minimax

Do you have any suggestion for a meaty bone for a 4kg silky terrier? I can't give him chicken wings/neck because he's a gulper. And no weight-bearing bone because it will chip his teeth Chicken frames

If you know the parentage, why would you pay a company to verify it? The tests rely on incomplete science and come with a legal disclaimer. I'm not sure why anyone would have thread test done for fun, as it costs money and most people who have had it done seem to reject the idea that their dog could contain a breed not visible in the phenotype. I said "to see how bizzare the test is". Since the tests seem to come back with weird results on dogs of unknown parentage but you can't really say your dog isn't that when you don't know. But if you have a purebred lab and it comes back as having a pom grandparent you know they are really just pulling the results out of thin air :p

I never buy meat from woolies, they are always double the price of any butchers I can find.

Has anyone done DNA testing on dogs when they know the complete parentage? To see what comes back and to test how bizzare the tests are?

Catahoula leopard dog? Really? LOL yeah that was my reaction too. with a bit of Pom thrown in for good measure

How are other chews any different to bones if they are the same shape etc ... except that bones are better for them in the end.

My pugs get whole frames, or half frames. Anything smaller and they just swallow it whole (including chicken wing and chicken feet which is hilariously disgusting to watch )

A sniffle of pugs

My clumsy one would probably fall in

Accepted, although my original comment was a general one on whether or not I was crate training and there were a lot of negative assumptions made :) I didn't see a response, actually. Are you crate training (emphasis on training), or just shutting him in there and walking off? Just that shutting him in there for an hour the first time isn't crate training...

This. If she is a Viszla then you should have been made aware by the breeder that she will need a LOT of stimulation. If she was a WORKING gun dog, she would be doing long and possibly unseen retrieves by now. She would have been taught to come, sit, stay, lie down, stay while you are out of sight, stay while you are doing things within her field of vision, possibly some direction cues and so on. Also all these commands via whistle. Physical exercise is not what she needs right now, the more you run her the more fit she will get and the more she will demand. Your dog seems to be bored sh*tless by the sound of things and you need to start teaching her and demanding more brain exercises from her now before she gets older (and bigger and thinks of things to do other than bark to relieve boredom) :) What activities were you planning on doing with her to replace the full time job of being a gun dog? I do hope your breeder spoke to you about these things Yes she is a Vizsla. I am fully aware of their energy levels and stimulation requirements before I got her and I did ALOT of research and it was a decision I did not enter into lightly. I waited a year for this dog and do not feel I should be scrutinised for how I am caring for her. I would do anything for my dog hence why I am asking some advice on this forum rather than turning a blind eye. When I say up to 2 hours exercise this is rare and excessive I know but only happens if I take her on a play date with another V. I do not run with her or force her to go on a brisk walk. It is usually down the beach, off leash, throwing a ball. I sit down sometimes and she has a dig in the sand, plays with other dogs, and I also practice recalls and stays etc. Average time I would be out is 45 minutes sometimes an hour. I am also well aware that pups should not be overexercised but I want to stress that I monitor her closely when out and go home when she starts to tire. I know many other V owners who do exactly the same as me, all with similar aged dogs. I start obedience formally this week. I hope to trial in this eventually and when she is old enough do agility and flyball. I may look at tracking later on to. I am a nursing student and want to incorporate therapy work when she is matured more - companies such as 'Story dogs' and visiting aged care/disability patients is my goal. So as you can see I don't just have a high energy breed I plan to do nothing with. I am wanting to give her the best life possible. My breeder is fantastic and I got this pup at 8 weeks so she has no previous hunting experience. Her lines do come from some of the most successful V's in this country though so you could say it is in her blood. All that is great, but your dog is barking when you are out so you need to work on that first, so that should be your main goal.

Yet the dog is still showing signs of being bored. Having the information is one thing, but implementing it is another. I'd assume breeder and breed club would have mentioned how much mental stimulation the dog needs, yet it's not getting it.

My durapet bowls (with the rubber on the bottom) go in the dishwasher and they are fine. Plus they are quite cheap so easy enough to replace if they do end up a bit trashed.

Hmm, this one is better (if you're going to make it smaller!)

The background is bit green,but reduced the noise a little

She is 5.5 months old. We start obedience training this week… I spend 10 minutes a day sometimes a few times a day doing commands - sit, drop, come, stay etc. I also hide toys and get her to find them…. If I had a high energy dog I would have been doing a bit more than that, especially before leaving her in the mornings. Maybe doing obedience, and then carrying over some of that training at home will help tire her out and settle her more.

What sort of training do you do with her, mental/brain training? Upping the exercise isn't always the answer, but sometimes upping the mental exercise is, especially if she's still only young.

She is barking because we are not home… possibly leading into separation anxiety… I give her lots of different treats, hide them, kongs, toys and she has access inside and part of outside but she won't eat or play with any of them until we get home…. I wondered whether a cat would be seen as 'company' and possibly lower her stress levels of being alone? How do you know she's barking because you aren't home, if you aren't home to see what she's doing? There might be a bird outside that she's barking at, or neighborhood noises, or anything? I wouldn't be dramatic and jump straight to SA just because she's barking. The neighbours just told me she is barking. And it hasn't been just a once off. But barking doesn't automatically mean seperation anxiety. Someone suggested setting up a webcam, or camera, to see what is setting her barking off, which sounds like a good idea. Find out the root cause before rushing to fix an unknown problem :) I have a barker. He likes the sound of his own voice. He doesn't have separation anxiety. If a leaf moves in the yard and I'm not home, he barks. If a bird lands near the window, he barks. If he barks, it makes him bark. etc. He's weird, not anxious.

She is barking because we are not home… possibly leading into separation anxiety… I give her lots of different treats, hide them, kongs, toys and she has access inside and part of outside but she won't eat or play with any of them until we get home…. I wondered whether a cat would be seen as 'company' and possibly lower her stress levels of being alone? How do you know she's barking because you aren't home, if you aren't home to see what she's doing? There might be a bird outside that she's barking at, or neighborhood noises, or anything? I wouldn't be dramatic and jump straight to SA just because she's barking.

Around Thanksgiving and Christmas there were lots of "what not to feed" going around, and Turkey was on it. But it meant cooked Turkey, not raw. Ie; from the dinnertable

You can desex before 6 months, but it won't fix the problems. It's really 99% training.

Random and not really related, but why were you waiting until her first season to have her desexed?

I think it would come out the other end in little tiny pieces

It takes a lot to make me cry, but those pics of Buddy with the coolie pups made my eyes leak! I'm so glad the AWL persued the salon, even if the fine is minimal it's the principle of them having to face up to their actions.

Pretty sure they wouldn't be here asking for cheaper options if they meant $10...