aussielover

How much dry do you actually need to feed them as puppies to ensure they are getting all the micronutrients especially calcium and phosphate? Currently my puppy is on 2 cups of dry a day, plus extra bones and sardines or eggs .

haha i actually do perform it like a half halt (ie just a squeeze), i even hold the lead like reins

Not with mindy... She is a guide dog puppy. With my future pet dogs, yes.

can you post a link? or tell me what i should search for? I am also interested to know. Also, how much of the "sloped" appearance is due to the "show stack"? Can anyone direct me to some pics where the dogs are just standning normally. Whenever i do a google search it just comes up with show pics. Thanks

I'm so glad you've finally got your gorgeous boy! He sounds like a very good boy. My puppy was so naughty when we first got her home.

i've resigned myself to getting up early now. it is actually quite good now as i can get a lot more things done. And my puppy is a good girl, she could have a lot worse problems than getting up early.

Well my puppy has a bed in my room (a dog bed that is ) but she usually sleeps on my crumpled up clothes (i am messy). She has slept downstairs a few times when i have been up late and don't want to wake her. She is fine and doesn't get up to mischief but she is nearing 6 months old now, no way would i let a young puppy have free run peeing and pooing everyhwere!. All my dog have been crated in my room at night while they were being toilet trained and then were allowed to have free run of the house when older. Mindy (my current pup) was started off in the laundary in a crate which was unsuccessful and therefore she was moved to my room. The problem with the laundary is that it is too stressful for some puppies and you can't really hear them to take them outside if they need to go. And it is quite horrible for a puppy to be forced to make a mess in its crate Also, being a winter puppy, I think the laundary was too cold and probably smelt funny, where as my room is nice and warm and smells like me. I can hear her if she needs to go out which is great. Good Luck, looking forward to hear some puppy stories and see some photos

I would not recommend holding on to the cat generally. Sometimes they freak out and may injure you if you try to restrain them. I would recommend crating the puppy or have the pup on leash and let the cat approach the dog. I would treat the dog for calm behaviour around the cat. Clicker training is a useful to achieve this. You can also reward the cat for good behaviour with a tasty treat like chicken breast or whatever they like One of my frinds cat is actually clicker trained, it is extremely cute. The cat is more obedient than most dogs LOL. You may have a very placid and relaxed cat, in which case, holding onto it may not be such a bad idea.

I tried the towel thing last night. Mindy stared at me with a look like "what are you doing, are you stupid???" and then once released ripped the towel off in about 3 seconds. The cup was even quicker, she literally picked it up and threw it across the room and dug in LOL. This is a dog that will open doors and drawers to get to food though.... at 8 weeks old she learnt to open her playpen to get to some food that had spilled out. However, when i put the towel on HER, she just gave me a sad look and went onto her bed, still covered in the towel.

Would limiting the number of litters allowed to be sold from one "kennel" work? It wouldn't stop BYBers but surely for puppy mills pumping out 50 litters a year a limit may work. In ethical breeder, even if they have a large kennel wound not want to be breeding more than 5-10 litters a year I would think. Actually on second thoughts, i;m sure these dodgy type people would find ways around any type of restrictions

Really, I thought it was more SWF thing? My white poodle x never had it though. Also I don't see it on many yellow labs or goldies etc but perhaps that is because it is easier to wipe away?

basically it is only registered breeders, mostly show people and working/performance people who are actually interested in doing any health/temperament/performance testing. There aren't many home breeders would want to take the time and spend the money to get all these things done. And where are they going to get the stud dog from? If you're wanting a health tested dog, you're best mate or the guy down the road isn't likely to want to put their dog through all the necessary health tests, even if you did offfer to pay.

Wouldn't most puppies latch on to a leg in play? i know my lab puppy did, also my aussie puppy would nip and try to herd us. Isn't it obvious this sort of behaviour should be discouraged??? Wouldn't you try to stop any breed of dog from doing that type of thing?

Out of interest, though no two dogs will ever be the same, do you actually have a better chance of getting a similar dog if you breed the dog you want, or can you get the same results by breeding close relatives of of the dog (ie go back to the same breeder you got your dog from)

Sadly, many vets encourage BYBing. One approached me and asked if i knew any nice entire male GRs, because a client wanted to breed her female GR. The female was not health tested apart from "vet checked". They did eventually find a male (not health tested either) but the female was so aggressive towards it, I think they gave up. I told them I thought it was poor form, but they didn't really seem to see the seriousness of the problem.

He is a totally gorgeous boy with the very best temperament, but you wouldn't find his chat funny if your ear drums felt like they were gonna burst. He is LOUD but like a lot of herding breeds, his bark ends on a high, piercing topnote that is hard to describe but you'd know it if you heard it. He has quickly learnt that he can bark softly at the door to be let outside without getting a zap, but once that collar goes on, he has to be quiet. Funny story, in our previous house, we had floorboards right through the house so it was very "echo-ey". Benson slept in our bredroom most nights and one night he needed to go outside but no one would wake up. So he sat facing the corner of the room near the door and barked really loudly. It was so loud, the sound bounced back and frightened the life out of him, he dove under the bed and he's never barked loudly in the house again. Yes, I know what you mean, thats how Clover used to bark. It is very annoying. I am glad you seem to have the prob sorted though. YAy Benson

I would do 2 leash walks of 10-15 minute walks each, but REALLY working the dog ie. having him focussed on you, no sniffing or pulling, stopping at roads etc. Free-running is fine and playing with other dogs his size for 10-15 minutes should be ok too. I've heard throwing a toy or ball is not really good, it involves a lot of stopping and starting and is pretty rough on the joints.

I reckon I would get more enjoyment from it than Mindy would

I've not seen that done where I work. Though in one of the vets i did work expereince, i remember them doing that.

I also use bones.

OMG I WANT ONE LOL

Over the past week I have spoken with a number of puppy owners who intend to breed their dogs when they are old enough and not bother to desex their dogs. It is really starting to do my head in!!! I've given them as much info as possible about things that could go wrong, health testing required, risk of pyo in an undesexed female, problems with dealing with dogs in heat, findning homes for all the puppies (at the expense of a shelter or pound puppy) ETC They sort of glaze over and then say stuff like "but it would be so nice for her to have a litter, she is such a nice dog..." arghhhhh One person even said they were happy to "knock on the head" puppies that couldn't find homes One person with a malti-cavoodle (yes, you heard right), wanted to breed with a purebred malti-cavoodle because they make such great pets. Health tests? "she is perfectly healthy, she has been vet checked" Yet I can see stains around her eyes... Temperament? "don't let your big dog over near her, she doesn't like big dogs" Somebody please shoot me before I explode and try to hit one of them on the head. On a happier note- perhaps Mindy does have guide dog potential after all as she saved me from being run over by a 4WD this morning. Good Puppy. I should have a litter from her hey?

There is a dog up at the park i sometimes go to that was recently attacked by a choc labrador. Now the dog is aggressive towards any labrador looking dog that is not immediately submissive to it. It comes over with a very full on approach, and will start "having a go" if the other dog does not immediately submit. Thankfully, mine is sensible enough to keep out of this dogs way and if it does come over- immediatley rolls on her back and starts doing submissive licking. The owner seems to think that his dog being attacked is excuse enough for the dog to behave in this way. The thing is, he actually does have pretty good control over the dog, just chooses not to use it? I don't know if I should say something? I don't think the owner really sees it as a problem.

I hope she can find a new owner who actually cares about her and can give her the love and attention she needs.

Thanks for your replies! Mindy is going in for desexing next week anyway. Previously we were unsure of whether she would be desexed before or after the first season (recessed vulva) so i wanted to make sure i knew the signs of coming into heat as she is approaching the age... Now the vet is saying it is probably ok to do her before her first season as she hasn't had any UTIs since 10 weeks old. They will check her when she get there but imo, her vulva seems to have "come good" and looks fairly normal now. Has anyone else had a dog that has had a recessed vulva "popping out" before 6 months/first heat?