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Lotsa Pet Food in Woodridge sell 5kg Kangaroo Mince, among other minces, and a locally made BARF

Lotsa Pet Food in Woodridge sells Chicken Necks and Turkey Necks by the box frozen. Chicken Necks are $30 and Turkey Necks are $47. Always seem to have them in stock. They also sell them in 1kg bags. You can get boxes of fresh Chicken Necks as well, but they have to be ordered in advance as they are not as easy to get.

I think Fancy Feast do one that is shredded Chicken or Turkey. You could of course, give them raw Roo mince. My cats love it, as long as it isnt one of the supermarket ones as they have too much preservative in it. Your local Pet Food shop should have it.

Many dogs are allergic to Beef, so it could be that causing the itchys

Glad to hear you prefer the obedience club. As a trainer I recommend people attend puppy groups at a club or a trainers - most welcome you from 8-10 weeks. - vet clinics dont cover enough and dont have any follow on. Many often spend a great deal of your time on selling you stuff. The other problem with vets is that lots of sick dogs go to the vets and unless the vet has removed everything from the room (chairs, tables, magazines, noticeboards) and done a complete sterilising floor to ceiling including equipment- then there is a greater risk of infections there than at most other locations. Sorry vets, but stick to what your good at and let the trainers do their stuff. Too right Alpha bet. Totally agree with the vets/sick dogs thing and also let the trainers do their stuff. When I did my Cert III with NDTF, I specifically asked about the age to go to puppy class, and they said, its worth the risk. I have also found, that at 8 weeks, they are bang on their fear and socialisation phase. What better way to cover all the bases? Remember that fear period though, as they can be affected for life, which is why the instructor should never allow a puppy to be swamped by others when they are unsure. Another thing is, their brains seem like little sponges at this age, and they seem to learn so much faster. I took my puppy along to puppy classes, and afterwards, he slept for the rest of the day! Good luck with your Staffy, and yes, he will be the most boisterous in the class, but thats what makes them lovable.

Good thinking!

I supplemented my bitch with Supercoat puppy while she was pregnant, and until soon after she had finished feeding. I didn't have any problems with it. I also put the puppies on it, without any problems. We have now bought our own male puppy, and he too is on Supercoat puppy. When we first got him, I mixed Nutro Large Breed puppy in with it, but now he is on straight Supercoat. After all this discussion, I may mix some more Nutro in with it. For my cats, I have always bought high end Supermarket brands, such as Optimum. I cant see anything wrong with people buying high end Supermarket products for their animals. They are doing the best they can with limited finances. I must say though, I have heard bad stories about Science Diet, and would not feed this to my dogs. Apart from the dry they get, they are on a raw diet. I wouldn't feed dry food as their main diet, it is more as a supplement.

I can't emphasise that bit enough! think of it this way: if you let the dog go forward while it is pulling you are rewarding it for pulling! Now about the issue of feeling embarrassed when you are basically going around in circles - think of it this way: A bit of effort now will mean that for years you and your dog will look fabulous together as you walk down the street, your dog walking calmly and attentively by your side isn't that worth a bit of short term embarrassment? Oh yes and something you said in your post Flux: changing direction is an excellent way of teaching your dog to walk nicely on lead. the moment your dog's shoulder moves in front of your leg, spin them around in the opposite direction. then when they do it again, spin them around in the opposite direction. In the early stages you will only get a few metres before you have to turn around. So you probably won't go much past your frontage ;) as your dog gets better you may just do a 360 turn so that you end up heading in the same direction. So no need to worry about getting lost in your suburb and ending up in a different location to where you are going. and most importantly: reward them for the right behaviour. Often if you always reward the correct behaviour, you can get away with ignoring the behaviours you don't want good luck Totally agree with this. It teaches lead respect. And just as you have to catch your dog being bad, you have to catch it being good. I havent read all the posts on this, but I strongly suggest going to dog obedience. Books are great, but there is nothing like having someone show you how to do something, and pick up on the the things you are not doing quite so right. Good luck

I would never leave a pup unattended in an open top pen. I know someone who came home to find their pup suspended from the top of the pen with its badly broken leg caught in the top. Don't do it. Is there anyone who can do a lunchtime visit and feed for the first few weeks? I'd suggest you put gates or close doors to close off part of the house and tie the dog door open so puppy can go in and out. Most of mine mastered the dog door in a couple of days anyway. You will really set toilet training back if the pup has to toilet inside while you're away. If the yard safe or can you section off a bit near the house? I agree with this. My neighbours used mesh to fence off part of their verandah while they were at work for their puppy. Its screaming had me scaling the 6 foot fence! It had tried to get over the mesh and had caught its hind leg on the inside and was hanging on outside. Luckily no damage caused, but that could have been due to someone getting there quick enough to release it.

Will work this out some how lol

Having probs posting this

Make sure you feed high fat foods, such as chicken mince or a high fat Barf, and good quality puppy biscuits of course. You dont want a fat puppy, but not too thin either. Remember too that they go through growth spurts and lose weight while this is happening cos they are using what that have to put into height. They need enough condition on them to help with the growth spurt or they will end up weedy.

I have mentioned this in a couple of other posts under different subjects. Try some Yakult or Natural Yoghurt to get some good bacteria in his tummy

One more thing that I have done with our puppy, is give him some Yakult. He was appearing very quiet, but 30 hours after having Yakult - we had our puppy back! Natural yoghurt would do the same thing. It puts the good bacteria back in their tummies. Other than that, he has Beef mince, puppy milk with an egg in it and his yakult. He is also on a mix of Supercoat and Nutro Puppy. He is doing well. We make up enough puppy milk to last about 2-3 days, and the egg and the yakult gets mixed in with this. Initially though, we gave him a full yakult in one hit. Then 12 hours later gave him another one. His coat is very shiny and he is a happy lively little guy.

Done

Put the yoghurt in his main meal ie, only one meal per day. Yep, put the egg in with the veggies. That way he will get an egg about every 2-3 days. I have a Barf recipe on my computer somewhere. Someone on here posted it. I will send it to you. I havent personally used it, as I just do the veggies on their own, put the meat in the bowl, and add as much veggies as I want and mix it all up together. Maybe a tablespoon or two. I dont feed offal, just chicken mince mainly. One of my dogs has a beef allergy, and chicken is cheap and good for her cos its got all the good omegas in it and has the ground up frame in it too. Make sure that what you buy has no or very little preservative. Just a word to the wise, dont put too much cabbage in, it ummm makes them fart lol. I will also give them sardines once in a while too. I have German Shepherds so my quantities are a good size. I feed them half a kilo a day, and the pup is probably getting more than that spread over 3 meals. He is 12 weeks old.

Oh dear! I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. And am still laughing. Another Marley on the way huh? hahahahaha Red Ruby's comment send me into more gales of laughter. I had to copy that and send to some of my doggie friends. That is the best thing I have seen for ages. Keep it up please. I am keen to hear how the chewing and digging goes hahahahahaha

I am guessing she is not house trained, so a litter tray or paper wont be any good, unless she knows already how to use them. A weekend may not be enough time to train her. This is a huge subject and I am not sure what you already know, so please forgive me if it sounds like I am telling you how to suck eggs lol. For me, I think the outside idea sounds the best. I totally agree with your comments on letting her have the run of the house, can you imagine the trouble she can get in to? lol. She will have much more to look at outside, although, she will probably sleep for most of the day - our new puppy seems to, and then comes to life at night! But, I have two other dogs, and they keep him company and play with him. Lots of toys sounds good, and also a raw bone to chew. Regarding the housetraining. About 15-20 minutes after she has eaten or woken up, take her outside. Dont stand over her, just be relaxed or you will put pressure on her to go. When she is going, use a word, such as toilet or wee wee. This will help when you need her to go, and you can then get to go on command. Once she has been, let her stay outside for a while. If she thinks that when she goes, she comes back inside, she may hold off going, so she can enjoy some time outside. I would also recommend taking her to puppy school. This gives them a great start. Also, there are a couple of threads on here that are really good. They are at the top of Puppy Problems. One is called When will my dog be trained, and the other is Puppy Socialisation. Knowing these critical periods will really help you deal with and understand the different stages of their life. Once these periods are passed, they are gone, so it is really important that are dealt with at the right time. Good luck and have fun

I have heard some bad things about Science Diet. All food should be fed raw. I used to put my veggies in the food processor (raw) and then get them down to the consistency of an animals gut, and mix that in with the meat. I also add Cod Liver Oil and some Livermol to their food. Oh and a tsp of garlic. I have sent you a list of human foods that are poisonous to dogs. I put it together from Dogs Queensland magazine. He also needs some Acidopholis to help put good bacteria in his tummy. You can use a tablespoon of Plain Yoghurt. Pity you arent in Brisbane. We have a different BARF up here, and it has most of this stuff in it. But you are going down the right track for sure. Fresh is best. My new pup (now 12 weeks old) isnt too fussed on dry puppy food either. I give him a mix of Supercoat and Nutro with his meat, and he nibbles on it. He gets a lot out of his milk though. We make enough for about 3 bowls, and we put an egg and some Yakult in it and dont add Yoghurt to his meat. Hope its of some help and good luck

Chicken mince is generally gentler on the tummy, and less inclined to give allergies or reactions. Is there any preservative in it I wonder. Our new puppy went very quiet after about a week, and we put him on Yakult to put some good bacteria back in his tummy. 30 hours later - different puppy and he hasn't looked back. He will only poo about once or twice a day though. He is on beef mince, puppy biscuits and puppy milk. We make his milk up, and it is enough for 3 feeds. In that goes one Yakult and an egg. His coat is beautiful and he is a picture of health. I would be really concerned if he was going 8 times a day. Silly question I suppose, but has be been wormed?

Oh shit! lol

What a dear wee baby, and mumma looks so proud! Just boost mums feed up a bit. As she has only had the one pup, it wont be draining too much from her. I put my bitch on puppy biscuits while she was pregnant and feeding, but I guess you missed the pregnant part lol. I also started offering my pups puppy milk when they were 3 weeks old to take some of the pressure off mum, and then mixed in some BARF to a very watery consistency. They thrived putting on a kilo a week. I would have the thought the same as you "Where on earth did that come from" Hahahaha. My bitch had a caesarian, so had no concept of what these this little wriggly things were. I made her lie still and I put the pups on her. She lost interest reasonably quickly, but not as quick as 1 week. Bottle feeding at that age is a good idea. Just try the pup 4-5 times a day. It will let you know when its had enough. Still try and get mum to feed as well if you can. Good luck and all the best

Ahh, sorry, should have defined it. I mean the dog gets to take the toy from your hand and leave with it. This is the other thing I meant to mention earlier. Everyone I know who has trained their dog to work with a tug in prey drive, has a dog who sees them (the handler) as a big part of the game too. When they let go of the tug toy or throw it for the dog to get, the dog brings it back to them because without the handler the game doesn't exist. So even though you could let go of the toy so the dog could leave with it, the dog isn't interested in having the toy on it's own. I guess I also don't really see the difference between letting the dog capture the toy and tug with it and letting the dog run away with the toy. The capture and tug part is the part where the dog (by my understanding) gets drive satisfaction and their reward, which is why I see it as a win. Elsa: This thread might be a good read for you; http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...c=43795&hl= Thanks for that Huski. I spent most of yesterday reading it. It was fantastic

I agree with you. People who are training for trialling or sports need to provoke that drive, and if they are a half decent handler, they can then channel and control it. For straight family pets, tug is probably not a good idea for the reasons you state.