~Midniara~

Thanks everyone. It has been lovely to read all your kind words. ;) Buddy was a incredibly loved and treasured in this family. There was something about him that made others love him too. He had a large Lion maine which I used to love to burry my head into and he'd just absorb it all. He thrived on affection. In his last moments when he was in my arms he licked the tears from my face as his last consolation. He was always worried about me and looked out for me as well as the kids. I do miss him terribly and I hope that in time I will be able to speak about him without becoming a blubbering mess. Here are some pictures of my boy: Sadly all the family pictures of Buddy are packed away in storage on discs. We are currently in the process of selling our home so we have an awful lot of personal belongings in storage so I am unable to share with you the life of Buddy with us his family.

Thank you Trifecta and Hesa. To each and every one of you that have contributed to this thread and shared in my grief I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I've received some lovely emails and tributes from all over the world which have been of some comfort to me. Hopefully in time I will not be so heart broken as I am at this moment.

Not coping well at all today. Thank you all again for your kind words. Rajacadoo, my deepest and heartfelt thanks for letting my budboy rest in your special pet cemetary area at your place. I couldn't bare the thought of leaving him here when we move. Still lost for words. I kept looking for him today when I was walking about. It's strange not having him with me. He followed me everywhere. I miss him sooo much. :D

Sorry wrong topic.

R.I.P Gherks So sorry for your loss Dotty :D

Thank you so much each and everyone of you for your very kind words. I'm miss my Budboy. Sorry don't have words right now, I'm so very sad and trying to keep a brave face for the kids as they are celebrating Easter. :D

A few years ago now I caught one of mine eating a maggot infested rat. :cool:

My condolences to you and your family during this difficult time.

I breed Belgian Shepherd Groenendael. My last two litters the bitches and resulting pups have been fed on 100% raw diet with no commercial food whatsoever with great results. I was very careful to ensure my bitches and resulting pups had a good, varied diet. All pups were free of any health issues or abnormailites. All pups as well as the mothers continue to be healthy to this day. The first litter that I fed raw to resulted in 10 pups which are now coming up to two years of age with the second litter of five pups now turning seven months of age. I am quite impressed with how healthy my bitches looked after whelping their pups. Their coats still shined and they still looked very healthy even after they dropped coat. I had no deaths or health issued with either of these two whelps. Good luck with it all whatever you decide.

I've been getting emails from the too which have been really annoying me so today I used the "remove from list option" and five minutes later I get another email! So I did same again to remove them. Hopefully this time it worked. It seems like such a co-incidence that you posted about it today.

I get it all the time with my Georgie and it is really upsetting. She is a sweet natured dog and she absolutely adores people, pats and cuddles. It's her smile that puts people off but there is no malice to it. She is just truly happy and showing it.

Some Belgians are born with rear dews and others aren't. As an example, I have whelped 3 litters all with different bitches and sires. These are the results: First litter: out of 5 Belgians, 3 had rear dew claws Second litter: Out of 10 pups none had rear dew claws Third litter: 5 Belgians, 2 had rear dew clawas and out of those two only one had only one rear due (one dew claw in one rear leg and no rear due claw on the other).

Yoghurt and small amounts of cheese are fine. Cereal is the killer in the diet you've mentioned as it is packed full of grains. Some dogs aren't lactose intolerant and so it depends on what your pup was raised on. Did the breeder give you a diet sheet to folllow?

Cereals and milk will definitely make him poo a great deal more than he should. I definitely would be cutting this out of his diet completely. My pups start showing signs of lactose intollerance at around 5-6 weeks.

Excellent post steve. No not true. ;) Ivy had 9 other sibblings in her litter and it is true that all of them were raised on a completely raw diet and never had commercial food fed to them while they were here. While I encouraged all of the new owners of these pups to feed their pupppies raw I also understood that not all could so I encouraged those that couldn't to feed their pups a good Premium food with added goodies to make up for the shortfall. Out of the 10 pups 5 of them are on commercial food and all of them are healthy with no problems at all. The key for these people was to wean their puppies onto commercial dry slowly to avoid any stomach upsets which is what every single one of them did. They all still feed their dogs some raw to fill the gap but their dogs are mostly on commercially produced food. None of these dogs have shown any signs to intollerance to commercial food at all. In my opinion Raw is best but I do realise as you've probably read here on dol that it is not for everyone.

Bring him inside and crate him for the night. He will feel safe and secure in his crate once he becomes accustomed to it.

There are no genetic tests available for epilepsy so papers can't be altered as there are no papers for this as yet. At the moment there are tests being develeoped to test Belgians for this but it is not a test that is available at the moment. The health papers you should be receiving are like the papers I gave you when you got Ivy. Hip/elbow scores of both parents as well as current eye certification (no more than 12 months old at the time of mating) from a qualified opthamologist. Most (not all) Belgian breeders wait for their bitches to be 4-5 years old to ensure that they are seizure free when they are mated as there is epilepsy present in most Belgian lines. Some will use bitches that are younger if they are fairly sure that epilepsy is removed from their lines for at least a few generations. This may be the reason why this particular bitch is being mated at the age that she is. Perhaps you could ask this breeder? He/she could shed some light on their reasons and then you can make a decision based on the answer you get from them. Most breeders are perfectly happy to answer these questions.

I personally wouldn't have a problem with it. Even though it only gave the basic information who is to know (unless you rung) whether or not this person was going to be thorough in chosing a good home for their pups? Also as far as waiting until you have a waiting list for a litter.. I would have never bred a litter and having a waiting list means little as I've found that sometimes people pull out once you notify them of the litter birth anyway.

In the Belgian clipping would do more harm than good as the double coat has a dual purpose in that it keeps the Belgian cool in summer and warm in winter. Not sure about other breeds though as I aonly know my own. I do clip mine around the feet and inbetween the toes as it's easier to keep their feet clean and avoids anything getting stuck inbetween their pads such s mud in winter or grass spears/seeds in summer. Either way in your case it's irrelevant because whether she was right or wrong it still doesn't give her the right to be rude.

It's a new requirement rajacadoo but they are very stirct about it now. It came about because a couple of dogs up North were found to have Hydatid some time ago and in order to keep Tassie Haydatid free they introduced the requirements. Previous to this I was always asked by AQUIS whether or not my dogs had been treated or not but now they are asking for physical evidence. You wouldn't have had to go through this with Ochre because she was under 12 weeks old when you got her and therefore exempt from the requirements because she was too young at the time.

I've used Dogtainers in ACT more than any other carrier. They are friendly, efficient and generally cheaper. Having said that I always get a quote from Jetpets as well (they have a 13 number) and if they've been cheaper I've used them too without any problems. I hope your puppy makes it to Tassie safe and sound. Cheerio, Maria

Showing signs of dominance towards each other doesn't necessarily equate to aggression. My dogs lick each other around the mouth as a sign of dominance/respect for each other. The pack leader will either ignore them by turning away, baring his teeth or licking them back. We tend to humanise our dogs a little too much. I agree in your situation it appears to be harmless but it's always good to watch what they are doing and their reactions towards each other.

I agree that leaving a young pup alone and unattended with adults is way too risky. Dogs can go into pack mode and pick at the pup and cause long term behavioural issues for the pup. I agree with what others have said. Leave pup with mum or in a secure area where it is safe and can still see the others.

i was going to say, I dont think Atlas has made it out of his teenage years He pushes the boundaries every day with me, I feel so bad having to be on top of him every second of every day, but life would be shit if I let him get away with everything he tries!!! I have a dog like this. He turns ten this year.

I never have left food out for any of my pups/dogs out to graze during the day as I feed them at set times (pups are fed away from the adults). Once your pup is 12 weeks old 2 good meals per day should be sufficient for it. If it is under 12 weeks simply feed it before you go to work, as soon as you get home from work and later in the evening.