aussielover

So sweet ;) Emmy! I can't believe she is 1 already! Did she get anything for her birthday?

As in the yakult stuff or something else? This sounds like something I might want to try.. Well I use PAW probiotic powder and previously I used Protexin Powder. You can get both these from the vet. But yakult would probably be similar to what the powders have in them. I know a few labradors who love the taste of tabasco, so dousing the poop in that might not be the best idea, you might just encourage her

Where do you get them from?

Actually pineapple only works if the dog eats its own poop. No effect if it eats other dogs (and other animals) poop as when it is digested it apparently makes the poo taste yucky. Eating other animals poop is pretty normal for dogs. My dog likes possum, sheep, horse, rabbit and cat poop. I'm ok with the first 4 but cat poop is a bit gross. What is her diet like? My dog stopped eating other dog poo when we changed her from Pal to Advance and added in some probiotics. It didn't stop her eating rabbit and possum poo though.

If you suspect Mindy has allergies I would use pear instead of apples there is a whole thing about foods cross reacting ie if you dog is allergic to birch?? I think it is then apples will cause that same raction. Pear, banana and paw paw are apparently safe fruits to use Edited for spelling Really? wow that's interesting! Is Mason allergic to apples? I will change to pear and see how we go. she has been quite itchy in the last few days, I think its only because she is on antibiotics that she hasn't gotten an infection again ;)

Pineapple juice, chunks of pineapple and even special powders (you can get from the vet) can all be given to the dog in its food to stop it eating its own poo. It is pretty gross to us, but fairly normal for dogs. There are a number of reasons why a dog may eat poo- Lacking something in its diet Boring diet Boredom It tastes good to them! My puppy was also a poo-eater. We found a change of diet from a supermarket brand to a premium brand (advance) as well as adding a probiotic powder to her food seemed to help stop this problem.

In the grass, the parvo virus can survive for several years. Unless you completely bleach the grass or firebomb it or something, some virus will remain. You can use disinfectants like F10 for cleaning inside areas/surfaces.

Can Badger sleep in the laundary or something? Or you could stuff his kennel with straw- apparently its very insulating. And put a coat on him.

Do you mean fresh roo tails? If so, where do you get them? I (well my dog lol) tried the dried roo tails and then spewed pieces of bone up a few hours later. She never liked pigs ears as a baby pup, but likes them more now. We have never had a choking incident but I would never give her one unsupervised and frankly I rarely give them- they are so unhealthy, i would much rather give a nice fresh lamb shank as a treat (lasts a lot longer too!) I use treat balls and bob-a-lots when i go out and leave her unsupervised (i've heard of dogs choking and dying with kongs )

what if the person can control it but doesn't bother? I've seen heaps of people let their dog do whatever on those extendable leads. I even know someone whose dog was run over and killed while on an extendable lead They may as well be off lead, and then at least they wouldn't trip people over when the lead gets all tangled around peoples legs.

excuse me but what is a super-premium food i use apple as training treats. very yummy for both the dog and myself lol

No need to be too upset I am sure that if you get in contact with a professional trainer or behaviourist asap, you will be able to manage and improve her behaviour, she is only a baby puppy after all.

There is really no point in getting someone else to train your dog for you imo. You need someone to show YOU how to train YOUR dog! I don't think many of these places where you can "send off" your dog achieve lasting results. Obedience training can be lots of fun and helps you bond to your dog

OMG please take a photo of that

At our obedience club puppies must be at least 4 months and fully vaccinated. It is run on a public oval though, so sterilization/disinfection is impossible. Our "puppy school" or puppy preschool is run at the local vets. The floor there is linoleum and is disinfected before and after class. Puppies from 8 weeks who have at least one vaccination can attend this class. I would be concerned about a puppy class that is being run on a grass area, particularly if the suburb has a moderate to high incidence of parvo outbreaks.

Wow, your dog is so full of energy! Is she like that all the time or just during training? She's like an energizer bunny lol. I prefer the look of this type of heeling over the dobe. The dobe looked like it was tripping over the handler half the time. It was very focussed on the handler but surely you can get focus without having the dog glued to your leg? Is it better to use food or toys to teach this? Or does it depend on the dog? Are some dogs more "natural" at this? I had big troubles trying to teach my puppy NOT to look at me when we were walking.

Agree with PF. Normally I'd say use the same approach as Dandybrush suggested and exchange food items but in your case I would seek professional help. Your pup seems extremely stressed about having her food taken from her so I wouldn't be fluffing around her during meal times.

I've given my dogs i/d cans when they were unwell, but otherwise I would not feed cans. I find the smell quite horrendous actually. It gives a lot of dogs diarrhoea if they are not used to it. It can't be any good for their teeth either. Then there is the problem of what to do with the leftover, my dogs have never been big enough to receive a whole can. I don't want it to stink out my fridge either...

Well she hasn't lost any weight but she hasn't gained either and she is still a growing dog. Also, I guess once the body gets used to an exercise, it becomes more efficient and expends less energy. She gets a swim in the morning now instead of a run at the dog park. I'd say she is probably using the same amount of energy in both activities, maybe slightly more running around like a lunatic playing with other dogs lol Its me that needs the exercise though and I don't get it by standing around watching her have fun (i wish i did tough) ETA- Apple doesn'[t have any fat in it but isn't it really sugary? which can be quite fattening if you don't burn it off?

I would also be making him work for his meals. I also use apple cut up into cubes (though I'm not sure that apple is low fat???) For a high value treat some boiled chicken or even the breast pieces of a BBQ chicken (with no fat or skin). It is a bit messy but my dog loves it and will literally do anything for it. I'm not sure swimming has the same effect on labs as it does on other dogs I've seen some massive labs swim happily for half an hour (maybe all the fat keeps them afloat lol) where other types of dogs get tired after a few minutes. My own lab can swim a few kms with me and I get tired before she does. She hasn't lost any weight since she started doing it either.

I am forever being asked if my labrador is crossbred because she is apparently too skinny for a lab. Which is funny because I don't think she is thin at all, if anything she could probably do with losing a little She is very sweet though Most people wouldn't have a clue what the correct weight/size for a specific breed is. I think a healthy weight varies (somewhat) depending on breed.

If he is generally well behaved and not destructive- just shut your bedroom door and put his bed in the lounge room.

What are the benefits of getting a baby puppy vs an older pup vs an adult dog? I have only ever had puppies, but Mindy (current dog) is my first baby puppy (8 weeks when we brought her home). Our other dogs have been older puppies, Teddy was 16 weeks and Clover was 5.5 months when we brought them home. Mindy has been the most work (by far!), I have to say as cute as she was I really was not able to enjoy her that much during the first 2-4 weeks of having her. I actually felt like I was not bonding to her at all in the first two weeks! Which is kind of funny because now I feel I have the strongest bond with her out of any of my dogs I have had. She is by far the most obedient and affectionate (to me) dog i have had. Mindy was completely psycho and a lot of hard work as a baby puppy, but really calmed down from around 4 months and her behaviour has only improved over time. Where as I have seen some labs are really quiet and sleepy little puppies but then become more psycho and boisterous as they get older. So I guess my questions are - does raising a baby puppy result in a stronger bond between dog and owner? - are some breeds, less work/less intense as baby puppies or is it individual dogs?

Good on you for helping! Can I have my own rant? Last night I was driving back from a dinner and there was a very skinny Rottie running on the road. 5 cars nearly ran over it or had to swerve around it. So i was thinking this dog had escaped and was lost etc. No one else seemed to be helping it, so I stopped my car and tried to catch it. It was extremely fearful, in the end I got it to come over to me by sitting on the ground making pathetic "come here puppy" type sounds. I was able to pat it, but I wouldn't let me get hold of its collar, when i tried it would freak out and run away again. Unfortunately I didn't have any spare treats in my car or on me. Anyway as I went to get the spare lead out of the car, the dog ran down the street into a house. I followed it and there was a NAKED, yes a naked guy standing on the verandah. I asked him if this was his dog and he was like "yeah..." i then told him it had been running on the road and nearly hit by a number of cars. He was like "whatever, mind your own business". So yeah I felt really angry, the dog is going to get run over soon and it was really skinny and extremely shy and fearful. Some people are such morons grrr

A JRT? They seem pretty hardy and fun little dogs. One of my labs best friends is a wire haired JRT. The dog is very playful and brave. It plays with all the big dogs with no troubles and often gets the better of them! There are lots of kelpies in shelters and rescue groups if you wanted another kelpie.