Red Fox

Okay I'm a novice and can only go on what I see in my own dog but I agree with this and this from PF From what I see with Kei he understands that mouthing/biting people is NOT acceptable and has been taught this from a young age. He can and will bite down hard on a tug in play, BUT if he happens to miss the tug and grab my arm or hand instead it is an automatic release. I'm not entirely sure what that means? It is a very quick reaction so maybe it has now become instinct to him that when he feels skin he releases?

Has anyone tried K9 Natural dog food or know much about it? http://www.k9natural.co.nz/ They have a freeze dried product which is basically re-hydratable BARF. It looks quite good and would be a fantastic food for travelling with dogs or to have on standby, I'm thinking about ordering some. They are a NZ based company and apparently we can now get it in Australia as of this month via here: www.gofetchinternational.com

Depends really. Most of the time chicken mince is just that - chicken. Pet mince on the other hand is usually minced up chicken frames so chicken and bone. Some pet mince (particularly the commercial varieties) contains preservatives and other crap. Personally I wouldn't touch that. Most butchers do fresh minced chicken frames cheaply. But (providing they have a mincer) you can ask for anything you want to be put through. I used to go in and have chicken wings minced in front of me when my boy was a puppy so I knew exactly what I was getting

Dont know and it's a little OT but my son hurt his arm at school last year (slipped and fell hiting his arm hard on a ledge). The wound was quite deep but it was more like a puncture so couldn't be stitched. It was cleaned and completely covered with a waterproof bandage but he had to go back every 2nd-3rd day to have it cleaned and a new sterilised bandage applied. I was told that this would help prevent infection while still protectiong the wound. If it was me ask for the bandage to be checked and re-applied after 2 days rather than 5. Better to be safe than sorry

Yes they do unfortunately. Kei was only allowed to play with his while I was in the room and then it had to go away. They make great presents for humans though

Don't think they would have lasted all that long at half price. There were only about a dozen at my local post office yesterday.

Savane, pop in to the Ridgie thread in breed sub-forums and post some pics of Brahma Baby Ridgies are so cute

I was only going to buy just one but I couldn't decide so my Mum convinced me to buy the whole litter Can't wait to see my 9 year old neices face when she opens her pressie tomorrow. She's going to love them

what PF said. Dogs need to be under effective control and having yours on a long line allows that. Having another dog come up to yours uninvited and growl in his face is not on. If it happens again I wouild point out to the other owner that your dogs IS under effective control - their dog is NOT. Yes a leash might change the dynamics but that's beside the point if you are not inviting the other dog over to say hello anyway. I dont trust my boys recall yet and I would do the same thing

LOL, this one reminds me of Charleswentworths Charlie :rolleyes: Too cute.

I couldn't help myself... I bought 4 :rolleyes: 3 for my neices birthday this weekend And 1 for Kei

That product looks great! It would be perfect for travelling, save taking the esky :rolleyes: PM'd you for a bit more info

I want to see the Tollers diving into a squeaky ball pit. Just like the kiddy one at Ikea only squeeeeaky

I'd like to grab 2 mediums as well

Hmm, it's a bit crap that the pet shops provide no info But do the buyers not think to ask questions? Jeez, you ask questions when you buy a new TV or computer that you might have for only a few years. Why not about a living, breathing puppy that you will have for the next 15??! Good to hear about the info sheets on the Mals though Not that I condone them being sold in a pet shop but at least it may help with placing the pup in a suitable home. What's "FTPO"?? lol I'm pretty sure WildatHeart meant FTPO = First time Puppy Owner in reply to the post below

Yep I agree... they would be incredibly easy to sell, they are just adorable as puppies and even a bit older... but not for everyone - and probably NOT for people that would purchase from a pet shop in the first place... Do pet shops provide any breed information? - written or otherwise?. (serious question too, I dont go into pet stores and I wouldn't have a clue what they provide ) Do that people that buy these pups have any idea of how big they can grow? Most people would have some idea of how big most of the more 'common' breeds will grow and most of the SWF mixes are exactly that- small and fluffy, but when it comes to the less common breeds I would think that the average Joe would have no idea Maybe a breed information sheet detailing exercise and feeding requirements plus the size of a full grown adult dog might make people think twice. Sadly I doubt many pet shop assistants even know what the dog look like past puppy stage Only a few weeks ago my 9 year old niece was telling me about a school friend of hers that "used to have a snow dog but they had to get rid of it because it grew too big". Dont people consider that when they BUY the puppy???!

Hi KL ;) I have the Blue Mesh Bed mat in the double thickness in Kei's crate and the canvas covered mats for outside. The BMB I would describe as similar to a gym mat I think. It's got a bit of a 'squish' factor but it's not so soft that the dog will sink right in either. It is a little bit noisy (kind of makes a crinkling sound when Kei gets on and off). I think that is the plastic like mesh covering though as the canvas ones don't really do that. I just put a light sheepskin mat over the top and that solved the problem anyway. The good thing about the BMB's is that they wont absorb any smells and you can easily wipe them down. I'm not sure if they're completely waterproof but they sure look like it! Great rugs custom made me a zip off lambswool cover for it too but that somehow migrated under the bed with a doona stuffed inside it for when Kei wants to sleep there instead

I think you are supposed to hand wash them (or maybe not wash them at all for the waterproof ones??) but I have put mine through a gentle cycle with wool-wash and they've come up fine.

Yep, Great Rugs are fantastic, cheap and they will make whatever you like Both my (custom made) orders arrived within a week to SA. Highly recommend them :D

husband....houndbag.....same difference I have to disagree, Houndbags are much more useful I bought mine from the people who make them around a year ago. It's just the standard sized bag, black with a blue logo and only cost me $29 including postage. Houndbag prices have gone up since then!

Hi bc_girl, there are plenty of excellent trainers on this forum that are in Vic; Cosmolo, Erny and Nekhbet are a few that spring to mind Perhaps you could try contacting one of them? If it were me I'd spend some time speaking to a few trainers about their methods, find one that I felt comfortable with and go from there. Does your dog have an 'out' or 'give' command? TOT will help too but you will need to give it time. With my dog I spent a lot of time just being near him when he ate his bones (or had anything else of high value). Starting off by just being over the other side of the yard ignoring him and gradually working it up (very slowly) so that I could walk closer and closer to him and eventually touch him without him worrying that I was a threat or was going to take his 'treasure'. Now if I walk up to him and say "what have you got there?" he will wag his tail and proudly display his bone for me without any fear that I will take it from him He also knows 'out' and 'leave it' which help in the rare case that I do need to take something away. I dont make a habit of pestering him when he has his food though and I dont see the point of constantly taking the dogs food away. IMO that is only going to make the dog worry more each time you approach him. And with all that said my dog has never really had a problem with resource guarding so speaking to a professional (not BB!) is best. Good luck

OT but do ringworm come and go? Reason for asking is that Kei came up with a little round scabby sore on his belly a week or so ago but it healed within a few days, then a similar but smaller spot came up near where the first one was but is now almost gone I was thinking either hotspots (the weather has been really humid here these last couple of weeks) or bites but now I'm wondering if I should get the vet to check him out for ringworm... They are (well were) clearly visable (as he doesn't have any hair on that area) and dont's seem to have that raised ring around them like I have seen with ringworm in humans. To the OP, with a dozen sores I'd probably be off to the vet asap. Hopefully it's nothing major

It's much cheaper to do your own veggie mix, it would cost me less than $2 per week for a large dog. But- VAN has it's advantages in the fact that it's very easy (just soak and mix with the appropriate amount of meat) and that it's 'complete' meaning that there are really no need for supplements or fussing around. Another thing to consider is that VAN contains grains as well. I've never bought VAN simply for the fact that I can't get it locally and I'm happy to do the veg mix

Blue mesh beds from Great Rugs http://greatrugs.com.au/store/index.htm

VAN = Vets All Natural http://www.vetsallnatural.com.au/Completemix.html Basically a vegie/grain/supplement mix that you soak and then mix with meat/RMB's to make a complete meal.