:ange:

My girl was a shocker at 6 months as well.. I've got her walking reasonably well on a flat collar from just the 'zig-zag' direction. It took time and me pretty sure I would fall over from dizzyness sooner or later but it worked. I don't ask a puppy to have complete focus on me when we're walking just reasonably at my side, she's allowed to sniff etc but no pulling. I would have a longer lead (180cm-ish) go to a field with treats and do this until she got with the program that she had to be vigilant of where I was going because at any moment I could turn in the opposite direction and she would get a quick snap. When she caught up I would praise and treat.. I still do it randomly now so that I know she's paying attention to where I'm going. I think once Molly is older I would be asking for focus when walking - it is GREAT you've got her doing it in the backyard etc. I can't take Ruby to crowded places without a halti on because her focus is shocking and becomes a ditzy blonde as soon as anything exciting is going on - so using that gives me extra control of her without her pulling me to the ground...

Hey everyone.. we've just got our newest baby Wei 'Max' who is being shown. His first show is at Geraldton on the 24th October. Here's a 9 week old photo of him stacked. I don't think he likes being stacked too much (well up on a table - probably height thing) starts shaking and sitting that pretty butt down! trying to make it as fun as possible and keeping sessions really short. Have been reading with interest. We love him veeeruh muchly!!

oh good it's not just my weird dog then!! Sometimes she gets the eye booger and she doesn't chatter her teeth, but then on others she will. So bloody strange..

Can anyone explain to me why Ruby's teeth chatter sometimes. She gets seasonal 'eye boogers' and when she wipes them off with her paws and (blergh) eats them she sometimes chatters her teeth. Is it a happiness thing?? Apologies if noone knows what the heck I'm talking about.. My dog has tendencies to be weird.

My dog just can't catch... She also hates this trick and immediately goes floppy and drops to the floor when I try and put food on her nose.. not a very foolproof trick used in our house.

YAY!! Wei's finally made it!! Firstly, I second everything that ST said, but I will put my answers in anyway.. QUESTIONS 1. What is my relationship with the breed? (ie breeder, first time owner etc) I am first time owner of a female Wei, and have fallen head over heels with the breed. Ruby is now 19 months old. 2. Where and why was the breed first developed? What ST said.. LOL 3. How common is it in Australia? Depends on where you live.. I have seen ALOT of Wei's in Perth since moving here.. but back in country NSW they aren't very common at all - not alot of people know the breed, and most don't know how to pronounce 'Weimaraner' hehe.. such as "woomerina". 4. What is the average lifespan? 10-12 yrs 5. What is the general temperament/personality? Ruby was exactly what I was expecting when getting a Wei, high energy, fun loving dog. Other words I would use to describe her are - lovable, goofy, devoted, snuggle bug/couch potato when at home with family, can be destructive when left alone, intelligent, sensitive and an absolute ball of fun! 6. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult? I generally give a good offlead run for about 40 minutes a day. Sometimes more though, maybe an hour other days. 7. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with? Even though my family have always owned dogs and I would train them, Ruby is my first dog that I solely own. I agree with ST and if they land in the wrong hands they will easily walk all over the owner. They can be very stubborn at times, and I can see someone who isn't dedicated at making sure their Wei is properly trained giving up very quickly. 8. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods? Ruby is an only child and is only left for 8 hours max a day on her own. She can be destructive at times when she is going through an energy spurt. If the mind is kept active and their destructive behaviour redirected to other things they can happily entertain themselves for some period of time. I have a sandpit, giver her kongs, dried bones, and sprinkle treats around the yard for her to find. She is an indoors dog when we are home. I have occasionally left her inside when I am at work, but prefer to keep her outdoors with a undercover kennel while I am at work. 9. How much grooming is required? Nil for Shorthaired, except when blowing coat. I generally run my fingers through her coat, use a coarse brush, rubber mitt and help the dead hair out. Bathing is kept to very minimal in our house except for when she gets very stinky. 10. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)? definately.. 11. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of? ST's list is good. Ruby suffered from HOD (Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy) when she was a puppy. The condition is extremely painful for them and is very hard watching a young puppy be in so much pain. It can lead to bone deformities in extreme cases and we were lucky enough not to have any deformities. She is now a very healthy and active 18 month old. The important thing with HOD is managing the pain as well as you can. It's a very self-limiting disease, and treatment is generally anti-inflammatories and I have heard of vets giving doses of Prednisilone. We had about 3 or 4 epsiodes of this during her puppyhood. 12. When buying a puppy, what are the things you should ask of the breeder? (eg what health tests have been done (if applicable) and what is an acceptable result to those tests so the buyer has an idea of what the result should be) will let more knowledgeable people answer this!!

I'm not sure about the human equivalent to save her any money.. I wouldn't be giving my dog anything unless OK'd by a veternarian. What is the dog in pain due to? Arthritis? We had our dog as a youg puppy on Metacam with her HOD and we were told to never give any more than the reccommended does due to the risk of sending the dog into kidney failure. My MIL had a palliated dog and the vet told her that she should be more worried about the dogs comfort level rather than the risk of long-term side effects (kindey/liver failure).

I'm going to re-start obedience with her to see if this will help. She's generally very exuberant and unfocused around other dogs when we've been to obedience, however I think she has calmed down a bit more recently. Thanks for the suggestions.. we'll be steering clear of dog parks. Thanks..

My female Weimaraner who's just 18 months and desexed has been getting in a few scuffles as of late and I'm wondering if this is the beginning of dog aggression or if she's just simply standing up for herself and 'holding her own'. There's been a couple which has just been her teeth baring at the dog and snapping at them, then 2 seconds later they are fine again and playing. Bi-polar maybe??? LOL One over the weekend worried me where she had the other dog pinned and was biting them. This happened because the other dog kept biting her/bullying her and running off as she turned around to warn the dog. She warned the dog numerous times until she just decided to have a full on brawl. I had to pull her off and yell for the other dogs owner to get his dog. No injuries but it still worried me.. She's always been to dog parks all her puppyhood and never had any problems with any dogs until recently. Very social and happy dog. We have noticed that she has become more aloof in recent weeks, decreased interest with playing with other dogs and just wanders around the park on her own. Should I still be taking her to dog parks with the chance that she could become dog aggressive? I know alot of people steer clear of dog parks for this very reason..

I just replied in the Wei thread but maybe get him vet checked for any underlying issues? I must have 'non-typical' Wei then - mine doesn't whinge at all!!!! Should I check the batteries or something????

Poor At.. he's in the wars lately that man!! Hope it gets better soon! How embarresing for him.. It's not exactly something you can kiss better either is it? Love to At..

My pup used to do that as well.. We worked out she was vomiting from hunger. I ended up giving her a bit of a snack before bedtime to tide her through to breakfast.

I've heard about this 'purple spray' stuff which you can put on cuts and things to seal them so the dog can't lick it. I haven't used it personally but I've heard good things about it.

Maybe you could offer the Landlord extra bond to make him feel better about damage that could be done to the property. My OH wanted our girl to be strictly outdoors when we got her.. you try saying no to that sad little face at the door of a night when we're all in and she's out there. Impossible!!!

The wood she chews is just from trees.. so definately not treated. Her kennel is made of wood but when I bought that I specifically asked if the wood was treated because she chews on wood and it's not either. I think it's just gum inflammation as well.. I will post some after pics later when the swelling has gone down so you can tell me if her teeth are worn down too.. thanks for the input will post something more when I hear from the vet this arvo.

Here's a picture of her canines.. also bleeding but not worn down.

thanks poodlefan.. will talk to him about it tonight. I will call him booger if he tells me he didn't notice!!!

I'll talk to him about her teeth when he calls me tonight.. Surely I would have hoped that he would have noticed her teeth being worn down as the reason for her bleeding and inflammation instead of charging me through the eyeball for blood tests. I wouldn't have thought obsessive with her chewing.. I'd say digging is more her OCD of behaviours. Chewing is something that she does also - only woods, not on anything else. Not enough for me to call obsessive though - she chews no more than any other dog of her age that enjoys chewing on sticks.. I've never discouraged it because I find it something that she will eventually grow out of.

She was seeing Andrew Litch.. I have her records with me as I made them print out a copy which I gave to the vet today. I guess because of her previous history with bleeding he wanted to run off and do all blood tests.

I hope not in a week though... maybe they were flatter though and my untrained eye just didn't notice. Her teeth didn't look anything like that - the inflammation wasn't there and she certainly wasn't bleeding. Would wood chewing (even obsessive) cause both upper and lower gums to inflame and bleed continuously like that? There's no wood splinters in her gums - vet checked her teeth and he didn't say anything about her teeth being work down at only 16 months. I honestly hope they aren't bad at this age already.. Her wood chewing is out of boredom when I'm at work - even though there are tons of bones, peanut butter kong and other fun things. Wood is still her preferred chewing item.. gah!!

She's not in any run and there's no wire for her to chew on in the yard. She has never gnawed on concrete before and there's no blood marks out on the back area where it's paved. I looked in her mouth last week and all her teeth were normal looking then. I thought her teeth looked like that from the inflamed gums? Would teeth become worn from chewing on wood? We were at Orange Vet, I might give them a call.

hmmm.. so back from the vets (really really should look into getting pet insurance OUCH!!!!) and I feel like we're back at square one after last years fiasco with her bleeding kidney's. The vet said it didn't look like infection or like it was just from chewing on sticks. He touched the side of her gum where I hadn't noticed bleeding and blood started oozing out.. it looked really weird!! She's never bled from her teeth/gums before so this is all new. He took bloods and he's doing CBC, PTT and renal function tests to see if anything is wrong - all tests we had done with Ruby's previous bleeding - and I know what they're going to say to me tonight when the results come back through "hmm.. her clotting is normal, platelets normal we can't really explain why she's bleeding.. just let it go and come back in another week for further testing" I encouraged him to call Ruby's previous vet to talk to him about all her bleeding issues.. I got the feeling he wasn't going to call. Do you think I should call my previous vet in case he could offer me advice? hehe he'd probably charge me for a phone consult or something. I'm pretty sure they've tested for Von Willebrands before.. vaguely remembering my vet telling me that she didn't have it. Anyway thanks for the prod to go to the vet.. don't know what's caused the bleeding gums but I hope it will resolve on its own (like all her bleeding usually does!!)

booked into the vet.. see how we go.

thanks puggy_puggy.. I am really beginning to wonder if there's something underlying with my puppy.. We've had bleeding problems with this girl previously - idiopathic juvenile renal haemorrhaging, haemorrhagic gastro. I have noticed bloody tears from her on more than one occasion.. You name any body part and it seems this girl will bleed from it.

ok.. here's some pics. You can see her gums are really swollen and there's blood all around the base of her teeth. Her poor little teefers look like nubbins because her gums are so swollen. off to the vet me thinks.. soooo expensive.. lucky I just got my krudd money this morning I guess.