PoppyDog

I know GG. I had such a great weekend away and the photos and video & updates of Poppy really helped! I knew Poppy was being well looked after and knew she was having a ball with Sue, Harvey and Junebug. Poppy was so spoilt! Even sleeping on the bed and snoozing on the couch! :D Thanks Kissindra! She is sleeping on her bed right now! She is all tuckered out from her exciting holiday with friends! Thanks SOOOOO much for having her Sue. She is snoozing now!

I took one of those home last year! We had them at the school I taught at and I'd always wanted to see what they were like! I secretly loved it but I was so tired th next day! My Year 2/3 class loved that I had it too and all wanted to help "babysit"! Haha! Poppy is waaaay better than one of those! I feel all this love for her that you just don't feel with a cold hard lump of plastic! Lol!

Aww! I agree! I do think they bring out the nurturer in you! I sleep on my side with my knees slightly bent and Poppy usually sleeps in the little space in between my tummy and my knees. It makes me feel so content and happy. Especially when my fiance is working night shift or is away for some reason. She always comes up and lies next to my head for a cuddle when I get into bed too then goes down and snuggles in for the night! <3 Thats funny you say that. My inlaws to be are NOT doggy people but when they came to visit they coo'ed and aww'ed over Poppy so much that they had her up on the couch with them giving them cuddles. My fiance was shocked! He thought they would be very much against that. They still ask how Poppy is everytime the call! My parents aren't either - we had a dog growing up but he was an 'outside' dog. So to have 3 in the house was a shock for my folks - however they love them and love giving them pats and cuddles when they come over. My inlaws last dog was allowed in the house, slept in the bed etc so they took to our three easily - however they don't quite understand pack dynamics etc as they have never had more than one dog at a time. They actually humanise the dogs more than we do. My MIL is still going on about the fact that she has to buy 2 more dryzabone coats because Oscar and Lilly will get jealous that Patch is the only one with one It has given me a bit of insight as to how they will be as grandparents - and I see overbearing inlaws in my future We are always told we don't feed the dogs enough etc. Oh we had that too! Poppy had been sick and we were doing the whole cooked chicken breast then slowly re-introducing kibble thing as the vet reccomended. Meanwhile father in law to be wanted to feed her his left over sausage! I agree with the bolded statement. I would never get a dog JUST because I wanted a baby! I just think that there are some aspects of puppyhood that may help prepare you for parenthood. What do you mean? I guess her breed or cross breed (small) and her temprement/personality makes her a good practice baby. She loves to be with us and is oh so adorable but I think lots of breeds are like that??? Some toy breeds were developed to be baby substitutes. They have large head size compared to their small body, have large round eyes in comparison with their head size, and have had their muzzles shortened to give a round 'baby-face' appearance. They were bred to be house companions and to be cuddled. The phenomenon is called neoteny. Besides that, I do notice on DOL that a lot of owners of these sort of breeds tend to refer to themselves as their dog's Mummy and refer to their partners as their dog's Daddy. Happens with other breeds as well, but it seems to be more prevalent with young childless couples that own 'baby-faced' breeds like cavs or shih tzus. Wow! I had never thought of that before but it is very true! We refer to ourselves as Mummy and Daddy. And the features of a pure Cav are very human baby like! Very interesting. I think if anyone every did a study of this like another poster suggested it would be interesting to see the types of breeds people chose. See, that makes me SO sad! I never want to replace Poppy. I want her to be part of the family and I want our future children to love and care for her like we do. I will be doing A LOT of research about how to bring home a baby with and ensure that the family dog isn't put out of place when the time does come!

I didn't mean it literally. We didn't get a dog to prepare us for a baby or to replace the want for having a baby. It is just an observation a lot of people in our lives have made and the comment "practice baby" has come from various different people. So I wondered if others had experienced this. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. Kids and dogs are worlds apart. Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in la-la-land. See above. EXACTLY!!! That is what I think. I also work with children and so those experiences will help me the be a better parent than I imagine I would be if I didn't have them. It's not about having a dog to REPLACE the want for a baby. It's just an observation I have made.

Thats funny you say that. My inlaws to be are NOT doggy people but when they came to visit they coo'ed and aww'ed over Poppy so much that they had her up on the couch with them giving them cuddles. My fiance was shocked! He thought they would be very much against that. They still ask how Poppy is everytime the call!

I often wonder how we will deal with that when the time comes. I don't want to be one of those people who suddenly makes the dog sleep outside and has no time for them just because a human baby comes along. I'd still like Poppy to sleep on our bed or at least in our room even when the baby comes home and is sleeping in there. What tips do you give people? I guess I've always wanted a baby, since before I could remember but getting a puppy with my fiance was like us bringing home something to love and nurture and teach (train). I read on a Pregnancy and Parenting Forum that someone had witnessed a "friend" squirt their two year old to stop them climbing things! They weren't too impressed with this type of child training! What do you mean? I guess her breed or cross breed (small) and her temprement/personality makes her a good practice baby. She loves to be with us and is oh so adorable but I think lots of breeds are like that??? I'm glad someone else came out and said it! We still hold Poppy like a baby sometimes. She will just lie there in our arms staring up at us. Its so cute!

Just curious as to how many people out there got puppies with their boyfriends, partners, fiances, husbands as their "practice baby"? DF and I had wanted a puppy for 12 months before we got ours but I was teaching out west and he was working in the city and we were driving back and forth and back and forth every chance we got so it wasn't really the best time. But we did use that time to research breeds and find out information about buying puppies. I learn't that pet shops and BYB's were a BIG no, no but I didn't learn that some "breeders" are less reputable than others. All our family and friends joke that Poppy (our 8 month old CKCS X) is our practice baby. And...well....she sort of is. She has taught us SO much. We never thought that we would love our pet the way we love her. We sit on the couch some nights with her snoozing in between us and coo over her. How cute she is, how clever she is, how we cannot imagine our lives without her! She has woken us up at un-godly hours, made us clean up wee and poo AND sloppy runny poo AND vomit! She has taught us patience and the value in repition and rewad and consistence. We have taken her on trips to the beach and packed picnic lunches for her and us. She has had countless playdates. So many things about puppy ownership make me think that she has better prepared us for when we do have babies. My fiance has cleaned up the worst poo from her so I don't think he will ever complain about changing a nappy! That's got to be a plus!

Just googled "Brittany Breed". Never heard of them before. But she does look a lot like them! I guess it just is the mixed breed thing. You really do never know what you will get!

I've seen a CKCS/Cocker Spaniel mix that looked like Poppy. Not sure on her exact height (don't have anything to measure her) But I would estimate from foot up to the top of her back that she is 40 - 45cm. I brought her a coat that was a 45cm one and it fits her perfectly. That might add give some extra info about her size. I never realised Cav's were smaller than her. I actually thought they would be the same size. Very interesting! Mini poodle breed standard tops out at about 36cm (15 inches) although there are plenty larger than that. Poppy is way leggier than a CKCS and that ticked coat says there might be another spaniel in the mix.. Got a head shot??? Hmm...maybe I was ripped off even more than I initially thought! Here is a head shot of her. Here is her "Mum" - Cavoodle And here is her "Dad" - CKCS

I've seen a CKCS/Cocker Spaniel mix that looked like Poppy. Not sure on her exact height (don't have anything to measure her) But I would estimate from foot up to the top of her back that she is 40 - 45cm. I brought her a coat that was a 45cm one and it fits her perfectly. That might add give some extra info about her size. I never realised Cav's were smaller than her. I actually thought they would be the same size. Very interesting!

I've never met a purebred Cav so can't compare but would be interested to compare her with one one day. I guess she hasn't stopped growing so will see how big she grows. I don't think she will grow TOO much bigger. She is perfect size for us though. Not too big, not too little. Her ribs are easily felt and her waist tucked under. She was quite sick when she was about 14 weeks and lost a lot of weight so I have always been really mindful that she is the right size. Not too big, not too small! Will check out the frames and try them out on her? Is 1/2 per day too much? Oh, and thanks for not having a go. I've had the lecture SO many times it's not even funny. I hate feeling bad for having Poppy because we love her so much and don't regret getting her but obviously would never go there again. I would love a pure cav from a breeder one day. Or a rescue cav!

She is CKCS crossed with a CKCS X Poodle (Cavoodle). She she is 3/4 Cav, 1/4 poodle. I know that she probably came from a puppy farm but I didn't know about those places when we got her. I knew petshops and BYB were bad. She was sold by this LOVELY lady who has emailed twice with updates of her siblings (the lady kept one puppy) and pictures of her Mum and Dad. The lady seems to really LOVE dogs so I wonder what the true story behind her breeding is. ;) Thanks for the feeding advice!

Please think carefully about giving your dog bones of any kind when you're not there to keep an eye on things - please, please, please! Especially with things like chook necks/wings, they can get into trouble so quickly (I know, I speak from experience) and if you're not there to help........ ;) Thanks. After typing that I thought I probably won't do the chicken neck/wing thing when we are not here because she is such a guts and has chocked on necks before. But I'm happy to give the big briskit ones.

It's the whites... but you have to feed a hell of a lot of them on their own for it to have any effect. 11kg sounds pretty hefty - got a photo of Poppy? Oh good, because I gave her 2 yolks. I was making pavlova so used the whites! Are you calling my puppy FAT!!! ;) She is probably 10.something. I weighed her on Monday when I got some more Sentinal Spectrum for her. Anyway, heres a recent photo of her in her new bed. She's not a fatty is she?

Poppy is 11kg now. ;) I'm not sure if she is lactose intolerant. I know that the person we got her from suggested puppy milk but we thought it gave her the runs so we canned it. Looking back the runs could of been a puppy settling in thing. Maybe I will freeze 2 chicken wings and give her them in the morning to keep her busy while we go to work then give her dry food for dinner with an egg over it twice a week. She LOVES eggs and I usually just give her a whole one outside for her to crunch! Is it the white or yolk your not supposed to give to them seperately? I was baking the other day and wondered.

I wouldn't give her a chicken frame each day though would I? Could I continue with the dry food Morning and Night with a raw egg once or twice a week and then give her a chicken frame X amount of times per week? I think that would be a great thing to give her in the mornings before we go to work. We try and give her a bone the days we have to work to keep her occupied. Is there such thing as too many bones per week? Are briskit bones considered meaty bones or not?

I'd say you'd run the risk of having a diet deficient in calcium. I agree with Tess - why not upgrade to a better quality kibble, and supplement with raw chicken wings (better for teeth and less likely to make you and other raw meaty bones) Easy Peasy! ;) Can you reccomend better quality kibbles that won't break the bank???

Damn! But thanks for your honesty! We do give her chicken necks and meaty bones too. We have to freeze the chicken necks so she doesnt try to eat them whole and gag! I'm happy to stick with our dry food (we just brought an 18kg bag!) and just keep going with the raw chicken mince. Is that a better option?

We recently went to dinner with friends who have a Border Collie who is about 4 months younger than our CKCS X, Poppy. Their dog, unlike our Poppy, is picky with his food and our friends have tried so many commercial foods but have finally decided to cook him food. They mix cooked rice, meat, vegies and some gravy and also put in some premium dry food. Oh and a raw egg once a week. The night we were there Poppy had this for dinner (as we stupidly forgot her food) and she loved it. So I was thinking about making up a batch for her. She eats Supercoat puppy for breakfast at the moment and raw chicken carcass minced for dinner. TBH the raw chicken makes me want to hurl! ;) So I'm not keen to continue. We also can only buy it in large quatities so have to bag it up into portioned sizes and our freezer is then filled with 101 little plastic bags! If I continued to feed supercoat puppy for breakfast and fed the cooked rice, meat, veg and some gravy with a raw egg once a week would this be a suitable diet for Poppy? Thanks in advance!

We taught our puppy to "ask" to be invited up on the couch. We, like you, didn't want her just jumping all over it any time she felt like it so we would ask her to sit, pat the couch twice and say "up". It took a LOT of patience and repitition for her to finally get it but now at 8 months she will mostly "ask" before jumping up.

I met a greyhound for the first time last weekend. She was so lovely. I have these preconcieved ideas about big dogs like greyhounds and this dog completely proved me wrong. She and my 8 month old CKCS X loved each other and had a play and she was so friendly and gentle. My fiance and I are considering a second rescue dog and I was so surprised when her owner told me what couch potatoes greyhounds are! I just assumed because of their racing background that they would need TONNES of exercise!

Haha! Boo sounds lovely! Poppy didn't get Harvey's grunty play noises so everytime he made them she just lay down and rolled over all submissive! I'm sure she will learn how to play with little Harvey this weekend. She's never had playdates with dogs smaller than her! Would love to meet Boo and you one day and let them all have a play! As for the chicken poop....YUCK!!! is all I have to say! She was SO stinky!!! I think he thought she was Boo when she came in Yes Poppy likes Chicken Poop a lot she changed colour She did didn't she! I hope she doesn't do it too much this weekend! Thank's! It took us AGES to think of her name. All the way to north side brisbane and back! She's actually a CKCS X Cavoodle. My god it's amazing how crosses can end up looking like other breeds! I would have sworn she was cross springer! I think she looks like a CKCS but I've never met a springer. Somebody else has commented that she looks like springer spaniel but I can't remember who!

Today I took Poppy (our 8 month CKCS X Cavoodle) to two of our local pet supply stores today. She needed a new bed and some sentinal spectrum. Anyway, she was her typical excited, waggy tail jumpy self. All excited to be out and about. The second store we went to (the better one) had a lovely lady working who came out and tried to feed Poppy treats. She was all shy and timid but at the same time the gutsy side of her wanted the treats so she eventually warmed up and had some! ;) The lady asked about her cross breed and commented that her timidness/shyness was the Poodle in her??? Is this true? Or is it more the fact we were out and about in a new and exciting environment with new people? Or is it a combination of the both? I found the comment really interesting!

Haha! Boo sounds lovely! Poppy didn't get Harvey's grunty play noises so everytime he made them she just lay down and rolled over all submissive! I'm sure she will learn how to play with little Harvey this weekend. She's never had playdates with dogs smaller than her! Would love to meet Boo and you one day and let them all have a play! As for the chicken poop....YUCK!!! is all I have to say! She was SO stinky!!! I think he thought she was Boo when she came in Yes Poppy likes Chicken Poop a lot she changed colour She did didn't she! I hope she doesn't do it too much this weekend! Thank's! It took us AGES to think of her name. All the way to north side brisbane and back! She's actually a CKCS X Cavoodle.

Thanks! :D She really is a sweetie! Every night when I hop into bed she comes right up and lies next to me for a cuddle. Then goes and sleeps down the bottom in between us or on the floor. My fiance works shifts and its SO nice to have someone to snuggle in bed with when he is working. She is also a very good couch companion. Never hogs the remote! Lets me watch whatever I like!