ann21

Yes he is and I clipped him the week before I brought him over. He looks like a sheared (?) sheep now but comfort over looks now I say!

Thanks pollywaffe :). Couldn't imagine not taking him- he is my heart dog!

Hi all, I've just brought my 8 month old cross breed pup over from Australia to Singapore two days ago. Singapore is hot and humid so it's quite a change of climate for him. When I picked him up from airport cargo he was crying but he bounced back pretty quickly after I brough him home and gave him a shower. Would appreciate some feedback/tips on how to help my pup adjust to life here especially from people who have done this before Last night after we brought him back from the local park he met our neighbours schnauzer at the door. The dog was abit aggressive (I'm not sure if that's the right term to use, what I mean is his body language was quite tense and I think he tried to nip my dog. We've encountered this quite often with breeds that tend to have high prey drive). Anyway my pup actually growled and barked at him, which while not unusual for a dog is the first time my pup has growled at another dog. Back in Australia we used to go to the nearby park twice a day and one of those times was for off leash play with other dogs. He never growled at another dog before even if the dog tried to nip him. I'm guessing it's probably because he is still adjusting to home, plus he met the other dog at my doorstep so maybe he was being protective. Still being its the first time he's growled at another dog I was quite surprised hence why I am mentioning it. He is eating well and is quite active. We live in a double storey apartment and he stays downstairs as much as possible because the marble there is cool. At night he sleeps with me in my room which is air conditioned. I bring him downstairs to the grass for potty breaks and there is newspaper on the balcony in case of emergencies. We lived in an apartment in Australia so not much adjustment needed in this regard. I guess being a worrywart and slightly traumatized by the experience of flying him over I want to make sure I am going okay in settling him in. I can see he is still abit cautious (esp when we go out) so I am just giving him time to gain confidence. That's my strategy for now anyway!

What about using cotton balls soaked in warm water? The gunk might come off more easily then

Thanks everyone for their replies. Great to hear what people are doing for their pups :)

I would also recommend finding another puppy school. I don't know what the prevalent view is but I don't believe in dominance training methods. Best practice is positive reinforcement I've heard...try to get a trainer who is delta accredited. Also it sounds like your pup was acting fearful aggressive in that situation? I'm no professional though would be good to hear what other people think. Edited to reiterate I don't mean to imply your pup is fearful aggressive, just that he might not be confident in a sitatuion with many strange noisy pups and gives warning signals (e.g. Growling) to show how he is feeling.

I know I am probably guilty of this. Biggest fear is I will give my pup an unbalanced diet and cause issues later on. I've belived the myth that you have to be a food scientist to feed your dog right for so long!

Thanks silentchild. Eventually I will give my dog a diet close to this I think (I will also add kelp powder and brewers yeast- though apparently there is some issue with giving the brewers yeast?

+1 thanks huski :)

Hi Rebanne, what kind of trouble do you mean? Like diahorrea?

Good for you! (or for your dog, I should say :D) I remember I was very panic-read book-calmed down again- then eek, panic again! when I first started doing raw. I re-read the book a lot, and ended up making a list of basic notes and pinning it to the fridge. I wrote down the things I knew I would forget, and it was great to have it in the beginning, to jog my memory and get me thinking of meals for the pups :) I wouldn't worry about egg whites, ours get eggs every second day and sometimes every day when we have an egg overload (we have our own hens), and it certainly does't worry them. The only thing I would add to the diet is seaweed or brewers yeast (as suggested in the book) :) The other thing I found (for me that was), was that in the beginning I was better off simply reading the book, and only the book, as I found too many different opinions and information sources conflicting and confusing for me. Now that we've been feeding raw for a while, and I am comfortable now with the diet and confident in that I am doing it the right way, so I don't mind reading how others do it. You'll learn to watch your dog and know what suits him. For instance, in the book it suggests that the raw meaty bones be about 60%. My sisters found that they had to adjust the percentage for their dogs. One dog needed for meat and bones to keep in good condition, whilst the other needs a much lower percentage to keep in shape. Thanks Rilla :). Great to hear from someone who's done this before. I am definitely in the panic-relax-panic stage now! Will be sourcing out brewers yeast and kelp powder soon. It's good to have the book hey I will definitely follow it proper once I've settled things down abit (I am moving from Australia to Singapore with my dog soon). He has eaten chicken neck, olive oil and eggs before so I thought why not try it together for a meal with liver. But after reading the comments I realized I probably added too many things at once for the one meal.

No he doesn't just one day this week and I'm not planning on giving it everyday. I heard about the egg white issue too but I think once or twice a week should be ok.

He is a cross between a Cav and a toy poodle. Mixed breed.

Thanks Staffyluv. I've also been thinking about barf patties- might be a safer option when I am first starting out at least for one meal. Thing is, I come from Singapore and the price of 12 patties is $56 (about $48 AUD?) One question I have about fish- is there a danger of choking on the small sharp bones? Only asking because I have choked on a fish bone before so couldn't it happen to dogs too?

I wondered that too! Seems like pointless sugar. Plus chicken liver, yogurt, honey, olive oil and egg could be quite a rich introduction. I wouldn't give my guys all that at once and they have been on a raw diet basically since they were born (ok, well since they were weaned lol) Thanks for the feedback. I've been reading about raw for awhile and I suppose I got over enthusiastic and wanted to include everything at once! Will definitely scale back now and try to space those foods over the week.

Thanks v much! It's hard when you are trying to figure out raw when there are so many different options on what to give. Its great to know what other people are feeding their pups :).

I read somewhere it was good for them (just half a teaspoon though). Think it might have been from the "give your dog a bone book" . Not something to give everyday for sure Edited to add I have a mixed breed and he weighs 9kg.

Ah, thanks noisymina. Think I got over enthusiastic and tried adding everything at once. Good idea to scale back and watch the poop each time.

Hi Everyone, I am just beginning to switch my 8 month old pup to a BARF diet. Yesterday I gave him his usual kibble meals plus a chicken wing attached to the drummete as a snack and he was okay with eating it. Today is the second day and he had kibble for breakfast, chicken wing plus drummete for a snack again and for dinner a mix of chicken liver, yogurt, honey, olive oil and egg (including shell). Am I going ok so far? I've read through Ian Billinghursts give your dog a bone and the thread on raw feeding. It all seems so complicated! I feel like I'm winging it at the moment but hope to get onto a half kibble half raw diet in the next few weeks and slowly transition to all raw. Someone tell me I don't have to get everything perfect and it will all turn out ok!