pip1981

Thanks guys

I have only joined this forum recently, and mainly to talk about my Samoyed puppy, Dakota, but I just thought it would be nice to post some thoughts here about my best childhood friend, our family bitsa, named, by me at age 6, Jelly. When I was about 4 my family lived in the country on a small block, and some distant friends gave my parents a puppy for me a puppy as a Christmas present (just getting rid of them I'm guessing). She was a Kelpy X, and had been born on a farm to sheep dogs, and was just slightly mad, lol, we named her Cindy. Apparently she knocked me and my little bro over all the time out in the yard, and she started getting out and hassling sheep in neighbouring farm properties. Mum and Dad decided to re-home her, but before they had, she being pregnant by a neighbouring farm dog, apparently a Blue Heeler/Border Collie X with some GSD thrown in for good measure, lol. She raised her pups in the backyard, and Mum picked one to keep before the rest were given away, along with Cindy Can't blame me, I was a little kid Anyway, as I was only little when the pups came along, they got names like Vegemite and Jam, we kept Jelly. She was a lively pup, but when she was just about 6 m.o, we went away to the beach for a week and left her with neighbours, Mum and Dad say she was never the same after we came back, and at a later date, the woman in the couple that looked after them admitted her husband had punished her physically for barking, at just 6 M.O!!! She was wary of all men, except Dad, for almost the rest of her life after that! Very sad, but she moved with us to the suburbs when I was 7, and she was always a backyard dog. Now that I know more, and I have control of how my pets live, I feel guilty that Jelly didn't get the attention she deserved by being an outside dog. She loved going for walks, and loved all of the kids in the family and the neighbourhood. If she got out of the yard, Mum had to chase her down the street and carry her back, and she wasn't light, lol. Quite a funny sight, and luckily we have it on video somewhere. All of us have admitted since her passing, that on more than one occasion we have all had deep and meaningful conversations to Jelly, pouring our hearts out to her and crying while cuddling her, she gave the best cuddles. She would always sit and shake hands and I'm afraid to say, we actually taught her to jump on us, so that's how she greeted us, lol.I think she hated that she couldn't do it in her later years. I will admit, she hardly visited the vet, mostly because she hated going in the car or inside as she was taught she wasn't allowed, and in her very late and frail years, we didn't think it was fair to stress her out. I'll never forget gardening with her, washing her outside in the summertime, pretending she was an army dog when we dressed up, playing in the sprinkler with her, sunbaking with her as a silly teenager, or taking her for a walk to meet my boyfriend (now fiance) for the first time. She was probably sick with god know's what for a while before she was P.T.S, but she was still happy when we got home and hungry for her dinner at night, so we let her be. I will admit, I think towards the end I waited for probably a week after I knew with my brain it was the right thing to do, before I actually made the call, but I was only 22, and she was the last thing left that we all shared, that connected me to my childhood, as my parents had already divorced by then. Holding her at the end was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life, but Jelly gave me so much in life, I will never forget her, and I wish she was around now to be spoiled rotten like Dakota. I love you Jelly. I'm sure most of you had a 'Jelly' of your own...

Just thought I'd pop back to this thread and say I'm so happy today because Dakota miraculously woke up this morning and decided to eat all the food I served her!! Never done this before without encouragment and never done this at breakfast time, EVER. Do you think it's actually possible she understood me, when I joking said 'If you eat your breakfast you can have your chicken!'? LOL Thanks again for all you reassuring words last night, so much appreciated!

Thanks Rachel, very reassuring response! I'm starting to understand things a little clearer now in terms of size and weight, now it's just deciding whether to change the diet or not, heheh, it's never ending

Indeed Sam Cassie: Thanks for your repsonse, I have heard the soaking first thing too and it sounded like it defeated the purpose, too many rules! Heheheh (oh, ur big babies are also beautiful by the way!)

I'm thinkin' these Sardines are sounding better and better by the minute, as Dakota does love a bit of tuna from the tin! About the dry food, honestly I could be totally wrong, but I remember reading or being told by someone, that in a case where a dog is prone to bloat, if they eat dry food, then drink water, the water is soaked up by the dry food causing it to expand and bloat the tummy. And, it/they said to limit access to water immediately after eating. It might be a crock, or it might be only in extreme cases or something, but whatever it was, it put me off feeding much dry food, probably just me being naive though, I really ought to try something else. I understand your point about the Pedigree, I guess it's like Chocolate, our dogs would probably love it, but we're not about to give it to them, hehehe. I'm just confused as now I've been told we're making the situation worse by changing all the time, now I'm talking about changing again.... Sorry Sam, I could go on all night it seems...lol oh, and everything is helpful Wolfsong, thanks again...

Hmm, thanks for that Wolfsong. I'm checking out the website www.barfaustralia.com.au for anyone else that's curious. I'm just clueless as to what to feed our baby, you get so much varying advice from breeders, vets, trainers and long-time dog owners, and I don't know who to listen to. And furthermore, my family dog (bitsa- Blue Heeler/Border Collie/Kelpie X) was fed on cheap dry food, anyone's leftovers (including cooked bones!!!) and she lived 'til almost 16, I would never feed Dakota like this, but it really does make me wonder sometimes? Just saw your post Sam, thanks! I've been checkin' out your beautiful Akita, Saki, too, just gorgeous! I'm glad I'm not the only one worried about size too, heheh. When we first brought Dakota home, we were given a small food pack, of what she had been eating at the breeder's containing home-made meatballs (chicken mince/egg/seaweed powder/oil mix, etc), some chicken wings, a can of pedigree puppy and some puppy milk. We only kept the puppy milk up for a few months as we were told by the vet the dogs enjoy it, but it's of no nutritional benefit, and we continued with the pedigree and chicken wings and occasional eggs, until we went to puppy school and were given a free sample of premium dry food called Royal Canin, which she seemed to love, so we bought a big bag, then she lost interest. Back to pedigree, then one day she had a stomach upset, vet could not diagnose, but put her on antibiotics and science diet cans that were easy on the tummy apparently, she didn't like the food very much though. At the same visit, vet asked what we fed her, and made us feel really terrible about feeding her pedigree. He said if we MUST feed her supermarket food from the can it should be 'Nature's Gift' or 'Optimum'. He said he would prefer if we fed her on Dr Bruce Syme's "Vet's all Natural" diet, and he did sell it well. You can buy it pre-made (not cost effective at all) or you can buy a dry mix to mix with your own raw mince. Anyway, we tried all three suggestions. Dakota liked the raw meat diet, but still ate no more than anything else, and considering the cost and/or effort involved we went back to cans and dry. I feel that out of the canned varieties from the supermarket, Nature's Gift looks the most like real food, lol, Optimum looks the same as Pedigree, and from memory the nutritional values are better with Nature's Gift too, however Dakota seemed to prefer Pedigree. I'm so LOST. LOL Oh, also about the premium dry foods, I understand the less poo/cleaner thing and that they can actually be cost effective, but for some reason it still seems unnatural to me for a biggish dog to do a 'cat size' poo, lol. And I think I have read somewhere that with our dogs being deep-chested they are prone to bloat which is more common among dogs who eat dry food? Please correct me, as I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. I just wish there was a big sign on our dog's heads saying "I will do best on _________!" Oh, hang on, that would make them ugly, hehehehe. Thanks again everyone, this is fantastic.

Thanks wolfsong, yep, i'm still online, obsessively reading the spitz thread now, hehehehe what other vegies does mistral like (cooked or raw)? I have tried feeding dakota raw carrots as she is always curious when i'm chopping them and when she watched me feed them to my bunny (before he passed on ), but she just seems to enjoy chewing it up into teeny tiny pieces all over the floor, which is fun to clean up... and just out of curiosity, i've noticed a lot of members on here mentioning they feed their dogs a BARF diet, what is this? and is kibble just dry food? i thought this was an american term? i'm learning lots on here, hopefully i'll learn heaps more, sounds like i need to, hehehehe

Wow! Thank-you Badboyz and Wolfsong, both responses much appreciated and very helpful. I just re-measured Dakota at the shoulder (I hope I know where that is?) and it seems she is about 18 inches, so this on the lower end of normal, which is a good thing. Also Badboyz, she doesn't seem to feel too 'ribby' as you put it, just looks like a skunned rabbit in the bath. Maybe I am being paranoid afterall, and Wolfsong thanks for the info regarding the 'filling out' over a few years, I guess as long as she gains weight into the future at a steady rate, and gets up to at least 20kg or thereabouts we needn't worry. You certainly had me chuckling about the chux wipe, hilarious, makes me wonder what else Dakota has eaten while we weren't looking, she loves chewing various insects up and spitting them back out (hence, we don't use fly spray at my house), oh and she's lucky she wasn't electocuted when she chewed through the aircon wires and housing, yes, OMG! As for her toilet habits go, completely normal, mostly twice a day, never too loose, and this has always been the case, so I guess that's good. Anyway, you have both really put my mind at ease, we'll just keep an eye on her. Oh, over the last 2 weeks she's had nothing but supermarket bought Pedigree Puppy cans (we know it doesn't have a great reputation, but our breeder said it was the best supermarket brand when we got her, and Dakota seems to like it equally as much as anything else we've tried), and Purina Puppy Dry food, supplemented by weekly lamb shanks, 2 chicken wings approx. every 3 days, an egg maybe once a week, and some liver treats. Prior to this we alternated between the Pedigree, Nature's Gift and Optimum, and Supercoat Dry food (which I think she prefers to Purina), plus the same supplements. Prior to this even, we have tried 'Vet's All Natural' and buying our own roo mince to mix with vegies and rice, she enjoyed the meat of course, but ignored the other stuff. She responds to the sentence 'are you hungry' if she is, hehe, so we ask her when we get up in the morning if she's responsive I serve up half a tin (i think 350g) of Pedigree, but she never finishes it in the morning. If she's ignoring me, I usually put a cup of dry food in her bowl and she has a nibble, leaves the rest. In the evening she is always keen for dinner, and I serve up the other half a tin, she is just beginning to get the stage, where, when encouraged she will finish what is served. She always has room for chicken wings In between all this we do experiment with small amounts of vegies we are eating, and fish, which she likes, so I will take the sardine suggestion on board, even though I'm not looking forward to touching them, eewww. I have read Samoyeds love fruit, but have never been able to get her interested, she licks, chews a bit, then leaves it.. Anyway, I'm blabbing on, sorry, and thanks again for the replies! Wolfsong: Mistral is absolutely beautiful!

Hi, I'm new to the DOL forums, I have introduced myself and my beautiful female Samoyed, Dakota, in the newbie section, but am trying to post some questions/requests I have in the appropriate places. I am wondering if anyone out there can tell me what a good weight would be for a female Sam, only just turned 1 on Oct. 22nd. We read that a full-grown female should weigh 25kg, but I'm sure this must vary, and we don't know when she will be considered full-grown either. The Samoyed websites are a great help, but obviously not for every life stage, so I'd love some advice from an experienced Samoyed owner. We are worried Dakota is underweight and slightly small even though she shows no signs of illness or fatigue. She eats twice a day (nothing too fancy I'm afraid), but never finishes what I give her, even though it is less than what is recommended. She isn't very food orientated at all, never has been in general, but like any normal dog, loves a treat and raw meat on the bone, which she gets at least twice a week in the form of chicken wings or lamb shanks, and/or raw eggs. We have been given so much advice from experienced dog owners in general, but everyone says we are worrying over nothing. They say she knows how much food she needs and will eat when she's hungry. They have also suggested that me swapping food types all the time in an effort to find something she thrives on, may have actually made it worse, as in 'she thinks she can wait and see what's on offer next'? I've tried Pet shop premium brands, mid-high priced supermarket brands, kangaroo mince on its own, or mixed with Dr Bruce Symes vegie meal stuff, and even the pre-packed ready to eat mix. We have also considered the possibility that she may just be a small girl, as she was bred from a small male and a large female, maybe she's taking after dad, making her a small female??? The only other thing I wish to add is that she only recently coughed up an ugly hairball thing while we weren't home, that appeared to contain the remnants of part of a rubber toy that disappeared months ago, the amount of rubber that came back out seemed to match what had been missing, but I still have the slightest concern that this may be connected with our problem (even though she wasn't a good eater beforehand, and still isn't after coughing it up). Ok, I'm scared this is going to sound bad, please don't judge me as she is well looked after, and obviously our next course of action is to visit the vet for an opinion. At the moment she weighs roughly only 16kg under all that fur, oh and she's almost finished shedding. I did read another website that stated 18-25 kg for female Samoyed, and I figured if she is only 1 and maybe will reach full-grown by 18 months, maybe 16kg is ok, but she looks sooooo skinny when she is wet and her waist, neck and lower legs are so thin, and obviously we don't know what 'normal' looks like... Please help, we are both worried we have done something wrong...thanks in advance..