Darcy&Zoe

I have to agree with this ... I started my ridgeback x at obedience this term and was told to bring in a toy for them to play with. So off I go and buy a $30 gorilla for him ... well it lasted less than 5 min and stuffing was blowing everywhere lol So I tried the invincible toys and they are still going strong :D

OMG skip, your poor little chihuahua My ridgeback x isn't anxious at all but I decided to go with a metal crate for peace of mind. Even the lady who makes the K9 soft crates said if a dog wants to get out of the soft crate, it will. I really appreciated her honesty. So I have now ordered a metal crate off of eBay and a crate mat to go with it :) I got a crate mat that will fit into my cav's metal crate too so I think I am all organised for next term when my cav also joins the obedience classes :) Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions everyone :)

Thanks for the offer, but I think with summer fast approaching I need to make a decision and start training both to be in the crate ready for classes. There will only be so long I will be able to get away with using the car. Yes already thinking of a third :laugh: but promised myself I wont add another cav to our family until my 2 are further ahead in their obedience ... that should be inspiration enough to work hard :laugh:

OMG I can only imagine the horror It would be helpful to be able to use the car ... the evening class should be ok at 7pm onwards I am guessing (Darcy is used to being in the wagon and I could use the metal crate in the wagon for Zoe) but the morning class from 8.45 I am thinking Perth weather will be too warm by then (especially as the warmer weather really kicks in) I think I might try the K9 soft crate as Darcy is very laid back by nature and Zoe would definitely be more comfortable in that than the metal crate that I already have for her. The next trick is working out where to position the crate for the dogs ... I guess within my view is a good thing :laugh: which will mean moving the crate for the second class. The joys of a newbie trying to figure out how to juggle 2 dogs :)

Thanks for the feedback. I love your idea of scattering food to swap the two over Sheena.I will make sure to face them away from the activity too (which I thought I would have to with the cav anyway, she likes the sound of her own voice lol). I do have a metal crate for my cav already as she was crate trained so I can take that for her if needed but I think she will feel more secure in the K9 soft crates. OMG opening the zip (sounds funny but wouldnt be if my dog did that lol). My Darcy isn't a barker generally and is pretty calm by nature. Another thing in my favour is he has his class first, so hopefully he will be happy to laze about in his crate while Zoe has her turn. Tumbleweed, is your Aussie pretty full on generally? Someone suggested leaving them in the car, but I am not comfortable with that due to weather conditions ... cars get hot very quickly, even though the class is early in morning and another is after dark. Unfortunately I dont have a crate I can borrow for Darcy ... I think I need a crystal ball for him so I can tell if he would cope with the soft crate lol I guess my fear is watching a cat rip a soft crate to pieces on its first use (it wasn't a K9 soft crate though) ...

Thanks tumbleweed I was actually hoping to get a K9 soft crate which will be perfect for my cavalier ... but I am just not sure how secure they are for my ridgeback x as he has never been crated and worried if he could scratch his way out thru the mesh? If I was using it as a bed at home I wouldn't be so worried as I will be able to supervise but as I want to use something at obedience training, I am not sure. At this point, I am hoping to just have the one crate as it will be a case of one dog in, one dog working and then swapping. Worse case I can get a K9 soft crate for my cavalier and a wire crate for my ridgeback x. Do you know how secure the mesh part of the K9 soft crates are?

Hi everyone I have a ridgeback x staffy who weighs about 28kg as well as a 7 month old cavalier, 6.6kg. I will doing obedience classes one after the other so need to crate one dog whilst I work the other. Any recommendations for a secure crate? (My cavalier is a bit yappy so thinking I will need a cover on the crate.) Any advice appreciated.

I would approach your neighbour in a friendly manner. I had to do this with my neighbour's dog that was barking in the middle of the night for weeks on end. When I approached the neighbour I found out the owner was in hospital and the dog was fretting (they had other family members staying there that left the dog outside). I just asked if they could keep it inside at night and all was good after that. I had a previous neighbour complain about my dogs years back. They went straight to council which was most upsetting. They claimed my dogs were outside barking ALL night ... what they didn't know is I had an emergency where one dog attacked my cat and I had to rush the cat to the vet in the middle of the night. I was gone 2 hours ... yep 2 hours, hardly all night. Anyway after getting the letter from the Council I rang them and explained what had happened and why the dog was left outside away from my other cats (dog was usually inside at night). The council were very understanding and dismissed their case completely. It would have been much nicer if the neighbour had approached me directly.

I wouldn't be giving raw vegies at all. If you want to give vegies, they need to be cooked as dogs cant digest raw vegies. Really vegies and rice are a filler, handy for dogs on a diet but not those trying to gain weight. My little girl is thriving on a raw diet ... her favourites are chicken thighs, drumstick and necks but you can give any part of the raw chicken ... she also enjoys a turkey neck and wing ... duck .... rabbit when I can get it ... lamb flaps and goat flaps (she could take or leave these 2). My girl prefers to eat meat off the bone so this is her main meal. Then I offer raw meat of heart and chicken giblets with some offal which at this stage needs to be seared to get her to eat it. The idea is to end up giving her completely raw. Sometimes I will offer minced meat (whatever I can get) but my girl isn't very keen on it. I am new to raw feeding so still perfecting it I guess, but so far this is working for both my dogs and it is a lot easier than I thought it would be :)

You seem to have 2 threads running so I will re-post in case one thread is deleted. I would try Dr Adrian at Ocean Keys Vet or Swan Vet for a second opinion/quote. I haven't been to Swan but have been recommended to them and told they are cheaper than a lot of other vets. I have personally been to Dr Adrian (drove an hour to see him) and he is fantastic.

Wow that is expensive Try Dr Adrian at Ocean Keys Vet or Swan Vet Hospital in Midland.

Thanks for this. I love cavs but seems my husband had some very fixed views on the health issues - I blame that terrible doco on pedigree dogs from a few years ago. Unfortunately his male brain doesn't respond to logic!! When I first started researching breeds I was also very concerned. But I have to say that since joining numerous cavalier online groups I am very pleasantly surprised to find out how many cavs live to a ripe an old. I also think that the cav personality far outweighs any potential health concerns

I have a 6 month old ruby cavalier and so far no shedding although I have been warned that may happen as she gets older :laugh: Cavs are very much family dogs, loving to be with their people but many people who owns cavs do work and their cavs cope well. My girl split her time from being inside with me to sitting outside during the day. 30 min walk would satisfy a cav :) Cavs are extremely cuddly My second choice would be a cocker spaniel. I think they would be happy with a 30 min walk but I think you would need to walk them every day (unlike cavs who can miss a day if needed). I think a cocker spaniel would require more grooming than a cav though.

My cav puppy has needed her anal glands expressed a couple of times now. I found the local dog groomers only charge $10 to do it, so a lot cheaper than vet. But if it continues to be an issue obviously I will have to have the vet have another look (the vet expressed it the first time, the groomer, the second).

I have a cavalier and think they are the best breed ever! Calm, friendly and happy dogs. Very intelligent and very quick to learn. They are awesome dogs around kids. Mine isn't sure of very young kids, but I would say that is coz she isn't living with young kids so isn't use to them, where yours will be used to it from day one. Some cavs are very motivated by food, others are finicky. But even my finicky cav is motivated by special treats at training. Other thought is a cocker spaniel. They were actually our second choice of a breed but we went with a cav coz of their smaller size. They are more active than the cavs from what I understand although cavs definitely aren't couch potatoes. These were the two breeds that seemed most suitable around kids from what I found when researching.