annukya

Wow! Thanks guys! You've given me some great ideas :) And I have a long-haired GSD, she generally loves water and cold weather ... and she's also LOVES adventure so I think she will have a blast! Fingers crossed :D

My apologies! I would be interested in anywhere near NSW or Canberra (am willing to drive!)

Hi guys! I'd really like to take my dog to see the snow this weekend - I'm not looking to ski, I'm more interested in just going somewhere and having a bit of a plod around with my dog. I know that all of the ski fields are in the national parks and so therefore are no go zones....but is there anything along the way? Or perhaps close to the fields where I could just go and let my dog have a bit of a play in the snow?

Ok, well prob best not to say attacking otherwise people can't give you the right sort of advice. As a dog owner it's your job to protect your older dog, to me it's pretty simple - you need to seperate them. I'm not sure why you expected the puppy to not act like a puppy and get over excited considering you haven't shown the puppy any boundaries around the older dog. If you're not sure to handle a puppy then getting a trainer would be a good idea - stay away from the Franchises though. Yes I have been separating them. I'm not irresponsible enough to leave a huge puppy with a sick small dog. The only reason I was asking was because I was hoping there might be a way to socialise them together - something that I might not have tried or thought about. Personally I like to keep my dogs indoors as then they feel as if they are a part of the family - rather than locking the GSD outside and having the Shih Tzu inside. Also, like I have said before I actually have a lot of experience getting dogs/cats/small breeds to all exist peacefully and I also am very dedicated to training them boundaries at a young age. The puppy is crate trained and clicker trained to respond to commands. My problem was that she is a 100% perfectly behaved dog 99% of the time. You say drop, she drops; sit, she sits etc. She will even 'stay' while I walk around the house and fluff pillows, cause distractions etc. Its just at certain points she will see the Shih Tzu and get over-excited to the point that she runs over and trys to force the Shih Tzu to play. Obviously as she is a puppy sometimes she nips during this play however the Shih Tzu is TERRIFIED and sees her as attacking. I have asked advice at my dog league and they suggested to push her away and say 'NO' (which I had been doing) however I found that this really doesn't work for this puppy. She will just continue lunging forward and snapping at the Shih Tzu. That's why I am so stressed. I was also careful to be really calm as to not transfer any of my negative energy onto the puppy or the Shih Tzu. When they were first introduced, it was in a neutral environment with both dogs on lead. Since then they've been separated whenever I can't supervise them 100%. However as its now been over a month, I just really want some help to get them to co-exist peacefully. Hopefully the trainer will be able to achieve that.

Thanks everyone for all the responses so far!! I've already organised an in-home trainer to come on Tuesday to help with the situation (and she has experience with GSDs!!! ) so hopefully I'll have good news soon :D

Thanks for the book recommendation - I'll definitely have a look at that. She isn't really attacking, it is just over-excited play but the problem is the Shih Tzu seems to completely misunderstand her intentions (ie GSD puppy play bows, Shih Tzu growls then puppy jumps towards Shih Tzu and Shih Tzu screams and almost has a heart attack ) I'm looking into getting a trainer to come and see if they have any tips - I'm just at my wits end! I've never had problems socialising small older dogs (or cats) with puppies but this is just completely new!

My guess is the GSD was older and the Shih Tzu was younger at the time? Its a big ask for a tiny older dog to cope with the "attention" of a baby far bigger than it is. Your Shih Tzu is also not the most confident dog in the world and that matters also. This is the reason there will be no more pups for me before my older poodle goes to God. Little old dogs and bigger pups aren't that easy to manage I'm afraid. You seem to be getting some prey drive working also - that's a risk to the older dog. Actually it wasn't. The Shih was older and the GSD was a young pup. After two weeks of monitoring and training, the GSD got along well with the Shih Tzu and the resident cat (who has now passed). It was the same Shih Tzu too!

This is not a combination I'd have recommended if harmony between the two dogs was your aim. The thing is I had a GSD before this one and she got along fine with the Shih Tzu! I've actually had cats, other Shih Tzu's, other GSD's and I've never really had a serious problem. Obviously I've had to introduce them to each other but generally within 2 weeks they settle down and become friends. That's why this is so frustrating

She has been to puppy preschool and is fine with larger dogs/puppies - The thing is she's not really being nasty intentionally, I actually think she wants to play but obviously her size and bite is too strong for the Shih Tzu and scares the living daylights out of her When she's with other dogs (larger or similar size) they just play as normal and she responds well to commands such as sit, stay, drop, leave, shake hands etc However when she sees the Shih Tzu its everything out the window (even food won't distract her!!!!)

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone will have a solution to my problem as I'm almost at my wits end We recently brought home a GSD puppy and have had to introduce her to our old resident Shih Tzu. The Shih Tzu is very gentle and very timid, she also has a heart problem so understandably I don't want her to go through too much with the new puppy. Basically, the problem is that the new puppy (who is well behaved on most accounts) will not stop attacking our older Shih Tzu. We introduced them outside (on leash) and have had the GSD crated while the Shih Tzu sniffs around etc. However it has now been almost a month and nothing has improved. As soon as the GSD puppy sees the Shih Tzu, she runs towards her and pushes her to the ground and bites her. We have been telling her no and trying to distract her with treats, trying to get her to focus her attention on us etc and NOTHING WORKS! The GSD is actually very smart and is trained but this is the only thing I cannot seem to break. The Shih Tzu growled at the puppy once (which I thought might help) but the GSD just got more excited and proceeded to bite the Shih Tzu which made the Shih Tzu scream in pain and run away. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should do? I just feel like I've tried almost everything (short list below). - Crating puppy (Puppy just barks continuously at Shih Tzu whenever Shih Tzu gets close - therefore Shih Tzu just avoided going near crate at all) - Separating them (as soon as they are together it starts again) - Putting the Shih Tzu on the couch and pushing GSD puppy away and saying NO loudly (hasn't really worked either) - Letting them socialise in a neutral place (GSD puppy still focused on attacking Shih Tzu) So yeah - any help would be greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks

Hi guys, Thanks for all the responses so far! The puppy is 10 weeks old at the moment and will be going to obedience classes. At the moment, I am staying with my mum (to help train the dog) because she doesn't want to stuff up and do the wrong thing. I think I will try having her tied on a long leash to me for short periods just to get her used to being close me :D Also, that youtube clip is fantastic. I am definitely going to try this!

Hi guys, Sorry if there is a similar thread floating around but I'm new to the forums and didn't have much luck finding anything similar. Basically I have a training question. I have just purchased a GSD puppy for my mother and would like to train her to walk nicely on lead. I don't need her to be perfect, but would like to ensure that she does not pull my mother on walks (as I am concerned about the consequences of her hurting herself!). I have had GSD's before so am quite familiar with obedience training etc. However as I've always been the primary owner, I've never specifically ensured that my dogs walk nicely on a loose lead. Generally I found that my dogs would heel properly at training but then on daily walks would often pull me to the park. Recently I heard that tying the puppy to your waist for about 20 minutes a day while you are going about your daily chores helps to teach the puppy to listen to you and follow you around. I am quite intrigued by this! Has anyone else ever tried this method? Does it work? Also if anyone has any advice on how I might train my puppy it would be greatly appreciated!

:D Well its now obvious that I'm a newbie Thanks!!

Hi guys, I need to send my pup from Sydney to Perth and have been looking around for the best prices. I've had a read of all the previous posts and people are mentioning DOLer wayrod .... however I did an internet search and couldn't find a company/pet transport service or anything under this name! Could someone please give me the website or perhaps a phone number? Thanks!

Hey everyone, My 2 year old German Shepherd was diagnosed with addison's disease 5 months ago. She has been regularly having blood work and at the moment is on 1/2 a tablet of prednisone in the morning and 2 florinef at night. She is quite energetic and overall is really healthy (nice glossy coat etc). However, she still doesn't seem to have had any increase in her appetite. She is VERY thin and we have literally tried everything from (BARF, Hills, Evo, Royal Canin, Satin Balls, cooked meat, BBQ chicken...) I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

Thanks for that! Yeah, my girl is not spoilt! I literally took the food away and she just starved for a week! LOL. But hopefully time will help and I'm glad there are others out there who have to cook everything!

In feeding tests dogs generally prefer cooked to raw. But most dogs love both ;-) Is she eating a full ration of RC or still picking at it? My dog (not a GSD) has never been a good eater which I put down to him being a stressy child - he always ate enough to get by and he wasn't skinny, but he didn't act like he 'liked' ordinary food. As he's gone on to develop terrible liver disease I wonder whether eating gave him nausea. Has your vet done blood tests or only done a physical exam? She just picks at it And the vet has done both blood and physical - but nothing!

Hi everyone, I have a 18 month old GSD that is on the skinny side. I am trying to get her to gain weight, and also trying to find a good diet that she will enjoy. Originally I wanted to feed her on a mix of Premium Dog Food (Royal Canin GSD) and raw meats and veges (Chicken mince etc). However, she has never liked raw meat - and just won't eat it. I have tried taking it away thus starving her and it makes no difference. She won't touch raw. I have had many dogs in the past and they have always enjoyed having the chicken necks, raw mince etc so this is really puzzling to me! Does anyone have any experience with this problem? Also, being a GSD, she has a very sensitive stomach. If I feed her anything out of the ordinary (even in a 30% new food to 70% raw ratio) she will throw up. Mind you, the only things she doesn't seem to mind eating (and doesn't throw up) is cooked human meat (like chicken breasts!). At the moment I am feeding her on just the Royal Canin and it is going well but she still isn't gaining much weight. I have heard some people say that Great Barko is a good food for putting on weight - does anyone know much about this? And how does it compare to the Royal Canin? Just a final note, my dog has been to the vet and everything is fine - my vet said she was slightly underweight but its probably because she likes to run, with the food thing she said 'give it time' and the dog will start wolfing everything up. I just want some opinions and advice from anyone that might have gone through something similar! Thanks all!