Poodle wrangler

What do others pay for Nutrience? Is this expensive? ETA: Thanks for the recall info.

I saw Nutrience in our local pet store- $99 for a 15kg bag (regional area, so probably not a competitive price). Same price as Nutro? Guy said the company guarantee it, so if your dog doesn't like it you can get a full refund. He said it was made in Canada, though bags were stamped "USA" (?). Is this brand affected by the recent pet food recalls in the USA?

Too cold outside for a puppy with a Melbourne winter. Would your parents agree to inside, in crate? I can understand their concern about mess, but if mess was confined to crate? Apart from freezing, a pup alone outside will also be likely to howl/ cry/ bark. About the airedale pup- pup won't be able to hold it all in all night, so toilet breaks required. Idea is that pup will make a fuss as it doesn't want to soil it's "den" (crate) and you'll get up and take it outside.

Good on you . He looks gorgeous, of course. I have poodles and use a slicker brush for them, but also for my sister's short-haired dog- they work a treat if you want to get rid of excess hair, just make sure it a soft slicker brush (see showdog's post). I made the mistake of getting a too hard, cheapie one and it made my dog hate brushing for a while.

I'm sorry to hear your friend lost her weim. Standard poodles are a large breed with deep chests, too. Study below included various large and giant breeds inc. weimaraner. This link is from the Poodles in Australia website, Bloat Study: http://www.poodlesinaustralia.com/health/health18.html They suggest not breeding with a dog that has a first degree relative who'd died of bloat!

What Roo said! Being firm, but caring, is good for your pup- they need a new leader of the pack .

One of the standard poodle breeders feeds Coprice, together with raw foods.

It's a shame you were both treated that way when you're making the effort to come to training. I'm sure that's where they find all the horrible, irresponsible, neglectful owners- Making the effort and taking the time to train their dogs

I can imagine how it happens having seen my 9 year old normally dog sensible boy playing with our standard poodle pup yesterday. The more our dog jumped the more my son encouraged him, ran around, laughed and encouraged him to play bite. I went out and disciplined child, not dog. He soon had Charlie pup sitting, no jumping and playing sensibly. He gets a kick out of getting our dogs to "sit" "stay" "wait" etc. I wasn't worried about my son being injured, but it's teaching pup very bad habits. I don't want our dog to think it's OK to jump up on and chew children. It's surprising how many kids are frightened of dogs. Sends all the wrong messages about who's the boss, too. Was funny seeing the 3 year old telling pup to sit yesterday- she'd seen her brother doing it- scowl, serious voice, treat in hand: "It!" (trouble saying the 's') "Good dog".

I'm not a big crate fan, but bought one for our new pup when I thought I'd have the mother-in-law babysitting often for me. Knew damn well she wouldn't be able to watch a pup as well as kids. Turned out I didn't need her to babysit and I've barely used the crate. Sorry, wrong size for pug. I have an airline crate from a trip away- plastic with wire front. I've used that often, on and off. Useful for trips, then car travel. Most dogs get carsick until used to the car. You can put newspaper in and hose out to clean. Dog safer in crate than loose in car, also. Lighter than a wire crate, but more expensive. IMO forget the canvas crate for a pup. Hard to clean if he poos in there, too. Dogs will wee and/ or poo in crates at some stage unless you are a perfect toilet trainer . Our pup was 95% toilet trained after only 6 weeks with us, so I don't think a crate is necessarily the right thing to get. Depends on a few things e.g. Do you want pup inside with you most of the time? Do you have valuable rugs, furniture etc.? Does pup need a safe place to get away from toddlers? Do you have a lot of carpet? Or, easy to clean stuff like tiles? Re. size: You can buy crates that can be partitioned off for pups toilet training- they will just pee/poo in a corner if they have too much space- defeating the idea that they won't wee/poo in their den. For toilet training, they should only be able to stand and turn around.

Sounds like you might have taught your pup they can get out of brushing by biting you and the brush ? Pup should NOT bite you or brush, but you need to teach this. What showdog said! Some brushes hurt or are useless, so what breed or cross do you have? Keep brushing session short, but successful, even if you just do 1/4 the pup at a time. You don't need to teach a formal "stand". You can gently, but firmly, lift pup to a stand position (if laying down or sitting) and praise verbally so hands are free for brushing. A firm , "No" and firmly placing pup in position is a good teaching tool.

There's a lot of different advice out there about vaccs. The 6 , 12, 16 week vaccinations seem to be pretty standard. Most kennels require C5. I'd give C3 if I didn't intend to use a kennel. The Protech Duramune Injection (final or yearly one) lasts for > 3 years, scroll down to see "4. Variations" at http://www.apvma.gov.au/gazette/gazette0506p12.shtml Some on DOL prefer not to give the heartworm injection (possible adverse effects) and prefer monthly tablets. I give tablets as it includes most intestinal worms as well as heartworm. Our pup has fortnightly Drontal Allwormer, the older dog's covered with Interceptor Spectrum. I've found Frontline ineffective for fleas in my area and use Advantix instead. Advantix also protects against mozzies & my dogs often sleep outside. Try pricelesspets.com.au for Advantix, Frontline, Heartworm tablets- they're the cheapest I've found. About puppy classes: Young pups have little immunity and I'd not be keen to take them to a vet surgery with only one lot of vaccs. You can still socialise your pup e.g. expose them to kids, vacuum, loud noises, cars, buses, prams, other friendly vaccinated dogs etc.

My vet suggested adding fibre e.g. Metamucil (human stuff) to the diet for anal glands. Tried this for a while but it's awful stuff and not cheap. Added some chicken wings/ necks and more bones and very few probs since. Problem anal glands can be surgically removed, but is the last resort, sometimes done for recurrent infections.

I've read that sometimes dogs can get hyper as a reaction to their diet. If she's not like that at other times of the day, though, it's not that. Pups don't need long walks (especially not larger breeds), but a short one is great for settling- lots to sniff, hear, see etc.

He's wormed fortnightly? Vaccinated? Heartworm? etc? Our pup's poo was getting sloppy and he was getting skinny (not nice and lean). I found adding a raw mince, rice, veg mix (70% mince) so that it was about 60% mince mix + 40% dry food + chicken wings/ necks/ raw bones really helped. You can still work your way thru that big bag of food (just slower) then reassess. I think the chicken wings would help, not be harmful. Visited family recently and upped the dry food as ran out of mince mix--> instant sloppy poo. Intusseption is protrusion of a section of bowel forward into another section of bowel. In humans you'd see abdominal pain and vomiting. If it occurred in your dog he'd be unwell. He's not, apart from the loose poo? Pet nutrition is a minefield. Very confusing. I can't justify the approx. $9/ kilo you pay for some super premium dry foods. I can feed human-grade steak 'on special' at that price. My only advice is to read the ingredients of any pet food you buy and assess your dog's response to his diet. Pet foods don't have the same stringent regulations that are applied to human food. Best wishes .

I had this issue with the youngest human in the house- she's just full of life, ready to start her day much to her parents' disgust! Is it possible he's hungry e.g. going thru a growth spurt? Could you try a nice, raw meaty bone in the laundry in the morning, or, as you go to bed at night? Messy, but- hopefully - quiet. Unless he bangs the bone around the floor. Our pup did the early morning caper, but improved when I added a mini-meal late at night. Still, I hear both dogs playing as soon as the sun's up most mornings.

Relative who cleans carpets says the urine gets in to the underlay and you never really get it out- so prevention is better than cure! Don't you love puppies ?

I reckon my 6 year old dog loves bones even more than our pup! Have been buying more than usual and our older dog's teeth look brighter (were OK to start with). Breeder told me to supervise with raw bones, however. Nothing cooked, of course. Both also loves pigs ears- easy to store in cupboard. My freezer is starting to bulge from all the dog food in there .

Shortage of good groomers Nowra area (South Coast, NSW), too! One recently retired and another starting a family (+ caring for other family) .

OMG what to feed is a huge topic. Read the list of ingredients of some commercial dog foods- it's awful (meat byproducts, tallow fat, corn (filler++) etc.). Our pup loves chicken necks, chicken wings, pet mince (raw) mixed with vegies and rice. I add some tuna in oil (mixed with veg, rice) a couple of times a week, too. I also give some dry food, but it would be < 50% of his diet. Most advise keeping a pup lean (i.e. don't overfeed) to promote healthy, gradual bone growth. Best of luck with your dear pup :D .

I've read that, too. Raw chicken frames instead of a marrow bone on a couple of days?

I bought some 'Saxon' brand clippers from a Doler Nicestmann77. Haven't seen them advertised recently, but these were a good budget buy for a newbie. I'm not experienced enough to advise a brand, really. Nicestmann77 has good value clipper blades and sharpening; very helpful. Whatever you decide, checkout prices online as they can vary by about $100- for exactly the same clippers.

No great recipes from me, but I like my son's description of the mince, rice & veg mix as "dog salad" ;) .

Doesn't sound right to me. Reminds me of food combining (human diet fad) where you're not meant to mix carbohydrates with proteins etc. because different enzymes involved in their digestion. Problem is both carbs and protein are present in many foods. Good in that unhealthy combos like fish and chips are avoided. Overall healthy diet in moderation is the way to do go for dogs, too, IMHO. I've noticed a big improvement since introducing more mince, bones, rice, veg to pup's diet. Kibble there too, but less.

No. This is the first of her seminars I've attended. She comes very highly recommended though. Have you seen her before? Did you enjoy it? ETA: We are in Cabin 2.. .no doubt staggering distance from you. We are bringing a few bottles of wine. Poodle tribe look like this: Is she back from fishing? Is there a collective term for poodles? Can I use it now with 2! Posse? Sorry, off topic.