trojka

I really like the look of Portuguese Water Dogs and happen to know a great breeder in Victoria....;-)

I voted for boarding kennels, for the same reasons others have mentioned. Luckily, I have found a fantastic one, so my dog and I both get a holiday, he loves going there and I can relax knowing he's safe and well looked after.

I will ask my sister in law for you.

I have had the same experience with the backpack. Put it on my boy for the first time, and you could instantly see his expression change, took him for a walk, and it was almost like walking a different dog. He is so much more calm, relaxed and confident with it on, it's amazing. I think it works in the same way a thundershirt or a body wrap (not sure what they're really called) would. I should really get it out more often again.

I'm so sorry! He was taken too soon and he will be missed by so many! A very special boy. R.I.P. Skoota

This has just reminded me that I still need to cut the one I cooked yesterday into small cubes. I just boiled it in water for about 10 minutes, then poured the water into take away containers to make ice blocks for warm days. Not a fan of the smell though! The things we do....

I will admire them from afar.... ;) Actually, does facebook count? If so, I already "know" them! Scuba diving, rabbit diving, I'm up for anything as long as it doesn't involve ferrets :D

I think I'd like to be your customer, Nekhbet :) Me too! I'd even join you, as long as I don't have to go anywhere near the ferrets! ;)

He actually looks just like the supposed pure staffy bitch that is owned by a friend of mine and lives just down the road. I can't tell how big your dog is from those photos, but this girl is very small, so GSD cross has never really come to mind when seeing her. A bit of Kelpie would probably be more likely, although she does look like a very small (badly bred) SBT with erect ears. I can definitely see some SBT in your dog too, just not a pure SBT, but he's adorable, so who cares? :D

yes.

+1 Don't abandon your thread though, just try to ignore certain comments and try to take what's valuable from it. Oh, and.......... :laugh:

There has only ever been one person my dog didn't like, he generally loves every other person he meets, and because of that, yes I do trust his instinct on this particular woman to a degree. A few months ago we had regular open for inspections at our house because our rental was on the market. On several occasions, the dog was in his crate during these inspections, and he was always totally quiet, not reacting to the strangers entering the house. But on one occasion, one of our real estate agents was standing near his crate (she wasn't the only stranger to stand near his crate during inspections either), and suddenly I heard this deep growl, followed by a few deep barks, until I told him to be quiet and lie down. Of course I apologised to the agent, but it did make me think. In the 2 1/2 years I had had him, I had NEVER heard him growl, ever (and it has never repeated itself since). At this point I had no reason to dislike that particular agent (since then she has proven to be rather difficult, two-faced and rude). If anything, I was annoyed with the constant inspections, I wouldn't have been surprised if he had picked up on that and therefore reacted to other people entering the house (in which case I would have taken him for a walk during inspections), but he never did. This woman claimed that "all dogs usually love her" (I must admit, I have my doubts). I couldn't help myself and had to mention that my dog generally loves everyone and I had never heard him growl at anyone before.

What about a Rottweiler?

I too would love to know where you get deer antlers, they aren't dangerous for a puppy? Or here, straight from the farm: http://www.deerfarm.com.au/purchase_deer_velvet.html#chews

Toys: Tibetan Spaniel Lowchen Papillion Terriers: American Staffordshire Terrier Staffordshire Bull Terrier Jack Russel Terrier Gundogs: Hungarian Vizsla German Shorthaired Pointer Gordon Setter Hounds: Rhodesian Ridgeback Irish Wolfhound Saluki Working Dogs: Australian Shepherd Maremma Sheepdog Belgian Shepherd (Malinois) Utility: Anatolian Shepherd/Kangal Rottweiler Bernese Mountain Dog (Dobermann, Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Mastiff) Non Sporting: Great Dane Tibetan Terrier Standard Poodle

No, I never had a problem with the cotton wool getting stuck, although he doesn't have Bloodhound ears either but they always came out with the first head shake. I did make sure the cotton wool balls were fairly big though, so they couldn't go anywhere they shouldn't. I just had to laugh, after writing this I saw my dog shake his head a couple of times and thought I'd better clean his ears with some Epi-otic. It was a struggle (as always), and after I'd finished I returned to this thread and wondered why I hadn't followed my own advice I will be using cotton wool again next time.

When my boy had an ear infection a while a go and I took him to the vet, she was unable to get the drops squirted into his ear, and that was with me and my friend holding on to him. She gave me the drops and said "he'll need them twice a day, but it might be a 4 person job with him...." Not sure exactly what she expected me to do, there are only two of us at home, should I have hired two extra people, twice a day for a couple of weeks, just to wrestle with my dog? Needless to say I never went back to that vet. I did, however, figure out a way that was tolerable to him. I would soak a ball of cotton wool in the solution, put that in his ear and massage, then repeat with the other ear. When I was done he'd just shake his head and the cotton wool would fall out. He still didn't particularly like it, but tolerated it, as it wasn't a sudden squirt of cold liquid, and he got better with it over those 2 weeks.

What a great idea, and what a lovely, thoughtful husband you have! He sounds like a keeper. ;)

A quick google search brought up these two: http://www.petcabs.com.au/ http://www.melbourne-petminders.com.au/pet-taxi.htm Not sure if one of them is the one you've already tried. I know where Preston and Coburg are, and $60 does seem like a lot, although I would expect it to be more expensive than a regular taxi. Sorry, unfortunately I haven't tried any of them personally as I no longer live in Melbourne, but I wish there was something similar up here. Have you tried calling any of the regular taxi companies and asking if they have any drivers that will take dogs? If so, you could pre-book that one for a specific time.

oh goody you can clear something up for me! friend and I were talking about malinois. I pronounce it 'mal-in-wah' and my friend thinks the correct pronunciation is 'mal-in-woo'. She is actually Belgium though so I am inclined to think I must have it wrong? If it was the 'wah' sound at the end it would be 'noir' Nois sounds like 'oo'.. French is a strange language haha I'm sorry, but this is incorrect. Malinois is pronounced Mal-in-wah, as SecretKei said. Any oi in French produces a wah sound, and never an oo. The only difference between your two examples is that the s in Malinois is silent, whereas the r in noir is not (so noir is pronounced nwahr).

If Mosley is an Anatolian (and I think he is from memory ) then I doubt he will suffer from bloat The genetic predisposition for bloat in Australian Anatolians in extremely low. I have not heard of an Anatolian dying or suffering from bloat in Australia for many years. There is no known incidence between myself and other breeders in more than a decade. That is great news......for the future ;) Good to hear Brasco is ok.

Aww, look at Scooter (sp?) run! How old was he in those pics?

I agree with most posters that in a perfect world, everyone would have effective control over their dogs at the park and that in the situation lilli described, the owner of the other dog would be at fault for not having that level of control. However, after reading countless dog park threads on dol, we all know that not everyone has effective control over their dogs, and some people also lack a brain cell or two. As the owner of a big, black dog that can be reactive, to me it is not worth the risk and it wouldn't help my stress levels to take him to an off lead park and then have to yell at every idiot that lets their dog rush us (and I doubt my dog would be having much fun anyway). Unfortunately, we encounter enough off leash dogs in areas where they are required by law to be on leash, but in these instances, at least I can generally tell the owners to put their dog back on leash without too much trouble. So basically yes, you should be able to take your dog to this park and not encounter any problems, but the reality is often different, and personally I wouldn't risk it. Are there any on leash parks you and your friend could go to?

Please take the advice you've been given here, by very experienced Rottweiler people! Don't take it as criticism, people are only looking out for your puppy's welfare. I can tell you, the heartbreak of putting your dog down at 4 years old because of severe joint problems (as a friend did recently) is not something you want to experience! And if walking your 12 week old pup for that long is really what your breeder and vet recommended, I would definitely be finding a new vet (in the breeder's case, it's obviously a bit late). Generally, the recommended time to walk a pup seems to be 5 minutes for every month of the pup's life. That would be 15 minutes in your case, and that's a lot less than 1 1/2 hours!

You're taking a 12 week old puppy on 3 1/2 hour walks?