karen15

Be very careful letting dogs lick wounds. It's rare but you can get a condition that causes you to lose limbs. Happened to a guy in the small town I'm from. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/woman-loses-leg-and-fingers-after-dog-lick/story-e6freol3-1111117014303

You could just buy a mars coat king and strip her out yourself. It's really easy to do. Just be prepared for a LOT of hair. I do my two (cocker and westie) about every four - six weeks. Last time the westie puppy lost way more hair than the cocker. You can tell when they need to be done. The coats look lighter and frizzy on the cocker or chunky on the westie.

I think my puppy working on his sleeping arrangements for winter, slowly getting me wrapped around his little paw..... Of a morning, an hour or so before get up time, he sneaks on the bed and tucks himself in next to me. This morning he was making good use of the pillow. I rolled over and he puts his head on my shoulder and goes to sleep. Aaawww shucks :)

I adopted a cocker from work. She's three and a pretty good dog. I've had her 9 months and she's starting to come out of her shell more. I'm her fourth home, which is through no fault of her own, it's due to people disposable pet mentalities. She is obedient and really wants to please. Tries very hard. I don't think anyone has ever taught her to play. It's only been the last month or two that she has shown any interest in playing. We have a game of fetch a couple of times a day. She's only just started lounging outside of her crate. Now prefers sleeping near me, so that is good. When she plays, used to happen with me and still happens with other dogs, she sounds extremely vicious. No hackles, no snarling face it's just the noise she makes. Can be off putting for other owners at park, which is understandable. She has been a godsend with the puppy. I don't find she loses much hair at all, but I strip the coat out 4-6 weekly. Biggest issue is keeping hair between pads trimmed so she doesn't get mats. After a few months of a friend doing them I bought clippers. She is excellent to clip, so I practised on her before doing the pups' paws. I comb her weekly and have just started slicker brushing of an evening. It's not a thorough going over, only takes five mins. Combing maybe 20mins. Full groom with strip and clip - takes a couple of hours for both dogs. That will probably get quicker as I get more comfortable with how to do it. I've got a really handy grooming book - Theory of Five - that outlines how to groom various types of dogs.

Cross them with a poodle - that fixes everything doesn't it :D

LOL at the black and tan :D I had someone ask, seriously, what colour my westie was going to be.......

You can always contact the breeder of this litter, go and visit and if you like the dogs, ask if they could let you know when they breed again. That way it's not such a gamble trying to find what you want when you're ready for the next puppy. It took me four years to be ready for my westie puppy, but by the time I was ready it ended up working in perfectly with the breeder. I'd contacted her 9 months before I was ready for a pup and she had two planned litters for that year (different bitches) the second of which worked in perfectly for me. He has lots of champion / supreme champions in the three generations on his pedigree. Not sure how hard they are to get, but it looks good :D only mention that so people don't think she was a puppy farmer - the breeder shows westies. I didn't see either litter advertised. A staffy and cattle dog would get on well together IMO my staffy used to love playing with high energy dogs. Preferably other staffies (they're like magnets) but if none around then something that liked to run :)

One persons ugly is another persons beautiful Sheena. I think bull breeds are gorgeous. I saw the most beautiful bull terrier at the vets the other day. Never seen a bully that huge. She was a monster. Didn't have such an extreme head that bullies can have. Stunning dog who was lovely and happy too. Loved attention.

If you have a dog and work, then you need to be prepared to take them out every day (so they don't decide to go out by themselves when they're alone), play with them and just spend time with them. Mine are pretty much by my side whenever I'm home. That's their choice. At the moment the pup is doing his own thing in the backyard. No doubt he'll come in covered in mud again. Luckily he is a self cleaning white fluffy! Obedience training is really important, especially when you have kids. They need to be able to control the dog to some extent too. I have very specific things I train into my dogs. I will not accept people, food or toy possessiveness. A recipe for disaster if a child takes a bone or toy off a protective dog. My staffy was gorgeous and would always offer visiting dogs some of his bones :) Staffies have a reputation for holding on when they grab something. Not good if your dog gets into a brawl (mine never brawled). So my guy learnt to hold as well as having a cue to release. He used to love holding onto his rope and being twirled around. Fun game. Staffies are vocal players. I didn't want a grown dog growling when it played (that's just inviting viciousness accusations) so if he growled I stopped playing. He soon stopped growling. As I said I love the breeds you've mentioned. But they can inflict major damage so you have to be dedicated to putting the hours and hours into them to make them good canine citizens. To me it is unacceptable to say I have to run around after the kids, so the dog will stay in the yard as it can amuse itself. Generally dogs left to their own devices are destructive and / or barkers and / or escape artists. To keep your dog happy and content while you aren't with them, I walk them for an hour or a bit longer first thing in the morning. The staffy used to do 15-20 mins frisbee after his morning walk. Then they get a fresh bone every day to chew during the day plus toys plus problem solving treat toys to stimulate their minds. Exercising them in the morning helps tire them out a bit so they sleep while I'm not there. Weekends are even more fun than week day puppy park. Weekends are for exploring, going to the creek or beach, having doggie fun. The staffy didn't have 6 foot fences. Most of his when younger were under five foot. He didn't escape as he had his exercising and socialising needs met daily. Actually, that's a fib. His first unsupervised outside time at three or four months, I went to check on him after a couple of minutes and couldn't find him. Ran out to the footpath a saw him across the road, smack in the middle of a school football comp, having a wonderful time. After retrieving him I discovered the bottom of the diamond wire fence hadn't been attached to the rail. So that was fixed immediately.

Another one against dogs on chains, poor creatures proper fences and entertainment are much kinder. All the dogs you have mentioned are boofy things (my favourite type). Is there a reason you want that type of dog? I work full-time and have nice well adjusted dogs because I put time into them. I know people who think they're backyard, limited human interaction, rarely walked dogs are fine. If they're happy with barking, jumping ill mannered menaces, then good for them. I like well socialised well mannered dogs. Dogs that don't beg for food everytime someone eats. I haven't met a chained dog that doesn't have some sort of neurotic issue - barking, licking, poor interaction with others. I used to have one that lived near me. You'd hear her coming, dragging her chain down the footpath. I would put her in my yard with my well socialised staffy and call her people to come and get her. Fu ny enough, she never wanted to escape my yard. More than happy to stay loose in my yard until she was picked up.

Your daughter is two. Kids aren't really into animals until they're older IME. Not having the pup live with you means she'd have little exposure to it. It sounds like your mother is going to be the sole carer of the dog. Does she want a dog, particularly a puppy? Does she have the time to raise a nice well mannered dog?

My cocker and I used to love 1pm puppy nap time. Up till then the pup needed lots of interaction and was a wild child. He'd sleep for a few hours, which was blissful LOL. Puppies are adorable but busy little critters.

After my staffy was attacked by a loose, unattended dog on a walk, I am paranoid about loose dogs coming anywhere near my dogs. I had the staffy at the beach one day and an offlead dog came racing towards us. I told it to get the hell away and its owner goes, your dog looks friendly. I said, he is, it's me you've got to worry about! I am very angry when dogs rush my animals and that seems to make their owners think twice. I always step in front of rushing dogs so mine are behind me. That generally seems to bring them up. A classic was riding my nervy horse one day and an off leash dog starts heading towards us, owner trailing behind. My horse was getting worried so I gave him a pat and said it's ok, if it runs at you you can kill it..... Never seen a dog get put on a lead so fast.

Going by the snippet above, I take it to mean that there was no thought out breeding to produce the dog as it appears today. Yes, the best dogs may have been selected for desirable traits, but there was no intent to produce a breed.

I agree puppies are wild. How old is your daughter? My westie puppy (small white fluffy - don't tell him I said that!) definitely isn't popular with my friends 4yo daughter as he is very rambunctious. The six year old boy next door loves him as they run around all silly together. But he is a baby and does baby stuff like jumping up on people and the four year old doesn't like it at all. He's getting trained out of it but he doesn't do it with me so we can only train when we have visitors. Have you heard of Australian Bulldogs? I've met a couple and they seem lovely. My staffy was a favourite of my friend who is scared of dogs. She thought he was the best dog ever, which of course he was:) Children could be scared of him initially, as they can be a bit scary looking (I never thought so, but kids were a bit funny), plus very strong. He'd trot out his repertoire of tricks culminating in getting shot and dying and then kids couldn't get enough of him.

I've just googled guard dog and this might help as a starting point on breeds for initial ideas (there doesn't seem to be many pinscher variants) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_dog One dog you may never have heard of, and I don't know much about but have totally adored the couple I've met, is the Australian bulldog. Lovely boofy things but I have no idea about their requirements.

I might be able to give some "novice" feedback. My first dog was a staffy. He was glorious, but unrealised by me at the time, it was extremely lucky my then boyfriend thought work was a hobby as Sam wasn't left for more than half a day by himself. I had read that staffies needed to be well socialised and he went quite literally everywhere with us. If dogs weren't allowed, we went elsewhere. One camping trip he was left tied to the BFs car while we went to the kitchen I think. Came back to dog claw marks up the bonnet, windscreen and roof. He wanted a better view of us apparently. As a breed they don't do well alone, my guy had a cat for a buddy. They need a lot of mental stimulation and physical work and they have to be with their people. They are pretty scary if they bark like they mean it. I believe they are unsuited to small yards. When my guy was 10 I bought my current place. My courtyard is about 1/3 of a house block at 200m2. It was perfect for him as an aged dog, but would not be suitable for a young staffy.I always introduced Sam to our neighbours and he seemed to deduce from that that they were "allowed" people and wouldn't bark. However many neighbours said they loved having him next door as if he did bark it meant someone strange was around. When he was diagnosed with aggressive cancer I started researching my next breed. I like the bull breeds, they're nice and square and stocky. I also like terriers but wanted something smaller than a staffy as Sam was a bit heavy to put in and out of the car and I'm only getting older, so I needed something I could still pick up in 15 years time! Knowing the build I wanted and temperament I liked I looked at a lot of breeds and settled for a westie. Sam survived another four years after his diagnosis and operation, so I used that time to talk to breeders. I had absolutely no luck trying to rehome an older dog from a breeder. When Sam died I contacted the breeder that I talked to for some time and advised I'd be looking for a puppy in about 9months. That ended up working perfectly with her breeding and I have the most adorable westie now. He's glorious and absolutely perfect. The cat died four weeks after Sam, so I got a second dog so the puppy wouldn't be alone. Really, there's no more effort with two in my experience. She was a rehome from work that came about from a random kitchen conversation. She's a cocker spaniel, just over 3yo and has been perfect with the pup. Realising the benefit of the lazy exBF in creating a super dog, I took three months long service leave to spend with the pup. I think that has done him a lot of good. Hair wise, the westie and cocker lose much less than the staffy and cat! I strip their coats monthly and comb knots out weekly. The only tricky bit is trimming the hair between foot pads. It mats up if it's long. I have a friend who is a groomer so she did the first few trims and now I have clippers and trim monthly. I work full time and have a horse that's ridden five days a week. The dogs go to puppy park daily followed by a walk. We're out at least an hour to 90 mins, before work. I exercise them then as it burns energy and gets them calmer for being home alone. They get a beef neck bone each when I leave for work, have tonnes of toys and access to the house where it's cooler. On riding days I'm up at 3.30, non riding days around 5. So my advice is work out what appearance and traits you like in a dog. Start as you have looking at breeds you're attracted to. You seem to have a type - pinschers - so google pinschers generally and see if you can find similar breeds you may not know about but might be perfect. The last thing I wanted was a white fluffy. But he is perfect in every way for me. It helps he's self cleaning LOL The cocker is what she is. Not a breed I'd normally choose, but she is a lovely genuine dog that wants to please and is a very calming influence on the terror. We get a lot of "ooooooohhhhhhh, aren't they gorgeous" comments out walking. At night, they wait at the door with a teddy each and run around like loonies playing fetch for ten minutes, then we chill.

What's the recommended vaccination protocol these days? I didn't vaccinate my last dog after he reached middle age, so not really up on current thinking.

Flame Ryder, my observation of people who go on about how big their dog is / how heavy it is, tend to have fat, not muscular animals. Fat isn't muscle but people don't get it. I remember the first time my current vet met my staffie. He was somewhere around 6yo I think. We were walking out of the surgery and she went "my god, he just ripples". He was a nice weight around 20kg, but exercised a lot and beautifully muscular. A big change from the fat wobblers she usually saw. Ignore people who go on about how much their dog weighs as it is very likely the weight is all fat and not lovely muscling. That's been my observation anyway.

Suzi, my little westie puppy was mat trained. Every time I went for a shower I'd look out to see the bath mat disappearing behind a little white puppy blur LOL he thought it was a great game. The mat was perfectly safe any other time. I keep reading comments westies are hard to train. He's different to a staffy but is learning very nicely. He's a sensitive little soul, which he covers very convincingly with a lot of front. I'm besotted with him. I did a lot of research before choosing my next dog, and could not be happier.

I took 3 months off work when I got my puppy so he could work up to me going to work. The first four weeks were basically puppy time, working to his needs re toilet etc he couldn't last the night, so midnight toileting in winter..... I went out for an hour or two during the day and would put him in the bathroom as I didn't trust the cocker I'd just rehomed from work and puppy was super tiny at 2.5kg. A month on I was painting the inside of my place so the dogs were in the back yard for up to four hrs a day while I painted. That was a great transition. The final month I went out for longer preparing for when I went back to work for 8 hrs. By the time I went to work they were both settled and pup big enough to get away from the other dog if needed. They go to park and a walk for an hr before work, then get a bone to amuse them while I'm out. I got the second dog so the pup had a guiding paw while I'm not here. She's been a godsend and pup thinks the world of her. I've got a dog door so they can escape the weather and have a fan on during the heat.

I think it's easier to learn when you aren't in trouble, so am a strong believer in giving the animal something they can get right. In this case, instead of outside, I'd teach the dog an "off" or "down" command, or even "on your bed" and then strongly praise and reward the correct behaviour. The undesirable behaviour stops as soon as the dog does what you ask. All of mine have an off command for the couch as well as on your bed. The latter is really handy when they go visiting as in strange places it can be hard for them to know what is right. I save outside banishment for really bad behaviour eg shredding the tissue box while I'm out. None of my animals like being banished. I know people say punishment after the fact has no effect but generally behaviour that resulted in being sent outside when I get home doesn't get repeated. With the tissue example, I haven't moved the box and there's been no subsequent tissue fatalities. Totally off topic. I'm very pleased with the cocker I rehomed. After 7 months she started to instigate play (duck fetch) when I got home. Initially I had to stand next to her crate but the last week or so she's starting to instigate while I'm on the couch and returning (with encouragement) to the couch. She wouldn't play at all when I got her, so it's a huge step forward. It helps she could watch the puppy play and I think that's how she's learned. I've never encountered a dog that wouldn't play, so I'm thrilled she's instigating play. My ex racehorse took 18 months to come out of his shell, so maybe it'll be the same with her. She's very obedient, loves going on walks and what not, but the vet thought since she's had so many homes (4 homes before she turned 3) that she isn't game to trust. The only reason I thought of her is because her crate is in the lounge room. She came with it and spends a lot of time in it, so I didn't want to put it where she would be left out.

My puppy had the cat carry cage for his first month or tw. He was only 2.5 kg when he came home, so had plenty of room.

Buying my first dog in 14 years did leave me gasping for breath after I discovered the cost...... I'd researched breeds before deciding what would suit, so then went looking for a puppy and found out how much a pup cost. Nearly made me look for a different breed. But my boy has been absolutely perfect from the moment I got him, so I don't regret the cost

It took a few months to get my boys' papers. I'm in Qld and as said above breeder waited for all pups to be sold then sent off paperwork, which she said could take a few weeks to get processed and returned. Just call or email the breeder to follow up.