suziwong66

We recently bought a 42" crate on wheels from Vebo. Before we actually bought it, we went to the showroom while on holidays in Sydney (they are located in Belmore) and had a look at it to make sure it was of the quality that the picture displayed. It arrived a week ago and i'm really happy with it. On ebay, Vebo trade as ezypets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcM3RoelbZs

awwww how cute are they???? :love:

he likes it as long as it's situated where we all are in the house

I freeze 3-4 chicken necks together in a lump and Wilbur (13 weeks) gets it as part of his breakfast. If he gets them raw, they get wolfed down without chewing; being frozen makes him work for them. Perhaps you could freeze the turkey necks to help slow Ripley down. I also give Wilbur a lamb shank once or twice a week which takes him a little bit of time to eat and then he's happy gnawing on the fresh bone for a few more days

Wilbur's new big boy bed arrived yesterday; a 42" crate. We did some training by going out of the room and down the hallway and then i gave him the command. It took him a little time to respond, but he did eventually and then was attentive while waiting for me to catch up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KprTt4zWFu4

Wilbur had begun crate training at about 8 weeks in a PP40, but he was never over willing to get in. Yesterday his new 42" big boy crate came and we did some crate training to solidify the commands. Two things have changed, he will willingly enter it and we can leave the door open and he'll stay in and sleep or play...again something he didn't do in his PP40. In the video, when we were out of camera range, we had left the room and were halfway down a rather long hallway. I'm really pleased with his efforts so far. Eventually I'd like to see the speed in which he goes to his crate get faster and only ever have to give the command once for him to obey....patience and persistence :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KprTt4zWFu4

Yeah, i gotta say the crate has been the saving grace to help quiet down Wilbur; who at times still struggles with settling himself down unless it's in his crate. Also learning the 'vet hold' to help him wind down has been very useful.

from memory I think this option is only available at some airports as some, Adelaide being one, does not allow dogs within the terminal which happens when they are classed as baggage. i think, some time back, we considered doing this with Wilbur as my OH was travelling back from Melb on the same day, but we had to shelve the idea due to the terminal/live animal restrictions at Adel. Airport. If you did online quotes, i would suggest that you speak to someone from Dogtainers/JetPets directly etc. We did an online quote with JP and it was in excess of $500 from memory and i remember being horrified at the cost. The actual cost that we paid was more than half of what the online quote suggested.

I agree, but i'm HIGHLY biased on the subject

yeah, i'm fine with on lead walking too; we'll be doing it on grass as soon as vaccs are complete. We'll be walking in grassed areas and to the beach on occasions.

I'm with everyone else & Bundyburger; enjoy unless there is biting etc in which case I put Wilbur in a 'vet' hold til he settles; which is usually very quickly. Zoomies crack me up...the rounded bum run around the yard is hilarious

*sigh". Wilbur's not yet fully vaccinated to be yet

LOL i'd forgotten about her poodle!! Good call! i was thinking along the lines of her Golden Retriever Tanner that pooped

maybe not...specially if Barbie's puppies are pure bred My link ;)

we found this too. We lost our old lab in May and began the search for the right breeder in June. Casper cost us $500 in 1997...Wilbur was $1400, which appeared to be an average price for labs. On another note, some vets charge more to desex male pups when one testicle hasn't descended - Wilbur had a wandering testicle til he was 11 weeks old when it fully descended and stopped going on holidays elsewhere in his body Our previous vet told us that it would cost more if his testicle didn't descend.

If you want a cast iron guarantee of no HD, buy a young adult dog that's been scored. If you want a puppy that's less likely to get HD, choose a breed that scores low for that issue. If you want a Lab, research research research, buy one from generations of low scoring dogs and keep it lean, don't stuff it full of puppy kibble so it grows slowly, don't let it run around like a mad thing and dont walk it on lead until its six months old. Even then you're not guaranteed a clear result but you improve the odds. For the record, on average, 11.9% of Labradors record HD in the OFA statistics. That puts them in the lower half of the pack for HD incidence (#86 of 160 breeds ranked from worst to best). Many familiar breeds have worse HD stats, including all the mastiffs and bulldogs, pug, SBT, AmStaff, Shih-Tzu, Beagle, GSD, Rotti, ACD, Golden Retriever, Akita, and (yes, PF) Poodle. The percent of Labbies with excellent hips was 17.9, placing them in the top quarter of all breeds scored (37th of 160 from best to worst). There were more Labradors scored than any other breed, and only breeds with 100+ scores were listed, so the statistics are unlikely to be a fluke of the numbers. see: http://www.offa.org/stats_hip.html I don't know why Labbies have such a bad reputation for HD. All the Lab breeders I know are careful about hip scores. I do know that the incidence of HD diagnosed by vets and disproved at a later time through X-rays and specialist diagnosis is pretty high. Also, listen to quality Lab breeders, like Zenchel, and ignore Poodlefan, who seems to knock Labradors in a high fraction of her posts. Not walking on lead until six months is poor advice. Of course, you need to do things in moderation . . . no different with a Lab than any other breed. Labs do have a propensity to eat too much . . . and moderation in feeding is especially important. I used the OFFA website to quote the lab stats to my vet practice staff (well actually no longer my vet) who strongly pushed that i let them perform a JPS procedure on Wilbur as a precautionary measure to ward off HD. I was really upset that they also tried to push the procedure to all of the puppy owners in our puppy preschool class last week ( Wilbur our lab, 2 teeny schnauzers (sp?) and a malamute X). I didn't go back this week and am not excited to go back for the final week. The hour has become mostly a didactic lecture with very little puppy socialisation It feels like the vet practice use the captive audience to market a specific food, pheromone sprays and surgical procedures. Instead of going to Sat's class we played hookey and went to a couple of pet stores where Wilbur got lots of cuddles and kisses with people and a sniffy hello to a poodle puppy. Then we went into the city and he was doted on by two lovely ladies who stopped for a meet 'n greet for a good 15 minutes. So in the end, we had just as much puppy contact as the class and way more people contact. I'm so considering playing hookey for the final class too...I'm feeling like a brave primary schooler planning to wag Friday sport

A couple of years ago, i went to IKEA and bought a futon mattress for a single futon chair. It was a little long for my needs, so i cut it in half & made new covers for both sections and ended up with two large beds (adult lab) for $60 all up. This time round, i made a doona cover dog bed (adult lab size) and then went to op shops & bought blankets, liners, woolen dooner inners etc to fill it. I wanted a 'pretty' bed & spent a bit on fabric ($60) and only about $20 or so on op shop blankets.

I agree- Shaping is awesome way for them to learn. Pippa is gorgeous RS. +1 i used shaping when teaching Wilbur to play soccer with the soccerball instead of just humping it now he goes nuts using his nose and mouth to chase the ball around the yard; way better than just getting warm and tingly with it :D

I'm sure my OH will let you use his nicknames for Casper (rip) and now Wilbur...."sh*thead" & "fat arse" i prefer "stinky bum" for Wilbur :D

Both times we lost our lovely (geriatric) boys we've decided to introduce another fur baby into the home within weeks. I just can't stand not having fur kids around the house; our family just isn't complete without a four legged baby and feels so wrong not to have one in our family. Keiran left us mid to late June 1997. We went to look at a litter mid July 1997 that were 6 weeks old. Casper was chosen from that litter and he came home to us at 10 weeks in mid August. Casper left us at the end of May this year and Wilbur came mid August...even now that Wilbur has been with us a month, i still miss Casper, but i don't feel guilty for wanting to love another fur family member. Each new four legged family member have been different in personality (even with Casper & Wilbur both being labs) and we never thought of the process and replacing them....Keiran was a male German Shepherd and both Casper and Wilbur were/are labs; Casper yellow & Wilbur Chocolate. The pain of losing our sweet boys has faded somewhat (moreso with Keiran than Casper due to the time lengths) but the wonderful memories of their long and happy lives in our family haven't. Guilt is such a wasted emotion when it comes to well loved and cared for fur kids that have left for the rainbow bridge. Experiencing grief and the healing process isn't linear in my opinion; my grief still comes and goes. Something that Wilbur does similarly to or differently from Casper frequently saddens me. We still accidentally call Wilbur by Casper's name on occassion due to a 14 year habit of yelling for Casper at the back door etc But the joy of Wilbur far outweighs ANY sadness of losing Casper...Just as the joy of Casper far outweighed the sadness of losing Keiran. To me, if the sadness and grief of losing one furkid outweighed the joy of having another then I wouldn't get another pup. But for me it's far better to have love and lost than not loved at all. Only you can decide when is the right time to introduce another furkid into your family, but i hope my experiences help you make the right decision for you. (please excuse any rambling - i'm a little tired tonight :D )

we recently had our then 8 week old lab puppy flown in a PP40 from Melbourne to Adelaide with JetPets using Virgin Blue (breeders choice of removalist & flights). We purchased the crate (as opposed to hiring) from JP and we paid $190 all up. The cost flying with a rented crate was $130 and we were charged an extra $60 to purchase the crate. I know our journey route isn't the same as yours but i hope it gives you some idea of the cost you may outlay. cheers.

Wilbur (12 week old chocolate lab) has slept in a PP40 since he was 8 weeks old. He's never soiled his crate; but we never feed him past 7:30pm. His last toilet run for the night is about midnight and he lasts til about 7:30 am. As soon as he starts to stir in the morning we take him out for toileting. Now that he's just about grown out of his PP40 crate, he'll be sleeping in a 42" wire crate, which should arrive next week. If he has too much room, we'll be blocking part of the crate off to discourage any toileting. Hope our experiences help you sort out your crate soiling problem

ooooh sweet sweet yumminess

it took Wilbur a little time to finally drop with a food lure. I tried as soon as he came home but it wasn't til late in his 9th week, early 10th week that he started to really come into his own and offer behaviours. Clicker training was also another thing i tried when he came home then stopped til 10 weeks when he was more settled. Looking back, i think Wilbur needed the first two weeks to settle into his new home. When i reintroduced clicker training at 10 weeks he took to it like a duck to water. I don't think 8.5 weeks is too early but if the pup isn't catching on i'd shelve it and try again in a week.