JB1824

Thanks. How many chicken wings would be suitable to substitute a meal of dry food?

Are pigs tails and hocks safe to eat? I saw some at an asian grocer today. The pigs tail was still attached to some other meat and bone I think (can't think of the word for it at the moment!)

Thanks for the insight espinay, Diva and sandra Very interesting.

Hmm.. The cayenne pepper, coconut and carrot are to protect the digestive tract from worms......... I wonder who the author of that book is! What kinds of bones are suitable for a Labrador puppy? I assume you'd start small and then use bigger bones as the puppy gets bigger?

Well, they said they feed it to their dogs, and the diet's based on "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy. Has anyone read this? I had a look at some reviews on Amazon and some other website. It sounds like some of the information in the book is out of date such as the dried fruits someone mentioned earlier (apparently the author recommended grapes and raisins! and the reason for wrapping bran around the bones was to protect the stomach/intestines from bone fragments!

Thanks for the advice. I've emailed the breeder Would bran and oats, etc. be for fibre? Because in my canine nutrition lecture (very brief overview), we were told that there should be cooked cereal present as the carbohydrate/fibre source at a >2:1 ratio with meat.

Hello, Thanks for all your replies. When they first said they used a natural diet I thought it would have been good and I was thinking about using one when it becomes an adult, but I never expected something so complicated like that! I don't even know where to get half the ingredients from... How should I change the diet to dry food? I only know of switching between dry foods which would be mixing the new one with the old. Is it the same for these kinds of diets? The breeder will be sending us off with a day's worth of meals I think. Is it cheaper to feed raw/homemade compared to a good quality kibble? Mason_Gibbs, yes the breeder is registered! They recently won one of the categories at a dog show... so I assumed the diet must be good enough

Hey everyone, I recently was sent a diet sheet from my breeder (we're expecting the puppy in November) and just wanted to check that it's all okay, because I really have no idea about their requirements and what the nutrition of foods are. The breeder's dogs all seem very healthy though. Breakfast: The night before soak 75 grams of Barley & Oat Flakes (2 parts Barley Flakes to one part Oat Flakes) and 25grams Supercoat Puppy. In the morning mix in a Weetbix, a teaspoon of Almond Meal (or powdered almonds), 1/2 teaspoon ground Anise, one teaspoon Slippery Elm Bark powder, one teaspoon of Honey, one teaspoon Wheat Germ and one teaspoon of Desiccated Coconut, pour a little hot (not boiling) water over the Weetbix to soften then add milk, mix and serve. Warm Milk (120 ml) Dinner: 250 grams of RAW Meat (in 6 – 8 large pieces) sprinkle with one teaspoon powdered Kelp (seaweed), one dessert spoon Bran, heaped teaspoon Wheat Germ, 2 heaped teaspoons vitamised mixed herbs (mainly parsley and mint with garlic, carrot and any other green leafy herbs, spinach etc) a good sprinkle of Cayenne Pepper, level teaspoon of finely ground raw egg shell, 1 teaspoon cold pressed olive oil and one 500mg Vitamin C tablet (crushed), half a teaspoon celery seeds, teaspoon powdered stinging nettle. Mix all together, with a little bit of water, to coat the meat. 1 Bone (lamb or beef neck cut down the middle and across, chicken wings or rib bones rubbed with oil (or water) and rolled in bran. Supper: Mix the soaked Dry food with Milk (Prepare the milk as for Breakfast) a teaspoon of Slippery Elm Bark, a teaspoon of Desiccated Coconut, a teaspoon of Wheat Germ and a teaspoon of Honey. In a short while the Dry Dog Food will not need to be soaked. Chopped dried fruits (usually added to the cereal meal), vegetables finely chopped, raw egg (no more than 2 per week) occasionally add some creamed corn and sardines in oil, these are good additives for your puppy. The amounts would change depending on what the puppy (Labrador Retriever) needs. Do I need to include Weetbix in the diet? I've been reading a couple of threads/posts here that have said that it's just a 'filler', so is it even necessary to add? I've also read some posts here about not needing to moisten the puppy's food. Should I just follow the breeder's directions and just gradually stop soaking it?

How were the pure breeds initially developed?

Thanks! We're in the Burnside Council area I guess I won't need to look at obedience clubs then. I was only going to because their acceptable evidence was "written certification from Dog Obedience clubs and other accredited training organizations". I think having those discounts is probably a good incentive for a lot of people, and the training will be worthwhile too.

Hey everyone, We haven't got a dog yet, but I've been looking at the registration fees for my council, and they have a discount for those that have been obedience trained, but only if you have a level 3 certificate. What exactly does Level 3 mean? We were just going to take our puppy (hopefully!) to a puppy pre-school type class. I suppose this would just be basic training though... Does anyone know of any good training programs/places around Adelaide? I know there are some vets in our area that do it (e.g. Adelaide Animal Hospital) but I don't know if they're any good or not. I'll also look into obedience clubs. Thanks!

Thanks for the books, I'll definitely be reading them. I just did the selectapet thing (I've done them before when I was younger) and I got Labrador, Golden Retriever, and Corgies multiple times (as the four choices).

I have asked and I think they're considering it. It also helps having what fuzzy82 said (below). How would you train a dog to only walk in certain places, or even just sit on a mat? This confuses me a bit, because I was looking at the Labrador Retriever thread under Dog Breeds 101 as Persephone suggested, and a number of posters said 30 minutes was a good amount! Either way, I would definitely want to aim for 30-60 minutes + play time/obedience training. Maybe my parents can take it for a walk during the day, and I can take it again in the evening... I think the main reasons were because of their good, friendly temperament and intelligence and how their eager to please. And our neighbours have/had labradors which were very well behaved! My brother and I also prefer bigger dogs. To Persephone, I'm not sure why I worded it like that, but after reading it again it didn't make any sense! Maybe I was too tired.

I agree with needing to think about things more! What other things SHOULD I think about (since I obviously missed considering how much time to spend with a dog)? As I said before, I'm not the only one looking after it! But yes, definitely need to think of how to spend more time with it. I'm not really sure why we can't keep it inside (my parents said so), but I think it was because they don't want the floorboards/tiles getting scratched from a dog running around, and shedding its coat everywhere. I have a feeling it'll either have to be an indoor dog or an outdoor dog! Because they won't want dirty dog paws walking around the house! Anyway, we'll see if they consider it. Thanks for all your questions!

Hmm... that's a good question, something I hadn't fully thought about. How much is best? At the moment all I've really thought of is definitely walking it every day for at least 30 minutes, plus maybe an hour or 2 playing time (more on weekends and during the holidays). But I won't be the only one playing with it, and someone should be home most of the day. I'm still at uni, which means I could be getting home pretty late, so I'm not sure what will happen if I get back and it's already dark (I don't think our lighting outside is very good!). I'll definitely see if we can keep the dog inside for part of the time (like when watching TV like aussielover said).

Thanks for the reply. Is it safe to house them outside when they haven't been fully vaccinated? Also, something I didn't mention earlier, but there's a cat (owned) that sometimes comes by in our backyard. Will this be a problem? If we get a male dog, is there a possibility it will scent mark or pee on the house walls? Is there a way to teach it not to if it does?

Hello everyone, My family and I are strongly considering getting a Labrador Retriever by the end of the year. This will be our first dog. At the moment I have a few concerns related to training/behaviour and socialisation. I may have more questions in the future. Currently, the questions I have are: Is it possible to start socialising the puppy after the first vaccination? Can we take it to the park, etc.? We'll definitely be taking it to puppy pre-school. How old can it be before it starts living outside by itself? As we'd like the dog to be an outside only dog. Are labradors natural diggers? (natural as in do they dig more than other dogs?) Is there a way to make sure a dog does not develop thunderstorm anxiety or other phobias? Will a dog have to be trained to sleep in a kennel? If so, how? and should we start training it as a puppy (with the kennel in the house)? Are there common mistakes that first-time dog owners make when trying to train a dog? What should I be careful not to do? Thanks in advance for all your help!