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).

Thank you luckypup, coogie ;) $3 is a bit exy (we pay $1.30 at Best Friends) - but will def get some when they're on special!

My boy loves it and can finish one in a minute; and he's an 11kg terrier ! He chews it to small bits so never have issues with it getting stuck *touch wood*. We found a vegetarian version in Caufield pet expo - it's more rubbery/ chewy and took him longer to finish (he had to chew more). I think this is better but have no idea where to get it from (it was in a showbag). I think it depends on the individual dog - if yours have history of choking (common in labs), either supervise or don't give it. No treat is worth your dog's life. Thanks for those suggesting roo tail - will give it a go

Correct. You both need training. It's possible to let others train your dog but your dog is going to respond to the trainer, not you.

Yes thats right! Wow you remember us after seeing so many people :D I think you're right, he's got an aussie terrier in him. First time I met another DOLer . We adore your cairns (I think the older ones are even cuter than pups). Our boy is boisterous even at 8 years, so I think it's better if the second one is a calm breed - we're considering goldie, aussie shepherd, coton (no aus breeder?) or havanese at the moment - though I'm worried that the last 2 would grow up in fear under the terrier's iron paw . We think that the cairns have the best stand . You're not only showing your dogs & talking about them, you show people how you live with them! What we like (and didn't find in others during our visit): You showed how you groom your dog (hand-stripping) You noticed that the pups didn't eat when there're 2 bowls and mixed the food Small things like these under difficult conditions (windy, tired, stressed out) mean a lot to us. Kudos to you, you'd be the 1st on my list if/ when I'm looking for a cairn (or any terrier).

FYI - the links to codes of conduct are not working. The badges are great idea but we're not ready yet - will become a member once we have a purebred (next year)

I think we did see you - not sure if you remember, but we're the couple that shows you pics of our rescued boy (cairn x) on mobile. We asked about hand-stripping We had a blast & enjoyed talking to you (thank you for educating us on the breed ). Your dogs are beautiful & well-behaved (for cairns) even when tired. I still notice the mischievous sparkle in the eyes though . We went home expecting our boy to look ugly after seeing yours which he did (what do you expect cross vs purebreed) - a couple of wet kisses later and we stop comparing and got busy ransacking showbags instead!

Me & OH went from morning to arvo, our 2nd time around (1st time as dog owner in Australia!). We're searching for the next one and trying to research all we could about breeds & breeders. I'd like to see more breeds and was surprised that there's no westie stall - I thought they're popular (we're considering havanese, coton, westie). I like the people & dogs of: cairn terrier, golden retriever (best goldie boy I've ever seen), basenji, australian shepherd & tenterfield terrier. And also swedish vallhund (dogs only - to me, the breeder doesn't show the passion when talking about her dogs). Appreciate those who're willing to be bombarded with our questions . As for products, most are cheaper than stores but not online. I'm only disappointed with Fido showbag, very few items compared to others. We've learnt new things: the basenjis don't have dew claws , a goldie is now on the list for our next dog ;). If I knew that the wheatens people are dol-ers I'd come over - but I didn't (and the breed's not on our list) . The dandie dinmonts look bigger & more sausagey in real life (1st time spotting the real ones too).

Can't believe this hasn't come up yet, but dobesrock, did you get punched? Isn't that assault (or at least an attempt)?

OMG that's brilliant idea. I know what my next purchase is now.

My understanding is that Hill's is generally frowned upon, as they look good because they sponsor vets, not actually manufacture good food (yet still charge a lot!). At super premium level, a lot of forumites would recommend Black Hawk, Nutro, Eagle Pack and Artemis. Don't forget that in the end, every dog is unique - just because it works on most dogs doesn't mean it would on yours.