LisaCC

Yea, pretty much this. I wouldn't mind if he physically gets out of his open crate though, just to say lay on the carpet. But if he gets out, starts walking around, comes and annoys you, is a general nuisance, put him straight back in the crate, lock it, leave him there till morning.

I opened the crate, the first night he was fine and settled. Night 2 he woke me up to play, I put him straight back in his crate and locked it, tried again 2 nights later. That worked. He would try to tempt fate maybe once a week for a the first 2 weeks, straight in crate if it was just for attention (And not to pee) for the rest of the night, it was pretty obvious what it was for. If you don't behave with your freedom you get your freedom revoked.

Our Vets have always agreed with that attitude. And their pockets have not always been lined with a consulation fee. For me, Vet trust is a crucial part of animal ownership. Yea, as much as people go on about vets and money, my vets have always been great, and often have waived consultation fees, not that I've ever asked. A good vet is worth their weight in gold!

Yea, as funny as these things are I would much rather people be overly cautious and take their dogs in for benign things than not take their dogs to the vet at all or until the very last minute.

I think you've nailed why they might've put Aussies as dumb! What ever "test" they did probably involved someone the aussies didn't give a crap about I think they like to test boundaries of people. Nova would often do the complete opposite my old housemates would tell him to do, because they were never consistent with him, and he just didn't care about what they said. "Get on your bed", No I think I'll go sit in the kitchen. I'll walk in and look at him and he'll go stalk off to his bed...

If you really really really don't want the crate in your bedroom, I suggest you try sleeping next to the crate outside to comfort him instead. I reiterate, comforting your baby puppy and having your baby puppy sleep next to you WILL NOT lead to having an overly dependant adult dog, you can easily transfer the dogs sleeping positions when he is a little older and comfortable in his new and scary world. It helps everyone keep track if you stick to just one thread.

You have a baby puppy, having him being close to you now at a young age won't mean he will need to sleep in the same room with you forever. Crate him in with you until he settles and no longer needs to get up and toilet throughout the night, than you can transition him slowly out of your room to where ever you like. Although he is a dog, and you are his owner, dogs ARE dependant on you, for their entire lives. A dog can be an outside dog as long as it gets it's needs met appropriately. But a baby puppy is not an adult dog, it's needs are different, and at the moment it needs comfort and warmth at night (from you it's new owner) after being taken away from it's litter.

DUSK Active Air!!!

Lisa - going to Dusk today so if you can post a pic or get the actual name -- WINNING. I googled and managed to find the collection name but no picture "Active Air Collection" If you need something bigger than the car vent thingy I highly recommend the little gel beads.

Well he doesn't "need" one, but as you've noticed the smell of wet labrador they are more for our convenience I walk my double coated breed in a light rain coat if it's heavy and cold simply because he takes hours to dry and now with daylight saving over even longer, and that's how we get hotspots. (He thinks the dryer is out to kill him). It's for our convenience but protects our cars and and wallets of dog stink and wetness

I second the raincoat, a lightweight non insulated raincoat, like the Weatherbeeta Raincoats. Made with cooling vents on the side, just to keep the rain off. The actual smell: Dusk has a range of odor removing products, not just "covering" the smell. I just tried to find it on their website but it doesn't seem to be on there. It is in store though if you go in and ask someone. They do have a car specific one and it looks like a little silver tube. This stuff has worked for me when a dead mouse died in the walls of my uni dorm room and they wouldn't do anything about it. So I think it would work on wet labrador!

What stupidity. I agree with the following, sounds like someone that 'ticks all their boxes' needs to go in and adopt him than hand him over to the breeder that offered or another breed expert.

You should be proud Tapua! Your labs are amazing dogs! Great to see them working. Would love to see some photos of them truffle hunting if you get any.

I just noticed this Westiemum, thinking of you and Mac

Exactly! I still think anyone who thinks an Aussie shepherd is "dumb" is on some kind of drugs

I get people asking me this one all the time as "the resident dog/animal person". "I think the vet stuffed up the desexing! His balls are still there!!" It's a surprisingly common thought! Explaining what it's for turns to interesting dinner table discussion...

Except they called my smart working breed dumb anyway... So it's stupid!

Hope it's all back to normal in the morning!

I've done it in the past, used to go yearly with my old dog. There was the smaller walk that I did on our last go around. I haven't done it in quite a few years, I don't actively support the RSPCA anymore. A few years there has been similar events organised by local rescues and I've done them instead. Now I'm not a big fan of even our local rescues so...

Teekay the problem with diagnosing is the other symptoms "may appear". I would say you would be best to at least call a vet and get advice on whether you can wait until morning and see your regular vet or if you should see an emergency vet.

I too would be going to the vet, I don't like to mess around with eye injuries.

Hope you're on commission for enabling, LisaCC . My Kirra really didn't need another coat - but hey, she is 13, and has done so much for me, and she will need to be warm this winter ......... so a nice red Hurtta winter coat will be on its way to her. :D Kirra's lovely red Hurtta Winter Jacket arrived this morning - good service by Crazy Sales! She's a skinny minny, but longish in the body, so the 55 is big around - but can be cinched in nicely - and the length is perfect - covers her little old butt and upper legs completely. It will be perfect for the winter - although she did wonder why I was putting it on her on this warm sunny autumn day. Happy to have been enabled :laugh: . And yes, ness, 55 would be too big for Ken hear. :D , you'll be glad to hear. Good stuff Our dogs will be matching in their size 55 red Hurtta Jackets

"Chihuahua Cloud"

Desexing a dog removes it's testicles, the prostate remains. This prevents the dogs from getting TESTICULAR cancer. It does not prevent the dog from getting prostate cancer at all, and current research shows it might actually carry a slight increased risk of getting prostate cancer. Yes, I attended a repro vet lecture in the US a couple of years ago where the uni vet prof laid out the evidence showing a much greater risk of the most serious prostate cancers in neutered males, it was something like a four fold increase in risk in desexed males. Promoting it as a preventative is just wrong. Some types of less serious prostate issues may be reduced but not cancer. You'll still find plenty of uninformed websites sprouting it as a preventative though. PETA's website for example, but that one doesn't surprise me. I've seen a few rescue websites state it too though.

Everyone else has said what I would on the breast cancer comment. But I just wanted to touch on this particular bit bolded Desexing a dog removes it's testicles, the prostate remains. This prevents the dogs from getting TESTICULAR cancer. It does not prevent the dog from getting prostate cancer at all, and current research shows it might actually carry a slight increased risk of getting prostate cancer.