Miranda

Mandy's in South Australia, does anyone know of any lure coursing venues near Para Hills?

Yes this is an excellent idea, Billinghurst also advocates a 'natural' diet, but he doesn't recommend large amounts of carbohydrate, I mean really, do you ever see wild dogs grazing in a wheat field? I can't say that I agree with any of the things that Toohey posted from the Coleby book and I think you'll find Billinghurst's book a much better and safer alternative. I can appreciate that you want to avoid chemicals but unfortunately when it comes to worming your dogs it's the only way. If you have had your puppies from 8 weeks of age and have never wormed them chances are that they're carrying a substantial worm burden which can also make them very hungry and may eventually make them ill. Good luck with your puppies

JRT's excel at lure coursing, this would be a great outlet for her and is great fun for the owners as well. Whereabouts are you?

I'm posting again because reading back over my original post I feel that it sounds a little abrupt and I certainly didn't mean to offend you. However the diet you are feeding is inadequate, your pups are constantly starving because the food you are feeding lacks protein and nutrients. I doubt that your babies could physically consume enough Farrell's to satisfy their needs as Farrell's is one of the cheapest foods available and has a very high cereal content. Also if your puppies have had fleas it is highly likely that they have tapeworm and sulphur and copper pipes certainly won't kill tapeworm or any other worms for that matter. I don't know of the Coleby book but frankly it sounds as if it was written in the middle of the last century, a diet consisting of poor quality kibble, a few scraps and 'a pinch of this and that' just isn't good enough and could cause lasting damage to a growing puppy. Just my opinion anyway

Farrell's kibble is not a good food, it has too many fillers and is certainly not suitable for growing puppies, the cheaper the food the more you'll have to feed. I would purchase a good super premium food such as Royal Canin, Eagle Pack or Nutro or if they're not available in your area Advance is quite acceptable. Don't bother giving them rice, a dog's GI tract isn't designed to process carbohydrates efficiently and all you'll end up with is more poo. At one meal give them some raw chicken wings, necks or frames and some brisket bones once or twice a week will help to clean their teeth. Yoghurt and a raw egg now and again is fine as is the ACV. If you feed a good diet all the supplements you are feeding are totally unnecessary and feeding too much calcium can be dangerous. I would also buy some Drontal All Wormer cubes and worm them properly and if they've got any fleas use Advantage once a month. Also too much exercise at an early age can be harmful to growing bones, joints and ligaments especially if they're a large breed of dog, overexercising can be a contributing factor in HD and OCD.

Your puppy is whining because it's been removed from its dam and siblings, taken to a strange place and left on its own, this is a very traumatic experience for a baby so obviously it's going to cry. There are two solutions, either ignore the puppy's whining until it grows out of it or purchase a crate and keep your puppy in your bedroom. As the puppy matures the crate can be moved until the puppy is actually sleeping where you want it to sleep. Crates are also a great aid to successful housetraining.

If their budget will stretch a little farther Advance is a reasonable food and they do have a large breed puppy formula. Advance isn't as expensive as some of the other brands.

Food aggression and resource guarding is common amongst dogs, a lot of dogs will defend their food and/or their food bowl from others and this is natural behaviour. As long as you and any other member of your family are able to take food and/or bones from both dogs without a problem then I wouldn't worry about it. I suggest that you continue to feed both dogs separately but remove the bowls and any remaining food from the vicinity before letting them together again and then you won't have a problem. The same goes for bones, bones are an item of high value to a dog and it's natural for them to be possessive about them and to guard them. Your puppy won't have been harmed by the experience and you'll find that the two of them will sort things out. I have five dogs and they're all fed separately and I never leave any food lying around, to do so would be asking for trouble. If they're fed bones they're also kept separate. If you have more than one dog you will always get the occasional grumble, dogs are pack animals and have to sort out their pecking order. Remember that dogs aren't humans, by nature they don't share (they wouldn't survive in the wild if they did) so to make life easy for yourself don't leave food or bones lying around. The same goes for favourite toys, if you're not there to supervise put them away. Good luck

These sound like interdigital cysts, some breeds can be prone to them. Sometimes they're caused by foreign bodies such as grass seeds, but sometimes they just seem to occur for no reason. The pus is due to a secondary infection. From what I remember they sometimes treat them with cortisone and if they get too big they can be surgically removed but often recur. An old home remedy is to soak the feet in water and Epsom Salts for at least 5 minutes and then apply Panalog ointment. It's a very long time since I had a dog with this problem so treatment options may have improved since then.

I usually run on two from a litter and find that although they're happy to be together and don't whine when left alone they are very noisy when playing and of course being puppies they do play a lot.

I'd like to remember Bill and Joy Kinsman, both wonderful people, Joy gave me my first 'in group' award many, many years ago. So many of our great judges and dog people have gone, RIP all of them.

You can start introducing solid food from around 20 days. I start my puppies on a little beef mince (human grade) rolled into a tiny ball and fed from my fingers and once they're eating well I introduce Advance Rehydratable. As you only have one puppy he may be little harder to wean simply because he doesn't have the rest of the litter to compete with, but if you persevere he will soon get the idea. Worm the puppy every two weeks with Canex worming syrup. Your puppy, like any newborn has no bladder control whatsoever so he cannot hold on at all at the moment, as he gets older he will improve and you can start trying to housetrain him from about 6 weeks, even at 4 weeks you will find that he won't like to soil his bed so make sure that his crate is large enough so that he isn't forced to dirty his sleeping quarters. If he's forced to sleep in his own wee this may make him harder to toilet train. You are right to keep him inside. Your puppy should be able to hear well now that his ears are open and his eyesight will be improving all the time. Try not to let him run on slippery surfaces, it is not good for young puppies to slip and slide around as it can damage his growing joints and ligaments, puppies need a stable surface where they can get a good grip. The puppy should have his first vaccination at 6/8 weeks, I would discuss tick/flea/heartworm prevention with the vet at this time. Once the puppy has had his first vacc start looking around for a puppy preschool, he can start 2 weeks after his first vaccination and this will give you a good grounding in how to train and socialise your pup. Good luck :rolleyes:

Petcetera have grooming tables, they have a store at Vineyard. If you want to use it outside a proper table would be best as they fold up after use, they also have a non-stick surface. A grooming arm might be helpful too.

I don't know if a pet shop would stock grooming tables, they're more of a show accessory, I'm not in Sydney, but I'm sure someone will be able to help you.

Put him on a table samoyedman, it's very hard to groom any coated breed on the floor. If you don't want to invest in a grooming table any sturdy table will do, just make sure that you put a towel on it so he doesn't slide around. You've actually started grooming a little late which is probably why he's playing up a bit, I generally start grooming, cutting nails, cleaning ears, checking mouths (and testicles ) at 6 weeks of age.

I agree with showdog, get someone to hold the dog's head and just do it, be firm and ignore the tantrums. Cutting a dog's nails should only take a few minutes, offering treats, toys and constantly stopping to pet and reassure the dog makes it into a long drawn out procedure which the dog soon learns to dread. The dog will soon learn that playing up gets him nowhere and will accept nail cutting as routine.

I must say lillysmum that I don't agree with your second point either, I actually keep my babies outside if I'm too busy to supervise them, much healthier than confining them to a crate or leashing them IMO. I have noticed that my puppies often just potter around, not actually playing, but definitely not sleeping either, just wandering around and exploring and learning about their new world. All my dogs are crate trained and I have no issue with this, but I definitely think that your statement is open to misinterpretation by new puppy owners especially if, as is often the case, they don't read your post in its entirety.

Has he been wormed regularly?

Supercoat and Bonnie are both cheap foods with a very high cereal content and they don't suit all dogs, I'd recommend that you buy a small bag of a super premium dry such as Eagle Pack, Nutro, Royal Canin or Eukanuba and see how he copes with that, you could also feed him one meal of chicken wings and perhaps mix a little beef or chicken with his dry food in the evening. If he still throws up you could try a completely natural diet (chicken wings/frames, lamb flaps, eggs, meaty bones etc.). If he doesn't improve after a change of diet I suggest you take him to your vet and have him thoroughly examined and maybe some blood work as well.

Well sometimes dogs who eat large amounts of dry very quickly will throw it back up and then eat it again because it's just too much for their stomachs in one go. However your dog obviously isn't one of those so I have to admit that I'm stumped. I agree with the others, try a better food, preferably one that has a much lower cereal content or maybe try him on a completely different diet such as BARF. Or change him back to the puppy food and just feed him less if he puts on weight. It seems strange that it's just started happening, is it since you changed to the adult food?

How often is this happening, once a day, every few days, once a week? How many cups of dry does he eat at one meal? Is he a very fast eater?

Well go to a show and see what you think and then maybe discuss the whole thing with his breeder. One thing about showing, you'll meet a whole lot of single women. It's not the same for females unfortunately, usually the good looking unattached males are gay. Lots of openings (maybe I should rephrase that) for a single, handsome, hetero male :D

Well frankly I think that's a fallacy, dogs usually detect that a bitch is in season by the scent of their urine which is why in season bitches mark much more than they usually do. I have an entire bitch next door to me and my older dog who has been used at stud doesn't even notice, if she comes near the fence and he happens to be near enough to catch a whiff he whinges a bit, but once she moves away he forgets all about it. However this thread isn't about desexing and I agree, if you're not going to show him desexing is probably your best option.

It's no big deal samoyedman, I have three entire males here and they're no problem at all, if they're well trained and socialised I don't think you'd really know the difference although I will admit that I've never actually owned a desexed male so maybe I shouldn't be commenting. :D

Teething generally takes place between 16 and 24 weeks, I know of no breed that teethes for 6 months, but I could be wrong. Although the dogs go through it easily it's quite an anxious time if you're intending to show the puppy, I know that some breeds tend to retain their baby canines, but I think it's more common in smaller breeds. Are you showing your pup samoyedman?