blakkjackal

I happen to somewhat know the person who now owns Tara, the dog pictured. She was surrendered to her new owner (quite involved in rescue and problem dogs) because of her severe separation anxiety. As far as I know she now lives a rather calm and happy life with 14 odd other dogs. That picture was taken by her previous owner in an apartment; that's what our apartment front doors look like in Finland.

This!!!I currently live in an apartment and in Europe and have a dog. An active one too. No one I know with dogs has considered not getting one because they live in apartments. The common mentality here is that dogs need 2-3 proper walks a day WHETHER OR NOT you have a fenced in backyard. And I agree with that. You don't normally do most of the exercise in the backyard or inside (if someone is considering not getting a dog because their apartment is small) anyway. ^That goes mainly for city dog though, I know that I might only take my dog outside the property once a day when I'm visiting family in the country but that property is huge with lots for dogs to do. A regular sized suburban backyard is hardly enough IMO. My daily routine is get up, take dog out for a quick wee, get back inside, go to work, come home, take dog out for a short walk, sit around for a bit then go do whatever exercise I had in mind for that day (we go biking and drag pulling a lot, I try to make sure he gets off lead time at least 2-3 times a week at a fenced park close by) and then another wee break before bed. Yes it is a commitment but honestly taking the dog out for a piss break takes me less than 10 minutes a few times a day.

^Lol glad to see my dog isn't the only "special" one.

Alright, we've been here almost a month now and the dog is absolutely loving it. However the flight experience itself was pretty horrendous and I wish never to do it again. The poor thing must've been scared absolutely shitless during transit and the crate + him were covered in pee upon arrival. He was cowering in the corner and hardly recognised me at first.. I have always considered him to be a very stable tempered dog and before this he has handled all sorts of situations really well, including loud noises and crowds etc. but this must've been quite different since someone had written "vicious dog, will bite, do not open" on his crate. And we're talking about a very, very human friendly dog. They also misplaced my good lead, I sent it off with him but it was nowhere to be found once I went to pick him up. There was also some confusion about flight times and the agent was unable to book him on the intended date which meant an extra day at a boarding facility since we were already travelling then.. The whole thing is something I don't want to experience again to be honest.

Have you tried adding seaweed/kelp powder? It is supposed to help with softening tartar. PlaqueOff is basically dried seaweed (afaik).

We are going to Finland too. However my dog will go via Singapore as that was the easiest and shortest route; luckily we're leaving in winter so it shouldn't be quite as bad temperature wise.. There's going to be am overnight stopover in Sydney and then 6 hours in a dog run type thing in Singapore.

Here is the new one. A lot better I think.

And here we go! ...Unfortunately the crate size that was originally quoted for us ended up being too small and we will have it swapped tomorrow. If I could I would take him for car rides in it but alas, I don't have a car.

Cheers, was definitely going to feed him in there and crate games sounds like fun too, will give that a go for sure. I thought about making him sleep in there but honestly I don't know if I could bear the thought of no doggy cuddles for a month and a bit!

Oh also, if anyone can suggest a good crate training program that would be greatly appreciated!

Just a quick update, we are in the process of booking flights with the awesome assistance of Dogtainers and crate training officially starts tomorrow as they have been kind enough to provide us with the flight crate more than a month advance! Must say I'm very pleased with their service so far. Getting close now...

I have a treadmill inside, mainly for the dog. I managed to find a reasonably priced used treadmill and it's really a great thing for when I finish work really late or it's pouring down as I can easily squeeze in 10 minutes of good exercise almost any time of the day. Your dogs being small even a short walking machine might be sufficient -- I had to do a bit of hunting as I needed a fairly long one. I hardly ever exceed 9kmph and that's a pretty fast trot for my 25 kg dog so you really don't need too much speed either. I also like playing bucket games with my dog, he balances on it, does "doggy squats" and walks around it with either back or front legs on bucket. He absolutely loves it and goes crazy trying every trick he knows when the bucket comes out. You could maybe even use a phone book or something for starters? :D

Liver is essential for a raw fed dog as it's the only adequate source of vitamin A. Other great organs include kidneys and brain. Lung is good too if you can get it, but it's mostly connective tissue and low quality protein so don't go out of your way to get it -- it's not a must in any way, a nice snack though for sure. Hearts are fabulous meat, but don't feed them as organs (like DeltaCharlie already said earlier).

Aidan2 already mentioned the Baskerville and I'm going to recommend that one too although it's not wire framed. Most people I know that regularly use muzzles have one and love it. Only thing is if you have a rock eater it probably won't stop the dog from picking up small stones.

Reassuring to hear that. Thanks again. :)

Wow, that's a lot of moving around the globe! Mind if I ask but how did your dogs react to repeated flying? I've heard of dogs that somehow got out of the crate or possibly were taken out and then escaped, refusing to go back in the crate because the flying had been such a bad experience for them. I've heard a few good things about Dogtainers now so I'm looking forward to their reply.

Done that thank you. Waiting for a reply. :) I have found an office number for you, to speed things up a bit: 03 93380823 :D ETA This is the thread I was looking for! Thanks for that! I'll give him a ring.

Done that thank you. Waiting for a reply. :)

Luckily there is no such thing as BSL in my destination country. :)Thanks for the advice. I wish I could take the rational approach as I do believe you are right about the dog being just fine.

The quote included "comfort stops" which were described like this: "during all of these comfort stops, he comes out of his crate, gets food, more water, exercise and cuddles, so it will break up the flight time a lot for him, and he will be in the care of experienced pet handlers." As much as I'd like to never have to do this I don't really see another option and I'm trying my hardest to make it as easy as possible for the dog. I know for sure it won't be easy for me regardless. Mjosa what a horrible thing to happen. Shouldn't be allowed to happen ever, let alone twice! I can't forget the story about the poor Neo either. I've contacted Dogtainers. Essentialdog, that's my plan. He isn't crate trained unfortunately, but I'm sure he'll pick it up quick.

I was under this impression too but the quote from Jetpets did include a few breaks during flight transfers and specified that the dog would get "exercise" (whatever that means at an airport...). Since the travel time would definitely exceed 24 hours I'm guessing the dog would get let out but then again I was also pointed out that the crates are sealed on departure -- which makes perfect sense. I don't really know how that would work tbh.

We are planning a move to Europe in about 6 months or so and I've started looking into pet transport options. The whole idea of having to fly a dog overseas is kind of terrifying and I'm after any advice really. I'd imagine getting the dog used to the crate beforehand would be good, but how do I go about buying a correct sized and airline approved crate when I'm not even sure yet what airline he's going to be carried on? I saw some crates for sale that were specifically approved for certain airlines only.. Not sure what the policy there is? Recommendations for reasonably priced pet transportation companies? Our budget isn't tiny, but I've heard of some outrageous prices. Obviously the dog's comfort and safety comes first. Also I don't know if anyone has dealt with shipping a bull breed dog overseas but I have contacted Jetpets and apparently several airlines won't fly bull type dogs (namely amstaffs and amstaff x's), at least not directly to Europe. Qantas recently lifted their amstaff ban though didn't they? What's the go with transfers, dogs would obviously get out of crate time (I hope so??) but all I can think of is worst case scenarios and what happens if the dog refuses to go back in the crate? Am I supposed to provide food? Millions of questions really.. I'm going to be a nervous wreck when we actually fly.

Love them. That pic of the soldier with the pup was just adorable. This is my boy at around 12 weeks and on his 1st birthday. :)

Where we used to live we had a cafe around the corner and we would go there every weekend for breakfast with the dog accompanying us. He used to draw the staff from next door shops out to pat him and was always offered water too. I've also been to a couple of pubs with him, mainly when we have gone for a long city walk and I needed some refreshment. The best compliment so far has been "I didn't even realise there's been a dog there this whole time" from someone at the table next to ours.

Fish oil in high doses, MSM powder and glucosamine are all great supplements for dogs with joint problems. :) Oh and chondroitin sulfate.