suziwong66

we have two labs; one is a guzzler and one isn't. For the guzzler we use a slow-feed bowl and it's helped enormously with slowing her down. We also use a Kong Wobbler, Bob-a-lot, tu-a-jug and some other food dispensing toys for kibble but since we primary feed raw, the slow-feed bowl has been essential. I also feed them their turkey neck/lamb neck bones frozen all year round which slows our piggy girl down too.

ahuh...my thoughts exactly. Dog cafe or not, intrusive owners and/or dogs are not my idea of a fun time. i've had more than my fair share of it over the last six months.

Yes, i too, think this is important. The rule in our house is, whenever you come or go - ignore the dogs. We even extend it so that even if someone is home with the dogs and another household member comes home, they can greet the humans but they ignore the dogs. Our dogs get lots of pats and cuddles but we don't link those times to when people come and go even if the dogs aren't being left alone. Our labbies are very friendly and our oldest boy is even a bit over friendly so we don't amp up that excitement when we come and go.

We've known dear sweet Woody for a long time; the two eldest of his human brothers are my OH's God children.

i don't think the undershot jaw would be a problem: my boy is 3.5 year old and has eaten bones his entire life and has an overshot jaw. In fact it's my physically perfect gulping bitch puppy that will vomit bone pieces up occasionally from not chewing: she's still learning how to eat bones. Be persistent and feed large non-weight bearing bones and supervise during eating.

a lab pup will quickly out grow smaller types bones. My two labs have been raised on non-weight bearing bones and yes at times when pups they can forget to chew. My current pup is 6.5 months old and is a gulper right from when she came home. We firstly began to freeze her chicken necks and wings; to no avail she just swallowed those whole She went well on chicken frames. i'd cut one in half and she'd do well chewing it up really well. I moved on to Turkey (larger sized) necks and froze the smaller necks and now i've moved onto decent sized pieces of frozen lamb neck and frozen chicken frames. This week she vomited twice - larger bone pieces that she hadn't chewed from the lamb neck. She's learning to chew them up properly and i'm persistent. I'm a big believer in raw feeding and feeding raw meaty non-weight bearing bones. The bigger the better with bones for puppies - as they lose their milk teeth and grow in their adult chompers, they'll tackle the bone better and better. Give big bones and be persistent.

i know right ??? there's way too much choice which is bad for someone like me that can't decide

I use that Kong Zoom Groom on Ernie when I bathe him which is only when he pongs. I use the Furminator when he's blowing his coat but try and brush him every other day with an undercoat rake and a slicker. I vacuum every day with a Dyson. His hair is still everywhere. My next dog will be hairless. oh yes, i have a zoom groom, but i find it hard to hold...man hands and thank DOG for the animal Dyson; i have the Animal hand vac and the Animal stick; they're awesome for the daily fur suck up we're at our 18th consecutive year of labbie parenting with three under our belt and we now just accept that there's going to be fur in everything...including food

we have a large Boomer ball; it's also called a zoo ball; damn thing is indestructible their huge balls look awesome but they're pricey and then you'd have to find them in Australia. I bought it on eBay from the UK a few years back. We've also got a mdm sized Jolly push n play; i couldn't find their largest size here in Australia when i was looking for them.

welcome to my life times twice i don't clip either of my labs but i do bath them weekly - this helps enormously with getting the undercoat out without damaging the outer coat. After a good towel dry or blow dry (blow drying also helps enormously) i give them a brush with a slicker brush. I have a Furminator which i use but only when they are blowing, but i try not to use it otherwise because it's really harsh on their coat and tends to strip the outer hair and is rather damaging. I'm a little vain when it comes to my dogs; i like to see shiny healthy coats not dry stripped coats. I too would recommend the purchase of a blow/force dryer. I've always bathed my dogs at the hydrobath at the local pet store where i had access to a force dryer, but recently purchased my own dog bath - now i need to get the force dryer; i honestly wouldn't be without one or access to one with labs. Firstly because it's important to keep their skin dry under the arm pits etc (my oldest has skin issues so keeping dry is important) and secondly it helps blow out more undercoat. When i bath them i run my fingers through their coat against the growth direction and massage the fur; that removes a lot of fur too. And despite all that effort, my home is still full of chocolate dog fur

Great advice Perse and from experience i can say it works. i still give our 6m labby girl a treat before i leave her in either her crate or expen - i use stuffed frozen kongs, wobblers, bob-a-lot, tug-a-jug, foobler, large frozen bones like lamb necks, dried pig noses and i throw small kibble on the ground. I have a large and varied arsenal of food dispensing toys and tricks to distract and act as a diversion Every time, without fail, that i leave her alone (even when i'm going outside the back yard without her to play/train with my other dog) i give her something to keep her occupied. I have been doing this since the day she came home to us at 8 weeks and she's as solid as a rock with being left alone (and labbies are prone to separation anxiety)...even when we take our other dog out and leave her at home alone she's fine. Initially we crated her in our room but at about 5 months old i knew it was time to extend her independence; so now she sleeps in the lounge room while our other dog sleeps with us. Yes, when we changed the routine, she would cry if she heard us up in our bedroom or if someone got up during the night or when OH left for work in the wee hours when he had to fly interstate but we ignored her and/or covered her crate. The crying stopped within a couple of days and she adjusted to the change really well. Your puppy will adjust too but don't become a slave to the crying.

My vet would whole heartedly disagree with you - we had this discussion, among others, regarding what's an appropriate level of risk vs the advantages of socialising last year when we got our latest pup. The beach was high on her list of places not to take puppies not fully covered by vaccination when I wanted to get my pup out and about. Her advice was that there are plenty of places to socialise puppies where the advantages don't present an unacceptable level of risk to puppy's health. The tide doesn't come all the way up the sand cleaning the whole beach in every beach. I'm not having a go at you; just addressing your POV in comparison to what my vet recommended. I don't really care what your vet thinks. Myself, I would not take a litter of pups I bred to the beach but I can understand the benefits of getting them out and about early. What right do we have to tell them they are right or wrong? Just because your vet said so? I'm not sure what your reply is about so i'll try and address it in sections. "I don't really care what your vet thinks." - The OP started a thread for discussion; that's what we're doing...discussing and offering differing POV's. Maybe you don't care about a learned opinion such as a vet and that's totally okay, but in a forum platform it's totally appropriate to discuss what a knowledgeable professional has had to say regarding risk statistics and healthy practice. "Myself, I would not take a litter of pups I bred to the beach but I can understand the benefits of getting them out and about early" - I agree with you; i too wouldn't take a litter of pups to the beach - my rationale comes from the advice from my vet who has a learned opinion and discussed the world statistics regarding different vaccines and schedules with risk factors, so i would and did take her advice and didn't socialise my latest pup at the beach. I got pup out and about in less risky areas. I don't know what your rationale is for avoiding the beach but you have previously put forth that it's not because of the risk factor; your POV is welcomed in forums as is others addressing differing POV's. "What right do we have to tell them they are right or wrong? Just because your vet said so?" - I'm not sure what you're trying to say here in terms of what right do i/we have in telling them (the dog owners in the OP's post) they are right or wrong: is it that i can't have an opinion or posit a POV that has influenced my practice and comes from my vet whom i regard as a knowledgeable professional? You added an opinion - i discussed that opinion by sharing my experiences which were influenced by my vets learned opinion. I'm confused; if you think that we don't have a right to an opinion whether it be right or wrong, why did you post an opinion in the first place? You said that it was okay to take the pups to the beach in terms of health risk and i disagreed based on professional advice; no biggie, people disagree. We all have a right to post an opinion; it's a discussion forum - that's the point of the platform. I'm trying to address this but since i'm not sure what you're saying, i'm finding it difficult. I get the feeling (from the tone of your reply) that you're upset that i addressed your post; if that's the case, i apologise, as my intent wasn't to have a go at you personally (as i said in the original post), but i did want to address your comments by adding a differing POV and experiences (which included the advice i got from my vet whose opinion I value since she discusses statistics and research findings to justify her POV).

My vet would whole heartedly disagree with you - we had this discussion, among others, regarding what's an appropriate level of risk vs the advantages of socialising last year when we got our latest pup. The beach was high on her list of places not to take puppies not fully covered by vaccination when I wanted to get my pup out and about. Her advice was that there are plenty of places to socialise puppies where the advantages don't present an unacceptable level of risk to puppy's health. The tide doesn't come all the way up the sand cleaning the whole beach in every beach. I'm not having a go at you; just addressing your POV in comparison to what my vet recommended.

Slightly OT but the baking soda is actually a really good suggestion for a first port of call. It alters the PH and acidity of wee and makes the bladder inhabitable for infection Not so silly IMO! Perhaps the Baking soda, as you say, is fine for a first port of call but it had been going on for months by that stage and i'd had enough of them not listening in regards to both the incontinence and skin issues my boy was having and decided we needed to move on. One of my biggest bugs about them was their lack of communication; it was a matter of 'just do this' rather than any open dialogue between us. Perhaps if they'd discussed why trying baking soda would be good the first time i brought up the incontinence, rather than saying 'just wait and see i would have been happier. But they didn't. At subsequent visits i was again told 'wait and see' and then got a call back saying try baking soda - apparently the principal vet told the junior vet to ring me with the advice. Their failure to help me create a management plan about both issues over time lead me to believe that they were no longer right for us. On the last visit i tried to bring up dug therapy for the incontinence but the vet said there was nothing available which i knew not to be the case.

^^ what she said

incontinence after desexing isn't uncommon in bitches but less common in dogs. Our 3.5 yo labby boy become drippy after desexing at 2 years and our vet, at the time, wouldn't take it seriously. they came up with put baking soda in his drinking water Anyways, it didn't fix itself and was an issue given our boy is both an inside/outside dog. We sought a new vet and he was put on propalin twice daily for life. We talked about the pros/cons and risks of the medication and he has six monthly checks to make sure he's still going fine. The propalin started working under a fortnight - we were told to expect a change within 4 to 6 weeks. He's currently on 7 ml twice a day. we have tried reducing the dose (with agreement from our vet) but his 'leak' point seems to be under 7mls. I'm hoping like hell that when we got our girl desexed in 18 months that she won't develop a loss of sphincter muscle control too. we don't get much change from $100 for a small bottle of propalin.

I think breeders will be open about saying that their yellows are Red Fox in shade especially since the shade is acceptable in the range of yellows. i did a quick Google of English breeders and the RF shade was openly discussed. I know a UK friend of mine has a Red Fox and he had no trouble finding a breeder over there; the lines were reintroduced in the 1980s I think you're going to have a hard time finding the shade here in Aust (but good luck anyways). Perhaps make contact with yellow breeders and see if they have any leads. Finding someone who uses UK or US RF bloodlines might be your best bet; but i don't really know much about RF breeders here so can't really help you.

The Red Fox colour lines are in the UK lines too Tara.

i haven't come across a breeder of Red Fox's yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there. I would however urge you to wait another year at least before getting Millie a friend. Give Millie time to develop, mature to adulthood and into the best dog she can be before you add another one to the family. They are double the work when the older one is already mature and well trained; two puppies together is a recipe for a nightmare. I have a well trained 3.5 yo choc boy and a 6 month old choc girl; there's not a day that goes by that i don't quietly thank myself for waiting until Norty brown dawg Wilbur was well trained and beginning to mature and settle down a little before introducing the pocket rocket into the family. My youngest daughter miss22 has been at me every year to get another since Wilbur was a year old, but i said no. One crazy puppy in the family is enough...a second one would only add to the level of crazy. Wilbur's training has helped the puppy enormously as she models her behaviour from him and i spent three solid years training him...Train Millie and wait at least a year; your life will be much much easier.

I choose to believe it's love because when i get Laiken out of the ex pen after we've been out for an hour or so, she pees herself with excitement...she doesn't do that with anyone else

Last week, our breeder gave her matriarch breeding bitch her wings. Sadly, the old girl's daughter (just retired from breeding) has taken the loss deeply and won't interact with the other 9 dogs. She keeps isolating herself; her pup that was kept from the retirement litter follows her and keeps her company but to no avail; the grief still hasn't gotten better. Has anyone experienced anything like this before and got any advice to share? My breeder is at her wits end.

i bought one about a or so month ago; my 6 month old labby gets her first lot of treats and then goes to sleep and then wakes up in a fright when it rings for the next round i haven't tried it on my 3yo labby yet. Is there any way to reduce the intervals to help condition the dog to what the bell means? 15 minute intervals is too long imo

I think your conclusion is correct, but not for the reasons you think.In a culture where dogs live in small apartments, are taken everywhere including cafes etc, and often carried on public transport. By necessity people have to buy small, heavily domesticated dogs who have been bred for placid temperaments. Because Australia has a heavily rural modern history, even our urban dwellings have traditionally had huge back yards, and we tend tend toward s an "outdoor" lifestyle, we have tended towards different breeds. (Often working breeds not far removed from their working ancestry.) Not only do people not worry about lack of "social niceties" in their dogs but a tendency towards guarding property or people is often seen as a good thing. I was in Europe late last year and I can assure you that just because the people have smaller houses does not mean they buy and own smaller, more heavily domesticated dogs. In fact I saw more primitive type dogs there than I ever have and they live in apartments, go on public transport, etc The difference here? Their dogs are trained and expected to behave. People take responsibility for the actions of their animals but they also seem to be aware that a dog is still a dog and will behave as such. I didn't see one child rush up to a dog while I was there, or anyone else trying to pat another persons dog without permission. Nor did I see one off lead dog the entire time. Quiet frankly, it was refreshing. Your experience mirrors my experience in Berlin and Paris last year - I saw lots of large dogs, especially in Berlin. I felt that their dogs were well socialised, no matter the breed, because of their living style; apartments - often small. They have to get their dogs out and about and thus dogs and people are much more aware of sharing public spaces in positive ways. It was wonderful; the only downfall was the dog poop on the pavements and grates around the sidewalk trees - it was worse in Berlin than Paris. People assumed their responsibilities regarding dog behaviour in shared public spaces but they forgot them in terms of picking up the poop.

I wouldn't leave puppy to have free access to Archie - that's a potential recipe for disaster in a number of ways. Like others have said, Archie might not correct nicely and it's your job to make sure that Archie is given a rest from puppy before anything can occur. Our 5 1/2 month old labby girl still has supervised access to our 3.5 yo desexed male labby - he won't correct her and she won't leave him alone. During the times they aren't given supervised time together, she's in the pen in the kitchen. At night she now sleeps in the lounge room in her crate (just recently moved from my bedroom to the lounge room to teach her that she has to learn to sleep independent from our boy and us). He has 'access all areas' in the house and sleeps on a futon next to our bed. Our girl will have to earn the right to sleep on a mat on the floor and atm she doesn't self regulate enough to leave our boy alone and can't be trusted to stay on her bed all night. We also have a ex pen outside so she can have unsupervised time outside and i also tether her on the back patio - this allows our big boy to interact with her but also gives him an out by walking out of her reach when he's had enough of her. When we go out, she is separated in her ex pen in the kitchen.

PM Ness, she's got a decent handle on Adelaide vets. We share the same general vet clinic; Hawthorn Vet Clinic - both Nick and Fiona are good with large dogs. You might need to work with a general vet and then a specialist vet for the specific issues your dog has. We both use Glenside vet clinic for the pool and underwater treadmill - i used to use the vet service but moved on a year ago after some issues with the level of care that i wasn't happy with.