tiny I don't notice them get up during the night. I don't usually crate my own dogs (only fosters) but after spending $3000 on carpet for three rooms I just can't afford to have it ruined. Her crate is big enough to move away from any accidents and she has a heated bed in it.

Persephone thank you for the link, I will order a couple tonight. Looks like they are the perfect solution. Seems the smaller the dog the bigger issue toilet training is. I hate not having the two in the bed with me, so much so that my husband and I left our mattress in the lounge room for a week and a half so they could still sleep with us.

Thanks for the suggestions, my other boy that will go inside during the night is a chi x pom at least he won't go in his crate. My house is very small and even if I am in the kitchen I can see the backdoor and I saw my girl in the past just walk over and pee on the dog bed without even going to the door yet if we are in sight she will let us know. I have got large pee pads, I started using them in the lounge ill gradually move them toward the back door. Still don't like the idea of her sleeping in a dirty bed, guess il be setting an alarm during the night, I thought I was over the toddler/baby stage :). Has anyone used those inside fake grass doggy toilets. And she does go on the grass outside, never on the decking or paving.

During the day the backdoor is mostly open but I will close it if the weather is really bad, then let them out every hour or two. On the cold evenings it is shut she will go and stand at it if she needs to go out, but if no one is in the loungeroom she will go on one of the dog beds or the rug if its down. In such cold weather she won't even come for a walk I think that's what is also making things worse.

We've had her for a year and I've had to get rid of a few dog beds because she does it even if she's not crated, she was quite happy to go in there and went straight to sleep. During the day she will go outside but every morning I was waking to an accident in the loungeroom, we have already replaced two rugs (not cheap) this year. I work from home and take them out multiple times through the day, even though the back door is usually open.

Last weekend we had brand new carpet put in the bedrooms so I have decided to crate two of the dogs during the night because I don't trust them not to have accidents. Last night Astro woke me twice to be let out, bit of a nuisance but better than ruined carpet. Claudia however never made a sound but when I let her out this morning she had peed and pooped in her bed in the crate. How do I teach her not to go in there? I took them all out before bed and she went then. She is a 1.6kg chihuahua that was supposed to be a show dog so she was in kennels before we got her at 8 months old.

My 3 get fed twice a day, they are too small to only feed once, can't have their blood sugars dropping. I feed dry food at 8:00am, then main meal at 5:00pm. I used to find if I fed them at 7-7:30pm they would need to poo during the night, causing accidents in the house.

Parvo knocks them around a lot, my boy was just over 1 year old and it took about 3 months to really be his old self, recovery is a very slow process. Even now he is not quite as active as he was. Lots of little meals, their stomach needs to heal and limited exercise until 100% well. I only knew what I was dealing with because I worked in a vet for so many years and I handled my next door neighbours puppy as it died, I suspected parvo at the time but accidentally exposed my own dog.

One of my boys got parvo at the beginning of the year, less than 48 hours after being exposed the first symptom I noticed he seemed quiet and lethargic, then the diarrhoea started. At first it contained no traces of blood but the smell is what made me realise he had it, I had him to the vet so quick they misdiagnosed. He was put on a drip for the day and sent home, he went downhill over night and collapsed the next morning. He ended up spending 10 days on a drip in isolation being pumped with painkillers and a whole lot of other meds. They also had to give him a plasma transfusion. I don't know how he made it since he only weighs 2.5kg full size. I would be contacting your breeder and also the company you used for the travel, as long as the vet is sure it's parvo and not severe gastro, which can have similar symptoms.

What vile, disgusting, pathetic human beings. They should be given the maximum penalty possible, the whole situation is just as bad as if they were abusing children.

Not any of the dogs I have now, they are mostly complete angels, expect for Miss Claudia's food stealing habit. My male standard poodle was notorious for getting himself into trouble, one morning he went straight through the glass in my bedroom window because the cat was rolling around outside. Had an emergency surgery to stitch up his front leg. He chewed the binding on a blanket hanging on the clothes line and managed to get it wrapped around one toe, I found him lying on the ground with his leg stuck in the air. Middle of one night I woke up wih him screaming, he had fallen asleep with his body half under our bed but rolled on his back and got stuck, he was in so much shock my husband had to lift the bed up while I pulled him out, the worst part he was peeing out of fright.

Good article but completely disagree with the first two. My dogs love hugs and face rubs. When I'm grooming customers dogs, I cuddle the nervous ones during their grooming session and I feel the tension leave their bodies, seems to be the best way to relax them. Same with talking in a gentle voice.

I had a similar situation with my cats, I had a girl and two boys, the two boys adored each other but there was a 12 year age gap, my girl was in between. I lost my old boy mid last year and my younger boy became very timid and started to hide himself away. He also spent a lot of time wandering around looking for his old friend. After 8 months of trying different methods and using Feliway we decided to get another cat, a young confident male hoping it would help. It has made a huge difference, the boys bonded and we started to see glimpses of his old self. While he's not the same as he once was he has come a long way since the start of the year. I would go for a male that is calm and confident if you decide to add another.

Whoops.