tdierikx

The latest one GSD/Lab? T.

Another vote for Rotti/GSP... something about the poses screams GSP to me... Absolutely stunning combination whatever it is... gorgeous! T.

Can you buy a cheap harness from Pet Barn or the like? Then you can secure the pup on a blanket on the back seat... ... or you could try to borrow a travel crate from someone... T.

I'm NOT a vet nurse (or a vet), and I still have plenty of people asking me for advice on all manner of doggy stuff... *grin* Fair enough - I foster a lot for rescue, so have built up a reasonable range of experience in many doggy matters - but I'm very quick to refer to professionals if the issue is not purely a common sense one. I don't charge anything to talk to anyone about dogs... it's my fave topic actually... haha! T.

My current old girl (Rotti/Pittie) is 12 next month - not annually vaccinated for about 5 years now - and no-one believes she is 12... she is very fit and healthy. The last dog I had that had annual vaccinations was a Rotti girl who passed at 11 years of age from complications due to arthritis - still, a good age for a pure Rotti... T.

A well bred Stafford might fit the bill - smallish dog with a happy and friendly temperament, doesn't shed lots, and would love a GR to play with... *grin* Do your research into good breeders - there are a few here on DOL - and you will find a great little dog to add to your family... T.

Mine has lapsed now as I have moved into rescue - but it was Dixiefoord - which was the name of a very dear friend of mine at the time. He was right chuffed... *grin* T.

I'd be doing a chest and abdomen xray every 6 months as a precaution anyways. I'd rather know that something was brewing before the dog starts showing symptoms of end stage internal cancer like shortness of breath, etc... Will your boy lie still for an xray? My boy that had to have regular xrays for similar reasons used to just lie there for them, so he didn't need to have an anaesthetic to get it done. Made it a whole lot cheaper when there was no anaesthetic cost for a 47kg dog... *grin* T.

Has your vet done chest and abdomen xrays? I'd be asking for those to be done as a precautionary measure after any malignant cancer removal - just to make sure that there are no secondary (or worse, primary) tumours happening inside that need to be treated... Better safe than sorry in my book - and I'd not be waiting for my dog to be displaying obvious symptoms of internal cancer - like shortness of breath, etc - if I could have known about an issue very early in the piece... T.

The only toys my Lab hasn't managed to destroy in seconds are her Cuz balls and her Chuckit rubber tennis balls - well worth investing in a few so you can rotate them... *grin* Luckily for me, Trouble can kill the obnoxious squeakers in the Cuz balls within a day or two - but she still loves to chew on them for ages. Empty toilet rolls and empty paper towel rolls are a big fave also - and they can digest them... lol! Another vote for empty soft drink bottles - just remove the lids and the plastic ring thing from the neck before giving them to the dog... T.

Don't be too worried about keeping your boy quiet after his surgery... invest in a decent crate, and he will be just fine in it - they do really adapt to change pretty well. As for the always looking for food and acting like they are starving - well.. they ARE Labs! Mine does the same thing, but we all know she gets enough food... Don't worry too much about the actual weight in kgs on your dogs - judge by their overall shape and condition. The first pic of my girl is what we should be aiming for - the nice tuck of the undercarriage and the general decent muscle coverage over the ribs without looking starved - your dogs and your vet will love you for it, and you will have less chance of joint issues later in life. My girl is a shortish Lab, and possibly has some Dingo in her background (was a BYB from Moree). My brother's pure Lab is a taller and larger boned style of dog, and he weighs in at around 35kgs lean - he has a chunkier build than my girl, but he also has the nice tucked undercarriage and basic shape of my girl in the first picture. T.

I keep my Lab girl lean because she is a nutjob for zoomies... Here's a pic of her at her perfect weight of 28kgs... She's currently around 31kgs, and looks more like this at the moment... T.

My Zeddy (Rottie/Pittie cross) will come to Mummy (me) if she needs comforting for any reason... apparently I can make anything better... *sigh* Trouble (Lab cross) couldn't care less... Pickles (Camp Dog) has limited feeling in her legs, and sometimes I think her brain doesn't turn on in the mornings - so she is pretty blase about injuries... but I keep checking her feet regularly in case she does any injuries she can't feel... T.

I love the sound of your dogs... or lack of sound... *grin* Don't let their quietness belie the fact that they would probably quite happily defend you with whatever force is necessary if there ever was a need for it... As for which sex might be the "better" guard/alert dog... it depends on how you train them... however, I have found that my females are more into that "training" than my males. P.S. Do you want my Zeddy? She puts on the most terrifying display when strangers come to the door... but she is really the biggest cuddle tart you'll ever find... *hehe* T.

If Harold and Alaska have found their perfect homes, then there is definitely going to be one for Lani eventually... she really is a sweet and playful young girl under that slightly wary exterior... oh - and remember how she reacted to me when I brought out the treats? She was quite happy for me to play with her once I'd given her treats and a gentle word... T.

Way to go Alaska!!! Well worth waiting to find your perfect forever home! Great job Rach!! T.

Another vote for 2 wire crates... you could put them side-by-side if your dogs like to feel that they have company. I have a dog here that actually managed to destroy a wire crate and get out... so they aren't completely indestructible if the dog is truly committed to getting out... errr! (she sleeps on the bed now... grrr!) T.

You could try PM'ing Ruthless, she makes awesome custom collars... T.

Some of my fosters playing... James and his 3 little girlfriends Petal, Flower, and Blossom James was the most gentle boy - he didn't have a nasty bone in his body. In that photo he weighs in at 35kgs and his girlfriends were 2.5 kgs... T.

By "breeders" they mean "commercial breeders" - basically places that produce lots of designer cross puppies for an ever demanding public... call them what you will... *sigh* T.

It's not so bad if the waste isn't sloppy and stinky... *grin* T.

When my Lab girl had 9 pups we fed her lots of chicken wings and puppy milk formula (Biolac or Di-Vetelact can be bought in big tins from pet supply places like Petbarn). Keep an eye on the smaller or weaker pups and try to make sure they get as much mum's milk as possible - if you can convince the larger and stronger ones to have some formula once or twice a day, that will make them less pushy with the littler ones and will take some of the pressure off mum dog's milk supply. Also feel up mum dog's teats daily to make sure she doesn't develop any hard or hot spots, those can be signs of mastitis, and you definitely don't want that... hand feeding 11 pups is no walk in the park... A vet check of mum and pups in the next few days will also put your mind at rest as far as everyone's health is concerned. Congratulations on your new arrivals... and don't be shy to yell if you need any help, OK? T.

Sounds quite normal to me... ... but I'm a crazy dog lady... *grin* T.

My Lab is crated during the day while I'm at work, and the other 2 dogs are loose in the kitchen. The Rottie X girl is segregated in a spare room at night and the Lab is loose with the other dog. The Rottie X will happily go in a crate, but she is fine in the spare room also. Both older dogs had never been crated until they were 5 and 11 respectively. Pickles the foster failure does NOT do crates - she has actually destroyed one by chewing the steel bars enough to get herself half out of it! All of my fosters are crate trained. T.

My girls don't fancy other adult dogs as fosters, but are fine with pups up to about 12 months old... so that's what I tend to foster... *grin* T.