Red Fox

High five is really easy to teach, kids love it and it's a bit more fun than shake. Took me around 5 minutes and a few treats to teach this to Kei

Cheese spread, cream cheese, honey or KONG puppy paste smeared around the inside of the Kong will make some of the kibble 'stick'. You can also stuff a piece of dried liver treat into the small hole at the top to keep the puppy interested. Mixing the Kibble with yogurt works well too, makes it harder to get out and if it's still too easy you can freeze it. Persephone has given you some good advice on this one. Your pup doesn't know that you will give her bone back or not. If she thinks that you are going to take her prize possesion away from her she will run away! Practice with toys first and then try with food later on. Make sure that if you do take her bone away that you have something to 'swap' it for while you are admiring the bone, eg. a liver treat, and then give the bone straight back. Another way to increase the puppy's confidence is to walk past her while she is having her bone. Don't pay any attention, just walk past her or sit near her (not too close though) while she eats. When she is confident with that then you can slowly work your way up to giving her a quick pat and walking off. Eventually build it up so that you can touch her food before you try to take it from her. Once your puppy understands that you are not a threat to her food she will be less protective. I did this with my dog and can now take food out of his mouth without protest. That said, I would NEVER let anyone else attempt it and do not allow children around him while he has a bone. TOT is a good idea. It will help your dog to build respect for you as the leader of the 'pack'.

Does it? My boy still cries- when i leave the room (Just him being a sook though, he's not really distressed. He'll cry when he can't find the cat too ) Puppy crying is awful though. At 8 weeks everything is still unfamiliar and new. It could be that causing the runny poop, or the stress of being alone. Give the pup time to get used to her own company. Stuffed Kongs are good for keeping them busy (maybe minus the peanut butter). Pigs ears are also good value at that age as it takes them ages to eat. Get her used to her area where you want her to stay with you there so that she is more comfortable being left alone. Also feed her and play with her in this space, helps the pup associate it with 'good' things.

I have heard this before too, don't know how true it is but would think that if your dog is properly wormed there should be no problem? Also, if the meat/bones are clean and from the butchers, ie. fit for human consumtion I would hope that there'd do no worms in it Dogs handle meat differently to humans though, we can't eat raw chicken either *eta quote

There's not too much fat on these which is good. I was planning on freezing them and just giving one every now and then. I'll give him one tomorrow and I'll be watching like a hawk . Kei's pretty good with chewing his bones but his jaw is getting much stronger now as he gets older and he can break off hard/sharp pieces of bone quite easily. Normally he just spits out the bits that he can't chew though.

Does anyone here feed pork bones? I was given some nice big sections of pork ribs for Kei today. He's had pork before (no reaction) and they look great but the bones seem to be much harder than the chicken/lamb bones that he normally gets. (well to me anyway) Am I just being paranoid?

Treat dispensing toys, KONGs, Tug-a-jug, treat balls, etc. You can put just about anything in the KONGs - yogurt and fruit/veg, chicken necks, kibble, peanut butter, whatever your dog likes. The Tug-a-Jugs are really good for dry food. You can fit about 2 cups in the small one and can feed her entire meal in there. That way she gets to work for her food. http://www.petsunleashed.com.au/Product/tug-a-jug-small Buster Cubes are supposed to be good too You could also try hiding some treats for her around the house or yard, kind of like a treasure hunt.

Yep, Kei did it too. I ended up feeding his last meal quite late, around 9:30-10pm and then put him to bed about half an hour after eating and toileting. Seemed to solve the problem for us.

There have been a few threads on this (or similar) Here's one- http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...mp;hl=vomitting I'll do a search and see if I can dig up a few more

Yep, I agree. We looked into the routine care option and you are only saving around $20-$30 per year if you claim everything. You still have to pay for it before you can claim it back too. Much easier to put away $5 or $10 a month into a seperate account IMO. We are with PIA, accident and injury cover with the $100 excess, cost me around $35 per month. I found that they gave the highest amount of cover for the best price and provided you haven't made a claim during your policy period, you can increase or decrease the cover as you please. (I thought this was a great option as you can start off with the highest cover when you get your dog and then decrease the cover later down the track if you want to (ie, change to a higher excess with lower monthly repayments) I made a small claim a few months back ($80 after the excess) and had it payed out within a week of posting off the claim form. I highly recommend them

Are you only giving him 2 meals per day? What if you add in a lunch meal or a late supper before bed? I give my dog a bit of goats milk in addition to his regular meals when he's extra hungry (usually mid morning or before bed), fills him up nicely without having to give another whole meal. (and he LOVES it!) I also had him on 3 meals per day until he was around 6 months. Oh, and BARF for puppies is supposed to be around 10% of the pups body weight but I never had to feed this much. When I tried Kei just porked up way to quickly I just fed an amount based on how he looked - too chubby, less food/too skinny more food. He now weighs around 36kg and I'm feeding roughly 700g-900g of food per day (2-2.5%).

Thanks persephone. Have taken the toy away from him (it's the only one he does it with). He gets plenty of exercise, training, Kongs etc. to keep him busy so no probs there. The humping only ever seems to happen on a night after dinner.. bad habbit maybe Hopefully not having the toy in sight will solve the problem

Resurrecting this thread as I've had a similar problem to what was mentioned in the original post and wondering if anyone can offer some advice? My dog has a 'favourite' teddy which he sometimes humps. Usually we either ignore and give no attention until he stops, or, if he gets too carried away with it (ie, it goes on for more than a minute or so) I will take it away from him. Anyway, the night before last I caught him under my desk with teddy so took it off of him but noticed some bright red spots of blood on it. Checked my dog and sure enough he also had a small amount blood around his bits. I went into a bit of a panic, but OH seemed to think he had probably just got carried away and had caused a little tear in the skin. I checked him out thoroughly and couldn't find any damage. I've also been watching him like a hawk since. No more blood, doesn't seem to be in any pain, he is peeing without any problems and there is no blood in the urine. All seems to be okay but am debating if it's still worth going into the vet for a check-up on Tuesday... (long weekend here) A bit more info, Kei is still entire but will be desexed between 15-18 months as per breeder contract. (currently 8 months old now) And teddy has been washed and put away in the cupboard for the fore-seeable future

I agree that the vet needs to have a higher mark-up than 10% to cover their costs. They're not a GP, there's no Medicare. I do think that people should be given the option of purchasing their animals drugs through a script at the chemist though when medication is going to expensive and long term. Many people are not aware that this can be done.

Good video, very sweet dogs This one really hits the nail on the head with BSL too: ** PLEASE DONT WATCH THE FIRST HALF OF THE VIDEO IN THE ABOVE LINK IF YOU ARE EASILY UPSET (it contains some fairly graphic images of abused dogs) But the 2nd half has some really beautiful pics of the kind of dogs Pitties can become with responsible ownership, a little love and some training.

source: http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm#Breeds...Greatest%20Risk

My dog (now 8 months) will eat out of his S/S bowl when it's in the stand but HATES it on the ground. If I give him his brekkie (chicken carcuss) in it on the ground outside he will grab the carcus and dart away from the bowl with it, but he eats his dinner out of it when it's in the stand in the kitchen every night no probs I do wonder if it has something to do with the 'scary' sound it makes if it drags on the cement He'd also rather drink from the crappy plastic bowl outside than the S/S bowl inside My guess is that the puppy is scared of either the sound the bowl makes when it moves or from seeing his reflection in it. Or as persephone said it could just be that he's never eaten alone and isn't sure what to make of this new bowl?? He'll eat eventually though when he's really hungry

NewAmstaffOwner, Oscar is very cute! I agree with PPS about doing away with the meatloaf and giving the pup raw chicken wings/carcus for lunch instead. Raw meat/bone is better than cooked. Have you thought about making your own BARF mix? It's fairly easy once you get the hang of it (and know the correct ratios etc.) and MUCH MUCH cheaper than the bought stuff The Ian Billinghurst books will explain how to make up a good BARF mix and you can either borrow them from your library or buy them here- http://www.barfaustralia.com/ The books will also explain what other foods you can feed, how much etc. I feed sardines once or twice a week and about the same for eggs (shell and all), I also include eggs/shells in my vegie mix so he's getting a little bit most days anyway. You can add them to your puppys' dry food or to the BARF mix (if you make your own). You can buy lamb flaps from your butcher or supermarket. They are pretty cheap too Nutrience is an excellent dry food this is what our pup came to us on and I still use it for training treats occasionally or for his Tug-A-Jug now he's on raw

A few people here have used Great Barko and Uncle Albers with good results. Supercoat is another cheaper option. I've not used either of these brands though so can't really comment if if they're any good or not I wouldn't think they'd compare to RC though. Have you thought about bulking up your dogs diet with raw bones ie chicken necks/wing/carcus? Very cheap and would cut down the amount of dry that you use, thus allowing you to continue with the RC/IAMS. Also remember that you'll end up feeding much larger amounts with a supermarket brand rather than a premium food (due to all the fillers) so not neccesarily a cheaper option. Make sure that you make any changes to diet slowly though, especially with a pup.

My vet told us not to take a puppy out until 2 weeks after the 3rd shot. Our breeder told us that there is far more chance of having an under-socialised puppy than of catching parvo, start taking him out as soon as possible to safe places (ie, not the dog park) from the time he comes home and then get him out and about on walks after the 2nd shot. The breeder I bought my crate from seconded this advice. You can take the puppy to friends houses to meet their dogs pretty much straight away if you want to. I wouldn't be taking it to the dog park or any other areas where lots of (possible un-vaccinated) dogs visit until after his final shot though.

oohh the Tug-a-Jugs are good! Until your dog works out how to turn it upside down and empty the lot must try putting some larger treats in mine The Kong Stuff-a-Balls are good too, gives them something to roll around and work for their dinner. When ours got too easy for Kei I strung it up to the top of the run with some elastic cord and now he has to jump and pull on it to make the treats come out, he loves it. The Kong puppy paste seems to work well for getting puppies interested in the Kongs (it's chicken flavoured), my dog really enjoyed this when we first brought him home, although I only ever bought one can of it before we moved on to cheese spread. Some dogs like peanut butter in there too. You could also try stuffing a piece of dried liver treat in the small hole at the top of the kong. The puppy will spend hours trying to pull it out. My dog also liked melted cheese on his dental kong. You just put some cheese in the grooves (you can put liver treats or kibble in there too) and then pop it in the microwave until it melts, cool and then give it to the pup There's heaps of toys around but I found that varying the treats works better than varying the toys in most cases

It's really hard to say what is 'best' when it comes to food, it really does depend what your dog does well on and what is available to you. (and how much you are willing to spend) If you want to feed dry are you happy with what the breeder is using? (ie, is it a premium food, is it available to you to buy loccally and if not are you prepared to order it? etc.) If so, stick with it, at least for the time being. If not, change it SLOWLY. If you are thinking of feeding raw/BARF do you have the time to do your research and prepare the right meals for your dog? Is everything you need available to you locally? Or will you buy a commercial style BARF product? Then there's the option of feeding a combination of both... I know that's more questions than answers, but all things you will need to consider. If you're looking for a more straight to the point answer here it is: the best dry foods available in Australia at the moment are Artemis, Eagle Pack, Royal Canin or Nutrience. But.... 1. You could find that none of these actually agree with your dog, 2.thats only my opinion (and everyone here has one ) ...and 3. I feed raw and would feed that over any dry food.

Try here: http://k9katzkitchen.com.au/store/index.php for Artemis. Great people to deal with and they will send you a sample bag on request.

Firstly, find a breeder who will provide you with limited registration papers for your puppy. If not, walk away. Feed the puppy 3 meals a day- in the morning when it wakes, as soon as you arrive home from school, and later in the evening before bed. (ie, 7am/4pm/10pm) Confine the puppy in a puppy pen inside the house during the day while you are at school with it's water bowl, bed, toys and a puppy pad or appropriate toilet area. (This is your 'long-term' confinement area) You can let the puppy outside for supervised play when you get home in the afternoons and on weekends. (I would not be having a miniature poodle puppy outside alone unless you have a secure enclosed dog run, and even then not in winter or hot weather) Buy a crate for toilet traing, put it next to your bed and let the puppy sleep in there at night. If the puppy cries during the night (which it will) you can get up and take it outside to the toilet without delay. (This is your 'short-term' confinement area) If you download the 'Before and After you get your puppy' books from Dogstardaily they will explain all about long and short term confinement and crate training ETA: Try this link for WA breeders http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breede...A&Submit=Go

Try giving him a pigs ear or stuffed Kong when you put him to bed and he will more than likely just chew himself to sleep I would also try removing the crate cover for a while. Most dogs do like their crate to be 'den-like' eventually but your puppy may just be scared and confused because he cant see you. If all else fails buy a cheap, smaller crate (either 2nd hand or online) put it next to your bed, and just use the XL one during the day until he is more confident. There's always people looking for cheap crates so you can sell a smaller one very easily when you no longer need it :p Something like this: http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/p/dog-cage-52-76-60cm/ would probably do the job. Don't know about you, but I'd happily pay $50 for a good nights sleep :p