Red Fox

Puppy preschool is by no means a necessity It's more important to get your pup out and about, introduce him to new things, teach him about the world, get him used to loud noises, people, cars, dogs, cats, rabbits, whatever. There is a lot more to socialisation then dumping your pup down for a play with other puppies for half an hour a week while a vet nurse prattles on about worming and desexing and why you should buy food from their surgery.. Work out what you'd want from a puppy school and then do it yourself.

Ah okay, well then there may be a little bit of Ridgie in there then My guess is that mum was indeed a staffy cross and dad was likely one too

Plenty of dogs spend all day home alone while their owners work and are fine. Provided the dogs needs are being met (physical excercise, mental stimulation/training, time with the family, socialisation, etc) it's really not an issue. You'll also find that plenty of owners will crate/contain their puppy whenever they cannot directly supervise - this is not a bad thing at all. BUT, my concerns would be *How long is the puppy spending in the laundry each day? *Who is feeding the puppy during the day? At his age he shoud be eating 3 meals per day. *Toilet training. A little pup can't hold on for that long! Who is taking him out during the day? *Does the puppy have anything to do in the laundry? ie toys, Kongs, treat balls? If pup is spending 90% of his time locked in the laundry with nothing to do he will find ways to entertain himself that you probably wont appreciate..

I see SBT but not Ridgeback. Did you see either of the parents? If not then there's a good chance that they were both cross breeds in which case he could have anything in there... How big is he? That might help to give you a clue too. Kei (Ridgeback) was around 15kg at that age

I don't think they are that great. Okay for cleaning up a small mess here and there (though a warm flannel or a baby wipe is just as good), but if you are wanting to clean and freshen up a whole dog you'd be better off with a dry shampoo or deoderising spray IMO.

Plenty of people talk about first time owners getting more than what they bargained for with certain breeds and not coping. BUT - I wonder how many people got the opposite? My dog can be challenging in certain areas (obedience training for one), but on the whole I have found him a very, very easy dog to live with. I prepared myself for a hyper, destructo dog who would need plenty of excercise and metal stimulation, a lot of management and some very strong leadership. And (while of course he does need the leadership and ground rules) he has turned out to be rather the opposite. I have to admit that I feel kind of ripped off in a way.. that my dog is so layed back where I am more go go go.. Perhaps I over prepared? Or chose the wrong breed? But on some level it is disappointing. As much as I love my dog I know that the next puppy I choose will be the complete opposite of him in many ways. I think that as a first time dog owner it is very difficult to know exactly what type of dog will suit you and what you will come to enjoy later down the track. For instance you hear so many new dog owners say something along the lines of they would like a dog who is good with kids, happy to excercise it for x hours per day, happy to spend x amount of time grooming it and wants to do some basic obedience training. 2 years later that owner may have discovered that they don't really like obedience and would have prefered a competative agility dog, or that they particularly enjoy grooming and wish they had bought a long coated breed. Sometimes you really don't know what you want until after you try :D

Erny, Kickatinalong sell on eBay too eta, here, I think this is them http://stores.ebay.com.au/Aussie-Paw-Prints

If your dog is currently on a raw diet what about having your friend feed him K9 Natural? It basically rehydratable raw http://www.naturalpaws.com.au/food-treats-...roduct-425.html Any reason why your friend can't continue to feed what you are feeding though? Or at least close to it?

LOL ... what?! A big tough Ridgy Didge ? Yep - I can imagine it. Hehe, I wish I had it on video. He absolutely refused to be in the same room as them, let alone wear them! Nah, I think all the Ridgie owners should have it ;)

Yep, the sweaters have a clip on the back which is adjustable via a webbing strip. There's quite a good range of adjustability in them around the chest(6"-8"). Kei wears the Large 24" size in the sweaters and a 27" in the Great White North and both fit him really well -better than any other coat I've found. (fitting guide here: http://www.chillydogs.ca/fittingRoom.html) We tried the PJ's last year but poor Kei was terrified of them He does like his Chilly Dog coats though and sleeps in them comfortably.

Let him out to toilet, just not in an area where a lot of other dogs might frequent. ie, don't take him to a dog park. It's unlikely that your puppy will catch a disease just by you putting him down for a toilet break

Kickatinalong make PJ's in that style http://www.kickatinalong.com.au/ I have the Chillydog sweaters and a Great White North coat for Kei. They don't have the legs in them but I find they fit extremely well, are easy to get on and off, comfortable and warm http://www.twosmallpuppies.com.au/index.ph...products_id=174

Ridgebacks are not often recommended for first time owners, though I think as long as you do your research (and are prepared for a steep learning curve regardless ) then breed is irrelevant. Any breed that sits on the extreme end of the scale- extremely large breeds, extremely independant breeds, high drive/working line breeds, breeds that require extensive grooming, etc are going to need some extra consideration. yep, some of us are suckers for a challenge.

Do you think this type of aggression is not serious enough to stop a dog from being allowed offlead with children around? Is it that hard to say to a child - "STOP, dont pat my dog"? There is no reason for a child to be in petting distance anyway My dog would go off his nut if a strange child tried to touch him. Would he bite them? Perhaps if he was pushed.. I really don't know. Would I allow a child to get close enough to find out? No way. You can say what you like to people, but in a public space, you cannot control what others will do. If you get into a situation where children don't listen, or you are caught by surprise, you would be fully responsible if your dog bit. Knowing how your dog reacts, he is a good candidate to be muzzled. Yes, I would be fully responsible if my dog bit someone. And for that reason I do not allow my dog offleash in public areas. Nor do I allow strange people or children to approach my dog - EVER. No I can't control other peoples children and what they do, but what I CAN do is to keep my dog on leash and if a child appoaches they are told to STOP, DO NOT COME NEAR THE DOG. If they continue to approach I step between my dog and the child/person and tell them again. Yes, I have had young children run towards my dog/surprise my dog. I've also had idiot adults bark at him on a few occasions. There are options here though: redirect the dogs attention elsewhere, use your body to block the dog, turn and leave the situation... (or in the case of idiot adults tell them exactly what I think of them). Personally I would not term my dog as HA at all and if he was he would certianly be muzzled in public. He just does not take kindly to people being in his personal space and so we do not allow it to happen. I don't know if he would bite (I am doubtful of it unless he was seriously threatened), but I'm not about to play the "see what happens" game and find out with someone elses child. Anyhow, this is not about my dog as I do not allow him to be off leash anyway..

Do you think this type of aggression is not serious enough to stop a dog from being allowed offlead with children around? Is it that hard to say to a child - "STOP, dont pat my dog"? There is no reason for a child to be in petting distance anyway My dog would go off his nut if a strange child tried to touch him. Would he bite them? Perhaps if he was pushed.. I really don't know. Would I allow a child to get close enough to find out? No way.

The first is a no brainer - No. You can't control the actions of other peoples badly behaved dogs, you can't simply say to the approaching off leash dog "STOP my dog is aggressive". Besides that it would be a very uncomfortable place for the dog to be. Actually I doubt I'd take ANY dog to an off leash dog park, DA or not. The second is open to interpretation though. What do you define as HA? A dog that will go mental at anyone within a 50m radius? A dog that will bark/rush at people? A dog that will bite anyone who touches it? Or simply a dog that is uncomfortable with people in its personal space and will bite if put under pressure? Or a dog who is tollerant until backed into a corner and will bite in defense?... pretty wide range there. Then to the park; Is it a childrens birthday party full of screaming, running toddlers? Or is it a public area with a few families here and there? Is it large or small? Large area, few people around, vigilant owner and a well controlled off leash dog in an off leash area? Whats the problem there?

Kovu

I found Kei's breeder on the recommendation of another (who we originally found through the RRCSA) after a failed mating. Kei's litter was never advertised and we were very lucky to get him

I wouldn't worry about rooms and instead crate train the puppy and pop the crate next to the older dogs bed. Where does the older dog normally sleep? Dont know about this one. Personally I think that it's better to feed dogs seperate regardless of whether they are polite or not. You could try feeding the pup inside her pen while the older dog eats on the other side.. Raw food? Do a search here, also google BARF, raw feeding, prey model diet, etc. If you dont over feed and under excercise your dog she wont get fat Seperating the dogs while she is a baby is a good idea There are lots of different ways to do it. If you are really interested the Ian Billinghurst books are a good place to start. I feed raw eggs, sometimes with shell (blend it all up in one of those rocket wizz things) and occasionally cooked scrambled eggs when it's cold. Any plain natural yogurt is fine. Jalna biodynamic organic is a nice one though. The pen will be safer inside and better protected Whatever you dog does well on. Go on the recommendation of te breeder to start with. Dry food brands? Any of the premium brands - Royal Canin, Eagle pack (holistics select now?), Nutrience, Artemis, Nutro, etc. are all fine.

Here dogs are held for 72 hours. If no-one collects them they are "disposed of" by the council - which usually means a bullet through the head. So yes, I would think that you're friends' stories are true. In any case the council should have notified the owner that they had a limited time to collect their pets.

Thanks for the pic Lab Lady Question re the highlighted part, what are tie down strips? And can you secure a crate down with these? Have you had any problems with the cheap barrier as opposed the the proper one? I realise that from a safety point of view they are not ideal, however at this point I only need it as a deterrent to prevent Kei from attempting to jump over the back seat (he's already secured with a harness to the child restraint anchor point) until we can organise a more permanebt solution.

What do you mean by 'muscle meat'? I'm wondering where everyone gets good dog mince from It sounds good whatever you get! Muscle meat = plain old meat without bone or offal ;)

A cargo barrier is useless unless it is specifically made and fitted to your wagon. You need either the genuine Ford one for your model or one made by a specialist cargo barrier company. A proper cargo barrier is the safest option but they can be expensive. You might be able to pick one up second hand though. Otherwise a large wire crate that almost fits the entire back secion of the wagon will work nearly as well. If it is large enough it won't have room to move around so doesn't need to be secured to anything. My Commodore wagon has two 60x90cm crates squeezed into the back for my BCs. I only have about 2cm to spare to get them in so they can't possibly move around much. For a larger dog, get a bigger crate with side opening door. Ok thanks, I will keep that in mind. Any ideas on price for a new one? My wire crates are 42" and looking at the car today I'm not sure that they will fit height wise so will be measuring that up over the weekend. If it comes down to spending a few hundred dollars though I think we'll go for a custom built, bolted down crate over anything else

Thanks for the idea. Does anyone have any recommendations on cargo barriers? Are the cheapies that you can buy in the pet section of Big W any good? Or better off to get something else..?

Thanks Norskgra, I'm not in Adelaide but if you want to PM me the details I will give them a call if I can't find somewhere closer I do have a soft crate but I would be worried about it rolling, also what would happen from a safety aspect if I had an accident. Same goes for a steel crate unless I could securely tie it down somehow. Yeah it is Thats why I was going to go for a bootliner too Problem with a barrier I guess is having to pull it out whenever you want to lay the seats flat. But without it Kei will jump over into the back seat guaranteed unless he is crated.