cactus

What a darling girl. The RSPCA spend $6000 on saving ONE sick dog and then kill all these beautiful healthy ones. So sad. RIP princess

This was sent to me this week, and some of you may already know it. Get your tissues before proceeding.... A Pet's Prayer If it should be that I grow frail and weak, And pain should keep me from my sleep, Then you must do what must be done For this, the last battle, can't be won. You will be sad, I understand. Don't let your grief then stay your hand, For this day, more than the rest, Your love and friendship stand the test. We've had so many happy years What is to come can hold no fears. You'd not want me to suffer, so, When the time comes, please let me go. Take me where my needs they'll tend only, Stay with me to the end, And hold me firm and speak to me, Until my eyes no longer see. I know in time you will see It is a kindness you do to me Although my tail its last has waved From pain and suffering I've been saved. Don't grieve it should be you, Who decides this thing to do, We've been so close, we two, these years Don't let your heart hold any tears. Smile - for we walked together, For a little while.

I had to say goodbye to my little Tony late this afternnon. He wasn't a dog but he thought he was. Though he wasn't old, I knew I would have to say goodbye at some point, because he had feline CRF, but he was really doing well and was so happy and loving. Out of the blue he was struck down by some mysterious illness that no vet had ever come across or or even heard of before. My vet was so great- he did everything he could for him and was so supportive over the past few days, but he was really deteriorating, and in the end I had to do the right thing for my little man, and not selfishly hang on to him (and I so wanted to!!). I'm just devastated and even my dogs cant console me (though they try!). I didn't have enough time with Tony, but the time I had with him was the best I could wish for. RIP little man

I had/have the same problem. I'm going to training, but using a halti has made walks on leash much safer for me and the dog both. Training is definitely the solution, but the halti will allow you to do the training and go for walks in the mean time. I wouldn't hesitate to get one. I just gave one to my mother who has the same problem with her dane.

My mothers dane is 6 months old- he's getting 7 cups of eukanuba large breed puppy food, plus chicken frames/wings/necks, liver and kidney, and fruit (he loves his fruit). Some days he is ravenous, other times his usual meals fills him up- all depends on his growth spurts I guess. He's growing at a good rate, is lean and glossy, so its working well for him. BARF for a dane pup would be a scary proposition IMO and cheap kibble even scarier.

Oh .... sorry if I was wrong. Kal doesn't eat apples, but earlier family dogs we had used to eat our cores, no problems. Still .... I guess back then we did a lot of things wrong that we shouldn't have. The dogs dont crush the seeds in their teeth, so its no problem, but if people blend the apples and it then contains crushed/ground seeds, the toxins would be able to enter their system. My dogs love an apple or a pear as a treat now and then My BARF is more like Lillysmum's- except all the raw meaty bones are from fowl.

I checked the Pedigree 'natural' kibble today- the first two ingredients are whole grains, and grain by-products. Whats that? Chaff? I dont like anything that has so much more grain than meat so it wouldn't be an option for me. I noticed too that all the bags of kibble that I looked at (various supermarket brands) all the meat by-products were specified as coming from farm animals. I didnt look at the plain brand tho.... ??

lol, I thought it started at the bottom of the hill, and that we were all gonna have to get behind it and push that baby uphill! It never ceases to amaze me when people cant accept difference, and think only in terms of absolutes. Thats got to be a tough life, but still- no excuse to make others' lives tough!!

luv that word- I wonder if it tastes as good as it sounds.

I have been vego for a quarter century- I didn't force my diet on my kids and I sure as shyte wouldn't force it on a dog or cat :rolleyes: A lot of *people* dont do well on a vego diet, I'd hate to think what those poor animals suffer. I'd have to add that it can be hard enuff to get a well balanced, wholesome meat diet that your dog thrives on without going to all the unneccesary trouble of meat-replacements and the extra supplementation that would require. But hey, if it floats people's boats and they DO go to all the trouble of ensuring that the meals have the necessary nutrition in them, then each to their own. But to those who say you aren't vego yourself, they are just fanatics who cant separate themselves from their animals. I'd heard soy was bad for dogs- can anyone clarify that? For myself, I avoid giving my dogs grains at all lol.

So I guess the only question that remains to be answered is: Is there anything quite as revolting as a militant in-your-face born-again BARFer?? I think we need to preserve our sense of humour :rolleyes:

Dont recall saying that at all Zorro. You must be putting words in my mouth.

lol. would be great if that were true, but it isnt. If you research it I'm sure it wont be too hard to find out. Maybe start with other animal lib groups- PETA are just one of many. As a high school kid we watched footage smuggled out of labs that did animal experimentation and vivisection. Been a vego ever since. lol.

I think its only fair if you're going to lambaste one company for animal testing that you be unbiased and research other cases of pet food companies' animal testing and post those also. I dont buy iams or eukanuba btw

I don't know- is horse meat less nutritious than cow, pig, lamb kangaroo, chicken etc? As far as I know its important that dogs get to eat sinews and tendons and offal etc- its part of a biologically appropriate diet. Dog food isn't meant to sound appetising to us humans but in their natural state animals eat and thrive off all that yucky stuff and they dont waste a single bit of a carcass :rolleyes:

Whether its second rate or not depends on the quality of the comparison (raw) food. I notice also that people who dont feed kibble do not necessarily feed a natural diet- a lot of people feeding BARF give boiled rice, boiled eggs, tinned fish, yoghurt, vegetable oil etc. I'm not arguing against any of that- but just as dogs haven't evolved into bakers, neither have they yet learnt to boil water After seeing and hearing what dogs eat that they are not supposed to eat- kitty crunchies etc, I really dont think we need compare what we would like to eat with what a dog would like to eat. I have dogs who are predominantly fed BARF, but bring out a bowl of kibble and their drool hangs down like rope. Apparently most people feeding BARF dont feed exclusively feed Prime cuts of meat anyway, and mostly the fish given is tinned so I dont think that it would be any more important that kibble have prime grade meat in it. We all have only so much time- some people's time is spread more thinly than others. I remember what it was like when my kids were little, and BARF for breakfast would have been impossible. So long as people are feeding their dogs a decent kibble, I dont think they should be looked down upon for not feeding raw. Its a big responsibility ensuring that your BARF diet is a well banaced one and not lacking in any trace elements- many people worry that they aren't able to do it correctly and prefer to buy a premade balanced food. Fair enough. Raw feeding can be a lot harder and more expensive if you dont own a chest freezer and/or own more than one dog. It takes a lot of thought, planning, time sprent hunting down and preparing the ingredients, and then (in my case) thawing out the portions as they are needed. I understand that this doesn't fit into everyone's busy schedules. Thats okay- I think its better they use that time taking their dog to the park or for a walk on leash. There are plenty of dogs not just doing fine on kibble- but excelling at dog sports, so its silly to dismiss it out of hand as being bad for dogs. There is not a person on this forum who doesn't care a great deal about their dog/s and have its best interests at heart. As with our children, we cant always give them all that we would wish to give them, but if we strive to give our best in regards to caring, training, and loving them then we are pretty good doggy mums and dads.

I dont think the question is who should eat better- the human or the dog, because although I have a crap diet, that's my choice. I have to make that choice for my dogs, so I give them the best I can given my financial circumstances at the time. I calculated the cost of my dogs BARF diet when finances were good, and it equalled the cost of feeding Eukanuba. They never eat crap, because when a box of 40 chicken frames only costs $5.00 I figure how hard up can you be to feel the need to buy home brand dog food? My cat has special needs so his diet is predominantly prawns and blue whiting and he eats some premium kibble and a bit of canned food. It might seem expensive, but he doesn't eat it by the kilo and the alternative is allow him to crash and then be PTS.

Any little snacks that your dog loves are great for training. Just make sure your dog does something to earn those treats- even if its just a sit or drop If its not for training, then there's no need to give snacks IMO since thats a human concept (that is making most of us fat!) Bones are great for dogs to gnaw on- meaty bones are the best- make sure you take it into consideration though when portioning the dogs meals :D ETA: I initially bought comercial dog treats, but they just weren't appealing enough for training- I need something that REALLY gets her attention

Luring is one of the big pitfalls of people who train with food and want to work without having food 100% of the time. If you are going to lure at all, you need to get rid of it as soon as you can - that means after only say 3-6 times luring, and then go to letting the dog offer the behaviour. Yeah, and its one of the pitfalls of attending a club with very strict rules and bossy trainers. lol. Whenever she doesn't perform right without a lure they say where's your treat?? go back to holding the treat! :D We just finished 1st class and are going to be doing the 3rd lesson in the 2nd class next week. The past two weeks we have trained at different parts of the field, with two different trainers, and with an assortment of new dogs in the group, so its kind of like starting all over again We had a really good trainer for 1st class- well at least she used to use every minute of class time training us, and we always left feeling more confident than we arrived, but its been all downhill since graduation night. The woman we had grad night is the same trainer we had last week. Talk about utter rudeness! She surely cant know just how rude she is. She insults people's dogs, their ability to train their dogs (duh! Why are we there!) she makes us change all our cues etc from what we've been taught, and has us all standing around with our dogs getting bored and distracted while she assesses us one at a time (the assessment is the actual training- I guess she doesn't believe in practice during class time. far better to stand around listening to her muttering snide remarks). lol. we'll that was quite a whinge! I'll give it another shot next week, and if they still haven't got it together, I'm doing what more than half of my graduation class has done- going elsewhere for training. Maybe thats an opportunity to find a club that doesn't rely soley on the use of rewards.

do you mean the mad cat? He seems fatter than before. As for the guy- he can barely fit his two dogs in his tiny hatch back (and one hasn't reached full size yet) so a 3rd dog would be completely insane. He has a small home (from what he says) the dogs live outside. I guess if he's prepared to lie to the shelter he'd be prepared to decieve the council. I doubt he'll get it though- he cant afford or handle the two he has. They're more of a.. I dont know how to put it- but a status thing? He is always the centre of attention because of his danes and he speaks with great authority on the breed (well both breeds- the standard and the giant :D ) Bah- the system wont allow the cat- its less than 3kb and only 41 pixels high (and its taller than it is wide) but there ya go Elmo rocks anyway

I seriously avoid seeing much less talking to anyone when I go to the dog park these days. Forget all the dumb, nay completely reckless and insane advice I get regarding *training* dogs: people have the bare-faced gall to tell me that a BARF diet is not healthy and that dogs like biscuits and why do I try to spoil them.... But- this guy took the cake last week- He has a great dane that he feeds a can of pal and a couple of cups of white rice with table scraps a day (hows that for nutritious!!) this dane has been on this diet for a year now, since he got it from a shelter at 1 year of age. Well you think thats bad?? Now he has obtained a second dane (a 10 month harl) - he's one of them "giant danes" you know- not the standard size. Good grief. Now guess what he's discovered?? There's a supermarket dog food that has calcium added- its called... bloody plain brand. :D: OMG he has NO IDEA about danes at all- despite having a years experience owning one. And now he has dominance issues with the new dog, its boisterous and destructive, and he went to look at a THIRD dane a week after he got it!!!! Those poor, poor dogs.

My dog won't heal without treats. I'm still transitioning from luring to rewarding, and we're doing ok at school but suck in public. I only use treats at school (its compulsory anyway) and when we are out to encourage her to fetch and return with her frisbee and ball or if we are practising our heeling. Everything else just gets praise or an abscence of a correction if its expected as a matter of course (like walking into a room after me and sitting before entering the house/car or crossing a road). I must say I was wondering the other night how many years it would be before we are treat free :sigh: Probably never- I mean look at the sea lions and dolphins at Seaworld they have to feed those buggers EVERY time they do something! FOREVER!!! Makes me think there's no hope.... It seems its a case of either accept that or go back to check chains. Ugh!! :D

My dog will do *anything* for a bit of kabana or hotdog. I cook them in the microwave (I like them to be dry), and cut them up into ity little bits... :cool: This week I also used cooked mince- I fried a very large very flat patty of beef mince till it was well done then I cut it up into ity bits and tossed them back in the pan till they were pretty crispy. I had her undivided attention at training last night! :D Cheese has worked well (but sweats in the daytime) as have cut up dried fish (the little cat treats you buy in bags- my cats hate them but they make the dogs perform)

I dont think it matters whether the dog thinks we're eating from its bowl or it from our bowl. The point is that they are having to wait their turn- the leader goes first, then everybody else. When I first got Zara, this ritual made an amazing difference to her behaviour and *attitude* toward me. I still make her wait before she is allowed to approach her bowl- depending on how well she has been, that can be anywhere from 1 minute to 30 minutes. I only make them eat after me if I happen to be eating at the same time (which is rare) its also an opportunity to teach them not to stare and drool while people are eating. I've noticed that if I have their meat etc out on the bench earlier to defrost, sometimes they will get pushy and want it earlier- but I dont allow them to dictate when I do *anything* so until they behave and stop 'asking' for it, they dont stand a chance of getting fed at all.

I didn't used to have to even *think* about any of this stuff, but since Zara came into my life I have to think about this sort of stuff ALL the time. Initially I had to do as erny described- I'd prepare their food so they could see it, sit and eat a cracker, where they could see me, then put their food down where they could see it and keep them in a sit-stay until I gave the cue to eat. Now I still make them sit and wait for the cue (the more respectful she has been of me, the shorter the time) but I dont worry about the cracker any more. The more simple little rules I make and enforce, the better she is- I get no unwanted behaviours, but give that bitch an inch... :thumbsup: