Roova

Gorgeous pics of gorgeous pups :) I too have a little munchkin to call my own. This is Poppy, a Border Terrier and bundle of energy and mischief. I've taken two weeks 'maternity' leave and am having a ball, but am also making sure to build up her time alone for when I return to work. Its going to be a sad end to my leave knowing I have to ignore her through most of the day!. She flew to Gold Coast from Vic on Tuesday and seemed to travel really well. So far we haven't had any messes inside so fingers crossed I can make that continue. She's in a crate beside my bed at night and first night she went to the toilet every 3 hours but last night she slept from 8.30 to 3am (Hallelujah!). Maggie was horrified for the first 24 hours and was very stiff and intense when looking at her. Poppy was either in her indoor or outdoor ex pen and when I saw Maggie play bowing through the wire I was very relieved, they're now getting on very well thank goodness. We haven't done too much as yet but she's had a bath and knows to sit for the ex pen doors to be opened. We watched the garbage truck come past this morning and today I'll take her to the vets for a friendly hello. Its meant to be 35 degrees here on the weekend which is a bummer as I wanted to build up to getting her out and about. I apologise now for puppy picture overload! (Sorry they're so huge, they're straight from photobucket). [/img]http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/Roova7/media/Puppy/NIK_6492_zpsf722554d.jpg.html] Where's my ball gone? Bit of growing to do yet...

Great pics (and great comments too) :)

Writing and photos just so beautiful!

Hmmmmm. I wish Insurance companies worked out their premium based on more than just the name of a breed. For example, if your breed has known health problems and you can provide evidence your dogs parents were health tested it should mean a lowered premium. Its in their benefit to have less claims on preventable problems I would have thought. I know there's a lot of other factors involved in health too but surely there's some way of offering an incentive to those who try and do the right thing? I realise that discounts rescue and crossbreds but hopefully there's some other way incentives could be offered there too?

My childhood dog lived to 16+ before she was given her wings. She was part Kelpie, part whippet\greyhound and a wonderfully good natured dog. She was fed supermarket food, dinner scraps and probably random bones but she could run like the wind and caught rabbits at various times which she ate too. She had this knack of turning sideways while running full pelt after a rabbit and flying through paddock fences at an angle so she didn't get slowed down. This thread has bought back wonderful memories of her so thank you :) Family members have had various terriers since then but my next dog was a purebred Bullmastiff who was on raw most of her life and healthy until eight when she got a brain tumor and had to be given her wings. I now have a Frenchie who is only young but seems to be getting some greys around her muzzle. She's on raw and has no health problems so I can only hope this helps give her as long a life as possible. The years have gone way too quickly when I look back at dogs which have been in my life!

Also would it not be relevant to know age or breed of dog? Health problems in a young dog compared to an elderly dog puts a different perspective on any conditions. Another thought that springs to mind is how can you determine if the problems are genetic, pure chance or preventable because it was bought on by a poor upbringing be it diet or exercise etc.

They look incredible, your son's eyes in that first photo are mesmerising. I can't believe how much your boys are growing up too!

Gorgeous photo! What a good girl, she deserves a lovely soft spot to snooze. :D

That's a great update! Well done for all the work you've obviously put in and Im sure both of you are much happier to have an understanding of each other now.

+1!

Thanks for the update, I was devouring every word as I too have an 'only child' about to have an interloper! Up until now all games, training and toys have been Maggie's so it will be interesting how she copes with another dog in the house. When I have smooches with my sisters dogs she tries to squeeze in between us so hopefully I can work with any jealousy. Sounds like you're doing really well with them both and it will be interesting how long it the two hour toilet breaks to extend out. I'm not looking forward to that side of things and staying easy going at work on little sleep :laugh: How is Laiken going with crate or ex pen time while you do other things or will you let her settle in for a few days first?

Getting a closer look lol Fly ball Lucky last photo

Dock Diving competitor: Dock Diving Spectators

This guy had the job of looking cute and holding his paw up for photos with strangers Get ready... Go! Shake off..

Wow this event has really grown since I was last there. The weather was warm and the crowds were big. I would have liked to take more photos but I wasn't sure how much people would appreciate their photo taken by a stranger, so they're mostly sneaky ones. If you see yourself here and don't want to be, please let me know! I had a nice experience at one point when my partner disappeared (with my money and probably in an attempt to stop me buying things!) and I was standing looking left and right trying to find him. A lady came up and said would you like to use my phone to call whoever you can't find? I rang him and thanked the lady with a hug. She said "I try to do at least one nice thing for someone else every day". So sweet! The photos are a bit huge sorry... This gorgeous Aussie had the lucky job of showing people how much he loved treats and games which were being sold off to the side: Puppies! Animal nursery

Awwww she is so chubby and adorable. I love the expression in her face in the first photo, so little and innocent with the whole world before her. You gave me a bit of a fright when you mentioned one to one and a half hourly toilet breaks though! I was planning on having puppy beside my bed so I could hear them stir and take them out at that point. Hopefully as they sleep longer so do I? Are you worried you'll sleep through her stirring or you just don't want her to have the opportunity of potentially weeing in her bed?

Have a wonderful day with all those puppy cuddles and good luck at the Vet and with Wilbur! She looks absolutely adorable. I still have weeks to go...I'm so jealous!

Well I should let you know the first attempt...not so good. I spread the mixture way too thin and made a lovely flakey pastry at the end! Maggie loved it but I couldn't cut it properly to come out the holes of a Kong. It was also really painful cleaning the dehydrator trays because the wet food squished in to the holes and stuck in there quite firmly. I think I spent longer scrubbing and cleaning five sheets than it seemed to dehydrate for! For comparison I also tried squishing a barf pattie (Big Dog) to about half an inch thickness and cooked it on a low temp in the oven. After it firmed up I put it on a cake rack and kept cooking it so it wasn't sitting in its juices. This turned out a lot better when dry and it held its shape when cut in to small cubes although the edges were very crumbly. It smelt quite delicious when cooking too and my OH said 'Mmmmm whats for dinner' when he first got home :laugh: It was soooo much easier using baking paper under the pattie too. If I do it again it will be with a premade pattie but to make it a bit more exciting (as a training treat) I'll try mixing some liver through as well. With the above recipe I got a bit of flack elsewhere that the vegies\fruit etc were next to useless for a dog and even feeding as treats in a Kong would be a waste of part of their diet. I would have thought they would gain some nutrition from them, but oh well I've been wrong before and Im sure to be again :laugh: I wish there was a dry product available which uses natural products and doesn't have the nutrition sprayed on at the end.

That was a joy to read, thanks so much for sharing. Lovely photos and description, I feel like I've been there myself! Lol

I've only just recently been reading a lot of her information and really enjoyed her style of writing and the information she shared. Im sure her advice he has improved the lives of a lot of puppies and dogs around the world. RIP

Pram pups united *fist pump* :laugh:

I ended up finding quite a cheap one ($85)! Its a bit rusty and the brake doesn't work so well but Im pretty happy with it. Its really light and easy to push around and there's an arm which swings out from underneath if I want to hook it behind my bike (but that means I'd have to actually ride my bike) :laugh: There wasn't much room for a puppy to sit because of the area for little kids feet so I spent $7 on a piece of ply and about the same for a piece of boat carpet which I cut to size. I had to take a bit out of the sides to make them fit properly but they're wedged in nice and tight. I don't think I'll glue the carpet down so I can take it off for vacuuming or cleaning etc. There's clips on the back to keep kids in but they can be used to clip straight to a harness which is handy. Maggie, my Frenchie is happy sitting in there atm because it's a place of many treats so I'll gradually get her used to walking beside it and (just in case) in it before puppy arrives. Im probably going to look quite uncool pushing it around but meh. Im looking forward to using it if there's any places I go where I don't want to hold the puppy the whole time (before vaccinations) and ever after if there's a long walk to where I want to end up. It has a storage segment in the back which will be handy for camera, keys, water, hats, food etc and if I lift up the wood the hidden step area can be extra storage too. Whats not to love! Edited to say the photos have turned out ginormous sorry!

Her lack of skills and confidence sound worrying to me, I'd be asking some questions about exactly what experience she has? Should she even be working alone? In GP land doctors straight out of uni aren't allowed to work alone for a number of years. They just don't have the experience yet to handle all problems. Even if they come from the hospital system we liken them to deer in headlights when they start as a GP lol. Are there any rules in the vet world about new vets working with older vets at least for a a few years?

So..I did up a batch today to test it out. I don't know if the goop was thin enough and I was a bit worried about air not able to get around the dehydrator sheets so I kept the edges free. It filled five trays but it shrinks a bit when dry so I might not end up with much. I used 500g Turkey mince, a tin of tuna (not in oil), vegies, a grated apple, half a banana, 2 eggs, cooked green lentils, a quinoa porridgy mix I found, and maybe 1/4 cup olive\coconut oil. It actually smells rather delicious, it might be one treat for you.. one treat for me during training :laugh: I've got the timer on for eight hours but its quite thin so I'll keep an eye on it. I totally forgot to try making small balls but I think the mixture would have flattened anyway. Fingers crossed!

I feed raw and am interested in making my own dry food, mainly for use in Kongs, boredom busters and if its yummy training treats etc. If there's any other raw, non processed food lovers out there, I'd really appreciate your feedback on the below? Should I make any changes or additions? Would it be worth adding any egg, kelp, tripe, fish, garlic, pumpkin instead of potato etc? Im going to dehydrate it rather than cook it which seems a bit time consuming. Also hopefully dehydrating means more nutritional value is retained because its drying at a low temperature not cooking at a high one. Im not sure if I can get Garbanzo bean flour so I might just soak the beans and use as is? Im going to try making weeny balls and hopefully they dry well too. What do you think? 1 cup and 1 tablespoon (400g) Garbanzo bean flour or Quinoa (or mixture of both) ½ cup (100g) lentils 5 cups (1¼ litres) water 1/2 cup finely chopped cauliflower 3 medium carrots (200g), grated 1 medium sweet potato (200g) grated 1 apple, cored and grated 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley/herbs 2¼ cups (500g) raw minced Turkey, pet mince or other meat ¼ cup (50ml) olive/coconut oil, plus additional oil for greasing Put the Garbanzo flour/Quinoa and lentils into a saucepan and cover with the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Once cooked, add the vegies, meat, herbs and oil and mix well. Add to a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles a thick puree. (You may need to add a cup or so of water if its too dry) and you may need to process in batches. If cooking flat: Grease 2 cookie sheets (or use baking paper) and spread 1/2 the mixture onto one of the sheets so it's about ¼ inch (5mm) thick. The mixture will spread slightly so leave a bit of room for this. It is important the mixture is not too thick because it will prohibit it from cooking through. Repeat as above using a second cookie sheet and the remaining ingredients. Place into a preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes. Turn over so it dries through, and cook for another 30 to 45 minutes. You should have what looks like two very large cookies. Make sure it's completely cooked through as any moist bits will get moldy after a couple of days. If it's not fully dried out, leave it in the oven for 20 minutes more. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C. Remove the “kibble cookies” from the oven, cool slightly and cut them into small pieces. Place the pieces back onto the cookie sheets and bake for an additional hour, or until the kibble is completely dried (but not burnt). Remove from the oven and let cool completely. It should resemble pieces of broken pita bread. It will keep in the fridge for 10 days. Per (100 g) Calories: 365 Protein: 20% Fat: 9%