Serket

Originally a lovely DOLer saw them at a dog show and bought and sent one to me years ago when Gypsy was a pup, but after it suffered a brutal death it was replaced on eBay. There's normally a seller in the UK, it's not too expensive to do it that way and Gypsy loves it and it's proved popular with the little one too, unfortunately I haven't found them locally again. They come in different sizes so be careful what you order, the big one has proved more popular here than the smaller one did. It's fantastic because the head of it quacks and then every second tentacle has a normal squeaker at the bottom of it, and the tentacles have plastic in them so they crackle - lots of variety Here is a link to it on eBay (this is the small one though) Ebay link Thanks how big is the one in the pictures? My lab would love one of those for her birthday this year! 25", I went looking on ebay some more trying to find the big ones. You can only get them from a few UK sellers, they don't say they do international postage but some will do it. I just bought 4 more last night because they're getting harder to find and with 2 dogs now I think they're going to die faster, and postage was 25 pounds for the 4 of them, not too bad. When I bought two last time postage was 19 pounds so in bulk is best I think, maybe only to a point though. Search GOR PET octopus, the Danish design version is no longer made in the larger size.

Originally a lovely DOLer saw them at a dog show and bought and sent one to me years ago when Gypsy was a pup, but after it suffered a brutal death it was replaced on eBay. There's normally a seller in the UK, it's not too expensive to do it that way and Gypsy loves it and it's proved popular with the little one too, unfortunately I haven't found them locally again. They come in different sizes so be careful what you order, the big one has proved more popular here than the smaller one did. It's fantastic because the head of it quacks and then every second tentacle has a normal squeaker at the bottom of it, and the tentacles have plastic in them so they crackle - lots of variety Here is a link to it on eBay (this is the small one though) Ebay link

Thanks for all the compliments, she is very pretty :) . We're making progress with the evil this morning, short stints in her pen with a kong and one of those new kong 3 pronged thingys with some peanut butter smeared in it. Barking and crying much reduced and is more an afterthought (bark bark, oh I need to wee, wee...and back to the kong ) She's special. She was good in her crate last night and she will actually let us sleep until about 8, unlike Gypsy with 5am starts for a good 6 months (I almost died...)

It's very sad for the dogs and obviously for the child as well, I hope he recovers quickly I worry all the time that my yard is not secure enough, both gates are locked from the inside with combination padlocks and fences are secure....but the one day in 3 years that we forgot to put the padlock back on the gate after gardening on the weekend, an idiot courier decided to deliver a package into the backyard rather than leave it at the front. My dog is more likely to lick someone to death rather than attack, but I worry most about her being let out. I was so angry with the courier, who strangely cut the label off the package so I couldn't easily identify the company (I know who it is and have since complained), but it does show how important it is to keep gates locked. I couldn't believe they came into my yard because as gentle as my dog is she certainly doesn't sound it when strangers come to the house. I never leave home now without double checking the gates.

TSD - She can't work the kong out yet....that's my standard crate/pen nom noms but no, of course it doesn't work with this one (yet). She tried to work it out for a while and then it got buried under the blanket in there that she decided to drag around and then it was forgotten while she carried on yesterday. Obviously it was a bit too tricky (peanut butter and kibble) and GRs don't seem to be big fans of chewing on rubber. Gypsy only eats kongs that can be licked clean or licked and them dropped to make the insides fall out. It might just be her though. Will try again tomorrow and try the blanket on top idea too, thanks It won't work for the pen but if we can get the idea in the crate it will hopefully generalise. She is really good at night and when she's sleepy, just not when she's all revved up. It's only day 3 though, can't expect too much. RuralPug - that's my general thought with training, glad you thought the same thing. I will have to sort my timing and portions out though or my 25kg GR will suddenly balloon from all the extra treats and bones keeping her distracted

Rascally is fine just without the crazy barking and screaming, I swear this one only has lungs inside, no other organs. Gypsy was fairly evil as a puppy too, but she was quiet about it. She ate AA batteries, my glasses (the actual lenses, sparkly poo after that) and large river stones from the garden. So many panicked vet visits but no problems somehow. And she never ever cried Having said that, she was much calmer today, and didn't carry on at all when I put her in her crate to nap at lunch time (going with the sleepy puppy will make less noise strategy - get it used to being confined it when it's sleepy so it won't carry on so much when it's awake and in its pen while we start to go back to work next week. I was going to get my sister to puppy sit during the day for a few weeks, but I don't think she can cope with actively supervising both dogs :-( and I don't think I can trust her to leave the puppy in its pen either. It's cruel, you see. Anyway, Zahra is starting to work out that unless she's quiet and sitting then the crate door won't get opened, so that's progress. Of course, just as I was writing that before she went absolutely mental out in the yard trying to jump over the tunnel (good luck when she can barely make it up a single brick into the house :laugh: ) and barking at and zooming around Gypsy...who them zooms in circles around her and I try to make sure it doesn't get too crazy and the little one doesn't get trampled. If Gypsy gets over excited then she won't leave Zahra alone and keeps harassing her with toys (and normally people worry about the puppy harassing the adult dog...) And my parents wonder why I'm so cruel as to plan to put Zahra in a pen during the day when we aren't home....! More photos...

Fixed the pictures I think! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Since the GR thread seems long dead I'm going to put my new puppy intro in here because she's too cute not to share :p I'd also welcome some advice on some minor issues mentioned below (getting pup to cope being left alone, and older dog resource guarding food) Introducing my new GR puppy Zahra, she's 8 weeks old and came home on Tuesday. We'd been waiting for a puppy from my other dog Gypsy's breeder since last year, but it wasn't meant to be - there were only 2 puppies in that litter and both boys that she decided to keep. She very kindly put us onto another breeder with puppies due and we were lucky enough to get one from that litter. Hopefully the photos work now So far, mostly so good with the two of them getting along. Gypsy was somewhat confused at first about how on earth to play with something so small, but she's working it out. They've played a bit of carefully supervised tug of war (I usually grab an octopus leg too so it's gentle enough for the puppy), and Gypsy brings Zahra toys to get her to play....unfortunately she also does this when Zahra is asleep and then drops them on her head when she doesn't respond. Gypsy has been good at sharing her toys, food is a different issue and they are of course separated at meal times. Zahra escaped her playpen the first night and ran for Gypsy's dinner and got snapped at, which was fair enough and she's gotten the message that not all food belongs to her (no more puppy free for all meals).. Now Gypsy needs to understand the same. Meal time is sorted now that the inside puppy pen is puppy proofed. Gypsy is fed first, and although she's not getting breakfast and lunch like Zahra, I've been giving her a biscuit at those times so she doesn't get her nose out of joint about puppy getting food. She's a fairly food focused dog, which is great for training, but less great when she now has to "share" in that not all the food she sees will go to her. Gypsy is not keen on Zahra getting treats when she isn't, and although I can put Gypsy away in the puppy pen while we do training with Zahra I'd rather find a method to have them both out. So far I've put her away but also tried rewarding Gypsy for sit/drop stays while we've been teaching Zahra her name (because Gypsy thinks all names belong to her), and mostly she's been fine, but I did get a curled lip and a growl last night when she didn't think she was getting enough treats compared to Zahra. She was told off and stopped immediately. She couldn't care less about the attention being on Zahra, it's definitely only the food. Aside from that, Zahra is mostly toilet trained already thanks to her breeder, and takes herself out or stands by the door and waits if it isn't open , and she also sleeps happily in her crate at night with no fussing. On the down side, she can't stand to be left alone in her crate or her puppy pen even for a few minutes when she's awake and screams and barks like you wouldn't believe. It's exhausting and I feel for my poor neighbours but once she starts she takes a long time to stop so it's a long wait for a pause to go back to let her out and not reward the bad behaviour Hopefully she will work it out soon. With Gypsy I gradually built up the time I left her at home and always left her with a treat of some kind, she never carried on at all, neighbours didn't even know I had a puppy until they saw her months later, and these days she basically can't wait for me to leave so she can eat and then sleep all day. I'm getting the feeling that Zahra won't be anywhere near as easy. Gypsy also had more free range as a puppy when I was out, this time because there are two it's a bit more confined. Gypsy was so quiet as a puppy I was worried she didn't know how to bark! Zahra on the other hand barks when she's playing by herself at her toys, barks at us and Gypsy if we don't play (and gets ignored until she's quiet), and even barks at her food. The first few meals she'd eat a few bites, then bark at her bowl for a bit, and then eat a few more bites, and then whimper at it. Now she's eating it normally though, but her general tendency is clearly to make noise! They'll be separated during the day when we are at work, Zahra has a puppy pen with shade, grass/decking, water, food, toys, a bed, etc. We're booked in for puppy school with the trainer we went to with Gypsy and she starts there this weekend. I've been reading back through old threads on having two dogs together etc, but if anyone has any particular tips or advice for ensuring they continue to get along I'd appreciate it. Sorry this is so long new puppies are a bit overwhelming no matter how well you think you've prepared, and the temperament was not quite what I was expecting (obviously got lucky last time) so more dramas with noise than I'd bargained for. She's an uppity little brat for an 8 week old puppy

My 8 week old golden retriever puppy came home on Tuesday and after a good hour long trip in the car was still awake and ran around like a maniac for 2-3 more hours before finally getting tired, so, no, not normal to be so stressed coming home, but then she didn't come from a pet shop, and I suppose the different environment may affect that. It does sound like the puppy is sick and has been since it was there though. My 5 year old Golden Retriever had a little bit of blood in her poo when she came home as a puppy and so I rushed to the vet. It was nothing serious in her case, but it could easily have been, and I never regretted taking her. In her case it was just one bad poo, not several, and she was happy and bright and eating normally, just the poo was unusual. I agree with the other advice you have received and I hope you take it to a vet and everything is ok.

I try to intercept with a face washer (dog use only), and she will stand there and wipe her face into it for me....so it's not all bad, but if I'm not there to catch her on the way back inside, the poor rug cops it.

Glad you made this post. My GR has recently developed an ugly bald nose issue too....I suspected the kong wobbler but she's been using it for 5 years with no issues previously, so I thought it must be something else. The hair has regrown now mostly...but time to change here too perhaps.

I don't know what a normal time is, but my GR eats both of those in about twenty minutes, the frames faster than the drumsticks of course, and that's chewing properly too, I sit and watch. I'm at a loss as to what to give her next that takes a little longer but isn't too big and hard. Turkey drumsticks used to take an hour or more, but they go fast these days. Apparently she has a good technique worked out. It seems like as soon as I've given it to her she's back inside wiping her disgusting face on the rugs. Mind you, she won't touch them frozen, won't even eat at fridge temperature. She leaves them in the sun to ripen first. Maybe that's part of it.

Thanks DeltaCharlie :-)

Maybe you should start your own thread about vaccinating versus titre testing? This thread isn’t about that. This thread is clearly for people who are interested in titre testing and want to find out where/how to do it. Sorry, it's just that you seem to have your own agenda (defending your views) and it isn't helpful; it's actually quite negative. When threads get derailed I find that people stop replying to the original question, which isn't very helpful to those who are still discussing it, so thank you Queen Maeby for trying to keep this one on track :-) I still have a few vets to call next week when I get a moment, and I will update if I find any on the Coast who are happy to titre test. Thank you to everyone who has PM'd me with suggestions :-) it's much appreciated

Russell Lea is at least an hour and a half, up to two depending on traffic. Doable but I think I have some options now that are closer :-) but it's always good to know what the other options are. I will make sure to get an actual value. I may still get the 3 yearly vaccination because I'm thinking about going back to obedience training, and they may not accept titre test results anyway, but I would still like to get it done regardless. Interestingly the clinic I got a quote from said they send their samples to WA and that was how much it cost. I didn't specifically ask if it was vetpath though.

Thanks everyone, I had a read through that other thread but nothing specific that's local. Which places in North Sydney? Anything Hornsby/North Shore is easy to get to and not too far to drive with dogs, any further and it's probably cheaper to just go to the place I found that will, somewhat reluctantly, do them. If I could find a Central Coast vet it would be easier, but it isn't looking good, and I really, really, hate being treated like an idiot and a crazy anti-vaccination person. To be fair, I haven't finished calling vets yet, but I thought I'd called the ones I felt were more progressive and up to date. I did get a call back from the one clinic that is willing to do them, parvo/distemper $119 something, plus consult of $62, and then a hep test for $142 - from reading the other thread, it seems most people just do the parvo/distemper one? The lady was a bit more open to it today in some respects after I explained a bit more, but said they'd never had anyone request it, had never heard of people doing it, and at the end when I said thank you but I'll keep looking as I believe some vets can offer it more cheaply (not that money is an issue, but I'd rather go somewhere more accepting) she kept warning me about high risk parvo areas nearby and telling me not to risk my dog's health for the sake of some fad, basically.

Thanks, and that's interesting about reducing the length of quarantine on returning. We've often thought about moving overseas but I can't stand the idea of our dogs being stuck in quarantine for months. It makes sense what she said, although her wording wasn't about immunity to rabies it was more that she was implying checking if they had rabies, but I assume she just worded it poorly. Just like I have in my post, I just thought it was becoming more common these days to titre test more generally not just for import/export and so I was surprised by her reaction and confusion that if I wasn't exporting why on earth would I want one done.

I've been meaning to find a vet on the central coast who does titre testing for a while now, and finally started ringing around tonight as our normal vet does not do them. I've just gotten off the phone to one vet clinic where the lady said they do offer them, but she was very confused about why I wanted a titre test because they normally do them to check for rabies before exporting dogs apparently. I've never heard this before as a reaction to an enquiry, people either seem to do them, or not. The previous clinic I phoned the girl had no idea what I was talking about and had to ask the vet. This lady had never heard of people getting them done to check immunity levels as an alternative to annual/triennial vaccinations before. So I guess my questions are, a) does anyone know a vet clinic on the coast who offers titre tests who might not think I'm crazy, and b) is it more common to request it for exporting and I'm just in a DOL bubble where we talk about it differently? There was an old thread on this but no clinics were specifically mentioned as offering them and it was a few years old. Edited for clarity :-)

Thanks! Good for next year at least

All sorted

Will keep an eye out, hope you find her safe and well

We don't crate any more because we got tired of having to time our sleep around the dog's bladder capacity, we could never sleep in in the morning on weekends - now she tries to convince us to get up at 5:30 and feed her some times but generally it works much bette Of course, this only works once they're house trained - we crated for the first 6 months and the crate is still in our bedroom and she can sleep in it or not as she chooses Edit to add: she goes to bed when we do, and gets up when we do, more or less. She works around our sleeping times, not vice versa

Re: the mince, it depends on what people mean by "mince" human grade mince that's meat only - most would see as unnecessary mince w/ bones etc - many would view differently (also amount + frequency of feeding) If you're going to give mince w/ bones in it, you might as well just give the bone though - mince isn't going to do much to keep teeth clean.

I used large breed puppy ProPlan, that's what her breeder uses and has always been happy with. I switched to Artemis large breed puppy at around 3 or 4 months just for personal preference, but she was doing fine on ProPlan, no issues. Personally I gave bones (chicken necks, frames) maybe once a week when she was little, good for teeth and keeping them occupied, but I wouldn't be adding mince or other things to meals on a regular basis - teaches them to be fussy with just plain dry food as well. I did sometimes add sardines or a raw egg to the dry food though, but there was no necessity to do so. These days she gets one or two bones a week (turkey/chicken drumsticks minus skin, chicken frames, no necks they're way too small)

What is he currently on? Bit confused about switching to a large breed puppy food We used ProPlan and then switched to Artemis, she did well on ProPlan and it's a bit cheaper than Artemis. If you're concerned about his growth it might be best to just stick with a dry food and not mix things into it (since theoretically the manufacturers have calculated the balance of everything to provide a complete food), if you add things you'll be skewing the ratios