aussielover

Do you mean unmotivated to work for you or unmotivated to play with other puppies? What does he like best?- Toy, Praise/attention, Food? Use what he responds to best to reward him. As for getting him to play with other puppies- if he is not interested there is no point in pushing him. He may not be interested in playing with other dogs yet (or ever). I know quite a few Bernese and they are quite selective of their playmates. I've only met one who wanted to play with everyone

We took our dog to the UK and she travelled in europe with us. She was 7 years old when she came over and 9 years old when she came home. She was in quarantine for one month on her return to australia and coped absolutely fine. If anything she was healthier and better groomed after quarantine! We sent her home a month early while we took a last european holiday so we were able to pick her up immediately and didn't miss her too much. I would not hesitate to do it again, I find the UK and europe MUCH more dog friendly. Having said that, only you know if you think your dog would cope and you should do what you think is best.

I don't refer to my own dog as my child or myself as her mum but I do refer to other people's dogs as being their kids and say stuff like "there's your mum" etc at work which is a bit hypocritical I guess. I also call my dog my "baby" when talking to her eg. Hi baby girl, whose a good baby girl etc But I don't refer to her as my baby if talking about her to others if that makes sense

Is it a GSD?? I thought an it was Airedale but happy to be wrong. Ooops, my mistake well, then 5.6kg doesn't sound too bad then. Don't know why i thought it was a GSD. I must have GSDs on the brain (i've been working at a clinic that has HEAPS of GSDS, so maybe thats it)

There are lots of different causes for an enlarged spleen. Sometimes the spleen enlarges during an infective process- it produces a lot of the blood cells that help to fight infection. Cancer is of course a possibility, but dogs also get a nodular hyperplasia which is benign and usually not a problem. Hopefully the scan will tell you more. Wishing you both all the best and hoping that it is nothing serious

5.6kg for a 10 week old GSD sounds a little small to me, but it does depend on the individual dog. Most large breed pups are around the 7-10kg mark at 10 weeks in my experience Is he small and light boned? But if he has good rib coverage and no prominent bones, then he is ok. I guess the concern with feeding raw to a puppy is that it is quite hard to get all the nutrient requirements right, especially for a large breed. However, if your breeder is experienced and has raised puppies successfully on a raw diet, it should be fine. If you have a bad feeling with the vet then I recommend you see a new one. I think it is important to have a good and trusting relationship with your vet. If you don't trust your vets knowledge or decisions, there is really little point in continuing the relationship. And, I think we need some photos of the little one :D

That doesn't sound totally non aggressive to me??? I really don't think either of your dogs are rehomable at this stage with the description you have provided. Please get them assessed by a professional before considering rehoming either of them. It would be unfair to rehome a food aggressive, possibly dog aggressive (at the least a dog that will likely have issues with large entire males) dog to a new home, regardless of whether they have kids or not. The fact that you think food aggression is a minor issue and have difficulty seeing that your labrador probably has pyschological damage from the continued attacks, which may manifest in behavioural problems at some stage, and yet you still think this dog is rehomable is worrying. Please get both dogs assessed ASAP. Good luck with it, I really hope it works out for the poor lab...

Agree. And the two breed choices are ones that do have the tendency to chase cats anyway (if not properly trained). You have to be really careful about the puppy bonding to the older dog and not you as well. Many trainers recommend almost complete separation of the older dog and pup until you've got a good relationship with the pup.

What a cutie! For a large breed I would say a weight gain of 1kg every 1-2 weeks is usual. Giant breeds may be more than this.

what does "marks the fall of the game" mean??? (in the retrieving ability test). Does a retriever need much training to do a RAT? I am fairly sure my dog would bring a dummy back without any training as she brings back a ball, rope toy, tug toy, toys etc when thrown. Of course if she'd do it during a trial environment is another story i guess!!! She'd probably run off with a real bird though

Do you know why she is barking? The reason for the behaviour will greatly determine the treatment. For example if it stems from fear, punishment will only make it worse, or cause even worse behaviours to develop If its for attention, then ignoring (as hard as it is) would be an option If its a self-rewarding behviour- ie she just likes the sound of her voice, then an anti bark collar or something similar may be appropriate. How long does she bark for and how often? Perhaps you could consider getting a professional to come and assess her. My lab went through a barky stage from puppy to about 6 months. Ignoring her and telling her to sshhh seemed to work for us. I also taught her how to bark on command, but it can easily backfire. Luckily for me, she is very quiet now and only barks when someone comes to the door unexpectedly.

Where do you get the magazine from Tassie? I don't have Mindy's pedigree (I've had a bit of trouble getting hold of it and kind of given up) but she is guide dog bred, not show bred. However, she is not a "field bred" lab as such (although I would love to have a true field lab one day!!!) She is not as bad with food as some of the labs I know (although that may be due to lack of training) and she doesn't eat rabbits or birds she catches- I'm not sure if she actually realises she can eat them though :laugh: She usually just parades around with them which is a little disturbing and embarrassing.

Pups that have an appropriate immune reaction to the vaccine may still have parvo enter their system, but they will have antibodies and memory cells pre programmed to fight the infection causing it to be eliminated before the pup can get sick. Pups teated with Homeopathy do not have these antibodies and memory cells so will contract parvo and suffer the full disease course. This is a risk until the dog has developed natural immunity and well beyond 12 weeks in an unvaccinated dog, regardless how gentle the treatment you use- it just doesn't offer any protection. Please discuss this with your breeder so that they can make an informed choice in selling you a pup. Totally agree Jumabaar! If you do decide not to vaccinate your puppy and use homeopathy instead (which I would not recommend), I would not be taking the puppy outside my home for a long time- at least until they have a mature immune system which can be up to 18 months. Even then an unvaccinated dog is at risk of contracting parvo, but being older would hopefully be able to better fight the infection. Still, its not a pleasant disease, I do not know why you would not try to prevent it using evidence based medicine??? There is a tiny risk of a vaccination reaction compared to a considerable risk of the puppy getting sick if not vaccinated at all. BTW I am not totally pro-vaccination in adult dogs and support the use of titre testing to see if it is actually required but I do feel strongly about owners completing the course of puppy vaccinations

My girl ignored the dog sounds, got up to investigate the coyote noises and looked quite frightened when she heard the cat fight noises (she has been attacked by an angry cat before though).

Homeopathic remedies are NOT a substitute for vaccinations. I have recently seen a case where people tried homeopathy instead of puppy vaccines and the poor pup ended up with parvo. IMO you should complete the full course of puppy vaccs and then Titre test at one year.

Now funny Mason who is atopic scratches mainly morning :)

I would think once a day is nothing to worry about unless accompanied by rash/ infection. My previous dog (who never had skin issues) would scratch and chew herself a few times throughout the day. My atopic dog mainly scratches at night, but is getting better

Yes :) I guess that is what makes training both fun and challenging :)

Sure. Seeing dogs avoiding their owner's eyes and cringing away from them in the ring, hitting the deck when the owner yells at them in the ring for getting something wrong (I saw this at a trial once!), having no obedience outside of the length of the leash because the dog knows it can't be corrected by the handler from a certain distance. I could go on but I think you get what I mean. Of course that's just my opinion, because I strive to have a different kind of relationship with my dog. I don't see a dog that plods along in the ring almost completely disengaged from the handler as a great relationship. Other people may see something different but it's not my cup of tea. Yes, i guess with a fearful dog it is obvoius the relationship could be improved. But what about a dog that is happy but not super animated/drivey and looks around occasionally or maybe runs over to the judge/steward to give them kisses but is well behaved in general Do they have a worse relationship with the owner than the dog who is super attentive and glued to the owners leg and never looks away the whole time in training/competition but then behaves like a brat out of training (I know dog like this) ?

Really? I see it all the time especially at obedience. Lots of dogs that can complete commands but are still just going through the motions. Just to be clear I have nothing against trick training etc The ones I see lacking the relationship are the ones that go "roll over! roll over! ROLL OVER! *tug on leash* ROLLLL OVER!" and the dog MAY roll over ;) I see dogs with obedience titles who still don't have a great relationship with their handler. But it's not just about the dog doing things - I meet dogs all the time that are really great dogs and super obedient when they are working but have terrible manners outside of training. It's a mistake I made with my dog which is why I bought up teaching more than just obedience and tricks - my next puppy will be raised very differently! Can you explain what you mean by that? Personally I find it quite difficult to judge a persons relationship with their dog as it is such an individual thing. People want different things from their dogs. I think that if a dog wants to work with the handler and is generally fairly responsive to the owner then the relationship is pretty good. What one persons finds completely unacceptable in a dog, another persons thinks its an endearing or cute behaviour. Some people like a super fast, super animated and drivey dogs, where as others like a more steady and laid back dog especially if the dog is primarily a pet. I think it is important to teach a puppy to behave how you want it to. Also for obedience and agility teaching engagement is important. Tricks are a great way to have fun and therefore build a good relationsip. Having said that I do understand where Huski is coming from. At 4 months my dog could do over 20 different commands and knew lots of tricks but was still very bratty and quite irritating to live with, but if you saw her at training you would probably think she was one of the best behaved dogs. She got better over time and is now really easy to live with thank goodness!!! Good luck with your pup Zug Zug, I just love standard poodles (would totally get one if it wasn't for all the grooming!)

Most puppy classes require vaccination certs anyway so it's fairly safe to say that pups going to classes are. Vaccinated, even today the average agility and obed class request vaccination certs just to make sure there's no one carrying anything potentially around A vaccinated dog can still carry diseases in. We can carry them on our shoes. Do you disinfect your shoes and clothes before touching your pup at home??? I think it is good to exercise some caution, but I think some people tend to go over the top, often to the detriment of the socialisation of the pup. While parvo is horrible, the risk of getting it from a vet clinic or puppy school is minimal. Vets have strict disinfection and isolation protocols for any infectious disease, are cleaned at least twice daily (often more) with strong disinfectants and its not like they leave faces, vomit or other bodily fluids lying around in the waiting room. Usually suspected kennel cough/parvo/cat flu cases are asked to wait outside and if they do come in, the waiting room and any areas the animal has been in (consult rooms, treatment rooms etc) are thoroughly disinfected.

Have you had his thyroid tested?

The diets are specific for certain types of crystals/stones. Did you ever get an analysis on the crystals? That could be why the food was not effective. There are struvite, calcium oxalates and urate stones all of which require separate diets.

That looks like a really nice set up OSS! I leave my dog inside if I'm just ducking up to the shops. If I'm gone for more than half an hour she's outside.

My lab does all of this. LOVES carrying around items in her mouth, loves playing tug with other dogs and myself. She actually really loves to be chased carrying a toy. She will bring me a toy/sock/stick (whatever naughtiness she can find lol) and try to initiate a game of tug by shoving the item in my lap, near my hand etc. But I would say she prefers food over tugging. She is food obsessed. Can you train that out of labs :laugh: