archieboy

Hi I had this thread many weeks back now and had some really great advise and feedback from many people , thanks again for all that . I still keep an eye on the forum and some stories are great and some stories are pretty sad with sick puppy's . I just decided for a happy story I would update Archie's story . I really did think he was going to be a goner early on but now can report he is a strapping young fella . He would chew his own leg off for food and he only loves walks more than food .... I come a distant third I reckon . But anyway here he is at about 15 weeks now . A ball of muscle and mischief ....smart as anything ...

O.K... for anyone out there who reads the puppy training tips and needs a laugh . O.K. Archie your all well now and you need to learn a few things mate . First off this biting and chewing , it's not cool dude . I have read all the good oil and I am now going to sort out that golden retreiver brain for you . Day 1 . Hey fella , you are biting on my arm !..prepare to be sorted by a much higher intelligence form . A loud strong NO !! ....... "Hmmm dad that ain't going to cut it ...I like biting your arm " Day 5 . Arm now looks like it has been working on the lawnmower blades ..while it was running . Loud No is not cutting the mustard . Right I am man I can do this ...you are a golden retreiver Archie ... and I am the boss . I will move to the gripping your face and shake a little and say my NO right at you . Day 10 . Have remembered now to be further away than a few inches when gripping Archies face and saying NO when biting . That way my bottom lip will have time to heal from when he launches in my mid command . Day 15 . Have now moved on to pushing said lesser brain powered species onto his back and really saying NO ....Like I mean it ....like I am crazy dad Archie ... mess with me and you will get the horns .... " Archie thinks for a moment and then decides if he gets the horns he will bite one of them ". Day 17 . Time out has been introduced . Everytime bite ..outside you go Archie for either a few minutes or half hour if your not learning ...... I will have to replace door soon as it is worn out from being opened and shut . Archie seems to like time out ???? Day 20 . Right am off to get my rifle ... not going to kill young mate Archie .... but maybe just wing him so he will know dear old dad means buisiness about this biting . Day 21 . Archie ...this is bulldust mate , stop biting ....NO!!!! ....... Hang on ? ... he stopped !... what the hell ?. Day 25 . Come on Arch ..you can bite me the once for old time sake if you like . You haven't bitten me in 5 days ?... So this really does work !.. It just takes a huge comittment and it ain't easy . Now to work on the chewing ........... " Hey Archie dude !...is that my bookcase you are gnawing on mate ?.. but what about the 20 teething toys I bought for you that all guarranteed you would love ?...... my books feel better on your gums huh ?...... better get back to this training stuff folks ...this should only take a few minutes ......or not . P.S. in between said biting ( ex biting ) and chewing of everything ....we are having a lot of fun . Just one for the mere mortals out there ( like me ) who read the training stuff and then feel like they must be a loser cos it isn't working for them .

Hi I had a thread going a while back about my Golden Retreiver ... Archie . It was about sorting his diet out after an early illness . That all went well but one post I added was when I heartwormed him on the same day as he was given a worming tablet . I admonished myself for probably over medicating my boy on the one day and him having a terrible night ( and more ) being hyperactive and basically crazy . So I did think I better follow up on the worming tablet to make sure it wasn't that alone ....went to the official website and looked for possible side effects ....not any really , a great product ..maybe make a pup vomite on the rare occasion . So yesterday down the hatch went the worming medication as specified .... and we were on that nightmare train again !. Exactly the same horrible symptoms . In desperation and despair during the night I searched deeper and found this someone had posted on another forum : "Strange that, I wormed my 11 week old Golden Retriever puppy with Drontal a the day before yesterday, gave it during the early evening. By bedtime the puppy was hyper. That night the dog did not sleep, nor did I. He was awake barking all night, I let him out a couple of times but he still would not settle, evetually had to leave him to it and go back to bed. He has never had a night anything like this before, he usually goes to bed and we don't hear a peep until about 5.30 in the morning. The next morning he was shattered, slept nearly all day and hardly ate until the evening. It was almost as though he had been fed amphetamines, then had the downer next day. Last night he was completely back to normal. The only thing that was done different was to give him the Drontal". I'm sure it is a great product ...but Archie won't be ever having it again . I'm not sure if either of us would live through another dose . I thought I would just post my experience so that maybe someone else might not have to go through that 2 times like us . No doubt this is a very rare side effect .... but me and Archie are here to say it can happen .

Hi again I just wanted to add another post to thank everyone who replied to this thread . Archie and me have appreciated it very much . I think we are just about there now . Archie is gaining weight steadily and his body shape is looking great , He is doing things now I wouldn't have believed possible a week ago and he is enjoying life . We even have had time to concentrate on other more fun things like building a sandpit , and he enjoys barking tips to me when I am practising my golf swing . Even though I spent a small fortune on puppy toys ..his favorite toys are a yard broom and a plastic bottle ?. We have even got to the stage where he is keen to eat an increasing amount of kibble with each meal as long as it is served in a seperate snoopy bowl than his wet food . We have signed an agreement of where he is going to sleep at night , and now he happily sleeps in the ensuite to my bedroom with a kiddy gate on the door ( his wire house was not a success and we are both much happier now we can both sleep ) ...he even holds the number 1's and 2's until the morning !!!. Not much else I can add really ... except we will now be practising seperating for short periods so he doesn't get to used to me being around all the time . Thanks again . Here's a picture of the destruction machine ...he looks better in real life than my average camera skills can do justice .

Hi again Look , sorry I'm just here to get some help not to change the world . Archie is doing really well .... today his menu will be 1 1/3 cans of optimum / a can of tuna in springwater / 150gms of lamb steak and 150gms of mince ( human grade ) and some boiled carrot , over 5 meals .... also a pigs ear . Will go with the raw bones soon but am thinking a few days more of building up will be best for now . I'll try and swindle him with some biscuits again in the mince ...we'll see i guess . Thanks for the encouraging replies .

Hi again Thank you for all your replies . I have taken onboard the advise and am going to slowely add it in to Archie's diet ( which is the word I meant to type into the title of the thread ...not dirt ?? ). He got weighed in yesterday and was 4.45kg . I was pretty proud of him as he was the smallest of the litter and I was told he now is the heaviest !!..good boy !. Still a long way to go though . All the info you read on the net can be so confusing " don't feed them too much as they will get Hip Dysplacia " ..." don't feed them too little or they will be even worse "...... ??? I think I will take one posters advise and just use my own judgement . In responce to one question from gundog lover ..He gets 5 meals a day at the moment . I am trying to get him about 600 calories a day and he seems to be adding about 0.2kg a day to his weight at the moment . Had a bad experience yesterday though which was weird and I am kicking myself for being so stupid . He had a worming tablet when he was weighed and I was told I could start him on Heartgard now . I bought the 0-11kg pack and it said anything up to 11kg give one chockie block ....so I did .. and about an hour later he just became crazy hypo ...scared of the tv , unable to settle for a moment , really acting crazy . We paced the property together from about 4pm until 2.30 am when he finally was able to go to sleep .... Today he is back to himself . I guess I shouldn't have given him two medications at once , but never realised it was going to have that effect . If it wasn't for Archie's bad luck then he would have no luck at all I guess . I also take onboard the comment that Archie is likely to be effected by his rough start to life and could have issues , call me an optimist ... but he has such a will and a fighting attitude I am backing him to come from the pack and be the kid born on the wrong side of the tracks that makes good . Also with the kibble ... I hesitate to write this , as you will think I am crazy , but he is so determined not to eat it ( no matter what i dress it up like ) that I am starting to think he associates the kibble with feeling really ill ?.. I'm not sure ?..we all think our hounds are smarter than the average bear don't we . I will be looking up the retreiver thread . Thanks again for the advise .

Hi I have an 8 week Golden Retreiver who I got at 6 weeks of age ( i know too young , but he was in a pet shop ) . He weighed 3.28kg when I got him . He became unwell the next day and had a very rough week of eating only small amounts of mince and roast chicken , he was not interested in even those things most of the time , he was pretty sick and I thought for a while he wasn't going to get through it . I took him to the vets straight away and they advised me to return him to pet shop , but how could I ? , he needed a mate on his side . Anyway he had camplyobacter infection , but we got through it . Now I have a happy little mate , but no way with dry food for the moment . I have pulled a month off work at the mine to make sure he gets a proper start . I have been feeding him Optimum canned and he eats it very happily . I will not withhold food from him in an attempt to force him to eat it until he has a proper foothold in the world . My questions are : How much canned food a day should he be eating now ?. I give him 110gms , 5 times a day right now ( have increased as his health improved ), and he currently weighs about 4.3kg ( my bathroom scales with Archie sitting in a coke can box ) . The can says at 4 weeks they should have 500gms and then jumps to 3 months and reckons 1400gms which is a pretty broad range ..any idea's on his current feeding for his weight ?. Next question : I have researched and see that dha omega 3 is not able to be added to canned food , and have read that sardine will give him the brain food , I am thinking of splitting up one sardine per week in his food , is that the correct amount ?. He has good stools on the optimum now and I don't want to go overboard and Archie gets the trotts . I live out the scrub a bit and would have to order any better canned food from Perth so for practicality would like to keep going on the Optimum . Also I really have tried everything with the dry food . I even gave him 110gm canned yesterday with 5 royal canine biscuits in it ( 4 of them were still in the bowl when he finished , he must have sucked the other tucker off them and spat them back out ..maybe he doesn't need the brain oil ? Would appreciate any help with the above two questions thanks .