boxerbob

20 minutes of walking is not excessive for that aged dog IMO. My boxer pup was about the same age several weeks ago and did this. She just plonked her butt down and looked at me as if to say "I ain't going no further". With a little bit of encouragement and coaxing I got her walking again without trouble. She has done it once or twice since but she doesn't stay sitting for long. She also knows she isn't being picked up.... 15 kgs of dog is a bit much to carry home. I think they are just testing us out.

It's ALWAYS the dog..... at least it is at our house. :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone for your advise and sharing your own personal experiences with me. We have decided go with option B and wait. It's good to get some verification from people who have been through this before. It will be a new experience for us and certainly a wake up call to fortify the back yard. I read in other threads it could be months if not over a year. I will contact the breeder to see if he remembers her mother's history. That was a great idea. Cheers, Rob

I guess what I am asking is does the vet make a valid point for waiting till after she has her first season? Does this really reduce the chances of future infections? Has anyone heard of this before?

I assumed Amoxyclav was an broad spectrum AB... that's what she has to take to ensure she is clear if we do go ahead with it next week. I have heard stories of boxers jumping over 6 ft fences and the like so that is what I am most concerned about - keeping her confined. She's only 5 months old but potentially has another 3-4 months of growing before she comes into season. She's an outside dog too so we are not really geared up to keep her inside for 2 or 3 weeks.

Licorice, our 5 month old boxer girl, was due to be desexed today but because of a case of puppy thrush the procedure had to be postponed because of risk of infection. Our vet gave us 2 choices on how to proceed which I would like to get some feedback on. Firstly the vet advised me that there is no immediate danger with her current condition but our decision could influence her future. Option A) Treat her problem with antibiotics and try again next week when she's cured. Option B) We wait until she has her first season and then have her desexed. This COULD reduce the risk of ongoing problems significantly according to the vet. The catch with option A is the vet mentioned that Licorice may be prone to this condition in the future which could lead to chronic bladder or other infections. It may not happen but from her experience it's more common. I am leaning toward option B with the hope it will make her future risk free but we have never owned a whole dog so we have absolutely no idea how this is going go. And it could be several months before she does become a "lady" so to speak meaning she will be a bigger dog which I believe increases the risk of the surgery. Does any one have experience or advise on either options and their pros and cons? Thanks for your time.

The poop trick worked with our 2 cavaliers but when our boxer pup started digging holes in the lawn we tried the same thing and she just ate the poop in one gulp and kept digging at that spot... I still gag thinking about it. We are still struggling to stop her digging and we don't think she's getting bored as someone is usually always home with her so we are looking into a special digging patch for her. But if you can fence off your garden use something nice and sturdy... otherwise it will cost you more having to replace something flimsy and easy to get through.

Let me tell you, being desexed IS A bitch - OUCH!!! Ooops, I misread the title of this thread.... My girl goes in on Wednesday so this is answering many of my questions too. Our vet didn't tell us about the stitching up afterward so I'll have some further questions to ask. The last bitch we had desexed almost 15 years ago came home looking like a beaten up football - about a six inch seam along her tummy with cotton sticking out the length of it. I hope the procedures have changed since then because she looked scary. She was up and about the very next day... pups recover so quick. Cheers.

Kyla_QLD_Cavalier, I would be interested. Send me a mesage with the details, Rob

There's a grooming place on Rode Road at Wavel Heights very close to you. Can't think of the name off the top of my head. Not hard to find, they may do it? it's near Atlas Aquarium.

I attended my second night of a 5 week puppy school course run by a local obedience group last night. The first night was sign-on without the pups which I thought was a good idea. It allowed for us to get the paperwork done quickly and then we had a briefing with the instructor of what was required, rules, equipment etc. and then Q and A time. We even got a hand-out of the first lessons' activities. Overall I was quite happy with it. There were 8 pups and thankfully they were all roughly the same size but the ages ranged from 12 weeks to 17weeks. It's all food and praise rewards based training so we were shown how to train pup to gently take the food reward from our hand. Once that was taught we then used the reward of food (and praise) to get their attention, sit, drop, walk beside on a leash and to calm a pup which my boxer and I failed dismally at, lol. It was almost all on leash work with some small time outs for play. There was one off leash play time but it was well done. The 8 pups and their owners were put in a small fenced area no larger than a standard bedroom I guess with some toys. Half of the pups were let off the leashes to roam around at will while the other half where still with their owners on a leash. The owners were encouraged to pat the loose pups as they moved around. The leashed dogs could only watch on unless a pup came over to it. Then they would swap over. Apart from a young child been allowed into the pen and then being pushed over by an over exited boxer (*raises my hand as the owner that animal) it was a civilized interaction. Why would you allow your child in there? The instructed should have seen that coming and insisted the child remain outside. That was my only gribe. It was very well run, they didn't push any products on to us but had lots of simple clear advise and homework for us to do before next week. The club has been around for years so I have no doubt they know what they are doing and do it well.

I put mine in a mini peanut butter sandwhich. The tablet doesn't even touch the sides.

I am feeding my pup good quality foods (dry in the morning, bone during the day and 1/2 kg of raw at night) and she is eating all of it in a matter of minutes. She is a 17 week old boxer and has gone from 7kgs at 12 weeks old to 13kgs at 16weeks which I thought was a good thing and our vet has given her 2 big thumbs up on her condition. She gets plenty of exercise and her ribs are evident without being too visible. I read in another thread here about feeding a large breed puppy. Many have said to feed them to grow slow and strong. Can someone explain why and how? Is my pup growing too quickly is will this be harmful to her?

hehe, gotta luv puppy cavs.... they are born with springs in their legs. I echo persephone suggestion. She'll stop bouncing eventually. It took a bit of work to get our 2 KCS healing proficiently so don't give up.

We went through this last year. 2 dogs together all their lives, one 14 the other 13 years old both of which we had before children who knew of nothing else but our 2 beautiful cavs always in their lives. She was my wedding gift to my wife-to-be at the time so it was extremely sad for us also. A choice had to be made... for her. Peggy wasn't in pain either but it got to the point that her standard of living was not what she deserved. I think that is when you will know the time is nigh. Our second dog, who is 14 years now, pined for her for about a week or 2... he didn't eat much, kept waiting and watching for her to come home but eventually came good. Our children cried and cried and still talk about Peggy all the time. We used this experience as a lesson about life and death and unfortunate with our old fella today we fear pretty soon we will have to experience the same sadness again soon, so we are making sure we enjoy the time we have left with Dudley. It will be very sad, your family will miss her, your children will cry and I know you will too but it sounds like you gave her a life so much more than the one she would have had if you didn't give her a second chance. I hope this helps you a little. All else I can say is - You will know, you will base your decision on love, the same way you did with the very first decision you made about her life when you first brought her home. Hugs.

My now 12 week old boxer did the same thing for the first 2 days when I introduced her to the lead last week. It was a playful chew so I think it was more a novelty to her at first. I only put the lead on for a few minutes at a time at the beginning gradually leaving it on for longer each time trying to keep it out of her reach. We she started walking beside me then I let it drop lower as she got better and now she doesn't even notice it. I'v had 2 Cavs who did the same thing and had the same result in a couple of days. I have also heard it may be a dominance thing too so she needs to know who is boss if she is acting belligerent toward it and you but I don't think that would be the case with your beautiful little pup. If you also make it a fun time when she is on the leash then she will learn to love it. She should grow out of it without the need to use any bitter tasting stuff. Good luck.

I've had my little 9 week old boxer for 4 days now and over the weekend when I knew I could be with her 24/7 I made sure as soon as she wakes up or after she eats I take her out to the spot I want her to poop/pee in. I am using the trigger word "toilet' too and repeat it until she goes, which doesn't take long if you get her at the right time and then I praise,praise and praise repeating the word when she does. So far she has only pooped where I don't want her too once because I think she didn't want to go out in the rain and I wasn't paying attention to the signs. The other times in between meals and during play time she has taken herself out to go "toilet" roughly where she has gone before and I make sure I praise her when I see her doing that. Good luck.

LOL this is funny. I thought we had the only "sit down to go" male. Our 14 year old desexed male Cavalier has not once lifted his leg. He grew up with a female cav a year his senior so we always thought he learned it from her.... or it was a result of being desexed at a young age. My wife jokes that at least there is one male in the house she doesnt have to yell at about leaving the seat up!!!!