Pudel

Got any links to scientific studies in this? I can't see why a Labrador would have a unique digestive system. Most dogs, given the chance, will gorge themselves. Fact is that most dog owners won't let them. No links but my husband was told at Sydney Uni, when he was doing vet science and my friend was told the same thing at Murdoch. A number of vets have told me this. It is not the digestive system it is in the brain.

Labs have no satiety reflex, they always feel hungry. GRs can be the same. Couple this with soulful brown eyes and they are often overfed. This means owners need to be strict with the food and treats as the dog will never say no to food.

I have a standard poodle and I don't consider her a difficult dog to own. She can be a bit ditzy, but is sweet and just wants to be near us. She is quite happy curled up on the couch, loves a walk, but if it is missed, she copes well. Enjoys the car, but does not like it when the kids stay at school. Loves attention from anyone and everyone and is quite regal. Her name is Ceredwen, we call her Dwin, and everyone that knows her calls her dwinny. She is liked by all who know her. No one is scared of her, she is great around kids and adults alike and good with other animals. Likes to chase our cats and really wants to eat our lizards, or lick them or something. She was an active pupppy, but all puppies are active. Basically she is a delight. The only reason we are not getting another standard as our next dog, is the cost of grooming two standards. When she dies I think we will get another standard we really have been happy with her as a dog and standard poodles as a breed. She does not tend to be a dig. Basically for us she has near been the perfect dog.

My hubby really believes in no food for 24 hours then introduce chicken and rice. (Hubby is a vet)

My vote is for Lab puppies. They are gorgeous. Yet not a breed I want.

I read the first post and was saddened that you were having it so tough with Harper. I am glad you chose to keep him, and glad it is working out. Yes there will be steps backwards, and yes times you ever wanted a dog, but these moments pass. Its funny but I also have these moments with my children and my cats. Good luck in the future, and good wishes and prayers for your OH's deployment.

Poodlefan, I am often in awe at the simple practicality of your posts. Steve I found your post very thought provoking. We have a standard poodle, she is desexed, but we did not have to desex her. Theat was our choice. We are getting a male CCR pup soon he will be desexed,on maturity, again our choice. We don't want to breed, we dont want the hassle of breeding, and the show ring, naah not us. We chose our dogs breed as the breed had characteristics we wanted. My hubby is a vet and his rule of thumb is if you are not showing or breeding then desex the dog. His other belief is don't buy a popular breed. Popular breeds tend to attract the puppy farmers and BYBs. As a breed becomes popular the health issues increase, as people breed them for the dollars not the heart. Dalmatians after 101 dalmatians came out were an example,read the papers and every third litter for sale was a dally. There are not enough reputable breeders for that to happen.

Dogs don't need to be a "guard dog" even a small dog can be a deterrent to burglars or stalkers as they bark. Any dog that barks is a deterrent.

When I walk my dog, on leash, I always shorten the lead and move toward the side. It they have a dog, I shorten it a bit more and move further. I take my dog on nighttime walks and she is off lead, and fine, no body else is around and she loves it. During the day, my prefered walk is busy with other dogwalkers, bikeriders, joggers, and people of all ages walking. I have no real concern with my dog, but if she started at a bike and the rider fell off, I would feel dreadful. Some people fear dogs and give you a wide berth,others don't care. I try to be as responsible as I can. If my children wish to pat a dog, they always walk up calmly and ask if it is ok. They have been taught not to approach dogs on or off lead without the owners permission. Most dog owners oblidge, and the dog enjoys a pat, some dont and that is fine too. In this case the child may have approached the dog, but the dog was described as lunging. On a shortened leash, that should not have happened. The fact that the owner left and has not come forward, makes me think the owner is more at fault than the child.

I dont know of any law in Victoria as far as unrestrained dogs in cars. Definitley on utes. My OH is an inspector under the cruelty to animals act, and he has not told me we need to restrain the dog in the car.

We visited a litter we wanted to buy a puppy from and put down our deposit today. He is a black curlycoated retreiver, and we are calling him Loki.

Sounds like dogs to me also. I gather by your photos you used to have an alpaca guarding your herd. I know of people that have rented alpacas for this reason, so you may be able to hire one for lambing season.

As an owner of a standard poodle, I just want to agree with PF, on the early clipping. We had our baby clipped for the first time within a week of her coming home. It was moreso to get he used to the scissors and clippers, than she needed it. She has been groomed regularly since, apparently she jumps up on the table and stays there politley till she is finished. She bounces out of the groomers with an extra perk in her tail, and a look at me mum I'm beautiful stance. She is in a lamb clip, bit longer in winter than summer. 6-8 weekly we get her clipped. When my hair needs to be dyed, my dog needs to be clipped. The groomer tells me she is good to clip in that she is polite and stays still. She just happily sits there and takes the attention being dolled out. I know so many dogs that hate being clipped. Some are even sedated. Getting them used to clipping makes life much easier. As puppies they may fuss a little, but they soon learn its ok. My girl originally did not like her face and feet being done, now she is fine even with them.

I believe a dog can be considered a nuisance in Victoria if it barks for 6 minutes non stop, or 10 minutes in an hour. I may be wrong on this but it is something I was once told and stored in my necktop computer. Also if they bark a lot after 9.30pm. 6 minutes is a lot of barking. I also assume it is not one instance, but more comman barking than this happening once or twice.

We have a poodle, I believe she is on the main register, but frankly do not care. She is our pet. She was desexed as we do not intend to breed from her, and did not want the bother of dogs hanging around whilst in season. We are getting a curly coat, I assume he will be on a limited register, we wont show, we will desex and he will be a valued member of our family. All I like papers for is to be assured he is a pure bred CCR. I believe I am typical of most people who want a pedigreed pet. I have chosen my breeds due to breed characteristics that are important to me. That is why I have chosen pedigreed animals. Whether the papers are main or limited does not matter. I am probably a bit atypical in that I know what the difference is, but it is still just proof of the bloodlines.

Our list used to be longer, but a lot of breeds have fallen off for various reasons. Now it is Standard Poodle (own one love her, see myself owning at least one more in my life. Curly coated retriever, will be our next dog, and English Mastiff. Love them think they are the most majestic animal, but not sure if we will ever own one.

We really dont want to get to that stage. I consider myself a dog person, as opposed to a puppy person. Puppies are cute and cuddly. They also require lots of work. It was only reading poodlefans original post that made me even question the implications of going from a one to two dog family. So thank you poodlefan, this thread really made this soon to be puppy owner think, and hopefully do a better job because of it.

When I was young I had a GSP called Pal. He went to a farm (I mean he was really shipped off to a farm) when he grabbed me around the neck. He deveopled attachment issues with my then infant sister and turned on me. Our second dog was a CCR also called Pal, and he was. We had a cat called PP (initials). When my hubby and I got together we got a mastiff/great dane X we called him Cafall (after King Arthurs dog). Whilst out walking him I heard meowing from under a bridge and found a kitten, who from that moment on was called Troll. My husband found us a ginger kitten which we assumed was male, so he was named Danny John-Jules after the guy who played cat on Red Dwarf. Became known as Jules when it turned out he had ovaries. Then a litter of kittens were bought into the vet clinic, we took 2, a ginger boy we named Fergus (means red haired) he is now known as furryguts, and a tabby with white paws we named Olwyn (means white footprints) she is Winnie. The poodle is called Ceredwen after the Celtic goddess of knowledge, nah that did not rub off. She gets called Winnie. The next dog ( we want a male black CCR) will be called Loki. I do believe my hubby and I are more imaginative with Pet names than my parents.

I have read this discussion with great interest. My question is how to best introduce a puppy to a home with a grown dog? We will do the puppy preschool, and obedience. Our house has cats, kids and lizards. Our current dog seems to be quite sound with children, cats and dogs she meets on her walks. She also coped really well when we had my sisters puppy stay for a weekend. Just want to make the transition from a one dog to a two dog household as well as possible.

My dog was a mastiff/great dane cross, he had veins you could put your finger down. The vets hit his vein first time every time, and it always collapsed. I could not send him in for any sedation with out 3 legs (on a good day) being shaved. When he was pts the same thing happened. He had 2 different vets and about 5 attempts, before he finally slept, then a few more before he died. It was horrible. One of the vets had done extra emergency study, and was excellent at hitting veins. It was not the skill of the vets it was my boys veins. Some dogs (and humans) have seemingly perfect veins that just collapse on the needle entering. Our pound used to shoot dogs that could not be rehomed, now they use an injection. Sometimes a bullet, or a knife to the throat is less traumatic for the animal, but people like the thought of a needle better. Personally I would not shoot a pet, the thought is horrible, but my head tells me in some cases it is more humane.

It has improved a lot in the last 20 years. When my husband graduated vets had the second (or third) highest suicide rate of all professions. I have heard horror stories about treatment of new grads. When the veterinary surgeons award came out the rules for new grad supervision were tightened. Not all vets are great with new grads, but the horror stories are rare now. The more experience a student can get the better, but they will still need lots of support when they start work.

Your dog is gorgeous, and I think just looks friendly. However I have owned black dogs (prefer black dogs) and I guess you can see more expression in the faces, than people who haven't. We have the most beautiful portrait of our old CCR. He is smiling in it. With the right light black dogs photograph beautifully. We currently own a black poodle and are hoping to get another black CCR soon.

I think the most gullible pet owner I ever met, was the one with a purebreed Golden Retriever, with black spots. The breeder informed them that the spots were due to the testtube being dirty when the bitch was AIed. We had a gorgeous whippet turn up in our front yard as we were about to leave for holidays. We let her inside, asked our neighbour if he know who she belonged to. She had a collar with a name and mobile number which was going straight to message bank. My husband checked both local vets, who checked their records for whippets. We did not want to leave her wandering as she could be hit by a car, and it was the middle of summer. Eventually we rang the ranger. He told us of a couple of houses in our neighbourhood, that had had whippets get out of. So we did a walk around, one house had another dog in the yard, and the other was locked up and no answer. So we rang the ranger, he came and got her. He put her in the cage on the back of his ute, and tried to ring the owner, whilst he was doing this a person drove past him and informed him the dog belonged to his neighbour. It actually lived over the road and 4 houses down from us. Dog was taken home and all was happy.

My sister owns a huski x whippet/kelpie cross. She is old now and overweight. Huski markings with a short coat. Sweet dog, but she looks wrong

We have a standard poodle, who only jumps up if we pat our chests and have dancing games. I have a very simple rule, and it is consistent the dog is only patted with 4 paws on the floor. She sits well and gets lots of pats when sitting or standing. She hates the drop position. It is a bit of a hassle going down to pat them as puppies, but puppies can grow into big dogs, dont encourage a puppy to do what you would not like a dog to do. My dog has learnt when she can jump, and yes her nickname at obedience was pogo. She jumps when excited but tends to jump straight up, not on us without permission. Mind you she will still bench surf when she thinks she is not being watched. She knows and reacts to down, very well when caught though