lushos

BRILLIANT! thank you for your quick response - I am actually happie making the RAW mix myself, as at least I know it is 100% organic meat (from an organic only butcher) and I know exactly what is going in to it.. I thought too it might have been the frozen BARF product thawing and then re frozen, but the last 2 boxes came from 2 different places, and they were both the same quality , texture , smell, so I just figured it was a decline in quality... not sure... thanks again :)

Hi everyone - I am after all of your opinions on this please. I have a 9 month old female puppy that I have been feeding Dr B's RAW diet to for the past 5 or so months. Once I had her on the RAW BARF food made by Dr B, I took her off royal canin kibble as advised by vet too. The last 2 boxes of Dr B's I have had have been just awful quality - like watery and very mushy, and I can no longer see the vegetables that I used to in the patties. Also, the smell of the food has gone from pleasant and bearable to just off putting and all food is still well within the expiry date stamped on packet. Puppy also began to refuse to eat it, where she once ate the food with no problem at all... she ended up 4 meals with no food, which is when I cooked her up the following: organinc beef mince 1 kilo, 4 tablespoons cottage cheese & 2 eggs into a frypan on stovetop and browned mince and mixed eggs into the mince - cooked in flaxseed oil. I then grated up sweet potato, zuccini, carrot, celery(finely chopped) and broccoli (finely chopped) I mixed all the RAW veges in a container and placed about a tablespoon and a bit into the meat mixture (approx 150g of the meat mix twice a day) at feeding time into the pups dish, so she had the meat, eggs, cottage cheese cooked & raw veges. I also after a few days began to add a small handful of royal canin dry food into the mix - as I felt becasue the food was cooked, it would be OK to do so (???) Pup has been receiving this for about a week now and she loves it and gobbles it all up at her feed times - no problem. The issue is though, I would love to know is this sort of mix that I'm making suitable? I have been trying to find out on DR GOOGLE for days now and there is just so much conflicting diet info. This morning, I decided to revert back to a RAW style of feeding and made my "mince mixture" the same as I have been, but obviosuly not cooking the meat and eggs and instead of flaxseed oil, I added flaxseeds (approx 2 and a bit tablespoons) to the RAW meat mix. Pup ate the RAW meat mix and loved it like that also... She also has 2 chicken wings every second day I would prefer to feed her RAW I think, as from what I experienced prior to the refusal to eat the dr B's BARF - everything (skin, poop, coat, eyes, breath & over all well being and even behaviour) was going really great, so I would love to keep making this mix for her.. My questions are 1. Is the mix I am making sufficient nutrtional wise 2. am I doing a better thing for my pup feeding RAW than cooked? the thing that has spooked me a little is whilst googling diets for dogs, I came across one piece of information that stated that cooking meat with eggs like that could give dog pancreatitis (I have no idea on truth of that) and of course, I freaked out a bit reading that I would really love to hear any opinions and/or facts please - as everyone else here, I only want what is best for my girl! thank you

Yes, I very much did have that problem when I got my pup and left it alone after spending too much time with puppy - of puppy relying on me too much - but since going to dog training classes and having so much support assistance & advice from the trainers at school of things that I did do incorrectly (and there were LOTS!!!) I have learnt the balance alot better, for what to do next time... Lucky for me, my pup was young enough to train correctly when I was assisted how to and I managed to reverse the problems that I created from the word go with my puppy, as a first time dog owner.. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!! I can see that you all have had experience with dogs - so you are right - who am I to make this sort of comment? I certainly did not have any until I went to training school having not owned a dog before.. I understand that, and would definately do things different if I were to get another pup -knowing what I did incorrectly the first time.. I guess what I am trying to say is, what I learnt is there has to be a balance there in those important first days / weeks - of being there to show puppy important household training, and also teach them how to calm in the pen. by no means at all I am an expert - I just would not leave a tiny pup to its own devices on day one... But - you say that it is done all the time - I think I am just a tad neurotic!! LOL

WOW.... having spent the past month raising a new puppy myself, I have to say that is a long time during the day to leave a new pup coming into your house by itself for days after picking it up on Thursday and going to work straight away on the Friday.. I am not meaning to be disrespectful or nasty by saying that - but your pup really needs someone there, especially in those first few days & weeks.. Is there anyone else that can look after and supervise the pup while you are at work? At the very beginning, it is so important to be there to guide your puppy, and make it feel supported and confident in its new home. " From the outset, and especially during his first few days and weeks in your home, your puppy needs to be taught how to entertain himself quietly, calmly, and confidently. Otherwise he most certainly will become severelystressed when left at home alone. " - Dr Ian Dunbar

After all this discussion - I have a question... So, if you have spent 2 weeks with your pup doing things like toilet training, puppy school and driving around, just in general hanging around the house with pup with you constantly, then you try to pen them and the pup stresses when you leave by crying, whining ,panting, pacing, do you keep going with the penning and puppy will settle over a few days / a week ? Or does it become such a situation that a trainer needs to some home visit as the puppy is stressed? just asking as an inexperienced pup owner.

A big YES to all of the above!! As you know from my other post RE: all of this - I feel like I have failed my pup by doing ALL of the above - and now, with a week left until I return to work after having 3 weeks off - my pup is stressed when I leave.... I thought I was doing everything right by not leaving my pup alone at all when she 1st came home - BIG MISTAKE by ME..

Oh dear lord do I hear you!! My girl is 13 weeks and it is so difficult... I have had a shocking week trying to get this whole leaving the house and coming home to soiled house/torn up puppy pad in pen... The weird thing is - I now have the set up of penned in puppy both inside and outside the door - to keep the space small (for now) and expand the pen inside when she stops having these "Oh.... Mum is leaving...... how am I going to cope with this.....*pee* " Over the past few days of my coming in and out whilst she is penned - I have put it down to me leaving that is causing the wee, as I have stood quietly outside the door and I can hear her panting, crying and jumping at the pen (which is secured ;) ) and she settles after about 3 minutes. The reason I have put it down to this is she also is toileting outside where she should be - It must happen when she is doing the initial "ohhhhhhhhh........... shes leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaving me!!!!" Now the question that I have is, will the crying, whining peeing stop itself? Or am I best to get help of a trainer in a housecall? Is it natural for her to be that anxious - with the crying, panting, whining? Will it pass as days go by? Am I damaging her - or training her incorrectly by leaving her whining? I have only been leaving her alone for a maximum timeframe of an hour and a but at this stage... I know I am probably TOTALLY overthinking this - but as a 1st time puppy owner - I have read everything and still seem to be clueless!! the last thing I want to do is stress my puppy - I would LOVE IT if she would settle with her kong stuffed with treats and be done with it.. I have been stuffing kongs and sprinkling cooked chicken in the inside pen - but I come back and most of the food is still there....

It sure is frustrating!!! I sat on the floor for half hour yesterday - urine off in one hand - paper towel in the other sobbing!!! It is my fault though, not pups - I just jumped the gun and assumed that because she had been accident free for over a week whilst I was home and she was going through the door that she should just be OK to go when I wasnt there.... a rookie mistake!! LOL I am glad today though that I have put my reality face on and trying to get a solution.. it is much easier to think when relaxed and with others help - that is for sure!! Thanks so much for understanding persephone Looking back on it all now, I probably should have kept her in the pen inside and stuck to the hour on the hour outside trips and after meals etc for longer before introducing the doggie door. I should have also gone out whilst she was penned inside more too... It is kind of like I have gone the wrong way about things... I should have been going out and leaving her penned for short timeframes right from the start.... So I guess the only way to fix the problem is to pen her inside and begin again with toileting as well as the separation thing - going out for short times and showing her whilst she is confined that Its OK - I will come back and I am not just leaving her to fend for herself. She hasnt had that feeling of me not being there so how is she to know right? 1st time puppy owner!! can you tell? :D

you weren't being put down. Persephone was right. it's like when you teach a dog to sit, if you only happen to do it in the kitchen next to the sink, then when you change the picture, ie ask for a sit in the loungeroom, the dog looks at you with a what expression. The dog has not learned that sit means sit wherever it is, you have to train it. Same as your puppy has not generalised that it can go through the doggy door while you are not in the house. Maybe prop open/tie up the door when you go outside for a few days to make it more inviting for pup to go out. Thank you - and sorry for snapping @ Persephone... It was a horrible day yesterday and I wasnt seeing straight - was tired and emotional when I responded.. Thank you for your great advice - I will try that method of lifting the flap up for pup to go through :D

Easy. She has learned to use dog door/pee outside when you are home .. and that's it. She has not then transferred in her baby brain that dog door/pee can still happen when you are not there ... So that is why I will pen her whilst I am not there - to avoid the soiling issue when I am not there... she can use the pads and when I am home, she can use the door. I have no magical solution for her making the connection to use the doggie door when I am not there, which would be nice, and that is why I asked the question on this forum - to seek assistance as someone may be able to share experience with me. I am not here to be put down. I am here to seek assistance.

thanks everyone.. When I mentioned that I thought that she was 100% toilet trained - I actually meant that she learnt the door in one day, and has been 100%reliable - NO ACCIDENTS for a week when I am home... She trots in and out the doggie door at every time she needs to go and has been 100% in doing this... I just could not understand why she was not going to the dog door when I wasnt there and soiling in the house... Why is she 100% when I am home?? Anyway, I have thought about it and the solution I have come up with is: Doggie door when I am home - & when I go to work, in her pen that she begain crate training in 3 weeks ago. I will set the pen up with crate, chew toys water, training pads down one end etc etc.... until she is used to me coming and going and she gets older *crosses fingers*

Hi there I was wondering if anone has an answer for my question... I have a 13 week old pup that is 100% toilet trained after 3 weeks of training pup to go through doggie door out into the yard in a penned off area so that puppy doesnt have acces to the entire yard at this stage. My plan is to make larger access as pup gets a little older - but for now, has an area of 2 metres length by a metre in width. On the indoor side of things, she has access to the kitchen/dining area only with the rest of the house baby gated to protect carpet when we are not home... even when she first came home, accidents always 100% happened on the tiles (Luckily!!) but I didnt want to risk it.. so she has access to tiles only.. She has a dog bed, toys & feeding release toys (puppy pink kong, activity ball to put treats in and push to release the kibble & others) today, I put some kong biscuits in the kong and peanut butter just around the bottom of the kong.. Puppy has been going in and out the doggie door for an entire day yesterday both supervised and also unsupervised with no accidents at all - she happily goes out the door, does her business and comes back in. The issue arose today - when I began doing training with her to be alone when I return to work next week... I walked into the garage as if I was going to leave - came back in in 30 seconds - to be greeted with a puddle at the other side of the door... I cleaned it no fuss made with urine off and went about my day inside... she trotted outside at around lunch did her toilet (urinated) and trotted back in... I played with her for a while, let her get sleepy, then attempted to go out the door again when she was dozing.... again after 1 minute... a puddle at the door when I came in... this was 4 hours after the first attempt I made to leave and stand outside to monitor her to see what would happen... there was no whining or barking in the short period - just the puddles!! any ideas why? or how to fix this? Do I just keep trying to leave the house for short bursts and the "puddles" will stop once she gets that I will come back ? anyone had this issue before? thank you

Gosh - Im so sorry I came here for help now.... I thought that this was a place where genuine breeders could be asked questions by people like me who dont know anything other than what they see when they visit pups.. re read my post and tell me those pups are safe/ok.. Im not going to ask anymore questions or for anymore help on this - clearly the welfare of dogs is not high priority here and Im sorry I asked now.

I did not know that... all I know is that there was only one female and one male there... so that scares me even more then where the pups could becoming from??

What is your definition of a backyard breeder? There are a lot of breeders out there that many would label a 'backyard breeder' that are ANKC registered and abide by the ANKC rules, only breed purebred dogs and register all dogs/pups with the ANKC. [ Please email me at [email protected] with details of the breeder. If nobody tells us of issues, we have no idea there is a problem. Even if you do not have any proof of this that you can send, if we know of a potential issue, we can place the breeder in our suspect file so if we get any further complaints about wrongdoings (even without proof), there is a good chance that they are actually doing something wrong and we can remove them. OK - the conditions the pup were in at 2 weeks old was appauling ... they were lying on tiles with NO BLANKETS , towels or any kind of bedding nearby.. The female dog has had 3 litters already this year - and a fourth is planned for late december... how can THAT be good for an adult dog to have so many pups in one year? The reason I found this out - was dates of pups born on the "breeders" website (which has all been removed now - but I have been watching the website for around 6 months now... The reason I know thi is becasue the breeder has only 2 dogs on premisis and could not go into much detail of the parentage other than where the 2 dogs that I saw were there the original breeder and who it was - which is how I got to finding out about the unethical breeding going on there.. Do you really think that one breeder who sells 2 dogs to another PERSON (one male, one female) and then having that PERSON who purchased from the ethical breeder break a de sexing contract with the original breeder is OK? This so called breeder broke the agreement with the original breeder to breed dogs clearly.. the original breeder did not consent to the dogs being used to breed. So howis that "gossip & assumtion" this breeder avoided all my questions re: papers and registration and her qualifications... I was so gutted when I left that place - I was shaking and crying... it was appauling conditions and the adult dogs were not in good condition. I had no idea about registered councils or any of that - which is why I came here - for help.. I can only report what I saw... and I was disgusted by what I did see... as far as papers go - YES it is important to me, when I am paying nearly $2000 for a pup that I have a pup that is of the best health, raised in the correct conditions and well looked after - what I saw was no where near even me - as a simple person who has not much of an idea about breeding and so on could see things were not as they should be there... I came here for help and ideas and I thank you for giving me advice of the correct authorities to report to - I can now investigate further and report the person correctly - through the right channels