chran

I adopted my 8 years young from RSPCA last year and would highly recommend it for those who're looking for a pet. Lots of advantages of getting an oldie - cheaper adoption fee (or free), known traits, etc. Oldies are trainable so don't believe the 'cant learn new tricks' myth. Much less work & randomness than raising a puppy (not against it, just acknowledging the time/ effort required). If you're time poor, consider a senior

Nylabone "shavings" are safe if eaten (passed through). I believe chewing is subjective - some are never over it. My boy's around 8yr and chews Kongs like there's no tomorrow. He's chewed 2 to pieces (1 puppy, 1 senior version), chewed the top off a regular red one (took him 8 months of daily chewing) and doesn't like the black one (not squishy enough). I don't think you can stop a chewer from chewing, only redirect it to proper chew objects. For these dogs, chewing = feel good so when they've managed to chew through something (regardless of whether it's appropriate chew object or not), it reinforces the behaviour - kinda similar with stealing food (every success = reward). Would love to hear if it's curable though - I want mine to be able to sleep with a plush toy without finding a crime scene the morning after :D

We had good weather (for Melbourne standards) over the weekend! Hope more is coming. I live in Pascoe Vale (north) but don't mind driving reasonable distance.

Lovely idea. Count me in edit: our boy is unique as you can see on my avatar ;)

I use psyllium husk every 2-3 days. You can get it in human health food stores or supermarket health section. It's a gut cleanser. Don't put too much, I use 1 teaspoon sprinkled over minced beef for an 11kg dog. The stool should be firmer in a couple of days. If not increase the dosage little by little. My boy eats kibble (nutro) in the morning, human grade meat (mostly beef mince sometimes chicken breast) at night. Depending on the rest of the diet you may want to increase/ decrease the psyllium husk.

Remember that they need nails for grip - no grip & they can ruin their paw pads. For me, the ideal is not touching the floor when standing up, but makes tickety tick sound when walking The exception is dew claws - these are cut as short as possible. Cutting the quick looks worse than it actually is. Yes there's a lot of blood but you can staunch it (styptic). Other than licking the nail, I've never seen a dog behaves differently when the quick's cut accidentally.

Well SA takes time to cure. Took us 2 months before ours can be left alone (with toys). Even now (going 6 months) he's restless if we're late from work (but manageable ie 30 seconds whining). I think it's better to be selective of her new owner - people who have time and commitment to cure it (someone who works from home, retiree, housewife etc). I realise it's harder to find people like this, but it's better for her. You can also try controlling her diet - it's harder since she's so young (when they normally can eat as much as they want) - but high energy food make SA worse since it provides the energy to worry/ cry.

I think she needs time to adjust to the new life. How much time do you have for training? Our boy was 8 when adopted. Cried when I was in another room for the 1st couple of weeks. What we did (and still do): Zero attention when crying, a quick yes (marker) & reward when he stops for a second. This goes alongside obedience (needs to shape marker word etc). Reward him when we leave the house (we use treat balls/ bob a lot) - these rewards are not available otherwise.

Thanks for sharing Nekhbet. At this stage I don't have time for a side job. I wouldn't be in it for the cash either - which means I have to have enough $ before I can do this AQIS sounds like a good idea. I like beagles Indeed. I'm doing it the other way around - get rich quick first then work with dogs .

Not a chew toy but boredom buster - coconut. Drink the water and give the whole fruit. Supervise first for first couple of times, and keep it outdoors (messy).

Does that mean that if one from the 70's was shown today it wouldn't meet current standards? Or the other way around, that today's Gordon Setters would be considered too big (for example) for the 70's standards? My crazy theory is that their features are going to be softer (longer domestication) along with smaller size (harder to have bigger yard). I have to revisit this thread in 50 years

V cool. Do they look like today's dogs? I always wonder if dogs evolve faster than us

Even trainer/ behaviourist? Oh well there's always plan B: get filthy rich, quit the rat race & become a dog trainer!

I'm also interested in this matter. I'd like to know what kind of money dog trainers make (individual vs work for a school, have qualification vs not). It's something I'm passionate about but I don't want to take a big salary hit (OH would feed me to the dogs!).

Yup, depends on the dog. Sounds like you'd like something to occupy them for a while as well. Other than marrow bones (which you've tried), I only know 1 other thing (that's natural): coconut. Those drinking ones (white) you find in supermarkets. They're from Thailand, but 100% natural fruit. I drank the water & gave the whole thing to my boy. Kept him busy for a while (could've lasted hours but I confiscated it before it got stale). It's messy so keep it in the backyard (was inside in our case ). He gnaw the husk & carved the flesh clean, all while rolling it around. Keep it mind that my boy is a power chewer. A gentler dog might not like it at all. We checked whether it's harmful - it's not - but his stool was a bit slimy after (not bad but different).