trinabean

My dog is a brachycephalic breed and struggles in high heat. Common sense dictates that I walk him early/ late in the day when the temperature is reasonable. If it's too hot for him, it's too hot for me. Anyhow, he just wants to sleep if it's hot. Grumpette, love the 'bitey water' piccies. Gorgeous dogs. And a nice way for your dogs to stay cool.

Indi has a lovely smile. He looks very happy with his cuddle too. :D

Hugs for you and Zedley.

You pretty much just summed up my Bear. He has been desexed now though but that didn't make a difference. :D Bummer Tiggy, I was hoping desexing might have a slight calming effect, though my gut feeling is it won't. Bear and Bruno would probably get along like a house on fire..... A play-bowing, zoomie-ing, body-slamming madhouse on fire! I don't think Bruno has worked out how to tone it down a notch (to play with small dogs) so I'm reluctant to bring him! I would love to meet you too roadtripper Weasels, shall ponder substituting my boisterous boofer with something calm and well-behaved!

I'd like to come, but I think Bruno is too OTT to inflict on laid-back dogs. A rough-playing, 12 month old, entire male Boxer who LOVES other dogs and goes selectively deaf....Best I wait a while I think! Until we've done more Obedience and he's been desexed .....

SOOOOOOOOOOO cute! I love all the photos but there's something really special about the ones with Charm and her babies together. She looks like such a good little mum.

A neighbour down the road has a GSP, - beautiful dog. Boy can that dog run! And run....and run!

I would say Boxers are are similar. Either juvenile or senile, no in-between...

I think you're right Boxagirl that flashy red Boxers are probably the most popular, and they are my favourite too. I do love my plain red Boxer though with his black velvet face. I also appreciate a gorgeous brindle like Clemevi's girl Charli. Mumsy has a cute white boy too. Oh alright, I just love Boxers, all colours...

Very cute! And Fang, your Boxer is gorgeous too!

He is a stunning boy pink nose or not. I agree, a very handsome boy. :D Just imagining his thoughts....'How am I gonna explain this to the boys at the water trough?'

Shallow I know, but I just want to see photos of rainbow-nosed pooches and ponies. :D

Have sent you a PM

Your take on things makes perfect sense to me Weasels. Very articulate despite your tiredness. :D

I'm curious too. My boxer follows me everywhere and leans on me or sleeps at my feet. He seems to think he is a lap dog too...

Yes, me too! Some of my own ideas about parenthood before having children were very idealistic. Life doesn't always go to plan. Dealing with the 24/7 responsibilities, sleep deprivation, unexpected illness etc. can be a real shock. And my babies were years apart, not twins. Friends with twins really did have their hands full, especially in that first year! Perhaps your friend is a super-organized, with awesome family support? Perhaps she is an experienced dog-owner with boundless energy and commitment to make anything work? If not, why choose to make life harder than it needs to be?

That sounds like a good plan to me Simmo. My boxer is one that likes to play rough. He plays well with other boxers/ dogs of similar size and play style. He was not so great with my in-laws toy breed though. We had to 100% supervise and often separated them if he was too boisterous. Although he has been socialized with small dogs he hasn't grown up with one. As in Boxer05's case, there are many owners who have a combination of boxers and smaller dogs where things work fine. So your situation is different to mine,and your boxer may adjust quite well to what is and isn't ok with a smaller dog. With your guidance too of course. As I don't have another dog, my main decision about whether to leave him inside or outside is based on the weather. Boxers don't cope well with extreme temperatures and their coat doesn't offer much insulation. At most he's only ever home alone for a few hours, there's usually someone home (similar to what your situation sounds like). If we have a 40 degree day I leave him inside the cool of the house. Ditto a freezing rainy winter day, he's happier inside. Any average sunny day though, he plays/sleeps outside while we're gone. No matter where I leave him, he seems to mostly just sleep while we are gone. Please pop into the Boxer thread in the 'Breed subforums' at the top of the page. We'd love to see pictures of your new pup.

I agree with Perry's Mum, unfortunately accidents happen... and at least Mojo can get pain relief throughout the night at the vet hospital. I hope you can get some sleep tonight. Sending healing vibes for your boy Mojo.

Thanks for that info Lavendergirl. I have given my dog those in the past. I was a bit worried about them being made in China and their bad track record with food standards for humans, let alone dogs. And Best4Koda, I'm glad the 'rigmarole' made you laugh. It did sound like I might have been talking about some sort of food. Not a bad name for a dog roll actually!

Oops, I've probably spelt it wrong but a bit of a rigmarole generally means a bit of stuffing around. Not an easy straightforward thing. So at the moment feeding my dog involves 2 feeds a day where I: Administer antibiotic tablet Mix up Metamucil and a little water, put it into a syringe and squirt that into his mouth Crush Vit B complex and a folate tablet, sprinkle onto food Measure probiotic powder and sprinkle onto food And (note to self) don't let Z/D food run out, as it's a drive to the vets and sometimes they run low and need to order it in. I wish I could give him bones again as he LOVES them and they keep him occupied. I'm resisting though as this is the most settled his gut has been, and we haven't completey worked out what is going on. Your plan of slowly and methodically adding probiotics etc. to her diet sounds good. Whereabouts in WA are you relocating to? Hopefully you'll find a good vet too.

Hi Best4Koda, It's very frustrating trying to work out GI/ allergy issues. My dog is in the middle of yet another round of vet treatment for his ongoing diarrhoea/vomiting problems. The cause of my dogs problem may be quite different from yours, although GSD's and Boxers share a higher risk (unfortunately ) for some gut disorders. Anyway, some of the things that are helping my dog at the moment, as directed by our vet are: Antibiotics, Paw probiotic powder, Z/D low allergen food, Metamucil (for humans, but help his otherwise liquid poo firm up) plus a childs dose of Vit B complex added to food also. Bit of a rigmarole, but his gut has settled down and he is not looking quite so anorexic. He is also getting regular injections of Vit B12 as it apparently is depleted by having chronic diarrhoea. It's cheap and within 24 hours he actually has an appetite. Amazing for this dog, who often refuses to eat. Anyway, that's what is working for him, although I guess the causes could be quite different for Koda? It does seem that there are some similar treatments for many of the different GI disorders/ allergies though. eg. Low allergy diet (and especially avoiding beef and wheat, as you are), probiotics to help re-balance the gut, and psyllium husks as others have suggested too. Good luck with working it out. It's a frustrating puzzle. Really annoying when the neglected dog next door can seemingly eat any old thing and thrive on it....

And a big yes please to no.1!

This is hard because I just love dogs, and can appreciate different qualities in lots of different breeds. In fact I found it hard to narrow down my list when we were choosing a dog! 1. Confident and playful 2. Friendly to people (and importantly good with kids) 3.Medium/large size with a 'wash and wear' coat 4. Loyal 5. A warning barker but not 'yappy' as we live in suburbia Many breeds may fit this criteria. We ended up with a Boxer and he suits us well. I would get one again but I wouldn't rule out other breeds either, especially if my situation/ yard size was different.

Good luck with that!

Aggressive, dangerous, out of control dog. From my experience anyway ;) Yep. ETA: Just ignore her fuzzy, at least the small dog syndrome label isn't something that could get your dog declared dangerous. I agree with Aussie. You may never meet this woman again, her opinion doesn't matter. And Fuzzy you know that you are doing your best at training your dog. The ingnorance/judgement of others is best ignored.