arby

we've always fed our dogs left overs, fresh meat, fresh bones etc. When we got Humphrey our boxer the breeder is a big believer in the BARF diet. She gave us a booklet on it and we started to add more fresh veg and some supplements (oils etc) into the mix and never looked back. We get great comments from people who see our dogs on how good they look, healthy happy, great coats. If you're on a good thing why change???

I would if I could afford it. Dont trust the pet shop ones you can get sometimes. Fresh human quality is the way to go but sooo expensive. I gave my boy a turkey wing other day he loved that :rolleyes:

when i read the first sentance i couldve sworn you had a boxer or a lab or a mini schnauzer. All 3 of my boys used to snore and sniffle and snort all night. Thank god some grew out of it...our boxer...well i can keep praying hehe

with a long haired BC i would invest in a good blowdryer on a stand rather then a hyrdobath. Makes brushing dead coat out soo much easier If you keep your dogs coat brushed and matt free then you should be fine with just a bucket and sponge wash. Also the other thing only place our work clips the long haired BC's is the underbelly and bum area. Helps keep it cleaner.

Miranda, I'm curious- I would guess that people who feed their pets a vegetarian diet do so because of their own beliefs. You mentioned you're vegetarian, yet you feed your animals meat. Is that because you are vegetarian for health, rather than moral or other reasons? If that's too personal a question just say so warning could be opening a BIG can of worms if certain people on DOL see this!!!

very adorable pup you got yourself You do realise that Lab is another word for FOOD VACUUM CLEANER. They will eat anything and everything. Until it gets older I'd suggest keeping an eye on the pup while you feed chicken necks. We also gave out boys chicken carcasses. Lots of bones and cartilidge (very good growth material) but its too big for the buggers to scuff down in one go so that could be an idea too. OMG i found another good treat the other day. Turkey wings!!! For once our lab X Tazzy didnt scuff it straight down he actually chewed on it.

indeed believe it or not there are vegetarian dogs out there. I wonder what their lifespan would be like??? My dogs cant live without their meat

When we have a dog with an upset tummy, our vet often recommends feeding them a bland diet of rice and chicken for 3 or 4 days. Is this not a good idea then? rice basically is to bulk up the food. It helps pass things throught the digestive system. When a dog is on the mend from an upset stomach (also works for humans!!!) the rice helps to actually expend the stomach without upsetting the whole system. So if your dog hasnt eaten in a few days chances are to stomach is cramped and rice just helps to resolve the problem quicker. Also i find that when mixed with rich foods like liver, roo, it makes the stools alot better and not runny!!! Basically helps to absorb any excess stuff going through the system.

very true indeed for dogs and humans alike. I'm not a big fan of supplementing vit C as too high doses can be responsible for liver damage. Also as with any vitamins the ones readily available in food are better as they are more easily abosorbed then pharmaceutically made ones.

it seems that your pup is already ahead of alot of dogs that i knew!!! patience is the key. Take things slowly. Also if NO doesnt work try the "AH AH" sound instead. I know some dogs that totally ignore the no command but are really good with other sounds.

I know in most cases its not advisable for the extra supplement. we only feed it twice a week or so on advice of both breeder and vet. Humphrey has always been on the BARF diet and at 18months he's actually really skinny yet he's already bigger then the breed standard!!! He's going to be a huge dog

Ahaze in regards to the meaty lamb bones. Alot of people I know have found these to be very rich so given to pups they can cause the whole diarrhea (sp?) and such. So best to introduce slowly and mixed with other good food. I know for sure that they gave our boxer some extremely bad gas!!! I dont think people dismiss carbs its more of the balance between carbs protein and fat in the diet. We personally feed alot of fresh meat (roo, chicken, offal) and around 3 days a week we add carbs such as rice or pasta to the diet along with veggies. other days we add sardines, oils, eggs, yoghurt, calcium powder (he's 18 months but still growing) and of course bones. The result is quite impressive. We got a very healthy and extremely quick growing boxer!!! When we were away and he got fed commercial food only (good quality kibble included) we found that he's overall look and health deterioated a bit. Back on the BARF diet and he gained significant weight, coat was shinny and he didnt smell as bad. So must be doing something right.

the eggs topic has been done and killed so many times. We all should get back on topic here. Ahaze just wondering how big are your pups now???

WHOLE eggs do have the whites.....don't they?....... it's the raw whites that can cousre problems. A then of course there is the chance of salmonella contamination.....especially with goose eggs. the idea is that the egg yolk cancels out the effects of the egg whites. lets get over this egg debate crap. Thats not the topic on this thread.

Out of step with all the research - raw eggs + shells are fine. No need to boil them. Wouldn't mind seeing your reference about boiling them!! Agree As long as you give whole egg (both yolk and white) then you can feed raw. Hell after all you dont see wild dogs take out the camping stove and boil the eggs they find in the wild before they eat them. My boys get 3-4 eggs a week and never had a problem. Our mutt Taz just gets the whole eggs he loves to play with it before he cracks it open himself. Its one of his fav treats. Some days he'll eat the shell other days he wont. He also gets the occasional quail egg from our avairy.

Just a tip on basic dog behaviour. One of their main instincts is to eat. Some breeds have this instinct a bit stronger then others. Anyways what does this mean? Basically the ancestors of modern dogs would go days without food. So when food was available they would stuff themselves, not knowing when the next feed would be. Now in some dogs they will eat as much and as often as you feed them. So its up to you to actually feed good quality food, at certain times of the days. You should feed them at the same time each day (or close to) and not allow food to just lay around all day. If the food isnt eaten in 30 mins or so take it away and not feed the dog (no snacks or treats) til the next meal time. This will result in 2 things. 1. they bowel movements will become better, so you're toilet training them. 2. They will learn that they have to eat when you feed them or just go hungry. This set up allows you to adjust meal portions and helps with controlling weight. If pups are too skinny feed more at night. If they are a bit on the heavy side feed more in the morning then at night. Pups should be getting fed 3 times a day.

so glad I dont have a ciccada problem where we live now. Although we do have the occasional mouse and cockroaches. that keeps my mutt occupied

I cant imagine any dog that overweight. The age of the poor thing would mean weaker joints and stuff but with that much weight I'm surprised the poor thing can still walk. So sad. I bet the old owners thought it was "cute" how chubby the dog was when it was younger and just kept feeding it the same.

Thank god for someone out there that has some common sense out in this world. So glad they seeked advice!!! Poor dog will have sooo many problems that could easily be avoided

We've had the same problem before. Now its slowly going away We ignore our boxer until he is quiet. We tell him to sit as well. He aint coming into the house unless he listens to us. NILIF...nothing in life is free. Thats a training thing you should follow. Its gotten to the point now that we have to look at him a certain way and he will sit down quietly at the door. When we open the door we tell him to wait and most time he wont actually come in until he hears us say "enter". Its takes time. Its all about conditioning. Start of slowly. Make the dog be quiet first. Use treats if it has a good food drive. Dont let the dog in the house until they do something for you like sit or drop or another command. If you want you can also teach them the enter command or somehting similar. Persistance and constancy is the key to all this work

Some great testimonials from those of you who have used it and have "down graded" I agree with alot of pro prong people, the main problem is not having these fitted out properly. Some people have no idea how to measure it out. Others have the problem of having a dog that has an "in between" size. Unfortunately in Australia this problem occurs due to the fact these collars arent redily available. If we had more of them available I'm sure we'd be able to get more appropriate sizes.

For starters you should really talk to a vet. It could be the diet but there are SO many canine viruses rampant this time of the year its best to check that the dogs are OK health wise. I raw meat and veg diet are great. I wouldnt be surprised it the woolies food was off though. As bad as it sounds even from the fridge I've had way too many cases of food being off before its use by date from woolies. I would actually find a good butcher and get meat from there instead. At least you know whats in it then.

K9 Force is the only one I know of that sells them. Also if you check out his website there is the whole section on fitting and using. The whole point of a prong is to stop a dog pulling on walks etc. So its a great collar to use if you have an unruly dog. We use ours for our everyday walks. In time we will wean off it but for now while our boy is learning we use it on all our walks. Fitting it and using it is quite easy, just need some common sense to use it. Its a culture in Australia to think that these are some sort of torture device. Yet in so many other dog loving countries its the number one collar. Yes they have these prongs but the collar is limited in its movement. If the dogs behave then there is no problem. If they pull too much they will get a slight pinch from the chain, pull even more and the prong puts pressure on the sensitive parts of the neck. Smart dogs would go "if I pull it kinda hurts" so they stop pulling. You also need to realise when to correct the dog and how to adjust the pressure on it. No point fully yanking the lead when the dog is pretty much behaving. From my experience I have found it causes less damage and pain to the dogs I've had then the check chain, halti and even the flat collar. In regards to the certain people that continuely get banned due to topics on here. If they had some constructive criticisms etc there would be no problems. But tds just happen to post for the very first time abusing the crap out of everyone that uses these collars. Not only that but they also insulted all show people. They made a comment that showing basically didnt involve training etc. That sort of thing is just not on here. TDS also conviniently started abusing everyone just a week after a whole thread got closed and deleted over this issue. The OP of that thread constantly comes on here with new names, new accounts and always starts the same abuse. To me these collars will always be looked down upon by people who havent seen them in action or havent been educated about the function and proper use of them. Like myszka and myself have said in the past, we've both grown up surrounded by these collars in our home country. No one looks down on these there and most trainers use them. In time the dogs learn how to walk properly and a normal flat collar is used. None of the dogs I've met that used to have one of these used on them has any huge fear or problems due to prongs. Frankly I've seen dogs of the bull breeds, mastiff breeds, rotty's, GSD even tiny little dogs, trained on these. All I can say is that these dogs were so much different to the dogs I see here in Australia. They are very happy well adjusted dogs and theres no problems with pulling. The prong collars arent some miracle solution but used in conjunction with other training techniques and some basic education in how dogs minds work (drives, why they pull iin the first place etc) they are a very useful training tool. I googled prongs and found many interesting sites on the issue. This was one of them it includes a little case study on prongs vs check chains http://www.cobankopegi.com/prong.html

Very well said rom

With the vaccines it depends on which vaccine. Some are all dead viruses others do contain live (almost dead though) ones. Not sure which is which lol