noisymina

Yikes! What kind of snake? Probably just a Green Tree Snake. But he didn't know that at the time - it was pitch black out there. Bit like the "toad dance" our sons' friends used to do when DH used to take them out toad hunting at night. :D

You should have seen the dance my son did after sitting on a snake. :laugh:

I do think we need pure bred dogs - dogs that breed true to type - that have genetic history and have been bred to reduce or eliminate known problems. Where else are we going to get our loyal (and healthy) pets from if SOMEONE does not breed them properly? That does not mean everyone has to!!! Shodow Dobermann - I hope you have as many happy years with your Dobes as we have had with ours! Once you know one, you won't want to change. But I guess you have worked that out already! I second the idea of finding the Dobermann club. Not all people in obedience clubs etc actually like Dobes - not all vets do either. They are very much a misunderstood breed! But let's just keep that our secret. :laugh:

No - one does not leave dew claws on a Dobe. Even I have worked that out from just owning them. I love and admire them, but have never bred them and don't miss the fact that I have never bred one. Enjoy the beautiful dog. They are fantastic family dogs. Edit to add: You really do need to know the lines as you may be passing on genes that you don't know about but should not be passed on. There are certain diseases in the Dobe lines that one needs to breed to avoid and one can only do that by knowing the lines and/or doing some very expensive testing - apart from all the normal tests.

If all else proves equal (she is healthy, active and bloods are clear), just feed her separately to the other dog and forget about it. My Miniature Poodle I had many years ago was a rescue and never put on weight. She lived a long, healthy and happy life, but always felt seriously thin. Thank goodness for Poodle coats!

:)

I vowed I would not get another dog after Kaisie passed. And to be honest, I didn't want to change breeds either. BUT ....it was so damned quiet and lonely without that presence - specially knowing that we would soon be empty nesters as well. So fate took its course and I started looking for a smaller dog that would be more adaptable to a change in habitat because we will need to move from out acreage eventually. Certainly within the next 10 years. The breed I chose, for some reason, seemed to allude me. :laugh: No breeders returned my messages and even the rescue failed to respond! I was then offered a dog of a breed I'd barely heard of - let alone seen! Could not even pronounce the name! And thus we got the little "darling" that was clearly meant for us! I was worried what would happen if I could not longer care for a dog, but this breeder is not only willing, but insists, that she be returned in those circumstances. Which is a huge load off my mind. She is keeping us on our toes, is keeping us active and makes us laugh every day! She's a stroke of genius! Must get a decent photo to put up some time.

:rofl:

:) Been there, done that. My Dobe would go from 8pm at night until 4pm then next day before I could get a sample. First you need clean used ice cream container. This you cut so that you have a shallow base with one corner left on it to use as a handle. Secondly you need a full day to devote to this task. Third you need to fill him with liquid. My home made soup was very popular! :D The vet may ask why the urine is so dilute, tho. :laugh: Then you take said dog out on lead. As many times as it takes. The trick is to let them start peeing before you dive to get the sample. The theory being that once the flow is established, it is almost impossible for them to stop. So you get some since the poor bugger is pretty much full of it by the time she lets go! Good luck! :D Edit to add: Take the sample straight to the vet while it is still fresh.

When our cat passed on and DH wanted another one, we already had the dog. Dog, admittedly, was somewhat used to cats. But he went to a rescue organisation here and they actually matched him with a dog friendly cat! I've never seen a cat sook up to dogs like this one does! As soon as she arrived here, the dog shoved her nose up to the crate and the cat tried to rub up against her. No hair raised, no hissing - not a thing! She just walked on out after a couple of days of dog socialisation/introduction and she was done. *shrug*. Cat become boss of dog. Dog has since passed on and the new dog and cat play tag together and lick each other. Again, after a period of carefully supervised socialisation. The cat chases the dog or tries to ambush her as she runs past. All good fun! Mostly, tho, she treats the dog with the sort of disdain only a cat can show! :laugh:

Quite so. :) But by discussing it and thinking about other ways to look at it, there is sometimes some benefit. Specially to us stress heads that sometimes do need to look at things differently!

Along with: Do you have a rewards card? Do you want to donate/buy raffle tickets in...? Here are your free school vouchers (I have no kids at school anyway).... Do you want......... Just adding... "Oh and can I sell you a pup too?" .....seems a bit minor compared to what the employers make them ask all the customers! :laugh:

I took all the meds I had left when Kaisie passed on and gave them back to the vet to give to people who might be struggling. I'm pretty sure she would have too.

I'm a very slow dog trainer - but Woo does this and she's slowly learning "enough" and "quiet!". She now retreats to the cutest little "woofs" instead. :laugh: We started with food distraction - since she is a huge food fan - and took it from there.

He'd better not pick us!

:rofl: I'd love to see him for a play date ...and I'm sure Woo will too! I doubt Woo will need him calm - she's a ball of energy herself and could use the exercise, I think! :laugh: She might not be calm enough for him! Oh - and I'd like to see you too! :D

You all need Dobes! People would cross the street rather than come up to my Dobe! :laugh: But, yeh, a couple of kids were still happy to rush in where angels fear to tread. Right outside the vet surgery, of all places! I stopped them and instructed them what to do and they eventually toddled off. The vet wanted to know if Kaisie was ok. I said the dog was ok, it was the kids that needed training!

Whish you were up here. We used to be able to get fresh goat's milk - delivered too! - but the dairy closed.

I used to make up my own mix with a juicer. I'd get a selection of fruit and veg (based on the book) juice and re-combine. Cook some pumpkin/sweet potato, mush and add. Then add some offal, egg, fish etc and freeze in portions. This would then be fed along with raw meaty bones. It is a fair bit of work. So lazy bones currently buys the patties and uses them but adds chewy stuff as well.

:laugh: Well said. Poor puppies!

My vet actually stocks and sells raw dog food! Frozen, that is. And I am :laugh: at this. My Dobe used to regularly go bury he bones (of all sorts including chicken) and recover them a week or so later and THEN consume them. Bacteria what? :laugh: She lived well past the average life span of her kind! She had perfect teeth also when she passed on!

What works is what works for your dog. Personally, I would not feed the chicken liver and egg in the one meal. Seems a bit rich to me. But then, some dogs have touchier systems than others. One thing to do is watch what is coming out the other end. Poos should be smallish and firm. If you only add one item at a time, you can tell if it is causing a problem at the other end or not.

When my Poodle started humping me (many moons ago now ) I mentioned it to the vet and he gave her a hormone type injection. Humping stopped pronto.

:laugh:

Rice. Cook up brown rice, mix with mince (any human grade on sale would do the trick. Roo mince is actually not very expensive.) and freeze in meatball size serves - or freeze in ice cube trays. If the mix does not bind, add a beaten egg or two and mix that in to make the mix bind into meatballs.