Miranda

This is behaviour that puppies usually quickly outgrow, when you start walking her outside your property there'll be so many different sights, smells and sounds that the lead will quickly become boring and she'll forget about chewing it. Meanwhile if it's worrying you that much persephone's suggestions will work.

There is some helpful advice in the topic 'Peeing Puppy' in this forum.

A lot of dogs eat poo, in fact it's so common that I'd consider it normal behaviour. Some dogs eat their own, some dogs eat the faeces of other dogs, others will eat horse, cow, possum, kangaroo, chook, cat or human and some will eat any sort of poo from any source. No one knows why they do it, it could be an old survival mechanism (dogs are scavengers after all), it could be caused by boredom, curiosity or maybe they just like the taste of it. I have actually never owned a dog that didn't eat some sort of poo, but of all the different types of poo available I think cat poo is the absolute favourite. I have a bitch here who will eat any sort of poo including that of other dogs, she doesn't eat her own, but anything else is fair game. She is 7 years old and has never grown out of it. I also have two males here who used to eat dog poo when they were puppies but did grow out of it. There are various remedies including putting pineapple juice or meat tenderiser in their food, but I've never really bothered about it, providing you worm your dog regularly I have never known any dog to come to any harm by eating poo. So no it's not a sickness at all, it's a gross habit from a human's point of view, but probably a very enjoyable occupation for the dog.

There is a very old fashioned but well proven training aid that works every time, whenever your puppy wees inside pick up a newspaper, roll it up and hit YOURSELF hard over the head with it because it's your fault for not being more vigilant :rolleyes: Take your puppy out to the toilet immediately after sleeping, eating or playing and about every 3/4 hour in between, stay outside with the puppy until he relieves herself and then give LOTS of praise, never just put him out and leave him. If your puppy is inside you must watch him ALL THE TIME as every accident that occurs reinforces the behaviour, if you're busy and can't supervise him confine him to a crate, dogs don't like to soil where they sleep. If you haven't crate trained him I suggest you do as using a crate is one of the easiest ways to toilet train a puppy. NEVER rub your puppy's nose in its waste, this serves no useful purpose and will only make your puppy frightened of you and make him more likely to sneak away somewhere and do it where you can't see. If you catch him urinating inside, say 'uh-uh' in a firm voice and take him outside, do NOT punish him in anyway, he is not trying to be deliberately naughty and doesn't know that he's doing wrong, he just hasn't got the hang of it yet, at 4 1/2 months he's still a baby. Be aware that dogs do not think or behave like humans, they are a totally different species and you need to relate to them in a way that the dog understands. 'The Perfect Puppy' by Gwen Bailey is a very good book for new puppy owners.

Are you using the ordinary or Holistic varieties? IMO the Holistic varieties are far superior and most importantly for me they don't contain corn which causes lots of soft and sometimes runny poo in two of my dogs.

How old is he? It's more likely to be connected with adolescence than desexing. Desexing only makes him infertile, it's not a cure all for behavioural problems. I highly doubt that it has anything to do with his aggressive behaviour which may be dominance or fear related.

My sentiments exactly! :D Yes I also agree, why give chemicals that the dog probably doesn't need. IMO these monthly treatments are made for the convenience of the owner and have little to do with the health of the dog. I worm my dogs twice, sometimes three times a year, give monthly Heartgard during the warmer months and apply Advantage if necessary, which isn't very often as I don't have a flea problem here. If you're giving these chemicals every month, vaccinating annually and also giving the annual heartworm injection (if the monthly product you use doesn't cover heartworm), that's chemical overload in my book. I'm really not surprised that auto-immune problems and food and skin allergies are on the increase in dogs. I would never use the annual heartworm injection on any of my dogs.

I've used Oster for over 30 years and am only on my second set of clippers. I know that they're heavy and tend to get hot, but I'm used to them and they've never let me down.

No bones are good for dogs and puppies and are a natural way to clean the teeth. Brisket bones are my favourite, they're reasonably soft and the dog can safely eat the entire bone. You can also feed chicken wings (although a large breed will probably swallow them nearly whole) and frames, lamb flaps and various others. I don't feed marrow bones because as a weight bearing bone they're very hard and can wear down the teeth or even break them, they can also cause constipation if the dog gnaws the knuckles off them. All bones should be fed raw.

Hmmm I'm glad I didn't buy the Wubba then, looks like I'll be going for a Cuz. Thanks guys :rolleyes:

Yes it's normal, some puppies, especially small breeds, may take longer to leash train than others. I think your puppy may be a little too old for puppy pre-school, but contact your local obedience club, some of them have socialisation classes where she will be able to interact with other puppies in a controlled environment. They will also teach you how to train your puppy to walk on a loose lead, sit, stay, drop etc. and if you have any specific problems they will be able to advise you.

I use one of those silver camera cases.

Has anyone tried those Kong Wubbas, I looked at them, but wasn't sure if they'd last so didn't buy one?

I don't do dog sports, but I do show my dogs and one of my bitches is exactly the same. After a season she doesn't want to do anything but eat and lie around, she'll kill for food and if I take her to a show I have to drag her round the ring because she just doesn't want to be there. It's totally different before she comes in, she's really cocky at that time and shows brilliantly. I no longer bother showing her after a season. The trouble is that their bodies 'think' they're pregnant and the progesterone that's released is a calming hormone that knocks the edge of them and 'tells' them to eat up big and take it easy because they've got puppies. You'll find that she'll start to come good about 10 weeks following her season, until then you'll probably just have to put up with it.

Jaguar are quite good and they're sort of mid range in cost.

Some of my dogs like fruit and some of them aren't really interested. I don't deliberately feed them fruit, but sometimes I'll give them a small piece of what I'm eating, half a mandarin segment each or something like that. As someone else has mentioned too much fruit=runny poo and that definitely applies to kiwi fruit :rolleyes: Actually I doubt that dogs have the capacity to break down the cellulose so probably get little benefit from the fibre although anything in the juice is probably absorbed. I dunno

I have Roseline shears and straights.

Sorry OT, but what breed is that Rysup?

If the judges miss it there's not a problem, but some judges may count it as a fault if they find it. I can't remember if judges run their hand along the tail in a PBGV or not, if they normally don't check the tail and you can't see it I don't think you have much to worry about.

Soft crates are fine for mature dogs that are already crate trained, but puppies chew and have accidents and the soft crates just aren't designed for that sort of treatment. I once saw a puppy completely destroy a soft crate when its owner went to the toilet at a show, shredded the front and sides of the crate with its nails in less than 5 minutes. Wire crates are by far the best crate for puppies and they're easily cleaned as well.

Puppies always urinate on awakening, take your puppy outside as soon as he wakes up, after eating, after playing and about every 3/4 hour in between. Every time he urinates on the newspaper the behaviour is reinforced so do your very best to avoid this happening, he's sooking when he wakes up because he wants to go so make sure that you take him out immediately, stay with him till he goes and then lots of praise.

If I were you I would purchase a wire crate, plastic crates can be chewed and are usually too hot in summer. Whatever you do don't buy a soft crate as they are easily damaged and harder to clean which makes them unsuitable for most puppies.

I think you're overreacting, nothing you have said would make me suspect that your dog may have HD. 6 month old large breed puppies commonly look all out of proportion because different parts of their bodies grow at different rates and looking bum high and roached in the back can just be growth stages, at that age your dog is going through the 'fuglies'. Muscle is something that develops as a dog matures, you have already said that you limit your dog's exercise and I certainly wouldn't expect a 6 month old puppy who's carefully exercised to have a great deal of muscle. I also don't know why you're worried about his growth rate, your dog is still a baby and large breeds take much longer to fully mature than small breeds, he will probably be 12 to 18 months old before he even starts to resemble an adult golden retriever. I'm not saying that your dog definitely doesn't have HD, but I don't think you need to rush out and get him x-rayed. If you want to have his hips checked have it done at 18 months when you desex him. If he starts to develop hindquarter lameness than you may have cause for concern and an earlier x-ray may be warranted, but from what you've said he sounds perfectly normal to me. Have a chat with your breeder and if you're still worried do as IHF recommended and take the dog to see Ray or Mark at Monash Vet Clinic in Clayton. They specialise in HD and would be the best people to take a look at your dog and also do the x-rays when he's older. I don't know which vet you use, but you really need a vet who does a lot of hip x-rays and who is experienced in the positioning etc. Ordinary vets who seldom do hip x-rays generally don't have the experience to be able to them properly.

Dogs vomit very easily, it's a survival mechanism. Dogs are scavengers by nature and some literally eat anything so they are designed to vomit up anything which may be harmful before it can cause them any problems. Dogs will also sometimes vomit if they eat too much too fast or if they've eaten something that cannot be digested (such as large chunks of bone). It is also common for dogs to eat their vomit especially if they've thrown up a meal, sounds gross, but this is normal dog behaviour. If the dog is otherwise well I wouldn't worry about it.