ElectraWoman

@kateshep: Your diet looks okay to me on paper...although is the total amount 60% RMB and 40% others? You didn't specify the amounts you were actually feeding. By the way, I also feed cat food to my dog once a week -- Some very interesting diets here; I'm learning quite a bit. I'm starting to cut down on the vegetables as well. I've started feeding my dog a beef soup bone in the morning, and a chicken frame at night along with mince or fish and either egg/yoguart/milk/vegetables. Is feeding a soup bone every day okay? I've found my dog's teeth are getting a great clean with them, but I would hate to give him constipation!

Just a quick note about food...this is a good place to source RMBs: Wing Hong Butcher & Food Services 402- 406 William St Northbridge WA 6003 ph: (08) 9227 6379 Butchers--Retail Chicken frames: $0.99/kg; Chicken wings: $2/kg; Beef mince: $4.99/kg. + more. There is also a pet supply place in Malaga that makes good-quality pet meat...unfortunately I cannot remember the address, but the food is sold at Carine Open Space every Sunday morning. The price starts at $7/kg, and it is cheaper if you buy in bulk. I believe they also do deliveries; I may be buying some tomorrow and can note down their phone number.

Hmm, I'm finding this an intriguing thread. However, a slight question: That's partially true, but what if you fed a BARF diet? Would feeding a vegetarian diet be better than BARF? Anyways, the only advice I have is to buy a blender. You'll need to make sure the vegetables are completely mashed, to break down the cellulose.

Thanks bommy...I didn't realize who bejeweled really was until after the advice was given. I hope the advice given here would be useful for others.

That's what I thought too, Spikey...was going to post on here again, but it slipped my mind. Oh, May 27th is Microchip Day, I believe. You can have your dog microchipped for $27.

Just a quick note about Northern Suburbs - when I joined, I went straight into the Orientation. I didn't have to wait one week I also signed up before 9am. It's recommended that you arrive about 30mins earlier, so you can avoid the crush and your dog can calm down. @ChelseasMum: The Member's Competition is this week? I thought it was next week...I'll have a look at the latest newsletter [it's buried somewhere].

I tried the "alpha roll" method once on Abel. Didn't work. In fact, it probably escalated his behaviour because he felt threatened. I'm not a dog, and therefore I don't know how to do the alpha roll correctly

PS: George, you seem to be wholly convinced that your dog is being sexual...so, why did you ask for help in the first place?

Desexing may help with humping - it may decrease a dog's sexual urges, but I don't think it will stop the behaviour . I think part of the reason why desexing is not a surefire way to stop humping is because humping isn't only sexual. Both males and females hump other dogs, because it is a sign of dominance. If you do want to stop the humping, you can try distracting George. Maybe enrolling in an obedience club would work too - you should eventually teach George to ignore everyone and focus on you, alone. Also, at such a young age [i assume George is not yet 6 months?], recall would be problematic, so don't let him off the leash.

We used to wash our old dog, Falco, about once a year Haven't washed Abel in about two months. I only washed him the last time because he had rolled around in cat poo.

I think whole eggs are fine - that is, shell, egg white and egg yolk. I used to feed Abel an egg a day, and didn't find any adverse effects. I usually give Abel the whole egg, and let him crack it open. He seems to enjoy the challenge

I am another who gives bones - chicken frames and chicken wings. Excellent for cleaning, plus Abel loves them! As for the others mentioned... + Not sure about pig ears being a cleaning aid - they seem more like hard treats to me? I give Abel one occasionally. + Nylabones are quite good, although I had some difficulty convincing Abel to chew on his. I eventually gave up, although I might try again with a larger bone. + Greenies are too expensive! + I have read conflicting literature on rawhide. Some advocate using only rawhide strips, as large chunks [i.e. rolled rawhide, rawhide bones] can cause blockages. Others discourage all forms of rawhide, on the same grounds. I give Abel rawhide strips about three times a week [at most, often less] and have had no problems. + Dental sticks are okay, in my opinion. They had an average effect on my older dog.

Good to hear your puppy is improving :rolleyes:

I feed Abel almost exclusively on BARF nowdays, but when he was younger, I used to feed him Innova. Innova is made with real meat - no meat by-products! - and I found it quite good. The only drawback is its price. It can also be too rich for some puppies. A note about Eukanuba: it creates really smelly poos!

Very bad news. I do hope your puppy will recover, and that the final results will be okay. Do you know what caused the disease?

No suggestions, but I just wanted to say thanks for the thread. I've been looking for new tricks to teach my pup, and I found a few here Currently teaching: "roll over", with "play dead" on the cards as well. A query - I've been trying to teach Abel to "target", but instead of simply placing his nose at said target, he tries to eat it How do I teach him otherwise?

Don't disagree with that! If a dog is unresponsive to flat collars, then the owner should look for alternatives. However - would you be comfortable with a trainer, or a training centre, that advocates the use of check chains as the primary training tool? Perhaps without seeing if a dog is responsive to flat collars? That's probably one of my main concerns. I'm not denying that check chains can be useful, but I'm not sure if they should be used as a first resort.

Personally I think it is unnecessary to use correction chains unless your dog is unresponsive to flat collars. That's just my opinion as I am uncomfortable with the idea - if you find them successful, then more power to you I'm quite sure that using correction chains in training isn't the norm here as well.

@Jemappelle: Heck, my dog eats better than me as well! Sure, come over

I pay too much for my chicken frames! I think I pay a minimum of 50c per frame. I buy them from Woolworths, mainly because it is the closest place [to the best of knowledge], where chicken frames are sold

I feed my puppy [currently a 13w black Golden Retriever X, bizzarely enough] the following [would love some comments on this diet]: Breakfast: + 50g mashed fruit [currently an apples and peaches mixture. He has also eaten oranges, bananas and rock melons.] + 59g egg + 50g rice Lunch: + 1 x chicken neck + 100g chicken thigh / 100g tuna + 100g vegetables [currently pulped carrots, lettuce and capsicum; sometimes I add peas and bean sprouts] Dinner: + 1 x chicken frame [~250 - 300g] Snacks: + Carrot sticks + Fruit pieces + Liver treats + Ham Abel currently weighs 8.2kg.

Hi everyone, Thanks for the advice...it's been an interesting read! Firstly, just to clear things up: my vet didn't actually tell me to feed my dog a commercial product, even though his place stocks Eukanuba. He merely told me that if I was to feed meat to my dog, it should be cooked :p I am interested in feeding raw meat now...it would be interesting to see its effect :D

I'm sorry...I just find the concept of worming humans comical! Is it recommended that dog owners worm themselves, or is it a precautionary measure?

Sorry to hear about the news. Myeloma [sounds like you're talking about multiple myeloma] is a strange disease - it's treatable but not curable I don't know if this article would help, but it mentions symptoms and treatment: http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/Maczuzak/

I would have to echo several people and say that nine weeks is far too young to be left alone. While it is important that puppies learn from a young age where their sleeping and living quarters are, I think you should also temper it with a consideration of your dog's age. At nine weeks, he is not fully vaccinated and is therefore more suspectible to disease. Some good advice I received from a vet nurse was that a puppy should not be left unsupervised outside, because they might accidently ingest something that can make them ill - for instance, garden mulch, which adult dogs can handle but puppies may not. Why is the puppy being made to sleep outside - and it seems, being made to live outside? Is it because you might not be at home to clean up any mess? If so, perhaps a better idea is to confine your puppy to a small area like your laundry, or use a crate. If you use the laundry, you might want to paper-train your puppy initially, in case you cannot let him out for a toilet. Also, about the right age for a puppy to live outside. Following on from the above advice by the vet nurse, I would probably suggest you should wait until your puppy is fully vaccinated, which is around 12 weeks of age. However, it depends on your puppy.