Christina

He sounds like a little shit :laugh: Some puppies just are, they try it on & they all have different personalities like people do. Some are more dominant. I also think persephones suggestion of a vet check is a good idea. He may be sore & you don't realise or know quite where otherwise I would be telling him off when he snapped at me with as sharp ah ah no & let him know this is not on. No physical action though. I would also expect him not to snap when disturbed if he is asleep. I assume you gently picked him up or moved him so he should tolerate this. Not as though children are poking at him. I would not pander to his whims at all. You have to be the boss, firmly but persistently. If he was a cat I would say let him have his own way, you can't boss a cat :)

One mating may do fine. I always try them again 48 hours later to ensure more chance. Sometimes the female may refuse him or he may not be interested so then its just keep your fingers crossed. Other times they mate again fine. I don't mate them say a week apart for the simple fact that you may get some normal size pups & some tiny ones. I don't let them run loose & mate at will either. I guess some may & dogs do manage to mate without us humans around but I would be scared of injury to either of them. The male would also be exhausted.

puppy photos compulsary. Hope all goes well & easy.

Why am I not suprised. So cynical now my first thought was at least the dog didn't get stolen. Crazy world.

When I came here from England 27 years ago I was amazed at how dog unfriendly Australia is. Same with cats. Despite all the rules & regulations it doesn't make for better owners or better behaved dogs than anywhere else in the world. I don't miss much from England but I do miss taking my dog everywhere with me. At one stage I had a lead trained & incredibly trained in all sorts of things cat. He also came shopping with me & on the train sometimes & was welcomed everywhere.

There are some extremely stupid people in this world & still it shocks us when we hear crap like this woman was spouting. You are right in the fact that there is no rational conversation with them & anyone with half a brain would take no notice. It still shocks me that not everyone dealing with animals loves them & children & old people for that matter. There is nothing you can do except have a brief vent & put idiots like this out of your mind as frustrating as they are.

Sounds normal due to his inexperience. If he had broken anything previously he would have been in pain & you would have known. His excitement & lack of practise is what is wrong. Don't let him get too exhausted. Let him try for a while & then take him away to have a rest. He may allow you to try & help him aim, if you can, but most won't. Put the girl on a lead or hold her still near the front if she is ok with you. Some get lucky & in on the 1st day but many take a few days to get the knack. Patience.

Was it because you were so exhausted & slept like a log ? :laugh: No idea really.

Feed your dog what you are comfortable feeding it. If you want to continue the breeders diet that's fine, if you want to do dog roll & dry that's fine too. I would use some puppy dry though no matter what brand.

Sometimes they don't show all the female dogs they have on the website. It may only show their titled dogs for example.

Has he got a sore back ? It may tap him on the back & hurt. Can you try taking the flap off for a few hours & see if he uses it then. Don't know how you break the 4.30am cycle unless there is something coming into your yard regularly at that time & that makes her want to go out. My boy aged 11 does this about 5.30am no matter how late his last toilet break was but I put it down to age with him. No doggy door here, there was one when I moved in but dogs can get out but things can get in so it went.

WTH is why I desex my pups at around 10 to 12 weeks. A toy breed & the most popular for puppy farm, mongrel/DD's. The alternative if pup ends up in the wrong hands is worse. I would not desex a large breed this young I would do tubal/vasectomey on those. Its not only a case of can't trust the owner, although some swear they would never breed the entire dog on limited pedigree but then these dogs do get bred. Its also what if the dog got lost/stolen. Once a pup leaves a breeder they don't have any control over its life then so they can only trust the person they hand it over to after giving it the best start they can & ensuring the best home. This isn't always foolproof so at least I know no matter what none of mine will be puppy farmed. To the OP I would suggest you take the breeder as someone who cares about their dogs not someone who is personally insulting you. If you are happy with things overall ask if the puppy could have a tubal ligation for now & desex when older.

When I had a big dog a long time ago she destroyed washing for years & nothing I tried seemed to stop her so one day I watched her & noticed that when the wind blew she got excited & then the game began. I put a pair of stockings on the line on a windy day & filled both feet with pepper, a whole pot in each foot. Big bucket of water there for her to drink. It worked. I felt terrible but she never touched the washing again.

I am sure every dog food manufacturer would send research to anyone who asked to show that theirs is the best. I did hear that Iams did some research that was really callous but whether or not this was accurate I really don't know. It did put me off the product though.

I'm curious if you feed your dog a natural diet with no "junk" in it do you eat a natural diet yourself ? Thinking about all the advertising & fuss about feeding dogs & cats & what is good & natural for them how many people worry about what is natural for themselves ? My diet is mostly all natural, seldom have any cans or packets or ready meals of any kind. An odd junk treat like dark chocolate or all natural pack of lollies occasionally but I don't worry much about the dogs food. Some fresh meat, chicken, liver, wings, pasta, vegies, an occasional puppy can & common brands of dry like supercoat, hills & advance. Sometime we seem to worry more about what goes into ours dogs bodies than our own :laugh:

I also thought they were lucky it didn't get shot. I think they are idiots.

Hate it when I see anything like this. There is nothing you can do. The only time I ever did anything was as a teenager. A crowd of us were in the park when we saw an old man belting the hell out of his german shepherd. One of the boys said he always does it. I ran around the back of the bushes & leapt out behind him & kicked him up the a**e so he fell to the ground. Stopped him that time but not advisable. No advice for you as I am not subtle when it comes to this type of thing. Its upsetting. They think its ok to so this, similar with children too.

Mine won't stay away 10 minutes at this age & none of them ever has. All checks as persephone suggested. Also in this hot weather sometimes they are more comfortable in a bigger whelping box. Could be that is just the type of mum she is so weigh pups daily & if all is well there is nothing to be done. Pups will wean soon & then it won't matter.

Funny my Katy does exactly the same thing. I am not alone :laugh: annoying but funny at the same time.

My first thought too. The dog is a family member so unless she rips your house up or pees on everything etc why does she need to be in a crate in the laundry or anywhere ? If you don;t like the crate around being unsightly put it in the shed or garage, minus the dog of course.

Not here in SA it doesn't. Its quite simple here. I agree that a video camera or some evidence that the dogs don't bark all the time should be attempted in case of more trouble. Dogs inside when they go out. Maybe a barrier fence so that the dogs can't go right up to the neighbours fence, in case he baits them, mentally or literally. Or plot to get rid of the neighbour :)

Always brush & comb out the whole coat completely & make sure there are no knots in it before you bath. Then you clip after the bath. The coat must be completely dry to clip. Unless the dog has bad matts, then you clip them out, then bath. You can clip a dirty dog but then you need to bath it & clip it again for a good finish.

They are so cute Best Kept Secret My Secret Love

Yes, go for it, much less stress on your dog to be done in the comfort of her own home. Net search for clippers. There are 2nd hand ones & up to $100 variation in price on the same brands for new. Remember to keep the blade flat on the skin & check it doesn't get too hot. They heat up quite quickly. Test on your own arm for the technique & feel of what your dog will be feeling & periodically place on your own skin to check heat of blade as you go. Hair grows back quickly if you mess up & the dog doesn't care what it looks like so what's to lose.

Made its point but a cruel experiment IMO. Scientifically it proved the case but it was horrid to watch.