Miranda

I have fed EP for a number of years and I'd highly recommend the Holistic range, I've used all the varieties and found them to be excellent. I've also tried the ordinary range, but had problems (large poos, slightly soft) with the Large Breed and Power probably because of the corn content. Of the non Holistic varieties I have found EP Natural to be the best although, of course, everyone's dog is different. I have recently changed to another brand, but not because EP was in any way inferior, I simply wanted a change.

I doubt that being a singleton has anything to do with it, sounds as if he was allowed to get away with this behaviour as a young puppy and now that he's bigger and harder to handle you want him to stop. Rule no 1 of puppy ownership.......never allow your puppy to behave in any way that won't be acceptable in an adult dog. Biting and drawing blood is as others have said totally unacceptable and it's also very dangerous, what will happen if he bites someone else's child, both you and the dog could be in serious trouble. You can't expect small children to deal with this, if you're not there to supervise keep the dog and the children separated and when you do see him mouthing or biting discipline the dog immediately. I would take the dog firmly by the scruff of his neck, give him a little shake and a very firm 'no' and remove him from the area, make sure that he knows you're displeased. You must do this every single time you see him doing it, don't allow him to do it EVER! Please don't mess around with this, it's serious, if you find that you can't correct the behaviour bring in a professional.

If I were you I would wait until the puppy arrives.

Sorry, from your post I assumed that she was only 11 weeks

I never use paper, I train them to go outside from the very beginning, IMO paper can be confusing for the puppy and can actually hinder their toilet training. I also use a crate, if you search DOL for crate training you'll find lots of info. Having a crate will also give the older girls a respite from her as young puppies can try the patience of even the most tolerant dog. BTW I wouldn't take the puppy to the local oval until she's had her 2nd vaccination, at the moment you have no way of knowing if she's fully protected. As your puppy is from a pet shop she's highly likely to be from a puppy farm or a BYB, what sort of papers does she have? As you have three females you will have to be careful as the puppy matures. All female households can sometimes have problems so watch body language carefully. Puppy preschool followed by obedience training would be a good idea as staffys are a breed that require plenty of socialisation.

Your dog needs training, at the moment he's totally out of control and doing what he likes. It's easy for rough play to escalate into something more serious especially between two adolescent males so be very careful. I'd enrol in an obedience club as quickly as possible and until he's learned some manners and a reliable recall I'd be keeping him leashed when you take him to the park.

Just make sure that the dog is crate trained before you need to fly her, putting her into a crate if she's never been crated before will probably cause her more stress than the flight itself. Most dogs fly with no problems.

Not all dogs like or need the company of other dogs, some just like the dogs they live with and are not interested in playing and socialising with others. If she doesn't like other dogs I wouldn't force her to mix with them. I have a bitch here who is totally disinterested in strange dogs and I don't push the issue.

A puppy starts to change its teeth at about 16 weeks of age, generally they have all their adult teeth by about 24 weeks. Some breeds can have a tendency to retain their baby canines, if your puppy still has these in place after six months of age (you'll know because there will be four of them) and they show know signs of falling out you may have to have them removed. However most puppies go through teething with no problems at all so I wouldn't worry

My dog's favourite motivator is food, he is the most food orientated dog I have ever owned, but also the most eager to please. We are going to Boronia, we have our introductory session this Sunday afternoon :D

Congratulations on a very lovely puppy, Guy is one of the most successful breeders of labradors in Australia ;) If you can't increase the height of your fences all I can suggest is that you erect a dog run or maybe run an electric fence around. However there are heaps of people on DOL who have some very innovative ideas regarding escaping dogs so I'm sure someone will be able to help you :D

Erny, I'm starting training with ADT this Sunday, which of the above books do you think would be the most helpful as an adjunct to the training? Sorry to hijack your topic rooster78

Or they see a cute fluffy puppy and fail to realise that fluffy puppies frequently mature into fluffy dogs

This is something I really don't understand, people who buy a long coated/double coated breed and then clip it. Once they're clipped they look nothing like their breed at all, there is a clipped samoyed near me and it looks like some sort of terrier cross. There are plenty of short haired breeds to choose from, why buy a dog that needs regular and/or specialised coat care if you don't want to groom it?

You tell 'em uforia, you go girl

It is much cheaper to buy Aloveen online in the 1 litre container.

My OH took my older boy for a walk yesterday and shared an ice cream with him. He loved it A little bit of ice cream now and again won't hurt.

Lots of dogs, male and female, entire and desexed do this, she may grow out of it or she may not. For now I would simply keep her out of your bedroom, hopefully she won't start humping anything else but there are no guarantees.

You are having problems because you have a highly active intelligent breed who is bored and frustrated, the destructive behaviour is simply an outlet for all her excess energy. GR's are gundogs, they were bred to work and run, they are not the sort of dog happy to spend most of their time alone in a backyard with little exercise and limited human interaction, all the toys in the world won't compensate for lack of quality time spent with their owners. The dog needs training, exercise and something to do. Definitely take her to obedience classes, goldies excel at obedience and if you can train her to recall you will be able to give her some off leash running which IMO is vital for every gundog breed. Half your dog's problem is lack of exercise and training and the other half of her problem is lack of attention, none of these problems are the fault of the dog. Unless you change the way you are managing this dog you will see no improvements and the unwanted behaviours will escalate, probably to the point where your OH will want to dispose of the dog. I suggest that you and your family all read this topic and then sit down and decide what you want to do, either implement the recommended changes or find a more suitable home for the dog, it's up to you

Just out of curiosity why did you you buy two males? As a general rule a dog and bitch will get along better than two dogs of the same sex. If they are genuinely fighting now you will have major problems as they mature and although desexing may help there are no guarantees and you may have to look at the possibility of rehoming one of them.

I certainly believe that some dogs have a greater predisposition to food aggression than others, but how they are trained when young certainly has a lot to do with it. I have owned dogs that would definitely be food aggressive if they were allowed to get away with it and others that didn't seem to have this trait at all. I think food aggression is definitely an issue where nurture can overcome nature, it's something that can be nipped in the bud very easily if you start when the puppy is very young. BTW I'm speaking about aggression to humans here not about dogs who guard their food/bones from other dogs.

Miranda, I'm curious- I would guess that people who feed their pets a vegetarian diet do so because of their own beliefs. You mentioned you're vegetarian, yet you feed your animals meat. Is that because you are vegetarian for health, rather than moral or other reasons? If that's too personal a question just say so No not too personal at all :D In 1990 I moved to country NSW and we had a lovely 5 acre property surrounded by farmland. Of course we got to know all the local farmers and although they were all very nice, decent people I was absolutely horrified by some of the farming practices. Our nearest neighbours lived a couple kms away and had an intensive piggery and the property adjacent to ours had sheep and cattle. Now I am a great lover of all animals, I prefer animals to most humans and after having witnessed mulesing (which made me feel physically ill), dehorning and some of the practices in the piggery I started to question why on earth I was eating meat and contributing to the suffering of these creatures. I stopped eating beef and pork almost immediately and after studying vegetarianism and veganism and its impact on health I stopped eating chicken and fish soon after. I was a vegan for a short while, but it didn't suit my metabolism, I'm a pretty active person who goes to gym and jogs etc. and I found myself lacking energy and dropping way too much weight (I'm very slim) so I added cheese to my diet and I also have the occasional organic free range egg. However I eat mainly vegetables, fruits, grains, sprouts and legumes, I also eat tofu and tempeh and drink soy milk. However I would never inflict a vegetarian diet on my dogs, they're just not designed to deal with large amounts of carbohydrate and even though I guess you could call them omnivores they definitely have a carnivore's GI tract. I want the best for my dogs so I feed them mainly meat and proteins from animal sources, they get a little bit of kibble (1 cup a day), but I keep it to a minimum and I try to feed the best available. If I could feed them a meatless diet I would, but it wouldn't be in my dogs best interests and I really don't see why I should force my beliefs on them. Now before you all jump in this post is in answer to ahaze's enquiry, I know all about mulesing and why it's practised and I'm not criticising farmers or trying to tell others what they should eat, neither am I a member of PETA or the Animal Rights Movement. Just thought I'd get in first

Well that's something we agree on anyway

Ahaze you are perfectly entitled to feed your dogs whatever you like, IMO Farrell's kibble is far too low in protein and fat but if you wish to continue feeding it that's up to you, your dogs will survive on it, whether they'll be in optimum health and condition is another matter entirely. Regarding worms, puppies are born with roundworms, I'm not going to go into the lifecycle of the roundworm, but I suggest you read up on it. Copper and sulphur will not prevent your dog from picking up worms even if they are fed in the 'proper amounts' and may I ask what are the proper amounts, from what you say you're feeding 'a pinch', how many mgs are in 'a pinch'? Minerals need to be balanced, too much of one will prevent absorption of another, by giving 'pinches' of this and that you could be hindering your dogs' ability to absorb what they need. I am a very health conscious person, I'm a vegetarian so I have to pretty knowledgeable about nutrition and I am very careful about what I put into my body and I am just as careful with my dogs, believe me chemicals are kept to the barest minimum in this household. However I still worm my dogs regularly, much as I dislike chemicals it's the only thing to do if you're a responsible dog owner. Regarding the Coleby book I don't agree with any of it and no I don't think I'm 'a little bit wrong', I've had dogs for over 35 years and in my very humble opinion this book reeks of quackery and the woman sounds like a crank. Maybe she's an authority on horses, goats or whatever but she knows very little about dogs. No offence intended, but I care very deeply about dogs and the sort of rubbish this woman is spouting really gets to me.

If you live in a country area and there is any chance whatsoever that your dogs could get access to raw offal then you MUST worm your dogs for hydatid tapeworm, if your dogs become infected they can pass it on to humans and hydatid cysts can be fatal in some cases. Also please be aware that dogs carrying roundworms can pass them on to young children, it is actually very irresponsible not to worm your dogs.