Bear&Duke

I'm not sure if it would help but maybe having a radio playing softly while she's in her crate will help her to feel settled and not so alone?

What a fantatsic topic! I used to hide treats in Bear's sandpit until he started vomiting sand, silly dog was eating through the sand to get to the food instead of digging I also have a plastic shell filled with water which he spends hours playing/laying in the water, plus it helps to keep him cool

I can see both sides. In a perfect world with perfect tenants there would be no need to discriminate against people with pets but unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and we are all judged but the worst in our ‘group’ and that goes for all aspects of life. I can completely understand landlords wanting to ‘protect’ their property by not allowing animals, but the reality is they are missing out on excellent tenants because of this. As a tenant it’s very hard to find a place which allows pets. I currently have a wonderful property with a big back yard and that allows my pets but we are planning to move to Melbourne in the future and it worries me about finding another rental, but in the end I will do what ever is required, including moving further out to find a suitable property as they are my family and I will not let them go. I think I am an excellent tenant as we pay 6 weeks rent in advance, take pride in ‘our’ house and ensure it is kept clean & tidy. We also keep up the general maintenance of the property including fixing things around the house which we don’t have to do but if I owned the property I would do it myself so why not for a rental? Some renters feel that they shouldn’t have to maintain the property at all and that it is the owner’s responsibility (which mostly it is) but can’t they see they are cutting off their nose in spite of their face? If something is broken, fix it. I keep the yards tidy because I have pride in ‘my’ house and like them to be neat & clean for my enjoyment. I don’t want to live in a damaged property so I ensure I look after it. Honestly it really is common sense but I know many renters don’t share my view on this. I can’t wait to purchase our own place so I no longer need to worry about real estate agents and rent inspections but I am very grateful that there are rental properties as if there wasn’t I would still be living at home (shudder at the thought!) ;) ETA: I also knew that buy getting animals the availability of rentals to me would be limited and I may need to make scarifices as to where I live and the quality of the house. This is a sacrfice I am happy to make as my pets provide me with endless enjoyment and mean the world to me.

I have two inside cats and they are more then happy being inside. Cats really don't need to be outside; they sleep 80% of the day anyway. We always have windows open so they get fresh air, and we are lucky that our house has large floor to ceiling windows where they watch the birds playing outside but can never get to them and kill them (which amuses me no end watching them 'stalk' as they couldn't catch a fly if they tried! ). My stupid neighbours cat killed two birds on our property only last week, so i have purchased one of these http://www.contech-inc.com/products/scarecrow/ I know I shouldn’t have to spend my hard earned money keeping neighbours cats away but I love the Willy Wag Tails that frequent our yard and I want them to stay. They also play (tease :laugh: ) Bear in the backyard and keep him amused for hours!

There's no way I would let my little cocker puppy Duke (13 weeks) off lead anywhere, let alone near a road! The slightest noise or smell and he would be off! Some people have no sense...

and at 16 weeks: Look at those Feet! Just gorgeous :D

Thanks MG. Is the Southern River location with Dogs West? I noticed they have a few different nights where training is available, is there a specific class you would reccomend or are they all good?

I'm in Booragoon so SOR would be great but i'm happy to go to any of the Northern Suburbs surrounding the City. Thanks for your help!

Hi Everyone, my little man Duke (Cocker Spaniel) is 11 weeks old and I want to start to look in to taking him to obedience training and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions? There aren't any specific problems but I think it would be good to attend a group training course. Any info/recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Are you serious? Apart from the fact that it means double the time, double the mess, double the commitment, double the costs and double the work (probably even more so when it comes to training), two puppies are very likely to bond more strongly with each other than the handler, that in itself is a major problem. Be glad you waited a year, your 12 month old hasn't even matured yet! True we do have a wonderful bond with Bear which I hope will never be broken. I just felt sorry for him as he had a year of being alone while we were at work. But I'm sure the games and antics they will get up to in the future will make up for it

I have a play pen which Duke spends the day in and I cover the floor with newspaper. He gets to roam the whole house while I'm home and I only lay a few sheets of newspaper down in one area and he will always seek it out to go to the toilet, and this is after only having him for a week. Maybe your little girl is scared to go outside on her own if her brother doesn't follow which is why she is ok during the day? I'm definitely not an expert but it could possibly be an issue. BTW I think you are smart getting two pups, there might be a bit of pain now but they will be happier in the long run as they will never be lonely. I have a one year old Keeshond Bear and we just got Duke an 8 week golden cocker spaniel and I wish I had got them at the same time, would have made life much easier! I'm sure everyone here would love to see a pciture of your little pups

Thank you so much for all the help and advice, it is much appreciated! I gave Duke a little bit of raw food with his biscuits this morning and he scoffed it down! So the Raw food is definitely a winner

I felt the same way Mason Gibbs, but by the look of the advice given here raw is the best food we can give our babies! We noticed a huge difference in Bear once we moved him on to Raw, no more vomiting and he also calmed down a lot, probably due to the fact that there aren't any preservatives in Raw food.

Ok next question, how much do I feed a puppy? With Bear we kept an eye on his weight for a few months to ensure it was stable but as Duke is only 4kg I really don’t want to see his weight fluctuate too much. Thanks for your help, it’s really appreciated!

Excellent, thanks for the advice and link! I much prefer the raw diet, we noticed huge improvements with Bear once we moved him over to the raw diet and he loves it! Duke has been trying his hardest to tuck in to Bear's food so I will slowly make the mvoe over to Raw for him too which i'm sure he'll appreciate

I have a one year old Keeshond Bear who is fed on a raw diet due to problems digesting the high quality biscuits (we tried everything, RC, Advance, Pro-Plan, Eagle Pack, sensitive ect). We have a new addition Duke who is an 8 week old Cocker Spaniel and I am currently feeding him Pro-Plan all life stages biscuits, but I was wondering if a raw diet would also be ok for him? Bear was moved on to Raw at about 9 months so I'm really unsure what is the correct age to move Duke over to raw or should he stay on biscuits? Any advice people have would be much appreciated! :D

Thank you for the link Persephone, I will look in to getting Kathy's help. Please don't view me as an irresponsible pet owner, we tried everything within our power to get him to stop barking and when the only choices we had were re-homing him or getting a muzzle we went for the muzzle. It is a soft mesh/elastic muzzle so he can pant and open his mouth with it on, he can even drink it is just hard for him to open it wide to bark. I should also mention he is a year old now.

We had huge problems with our Keeshond puppy. We tried ignoring him but had the same problem with neighbours complaining, we tried crate training, spray collars, zap collars, we even had Bark Busters come out and they eventually ran out of tricks. The only thing that works for us is a muzzle, we feel awful each time we put it on him but it does work. Your pup may still bark with the muzzle on but as it's such hard work for them they will only give one or two barks then stop. We only have it on him at night, as he doesn't bark that much during the day and it's not such a problem for the neighbours. Good luck, I know how stressful this can be and I hope you find something that works.