Leelaa17

That's really interesting! Why is that?? Is it because long hair is easier to catch ina brush/vacuum whereas short hair isd harder?? The long hair comes out in soft clumps and whispy bits that sit on top of fabric and is pretty easy to brush off furniture and bedding, unlike short hair that sheds one hair at a time, works it's way into any sort of fabric and is pretty much impossible to remove. I have owned a Labrador, so know the difference. The disadvantage with the long hair is it getting wound around the brush of the vacuum cleaner, but it is still easier to remove from carpet than all those little short bits. Most people don't realise that spending half an hour a week, grooming a long coat, to make sure it isn't tangled and sweeping up hair tumbleweeds, is a lot less work than coping with a shorter coat that sheds all over the house 365 days a year. There are some breeds that need more time to groom but most long coats do fine with half an hour a week. I recently just bought a furminator off ebay for $30, (I am pretty happy with that price) and it works wonders on Max and Jenna... but I swear, the hair just keeps coming!!!! It is unbelievable... I swear I could sit there for an entire day just brushing and by the end of it hair would still be coming out!!! Max and Jenna aren't 'long coated' GSD but aren't necessarily short coated either, although they are classified as short haired... Jennas dad was long haired and her mum had the shortest hair I have ever seen in a gsd, wheras max's dad and mum both had the same length... funnily enough, now max and jenna have the same length hair... I cant remember where I was going with this... just thought I'd note that I am using this furminator to see if it works on stopping them shedding so damn much but I swear with all the hair that comes out I might just deal with vacuuming a few times a week! lol

hahahahahahahaahaha. I know I do love the conditioner smell but Max and Jenna make it excrutiatingly hard for me to shower/bath them.

Fair enough! Well I rarely wash my dogs - unless they have been rolling in mud, then I have to before they can come inside! But they have BEAUTIFUL shiny coats and their skin doesn't get irritated at all. I can understand that if you were using a s**tty quality shampoo then that might not be good for their skin at all! But... and this is going to sound really weird... i LOVE, and I mean LOOOOVVVEEEE the smell of my dogs (not after they've been washed, just whenever)... they smell doggy and whenever I smell them (or smell my car because it smells like them) I just breathe it in really deep because it reminds me of them and it makes me feel really happy./ I know that sounds bizarre but I LOVE the doggy smell... I do, however, also like the clean smell. but I hate the wet dog smell. that's something I can't stand! lol So its not bad if I DONT wash them all the time? They have never seemed to mind, and I swear, they can get SO dirty and then the next day they'll be clean again - its fricken amazing!!!!!! lol

Ok, Have you ever heard that it isn't good to wash your dog too often? Well that's what I have always heard and I was wondering whether or not this is true? I heard that it dries out their skin or something? I am also curious to know what other people have heard and whether or not it is true!

That's really interesting! Why is that?? Is it because long hair is easier to catch ina brush/vacuum whereas short hair isd harder??

This might be off topic and not helpful at all but I vacuum the sheet that covers their dog beds (and blankets) and THEN put them in the wash? Although... there are still a few stubborn hairs on there!!

My two look at me like 'you threw it stupid, you go get it', LMAO.... they are so not into fetch! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH mine are like that too!!!! Jenna will chase it and then think 'hold on, wtf am I chasing it for?' and then she runs back to me! lol Max just goes over to it, sniffs it, and then decides its not worth playing with. lol

Very cool! I might start doing that with my boy and girl. they would LOVE things like that to do!

So sorry Teebs. You did the best you could - and like other people have said, THANK YOU for letting little tips last days on earth (im sure) very happy ones! Rest in peace little Tip, and may you be running free and happy with all of our loved ones up there, and shall we all meet you one day.

What a lovely lovely thing to do!!!! I am actually quite taken aback and it didn't even happen to me! lol That's is such a nice gesture! And if they put that kind of thought and care into their pup I am sure they will be GREAT! owners!!! Really nice thing to hear!!

oh ok. Why is that? I have always been told to feed puppy food until they are atleast 1 yr old?

I think the reason is more likely to be the amount of cereal in the kibble than chicken. Switch up to a better quality one and see what happens. Will do. Thanks everyone for your advice. I will let you know how it turns out. Just to note... she is very active and isn't showing any signs of sickness or anything, her behaviour is the same etc, so she doesnt seem to be sick or anything. But thank you!!

It's indicative of something not being right and certainly won't do anything to empty anal glands. Yep agreed. Our Husky always had runny poos - sometimes they'd be hard but most of the time they were soft and it didn't matter how much we cut back additives and such. Turns out the one thing that had been consistent the entire time was that her kibble was a chicken based kibble (Supercoat puppy, ProPlan puppy, ProPlan adult) - switched her over to a salmon based kibble (ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach) and all of a sudden her poos are the proper consistency. We've since realised that she just can't have chicken (even raw chicken) because otherwise it upsets her stomach. Wow! That's really interesting. At the moment she is on Supercoat puppy so maybe thats the same thing? I might switch her over to sometghing that isnt chicken based... maybe thats why she keeps trying to eat max's food.

Thanks guys thats fantastic. I will definitely look into it. I was also wondering whether or not her having runny poos is a problem? Like is it something that has to be fixed, could it lead to other issues etc? Or does it not matter at all?

Ok, do you know where I can get those from and how much they cost?

Hi guys, My dad wanted me to ask you guys what you think of something. Max's and Jenna's poos are quite different... hers are much softer (sloppier, runnier) that his. They both eat the same food, although I think she tries to sneak eating his adult food when she is still on puppy food... but I don't know whether that has anything to do with it. They both have supercoat, and they get things like mince and other meats sometimes... Any ideas? Should it be something I should worry about?

Nah, your friend has got it all back to front. KIDS should not be around dogs. We need some KSL around here, kid specific legislation, to protect dogs from some of the little beasties. Souff had a cat once that never liked a visiting child. Cat used to bolt up to the top of the hot water tank and hiss at this child. Kid grew up to be an unsavoury adult. Animals know. Oh, and if your friend believes that all Labs are gentle souls, tell her to talk to some of the vets and vet nurses. They have very mixed opinions about today's Labs. Poor Labs, seems that the old gentle giants that used to romp with the kids on the lawn became unfashionable some years back and they just had to be bred smaller. Give me the old gentle giants any day. Souff It's so funny that you say that. Max is alright with people. Some people he will go straight up to without hesitation... some he will be a little cautious and then sniff, and others he wont go near and will bark at them... there was a few young guys that came over to our house for one of the girls that used to live with us, max was going ballistic, I brought him out on a lead so he could meet them and calm down but he ended up trying to go for one of them, which is extremely unlike him - never done it before that and has never done it since - ever since then I have learnt to trust his instincts... On another note, when max got attacked by two dogs at the dog park, when we first went in he wouldnt go near them, another unusual thing - he always go up to other dogs and says hello, whereas these ones he gave a VERY wide birth... after a while, he got attacked by them - again, since that incident, I now know that I need to trust his instincts with people AND dogs!

Great pics guys! Hope u all had a great day. i was unable to go and i am so disappointed i missed it, but i was wondering if anyone was going to go to beneful bark in the park next weekend at camperdown?

Hi guys. We will be there too. Obviously I am sure you will be able to pick Max and Jenna out of a croud - jenna will be the one barking. lol also - for those who are worried about bringing jenna - we have a prong collar we have been using and she has become SOOO good around other dogs!! Obviously I will keeping a very careful eye on her but she has been to the dog park and has been perfectly fine. See you all there!!!

That's exactly what I kept trying to tell her. That it was how you raise them. But for some reason she was adament that some were more prone to attacking or 'turning' than others and that others (labs) had a more gentle nature..... she just wouldn't listen when I said that it is how YOU raise them, not what kind of breed they are. She really gave me the poos.

Well one thing I noted in here is that your OH seems to not understand that dogs are dogs and you can't treat them the same way as humans..... yet he proceeds to tell you that you should treat them like dogs.... :| Basically, if you were to go up to your boy and say 'chase. I can't believe you did that. I want you to call someone to fix that right away ok? We are doing it really tough and you shouldn't be doing stupid s**t in the house because things get broken and then we can't fix it'... I mean HELLO?? What did you OH expect you to do? lol As soon as chase had hit the blinds and broken them, if you weren't standing there ready to punish then he wouldn't know what the hell you were punsihing him for, therefore - no punishment. Of course OH is going to get into trouble because it was his negligence that lead to breaking the blinds in the first place, whereas Chase was just being.. well... a dog. Your OH can't expect you to get your dog in trouble because HE(oh) got in trouble. I'm sorry but that's ridiculous. I think you have every right to be a little miffed. Also, what kind of work are you looking for? (OT)

I wouldn't be calling it a debate. I would be acknowledging that she didn't have the skills or experience to judge dog behaviour to know whether a dog was a threat or not, and therefore she and her children should not go near any dog unless somebody competant is around. That is fair enough. If she never gets her own dog, she will never learn about dogs and she will never know how to tell a good one from one that isn't. I would then ridicule her for suggesting that she knew enough about dogs to talk about different breed temperaments. The conversation would be over then, unless she agreed to be quiet and listen sensibly. I can guarentee you should would debate her point until she died. She is unrelenting!!! She is good though, she would agree with the statement that she and her children shouldn't go near dogs unless someone competent is around. But she would argue that she doesn't need to know a lot to talk about dog temperaments. Because she thinks she DOES know enough to make an educated decision. She lives with me and my dad and his partner... therefore she also lives with Max and Jenna and (much older) Rashka and Dorris. She didn't evewn go near Max and Jenna when we first moved back home, but she has warmed up VERY much to them, which makes me feel much better because it was hard for me to deal with the fact she didn't want to be anywhere near them (it's hard for me to deal with the fact that some people just don't like dogs!! lol). So she is getting much MUCH better with max and jenna... but she was so so adament that she wouldn't let her child near dogs (for eg) max and jenna at all, not even with supervision because 'you never know' (that's what she said)... And I said to her that I wouldn't even think twice about having kids around max and jenna under supervision.

what?!?!?!?!?!?!?! what kind of animal was it????

This doesn't annoy me! This is what, I think, everyone is saying. None of us think children and dogs should be left unsupervised - its a recipe for disaster ;)

did you mean 'deed not the breed'? lol