Natashja

No problem Jag. I attached some photos to page 2 of my boy.

Pee smell on the face? Surely that happens whether the face is shaved or not? (I used to regularly look after a male Staffy who had the worst case of "pee face" EVER) We plan on desexing Chomsky. The vet has recommended that we wait until 6 months of age to see if the teste descends; if not, the operation will be a little more complicated and expensive. So here's hoping our boy's ball drops! Have attached a few photos for you that were taken today.

Guys, truly gorgeous photos. Thanks so much for posting. As for Chomsky: Shaved feet? Definitely. Shaved base of tail? Yes. Shaved face? Not a hope in hell. Ever. Apologies to the traditionalists, but to OH and I feel that it just looks awful! We WANT a shaggy face, even if it means more work ;) In other news, Chomsky went to the vet on Thursday for his second vaccination and check up. Vet did a couple of swabs of the ears and it looks like the fungal infection is completely clear. Such a relief, though still waiting on his second teste to descend. I'm told this is common in Poodles?

I have no idea how active Chomsky is going to be, but if puppyhood zoomies (labelled "idiot sprints" by my OH!) are anything to go by, we may well have to consider something a little more "sporty" that includes a full face.

I grew up with neighbours who had the most beautifully natured Poodle. Gentle, intelligent and playful, he was a lot of fun to be around, but looked like a complete idiot with his face shaved, pom-poms and all the rest. Warley, I'm sure you've been right on many an occassion, but I'm never going to change my mind about a shaved face.

I have no issue with shaved feet and around the base of the tail, however, my boy simply HAS to have a full face of hair. I think we may just wind up trimming the hair at the entrance to the ear back a little more.

Thanks PF. Will do a search later today. Are there any Poodle specific BARF recommendations or is BARF the same for all breeds?

Apologies for being ignorant, but where can I get more info/recipes for a home prepared BARF diet? A moustache? Chomsky is a Poodle, not a Schnauzer! I just might have to consider it though *sigh*

Yes, that's Chomsky in my avatar. We love the furry face look so will have to consider how we're going to manage clipping around his ears in future. Last night my partner and I sat down with our boy and plucked his ears. Being a typical 11.5 week-old wriggly little beast he could scarcely keep still for more than 2 minutes at a time, so ear plucking wound up taking an hour to complete (We'd pluck for a few minutes, let him have a quick run around and then come back to us before doing some more)! Let me tell you, we could not believe the volume of hair he had growing in his ear canals - it was nearly a full hand of long hair in each ear!!!!! No wonder the poor little thing got a fungal infection We managed to pull a lot of hair out with our fingers but wound up having to use tweezers to get the stuff growing deep in the canal. He'd had enough by 10pm and we thought rather than risk hurting him, we'd try and get the rest later today. For what it's worth, he certainly seemed happier after it was done. Thanks so much for the benefit of your advice and experience guys. It's really appreciated. By the way, what do you feed your dogs?

Thanks for that. I will start plucking him tonight. The vet and breeder both recommended that we use Leo whenever cleaning the ears in the future.

Chomsky's puppy coat is super thick, so I guess we're going to look forward to a thick adult one too! do you pluck your boy's ears with your fingers or do you use tweezers?

Chomsky is on a diet that includes Advantage rehydratable puppy kibble (mixed with canned Tuna and a teaspoon of natural sheep's yoghurt for breakfast), chicken mince patties (that include broccoli, carrot and cauliflower) chicken wings/necks, beef brisket. He saw a vet a week and a half ago and she put him on two-week course of Surolan. He gets drops in each ear twice a day as well as Leo Ear Cleaner once a day. While the treatment appears to be working, I'm just really concerned that he's going to have ear issues long term as he has very hairy ears. His breeder recommended that we pluck his ears; I just wanted to make sure that we didn't start too early. Thanks for the advice Poodlefan.

Chomsky, my 11.5 week old mini Poodle is currently being treated for a fungal infection in both ears. We're using Leo Ear Cleaner at the same time to help dry his poor little ears out. I know there are many schools of thought regarding ear plucking. If you are a supporter of it, how old does a Poodle have to be before it can be done?

Well I am glad you have the poodle to go with the house. Nothing nicer thatn seeing a well maintained poodle with his styled hair do, poms and all. Ummm actually there is a difference.... A crate is a crate, Usually plastic with a wire front, has holes in the top half for air, approved by airlines for travel. A cage is usually wire, the new ones fold down when not in use, can be used ofr car travel and are excellent to use when away from home. A kennel of course is the "dog house" thing that we all remember from days of old, outside where fido lives. There are so many varieties these days but there is a difference. LoL!!! We chose a Poodle for several reasons - their sharp intelligence and gusto, their utterly endearing "take no prisoners" attitude, companionship (OH works from home) and because they're a low shedding breed (I hate having fur stuck to my clothes, floor and furniture). For what it's worth, Chomsky is, and shall always remain a shaggy, brown, gorgeous ball of fluff. OH and I have even agreed to never shave his face or butcher his gorgeous coat with pom poms, ribbons or any other kind of ridiculous stuff you see at shows. I hope I haven't upset too many traditionalists by thumbing my nose at convention and refusing to clip my dog in the prescribed way (that said, he does get thorough, regular brushing to ensure he never matts). The difference between a cage and a crate appears to be a semantic one? On a functional level they do the same thing - confine the dog to a limited space. However, I do think I understand what you're saying Jag and thank you for taking the time to explain.

Hi Jag, I'm not really concerned about the crate being too big for the dog, rather, too big and too ugly for the house! (Our home is highly stylised) I know I'm in dog lover's central and will probably get flamed for this, but I think the crate should be called what it is - a cage. Nothing wrong with a cage, but wouldn’t it be more honest to call a spade, a spade? Again, I know I’m going to get flamed for this, but I HATE the look of the cages too - every single one I looked at on the weekend was completely and utterly hideous. (Attention interior designers – there’s a huge market here for attractive dog housing) Nonetheless, we bought one from Australian Air Express on Saturday and after tarting up the outside, it is in use. Chomsky seems to have adapted rather well to sleeping in there (he lets out one tiny whimper before nodding off) and has only stirred during the night to let us know he needs a quick trip to the bathroom. So thanks for all the advice guys, the cage paid off!

The breeder recommended that we use wheatgerm oil. Start with a couple of drops while Chomsky is still in puppyhood, and work up to 1tsp a day.

While we haven't yet had a chance to get a crate (they seem really massive so we're thinking about getting a smaller transport crate), Chomsky has settled down heaps. He's no longer waking in the night and I can't tell you how fantastic it is to return to uninterrupted sleep! And thankfully, the growling was a one-off thing - for a moment there we were worried we had a dog with a temperament issue.

UPDATE: We made it through the night! OH and I kept Chomsky up until 11.30pm and he slept all the way through til 6.30am. Seems to be the strategy until we can get a crate.

Crate training sounds more appealing by the minute. He has two soft toys that he sleeps with. I have no idea if he got a fright, but I would be interested to know what it was that could have done it to him – we have no rodents and there are no other things/noises in the kitchen that could have disturbed him. Someone I work with said that he is probably scared of being alone and when he woke up to find no one else around, he freaked out. Still, that doesn’t explain the aggressive behaviour when we entered the kitchen....does it? Thanks so much for the advice guys, really appreciate it.

Chomsky, our 9.5 week old mini poodle pup, has very recently developed some new behaviour that we’re not sure how to deal with. I’d better give you some background first. 1. We’ve had Chomsky for a week and a half. Until Saturday just past, Chomsky was successfully using newspaper and sleeping through the night without complaint 2. On Saturday night, my partner and I went to a wedding and we left Chomsky home alone with the TV on, the lights on, fresh water, plenty of toys and some puppy kibble. He had been left for a couple of hours at a time before, but this was the longest he was left alone (we went out at 6pm and came home at midnight). When we got home he was asleep (we could see in through our kitchen window) but woke up when he heard the door open and started barking and carrying on like mad. At 2am when he wouldn’t calm down (and fearing retribution from the neighbours) we took him to our bed. Once he started to doze (3am) I returned him to his bed in the kitchen and he was fine. 3. We spent all of Sunday playing and hanging out with Chomsky, and he happily went off to bed in our kitchen around 9pm. At midnight (same time as we arrived home the night before) he went berzerk – barking, scratching at the kitchen door and then what sounded like he was throwing himself against it. We waited for a pause in the hysteria and went to the kitchen. When we arrived, Chomsky had eliminated in the middle of the kitchen floor (far away from the newspaper) and was incredibly aggressive (biting and growling at both my partner and I). I picked him up and held him tightly against my body to try and calm him (this time we stayed in the kitchen with him and did not take him to our bed). 45 minutes later, he was tired and calm enough to be returned to his bed. Naturally, I am dreading a repeat performance tonight. Once of our neighbours has already complained this morning and we can’t allow the behaviour to continue. Does anyone have any recommendations for what we can do?

I have a 9 week old mini poodle pup who has been with us since last Friday. The breeder had him on Puppy porridge for breakfast, divetalac in the mid morning, Advance rehydrable puppy kibble plus chicken mince at lunch and dinner, and divetelac for supper. Since coming to live with us, he has totally gone off the divetalac, doesn't much like the puppy porridge or the Advance but LOVES chicken. We tried him on chicken necks last Saturday and chicken wings on Monday of this week and there's no looking back. Only problem is now I have this 3kg bag of Advance that he's barely touched, and he seems to have a little more difficulty pooing now than when he arrived. I am concerned that he's not getting enough fibre which has lead to the hardening of his stool. Is this dramatic change in dietary preferance normal for puppies? Is it normal for them to graze rather than wolf their food? My last dog was a Lab who died 10 years ago and was already 1 when I was born, so I have no idea about this stuff at all!