Red Fox

Supervise. If your dog is gulping down whole bones (without chewing to break them up a bit) then give him bigger ones so he is forced to chew. Any dogs that gets a WHOLE chicken is pretty spoilt Chicken frames are fine. So are any other chicken 'parts' really - wings/necks/thighs/drumsticks etc. Mine got a whole chicken the other day for his meal since the supermarket had some small-ish (1200g) ones out on special. He had the wings and the drumsticks for brekkie and the rest for dinner Keep in mind though that if you want to feed raw than variety is the key. You will need to feed other types of meat/bone, possibly some veggies, fish, yogurt, eggs, offal (the others are optional but offal is not). You might want to consider supplements too (again these are optional). Get hold of the Ian Billinghurst books if you can. They explain raw feeding quite well.

My large breed (approx 40kg at adult weight) came to me on Nutrience Puppy Medium Breed (protein 28% / fat 17%) His breeder prefers it over the large breed variety for young pups (which is protein 24% / fat 14%). The idea with the lower protein large/giant breed foods is that they grow the puppy more slowly which helps to prevent problems later down the track. If you are worried you can always try a large breed adult food instead. His diet now sounds pretty balanced out with the other raw/bones/BARF that you are feeding anyhow and Artemis is not a bad food. 25kg? Are you sure? Many of the lab/poodle mixes I have seen are HUGE. Being a cross it's unlikely that you are going to be able to pinpoint his adult weight until he gets there as it could be anything, but both purebred Labs and Standard Poodles (if that is his mix) are big/tall dogs.

This thread may help with that http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=43479&hl=

IMO I don't think you really know your dog is toilet trained until well after the time that he/she is. My dog hasn't had an accident in the house since around 4 months and asks to go out when we are home/holds on when we are not. But the big test was taking him away with us for a weekend to a holiday house that allows dogs inside (entire male at 20 months old). Turned out his toilet training was perhaps too good. With only a tiny little patch of grass in the yard he flat out refused to go (even with his command he looked at me as if to say "are you sure?"). The when he was finally ready he scratched at the FRONT door, waited for his leash to be put on and to be walked down to a big patch of grass at the end of the street and then went. This was the way for the entire 3 days we were there

Yep, I know exactly what you mean.

Ok, mine are perhaps a bit unconventional but I guess it really depends on what you want out of your dog. Do you want a pet, a show dog, a companion, a sporting dog? The breed of your dog is also important too With my 22 month old Ridgie, if I could turn back the clock.. I would not have let the vet push me into a C5 vaccinations at 12 and 16 weeks (which then caused a reaction) - I would have stuck to my guns and only allowed a C3 (thank God I never allowed her to give him a heartworm injection!) I would have crate trained earlier - not slept with him on a mattress for the first 5 weeks (though that didn't seem to affect us too much in the long run. He's crate trained but I still let him sleep on the bed!) I would NEVER have taken him to puppy preschool (long story, there are good ones but this one caused a lot of issues for me) I would have spent time neutralising my pup to kids/dogs/new environment etc. rather than socialising the hell out of him I would not have pushed him into obedience classes so early when they were obviously way too distracting for him and counter productive. I would have taught LLW before he dragged me across several roads and caused me to do a full front flip landing on my bum in the middle of town! I would have sought advice from a good, qualified trainer MUCH earlier (as in before the puppy arrived). I would have begun drive work at 8 weeks - and not 15 months I would have started my dog on probiotics MUCH earlier. It's really made a difference to his overall health. Most importantly I would have stood up for my dog more. There were times when I let things go/did what I was told as to not upset people who I *thought* knew better than me With my next dog I will know better - but I will still make mistakes

Yeah I have taken link to puppy school and she is now going to obedience class, it was actually the trainer who recommended using vicks on her lead, link also wears a harness so the lead isnt exactly waving around in her face, and so far she has left the lead alone. I have also tried bitter bite - she licks it, doesnt seem to bother her. She will eat/lick anything e.g plaster on the wall I have to agree with PF. I'd never put anything like that on a leash, let alone a puppies! Dencorub is horrid stuff, It could easily burn the pups eyes or skin. (Bitter bite is another matter, it's designed for dogs, however as you've found out not all dogs react to it anyway.) Pomchi, if Link is on a harness then thats half your problem. How are you supposed to have any control? Try a martingle collar and a good leash, and persist with multiple short training sessions. I'm not sure how long your obedience sessions are but often they are way too long and puppies get bored. For leash training you can do that in 2-3, 3 minute session per day, at home in a low distraction environment. Use lots of rewards and encouragement when she does the right thing (praise, treats, etc.). As I said in my earlier post, if it was my pup I would work on stepping up leadership and NILIF for the time being. Chomping on the leash is pretty normal puppy behaviour and she will eventually grow out of it Another option might be a one on one session with a good trainer who can show you some techniques. In regards to an instructor suggesting the vicks, it wouldn't surprise me. There are certainly some great ones out there but also a few that like to take the easy way out -ie, if he pulls use a halti, if he barks use a husher, if he sniffs put vicks under his nose, if he doesn't learn well that's because you can't train that breed... heard tham all unfortunately

I couldn't remember but I knew it was something along those lines!

I don't see how keeping a puppy with no recall on leash is irresponsible In fact it would be pretty stupid of her to let if off in that case. Not all non doggie people are aware of what the term "recall" means or know that not all dogs learn to/are inclined to come back on their own. Not all puppy schools teach a reliable recall either - some are just free for alls where the puppies learn nothing but how to value play with other dogs over and above their owners (though yes, there are some good ones out there - usually run by qualified trainers, not vets/vet nurses). The woman has every right to keep her dog on leash, even in an "off leash" area. Perhaps she was trying to socialise her pup? Or perhaps she just doesn't know any better and presumes the dog park is where you take dogs.

She sounds like fun. Maddening but fun. But hey, isn't her registered name Make me Furious I've been lucky with my dog in the fact that he's not a big chewer. However the bloody cat eats everything in sight! - every electrical cord/phone charger/shoelace/hair-tie/pencil in the bloody house is either ruined or has teeth marks in it. He raids the bin when I'm out too Shame about the gloves though..

Years ago I took Jessie (now at the "Bridge") to the beach in the afternoon. I was sitting on the beach with a pile of stones throwing them into the water for Jessie. A guy and his Kelpie arrive and guy plonks his stuff down not far up the beach from me. Meanwhile Kelpie is having a crap. Guy is watching, but doesn't attempt to pick it up. I would have out to him, but he was a bit too far away to probably be heard. Guy and Kelpie jog off up the beach I told Jessie to "stay", marched up the beach, bagged the offending poo and was going to place it beside the guy's sports bag, but the "Devil" made me put it inside his bag I sprinted back to Jessie and we both high-tailed it out of there :D I wish that I could have seen the look on his face when he opened his bag ;) Bully that's hilarious. This thread was getting me down but that just cracked me right up Had my own (semi) bad experience today too . Just started out on our walk when we got bailed up by a little SBT pup. She was gorgeous but jumped all over me, covered me in mud and I ended up tangled in Kei's leash with him bouncing around going "OMG puppy!!" Took her to the vet, no chip, no reports of missing dogs on their system or the councils, no record of her so they couldn't keep her there in case she was unvaccinated. No collar, no ID. The vet nurse told me to take her home for the night and bring her back in the morning if neither of us could locate her owner. After an hour of door knocking in the dark -and responses ranging from "If you had a stick you could smack it and it would go home"(WTF!), "Nah not mine but I'll take her", "Oh no, my dog roams but he always comes back" I finally found a nice lady who guided me through all the houses in the street and narrowed it down to 2. I finally found the owner and he tells me she is 5 months old and has been gone since Saturday!! He was grateful to see her and thanked me for bringing her home. Said he had been looking for her everywhere. Bloody hell though, he can't have looked that far if he didn't call the vet or the council and she was found one block over!! He got a stern lecture on exactly WHY he should have her chipped though! Then to top it off my brother arrives to stay for 2 nights, brings his dog with no food, no bed, no coat (and its freezing overnight here atm). I had to race around to mums with a bed and a coat, asked about food and he says "nah, he's right. I just fed him a packet of sausages for tea"

Best to do something sooner rather than later as the rubbing can cause ulcers and sometimes permanent damage. Find an eye specialist or at the very least at vet who is experienced in the procedure. If done wrong you can end up with problems. There is also the option of tacking with temporary stitches if your dog is not finished growing yet.

Good question. I was only wondering the same thing this morning as my dog did a very good impersonation of the Wendy's Shake'n'Dog during his brief morning training session Poor boy couldn't wait to get home and into his coat again :D I'd imagine that if you wanted to trial you dog in a coat then it would pay to have them wear it during training too to make sure the dog is comfortable..?

The "muzzles" that you are asking about are Hushers - like an elastic muzzle that the dog wears and prevents it from barking as trying to open the mouth to do so becomes tiring for the dog. Personally I wouldn't use one, le alone leave one on all day. An electric bark collar would be safer and more effective :p Spottychic has a good point, but so does Oakway.. If it were me I'd be building a roofed run for my own peace of mind if nothing else. The dogs may be less likely to bark in a run if they have semi limited vision outside of it too. What breed/size are your dogs? You can have a large, solid roofed run professionally built for $700-$1000, less for something smaller and if you're handy with that kind of thing you could easily build one for a couple of hundred dollars. eta: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/DOG-RUN-CAGE-ENCLOS...=item3a59080819 http://www.k9pro.com.au/categories.php?cat...B47%7D-Dog-Runs

If it was a response to sudden unexpected sensation (pain) when you put him on the ground (a bite, a cramp, something out in his back etc.) he may have associated that pain with the new environment. ie, "this place where you put me made me hurt" if that makes sense. That may explain why he was terrified on the ground but fine in the car. And if the sensation was a nasty one and took him by surprise then the the screaming might have been more shock/fear than actual pain Dogs dont have the logic to put two and two together and understand that the sensation may have come from something like an ant on the ground rather than the ground itself. Thats how corrections work in training - if done properly the dog doesn't think the correction came from you, he thinks it was caused by his behaviour. If it was my dog I'd probably take him to the chiro for a check up just in case something was out too. Better safe than sorry.

tlc, if the liver works and he likes it why don't you try making up some stock by simmering some liver (and perhaps a little chicken or beef) in water, then mixing the joint guard in with the liquid and through his dry food. That way he'll still get the taste without over doing it

Not a mix that anyone would want to see going to an in-experienced owner either, working GSD x Dutchie -that's a whole lot of dog!

Twice a day is better but once a day is better than nothing Did you try putting it directly on his normal food and see if he eats it? Just a heads up if you're interested in stocking up - dstore.com.au have free delivery on pet supplies atm and have Joint Guard pretty cheaply (special ends 8am on Monday)

My guess would be that whoever owner the dogs didn't think the mating was possible either ...and probably got a rude shock when they discovered that it was.

Ant or insect bite?

Kei went through a stage as a puppy where he would have complete mental attacks on the end of the leash. Like a full on temper tantrum! Bouncing, jumping, biting, rolling, throwing himself on the ground, barking, hurling himself into the end of the leash then running back at me and attacking my sleeve He was around 4 months at the time from memory and 20 odd kilos. Being a first time dog owner I wondered what the hell I'd gotten myself into. The more I growled at him or said no! the worse he got. I honestly can't remember how I dealt with it, but stepping up leadship certainly helped. Luckily the stage passed relatively quickly (at which time we went on to deal with other issues like leash pulling). I do think that it's normal puppy behaviour to a point and testing the boundaries. You could start by practising NILIF with her http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=100. TOT (pinned at the top of the forum) may also help. However if it becomes unmanagable a consult with a good trainer would be your best bet

Boomerang collar tags are a good way to prevent this happening if your dog must wear a collar. They slide onto the collar so no dangly bits http://www.boomerangtags.com/store/list.php?A=G&ID=4 Very reasonably priced too, even with postage (which is only a couple of dollars for international). All mine have arrived in under two weeks.

No, it is not done a lot. It is not uncommon for a sire and a dam to share some common ancestors, however, this close a mating is extremely uncommon. Occassionally in the past these types of matings have been done by extremely experienced breeders who understand the 'lines' behind these dogs and who are striving for a particular outcome, and often where the gene pool is very small (not the case with the SBT). Clearly, this person is not an experienced breeder, and I would struggle to understand why it would be necessary to undertake such a risky mating (the closer the mating the higher the risk of getting some nasty recessive condition come through) in a breed like the SBT where the gene pool is quite large. Most breeders strive to put their bitches to the best dog for that bitch, and often that dog is owned by some one else. In this instance I really feel that this person wants to use the father over the daughter just because that's what they have in their yard. Agreed. I know of a couple of very experienced breeders (of my own breed) who have done an uncle/niece or Grandfather/Grandaughter mating. In the case of the Grandfather/Grandaughter mating, years of planning went in, it was an AI (the sire had passed away) and he was an extremely successful show dog (one of the most successful of his breed ever in Australia). I would run a mile from any new breeder who was talking about a father/daughter mating unless they had a VERY good reason for it and support from a more experienced, established breeder. Does this breeder also own the sire? Is he titled? (Letters CH or Gr CH before his name for show titles, or letters -eg CD, ET, ADM- after his name for sporting titles) Does she show or trial her dogs? Why has she chosen this particular pair? With so many excellent examples of the breed around (SBT) a good breeder will more often look outside their own backyard when deciding on a mating

I am sure they will too - they are really enthusiastic - especially after meeting Earl If Earl is co-teacher I wanna join the class!