Kaffy Magee

Yes he does get praised for going to bed although sometimes he takes that as a cue to get up again because we spoke to him,LOL.

Ok i am about to buy a hydrobath, i finally have the money so its just a matter of selcting one but i was just wondering what do i actually connect it to and how many connections there are? I will most likely get one with a heater, so as not to waste our hot water and dont fully understand single/twin tanks and how they work and not sure about drainage either. Is this something i can set up myself or do i need someone qualified. Can anyone help me out please? Thanks :rolleyes:

Luka my 9 month oldDobe comes inside , usually of an evening. I have one big dog bed in the kitchen/dining area. It is in direct view of where i sit on the couch in the loung about 4 meteres away. When i invite him in he hops straight on the bed....but he is up and down like a fart in a bottle. When my big dogs come in i prefer them to stay on their bed and only hop off when invited. Well Luka as i said is up every minute. He'll walk off the bed to come over upon which i will say "BED" he stops just looking at me. Then he might try and take another step upon which i will say "BED" again and if he doesnt go i stand up to take him back, upon which he quickly scoots back onto his bed as soon as i stand up, highly annoying. Sometimes i'll only tell him once before i stand up. So he does know what bed means but is he not taking me seriously when i say it? Or does he just get immense enjoyment out of making me get up off my cosy spot as payback for me being hard on him,LOL. So why does he do this when he obviously knows what bed means, is he just trying to push boundaries, seeing if he can get away with it. Expert opinions please :rolleyes:

Just been thinking about what i feed my pups/dogs. Ive been feeding lots of chicken bones and wonder if its too much. I have three large breed pups at 5 months of age and one at 8 months, so whilst they are still growing they are my main concern. 6 days a week they get bones in the morning(carcasses etc) then in the afternoon they get chicken mince which is ground up chicken carcasses and atleast 4 days a week i add Vets all natural complete mix and some oils to it. 1 day a week they get fish and egg and offal. They were getting some beef mince well but i just recently cut that out as for some reason i thought it wasnt completely necessary and not as cost effective as chicken. They also get brisket bones 1 a week and lamb necks occasionly. I have one of the pups down on her pasterns so have just bought some ester c to see if thats helps bring her back up so any info there would be good too.I know teething can bring it on and she is at the right age but the other two have no problem. Anyway so do you think they are getting too much calcium in their diet,it has only just occured to me that they might be. I have also just noticed the Vets all natural complete mix also contains calcium supplement. Any suggestions much appreciated.

I am just wondering how much it would cost for a decent hydrobath and dryer, new or 2nd hand. Must have high power for the dryer, nothing thats too weak and takes for ever. Not sure what options i have with a hydrobath but it needs to be large. Also if you could inform me what brands you think are best. Thank you

God it hurts so much to think of this let alone say it. On Wednesday all 4 pups i have here got out of their run whilst i wasnt home. One of the gates was ajar so the only thing i can think is one of the kids hasnt latched it properly. They were there in the morning when i fed them through a different gate to the one that was open. All gates appeared closed but obviously one not latched properly. I came home from work early to find them gone. I searched and called everywhere i scanned the neighbours paddock with binoculars. I drove up and down our lane(we are rural and have no neighbours) and then i saw the girls bolting home from neighbours paddock frightened and they were black. Wear theres mud theres water, so i flew into the paddock, went a fair way and came across a dam you cant see until your on it. There were footprints there from the pups and so i thought he had drowned. we searched the dam but couldnt find a body so for the following two days i searched all over the neighbours property calling. It was the worse 2 days ive ever had, not knowing where he was. My OH found him yesterday morning, he had been hit by a train. they had been playig in drains under the tracks. The tracks arent that close to the house i cant believe they went that far. Whilst i was searching i went down to the tracks where our lane crosses over and called but they did not come and i couldnt hear anything. I feel so guilty, though i know its a tragic accident, but i cant help but think of the what ifs. They were always locked up when i wasnt outside with them because they were very mischeivious getting up to no good. Im so devestated. I cant believe this is happening to me again, my poor little man and his poor little sisters they were so frightened.I cant get my head around it. Guiltily i am relieved to know what happened to him, the wondering was making me sick with worry. Now i am just sick with pain. It was supposed to be their first show tomorrow, i dont particularly want to go, but the grils need to get out and start their training. With everything that been going on i havent put alot of time into socialising and training them yet. I contemplated not putting this on here, it really does hurt, i feel sick and i didnt want to talk about it. It just so shocking .

Another beautiful life gone, only 14 weeks old. Im so sorry you never had the chance to grow into the beautiful big boy you were going to be. My heart was already broken after losing kaden, now its completely shattered. I swear im cursed. Your sisters miss you and i am just broken, i raised you, you were my blue boy, always in my heart forever. You'll be safe over rainbow bridge with Kaden and your half sister Kaya, they'll look after you. RIP little (big) man.

AgainThank you so much for my sig Harminee. sorry i didnt respond to your PM. I worked it out though ive just been a bit slcak getting around to putting it up.

THanks again Harminee, but how do i put it on

Oooooh, looky, a signature for meeeeeeee! Thank you Harminee,, its gorgeous i love it. Just a little question/request? Would you be able to write on it instead of the poker quote .....you owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. Part of my favourite quote and will also be part of my new tattoo.

Hi there, well its about time i thought i got a sig. I would love to know how to make one and one day soon would like to mess around with PS. In the mean time would someone be able to make a one for me? I have quite a few dogs that i would like involved. Im not sure how you would manage it but i would be grateful for anything. Feel free to crop anything if you need to.I would also like their names displayed. Anyway here are a few photos of my babies If i have too many just let me know Thank you KAYA KEISHA KIANA KALAIS KOBE if you like you can photshop out his pee,LOL, its the only time he was standing still. KADEN SNIFFY PEPE

Kaden, my handsome man, you joined our family at 10 weeks of age. I was besotted with you. You were a little shit stirrer, harrasing the other dogs to get a reaction, then youd dance out of their way laughing because they couldnt catch you. Sometimes i wished they would just to teach you a lesson. Thankfully you grew out of doing this all the time and only did it if sniffy was chasing a toy or swimming in the dam. You liked to tease sinffy best as she gave the best reactions, keisha was too lazy to chase you away. We entered lots of shows together and i enjoyed every one of them, you made me so proud with your wins and i couldnt wait to get your title and venture in to other fields of dog sport. You were very smart and very obedient i hardly had to train you, you just did what i wanted, picked it up so quick. You would have made a brilliant obedience champ, i think. Every where you went people fell in love with you. they would always comment on how lovely and healhty you looked and they could see how much you loved me, that made even more prouder. You would invite yourself into everyones conversations or on to their laps because you wanted their pats. You would push your head into their bodies and just stand there waiting for the attention. Many a time we would simply be walking past a group of people having a conversation and you just come up behind them and push your head into their hands that hung by their sides. But you saved the best cuddles for me, wrapping you legs around my waist tightly and driving your head into my chest, sometimes so hard it hurt. I'm going to miss our cuddles and our dances even though you never did seem too impressed with them , like you just wanted a serious tender cuddle but i wouldnt behave. I can imagine you rolling your eyes at me, you were much too dignified to act silly, especially in public. I did get you zooming around like a turkey a few times and it cracked me up so much. You'd scoot off, bum tucked under and it looked so funny as i only stirred you up inside when you had no where to go. So youd scoot up one end of our small lounge room, and have to turn around and scoot back cos there was no room. Your favourite things were protecting us and our property from those scary birds and being with me. You never did like to be on your own. When you were a pup you would scream and bark when i was crate training you, and managed to learn how to escape from it, i still dont know how. We then built a run for you as you couldnt be trusted out loose if we weren't home. Oh the noise you would make, until you chewed through the wire and left a huge gaping hole. In the show ring, i couldnt say you loved it. I think you did it, for me, because you loved me. You had such beautiful movement and were such a stunning boy when i had you stacked right. You were a little slow to mature but you were definitely getting there. In my eyes you were almost perfect. Some weeks ago you changed. The way you went about things.I thought were finally maturing mentally and calming down. Little did i know you were getting sick. I took you to a show early march and you were very down and out, just wanting to lie in your crate. It was a stinking hot day and you wouldnt drink, but that wasnt unusual for you at a show. I basically had to drag you around the ring, you didnt want to do it. I had no idea you were so sick and i am sorry to make you go through that. I should have listened to your body language and gone home despite how far we travelled. I was then told you seemed to be out in the back end, aaaah so thats why you didnt want to move, i thought. We had the NSW dobe specialty and the Sydney royal coming up so off you went to the chiropractor so you had time to recover before our big shows. You were a mess. Your back was out, your neck was out, your shoulder had an old injury and was out, and you had torn muscles down both your back legs. No wonder you didnt want to move. The chiropractor said you were a strong dog and gave no idication of pain, you wouldnt tell him anything. After you came home you seemed very down and shaking among other things. I figured you were sore but upon ringing the chiropractor he told me this was not normal. And so came our discovery that you were very very sick. The night we found out exactly what was wrong I lay alone and cried until i fell asleep, i desperately wanted to just lay down with you and just hold you. I couldnt wait until the morning to bring you home for your few last days. I was up first thing and put your bed and a blanket in the lounge ready for you and then i recieved the call that you were simply too sick to come home and i should come in now to say our goodbyes.I would never get to lay down with you and hold you again, like i so desperately want to do. I still cant believe you have gone. I never thought i would lose you, not so young. It is a shock, even though i knew you werent well, i never once thought it would take your life. I am absolutely gutted. You were something so special that i couldnt believe my luck that i had you.Our bond was so strong and Im going to miss holding your strong muscular, yet gentle body, you loved me like no other has, i cant believe you are gone. You made me the proudest mummy ever, your handsome good looks and sweet gentle nature, i couldnt have asked for anything more. Rest easy my strong ,brave boy and know mummy loved you so much, i will always carry you in my heart. Things will not be the same ever, I am so sad, empty and lost without you. Until we meet again, my sweet handsome man. Kisses for ever , love you, mumxxxxxxx

I work in dog grooming and we also sell up market pet products, treats and premium foods. I have a litter of puppie that i am weaning at the moment and whilst my dogs are fed a natural diet i thought i would get some dry food to introduce to the pups.They stock science diet, eukanuba and iams. I put the hills science diet behind the counter to buy it when i knocked off, but when i went to, i was reading the bag and the first ingredient was ground wholegrain corn. I couldnt believe it, so i promptly put it back. We are stocking eagle pack in the next few weeks, which im excited about, cant get it anywhere down here and my bosses were very surprised that i knew what it was. Anyway im thinking of giving it a go even with my dogs, not just the pups. Im finding it hard to feed 2 natural meals a day with all the preparation etc. So i'll swap one meal for eagle pack i think.

thaks for the replies, i'll check out the web site. i think the closest tracking to me is morwell area and im abour 1.2 hours away from there unfortunately. All my dobies rellies do tracking and its something i would like to try and get him titled along with an obedience and show title. I currently show a fair bit and will start obedience trialling this year so not sure where i'll fit it in, maybe next year, but it sure sounds like fun. Thanks again for the site link, im off to have a looky!

Im wondering if anybody can direct me to an informative web site on tracking. i dont know alot about it but would like to. I want to do tracking with my dobie boy in the future but in the mean time would like to do some research.Thanks in advance

Every morning Kaden my dobie barks and howls to be let out of his pen. first thing in the morning, while we are still trying to sleep he starts and my GOd it drives me crazy. He goes on and on and on you think he would wear himself out, but he doesnt.I have ignored him all this time but it doesnt work, I only let him out when he is quiet which can take some time because he wont shut up. I dont think hes getting it. I have tried yelling at him lately, and hes quiet for all of about 10 seconds. He is too far away from the house for me to have any sort of instant reaction, like water spray etc. Its usually only in the morning, although sometimes if he needs to be put away during the day, he will be quiet for a while but once hes decided hes had enough he will bark again. The fencing around his pen is electric which unfortunately is needed as he chews and rips through wire and was trashing his pen and escaping. Hes fine with that now, he doesnt touch the edges. He happily goes into his pen whenever i ask, no hassles. Anyway what can i do about this barking. He is let out very regularly and gets plenty of exercise, training and play. Although he can no longer be let out unsupervised anymore as he has taken a liking to chasing cattle. We will hopefully be getting a containment system soon, so i hope that will help. He is down the back on his own at the moment until the other dogs runs are built, do you think he is lonely? He can see the other dogs in the front yard and us when we are outside but isnt content to just see us. The pens are in the back half of the yard which is fenced off as a run. But even when he is let out of his pen he is not content to stay in the run area.Even though he can touch/lie next to the other dogs through the fence. Ive had him down there and watched his behaviour from a hiding spot and he is frantic, trying to get out into the main yard. You can see his brain working trying to find ways out and he usually succeeds.He is quite the escape artist. That will also be fixed asap. I want to be able to leave him out in an area without worrying he is going to get out. He climbs, jumps, rips wire pulls at bushes and trees and digs. So how can i stop the barking and do you think he has separation issues or would it be normal for a dog to carry on like that when the rest of the family arent with him? Other question, I want to start walking/riding to get some exercise but im not sure if Kaden is still too young to acompany me. Hes 11 months now(wow that went quick) should i wait until he is older? thanks guys any suggestions appreciated.Hope all that made sense, im sort of in a hurry.

here is Mac

Thanks guys. OH was really upset, he had grown up with Mac on our farm .We bought the place from his parents about 3-4 years ago and Mac stayed here with us since he'd been here his whole life. Mac had gone down hill lately,collapsing trachea(supposedly) going deaf, blind, not moving as fast or as much as he used to, understandably at that age. OH didnt know he was there at all and Mac probably didnt hear the car or couldnt move quick enough The vet said we wouldnt have had him for much longer anyway if wed tried to save him. We'll miss him, this was his farm, he loved riding on the back of the tractor, going for walks in the paddock, marching out infront like he was leading us all into battle with his little barrell chest, stumpy legs and proud look on his face. He would "protect" "his girl" (our bullmastiff) from our dobie boy giving her a hard time and when she came into season they would stroll lovingly side by side up the driveway, where she would lay down for him Im sure he thought all his dreams had come true until i shouted out the window "get off her you dirty ol' bugger" LOL. So then they would come trotting back with looks of guilt and embarrassment on their faces,LOL. Next time they would hide behind the bushes, but i was always on to them.He never did succeed.(by the way he was desexed). He definetly was a character and i hope i made his life a bit more comfortable in his old age. He'd never worn a coat in winter until i shifted in and i really think he enjoyed having it on, he came inside regularly when he never had and he changed from a cheap dry food and scraps meal to a natural diet, which i think mafde a great improvement, not to mention had his nails cut for the first time ever. Although i wasnt overly attached to him as he wasnt "my" dog i'll still miss him and im glad i was there with him when he took his last breaths, he deserved to have someone he knew(OH refused, i dont think he wanted to cry infront of the vet). RIP Mac, the place isnt the same here with out you, you were part of the furniture so to speak. Will post a pic later, photobucket is having maitenance

My 4 year old papillon Pepe has three loose teeth. It was just two but now i noticed a third. Theyve been loose for a while but i figured they would just fall out, but havent yet. Should i have them removed? I just thought it might be a bit painful for him to chew hard food. One is in the front up the top, one is on the right side up top and the other on the left side down bottom. Not too concerned as i know its common for little dogs to get loose teeth but just thought i would ask. Thanks.

MAC.....aged 17 years(or more) gone to rainbow bridge. Not from old age but tragically being run over at home by OH and then PTS at the vets on Saturday 20 October 2007. RIP Macco(jrt x corgi)

Went to get some ingredients for one of the many satin ball recipes and i couldnt find at hamburger mince at the supermarket but i found some sausage mince, will that do? Update: Thanks Morgan, no wonder i couldnt find "hamburger mince" I went and got some lamb mince and made them up tonight. And boy does he love it(my young dobie boy). Hes a fairly picky eater, doesnt just dive in and wolf it down so when i gave him satin ball, he took it, spat it out, had a lick, thought the other dogs were going to take and ....wolfed it down, wanting more. I left the door open while i went and got some more, so in he comes all bright eyed, tail wagging clearly desperate to havemore. So how much do i give him? He is only young so i certainly dont want to make him fat but he burns so much energy during the day that its hard to keep the weight on him. So does anyone know how much should i feed him daily? Thanks!

Thank you for your replies everyone! I'll definitely teach him to focus, i totally forgot about teaching him that. I havent been to Obedience for quite some time so it slipped my mind. Hopefully it will help. I went out this morning and threw in lots of left about turns, i think it might work. I think he was getting the idea. He was still too close but not as close as he was, so with a bit more practice i think he'll be just fine. When he sat and leant he was nudged over which also improved next time he sat. Thank you! I might try out a martingale collar on him and see how we go. I probably wont get back to my local obedience club for a while, infact i may even change clubs and travel to the next town to do it, see if theyre any better. Weisnjac, i suspected as much

Ok my 8 month old dobie boy is veeery intelligent. He has picked things up without me really teaching him. I have barely done any obedience with him and when i have its very short, yet he is almost perfect in his sits(and always sits beside me), stays, drops, waits, recall, heeling. Ive barely taught him yet he knows what to do...im amazed, ive never had such a smart dog. When i put on his check chain, he knows we are working, yet like i said i havent done much obedience with him so it amazes me he knows what a check chain means. Ok so ive raved about him enough Anyway one issue im having is when we are heeling he is very close to me to the point it makes it hard for me to walk freely. I can still walk but hes touching my leg and when he sits he leans on me. How can i stop him from doing this? Ive tried pushing him away with my leg while we're walking but he comes straight back. Should i continue with this and praise in that split second he is away from my leg or is there something else i can do. Thankyou in advance. Also re: the check chain, our obedience club dont allow them. I havent been there for quite some time but if i go back, which i assume i will as i would like to compete with him do they have any right to tell me i cant use a check chain?

Oops, i forgot about this thread, LOL. Thank you for replying. Amhailte, to be honest i tend to agree with you in a way. I guess im a little more cautious with him because i knew he was the most dominant in the litter and when he came home he just waltzed right in and took over the other dogs. ;) So i thought as he got older he might just try it on me and wasnt sure if the things he is doing will lead up to that. Anyway thankyou both again for you response.

Thankyou for the replies everyone! RE: the cod liver oil, they only get that once a week Will be sure to checkout "my beau" and the nutritional supplement from greenpet, thank you. ;) KM