suziwong66

R&B do you know anything about his methods? His website is ambiguous about methods and we wanted to know more about what methods he uses.

My niece is looking to engage the services of The Dogfather in Townsville; anyone had any personal dealings with his course or know of others? TIA

When we moved into our current home, six months ago, it quickly become apparent that the dogs next door were barkers. Every time we even walked out our back door they started up. Their owner was no help...on one hand she would ignore them and then when she did interact with them she would scream and swear at them...one cracker is "if you don't stop i'll have to use my angry voice" I spent a lot of time trying to make sure that my two didn't interact with the dogs next door...i would treat heavily at the back door to make sure that my two were conditioned to stay near the back door. As soon as my two barked in answer to the dogs next door, i would distract them by throwing treats on the ground and then move them back to the back door area. I know you've got a lot more issues that I had to deal with...mesh fences (i would recommend trying to block any visual access) and I have the advantage of having my back door quite removed from any interaction with my neighbours dogs but I suggest trying to condition your dogs to find value away from the fenced area; it takes time and a lot of effort but it has been well worth the effort for us. I'm not suggesting that what I did will solve your problems but it may, along with some other strategies, help deal with the problems. I realised quickly that my neighbour was never going to be a willing partner in dealing with the barking dog issue so it was up to me to take control of what was within my power to do so. Six months on, the neighbour's dogs still bark...the other morning one started at 5am and barked continually for over an hour...but my dogs have pretty much been conditioned to treat the neighbour's dogs barking as white noise.

Santy Paws is bringing Laikie a Tug-a-jug and Wilbur, if he behaves, is getting a Bob-a-lot. They already have the opposite toy to what Santy Paws is bringing them. I am making them some yummy bone shaped treats from me and OH, which will be put in their stockings which i embroidered.

there are side effects to Propalin, so definitely have a chat with your vet. My vet and I considered the side effects and still thought Wilbur was a good candidate and so far everything's been great. Given that our labs are both inside and outside dogs, his leaking was a huge problem for us and leaving him outside is not an option.

We use Propalin daily with Norty Brown Dawg Wilbur who is 4. He will be on it for life after he become leaky after desexing at 2. He has .08ml twice daily. It's an expensive drug but works brilliant for Wilbur. We pay $99 per bottle but it lasts a few months. We got him down to .06ml last year and we found that was the lowest dose that we could give him for efficacy. He had a bit of relapse earlier this year and we upped his dose to .09ml and we're just now bringing it down again. He gets a clearance of 3 bottles of Propalin and then we have to see that vet for a check up for his next clearance of 3 bottles. When i need a new bottle i just ring the vet and they check his records to make sure he's not due for a checkup and then i can just pick it up at my leisure.

Who's your breeder DC? I'd go for toys; perhaps one that can come home with pup with the litter smells. We still have out toys and blankies that came home with our two chockie labs; they love them.

If my two norty brown dawgs can manage not to piss Santy Paws with their antics, he might bring Laikey a Tug-a-jug and Wilbur a bob-a-lot. Laikey already has a bob and Wilbur already has the tug. But if they piss off Santy Paws they might get a lump of coal each. wilbur has already been a recipient of a lump of coal one year

the look on her face is priceless

Wilbur as Batdawg - 3rd cyber woofday pawty on FB - the outfit was a kiddy dress up set that i picked up somewhere for a few dollars on sale. We do embarassing dress ups frequently: most stuff is from op shops, sales in pet stores etc and i alter to fit the dogs. We also do a cyber dress up pawty on Wilbur's facebook each year. All his doggy friends from around the world join in and post their dress up pics on the even page we create. here's a few: Wilbur as 'the croc' - this one was from a pet store on sale Laikey as Steve Irwin - the wig was from an opshop (a couple of dollars) the shirt was one of OH's old army shirts that I cut up. One of the many xmas pics taken today - antlers were $3 each and came as a set with a red flashing plastic nose that were too heavy to put on the dog's noses. I love dressing them up for fun but i don't like spending big bucks - so i buy cheap and alter to fit. I picked up some awesome kiddy dress up accessories at Spotight on sale a few months ago - one was a toy story/cowboy hat, badge set and the other was a zorro hat set...i'm thinking Laikey will make a great Jessie from Toy Story lol

Wilbur will give me vigorous licks all over my face when i ask for a kiss: but then i trained him to do it so it's okay i haven't taught Laiken to kiss yet: she's still too boisterous and i'd likely end up with a broken nose or something similar. I kiss them both but much more carefully with Laikie as she's unpredictable.

We had a similar experience when we introduced our 8 week old bitch lab to our then 3yo desexed male lab. We thought that he would be the dominant dog and be the boisterous one; it couldn't have been further from the reality. He hated her play style (bitey face rough) as he's much more into tug. he hated her roughness so much that he wouldn't be in the same room as her. We decided to keep them separated most of the time and to keep their time together, closely supervised. in the beginning she had a pen in the kitchen and then over time she was tethered at the back door. Once she lost those razor sharp puppy milk teeth he liked her a bit more but was still very wary of her. We had to make some adjustments and still do: firstly she was always tethered at the back door so they could play together but when he'd had enough he could get away for a break. Even now, 10 months later, she is tethered with a long line so that he can get away from her when he needs to. When they have play time together with her off her line then they are supervised as play becomes far too rough and he becomes very unhappy with her not leaving him alone. In the evenings they sleep together in one bed, while we watch tv in the lounge room but she is tethered so he can move away from her if he wants to if she becomes rough or wants to play bitey-face (even though there's a no-play rule in the house they will try it on). It's been a long process of introducing them. They still aren't left to their own devices with full freedom; the idea of letting them sort it out themselves didn't work for our boy because he is just too gentle and submissive and she is a rough, boisterous ho that never gives up. Once everyone goes to sleep she sleeps in her crate in the dining area and he sleeps on his bed in our room. During the day, when she's tethered at the back patio/back door they spend a lot of time together playing but he can get away from her when he wants. He can go into his crate but she can't reach it. If they want to sleep together, and they often do, they have a communal stretcher bed that fits them both. We still work with them so she learns to play with him in a way that is positive for both of them. 10 months on and they play a good game of tug together... But it's taken a lot of time and work. They are fabulous together out in public; we take them out for brunch each Saturday and they sit side by side really nicely and they're really good in the car together... But, unsupervised with full freedom is still not an option for us...yet. I'd recommend keeping the dogs separated and any time together is supervised and with lots of high value treats for them both. Over time lengthen the time they interact and when you see your old boy become more confident, perhaps give them small amounts of time unsupervised with you watching from the back door or window to see how they are together. Good luck

I love the Grippa/Gripper range and have pretty much all of them and two of the 5 point police lead...lordy i LOVE that lead; it's SO versatile. The long lines are sturdy and hold large dogs with no issues.

Boomerang tags attach directly onto the collar and that's why i like them so much; no danglies to get caught on anything.

I love Boomerang tags too: i'm just about to order 4 new ones; we've just moved so i need new tags with the new address.

You will also have to find out which crates are accepted domestically in Germany as MRB's friend (a mutual friend) had issues with a crate she had specially made and ended up leaving it here because it wasn't accepted domestically in in Germany.

i recently saw an ad in a pet store of a dog walker advertising their services. The ad didn't fill me with confidence as it was really casual and really only high lighted a love of dogs as to their commitment to the job. I agree with Perse; I'd want to know that the walker presented themselves in a professional light right from the get go. So an ad inviting people to inquire, needs to address some of the things Perse listed even though i'd expect the dog walker/sitter to bring those things up in a meeting.

I guess i assumed that you would know to spend a little time introducing puppy to a lead and collar rather than just putting them both on puppy and expecting instant results. Your complaint was that puppy was too busy playing when you took puppy out to wee; a leashed puppy will solve that problem. You can control the environment by using a lead so that puppy doesn't play when it's wee time thus making the odds more in your favour that puppy will eventually wee; rather than play. It won't take long for puppy to learn that puppy is being taken outside to wee rather than play at night. You can't make puppy do a wee but you can certainly make the odds more in your favour that puppy will wee when you take it out by controlling the environment. Before you introduce the harness/collar/leash at night, introduce them for short periods during the day with lots of positive reward. Introducing leads/collars/harnesses doesn't usually take a lot of time and can be done over a few days if pup doesn't take kindly. The reason i introduce a harness before using the leash attached to the collar is so that puppy won't experience any neck pulling if it decides to pull when running out to toilet. I like puppies to have a 'soft' neck so that when i finally do proper leash training, the slightest of leash movement, like tapping, will alert puppy to what i'm asking of them. I don't like yank 'n crank but a leash, gently used, is a good tool.

Great! All I have to do is lead train her first! I don't even have a collar for her yet. I don't lead train that early either but i've still managed to take my pups out to toilet on leash to teach them to evacuate on command; i use a front clipping harness and a light weight puppy leash. I don't use the collar with a leash for a long time. In fact Laiken is 9 months old and i still have her on a front clipping harness and take her out for wee breaks on lead at night. In the life of your puppy, the solution to your problem is very simple so don't over think it.

the magic of a lead will solve the 'too busy to wee' problem you have Sheridan. Put her on a lead each time you take her out at night. Praise her for doing her business when she's done and then get her back inside and settled in bed so she learns that night time is for sleeping.

at dinner time, my two chocolate labs, heel either side of me and wait rather excitedly to be individually released to eat. Wilbur gets especially excited and will often bound sideways to sit closer to me. I don't have to say a word; i put their dinner bowls down on the mat, move a metre or so away and they automatically heel like crazy nutters with tails wagging at high speed, waiting. I switch around so that they can't anticipate who is released first to eat. If one anticipates their incorrect release and goes to their bowl, i call him or her back and they bound backwards like an Impala, often nearly knocking me over in their excitement to heel so they can be released to eat.

I don't know whether you're being unreasonable or not but to give you another perspective we were a military family for over two decades with many many interstate moves during a time when relocating your pets was not well funded so to keep the costs down we chose to drive to new postings and take our dog with us. It can be difficult to keep on a schedule when travelling long distances with kids and dogs and a car full of luggage to last everyone for however long we could possibly be in a motel or temporary accommodation while waiting for a suitable home or furniture & effects to be delivered...it's not necessarily that time management was poor or disregarded if we got to our new location later or earlier than expected. Fitting into the small window of time that some kennels had for drop-off and pick-up was sometimes really difficult and some kennel staff/owners/management were not very accommodating. This was rather stressful for us; a posting/relocation was always a time of high stress...starting a new life in a new location is much easier when we deal with flexible services (again, i'm not saying you're inflexible). Added to that relocation was, more often than not, during the Christmas school holidays (usually just before or just after Christmas) so we were trying to make the move an adventure to make up for not having the stability of Christmas in your own home etc and would be stopping at various points during the day to break up the drive etc One particular kennel in Wagga Wagga, many years ago, were really accommodating and understood our desire to take our dog out every day for exercise and some normality as we were living in a one room city hotel for 6 weeks while waiting for a house. They didn't hassle us by enforcing a rule of no contact with our dog because the dog may suffer from distress when we dropped off each evening - other kennels were much less accommodating. Most of the many kennels we used across the country over the years wanted us to drop our dog off and never see us again until the final day we picked up - while i understand they have a life to lead outside their business, they fundamentally run a business and I believe a level of flexibility for customers (and some level of connecting with customers) will do more for their business than not. I often got the impression that the kennels were not interested in connecting with us because they viewed us a casual customers...what they failed to understand is that we we would be in the new location, usually, for a few years and they could have had us as regular customers if they had bothered to be a little more flexible and welcoming. Again, I'm not suggesting you're anything like what I've described; I just wanted to give you another customer perspective.

all of my male boys have been desexed squatters and never smelly or messy.

our 8 month old lab bitch went into her first season today; i had been noticing changes of behaviour of both her and her 1/2 brother who is nearly 4 and desexed over the past week. My hunch was correct and she had her first show of blood today. This past week, she's been scatty, jumps a lot more (something we've been working on a lot), not listening to commands of sit and drop to well and way more vocal and somewhat more needy of cuddles. Added to that she has been shoving her back end into our boy's face, laying on her back with her legs spread and inviting him to lick her vulva and he's been air humping around her. They're both like horny teenagers. One big very odd thing happened as well, she peed inside on their beds one night while we were all watching tv; she's never had an accident like that before. She, won't be spayed until she is at least 2 years old - we allow our labs to reach full maturity before we desex. Our vet, supports our choice and knows that we are responsible dog owners that will not allow our dogs to roam or our bitch come into contact with other dogs while she's in season. I am a firm believer that it's better to allow large breed dogs to reach full maturity before desexing/spaying occurs - especially if you are considering any type of dog sports; they will benefit the added bone density development that comes from the hormones of sexual maturity.

My feeding schedule is twice daily and both my dogs poop about 4 times in a 24 hour period; they are both raw fed. As for toilet training, I take pups out on a lead and my cue is 'do wees' and it doesn't take them long to associate evacuating with the cue if you repeat it when they are actually doing their business. I like to teach toileting on command since my dogs are out in public a lot. I always toilet after them eating as it's almost a given that they'll evacuate and during the daytime, i take them out hourly. As i have two dogs and the pup (8 months old now) will always play with my big boy when i take them out to evacuate, i still take her out on a lead so i can have some control over the environment. I want them to evacuate not play.