aussielover

It really depends on the puppy but you have to be prepared for everything. Hopefully the breeder should be able to choose a calmer, more suitable puppy for you. My puppy Mindy would not have lasted long in a young family. Her brother was rehomed to a more experienced home for that reason. Her whole litter was extremely boisterous, energetic, dominant and mouthy. She used to try to mouth you all the time, hardly ever slept and would run around nipping you or latching onto your leg. She has turned into a lovely dog, but probably still not ideal for a family with young kids as she just needs too much exercise and mental stimulation. Having said that I do know of lab and golden pupies that were the perfect puppies- slept most of the time, gentle, quiet. They are now nice family pets that don't require huge amounts of work to keep them happpy Its worth getting pet insurance for your puppy as soon as it comes home! Mindy cost me nothing and even had most of her costs covered for ther first year, but a recent illness set as back a few thousand as we didn't have pet insurance.

I'm only considering it to help with tick prevention. She doesn't really shed that much (for a lab) and she doesn't seem to get affected much by the heat either so I wouldn't be doing it for those reasons and as mentioned above I am actually concerned that clipping will negatively affect shedding and heat tolerance. I guess I just want to to know if it will actually aid in tick prevention?

I would just like to get some opinions on clipping double coated breeds, particularly labradors. I have a black labrador and I also live in a bad tick area, where vets in the local area would be seeing at least one tick case a day in the height of the season. I am very concerned about my girl getting a tick and although she is on fortnightly advantix, I am also considering clipping her. The main reason would be so that ticks are easier to find on her; currently her dense coat makes it difficult to see smaller ticks and all the labs we have had in the clinic have needed to be shaved to locate the tick. The downsides or arguments against clipping I have heard are: - it makes their coat grow back funny: patchy, thicker and discoloured (grows back brown for black labs) - The double coat can actually act as a barrier to ticks??? - The double coat helps cool the dogs She is not a show dog, so cosmetic concerns are not really all that important compared with her health and well being. I am more concerned about the last two points. Can anyone share their thoughts/experiences with clipping a double coated breed? Should I do it or not?

Does he come back when he is called? If he doesn't have a reliable recall, I would think off leash swimming at the beach is a big no-no. Practice recalls at home, and when this is solid, start taking him out on a long line and practice recalls at the park or beach. I don't think him being older will be a disadvantage, Labs will do basically anything for food and learn quickly if you put the effort in. If he is an active lab he may need more exercise and training than you expect. I also have a lab and she really needs at least 3 x 1hr walks a day to be happy (and non destructive)plus extra training at home- I do a bit of trick training, obedience and agility with her everyday. She is just recovering from illness recently and was an absolute pain in the butt- basically had to be crated the majority of the time or she would rip up stuff, destroy her toys, dig, chew, bark, bring you toys/other items she was not allowed etc. Thankfully she is crate trained so was reaosnably well behaved and settled in the crate. I recommend you begin crate training with your lab. It is great to calm them down, gives them a safe place and is great if they are ever injured or sick. In summer I swim with my lab for around 45 mins in the ocean, she just follows me, embarassingly she is practically a faster swimmer than me and much fitter. If you swim with your dog (I don't know if you'd want to though?) it should hopefully follow you, although sometimes my dog will chase a bird quite far out which is a bit scary. She geenreally comes back when she is called though. Perhaps some training to exercise his mind would also be good? My dog and I enjoy agility traiing and also do obedience. Can you join an obedience or agility club? The other thing to look into is drive training, he sounds like a good candidate for this- it can be beneficial for dogs who don't respond to the traditional methods of training. I recommend you speak to K9pro about this: www.k9pro.com.au, they are great and can help out with other training/behavoiur issues if you need. Good Luck and enjoy you new lab- they are great fun!

Trim is 8 What an amazingly fit and talented dog! What is your secret Vickie :p I think I'd struggle with 2 competition dogs at the moment. I do hope to get another dog in a year or so, so I'm not sure how that is going to go in terms of competition. Hopefully Mindy will be competing and have the basics by then but depending on our situation, the next dog might be pet-only, maybe an older rescue.

YAY Hope he continues to improve. Poor boy with the cone of shame

If it is parvo, I wouldn't plan on breeding for a few years just to be safe or replace all your lawn, carpets, whever the puppy as been etc. The stress of pregnancy can cause maternal immunity to fall in some cases and the puppies may be affected in utero- this causes a different type of illness but the puppies will be born abnormal- cerebellar and heart damage are a real possibility. But it could be anything at this stage. Coronavirus causes similar signs to parvo, it could be a bacterial infection etc. My dog vomited 4 times over 20 mins became very flat and painful and I knew something was wrong- the vet said she would have been dead within 24-48hrs if we hadn't of intervened, unfortunately in a lot of conditions you really only have 24hrs or so to get medical treatment (even less with baby puppies) before it is too late

Surgical Specialists that I know and would recommend: John Culvenor or Craig Bailey at North Shore Vet. I was veyr happy with the level of care my dog received here a few weeks ago when she nearly died. Professor Ken Johnson at USYD. I believe he is an orthopedic specialist and he has helped a friend of mine reach the right diagnosis and treatment for her dog with HD and partial cruciate rupture. Dr Max Zuber at Gladesville Vet

DO you mean boys are more cuddly and affetcionate to all people? My girl is very cuddly and affectionate with me but she doesn't really care much for the attention of others- she enjoys a pat, but isn't one of those dogs that is desperate to be patted and won't even cuddle up to other members of my family if I'm around.

I think the results were based on a survey. There was a link to the survery here a few months ago I think asking people to do it. I think with questionnaires you get some reporting errors- people mmisinterpreting their dogs body language etc. Also I don't think the opposite of boldness is timidity. I think "cautious" or "considered" is more descriptive of the opposite to boldness (jmo). Most of the greyhounds I have seen have not been timid but then I don't really see that many out and about, most of the time it has been in a clinic setting or friends dogs, where they seem very relaxed. Some whippets I have seen appear to be timid in their body posture but are actually not and will run around like mad things being chased by other dogs, teasing them, knowing they will never be caught

Dogs are allowed on Ferries but you must sit outside. Centennial park is nice to walk dogs in and not too far from Kingsford. You can walk around the whole park and there is also a large off leash area. If you want to take a ferry- You can get off at Cremorne point- there is a 3km walk around the point and it leads to a big dog park. You can also continue on the harbouside walk which incorporates 2-3 other dog parks and dog beaches and goes past the zoo, depending on the route you take. Or you could take the ferry to Mnaly and do the Manly-Spit bridge walk, its quite long (maybe a 4-5hr round trip depending on how often you stop) and incorporates some dog parks and a dog beach at clontarf as well. Hope you have a great day with your dogs. I remember how excited we were to pick up our girl form quarantine when we came back form the UK!!!

I don't have a preference but my last two dogs have been girls. The good thing about girls is tat they don't accidently "miss" and wee on themselves or on any other undesirable object. And they only pee out on necessity and don't want to mark everything in sight. Seasons are painful but I have always had desexed females.

Hoping Earl is doing better today.

Anything that increases pressure on the anal glands will assist in emptying. You could also ask you vet to show you how to emmpty them yourself, if it is still a problem and you don't want to go ahead with the surgery.

You need something to make his stools firmer, not necessarily larger (unless they are abnormally small). Can he eat bones at all? I have found bones to be very useful for this- lamp flaps are good (but also fatty) and I'm sure other DOLers can recommend some good bones. Also I have found Hills T/D gives many dogs firm stools, not quite sure why, but at least you also get the benefits of dental cleaning as well and the dogs seem to love it. I don't like Advance for my lab as it gives her the runs.

For me, its more that the Zaddy has said that they wanted a more active dog and found that the one they met was "lazy" and only ate, toileted and slept and that they were used to a more active dog like a gundog breed. I think possibly that if you are looking for an active dog that can do a lot of activities with you and lead a really active lifestyle then maybe the average grey is not quite right for you... I don't know, perhaps I have misinterpreted Zaddy's prevoius posts I love watching greyhounds run, it is amazing, there is one that sometimes has a run on the beahc near us and it is incredible

So glad he made it through the surgery! So there was no obstruction? Do they know why the blood vessel twisted? My girl actually had peritonitis and pulled through, so I hope Earl's recovery is just as smooth and quick. to you guys, such a stressful time.

I agree, I wouldn't say they are timid, but their body posture/structure could lead you to perhsps believe this- hunched up, tail between legs, rose ears that are pressed back. So they look timid when really they are not.

I can pick a dog breed that will not cause me any issue with any club or organization or I can pick a dog that gets excluded because of insurance issues, has been the target of BSL in the past, will always galvanize peoples opinion, that most of society view as a pariah. Pretty easy choice I reckon. Pick the dog that will cause (by it's reputation alone) the most hassle and then whinge about it. If your dog is registered and not going to cause a problem you have nothing to worry about. What if you want to rescue a crossbreed??? I agree that it is not wise to pick a dog that is already restricted breed- but crossbred dogs weren't restricted at the time. Would you say the same thing if suddenly GSDs or Labradors for example were to become restricted/banned (it has happened in other countries). To all GSD and lab owners- your fault for choosing thw wrong breed?

Zaddy- why get a grey when you want something more active? It doesn't sound like Greys are really suited to what you are after? There are lots of other breed specific rescues- if you're after a more active dog then you could consider Australian working dog rescue, or another rescue group that has a wider range of breeds. Obviously they are not all lazy, but you don't seem keen on a low energy dog- which many greys are.

In my experience a lot of dogs like T/D, also Royal Canin kibble. Its what I use for fussy eaters in boarding (and I/D cans). Can't really speak from experience as my first dog didn't like anything (including fresk steak, chicken etc) and my other two dogs have been garbage guts and literally loved anything you put in front of them.

We use to leave Mindy in the laundary if we needed to go out for a long time (as she digs in the garden and rips down trees!). But that was only a few times, I'm not sure I'd be happy with that arrangement all the time. Having said that I know a lot of dogs sleep most of the day (but I know mine wouldn't). One of our friends leave their dog in the house all day wit no problems.

Wow she has grown a lot! Nice work with the sheep, she looks like a natural

Oh gosh, how awful for you Sending healing vibes to Earl...

That is really interesting. Does she actually mean it when she snaps? My dog is very submissive to other dogs and there are some dogs that literally just have to look at her and she will slink away or lie down. There is a BC that snaps at her like you describe but she ignores it and will bounce around this dog anyway. Usually they end up playing (they have known each other since puppies, otherwise I wouldn't let her annoy the dog like this) but they will never play a rough and tumble game- no body slamming like mine would play with other labs- its always a chasing game- The BC likes to "round up" Mindy and then sometimes they will gently play bitey face. To the OP- is this dog just doing it in play? I guess if it is interpreting in the worng way by the wrong dog then she could end up being attacked. I know I would be worried if my dog snapped at others even if she didn't actually hurt them.