stonecutter

We need video, that has to be the cutest thing ever! Will try and take one! What was funnier was that hubby actually patted her on the back and she burped :laugh:

Our jap spitz has taken to imitating our newborn - I was holding bub for a feed, DH was watching from the floor. So Ziva walks over and lays in his lap in a similar way to bub :laugh: She even climbed into a position to be burped when I did it to bub as well :laugh:

Dancinbcs - aww Tango is so sweet! Ziva would rather lie where she can see us but not be in direct touching contact as I think we make her too hot!

Many JS sleep outdoors - I know a few of us have asked our JS to sleep outside (with a basic covered kennel) in winter to bulk up their coats :) OP - are you in an apartment? I know plenty of JS who have been indoor toilet trained using a fake grass toilet or pee pads.

I would suggest crating for a JS puppy - they are companions. Crate training comes in handy for so many things besides bed time (eg vacuuming or when you're traveling with pup) We crate our JS girl - you can start in the bedroom and then slowly move them 1m/week toward the undercover area. Though, I can tell you, if I tried to make Ziva sleep outside, she would be complaining to the entire neighbourhood very loudly!

Run free Sooty big hugs luvsdogs xxoo

Excellent article Espinay!!

great advice from dancinbcs :) She's right that coats can be vastly different because of different breeding lines - can you tell us a little more about where you pup came from and his/her parents? It took me a few different purchases to figure out exactly what worked for us :)

I have a JS and I really don't like using a slicker - only when she is dropping coat. My preference is for a Chris Christensen Brass Fusion brush. I bought mine from Peperone online - expensive but definitely worth it. The other thing that I like to use is a Greyhound Comb (available from Groomers Paradise online). I've found the most important thing is grooming technique - only try and groom a small section of coat at a time - combing just a bit each time. Long strokes (imagine a girl with long hair!) aren't really effective for getting out knots and tangles. Use one hand to hold the hair back and brush a little bit at a time. How often are you grooming? Ziva gets a brush all over each day - takes about 5-10 min.

Bayview is also good first thing in the morning - we tend to leave home around 6.30am and get there about 7.30am - not too many around on the weekends at that time.

A Pom with a proper double cost should not take ages to dry. I have a JS and she goes to OB training, the toilet and walks in the rain. A 45 min walk in the pouring rain, a quick dry with a towel and she'll be dry fairly quickly. She even once fell into a pool - looked totally saturated, but a quick shake, towel dry and a sunny spot - back to normal in 15 min :) Ziva would also run around like a loon on toilet breaks until we started taking her out on lead - once she did her business, then she was allowed to have some zoomie time - it makes an easy reward :)

5 months is when they (JS) get quite leggy and only a short coat which makes them look a bit weird.

I've also found Ziva wants whatever I'm eating at the time - it's why I'm usually snacking while we're waiting to go in :laugh:

Raw chicken, Camembert cheese, dried liver, ends of toast, rice crackers, lamb roast, carrot, frozen broccoli - I've even used dog hair from Ziva's brush :laugh:

Good question and one I was going to ask as I used to fold one of the back seats down to fit my gazebo but next year we won't be able to do so as there will be a baby capsule in the way. Look forward to reading some more responses as roof racks was what I was considering (hubby would lift the gazebo up there)

Or purebred JS that were 12 wks old with ears that folded over like a Labrador - they are going to be big dogs! (Pets Paradise! No surprise there!)

I've got a girl - she's 1.5 :) love her to bits, but life with a JS is never dull! Mine is no couch potato unfortunately :laugh:

In a lot of places they incorrectly refer to JS as "toy" - but I've only ever seen one that would be about that size. Mind you - I don't browse BYB or puppy farm sites so they may very well be trying to breed small to small to get extremely small dogs - might take them a while to get consistent!

Hey showdog - it's actually the owner of the dog who is going to supply the big perpetual trophy and the small ones - but good idea to check that we can cover the cost of the small trophy over time if they become ill or pass away. I think the plan is that the perpetual trophy will stay with someone on the comittee and the small one will go home with the winner. But good point on the rules - hadn't thought of that :)

The Jap Spitz Club of NSW is running it's first speciality show in 6.5 weeks (ack!) and someone has offered to pay for a perpetual trophy in memoriam of an influential dog in the breed. They've also offered to pay for a small trophy that the BIS winner can keep. Does anyone have any recommendations of trophy suppliers or examples they could share? I was thinking of either a cup on a base that has small plates that can be engraved, or a big plaque that can have a picture of the influential dog plus BIS In Memoriam blah blah blah and then small plates on the side/underneath. Any other suggestions? Many thanks in advance!

Hey juice - she was there 2 wks ago (and still is until we get home on Fri - yay!) - a white Jap Spitz (she's small and can be mistaken for a Pom) - hopefully she wasn't causing too much trouble! I love that Deb uses our vet as well - meant that if anything went wrong they would already have her history. Someone asked about kennel sizes - from memory there were different sized kennels and pens available. I considered Terrigal, but my dog isn't used to a big personal space (her kennel spot is about the same size as her laundry area at home) and they seemed a bit more pampering than we are with Z (give her an inch and she tries to take a mile)

Pax recommended Acacia Lodge to me when she couldn't fit my Ziva in. She's there at the moment and seems to be doing well :)

Sending lots of positive vibes to R&R and hope you're holding up ok too LMSW :)

Another idea might be to start offering dog sitting & house sitting services. Friends of ours love their house/dog sitter so much that when she moved interstate - they now fly her to them to look after their 2 dogs and home (they are in the "young professional" category sandgrubber mentioned) I also like dancinbcs comment about getting a well bred pedigree puppy and training/learning/meeting people. I'm only a relatively new dog owner (less than 2 yrs) and am currently traveling on my first trip away from her. I went to people I knew and trusted in the dog world to ask for a referral on where might be best to kennel her for 5 wks. I got lots of interesting info about who was good and who to steer clear from! I would not have gone anywhere that didn't have a referral from someone I trust. A good standing in the dog world can go a long way :)

Oops - dbl post