Bear&Duke

1. What is my relationship with the breed? (ie breeder, first time owner etc) First time owner of a keeshond 2. How common is it in Australia? Not very common, we often get remarks about Bear when we are out for a walk. 3. What is the general temperament/personality? Bear is lovable and mischievous. He is about 3 ½ now and has really settled down in to a more mature dog. As a puppy he was a handful but to be honest we weren’t skilled dog owners and we weren’t strong enough with him from the onset, but I am happy to say we recovered our leadership and have an amazing bond with him now. They can and do bark! He is very vocal and territorial to the point that he’ll let you know someone is there but if they entered the yard I think he would lick them to death. They crave human interaction and even with another dog crave your company, Bear will be under your feet while you’re on the couch but does not have to be in the same room as you (unlike our cock spaniel!). 4. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult? They need exercise, but not huge amounts. A daily 30 minute walk is enough to give them stimulation and exercise. They easily overheat though so absolutely do not walk in the heat of the day during summer, evening or very early walks are best. 5. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with? Personally I don’t think they are unless you are very aware on how to be a pack leader. Keeshonds will try you if they think you are not strong willed and a small win goes a long way for them. They need constant, consistent leadership from the onset. 6. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods? In my experience they are not solo dogs. Bear has developed and settled a lot more since we bought another dog for company as we are out most of the day with work. In saying that he will still gravitate towards people, it hasn’t made him aloof. 7. How much grooming is required? A fair amount, you need to give them a good brush each week to ensure they don’t get matted. They don’t drop much hair though. 8. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)? They can be boisterous but with the correct training this can be curbed. I haven’t had him around small children so I can’t comment on suitability. I love my boy to bits and wouldn't give him up for anything. He was a tough puppy and a steep learning curve but the hard times were so worth it as we have the most beautiful, loving dog now.

Thanks everyone for your responses, it's much appreciated! It sounds like there are a few options out there which I will definitely take in to consideration if this ever happens again, but hopefully it doesn't :) Duke is normally pretty good with other dogs, he always greets them in what I see as a submissive stance, crawling close to the ground, never straight at them always comes from the side, sniffing bums and very quiet. But he really enjoys meeting other dogs and once he has the initial meeting out of the way he will happily run around and play with them. I have been working hard to get him out and about and experience as many situations as possible so he is a confident and polite little dog, so I'll chalk this one up to another experience Thanks heaps for the input!

Your correct Minimax it wasn't a dog park, it's actually a football oval and is strictly on leash

I'm starting to think that GoldenGirl, they seem more trouble then they are worth these days with irresponsible owners! I don't think I showed enough concern Haredown, I really dont like confrotation but next time ill be more vocal! I knew the dog was being playful and not aggressive but even when I was down on the ground guarding Duke she didn't show a lot of haste in controlling her dog. I suppose my concern also comes from 'babying' duke, I don't want him to be more afraid of other dogs due to my reaction. I stayed calm throughout it all but by sheltering him I don't know if I was fuelling his fear?

I took my 6 month old cocker spaniel pup Duke for a walk this afternoon and our route went through a park. Duke was on lead and a playful off lead weimaraner came over to say hi and scared Duke with all his bouncing around. The owner was calling the weim but he wasn't listening and Duke started crying and rushing around to get away from him. I got down low so Duke could hide under my legs and eventually the lady caught the weim. I don't think the Weim was threatening Duke at all but with the size difference he just freaked out. I don't think I acted in the correct way, and in a different situation my actions could have got me hurt but what should I have done?

Persephone that made me shiver. Poor things I hope they are ok now

That’s an excellent postage price Wendy! I may be taking you up on that offer if Bear can tolerate the food, fingers crossed!

I am shocked that people would have the nerve to have a go at someone who didn't put a response to a topic after reading it! Wow we are becoming a very critical society aren't we

Your poor little man, I don't have any advice I just wanted to say good luck and I hope he's feeling better soon

Yeah she delivered my last bag to me but she said she wouldn't drve that far again There is a place in Mundaring [still over an hour away] who sell it but they also sell animals. I found another food they are both doing ok on for now. Defiantly isn't as good but what can I do. KJA/English Ivy I could pick a bag up for you and take it with me to work in West Perth and you could collect it from there during business hours if that helps? Davina said I can pick it up from her in the afternoons from 4-6pm and I go to Darling Downs on most Wednesdays after work so her being open late allows me to pick it up on my way through to horse riding. Let me know if you would like a bag and I can get one for you.

I got in touch with Davina and im picking up a bag on wednesday, fingers crossed it works for my boy! I didn't realise she was a kennel so I wasn't calling at the right times to get her It would be helpful to have more distributors in Perth though, as Southern River is very out of the way.

Some days I am living the dream ....other days I'm living the nightmare Hahaha so very true!

I have the breed I longed for, a cocker spaniel. But I would love a Bernese Mountain dog & Old English Sheep Dog, they are stunning!

I don't understand it either. I don't think anyone minds if you read their post but don't reply as you have nothing helpful to add, so I'm not sure why there is a need to be anonymous

I've sent them an email but I will try to give them a call today. It's more that they are not located close to where i live/work and I was hoping there may be other retailers which are closer. I may need to sneak off from work a bit earlier to get down to them, I'm sure it will be worth it by all the excellent reviews on here!

Hi all, I want to try and get my boy on to BH as he can't tolerate any of the other premium dry foods but I can't find many distributors in perth. Do you know if the list on their website has all of the Retailers or are there more? I live in Melville and work in West Perth so any where around those areas would be great. I appreciate your help!

I just wanted to touch base and say a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped me out with my problem and to give an update. Over the Easter weekend I was able to wean Duke in to going outside full time with Bear during the day and it is all going smoothly. Over the last few weeks we have had a lot of supervised play times with breaking up any rough behavior and also completing consistent training with Bear and he has come leaps and bounds. He listens to us, his barking is significantly less, and he is overall a much more relaxed dog and a pleasure to be around. Little Duke is growing rapidly and they are both having a ball together playing in the yard and foraging for sticks under the tress. We take them for their daily walks together now instead of separately and they don't bother each other and seem to really enjoy being together. We are working on getting Duke used to being outside as for the past 6 months inside has been his place but he's coming along nicely. So I'm really happy to report a success story, again thank you for all your help it is much appreciated!

I have the Samsung Navibot and I love it! I also have a Dyson but I only need to use it once a week maximum as the NaviBot does such a good job! It’s so nice to come home to a clean house, and takes away a large chunk of the time it takes to clean. My Keeshond boy HATES it, barks and cowers when it's on but my Cocker puppy is completely unfazed by it. I put them both outside now when it's going to make sure it doesn't get interrupted. In regards to getting OH over the line Kiesha09 I told him he either has to vacuum every second day or we buy this, we had bought one within hours after giving the ultimatum! Hahaha

My cocker boy Duke loves to rub his face on everything. First thing he will do when jumping on the couch or his bed is rub his face all over it. I'm not sure why, maybe it feels good!

My two are very exicited while i'm making dinner but they must sit while i place the bowl on the floor and can't touch it until i say ok. Bear sniffs and eats a bit, walks off to check something out and comes back eventually. Duke has a go slow bowl as he scoffs it down as fast as possible.

Just an idea on the crate, try gumtree. We got a crate worth $140 for $20 off gumtree and it was like new

No he never growls at us or any other animals. He's too happy-go-lucky to do that! He will move if I make him, without too much fuss. I think obedience or agility classes would be a good idea too, we took him to training but he was very young and being in the heat of summer he really struggled with it. He just wanted to lie in the shade and cool down. I think the trainer thought we were unmotivated but we were simply struggling with him and didn't know what to do. We asked a lot of questions until she snapped at us one too many times so we shut up and did our best. I have heard the southern river dog training is quite good so i'll give that a go. Thanks for your help!

I will google NILIF now, it sounds really good. The only time Bear really has to 'work' for something is his dinner. He must sit and wait to be released before eating, it's about the only thing he does for me everytime so thats one thing i'm doing right. We are crate training Duke so maybe I should also get a crate for Bear to help with his training too.

No i haven't Gretel, i don't know anyone else who owns a spitz breed but I will head in to the Spitz forum to see if they can help out, thats a great idea thank you.

That just tells me he isn't well trained yet :) It becomes unnecessarily difficult to train a dog if you suspect he's challenging you, you stop addressing the actual problem (not listening, jumping up) and chase after the imagined problem (challenging, status-seeking) instead. A spade is a spade. I definitely agree Aidan2 that he isn't trained yet, far from it actually. I don't think we are chasing the imagined problem, but I could be wrong. Initially we had no idea that what he was doing was a sign of dominance, leaning against our legs, sleeping in doorways where we had to step over him, allowing his to be in front of us on the lead ect. We now know to push him out of the way if he leans on us, shuffle so he moves out of our way instead of stepping over him, ensure he is always beside or behind us on the lead… I think this is addressing the actual issue not perceived, but honestly I don’t know anymore what is right and what is wrong. I feel like we have completely failed him other than keeping him well fed and safe in a good home that genuinely cares for him. But we are trying our hardest to turn it around, please if you have any suggestions let me know as we will try anything.