cazzaritch

Do you get ticks in Lithgow? OH and I are taking the dogs camping to Turon Gates and wonder if we need to treat for ticks before we go?

Thanks

I am the owner of 2 lab puppies, both boys from the same litter. The experiences I have had with them would make me NEVER EVER get 2 puppies from the same litter again. Please don't get me wrong, I LOVE my dogs more than life itself and do plan on adding a third dog in a year or so, but it has been very hard work.

I made so many many mistakes with them, like not seperating them enough when they were small, and so they are very attached and focused on one another rather than me and my partner. OH and I take them to obedience class nearly every Sunday morning and training despite going quite well, could be better. We did manage to get in to seperate classes for a while, which helped, but as we have risen through the ranks, we are now in class 3, there are less members and so we are back together, trying to keep them focussed on us and not each other. This resulted in an accident about 4 weeks ago where Lou, trying to get to Andy went the wrong way in a turn, and I fell over him and damaged my knee.

I also thought that 2 would keep each other company and so less chewing and digging. It did work with regards to barking and howling, they aren't lonely and so dont get upset when we leave them home while at work, but the lead each other in to mischief. We have lost most of our garden furniture to chewing, and the garden looks like the moon with huge craters in it. They are very good at weeding the borders though, but we have no plants at all!! Luckily, OH and I aren't really in to flowers, as long as the dogs have a secure yard. They are also very good at getting the washing in, something, I still haven't managed to stop them doing. I have lost thousands of dollars of clothes to chewing and ripping off the line.

I have 2 children, both boys, 14 and 16. The dogs are not my children's, never have been and never will be. They are not even allowed to walk them alone as the dogs are sooo strong and 30kgs each. They do help to look after L&A, feeding, poo picking etc, and they love them very much, but the dogs are mine and my husband's. We have ultimate responsibility for their care.

If you do decided to take on 2 puppies at once, I really recommend that you seperate them alot from day one. I am not a professional, this is all just from personal experience of a very boisterous breed. Walk them seperately as soon as they have had their vacs. The other thing that was an absolute godsend was the Triangle of Temptation that you can find in the training section. This was very hard work as we had to shut one dog in a room while taking the other dog outside to feed and train. The dog inside the house went bloody nuts, but it was so worth it, they never steal each others food and don't eat anything until they are given permission.

I also recommend going to a good puppy school, and making sure each dog has its own handler. I could not have handled both puppies at once. I am very lucky, my husband is as dedicated to raising these puppies as I am. Also, find a good obedience club to attend, once pupy school is over and again, each puppy to have its own handler. Training every day a little something is an absolute must. Labradors are so intelligent and need as much mental stimulation as physical, probably even more than physical when very young. They also need a dominant role model so that they know their place in your house, or they will soon take over and rule the roost.

Like I said, I love my dogs and luckily for me, I have a very supportive husband who helps out in every way and things are paying off, L&A are getting quite well behaved, and have had compliments about it from random strangers. But its not an easy ride. Good luck with which ever decision you take, and please come and see all of the lab owners in the lab form.

Labradors are so loving and will re-pay your love thousand fold, but please remember that there are thousand of them in pounds where families really didn't realise what they were taking on. Thank goodness you are doing the right things and asking questions about the right way to go. Once again, good luck.

Apologies for the long thread.

When I give my 2 a pig's ear, they put it on the floor and jump on it with their front feet, growl and bark at it, and some times roll in it.

Its the funniest thing to watch and I wonder if it has something to do with wolf like instincts of having to kill their food?????

Thanks guys for all of your help.

They will both be 1 on 5th April.

What I think I will do is make a new mix with just beef mix and alternate it back in to their diet. So chicken 1 day and beef the next, or is this too quick?

I will decrease the amount of cottage cheese and yoghurt in it and keep the fish out and just give them a couple of tins each (will that be enough) once a week. Will also go and get a better mix of bones.

Starting to get very cross with myself - damn it, I hope i can put this right.

sardines are in vegetable oil, I don't think its in soy. I give them the homebrand ones from Woollies.

So what exactly do you feed your guys, and yes, I will change things slowly.

I thought popping the fish in the mix was good as they would get the balance over time? I am getting a little bit confused now. Also, if I take it out of the mix and feed as a whole meal, how many sardines would I give a 32kg labrador?

Thinking back, the dogs have had chicken mince only in their last 2 batches, this could be why they have started to slow due to lack of red meat over the last 6 weeks.

Broccoli and cabbage are both cruciferous veggies and can impact on thyroid function if fed often and in enough quantity.

I'd drop them both and substitute some other greenery for a while. Maybe zucchini? See if that makes a difference.

Drop the tomatoes too. They are members of the nightshade family and not wonderful for dogs. A wider variety of fruit and veggie may assist. I feed everything from capsicum, to beetroot (not the stalks/leaves), strawberries and pineapple. I work on what's on special and what's getting sad in the fridge.

If you really wanted to eliminate any issues, you can have some bloodwork done.

Thanks for the advice poodlefan - i will defintely give this a go. Do you think i should feed less mix meals and more other things?

What fruit and veggies do you feed?

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, apples, pears, tomatoes.

In the monthly mix goes approx the following quantities...

10kg mince

10kg fruit/veggies as above

2kg cottage cheese

2kg yoghurt

12 cans sardines

dozen eggs including shells

2kg liver

Running around like mad things for 20-25 minutes, particularly at this time of year when it is warm, does not sound too bad to me.

That said, I agree that you may want to feed more red meats such as beef and lamb. Don't feed lean red meats but those with some fat content as well. Lamb flaps are good. Also beef brisket bones.

Will that also help with the calc/phos levels?

Is there anything else I can do?

I don't really want to go back to totally dry, but would a few meals of the advance puppy growth large breed help? We always keep some in for emergencies, like forgetting to take the mix out of the freezer.

No red meat could be one thing. Chicken alone isn't a great idea. Not enough protein, as frames are mostly bone and mince is just mince - so calc/phos levels could be off too.

It doesn't sound particularly balanced to me.

How much liver is in the mix?

Most people recommend that liver, egg, cheese and sardines aren't given every day.

We make a huge batch of mix that lasts about a month and in that will be about 2kgs of chicken/beef liver

My suggestions:

Feed the mix less often. Once every couple of days would be enough.

Mix up your meats more - use beef mince, lamb and beef bones and vary your offal too.

Up the fat content generally - that's the energy food.

How fit are your dogs? How lean are they?

Thanks for your reply

We do sometimes add beef mince in to the mix - sorry, meant to say that. They also get a bit bolla bone about once a week as a treat instead of one of their meals.

So, what would I feed instead of the mix, more chicken frames/other bones?

They are not lean, but not fat either. Lou could do with losing about 1.5 kgs, but I think andy is ok, can see his back rib just.

They get taken to the off lead park every day for at least 30-45 minutes, but sometimes give up after about 20-25 minutes. During this time, they run around like mad things after all of the other dogs there. Andy always crashes out before Lou does.

I would be concerend a little about upping the fat content in case they put on weight and what would i add to increase it?

Hi guys,

As the title states, I feed my guys on Barf. They get a chicken frame for breakfast and then barf mix for tea. In the barf mix are the following ingredients.....

Chicken mince

fruit and veggies

cottage cheese

natural yoghurt

sardines

liver

eggs

omega plus oil and vets all natural supplement

They seem to run out of steam a bit quicker than I would like and wonder if there is anything I can change or add to their diet to help with their energy levels?

Thanks

Have you checked quotes from other sellers like D&D and Quality camera Sales (and the warranties)just to see if the price is good bad or indifferent (I'd also ask a few questions about what on earth a third party warranty is and check it with Canon Aust just to be on the safe side)? But then I get worried on the rare occasion paying over $100 for stuff on ebay.

And remember if you buy a 5D you'll need to buy a flash too at some stage as it doesn't have one inbuilt like all the other models.

The package i am looking at includes a flash also and i do have an old one that i used to use on my fuji

Is it ok for me to post the link to the item on here? Its a copany in America that i am thiking of getting it from.

Will check out the warranty thing too - thanks

ETA as this is a brand new camera, won't it be covered by worldwide warranty with Canon???

There is another package that includes these 2 lenses, would it be a better option?

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens

Canon Telephoto EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens

I just ordered the grainless one and it should arrive on Monday. I will keep you updated :p

Which one was it eactly that you ordered, can't find it - having a blonde moment!!

:D

I ordered the Fresh Mix Maximal Dog

http://k9katzkitchen.com.au/store/index.ph...p;productId=218

Thanks Laffi. My 2 eat a mainly barf diet, but we alwasy keep a bag of dry in for emergencies and to fill up their buster cube etc. Do you yhink this food will complement their barf diet better than the Advance that we currently buy?

I just ordered the grainless one and it should arrive on Monday. I will keep you updated :p

Which one was it eactly that you ordered, can't find it - having a blonde moment!!

:D

Are you saying Delta charlie that the tamron lens dont have auto focus or that the d40 Nikons dont 'talk' to the lens to autofocus?

The nikon d40 has been designed differently to every other camera in the world lol. Basically to make it much lighter they have taken the autofocus out of the camera. There are some lenses which have been designed with the autofocus in the lens (af-s lenses); these are the ones that need to be used with the d40 if you want af.

My camera will still work with any other nikon lens, I just have to manually focus them.

If you have any other camera then you will be fine with the AF tamron lenses.

Thanks again for that. The camera I am considering is a Canon EOS 5D, so I think I will be ok.

Thanks DeltaCharlie. I think I wil have to find out about auto focus as thats what i will need to use at first.

I am considering buying a camera package from Ebay and the kit contains the follwoing lenses,

Tamron 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Autofocus Lens

Tamron 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 LD Macro Lens

Has any one used any Tamron lenses, if so, what do you think of them?

This will be my first digital SLR and so I am a total beginner, will these lenses be easy to use?

Thanks

Thanks so much - figured it out now!!!!!

It looks so good, can't thank you enough

sorry just couldn't resist writing this

Oh Freckles, that is so good, thank you so much

ok, so now how do i add it to my signature?

I would love to have one too please. There are loads of pictures of my boys in these threads...

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=97503&hl

and more recent ones in here

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...c=108730&hl

Thank you so much

Adorable. Aren't the cuz balls great!!!!!

I feed home made barf mix, chicken frames and some advance large growth puppy. \bits of cheese for treats and the odd pigs ear.