Snoopy21

Most revues I have looked at stipulate that dogs must be inside or sleep inside.

I can’t see the photo anymore but I had a bullarab type. I used to tell people she was a Greater Southern Snorehound. Perfect!

Cutie! I have a mastiff and she ate HEAPS when she was growing. At 14 weeks she already weighed 20kgs. I was feeding her 9 cups of dry food there for a while when she was doing her most rapid growing. She is lean and sound now at 17 months and still growing slowly. Giant breed info - the calcium/phosphorus ratio of the food you are feeding is important. You want it to be as close to 1:1 as you can. Too much calcium causes rapid bone growth leading to joint issues later. Too much exercise is also a problem. No long walks, hard play, stairs, or jumping. Be very careful of slippery floors too. Bloat is a risk, so plan to feed a couple of times a day always. Socialise a lot. Training and socialisation are better than exercise at this stage for your pup. We wouldn’t walk 5 kms now, let alone when she was much younger. I love that you’re asking questions now - I hope he grows beautifully for you.

He does everything that is asked of him.....he just does it at his own pace.

I’m crossing everything.

I’m sorry Agota, but a lot of what you have said here is not science and is not even true. Warburg discovered only that cancer cells show glucose respiration even when there is enough oxygen present for true respiration. It is a hypothesis formed in 1924 and while much study has been done on it in the last few years, then reasons why have not really been decided on.

I have to recommend the mastiff. I have one who is now 16 months and I have found my breed I think. She is not what you are describing though - not many giant breeds are. They do not live long lives, so if that is your priority get a mini dachshund or an ACD. They are lower energy and love to snooze on the couch, but only once they have passed puppyhood. Briar does everything slowly, but she loves running at the park or beach and playing just like any other puppy. She does not always stop in time, so you need to watch out! There is nothing.....and I mean nothing.....like a Mastiff hug. It is a full body exercise, and there is just so much floppy, velvety skin to bury yourself in. She leans in and rests her huge head on your chest or shoulder and it is heaven. She loves nothing more than being with us and that is her whole family, canine, human and extended. Although she is docile, she is wary of strangers and doesn’t often let them pat her. She farts, sheds, drools and leaves huge poops around the yard. She barks so loudly that it hurts your ears. She takes up the whole bed, couch, hallway, car or whatever. At the moment I have a broken fingertip (grabbed her collar at the park), a bruised arm (something surprised her when I had the leash looped over my arm) and a massive scratch that extends from the top of my left breast right down to my hip (she got excited and jumped up while I was getting her breakfast). She is expensive.....very expensive. But she is worth all of it. We just adore her.

No advice - just saying I have my fingers crossed for Sniper that it isn’t as bad as you fear and that something g can be done to make him more comfortable.

Oh, it’s not so much the weight of the pup as the size of the crate that makes a difference to the cost.

I imported a Mastiff pup at the end of last year. It cost me about $1500 for the transport and import costs. I used a transport company in NZ that were excellent and then met her in Melbourne myself for the domestic part of the trip (I’m in Tassie so we flew her a second time). You have to use a transport company certified by NZ Air to get them here, and then there are some documentation requirements at either end.

Yes - most other dogs do not like to have an enthusiastic pup getting in their face and licking. They will tell him off for that. If he doesn't heed their warning, they may very well bite.

Yes....a runway! I'm in Hobart, otherwise I would love your used carpet!

Persephone - Briar is a mastiff and my last girl was a Dane cross, so it's the big dog nails that get caught. Riff Raff the staffy cross has never busted a nail in it. Maybe what I actually need to do is train the dogs not to run on the deck? I wonder if I could do that?

Marine carpet sounds like the go. We are having some renovations done anyway later this year, and he deck will be impacted. I'll see if we can lift the boards and replace them closer. Marine carpeting should be good in the meantime maybe. Do I buy it from Bunnings or somewhere like that?

Carpet would be good. Shade cloth would be ok...maybe slippery? I'm pretty sure it's the gap between the boards. My smaller dog has never damaged a toe on the deck - his nails slip in and out between the boards easily. The bigger dogs just seem to wedge in there. I can't believe I'm the only person who has had this problem!

No, I have meticulously kept her nails short as she is still growing and I want her feet to maintain their shape. The same happened to my last dog, she split several nails, running across the deck. This episode has cost me $1600 so far and she needs to go back to the vet tomorrow. I'm not sure she hasn't done some permanent damage to be honest.

So Briar has broken a toe running across the deck. Her nail went between the boards and stuck, which led to the broken toe. I want to prevent it happening again - do I need to stop her accessing the deck at all or could I put 'walkways' of something over the deck boards to make it safer? Any suggestions?

Is it round like a 20c piece?

So 10 days later and all of her puppy teeth have fallen out and her gums are looking great. I ended up pulling the last one yesterday. It was hanging on by a thread, so I just gave it a little tug and it popped right out. I'm thinking her new canines will shift outwards a little as they finish erupting and as her jaw continues growing. Thanks everyone for your reassurance.

Photo added - not at all about teeth, but look at my puppy!

So Briar (mastiff pup) is now 5 months old and has almost all her adult teeth. The last ones left are her canines. Her new teeth are coming through on the inside of her puppy teeth, but her puppy teeth aren't even loose. One has snapped off at gum level but I can see roots still left in there. Do I need to do anything about it or will they fall out as the adult teeth come down? I don't want retained puppy teeth to damage her adult teeth.

When Raff can't find a hide, I generally show him where it is so he can have his success. If I know where it is anyway.

We recently imported our girl from NZ. I rang the broker to get a quote and he told me I didn't need him. I didn't. It was quite simple. I didn't pay import tax. If she were for breeding I would have had to. Apparently, Melbourne airport has streamlined its processes because it has become the new animal handling centre and all imports come through there. You have to use an animal transport company, but basically the only thing they did was arrange the flight and make sure the crate was ok (my breeder supplied one anyway). Freight handling and quarantine took so long! I was waiting for about 3 hours after her flight landed.

This is Briar. She's a 10 week old Mastiff pup and Riff Raff's new little sister.

It all went well and Riff Raff is actually quite smitten by his baby sister. He got extremely over excited at first (he does this sometimes) - dilated pupils, excessive drooling, dashing back and forth and jabbing her with his nose. But wth some gentle praise and guidance from us, he soon got the idea, calmed down and gently sniffed instead. 24 hours later saw them sharing a bed for an afternoon nap. Both are inviting each other to play, and seem happy in each other's company.