suziwong66

No i'm no longer is SA, I'm now in Qld and will need to check the legislation here. I'm not looking for a new pup any time soon but I will be courting my current vet for an exemption if necessary when the time comes. Thanks for taking the time to post the links.

Yes every dog may be driven by biology, but the problem of your dog roaming due to his sexual drive (or any other reason eg a habit that he's been allowed to perform and repeat at will) is your negligence of your responsibilities of being a dog owner by not complying with legislation regarding roaming dogs which is put in place to keep ALL dogs safe (both the roamers and the dogs that the roamers come in contact with and people). So yes, by neglecting your responsibilities as a dog owner you are also, by extension, neglecting the care and safety of your dog (and potentially the safety of the entire small breed bitch next door). An NO, it wouldn't happen to any dog owner passing judgement in this thread if they're being a responsible dog owner and effectively containing their dog before sexual maturity, during sexual maturity and post desexing. The roaming, post desexing, may not abate as you have allowed the behaviour to go on unfettered forming a habit going by the inference outlaid in your original post: "He's always been a roamer...he likes to take a short walk and come back". Some dogs, even post desexing, will continue to roam when nearby bitches are in season if not contained and sometimes they will continue to roam just because they can since they are left with the freedom to do so. If you want to stop your dog from roaming and upsetting your neighbours; the answer is simple - effectively contain it pre and post desexing.

My last vet in Adelaide is up to speed with the research regarding early desexing and fully supported my decision to desex my labs between 20-24 months and never ever tried to persuade me to do it earlier. When we took our youngest lab in for her final vaccinations my vet (new to me at that time) made the offhand comment "i'll see you when she's 6 months old for desexing", which opened the dialogue for us to discuss my desire to leave her entire until 20-24 months. After my vet heard my argument regarding the long term health benefits and that i was quite capable of containing her during her season and we discussed the pros and cons in regards to the research, my vet was supportive of my decision. Unfortunately, my previous vet in Adelaide is no use to you; sorry. I'm not looking forward to navigating through the red tape (if it's at all possible for a non-breeder) when we are ready for another pup.

I train pups in a similar fashion to Dogsfevr. Pups sleep in their travel crate at bed height next to me until they can no longer fit into it (for both my current labs it was about 12 weeks) and then i swap it out for a wire crate at the end of my bed. I let the pup wake me up to toilet it; have never had an accident with any of my crated pups. I don't keep toys in the night crate and i don't feed pup in the night sleeping crate. Pup goes out on lead and i train it to evacuate on command, i praise and we go back inside - all very low key. Pup goes into crate and then it's lights out again; low engagement and plenty of calm from me. In the evenings, pups sleep in a living room crate while we're watching tv etc and we also actively teach them to relax on a mat (they're usually tied out on a mat until they learn no to wander). At bedtime, pup comes with me to their bedroom crate. After a few months of sleeping in a crate at the end of my bed and they've established themselves as being able to hold onto their bladder all night, I move them out to their crate in the living room. During all this time, i also train using Susan Garrett's Crate Games DVD. Both our labs (3yrs and 6 years) sleep in their individual crates downstairs; i lock the crate doors to make sure there is no playing during the night. Occasionally i have left their crate doors open at night and they've been found out of their crates but over on their mats asleep. The general rule, is that if you come downstairs early, don't engage with the dogs; and thus they have never learned to get excited in the morning when family members get up and come downstairs. I can't tell you how convenient it is to have dogs that evacuate on command; totally worth the effort.

One of my labs has constant itchy skin and some level of skin and respiratory allergies that we constantly manage. From my experience with Wilbur, the itching is the least of the issues (unless he's scratching and breaking the skin) but i do make sure to bathe him weekly in summer because it cuts down on the pollens that are on his coat - I use Malaseb when his skin has erupted into sores (Dermaveen/Aloveen when no eruptions are present) and neocourt twice daily on any eruptions. Wilbur also has a drippy nose when the pollens are bad - when the itchiness and drippy nose are bad i give him a 60mg Telfast tablet once a day on the advice from our vet. We also keep his ears very clean because they also tend to be itchy when the pollens are high. If he's having a good run with no skin eruptions, occasional or no drippy nose and not too much scratching and no ear issues, i cut down on the baths - it's about 'all round' management for us. The level of itchiness and scratching that you described your pup having, wouldn't even blip on my radar, but thats not to say your dog doesn't have allergies. Perhaps a trip to the vet to allay/confirm your fears.

I have labs (a 3yo bitch and a 6yo dog) - when they were pups, they slept in a pp40 hard travel crate (next to my bed) from 8 weeks until it was too small for them. We bought a 36" pen for inside and a 40" outside pen. As fully grown dogs, our bitch sleep in a 36" crate on wheels and our boy sleeps in the 42" version. We have purchased all of our crates and pens from Vebo Pets in Sydney and had them shipped to Adelaide, where we were living when they were younger - they are sturdy and well made and we haven't had any problems with them. Edited to add: you should probably ask Troy to move this thread into the General Dog discussion area as it doesn't belong in the breed sub forum area.

We recently stayed at two pet friendly places. The first was when we were picking up Laikey from k9-pro in Londonderry. We stayed at Hidden Valley Retreat Cottages in Grose Vale, not too far from Londonderry. They are very basic; no tv, but they do have dvd/tv with a few dvd's available. No internet or phone connection at all. The cooking facilities were a little too basic. If there were other decent and okay priced options, i'd probably use them instead of Hidden Valley Retreat Cottages. But when you're desperate for dog friendly accom, the options are limited. The bush property is lovely and private though; lots of space for ball games and each cabin is nestled into it's own cleared area and surrounded by bush. We also stayed at Bonville Lodge in Bonville on our way back to Brisbane. They have two options; a small cottage and a larger suite with lounge at the other end of the main house. The gardens are beautiful. There are no cooking facilities inside the accom but there is a kitchenette for tea/coffee, breakfast etc. It was a bit pricier than we'd like given that the place is getting a little tired. The hosts are very hospitable. Coffs Harbour is a quick drive from the lodge and we there are food options there.

I agree with previous replies; Pauline Gill's work (Tapua) in the area of assistance dogs (Labs) for PTSD/Autism/Diabetic Alert etc is excellent. She has a FB page under her Tapua Breeder's prefix. If Pauline can't help, she will undoubtedly point you in the right direction. There is a FB page called Koda for T1D Miranda - Miranda is a little girl with T1 diabetes and Koda is her alert dog - Koda is also a Tapua dog.

I have 2 k9+ soft crates and they're awesome. They've been on flights as excess baggage during our interstate move and were fine. I like that if anything goes wrong, i can get them fixed etc Great service and the bags are fabulous and can fold up into the top flap of the crate.

When we moved from Adelaide to Brisbane 18 months ago, i was looking for chicken frames for over three months...low and behold my small local butcher sells them for $1 per bag of 4 decent sized frames. I had tried Woolies, Super butcher and another couple of large butchers and i kept getting rancid chicken frames from them at much higher prices. Don't discount your local butcher in your local shopping centre for being a good supplier; they often turn out to be the unexpected hero! My butcher doesn't buy boxes of chicken meat; they buy the whole bird and then cut them themselves. I buy 8 bags of frames every fortnight and my butcher always has a ready supply - ring your locals and see how you go.

Oh gawd i had to stop half way through; what a moaning, groaning old fart! I call my dogs my furkids...we have a bunch of toys for them, take them out to cafes and restaurants and shockingly we have boundaries in the home. I'm surprised anyone engages his services with his attitude.

This is an excellent thread DOLers! I've been using Aloveen oatmeal shampoo and conditioner on the norty brown dawgs for years - but it's still an expensive exercise when you DIY! So today, i bought the large pump bottles of Dermaveen oatmeal shampoo and conditioner for them. I wash both at home pretty frequently (weekly during summer due to allergies) so we go through a lot of shampoo and conditioner and Malaseb and other topical creams etc The Dermaveen is on special at Chemist Warehouse ATM. I'm happy to be saving some money

I'm looking for a good training club in Brisbane's southside (i'm open to private training clubs/businesses too); i've looked at several of them online, but you can't tell what a club is like without being a member for a length of time. I'm looking for one that uses positive reinforcement (actually uses it and doesn't just say they use it and then some trainers just do what they want) also i'd prefer a club that hasn't got issues with internal politics (i left my last club because it was just too painful with issues between the 'old guard' and the 'new guard' surrounding training methodologies. And does anyone have any experience with the Labrador Retriever Club of Qld?

They are, aren't they? They put one up of Laikey of her first week. The change is incredible.

I would recommend you contact k9-Pro - they have a number of training/behaviourist support options from Skype consults to board and train at all different price points. If you consider board and train, expect a waiting period of 6 months as they're incredibly busy. If you'd like to see some of their work, go to their FB page and watch some of the videos. When we were still in Adelaide we worked with Amy from Advanced Behavioural Canine with some great results and then relocated to Brisbane and our 3yo bitch went backwards and then some. Six months ago we contacted k9-Pro to discuss board and train and she flew out this morning for three weeks of work for her anxiety. I have every confidence in them to help us give her the quality of life that we want for her; we consider the cost an investment in her future. ** Edited to add: Laikey arrived at K9- Pro on Monday afternoon. She started training on Tuesday. Today, i was shown a video of her first time training in a room with other dogs. Laikey was walking loose leash and not barking or reacting to the dog that was working less that 2m away from her...She hasn't been in any proximity of another dog (except our other lab) and not been anxious or reactive in over 3 years! I have been working on her anxiety and reactivity for all of that time and haven't had anywhere near the results that Steve and Bec (Laikey's Trainer at K9 Pro, whom is a DOLer) in three days. So, i stand by my original recommendation of approaching k9 Pro.

I second Pauline and Pete/Tapua and i also recommend Ruth Bone from Boskyrhomb Chocolate Labradors. Ruth is the breeder of both my labs. Ruth is in Ballarat and is well experienced in flying pups nationally if you choose an out of state breeder, which i did. I was living in Adelaide both times we got Boskyrhomb dogs.

here's my two norty brown dawgs; this was taken before we left Adelaide, but it's still a relatively recent pic of the two of them. Wilbur (5 1/2) on the left and Laikey (2 1/2), the photobomber, on the right.

I think I know the one. If so yes very active in show circles, 'top' breeders, big winners, judges even if I'm not mistaken, but big failure at boarding from every one I've ever talked to that have used them and a person I knew went for a job interview and walked out! I'm sure there are great dog people running great facilities but there are some that seem to rely heavily on 'reputation' they don't match with service Sounds like the one - i boarded Wilbur with them once; never again. Rats ate through the food container i gave them, he was a filthy mess when he came out. The dogs were all just left in a large dust bowl of a yard all day long and as we left they made a snarky comment about Wilbur. I think you may have us confused with some other kennel. We do not and have never had rats, all dogs are bathed and clean before they leave, and dogs do not spend the day in a dust bowl. As far as somebody walking out on a job interview, I have never heard of that either. Anybody is welcome to come and inspect our premises anytime during office hours. I have also just checked our computer records and we have never had a dog or cat called Wilbur board with us. Please reread the thread; the discussion was about a kennel in outer ADELAIDE that Gruff and i are acquainted with. You are incorrect with your assumption that the discussion was about your kennel in Brisbane.

Yes, our two are always crated inside when visitors come. We do it so we can control the environment for both the dogs and our visitors. One of our labs is an over friendly boofer that is all over everyone like a rash and the other is anxious about strangers. If our visitors are okay to having the dogs let out of their crates, we then do it separately so we can manage each dog's weakness; our aim is always for the dogs to have low value for visitors so we don't encourage meet and greets but do reinforce quietly sitting while visitors are present. The only time we do a meet and greet is with our anxious girl; when she's calm we allow her to approach a visitor's outstretched open palm. Our visitors are asked not to pat her, but let her control the level of interaction. She may just sniff their hand and return to me or she may sniff around them or not approach them at all.

i like the design which makes it look like a coffee table and could be easily incorporated into my loungeroom; the dogs have their den to relax in while we're watching tv at night and i can still use it as a functional lamp/coffee table.

Is there a particular vet at Coorparoo clinic that you prefer? I raw feed and like late desexing too so they sound like my kind of vet.

I can't find my old thread asking this question; so sorry for the repeat. We've recently relocated to Brisbane and moved into a house on the southside at Wishart. I'm looking for a good vet that will listen and discuss options etc doesn't push products, isn't didactic regarding their preferred issues like early desexing etc. I generally don't like large chains; my preference is to develop a relationship with an individual vet within a smaller practice if possible. I don't mind travelling to a certain degree. Any recommendations would be appreciated. TIA

A friend's son and girlfriend have decided that their second dog isn't fitting and have decided to rehome the dog. They haven't found a rescue org yet and are advertising on facebook but i'd really like to be able to give them some solid info of reliable good rescue orgs that they could surrender the dog so it can be responsibly rehomed. We have only recently moved back to Brisbane so aren't in the know regarding reliable and responsible rescue orgs. Can anyone please give me any info they have on responsible Brisbane rescue orgs - i think my friend's son and his g'friend are on the southside if that makes a difference. thanks in advance.

i persisted for 6 months with Dremel training; labs love their food, but Wilbur would not take to the Dremel despite always using the highest value treats of salami, bacon, chicken. He at least lets me cut his nails with clippers but i still have to offer bacon etc and need OH to keep him still. I would prefer using a Dremel; i hate clippers as i'm always scare i'll take too much off or that the dogs will pull away at the wrong time

it's a garden cart from Costco.