dididog

Mum stayed home from work on Friday and said there were kids in the alley carrying on and making meow sounds, I have no idea if they were just being silly or trying to get the 3 dogs in the area to bark but its a bit annoying all the same, the laneway is not a short cut or an alternate route, it is purely for cars to enter garages at the back of properties.

The question "has she gotten bigger?" gets asked everyday around here. Treasure the few weeks you can actually pick your puppy up and make sure anything you let pup do you will still want to do when its 10 times the size... lucky I don't mind big puppy lap cuddles :)

:laugh: I probably wouldn't mind then, don't think any of the kids on my street know how to entertain themselves outside though...

I dont think anyone was trying to imply you have no idea what you're doing but all we can do is go by the information you gave us and make assumptions. By the wording of your first post (which I dont think actually expressed what you meant properly) nobody really knew what breed to suggest since the situation didnt sound ideal for any breed but you clarified and now we know your original post does not express your intentions/experience properly, hopefully you can get some proper suggestions now :)

I have never seen a crow in my suburb just myners, magpies and those birdies with the little spike ontop of their heads. I'll keep an eye out for things critters might drop in the yard but the reason why I thought it might be deliberate because I never get that sort of stuff happening here.

Off topic but as the days shorten, if you work full time you might want to consider how much Vitamin D she'll get if she's inside during the day. Growing dogs need access to unfiltered sunlight. She isnt kept inside all day. I'd like to for the peace of mind but mum says she has to be outside so she gets a fair bit of sunlight and on days when I am home she comes in and out as she pleases and likes to bask in the sun.

I really dont like leaving her outside when nobody's home, I worry about all sorts of bad things (we have a lot of break ins in our area), people trying to poison her, her barking a lot and neighbours getting mad or those stupid myner birds attacking her while she eats her bones. The only thing I dont worry about is her getting stolen since it would be virtually impossible to get her out of the yard (no gates). I think she'd be fine inside most days but mum wont let her... suppose I just need to stop being a worry wart ^.^

It sounds like this is the OPs first proper go at raising a puppy. I dont think it would be a good idea to try and raise two puppies when you have that little experience, especially when its a high maintenance breed like a German Shepherd (though IMO all puppies are high maintenance). I am currently raising my first puppy and I would consider myself quite capable and have had a pretty easy puppy and still it has been a lot of hard work with plenty of mistakes made. If there had been two.... well I probably wouldve stuffed it up and ran out of steam very quickly.

Getting two puppies in your scenario mighy relieve some of the boredom but will more than likely just exacerbate all the problens you'd encounter with the first puppy, not to mention it will.make it a lot harder to train the pups separately and make sure they dont bond more to each other than you. There is nothing wrong with a dog being in your garage with access to your yard while youre at work as long as you provide it with things to keep it occupied. If you could allow the dog inside when you're at home and even let it sleep in another room or in a crate, spend closer to an hour exercising and give plenty of training and play throughout the day then maybe getting a puppy will be a good idea. As some people have said I'd find it hard to believe any good breeder willing to give you a pup with those restrictions. Getting a dog when you work full time is not cruel but it just means you have to be a lot more proactive in ensuring your dogs needs and hapiness are being satisfied. A family across the road has a dog that is kept outside all day while theyre at work. It then spends the rest of the day and night outside. The only time I see them interact with it is to tell it to shut up when it barks non stop and its quite sad really. Im not implying at all you would treat your dog the same but I think if you want a well adjusted and happy dog you really have to put a lot of work, care and thought into it otherwise you will produce an adult dog you cant enjoy and becomes a burden. Eta: woops while i was writing this you made it clear you would spend plenty of time with your dog sorry

We dont have much in the way of wild life around here unless you count those pesky indian myner birds which have made a nest in our roof. I think an onion would weigh the same as one of them so I doubt they could bring it into our yard.

Haha alright I'll calm down now, probably just a weird coincidence or some strange neighbours! Such a strange thing to do though...

I have heard plenty of stories of angry neighbours chucking broken glass, rat poison or baited meat over the fence to kill your dog but have you ever heard of someone using onions? I only ask because while on poop patrol I found an onion in my yard.... now I live in the innercity and onions obviously dont grow on trees so the only reasonable conclusion I could come to was it had been tossed over. I could understand if it was an apple core or banana skin, just some idiot chucking rubbish over the fence but our yard backs on to a small obscure alleway and is solid 8ft colourbond fencing so not really a prime candidate for chucking rubbish in as you walk by and who walks by with onions anyway. I really dont want to entertain the idea that it was deliberate but when you think about it, its a much less conspicuous form of poisoning a dog than say glass or rat poison. Didi barks occasionally but no more than any other dog on our street (and some of them are horrid) she only barks when someone walks through the lane which is rare and ignores other dogs barking so I dont see why anyone would want to poison her... I dont want to worry about it too much but its really bugging me as to WHY there was a random onion in my yard, especially especially since its common knowledge how harmful they are to dogs :/ Have you heard of someones dog being intentionally poisoned this way? Am I being silly?

Maybe you should say which breed you have in mind so people experienced with the breed can tell you whether or not it would be good for you/suggest similar breeds :) ? Is there a reason the dog cant live in the house with you? I dont think many breeds would be super happy being alone 9-5 weekdays and then on top of that be kept separate to the family. You might find your yard getting destroyed if it is only getting 30 minutes of exercise a day on top of all that, even some small breeds need that much exercise. Are you planning on undertaking any training with your puppy after the basics? I was going to suggest a gun dog considering you want a friendly, obedient, large/medium dog but most gundogs shed a bit even with regular grooming, need closer to an hour a day of exercise/mental stimulation and generally like to be close to their owners. Perhaps someone else has a better idea though, I just cant think of any breeds I know enough about! Its great you are thinking and researching and asking for advice first but I think you may have to revise some of your expectations for this dog otherwise you might run into trouble down the track.

We just started at an obedience club yestersay, Didi is 5 months old and used to seeing other dogs but still was a bit excited. I was pleasantly surprised that even with a class size of 10 there was a main instructor and two helpers which made things run a lot smoothly. The smaller class at your primary school sounds like a good option, less overwhelming and will get him used to working with you around other dogs before you move on to bigger class sizes. My beginner class is only for 3 weeks and then we go into class 1 which is quite big (20-25) but the other higher up classes look much smaller.

Growing up we had a moggy from a friends oops litter with the littlelest legs... couldve made big money with our 'munchkin cat' hehe

Yeah heartworm sounds pretty invasive so I dont see the point in risking it. Anyway I dont think the vets we've seen have been monumentally bad or anything, I just would like some consistency and more of a specialised knowledge in caring for large/giant breeds.

To be honest where I live even in summer I might see a mozzie or two in my yard for the whole 3 months, certainly don't worry about getting bitten. With time I'll probably work out what combinations I want to use and how often. I just kind of freaked out because I thought she was being heartworm protected and she wasn't. I myself have never been vaccinated for anything in my life except my very first baby jab which I had a reaction to. I no longer take antibiotics and prefer to tough things out rather than medicate myself so I am keen to give my dog less stuff than necessary but I want to make sure I've considered what is best for her and where we live.

5 months old now and 24 kg... her growth has halted a bit but I think she's preparing for another growth spurt. I would probably revise her final weight at a maximum of 45kg as opposed to 50/60 but you never know. She is an A grade sook and she sleeps more than anything else (which is nice). It's hard to believe it's only been 3 months, I can't imagine life without my drooling, snoring blob of loose skin and kisses :D (sorry for the photo heavy post) She's a pretty good commuter just lays on the floor looking at everyone with sad eyes when they don't pat her. Never too big to be a lap dog! She has the best puppy dog eyes :laugh: Taken today... her head is still so big compared to the rest of her

We only plan to vaccinate every 3 years after her 1st annual booster. I suppose its a first time puppy paranoia thing and Id rather err on the side of caution for now. My mum is a neat/clean freak and the idea of fleas freaks her out so aslong as I live with her Didi will be flea treated regularly.

Well she doesn't have to go to the vet until October and I hope I don't have to until then so I have sometime to work it out but I'd still like to see if there are some large breed experienced vets in my area in case it doesn't work out with my current vet.

Once again - asking questions/researching helps pet owners be informed, and better able to work with vets in getting the best treatment for their pets :) The life cycle of heartworm is such that there are no adult worms present for some months ... and it is AFAIK unsafe to treat with a preventative if adult worms are present have a look here CLICK CLICK The second link most people recommended she have a test done first??? Research the life cycle of heart worm. Okay I just did some reading and understand it a bit better :)

Once again - asking questions/researching helps pet owners be informed, and better able to work with vets in getting the best treatment for their pets :) The life cycle of heartworm is such that there are no adult worms present for some months ... and it is AFAIK unsafe to treat with a preventative if adult worms are present have a look here CLICK CLICK The second link most people recommended she have a test done first???

He didn't say that in so many words but said that the combination would cover her for everything and didn't mention getting something for heartworm, or saying she didn't need it just yet. I probably should be a bit more informed about what I'm actually giving her though. If I remember correctly Drontal covers all intestinal worms. It is not a flea preventative and neither does it cover heartworm. If your dog is under 6 months of age you can start her on a heartworm preventative without her needing a test. I have my dogs on Sentinel Spectrum. It's a once a month flavour chew that covers all intestinal worms, heartworm preventative and is a flea contraceptive so if your dog picks up a hitch hiker flea it cannot breed and cause a flea infestation. My dogs have never had worms or fleas on Sentinel. If you are going to a multi vet practice, when you call to make an appointment tell them you would like and appointment to see Dr.? (your chosen vet) I go to a multi vet practice and ask to see the vet I wish to consult with. This has never been a problem. We have just bought Sentinel and will start her on it. We used Frontline in conjuction with Drontal for flea treatment. This is probably partly my fault for not researching this but also feel like its something the vet should have mentioned because 1) i was a first time dog owner and 2) i would need to have her treated for heartworm eventually and would not have known that what I was doing wasn't covering that had I not googled it so I knew what to ask for at the pet store. The problem with my vet is the two vets that I have seen have been locum vets who don't work there all the time so it's not like I can necessarily make an appointment with them, I'm not looking for a single vet clinic but just one where I can at least see the same person more than once.

He didn't say that in so many words but said that the combination would cover her for everything and didn't mention getting something for heartworm, or saying she didn't need it just yet. I probably should be a bit more informed about what I'm actually giving her though.

Could you explain why you don't have to under 6 months? I'd still probably like to change vets because I'd like to have the same vet every time I go by appointment and somebody more experienced with large breeds.