Ellie1

Secretkei I know how you feel, my 6 month old puppy is going through a phase where he is ignoring me at home and out walking etc. I have gone back to basics with him and am just trying to be patient but it is very embarrassing at the dog park when your dog is actually flipping himself over on the lead to try and get to other dogs. I had to put Mason in a gentle leader from about 16 weeks as I could not hold him on a normal lead/collar anymore. Chin up it will get better. My mom still has our family Ridgebacks and now at 10 years old they are very calm, they were a handful until about 4 or so.

I heard the opposite is true, the earlier you desex them the less they grow and I heard that when you desex males their heads stop growing, would love some info on this....

I heard the opposite is true, the earlier you desex them the less they grow and I heard that when you desex males their heads stop growing, would love some info on this....

My 5 month old is humping his toys and people! He hasnt done it to me but he humps my OH and he humped my friends kids leg and another friends of ours leg. It is so embarrassing!!

Firstly, it's a cross so nobody can give an estimate on what it should weight - it depends what it's crossed with. If it's crossed with a great dane then it's gonna be much bigger than if it's crossed with a JRT. Secondly - black ones don't weigh any different to any other colour purebred lab. A lab would be about 5kg at that age but this dog needs to be assessed on the correct weight for its structure. Hi - Sorry I could have explained that better couldn't I! Million things going on at work. It looks for all the world just like a lab puppy. Definately not crossed with a JRT or a dane, or wolfy, or a peke. Apparently 3 pups were for sale, and this one was half the size of both her brothers. She is only 2.5kgs at 10 weeks and it has me quite worried. Apparently she is quite vigerous but tires really easily. I haven't even gone there yet about hips, elbows and eyes! Best to be getting this little girl the best nutrition possible at this stage. Thanks for giving me the estimate of a lab - its a good starting point. Garloch. Hi Garloch - I've always used 1kg per week of age as a guide. At birth a well covered lab puppy will weigh about 500g. At 1 week old it will weigh about 1kg at 2 weeks it will weigh about 2kgs and so on. This rapid growth rate usually continues until about 16 weeks after which the weight gain slows gradually. Between 16 & 20 weeks (4 - 5 months) there is steady (slower) weight gain but the puppy will go up on leg. This will continue until about 9 months of age where a young Lab should have made size (height) and will weigh about 30kgs. By 18 months of age most labs (if raised correctly) will have reached their usual adult weight of around 35-37 kgs. You are quite right to be concerned about the cross-bred puppy. Even if it isn't a pure bred lab 2.5kgs is very light on indeed. And I'm wondering if her lack of growth and tiredness may not be an indicator of something more serious. Heart defects can often present in the ways you describe. Hope it works out for the puppy's sake. My pup is 23 weeks, he is weighing 24Kg's and his legs seem short at the moment! Think Mason weighed around 6Kg,s when we collected him at 8 weeks so that little pup is really tiny!

I am keen to start next year when Mason is a bit older, will be cool if a few of us all start together.

My pup had this a couple of times too when he was much younger, not sure what caused it.

My pup had the same, he had a tear duct infection which when it started looked like that, I would see an opthamologist to be sure. If i had left it she said it would have been a disaster, as it is my pup was on antibiotics for 20 days... her problem is in both eyes but the left being the worst. Could this still possibly be a tear duct infection if it is affecting both eyes? becks, what could of antihistimine can i use and how much for 30kg? Only a specialist would be able to tell.

My pup had the same, he had a tear duct infection which when it started looked like that, I would see an opthamologist to be sure. If i had left it she said it would have been a disaster, as it is my pup was on antibiotics for 20 days...

I would even go see an opthamologist as they are best qualified to deal with the problem, I took my dog to the vet for an eye problem which needed an opthamologist, my pup had a tearing eye which turned out to be a tear duct system infection. He had to have his tear ducts flushed and antibiotics syringed through the system as well as oral antibiotics.

My puppy stopped it after about 4 weeks after we got him but started again when he started teething, he is 19 weeks old and still tries to mouth us.

Mason does the same thing, his is often chicken neck pieces, think he has done this 3x since I got him..

Mason did the same for a long time, I just ignored it and kept taking him for a short drive like every second day to get used to it. After awhile he associated the car with going out and now he loves it!

That's interesting! No, in Vic it's still 8 bags. I'm a dog groomer working at a petstore, which is why I know the difference for the different products. I wonder if they will be changing it across the board or if its a shop specific thing? Will have to suss it out... here in WA its also 10 bags...for Advance

Yip its the ultimate doggy snack! They love it... followed a close second by horse poo...

1. What is my relationship with the breed? Owned Ridgebacks for 10 years in South Africa 2. Where and why was the breed first developed? Bred to help the hunters hunt lion in africa 3. How common is it in Australia? Not very common. 4. What is the average lifespan? 10-12 years 5. What is the general temperament/personality? I agree that it depends on the dog, had 2 bitches from the same litter and they were total opposites. 6. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult? Quite a bit when they are young dogs, I would say at least a daily walk and some games in garden. 7. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with? I had a very dominant girl that was hard to train, her sister was easier but compared to my new lab pup they do take longer to catch on to things. On a whole I would say not for the first time dog owner as they do tend to be very dominant and need a really firm hand. 8. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods? No, they need lots of attention and TLC, love being with their owners or with another dog. 9. How much grooming is required? Very little 10. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)? Mine loved kids and are gentle, face licking is a must though! 11. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of? Not a breeder so cant really comment 12. When buying a puppy, what are the things you should ask of the breeder? Health of parents, what health checks have been done etc.

Mine has tearing out the one eye only, took him to opthamologist and he had a blocked tear duct and follicular conjunctivitis which the normal vet did not pick up, he had to have the follicules popped manually. We are 5 days into the eye ointment treatment and the eye is still running so I will probably have to take him back to the specialist after we have used the cream for 10 days.

I thought that it was 5 mins of exercise for each month of life so 20 mins sounds fine to me.

Mason's is also pretty fast.

Thanks Poodlefan, will give the parks a miss, Mason is too heavy for me to pick up at the moment.

The trouble is that your puppy is very young and you want him to have positive experiences with other dogs. If you keep taking him to parks where he's hassled by other dogs there's a possibility that the bullying could affect his attitude to dogs when he's an adult. Like MRS TS asked earlier, what age is appropriate to take your dog to the dog park, when do they cease being puppies? My pup is almost 16 weeeks old.

I got an email from Mason's breeder and there is a lady who has his brother from the same litter that wants to have a playdate, we are meeting this weekend, hopefully it goes well and we can meet up more often.

I took Mason to the DOL get together, the dogs from the group were fine but the strange dogs kept harasssing him at Whiteman Park, I eventually picked him up and held him and then took him home.

I will try see if there is puppy kindy here in WA but i must say I have not heard of any. At our club where we belong the pups go to pup school until 16 weeks and then go to obedience class 1A. There is no kindy there but I will google it and find out. If the dogs are on lead, he is fine with them, its just the offlead ones he has a problem with, and not all of them he rolls over for, some he has no issues with. I personally feel if people have their dogs off lead if they call them they must come back, if the dogs are disobedient they must stay on lead. okay, well obedience 1A sounds fine too, I realise there will be a period between end of pup school and when he's old enough for obedience, this is where the kindy filled a great hole for us and there's sure to be junior/kindy schools in Perth. Otherwise re-enrol him in the next puppy school if there's no transitional school. At least this will give him exposure to more dogs, even if it's small-ish ones. When you get a new batch of pups, it's quite possible that there will be others more submissive than him especially as he grows in confidence. From the vetwest site:- http://www.vetwest.com.au/pps.htm How old should my puppy be? Puppies should be between 6-12 weeks of age. This is the optimal time for training and ensures all puppies in the class are socialised in a safe environment which is appropriate for their age and size. If your puppy is older than 13 weeks then please contact us for our recommendations on Junior dog training. Mason starts the bigger pup school this week, its dogs age 14-16 weeks, at 16 weeks they then go on to obedience class 1A. He starts this sunday as last sunday was rained out.

Join a dog club. The chances of your pup being scared or harmed by a strange offlead dog in a dog park shouldn't be underestimated. You only get one chance to give him good experiences. What he learns now will stay with him for life. He needs to learn confidence and that means controlled socialisation with dogs who's behaviour you know want be over the top. We do go to dog club, however that is once a week, I feel bad that he has to play on paving the other 6 days a week...