Amika

EEEEEEEwwwwww. Reminds me of a time I came home in the dead of the night, greated by the dogs as usual and naturally bent down to give the old boy at pat hello.......wiping my hand in some sort of slimmy substance. SMELLY...slimmy substance!! Turns out they had had a lovely day digging up a rotting decaying lamb that I had buried some weeks earlier! Lesson learnt........make sure you dig a deeper hole!!

That's a really good idea! Our dogs wreck their beds too but they are allowed on the couch and stuff but I may have to copy you and pop one of those in the lounge for them. I've got Bullmastiffs and am using a single bed mattress with a mattress protector and a (cheap) woolen underlay as the cover. I have two underlays, one on the mattress and one in the wash. They love it! Can get single bed foam mattress second hand from salvo's or the likes or at Clarks from $50 up. I recently bought a new crate off ebay from Petstation for $99.......thats the xlarge 48inch. I was lazy and had it delivered though so if you're able and want to save on delivery then pick up is the better option. Toys - one of their favourite toys is an excercise ball....can't remember what they're called. $8 at Coles on special at some stage.

AAAAAAwwww how cute. Does Linus (Scout) suck on her blanky....my 2yr old BM girl does.

It suprises me all the things people will protest to as being disgusting yet are happy to engage in things such as unprotected oral sex and the likes..... It's not like I'd let the dog lick a surgical wound, but a small cut or graze, didn't kill me as a kid and it didn't kill my kids......theres bacteria everywhere. Oh and I am hygenic even though I own dogs and allow them inside.

I read this too quickly. I read the me as my. :D Ditto

We use to own a vineyard which also had some citrus trees, various other fruit trees and a walnut tree, all of which the dogs(not just one or two) would help themselves too. The grapes were dried as well as picked for wine so the dogs ate them dried and fresh. The only reason any of the dogs ended up at the vet were from snake bite, none of the fruit or nuts seemed to have affected them at all. I can't say any of the neighbors dogs ever came down sick from eating grapes either......no one ever mentioned it and they all had free for all on the blocks.

Some of these I have posted before in the Bullmastiff thread but thought I'd share them here for those that don't frequent that thread. Always up for a cuddle in our house..... In the beginning... Old married Couple Aunty and Neice

Is this considered a cuddle? Sorry about the size.

All mine do the same thing too.....even my new pup! Great idea I got from you though, to do a poo run before going for a walk.

It was a gorgeous sunny day here, though still a bit fresh but unfortunately I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a mack truck in the form of a cold/flu so the furry's have had to amuse themselves outside, sunbaking and the like. What a waste would have loved to have done something more productive with them today.

When I was a child our mini foxie went missing,(presumed stolen because of circumstances). As children we were always keeping a look out for her and to this day (in my 40's) I still wonder what happened to her. With the dog microchipped there is always that possibilty that the dog will turn up, a new pup/dog could help distract the boys from their loss and maybe you could explain that while you may get a new pup that if the missing dog is found it will still have a home with the new one and they would be companions. At least their is one positive here....at least your boys don't see animals as replaceable commodities, I think you can be proud of that.

No words needed.......it can work, depends on you and your dogs.

Just a thought......I'm assuming he is desexed? Some of my medical friends believe that desexed male dogs are prone to dementia....from the lowered to nil testosterone levels. I don't know if any one has done an actual study, but it's something which I wonder about, having worked in aged care.

We had a Corgi as well when we were kids and she was an awesome kids dog!! Rough and tumble, in to anything we were in to, loved ball games be they small tennis balls or footballs, swimming and also going out on our horse rides. All the neighborhood kids loved playing with her. Nice compact size dog to take anywhere, never a hassle.......but.... even though she wasn't meant to, she slept on the foot of my bed. LOL Corgi....what a great suggestion

I think it's more about "how" the dog eats, Pug's can be little scoffers and almost try to "inhale" their food. Our Pug was a scoffer so he was mostly fed things he had to chew. One of my Bullmastiffs is a scoffer..... while she gets mince and chopped meats at times, I make sure they aren't of a size that could get stuck in her throat, mostly though I feed things like frames and lamb necks where the meat has to be chewed off the bone. (Mind you I have heard of large dogs that have "inhaled" chicken frames and choked like your pug on the cheese).

Hear, hear! A dog is a carnivore, with a carnivore's digestive system, a carnivore's teeth. You can't say your dog is an omnivore when it's scientifically proven that they're not. Yes, of course they will eat fruit, vegetables and grain if that's what we feed them - just as we can eat processed food and sugary junk, even though it is not good for our bodies and will likely cause issues in the future. My own dog will graze on the apples and plums that fall from my trees - he loves the sugary sweetness. His body uses none of it - it all comes out the other end, looking quite similar to when it went in. Tell me. What will happen if i feed my rabbit meat? Dogs are not *obligate carnivores* (like a ferret or a cat) but they are carnivores! Meaning that they can digest vegetable matter too (unlike the ferret or the cat) Is your dog a wild dog? Wow! Even though my Samoyed is one of the most closely related domesticated breeds to a wolf, he has over years and years of eating the scrap food of his people developed teeth to grind vegetable matter. I said this in a post yesterday, I'm just so amazed at how many people think their own dogs are so unevolved! Who are they getting this information from? People on dog forums? or scientific research found somewhere other than the internet? Better watch out Bindii.. if you annoy someone they might grab Hugo and hold him upside down!!! Don't you know his eyes will just pop right out! Then someone should tell almost every dog I've owned that they are not to pick fruit,(apples, pears, sultanas, oranges, mandarines as these are what we grew) and eat it as they are carnivores! The dogs I have now still pick fruit when I go visit a friend who has fruit trees. Something I thought was a bit odd though, one of my horses pinched a chop off the bbq once

Yes it is.....thats how one of my old uncles use to choose his best sheep dogs , pmsl....problem is they usually were which helped support the myth!!

If in Vic, possums are never relocated .....eg: if they were in your roof and someone removed them from your roof they would only be released into the trees surrounding your property and you have to make your roof possum proof.

I always wanted a property where I could have a dog of everybreed, that was back when I was a kid and I don't think I realised just how many different breeds there were. LOL Bullmastiff - Now and always Boxer (have owned) Pug (have owned) Bulldog Old English Sheepdog Corgi (have owned) Collie (Rough)(have owned) St Bernard Bernese Mountain Dog Mastiff Looks like I'd be a repeat offender on some breeds :D but still some I'd like to try :p , I better get searching for that property now!!!

because this is not about being at dog shows, but it is about aberrant behaviour from children and parents doing nothing about it. When I was a kid (way back before all of these nanny type laws and people suing for the sheer money making value suing gets them) there was a neighbour who lived across the road. This was also back in the days when everyone in the street was your "neighbour" and you knew them and their kids. The child of this neighbour was a real brat of a kid and the parents never did a thing to stop her. Us kids used to hate it when she came over to 'play' because she was a snivelling, whiney, attention seeker and simply, no fun. My Dad is outside chatting with this child's parent and the child kept hitting him in the stomach. Dad told her several times not to do it. Child's father did nothing. Next time, Dad says "you do that to me one more time and I'm going to pull your hair". Child hits him one more time so Dad gave her hair a good yank. Child goes off crying. Father of child does nothing (keeps chatting). Child never did that again and actually was more respectful generally speaking towards my father. And who knows, maybe it was a lesson in life that she was able to take with her and helped to change the way that she treated others . These days if you retaliated that way, parents would be suing you and authorities would be charging you with child abuse. Please also note that not ever once in our lifetime did my father raise a hand (or voice) to us kids. He is a true gentleman, but he is calm and he is assertive, along with kind, generous and compassionate. Ellz - If I were you I wouldn't be embarrassed by your action. Who knows ..... maybe the experience was lesson enough to have avoided the child being bitten by a dog not quite so tolerant/patient, either later that day or at some other time. But yes, unfortunately today's laws have made it so that responsibility is someone else's job, in the eyes of those who should be responsible but aren't. Aaahhhh back in the day when the community "raised" the kids, the days when the local cop could kick you up the butt and mum and dad would thank them......this still goes on in other cultures......oh what our "civilised" society has to answer to. LOL

OOOoooo I like Earthdog's suggestions but you missed one..... Faith be Whisper....or is that Faith be with Her. I like the Faith and Whisper theme.

My current boy doesn't like to get in the car if a). the motor is running (he will not go behind a car that has it's motor running and no he's never been run over etc.) and b). if my girl gets in first....it's almost as if he doesn't think he'll fit with her in there. So the procedure is....he gets in first and then she bowls in. They can be quirky creatures. Hope you work out what he was hesitant about.

I think too many people these days expect that dogs are suppose to act as part of our "civilised" society and not like dogs at all. That means playing nicely no rough and tumble, no making noises unless they're all "nice" noises. Bit like kids aren't allowed to playfight anymore, or play cowboys and indians and the like.....because we're "CIVILISED"! Bah Humbug....let them be dogs I say!! (without killing each other of course ). My boy is an old man and isn't in to rough play with other dogs yet likes to wrestle with my OH. My girl tries like mad to get the boy to play, sometimes her persistance pays off, but not often which is why she enjoys visits from her other doggy friends. LOL

I've known two dogs with epilepsy, one was a GSDx the other a Curly Retriever. Both owned by different people, both used medication to manage their pets, but as the epilepsy got worse both dogs became agressive. One to the point that he cleared a 6 foot fence in an instant while his owner was out the front of the yard and attacked and killed a Maltese as it approached his owner the other was growling at his owners, (out of fear). Both dogs were euthanised. I guess it's something you have to manage and only you know whats best for you and your dog. It's certainly not a nice thing to have to cope with.

Drooling can be caused from a number of things, not just stress. Excitement can also be a cause for drooling and she may actually be excited about the pups and wanting more interaction with them. My bitch drools excessively when she see's someone with food that she thinks she might be getting some of.....maybe your girl thinks she's in for a treat.....LOL (joking).