Belgianlover

Groenendael - Gron-en-dale Tervuren- Ter-vu-ren Mallinois - Mal-en-wa Laekenois - Lake-en-wa Now you can At least I know which one is which. Definitely an advantage there ;) If you wanted the most relaxed out of them, from my experience and everything I've heard as well, that would be the Groens

Groenendael - Gron-en-dale Tervuren- Ter-vu-ren Mallinois - Mal-en-wa Laekenois - Lake-en-wa Now you can

Borzois? I've always wanted one but then I thought....what is it with me and that type of head Then there's Belgians If you like Long Coats you even get two colour varieties to choose from

There is one avertised at my vets (Port Kennedy) I would assume it would be near here (Rockingham area) Hope This Helps, BL

I am so sorry to hear of your loss Persephone, that's horrible. :D

Roxie sits at the back door and stares at me. If it at night she nudges me/licks me until I get up and let her out.

Hi everyone, also from Perth (well Port Kennedy Actually)

What rot! I'm sorry but there is no irrefutable evidence that a dog will 'thrive' on a vegetarian diet. They are not vegetarian animals. Why would someone even contemplate changing an animals natural diet just because they don't consume meat themselves? It's utterly selfish and is basically an anal act of anthropomorphic idiocy. Any normal person would feed their animal what it has been designed and has evolved (over many millenium of evolution) to eat. To do otherwise is NOT normal. I have no patience with nutjobs and fruitloops and if you look under my avatar you will notice that 'political correctness' is not my preferred stance. Exactly, who's going to start adding meat to their horses diets just because that's what they eat? It's a simple question of what an animal has evolved to eat in my opinion. I don't see wolves stalking cabbages

Roxie my 8 Month old Groen girl is like this too, she is very able to sense how a kid is feeling about her and if they are uncertain she will just try to sniff their hand allowing them to pat her. I just have to try and stop her jumping up on the more dog savvy people because she LOVES the attention.

I don't feed my dogs "tinned scraps". I feed a complete raw diet. Even when they were on dried food they still never ate tinned food. I am not accusing you (or anyone in particular) of doing so. But it's a fairly common diet for a dog, would you agree? To be quite Honest, I don't actually think I've met anyone that feeds their dog tinned food. :D Who buys this stuff?

Would that not make Birth Control Murder by the same thought process? :D

Signed! Some people really should be taken out of society so they can no longer pollute the gene pool

Wire - Roxie LOVES liver, so what I do as I didn't want her having all the rubbish in supermarket treats was make them myself. I just buy liver from the supermarket, cook it in the oven at quite a low temp until it goes solid and is easy to cut then I slice it up into the sizes I want and stick it back in the oven to dry out further until I'm happy with how crunchy/soft they are. Problem solved, Roxie gets her liver treat that she will do anything for and I know she isn't getting anything except 100% meat The only issue is that your house will really smell of liver for the day. You may not like that as much as dogs do

Whilst Belgians are beautiful dogs (I know 2 in particular whom I love) I haven't really considered them. Unfortunately my heart is set on one of these two breeds. Good luck in your decision then kiesha

Have you ever thought of a Belgian? The home you describe would be perfect for one and they would be great for what you want. Just to possibly confuse the issue for you even more

Roxie normally settles after 10-15 minutes of me getting home (I just walk outside and check on the veggie garden etc to let her do some zoomies and then settle. Last night though she was doing continuous Zoomies and atacking multiple toys and ice cream containers (or anything else in her way) for 2 and a half hours I couldn't get her to settle no matter what. I didn't want to take her for a walk at that point as I don't want to reward her for going crazy and atacking everything in sight. I have never seen her so hyperactive, then as though someone flicked the off switch she just walked slowly over to her bed laid down and watched everyone from there as she usually does and she was super calm. As stated in my previous post, The joys of a dog with drive (when it's not chanelled constructively).

I did take my girl to the dog beach on Sunday, so I think I will leave it until after this coming weekend before introducing them and just walk Roxie in areas that aren't dog specific to minimise any risk until the pup has had all her vaccinations. Thanks very much for the advice

Thanks PF, any idea on how long I would need to keep my girl in my yard before she would be safe for the pup to play with? She went on her last walk Sunday. I'm also curious because I'm getting a new pup in Jan.

Hi all, I have a quick question for you. Can a fully immunised dog pass on parvo? I ask because my brother is getting his puppy this weekend and wants to socialise it with my girl but I want to make sure that she won't pass on anything to the new pup. I have heard from a friend (not really a reliable source, so want to check) that you should not walk the dog for 2 weeks before it meets the new pup and then not walk the dog until the pup is fully immunised. Thanks for your help in advance.

I feel your pain Nekhbet, and my girls a Groen, so not as full on as a Mal (especially a working one). She is still crazy at times though and I don't dare leave her without stimulation for fear of the havoc the backyard will cop. To have a dog with drive and character is so much fun though IMO especially if you channel all the energy constructively. :D

I agree with the general tone of the posts here. I wouldn't like to, but if an aggressive dog came at myself or my dog(s) and nothing else worked I would use it as a last resort.

I would be very cautious about adding calcium to a pup's diet. Tomas, if your friends aren't going to feed an appropriate (ie containing bone) raw diet, their pup will do better on a good quality kibble. I would suggest they seek advice about whether to feed a "puppy" or an "adult" formula as many giant dog breeders are cautious about the high levels of calcium found in such formulas. In the good quality Dry Foods there are specific 'Large Breed' foods that have lower levels of calcium due to the fact that percentage-wise large breeds grow slower than smaller breeds (hence the reason they take longer to reach full size). I feed a mixture of high quality dry and raw in the same meal and my girl is very healthy and full of energy. I feed her different things throughout the week. Some days I feed her dry with an egg or two over it, other days I will feed her beef mince or chicken frames/necks. I make my own training treats from liver cooked in the over to ensure there's no added preservatives etc in them.

My girl cried for the whole of the first week like her throat was being slit (Much worse than any pup I've ever heard). She was in a travel crate, after I put up a baby gate to keep her in the laundry with her crate door open so she could go in and out of it she quietened down a lot. The only problem is being a Belgian Shepherd (who are known for their natural skill in agility type arenas) by the age of 3 months she could climb over it So NOW Miss Roxie sleeps in my room next to my bed on her Pet Futon bed and she has learned not to go toilet inside. She puts her front paws on the bed and licks/nudges me if she needs to go outside

The only problem with letting him in the bed is he will always want to sleep in there and he is a lab, so will grow a lot

I just buy liver from the supermarket and stick it in the over until it's well cooked through and then slice it up. My pooch ABSOLUTELY loves these little training treats and liver is VERY cheap (about $2 for more than you would get in a normal sized bag at the supermarket. I like the fact that I can be sure that there's no preservatives in them too. :D