tdierikx

Woosie was my one true soulmate - hard to believe that she went to the Bridge 10 years ago at the end of September... my soul broke when she had to leave me. She was a big fave with pups of all ages - but the littlies really adored her - here she is at nearly 1 with my cousin's 4 week old pet shop ACD... ... here she is at 4 months with a friend's little kitten - the kitten beat her up! ... and here's her 1st birthday party photo - my friend made a special doggy friendly cake... Damn I miss her so much! T.

Who the hell takes their (declared) dangerous dog on holidays and thinks that they can relax the restricions on it because they are on holidays... the dog should have been muzzled and wearing it's special collar at the very least! Hope the hit to the hip pocket hurts enough to wake them up to responsible ownership. T.

Nope - Zeddy's mum was a pure Rotti, and her dad was the local escapee Pitbull from down the road. She was all of 5 weeks old when I got her from a FTGH ad in the trading post - tiny but feisty... lol! Woosie helped bring her up to be a well natured and lovable girl though... T.

Certainly young pups recover from desexing a lot faster than when an older dog is done - but there is some evidence to suggest that long bone growth (among other things) is affected by early age desexing - dogs can be leggier if desexed young. Then again there is also some evidence from the other side of the argument suggesting there may be some health benefits to desexing young. It all depends on what you choose to read and take note of - and what purpose you are buying the pup for... ie. if you are wanting to compete in doggy sports, it's advisable to leave desexing until the dog has fully grown. T.

OK - not the best photos, but they are my faves of Zeddy (now 15) with her bestie and my soulmate Woosie... How tiny is Zeddy in that first photo? She's now about Labrador sized and weighs around 27kgs (and she's lean). Woosie was medium sized for a Rotti and weighed about 36kgs in those photos. T.

I'd say that as I have had some training in how to read dog body language, and having handled dogs deemed "dangerous" during my time with rescue, that I may just have a clue as to which approaching dog is not doing so as a "friendly" gesture... If an owner has not taken any notice of what their dog is doing, or can't be arsed to stop it, then I'm just not about to stand there and let my dogs or myself cop it. Running away can sometimes be the worst thing you can do by the way... and like stressmagnet, I don't run due to my own physical issues. T.

we need to see it!!!!!!! I don't have a scanner, and it's an old print from the days before digital cameras... I'll have to see if I can get some of the old photos scanned to bitmaps or tiffs at Officeworks - I have some nice ones of most of my previous dogs - they each have their own albums in fact... T.

Sorry I don't get this about threatening to kick other dogs. How would you feel if someone kicked, or threatened to kick, your dog? Surely there are more appropriate responses. If an owner is not interested in controlling their dog, and it's threatening me or my dogs, I'll happily kick it... I'm not going to have myself or my dogs bailed up or bitten by an out of control dog... simple as that. I'm sorry if that may seem offensive to you. T.

My Zeddy chews her nails too... means I don't have to trim them... bonus! She even does her own dew claws... *grin* T.

I have an adorable photo of Zeddy when she was a teeny 5 week old pup laying on the newly cut lawn next to my heart dog Woosie the Rottweiler... hard to believe that photo is now 15 years old and Wossie went to the Bridge 10 years ago. Still my fave photo ever... Zeddy was so TINY! T.

First thing I did 15 years ago when I got Zeddy as a FTGH pup... straight down to my vet for her vaccs and a chip - even before we got home! Trouble was already chipped, but the old owner forgot to transfer... required a stat dec to sort that out, but was fairly simple to fix. Pickles and Harper were rescue fosters - chipped straight to my name due to them being foster failures... I even got to do the entering of the details into the registry myself when the rescue owner did the chipping (licensed implanter)... *grin* It's such a wonderful resource that reunites so many lost animals with their owners in a short amount of time... I can't understand why so many people don't make sure it's done, or their details are up to date... I couldn't bear to think of any of my babies waiting for me to find them in a pound longer than absolutely necessary! T.

I rarely end up feeding the "recommended" amount of any food to my dogs - they all have different requirements regarding how much food per day to maintain their respective body weights/condition. eg. Pickles eats at least twice as much as the recommended amount of any food, as her mobility issues mean that she uses a lot more energy to get around than most other dogs. If I fed to the recommended for her weight, her weight and condition would drop dramatically. She is 14kgs and eats roughly the amount as a dog twice her weight - and that amount maintains her condition. Zeddy gets a little less than the recommended, as she is older and her exercise levels are lower - don't want her getting fat now... *grin* T.

No sane person would swap their Rotti for any of my crazies... even for a short while... *sigh* T.

Such a pretty model... T.

Gorgeous!! T.

I'd be looking to grow him slowly if possible...he's looking good now, so you can stop trying to build him up any more, and just maintain a healthy growth rate for a giant breed pup. T.

Our first family dog was a Lab cross. She was the offspring of the neighbour's house boi's mutt and the show bred male Lab of the local landowner. Her name was Nuppy, and our parents made it absolutely clear that we could only keep her if we kids did all of the cleaning up of poo, etc... we even saved our pocket money to pay for her vaccinations and such. Nuppy was the perfect first time dog, and used to be included in all our games and the like. My first dog as an adult away from home was a scruffy medium sized crossbreed - her mum was a pure Golden Retriever, but my dog looked more like a cross between a Border Collie and an Irish Terrier. Dog only knows what her dad may have been. Her name was Rebel for a reason - and she was a fair bit of work to raise - stubborn and cheeky to a fault. Probably not the best choice of a first time dog... My second dog was a beautiful (but BYB) Rotti girl named Woosie - she was perfect in every way. I would definitely recommend a well bred Rotti to any owner - first time or otherwise. T.

Make sure to give them on a full stomach... Drontal can be harsh on the tummy sometimes... I prefer Canex or Fenpral myself. T.

Well.... I know I need a Rotti... but a couple of the current 4 dogs need to move on before I can give a puppy what it needs in order to grow up as a good canine citizen... so it's going to be at least a couple of years or more before I can have me a Rotti again... *waaahhh* T.

Specialists aren't usually known for their bedside manner... be that for human or animal patients... I've always found that once you find a vet that can understand that your pet is also your best friend and devoted companion, they will tend to go that extra mile to make the processes relating to their care less traumatic for everyone. T.

... and me... T.

That depends. Will you eat veggies with your meat? Do you like gravy and/or soup added to you meat in winter time? Do you like the occasional chicken drumstick or osso boco as a snack? Do you like watching DVDs on the couch with the humans in winter or at night? Do you like long walks in the country, going to markets, swimming and visiting people, especially kids parties? Do you like dixie cup ice creams in summer? Or watermelon? Do you like lazy mornings reading the paper in bed or out on the back patio in the sun? So many conditions to follow living in this house It would be a stretch... but I think I could manage all that... lol! T.

If I pretend to be a dog, would you adopt me grumpette? T.

I shudder to think of the cost to feed a litter of growing Dane pups... it used to cost me a small fortune to feed litters of crossbreed rescue pups that were nowhere near as large as a Dane pup. If the breeder is feeding cheap because it's cheap, then I'd probably walk away - I'd be worried about what other expenses they'd possibly foregone due to costs also. T.

The groundwork laid down from birth to going to the new owner makes a huge difference as well - on top of the health checks and temperament choices for sire and dam... who wouldn't want one of these glorious little masterpieces of doggydom? Makes the follow through by the owner so much easier when you have a stable tempered and healthy pup to work with, yes? T.