BlackJaq

I didn't read all the posts yet but I see no problem with a Weim living in an apartment, or even a caravan. If the dog's mental and physical needs are met, it will spend the entire rest of the day asleep somewhere, preferably people furniture. What I do see to be a problem is leaving a V or W alone for a normal 9-5 job, not to mention a young puppy. I predict noise complaints and destruction the likes of which only hurricane victims can imagine. I cannot speak for Vs but my Weim will eat through a solid timber door if bored and lonely for long enough (found this out when we were overseas and Father in Law was watching the dogs) A fibro wall is not an obstacle for a miserable Weim. They are big, powerful and very determined. Also tend to separation anxiety and can have some issues with aggression with lack of proper leadership. My girl gets several lots of training + separate physical exercise a day and she is the quietest inside dog you will ever meet. Even when I am sick she will be ok for a week or so of reduced stimulation. After that you have a serious problem on your hands. They get better (much better) as they get older. Perhaps suggest fostering a gun dog for rescue before she decides to get a pup. I can guarantee she will change her mind on the breed.

That almost sounds like harassment, maybe some legal action against her might be in order...

Do people actually castrate dogs that young and if so, why is sterilizing them not an option? Just curious

Unfortunately I don't have any useful advice for you either but I am keeping everything crossed for you that she will open up to you and become a happy dog once again. Sadly some dogs like this never do come good but some can eventually lead a fairly normal life at home and with their family at least... Good luck to both of you!

Maybe try cutting things like chicken necks into pieces that are ok to swallow and then freeze them in an ice block for chewing pleasure? This way it won't hurt him if he does end up swallowing it ETA: If you are feeding bones for teeth cleaning purposes, maybe you could try deer antlers?

Poor fellow

We are having similar issues with OH's pound puppy. Turkey necks seem to work, especially frozen. We feed her out of sight of other dogs in case they make her anxious by watching her eat and she does seem to go a bit slower now, not sure whether it's because she knows she isn't going to miss a feed or because the other dogs can't see her eat. I can't imagine how they could swallow a chicken frame whole? Especially frozen? We cannot seem to get them at woolies anymore though. We also shoot a lot of rabbits and I just use poultry shears to cut them in half, each half is a meal (we have big dogs). They eat them guts, hair, bones, all included and they seem to take their time with food like that, especially if it is still warm. I guess this might not be an option for you though unless you have hunting buddies or can go shoot them yourself... Our dogs also get a lot of chicks in eggs that fail to hatch (I hatch a lot of birds) or eggs that fail to develop. When we get roo tags, they get everything except the digestive tract out of the roo but we freeze it first because of tape worms. These portions are usually too large to swallow easily well. Have you tried freezing chicken parts in water in ice cream containers? or even water bottle (cut top off to get meat in). This seem to work well for OH's dog and the ice melts inside her tummy rather than blocking stuff up. We have also tied bones to trees with a strong rope so she has to chew bits off and can't just try and eat the whole thing. It helps that it dangles so she has trouble getting a good grip. ETA: For convenience of feeding and cleaning, we are considering getting or making something like this for feeding her kibble: http://www.brake-fast-store.com/ At the moment we just pour her scoop out on a concrete slab so she has to collect pieces individually, which seems to slow her down marginally

Wow how sad ETA: Sorry, I don't buy the relationship of pigmentation to temperament. I have worked with a lot of dairy cattle, many of whom had various amounts of white and the only one to ever charge and run me over was all brown. This is my mare btw: She has blue eyes (which is a colour btw, not lack of pigment) Sweetest horse ever.

This. Wolf hybrids are not like other dogs. Their plight is a terrible one and not many pet homes will be able to deal with a hybrid, yet they are hugely popular in the US. There are a lot of websites about them for anybody who is interested. I think a wolf hybrid would have a lot less inhibitions about eating a person, dead or live, than normal pet dog. Tripping and falling can be all it takes to kick off the prey drive and in a big pack like what she seems to have had roaming her property I honestly wouldn't be game to walk outside if I so much as had my period. I'm somewhat amazed that the uncaged ones were contained on the property and unable to escape actually. ETA: It appears this woman has had a long history of hoarding and abuse. I m not entirely certain that I hope she was dead when they decided to dine on her... http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/serial-dog-hoarder-patricia-ritz-eaten-starving-wolf-dogs-faced-animal-cruelty-charges http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/patricia-ritz-animal-abuser-eaten-dogs_n_3991508.html There were also a lot of puppies and pregnant bitches slowly starving to death at this place and some dead animals were also found. Karma maybe? ETA 2: I just cannot understand why people like this are not monitored. Would it not be cheaper to stop them from acquiring all these animals than to clean up after the shit hit the fan? Unbelievable!

I agree about not giving puppy access to all of the house when you are out and definitely give the cat a chance to escape and be out of puppy's reach if he or she wants to. Depending on the cat and their age, he or she my not be particularly impressed with the new puppy sibling either, so I would not leave them unsupervised for a while to begin with. Puppies can easily loose an eye in a confrontation with a cat. If you want the puppy to stay inside I would suggest a baby gate or similar and maybe for easy cleaning confine the puppy to the laundry, bathroom or kitchen. Offering some kind of toileting opportunity inside will be important since the puppy will not be able to hold on all day while you re at work. I think some people have had good experiences with fake lawn over pee pads or newspaper to make the transition between going inside and going outside easier later-on. Young puppies sleep A LOT so I would not be that concerned over leaving him alone for several hours each day and I would particularly recommend that you do this from the time he comes now, not only after your time off is finished. I would not "exercise" a baby puppy as such, but rather have some play time before you leave and also take him out to toilet after the play session is finished and before you leave. When you get home, I would again take puppy out to toilet as he will likely be woken from a nap by your return. Personally I would also prefer having puppy spend the day outside but if you are genuinely concerned for him then I think inside either confined to a room or puppy play pen would be fine, though outside would certainly make toilet training easier.

I was a silent reader of the other thread even though I never participated (I kind of came along after some of the arguments started so did not really want to butt in) and I am terribly sorry for you. I am sure Roo will be happy to be relieved of her fear and she will wait for you to join her when you are ready :) Good Luck and I wish you the happiest of days together until she gets her wings

Yea it's like a half halt I suppose, I learnt riding and maths in Germany and I have no idea what most of the terms are called in English lol

Yes, I like to keep a light contact on the lead so I can give a half parade if necessary :laugh:

I get a little sad sometimes with some of the comments. The other day I was walking Foxy in town and she'd stopped at a nature strip and been sniffing around for a while when an elderly lady who was walking past stopped and said "Does your dog do what you say?" I'd just told Foxy to do a wee and she'd done one, so I said "Sometimes", thinking the lady might think I'm wierd for telling the dog to wee.. I like to train them so I can toilet them before we go places where it is not appropriate for them to go, like the main street... Anyway, so the lady goes on: "Because I have a GSP at home who is totally fluff brained, she doesn't do anything I say! I can't take her anywhere!" I was kind of devastated because they are such a trainable breed, I felt awful for that dog and I have to admit to being tiny bit judgemental, thinking the lady may have trouble holding the dog, being older, and that the dog probably doesn't get much exercise, which wouldn't be helping the issue

Have you considered that your girl may hoover her food because she is afraid he will take it from her? This can get extremely stressful for a dog, even though you may not notice. It may also create issues in the future, such as resource guarding. Many things will change once these dogs get a little older and to be honest, I do not envy you for having two dogs so close together in age. Even though your boy is already neutered he will still experience some kind of puberty, as will your girl.

What a strange concept, tending to the dominant one first? I do what Dory said, the best behaved one gets stuff first or nobody gets anything until all are in line. Or if they are particularly obnoxious I walk away and nobody gets anything at all. Everybody here is fed separately, usually even treats that will take a while to consume so that everybody can have their food in peace without being picked on. The Maremma will hoard and eat everybody's food if he is not separate as being with stock a lot, he kinda has to eat quick or loose it to the poultry or sheep. OH's dog has issues so he is kept separate from my dogs at all times. The other three dogs (yes, we have five lol) can all share food and treats and be penned together without issues but it is still nice if they have their own space when eating. One of them is OH's new puppy (~ 6 months or so and she is from the pound) so she still needs to learn almost everything so is generally last for treats or has training separately from others Bullies get locked in the pen on their own if they don't cut it out when told ETA: Apart from OH's socially retarded dog, my Weimaraner girl is the doggy boss round here. She likes to hump the other dogs and can get rough when playing. She is not allowed to take it to extremes and pick on others and generally she just runs a very tight ship without bullying.

Me too, on dogs and horses, find it very messy though

Yes, I agree, Espinay's post is what I would suggest. I kind of dislike the use of haltis most of the time because most people just end up never teaching their dog to walk on a lead properly, they just "manage" them with a halti instead of training (not everybody, just lots of people I see using them do this) For walking outside I would recommend a Martingale/limited choke to avoid slipping out. With my adult Weim I usually keep a very light tension on the lead so I can easily steer her or give a short tug to get her attention or cue her to slow down. Most people prefer to walk on a loose lead it seems but we only really walk on the main street to avoid loose dogs now (I live out of town) so I like to keep that connection, maybe it's because I ride horses, too? Either way, train your puppy to do whatever you are comfortable with. If I walk mine on a loose leash I feel like I need to keep looking at them to make sure they are not up to anything naughty lol ETA: I also like to randomly say their name and then give a small treat when they turn to you. This is great for gun dogs if you think they might be about to focus on something (bird, cat, whatever) because they will soon turn to you very quickly and this will stop them from going into a stare, stiffen, try to grab sequence. I would definitely try to walk the puppy on your own regularly while he is still learning so you can fully concentrate on him. Once he gets to a certain size he will also easily drag a small child around on a leash so make sure you know his signals for when he wants to go into hunting mode, since you don't want him to accidentally kill a cat or something while one of your children is holding the leash (happened to someone I know)

Great Post! Sometimes I wonder if breeders are not rightfully reluctant to disclose all the intimate issues that their dogs may or my not have to everyone, particularly pet puppy buyers. Don't get me wrong, I don't want puppy buyers to be oblivious of breed health issues and such but chances are that if you say "oh, x, y nd z have occasionally cropped up in my lines and we are working on eliminating them because there is no test yet" or some such, somebody less knowledgeable could easily take this to mean that your dogs are not as healthy as breeder Z's who they spoke to the other day, who mentioned nothing like that at all, even when that person may have the same, similar, or worse issues. It seems many puppy buyers already expect a lifetime warranty for pedigree pups despite the fact that they are still living things and as such, things can go wrong. Many don't seem to get the concept of reg. breeders testing for things that can be tested for and still not being able to always avoid all issues (like things that there is no test for yet or even things that the puppy buyer themselves may cause due to bad rearing practices). When things go wrong with pedigree puppies the puppy owner is often up in arms over pedigree dogs in general, whereas if they get a mutt off buy, swap and sell and it has issues it's barely ever spoken about and they just try again with another puppy?

Haha, yes you will probably have some mouthy-ness to contend with, Foxy (my Weimaraner) was the same, she'd run alongside me and try to carry my hand in her mouth :laugh:

I have all large breeds by the way, would not really consider walking them on a harness as that gives me minimum to no control over the head I guess. I see how some breeds might be fine or need to wear a harness though, especially smaller ones. I would probably end up grass skiing at some point with harnesses despite all the training in the world lol ETA: @ Pers, I see a lot of adult dogs still mouthing and chewing leads and owners finding it funny... Always strikes me as a little wierd because it is so easy to avoid when they are little

I use a flat collar on puppies. I like to upgrade to a limited slip to let me slip it on and off quickly and to avoid the dog slipping the collar on their own. I like the limited slip to be thin rather than broad. So far that is all I've needed, apart from a chain lead to teach puppies not to chew leads from an early age.

Well that actually explains a lot... :laugh:

I got mine here, with a matching bed http://www.lyrebirdpetfurniture.net/diningstations.html The are beautiful, will see if I have a photo ETA: No photo of the feeder but here is one of the bed: That is part of the feeder on the right, so quite tall! I got one for food and one for water and it has really helped reduce food and water being dribbled everywhere. Foxy gets lazy now and lies on her bed to hang her head into the water bowl over the side :laugh:

What did your breeder say to this? Did they have any advice or recommendations?