suziwong66

we used rainbow deer farm sadly, Wilbur has no interest in them whatsoever

we freeze 3-4 chicken necks in one lump and they work well to a) slow Wilbur down & stop gulping (lab puppy) and b) to help clean teeth as he has to chew them to defrost them as he eats them.

i knew i'd fold...ordered some more tuffy toys; they've fabulous quality.

i tend to do it myself too. With our last lab we had a mobile service come once and i wasn't overly impressed with the service and they couldn't reverse back out of our driveway Once Wilbur grows out of the laundry tub i'm going to try the service wash/blowdry service at our local Pet Stop. if that's not too costly and works for us we'll continue using the service but if not we'll have to rethink the whole clean dog thing :D

i saw those posts and thought 'yay' i'll get some. then i talked myself out since polly pig is really standing up to Wilbur's onslaught and he really does have a lot of toys. knowing my lack of resolve i'll end up caving and getting some more Tuffies

not yet, but i'm sure it's coming it's been interesting to watch the change in his behaviour since he's started losing teeth though...he was getting better at mouthing but suddenly he's having real trouble regulating himself to not chew on hands We're back to stuffing any of his toys in his mouth as soon as he opens it near us

since beginning teething Wilbur has really taken to his Polly Pig from Tuffy. That poor pig has taken some serious chewing over the last week or so and has stood up to the abuse really well The other thing he's really enjoying is frozen chicken necks. I freeze 3-4 in a lump and as well as slowing his feeding down (slightly) they cool his gums. He's not liking his Nyla bones so much of late, but has been chewing on his rubber bone on and off which i'm assuming is giving him some relief. He's lost two top milk teeth and looks like a junior primary school kid atm

really? i'm just about to join; might try and find out more and go for a look see

Wilbur had his 3rd vaccination shot two (booster) Friday's ago. Our vet said no out & about until this coming Friday (2 week wait). I got tired of carrying the lump around; like Gibbs he's way too heavy to be lugging around. Today i took him out to our main street shopping precinct so he could socialise in a higher traffic area. It was on paths so i'm figuring he'll be fine.

I've only ever used JetPets and have been happy with their service & price once the quote was accurate. I would still encourage you to look around for anything more competitive.

After thinking the same issue through we decided not to invest in pet insurance. Insurance companies exist because the odds are in their favour that most pets won't need a great deal of veterinary care over their lifetime. There are always going to be exceptions to the rule and Mason_Gibbs is one example of the exception. If everyone who insured their pets were the exception then insurance companies would go broke. I've decided not to let emotions rule my decision regarding pet insurance; rather basic chance & probability guided my decision. The chances of no large vet bills is on my side...if by chance Wilbur does need expensive care, we'll just cough it up. Over the lifetime of both of our previous dogs we've never had vet bills over $1000. Depending on what level of premium you pay eg $50 a fortnight you'd be coughing up $1,300 annually and then any gap for treatment on top of that. I'd be more inclined to put $50 away fortnightly that hand it over to an insurance company. JMHO for what it's worth.

I'm someone who tries to be rational when it comes to sentient beings as they deserve the best care we can provide; this includes the emotional and financial states that we are in which influences the type of care we can give a puppy. We had the opportunity to pick puppies other than Wilbur that would come home to us sooner. We had some previous arrangements regarding holidays that we couldn't change; it was these arrangements that lead us to only look at appropriate litters that would be due to come home mid August (two weeks after we came back from holidays). We would not have been able to adequately care for a new puppy when on holidays or as soon as we arrived back. Our definition of adequate care includes that no one else looks after a newly arrived puppy; that's our responsibility as owners. The best solution was not to get a puppy until we could give adequate care. Perhaps you can take a little time to reflect on what is holding you back so you can clearly define the reason; this will allow you to rationalise the situation in terms of whether or not you can meet all the needs of a puppy at this time.

Wilbur has a liver toned (darker) top coat and a chocolate toned (lighter) head and undercoat. I don't really care what people call labs: choc or liver. I use the colours to distinguish tone; purely a personal use/definition.

fabulous idea! I have a long umbrella with a long pokey rod on the end for the 'just in case' moments; i'll be using it for walkies now

I'd recommend a crate for a puppy. It provides an enclosed den-like environment for the puppy. The size you would need depends on the breed and size of pup. We used a pp40 for Wilbur a lab who travelled by air at 8 weeks. The pp40 was his initial bed for the first 5 weeks til he outgrew it and we upgraded to a wire 42" crate; so the purchase of a travel crate wasn't wasted on us. I wouldn't recommend a harness for a 'first time in a car' pup as we have found that we had to train Wilbur to wear the harness and sit in the car correctly. We also used the travel crate for car travel til he was about 9-10 weeks old and then we looked for a well padded harnesses. He's been using a harness ever since. As far as i'm aware, there are no laws regarding dogs in sedan/cars however i would highly recommend using a restraint of some sort; safety first. Some people don't use a restraint to bring their puppy home; they have them on a passenger's lap or on the floor of the car.

it's an obedience title = Community Companion Dog class.

oy! pictures please

all this talk of tinned fish made me go to the stoopidmarket and buy some sardines in tomato sauce...not for Wilbur; for me. Nothing beats sardines in tomato sauce smooshed up on toast

i've never thought to use QV on the dog! We use Aloveen with Wilbur but i'll try QV next bath time. We use/buy the huge pump packs of QV as neither of my children can use soap.

I think one can reply and explain their reasoning without being judgemental. Please be assured that i'm not having a go at you but perhaps it's more about refining the delivery of your message so that your reasoning has no inferred judgement?

I think you make a relevant point here. I would expect/assume that quality breeders want the best for their breed and education would be one aspect of achieving this; being blunt and judgemental doesn't open the channels of communication to educate...as you say, it can have the opposite desired effect; sending people to the very outlets that don't protect breed quality. Every time someone enquires about a puppy it's an opportunity for a breeder to choose the type of outcome they desire e.g. an opportunity to inform, an opportunity to mentor, an opportunity to begin developing a positive relationship with a prospective puppy owner etc The delivery of information is just as important as the content of the information and thus a positive interaction rather than a didactic judgemental interaction may have been better in terms of outcomes i.e. prospective buyer may have made better decisions regarding their intent. As a buyer, i have walked away from didactic, brash breeders who have no clue about developing positive, sustainable relationships. For me, if i can't have a respectful, friendly, quality relationship with the breeder then i won't buy puppies from them. This is because i believe that it is in the puppy's best interest for me to have a good, open and friendly relationship where i feel i have an ally in raising the best puppy possible. The breeder i eventually chose, was very conscious about they way she chose to interact with prospective buyers; she was initially and is still incredibly respectful, open, and friendly. The information she imparts isn't just thrown at me but rather, gently offered so that i can consider it thoughtfully. A good mentor/leader isn't a didactic autocrat. Instead, the best leader guides rather than dominates.

Oh I would love the link to send back as my reply to Mum! Hope someone can find it. Do you know what its called at all? are you referring to the "denver" yellow lab youtube video? if you search youtube for something like "guilty dog denver" the clip will come up and also the video clip discussing animal behaviour regarding Denver's perceived guilty behaviour should be in the list too. I've seen that one but I thought the filmer in that was trying to show that his dog is actually guilty? there is another video that will come up with the 'Denver' search explaining the perception of the dog's guilt.

Oh I would love the link to send back as my reply to Mum! Hope someone can find it. Do you know what its called at all? are you referring to the "denver" yellow lab youtube video? if you search youtube for something like "guilty dog denver" the clip will come up and also the video clip discussing animal behaviour regarding Denver's perceived guilty behaviour should be in the list too.

am really interested to know why M_G. At one stage i was looking at using Advance as the large puppy formula had protein as its first ingredient (unlike the current premium brand i'm using); so your input would be good. taa I know heaps of people here in wa fed it to their labs and all was good but then something changed and heaps of dogs got the runs on it ( mine included). My pup is eating royal canin lab pup but when he goes to adult food he will get Canidae like Mason does and half raw. Thanks for that. I currently use RC lab pup as well (along with chicken frames, chicken necks, small amounts of mince & veg etc) and Wilbur has been fine on it. I did notice when i compared Advance with RC lab pup that the first ingredient of Advance wasn't wheat based but init the RC it was. I'm considering buying a small bag to see how Wilbur goes on it before i make any hard and fast choices about change. If he has the runs then it will be a definite no-go. Thanks for that

am really interested to know why M_G. At one stage i was looking at using Advance as the large puppy formula had protein as its first ingredient (unlike the current premium brand i'm using); so your input would be good. taa