erinonthefarm

My family and I have recently became the slaves to a dobermann puppy who is now 4 months old. Sniper seems at this point to be more on the dominant side with other dogs, very well socialised and has been submissive for adult dogs when they are dominant types but isn't at all shy when meeting new dogs. We crate him and he is an inside dog, and we plan to try showing and tracking with him. I am currently at home full time as we have a remote posting for my husbands work. This will be for another 12 months at least, but I'm wondering if I should get another dog now while I am at home to raise another puppy to keep Sniper company for when I go back to work maybe next year. I am not sure whether 2 will be better than 1 as far as avoiding nuissance barking ect. If I were to do this, any suggestions for a) Adult or puppy (We would probably like another Dobermann and are not sure about rehoming desexed breed stock or rescue dobes as we have children and need a dog that is safe with kids) b)Male or female (can be desexed, but Sniper may not be at least until 2yo) c) Is it actually any better having 2 dogs together than 1? OH is great when at home but I do most of the training/ feeding/ loving on! I would love to hear from anyone who has raised two puppies together (How bad can it be ) or advice from Dobe owners as to best combination for a pair. Or just anyone who wants to tell me I'm crazy for even considering it

I love the frenchies heres some of Sniper Poking his tongue out- how rude! The hound from hell Smiling nicely for the camera Ho hum I'm buried in the sand

I live in a place where summer temperatures regularly exceed 40c. I live in a remote area and just last week had to take my dog into the vets in a larger place for vaccinations. I had the predicament of what to do with dog while getting fuel, lunch ect- considering most places in australia are exceptionally pet unfriendly I did not have many options and I was worried about him being stolen if left tied up. Recently in the news a boy was mauled by a dog tied up so that is another issue . Basically I tried to leave him with all windows down half way in the shade so he wouldn't jump out and was as quick as I could be. obviously not ideal but had to be done As far as police go with rescuing dogs out of cars, I am certain that it would not be viewed as a priority unfortunately (maybe if you rang up and said a child was in there it would be different). If you are concerned about the welfare of the dogs inside hot cars, break the window yourself and then call the police i think- minutes waiting for police to arrive (at best) can be the difference for a stressed dog. I personally would pay for the window to be repaired if it came to that, better than the dog dying. by the way, now my dog is vaccinated I will leave him at a boarding kennel when I have to come into town, but I didn't have that option last week

I am so sorry for your loss, I lost my six year old Dobe last september to a snake bite and I will always feel guilty about it. I think about her every day and sometimes have dreams that it was all a mistake and she is not dead- its an aweful feeling. I made sure when we got a puppy again, that snakes were not welcome in our yard. That means keep the grass very short all around the yard and beyond if you back onto a reserve or anything. No piles of building materials and you can also get a snake deterant which sends vibrations into the ground to keep them away. I hope you can remember all the wonderful things about your baby, they live on in our memory. Do not stand at my grave and forever weep. I am not there; I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn’s rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and forever cry. I am not there. I did not die. Mary E. Fry

The photo with the bunny ears would make an awesome card, my six year old son cracked up when he saw it!

Awful,

Is there a way to to add to mandatory microchipping of puppies and kittens, with breeders details as a secondary contact after the puppies are homed. In addition to that, breeders share responsibility for welfare of their puppies and kittens by legislation so that first port of call for a surrender is the breeder? Then of course many of the BYB types would chose to have those PTS, but at their expense, this may be a "hassle" and an unwanted expense, or fine the breeder as well as the owner for unclaimed microchipped animals. I aggree with others, there are inherent problems with making more rules which make it harder for registered breeders while the puppy mills and BYB continue business as usual, however my suggestion is something registered breeders have already adopted and making the rest somewhat accountable for their creations may make it less appealing. Maybe if newspapers and other advertising media cannot accept advertisments from unregistered breeders, and the sale of puppies and kittens from pet shops is banned? I am not an ACt resident, but I think its great this topic is on the agenda for pollies, hopefully it becomes workable.

Do not stand at my grave and forever weep. I am not there; I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn's rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and forever cry. I am not there. I did not die. ...Melinda Sue Pacho

I did the same as Labtested, planted a tree and got all my photos of my girl and framed my favs together. I let myself be a total mess and I spent a day packing up her things as it was too hard to look at. My family and neighbours were great shoulders to cry on but I asked my husband to let everyone else know that I was upset and didn't want to talk about it for a while. I hope you find some peace in the knowledge that you were there for your dog when it mattered most, as others have said that is something only the luckiest of dogs have.

I don't think you will find anyone here who has a pet shop pup they are unhappy with or surrendered, some may be lucky and have purchased a pet shop puppy and it all turned out ok but that sends the wrong message as most of these puppies go home with people who would not be interested enough to be on these forums. On a side note, I have a jack russel cross from a pet shop in canberra, he is now 14 years old and we love him. He did take a very long time to housebreak, same for my last Dobermann who was BYB. Now I have "seen the light" and bought from a registered breeeder the difference is amazing- my puppy is well socialised, house broken, healthy and I know that the breeder is happy to help with anything. I recieved a detailed care sheet, advice on training, puppy is microchipped and vaccinated, parents have had extensive health checks for genetic problems prior to breeding. You won't get that service from a pet shop, most people who work in the larger chains have no qualifications to be advising a new owner anyway. I hope you can find someone who will offer testimonial as to what a bad decision it is to buy a puppy from a pet shop or byb, but exposing how little the pet shops care about the ability of prospective purchasers to care for them would be great too. I will be watching the story when it airs SandyK, good luck

Was this person asked whether she would take the puppies back if the owners were to be unable to care for them, that this is what REAL responsible breeders offer? I would assume this lovely person wouldn't hesitate to take all her "non mongrels" back Good comment Jaxxbuddy re smoking and the changes to puplic opinion on the matter, I hope that things change as drastically for BYB

Hi everyone, what about feeding with garlic to control parasites? Why is chicken liver not mentioned in the prohibited offal? I am in the NT and as I'm not sure where to find out if it is ok for me to feed offal to my dog. I will look at our DPI or equivalent.

Hi joypod, I was interested in doing the same thing, can you tell me if titre testing counts for dog clubs and boarding? What is the cost?

here's Sniper being growly! His breeders send me lots of videos too, I love them!

I'm so jealous that you get to visit yours! Ours is all the way in QLD! Holding out for the next pics though... I'm in the NT too and waiting for a new dobe baby in Vic. Waiting until Sniper is 12 weeks because of the amount of dogs with parvo. Every email and photo from the breeder is like my daily fix lol!

Hi, I have done the nt to adelaide drive a few times. A good place to stop over is glendambo, it is halfway, a dog friendly caravan park, they have units too. you should be able to do the drive in 2 days easy, I have done Alice to Adelaide non stop too and its not too bad, there isn't much to stop for anyway!

Thanks Stormy, What Im wondering is why Vet graduates can't get the surgery experience once they are employed, your response answered most of my question, I guess if a vet graduate did start their own practise there is no one to mentor them, I would not like to take my dog to them even if they had done the practise at uni.

I am going to the proud new parent of a puppy in a couple of weeks. The breeder made suggestions for which out of the litter would best suit us and we went with that. They have gone above and beyond my expectations with the level of help they have offered with future training, as I am interested in tracking, and I know that they will be happy to help with our new baby in the future. I enquired with five other breeders and I definately knew when I found the right people I think from this experience, if you pick the right breeder, they pick the right puppy for you.

At first with this forum I was going to signthe petition, but stormy, raz and others have a valid point, and I think Vets do it tough already. Just wondering though, why there is not internships for Vets out of uni? I appreciate that the costs of having a vet that is not fully operational would be an added expense for surgerys. I agree that the real problem is with the useless people who allow animals they are responsible for to end up at the pound, and local government pounds, who PTS many dogs and cats but will allow an undesexed animal to leave the pound in adoption schemes . This is from personal experience with a un-named Sydney pound. Sydney Uni had a free desexing clinic, but it was optional.

I am a recent Caesar watcher, I don't think I have seen him choke a dog yet? But I have noticed how much publicity he gives to the much maligned Pitt Bull. I appreciate anyone who works to change public opinion on targets of Breed Specific Legislation, oh and he seems to place the blame squarely on the owners for the dogs behaviour which is great. I am so sick of people saying "oh we tried so hard" and then packing the poor dog off to the pound. Sometimes the world needs extreme people like him and Steve Irwin to get us thinking even if they are weirdos.