lappiemum

Ugh, I know what you are talking about. Tasha is much better now, but the Boofhead gets ridiculously excited at times. If there is a fault with the breed, its probably that they are *too* friendly when young!! I agree - we have done lots of work with our two, and its better to take them places and socialise them - but with some controls as well; he just can't go nuts every time. Rewards for good behaviour - is he food fixated? If not, praise works well too. If you are unsure, have a behaviourist come in to give you some advice and a push in the right direction.

Check this out! http://www.wagreflex.com/2009/07/one-heck-...og-trainer.html

How's Charlotte today? Poor petal - hope she is feeling better soon (and that her ops down the track see her right as rain!)! Tasha says she can't wait for Charlotte to get better and come back to Kepala - lots of lappie smooches then!

My favourite thing I heard said at the royal was a little girl who said " I love your dog" while giving him a cuddle (which he just loved, ofcourse). Not everyone you meet at these events are missing brain cells. I spoke to many people who were articulate, interested and wanting to learn. Must have been in a different pavillion.

Northern Obedience website: http://www.northernobedience.com/

We were members of Altona (actually, we still are paid up) but will not be rejoining. There were a couple of good instructers, but the culture of the club is very insular, and both the dogs and us became very bored doing the same things over and over and over....the final straw was a dog aggessive dog in our class that was so uncontrollable that it just distracted every other dog, and my boy (who was young) was quite fearful and we felt the whole lesson had just become a waste of time. The other thing is that the club is not a member of the VCA so you are not given any information and support if you are interesting in obedience trialling -infact, a number of the instructors would repeatedly tell you how hard it is to do and who only the best dogs get to compete (I suspect a number of them are actively trialling). We're in Kingsville/Yarraville area, so we are going to try out the Northern Obedience Dog Club in Moonee Ponds. I spoke with the secretary a while ago, who was very helpful and friendly - she also returned my call very quickly, which was not our experience with the other club!

There is a different type of diabetes called "insipidus". It is no related to sugar metabolism but has to do with hormones that help dilute the urine. Hope it's nothing at all, or something easily fixed or managed. Wouldn't that come up in a urine test (assuming they test for the hormones at the same time?)

Yes, canine diabeties is usually done with urine - that's how they confirmed my (now gone) boy.

How about timid,submissive or downright fearful ? Wild dingos don't skulk. I think you're looking at the product of envirionment, not species. She looks more GSD cross than dingo to me. I agree. At any rate, the priority should be not what breed, but who will take her and then rehabilitation. Trust me, i've had dogs that were fearful and boy, does it take a hell of a lot of work and commitment to get even small improvements!- but the good news is that it can be done. Depending on where she goes, I would recommend that she is seen and worked on by an expert behaviourist - and then (once appropriate) gentle socialisation. How is she with other dogs and people? Poor girl.

Mokha and OP, I am sorry to hear about your furkids and what they are going through. So glad you got a 'mud roll' Mokha ! That must make you smile. I hope you don't mind me taking this slightly off posted topic but I am wondering. Mokha do you know your lab's parents hip/elbow scores ? This is something I am very paranoid about wiht our lab and although he's fine at the moment aged 5 months, I'm keen to prevent it happening (we watch his level of exercise / impact / jumping etc). But I know we do everything we can to avoid -but sometimes it's just unavoidable. This might be a really obvious question but I'm interested to know whether sometimes - can the sire/dam's hip scores be ok but the offspring still suffers ? We dont know Mokhas parentage at all, he was bought before I knew better from a certain franchise that showed no interest when I informed them that he had ED/HD. I told them I would like their supplier of labs informed that they were supplying poor health dogs but could not even get the manager to call us back even after several in person visits to the store. I know better now but Mokha is our responsibility so we will do what we can to give him the best life he can have. I would never buy another dog unless I could view the parents clearances or rescue as we did with Molly. I believe over exercising and diet can contribute but we were very careful with Mokha and he has been kept lean all along on a good diet. I can only come to the conclusion it is hereditary.At least with the parentage known to have good joints you can probably be more confident of a healthy pup. I hope you never have to worry about any joint problems. Sometimes it breaks my heart when I look at my lovely chocolate boy knowing that their is going to be pain in his future. sorry to hear that. Its such a heart rendering thing. I wish there was a way to make that breeder and pet shop responsible, but sadly, there isn;t much out there to help you. This is the real tradgedy of the dog world - I wish they would focus legislation on this rather than what they do now!

Found the pic of 'Thunderbolt' on the website and I certainly don't see any Jap Spitz in there! Yes, I'd be hard pressed to see it as well. probably the only thing they could do would be to get one of the breed genetic tests - although I imagine that there will probably be a number of 'breeds' in there.....

reading between lines.... Hello, We met you in Brisbane when we bought our beautiful little Shoodle (born 1st May). We took her home to the Sunshine Coast and named her Pippin. Now 8 months old she is a bundle of fluffy energy - what a delight. She loves a game, a walk, a play with other dogs, the beach, a swim in any water (clean or dirty, fresh or salt). She is intelligent, cheeky, loving and lovable. She has won many hearts and made many friends. Obedience classes weren't very successful - just too excited, but we will try again in a few weeks now that she is a little older and understands basic commands.

When, oh when, will people listen??? 2 April 2008 We purchased our beautiful Thunderbolt from you in December. I am wondering? do you have any photos of what these guys look like as adults? He kind-of looks like a miniature Golden Retriever with scraggier hair, with a head like the labradoodle pup on the web site at present? he pretty much looks like that pup, but is golden and his hair is not curly, just a little wavy. Took this photo tonight of Thunderbolt-ee. He is now 5 months old and a really placid little chap. (I though I would send it to you all as I rave about him sooooo much!). From Merideth April 15, 2008 Dear Grandma and Grandad. (KR puppies) I am just wandering, as my colour becomes darker gold, was my Mum or Dad the Japanese Spitz, and could it at all be possible that a golden retriever got in the mix? My Mum and Dad love me to death, and don't care, they just would like to know so they can try to understand whether I am like my Mum or Dad or who? And how big I might grow. I currently weigh 9kg and am not overweight. My Mum sells Eukanuba so I only eat that apart from some bones and treats. I am a very placid quiet dog, and I love my toy poodle brother, but as I am getting bigger, I have to be more careful around him as he only weighs 3.6kg, and squeaks if I get too rough. Love, Thunderbolt

It looks like they have just removed the text from the homepage Try this link http://krpuppies.com.au/aboiut%20us.html I noted this from the site: "At K&R Puppies our goal is to breed the best companion for you and your family" All K & R puppies come with: a full check by a Veterinary Surgeon are wormed and vaccinated for your peace of mind Which vet okayed that??? Come on, you can't tell me that vet doesn't know that its a puppy mill! And this: At K & R Puppies our goal is to breed the very best companion for you and your family. Our dogs and puppies have not been exposed to conditions which cause anxiety or may be the source of illness. To safeguard our dogs and puppies we do not allow members of the public into the kennels. Nor, do we permit prospective owners to handle the puppies until they are purchased. Unfortunately, the public buys this sh*t - :D

Oh, I should add, there will be pics from the Sunday Vic picnic here on Monday.....looooottttssss of lappies!!!

For those who are interested in Lappies, there will this weekend be breed picnics in both Vic and NSW - details below. Also, for those who want to read more about lappies, the UK publication Dog World did a breed special on rare breeds, in which lappies featured prominently - see http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.u...982b8&skip= Victoria Lappie Walk and Picnic Where: Yarra Bend Park in Fairfield. We’ll meet (and lunch) at the Bellbird Picnic area, which is located off Yarra Blvd When: Sunday 13 September Time: 11am Bring: Your Lappie/s on-lead, a picnic table or a rug, chairs, drinks, water for your dog(s) Lunch: The FLCV will be hosting a gold coin donation sausage sizzle Cancellation: The day will go ahead regardless of weather conditions Who: This is an open invitation to all Lappie owners, breeders and admirers to join us for a fun filled outing, everyone is welcome (FLCV members and non-members), and we do hope this will be our biggest picnic yet! It would be greatly appreciated if you could please pass on this information to those you know who may also be interested RSVP: Please send an email to [email protected] if you will be attending so we can finalise numbers NSW Inaugural Finnish Lapphund Friends Walk and Picnic When: Sunday 13th September 2009 Time: 10:00AM Where: Cumberland State Forest, Bellamy Picnic Area, Castle Hill Rd entrance near the information centre and café. Facilities: Picnic area with gas BBQ's, Toilets, Wheelchair accessible, walking trails What to bring: Your Finnish Lapphund if you have one, other breeds also welcome. Water for your dog and drinks for yourself. Picnic food and a chair. What to expect: A great day out with your dog with competitions and a leisurely walk

Hi Corvus- I feed my two at the same time, within sight of each other. I put the bowls down in front of them, give them the command to eat, and that's fine. However, they both like bowl swapping - sometimes Boof will not touch his until Tash has finished with hers (although she never finishes it all) - then he will start. Tash will watch him, and then there is like some wierd signal between the two of them, where he will go and clean up what is in her bowl, and she will have the rest of his - and then there is a bit of backward and forwarding. I used to worry about it a bit, but then I guessed that it relates to the dog hierachy, and really, as long as I'm still the leader, I leave the manouvering up to them - as long as its all peaceful (which it is). Mind you, when we have more doglets, that may change, so I will just monitor the dynamics. Oh, I should add that bones are a different matter.....there is active competition for those, but they have to be nicely fermented and, while there is an entire garden of buried bones, its the one that the other dog has that is most desirable!!

Hi Ben- Get someone professional in to remove the asbestos pond if it is still there. You will need to monitor your dog and mention it to your vet as well. I'm aware of three dogs that died because they sniffed and licked around an asbestos fence - and your dog is likely to have sniffed as well as injested. Very nasty stuff.

Like em!

Yes, every year at the royal show we get lots of people asking us if he is a real wolf LOL if it were me I'd say "oh yes - and be careful, he eats people..." ;) But I do have an evil steak....

Bindi, Fletcher looks all grown up!

Wolf lives up to his name!

The breeder that you get your bitch from needs to be someone that you can discuss suitable lines with down the track (if you do actually do go into breeding). Some lines just don't work with others, so you will need to educate yourself on the lines that your bitch has come from as well as the usual breed info regarding genetics, diseases, phycial attributes, breed standard etc.

Have another one of the Bear....

That's ok - Hugo is a spitz in a pug coat........