KnuckleBuster

Hi Pomi, My husband and I went overseas for 6 weeks, leaving our 2 fur-kids at Wellington Park Kennels, Lysterfield. I too live in the western suburbs but it only took an hour to drive out to Wellington Park (providing you don't go in peak hour!). Sharna, Wendy and all the staff are extremely friendly, knowledgable, and treat their guests as if they were their own. We received regular email updates on how our puppies were behaving, what they were getting up to, and how they were progressing with their training (we opted for the 'board and train' to keep them stimulated and active,,, but that is up to you if you want to take this option). My girl developed a bit of a runny nose and they were very quick to contact me for my approval to take her to the vet (thankfully it was only a sniffle!). When we picked them up we were debriefed, received some great notes and brochures, a pouch of food, and what to expect within the next couple of days as they adjust to being back home with mum and dad. We also got a few phone call follow-ups over the next couple of weeks just to see how they were going. Fantastic! Pick this kennel and you can relax and enjoy your holiday. Good luck.

Abrham Ali Andrew Andy Angus x 2 Angus Rip Anzac Apollo(different spelling!) Appollo Archie Arkhan Armand Arq Ash Ashke Attila Atlas Bailey x 6 Baloo Balou Bandit x 2 Banjo Bardigrub Bart X 2 Barton Baxter Bear x2 Beau x 2 Bender Ben x 3 Benji Benny Benson Billy Bing Bluey Bob Bomber Boo Boof Bosch Bosco Boxer Brady Brian Custard O'Doggle Brock Brockie Brody Bronson x2 Brownie Bruce Bud Buddy Bumble Bundyx2 Buster x 2 byron Caleb Cannon Caramel Carl Cash Casper Champ Charlie x 5 Chevy Chief Chip x 2 Chok Clifford Coco Cooper x3 Cory Cowan x 2 Cowboy Crikey Cuba Danny Darcy x 2 Dashx2 Deakin Dean Declan Delgado Denim Dennys Dog Diablo Diesel x2 Digby Digger x2 Dillon Dinky Douglas Dumas Duncan Dylan Ebon Echo Eddie Edward Elijah Elliott Elvis Edge Ernie Esky Fergus x 2 Fox x 2 FlashBazil Fleming Fletcher Flynn Focus Forester Foo Frank Fudge Gandor Geo George Greedy Grover Guiness mcGuinness Hail Harley Harri Harrison Harry Henry Hogan Hudson Hugo Ivan Jack x 3 Jake x 2 Jasper x 2 James Jay JayDee Jed Jethro Jet Jett Jonsey Joop Jordan Joshua Judd Juggie Kahn Kai Kaiser x 2 Kane Kasper Kaos Kiba Kei Kingston Kippy Kisho Knuckles Kynan Kyzer Leo Lincoln Lenny Leroy Lestat x2 Logan Luca Lucius Ludwig Lughie Lukas Lukon Mac X 2 MacKenzie Mark (the cat) Mason Max x 7 Maxie Maxwell THE DOG Maze Mel Merlot Merry Milky Milosh Milton Minook Mistral Mojo Mokha Morris Mr Darcy Nammu Napoleon Nelsson (yes two s's) Nicky Nigel Noah Nova Nudge Nugget Occy Oliver Omar RIP Onslow Oscar x 3 Oz Pal x 2 Payton Pete Phoenix Phantom Piikki Porsha Puck Punch Quick Quincy Raffy Ralph Randy Reeve Reagan Rex Ricky Riku Riley Ripley River Rocks Rodney RIP Rolly Rory Rove Rover Roy Jones Jnr Rudnick Ruff Rupert Rusty Sam x2 Satchmo Scooby Scout Scrap Scratch Shadow Seth Silas Snitch Sonny Soul Spartan Speed Spencer Spike Sport Spud x 2 Sterling Stig (The) Storm Stryker Sumo Swanky Tag Tana Tazz x 2 Teddy Terry Tey Dog Thomas Thunder Tiger Tirra Toby x2 Tolkien Tommy Tournie Tub Tusca Tye x2 Tyson Udo Ulf Valdez Wags Walker Watson Weave Whisky Willow Willy Wilson Woody Wycomb Yoshi Zac x 2 Zedley Zeppelin Zephyr x 2 Zeus x 2

It seems all our dogs eat better than us I have always had Rotties - never found any foods that they wouldn't eat! My old girl Venus loved drinking Pepsi Max - wouldn't go near Doctor Pepper but when Pepsi Max came out she would slurp it up! My old boy Buster ate a 2kg block of Cadbury... only the best for him. My 2 Rotties now will eat anything,, and if they are too slow the other one will gladly eat on their behalf. Last tomato season my boy who was only 5 months old at the time would watch me pick tomatoes - he would then go pick his own and eat them. I guess I should say thank you to him because now I have self-seeded tomato plants everywhere :D

Does anyone here have a Facebook account and know how to list the link Help spread the word...

My puppies don't have a secret stash as such, but as we live on 5+ acres we have a lot of items blow in. Not at all unusual to go outside to find various 'toys' at the back door. At the moment my boy is obsessed with a bucket lid (his frizby!) and my girl is obsessed with balls. She also had an obsession with going next door and bringing back baby toys (she is only 16 months old!!). Thankfully the neigbhours haven't moved in yet, but we have convinced her the grass is greener at home... with an electric fence!

I have two beautiful rotties who play rough, or as my OH and I refer = 'Rotty Love' As the others have already said, watch the body language as this will tell you if they need 'time out'. Amika - just beautiful!!!

A friend of mine has Frank and Judy. Frank is a great dane, Judy is a staffy. So suits them! PS: gotta go,,, NCIS is on! Dinozo and Zeva have just been locked in a container...

My boy Knuckles is a funny little man - if he is inside and wants out he stands near the door but stares at us. If we don't take the intent glare as a hint he starts scratching at the door. If we continue to ignore him then the barking starts! My girl Banks lets us know when she wants cuddles and smooches, literally climbing onto your lap for them (not bad considering she is a 40kg Rotty!). And if we ignore either Knuckles or Banks when they want to play, the toy is brought to our lap and chewed on! I could go on with all their little antics but that would take up too much space Reading the posts has certainly made me laugh... thank you!

Dogs definately feel grief. When we lost our beautiful girl Venus last year Buster was hit hard. Imagine loosing your life partner, I don't believe you ever get over it you just learn to deal with the loss (although not very well as this is taking me a long time to type through teary eyes ). Buster went from being a very young 11 year Rotty to an old man within weeks. He decided it was too much for him so he joined her earlier this year. A huge hole has been left, but the love they have both given me is worth the heartache. And I now have Knuckles and Banks, two crazy young Rotties ;) (I think Venus and Buster choose them for us,,, to remind us how full on puppies are!). Sorry, I went off track a bit - in my opinion, yes dogs do feel grief, and I also think they feel the loss of limbs / eyes / etc. They tend to deal with this better than humans though - my eye / leg / etc, is gone but it is not the end of the world, I can still get around on 3 legs, see out of one eye, use my sniffer instead of my eyes, bla bla bla. Okay, I think I've waffled on long enough... sorry...

Hi Kristina, We see Jeremy at Brimbank Vet Clinic (562 Melton Hwy, Sydenham. 9449 1100. www.brimbankvet.com.au). I know a bit of a drive,,, but definitely worth it. The entire team at the clinic make you feel like part of the family, put up with the 'over-protective, paranoid 'mum' dropping her babies off for surgery, treat you with respect, do not 'push' anything on you, and make house calls should you need them. Can't recommend Jeremy and his team enough.

Up until recently I did not know about Schutzhund training, but thanks to this site I have links to info about this and am currently studying so will make an informed decision as to which training I will pursue. I agree that dogs will all learn differently, just like children. Maybe I was blessed with my girl's intelligence and drive as opposed to my boy's 'lack of drive'. K9, I haven't contacted you as my original question was "Are there any PP trainers in Melbourne". I believe you are in Brisbane? Please correct me if I'm wrong. For your info, there are multiple reasons why I would like my new pup pp trained, some of which are having 100% control over my dog, having confidence in my dog to protect me (if the need arose), I am not interested in agility work (nothing wrong with it, just me) but would like to keep my dog 'on his toes', keep the dog (and me) mentally stimulated, and the social aspect for both the dog and myself. Obviously these are not all the reasons (some of my reasons are private - not for any discussion board). I realise these points can be achieved with obedience training, but I have found (with various schools in Melbourne), they become very repetitive and dare I say, boring and lack motivation. You may or may not agree with my reasons, but that's okay, we are entitled to our opinions. I thankyou for your input.

Thankyou for all your posts. I appreciate your thoughts and comments. In regards to the training, I believe I have put in more of an effort with Buster (obedience trained only) than with my previous Rotty (protection trained) but the results would say otherwise. Hence, why I would like to train Knuckles in this field. Please rest assured, I have not, and NEVER will, train a dog to become a weapon; they are part of our family (our 4-legged children). If I had my way anyone who owns an animal (be it a dog or cat) you should need a licence and mandatory 'basic obedience' training. If all pets had basic obedience, I believe we wouldn't see any of these 'negative' stories about dogs attacking people 'for no reason'. The reason for my name - it is my dogs names: we have a 'nearly 12 year old going on 12 month old!' Rotty named Buster, and a new little friend for him, a 12 week old Rotty named Knuckles (named this due to the size of his paws,,, plus the fact he is a bit of a knuckle-head. lol). I did try a few other names but all taken. Can anyone provide details on where a 'Schutzhund' training centre is in the western suburbs of Melbourne. And maybe explain a little more about the '3 phases'?

Hi there, just wondering if anyone knows of a 'personal protection' trainer in Melbourne. We now have a Rotty pup which I would like to train. Why? I trained my previous Rotty in personal protection and found she was better overall in general obedience compared to my other Rotty who was 'obedience trained' only. As a female I feel more 'at ease' knowing my best friend can also be my protector if the need arises. Fortunately I never found myself in a situation where her 'protection' was needed, although having the command to growl and show teeth was used a couple of times which I believe deterred a few undesirables. Thanks for your help.