CareyJ

Sometimes Leila's feet smell like corn chips and her head smells like honey/bees wax, I think it might be her ear wax?? I quite like them both, and much better than the smell of a bone she has had hidden for 2 weeks!

One 9 year old tortiose-shell DSH with big attitude and a 15 month old GSP...makes for great fun at our house! The cat owns the front of the house, the fence lines, the laundry and the garage and the dog the inside of the house when we are home and the backyard. Penelope cat was previously great mates with Dad's dog when I lived at home. Our breeder nearly didnt let us have Leila when we told her that we had a cat...she stressed us that the cat might kill the puppy and as a result I dont think we spent enough time trying to get them to be mates when Leila was the same size as the cat. The story generally goes - cat screams for food, GSP sticks nose up cats bum, cat screams, GSP whines, cat hisses and screams, GSP tries to jump on cat, dog is distracted by treat, cat tries to steal treat from dog then it starts all over again!

Hi Riley's Mum, Our 15 mo GSP Leila is terrible to removing all the leaves from plants (Leila 1, two large grevillea's nil!) and chewing on leaves, sticks, large chunks of mulch - just chewing them and spitting out all the little bits. At the in-laws she will steal large chunks of wood from the wood pile and turn them in to mulch. We're just happy she isnt digging up the retic to be honest! We just make sure we have nothing that is treated. Luckily she doesnt chew things like shoes (not that we would ever leave them around) or furniture. Everything goes in her mouth, gets broken up and spat out again!

It also doesnt help that humans are also being detached from one another as well as animals and nature.

We just bought a replacement 30ft longline from our local saddleworld store for $18. I think they might do online orders. Try www.saddleworld.com.au; saddleworldmaddington.com.au (located in WA though) or europa.com.au. I was going to buy a shorter and cheaper one but they were not as nice to hold on to. And I too have the scars from a cheap & nasty lunge lead. The new one is much nicer on the hands!

Advance made Leila fart really badly! We feed nutro now and no nasty smells - Except for the OH who blames it on the poor dog! We got heaps of EP samples from Better Pets and Gardens in WA - even ones for the cat.

Jamie Oliver has done a special on eggs and chickens and is worth a watch. It is quite informative...if you dont mind watching Jamie. Its been on TV a few times.

Oh Leila is a massive whinger! We were a bit concerned about leaving her outside for a while but then realised that she was actually talking to herself while chasing a toy around the backyard! She has only just started the Wooooo Woooooo hello. And will even do it in her sleep!

We have borrowed an easywalker harness from our obedience club for Leila our 13 month old GSP. She is doing really well with lose leash walking most of the time... but we are still having to work hard at it. This is fine for me when I walk her in the arvos because I have the time to stop and start and work on it but OH walks her in the mornings and he doesnt have the patience to keep reminding her at 6am! It was suggested we try the easywalker harness and it has been great for the morning walks, OH is happy, I think Leila probably gets more out of it, and doesnt mess up all the work I am doing in the arvos. But, she is getting rub marks on her shoulders and under her armpits were getting a bit raw. I have followed the fitting instructions and have re-adjusted a few times but it still seems to be happening. I was thinking it might be because it was not tight enough, but it seems to be still happening when it is tightened right up (then I worry that it is restricting her movement). Does anyone have the same problem or have any suggestions? I have thought of using a bit of wool (like you use on a horses headcollar) but I would have to pad the whole harness. We are going back to training tonight and will have a chat to the trainers before we make a decision but I dont know if this problem can be managed or not. Maybe it is just the way she walks - she has the GSP swagger when she is really enjoying the walk!

Aaaawwwww!!! love him! I miss our Little Leila long legs being that size. He has a tail spot and a white nose just like her! When we got Leila at 9 weeks she did the point, but didnt wag her tail. The tail wagging suddenly started at about 11 weeks and I was so excited. She seems to point less now that she did when she was a baby - I must try the wing thing! Do come over to the GSP thread and shower us with more puppy photos!!!

Thanks for all the advice fetchindawgs, we have a 13 mo GSP who we have been trying to get to give things to us rather than just drop them when we tell her to 'give' but we have been finding she just loves to throw them at us rather than gently put it in our hand! I think Leila might be wrecked too - she loves nothing more than running around squeaking her squeaking ball annoying us (and probably the neighbours more!). She is also still putting everything in her mouth ... just to see how it feels

Our power came back on at 5pm yesterday after being off for 24 hours - yay! Unfortunately half of our suburb is still out, including 2 sets of traffic lights. It is wierd, about 6 houses have power then about 6 houses dont for about 6 blocks. Our car has been in for repair for 8 weeks with the panel beater. It is now with the suspension people so we hopefully shouldnt be held up by all the storm damage work.

Leila burps all the time - little piggy! I have never really worried about it, maybe I should?? And between her and OH, gas has been known to be a big problem in our house Changing her from Advance to Nutro helped her stinky problem, but unfortunately it isnt that easy to fix him!

No damage at our house from the storm, except for Leila pulling out 2 of the new plants I planted on Sunday! It usually takes me 55 mins to get home...it took just over 2 hours yesterday, but it made me feel better that so many other people were in the same situation. The lightning was a little close for comfort for my liking though. The power is apparently still out at home - a bit worried about all the dog bones in the fridge, the could be gross by the time we get home! Leila wasnt too fussed with the storm. She must have been hiding out in her kennel for a while though because she was climbing the walls when we came home! The lightning woke me up during the night, it was either that or it was all Leila's dreaming noises.

We found it was cheaper to pay the freight and get it off ebay than get it from Better Pets or City Farmers. They were really expensive when we looked (this time last year)

Update is in general discussion thread It sounds like everything is going ok.

It definately could be the rebellious stage...or the full moon. Leila has been a total handful since Tuesday - totally out of control, wont settle at night, more crazy than usual. We had to bundle her into her crate at 11pm still wired on tuesday night and she is usually flat out asleep in the lounge room by 10. I talked to a few people at obedience on Wednesday and they were saying the same thing, even chilled out 12 year old dogs were going a bit crazy! I'm just getting over the puppy stage and had enough trouble dealing with it - sure you'll get much better suggestions on all the other things from other people. oops..bad spelling

If anyone frequents the Mosman Park/Leighton dog beach can you please keep an eye out of a single Honda key? When I was there on Sunday with Leila I lost it. I was stuck in the middle of the day, 35 degrees with no keys, water and phone in the car. So much for a quick 20 min dip! A lovely couple let me use their phone and gave Leila a drink and luckily OH was able to bring me a spare key down (much to his annoyance). They even offered to give us a lift home because they lived in the next suburb over but they already had 2 kids, boogy boards and 2 dogs. It would have been cosy with crazy Leila and I in the car with them. I'm not really expecting that it is found, just hoping . There is no key ring or distinguishing features - just a grey key with a honda H on it. Luckily it was only the key and not the immobiliser - that would cost us a small fortune to replace.

Isnt he only 12 or so weeks? Is it true agression or over excitement? We had GSP baby teeth marks in the back of our legs and nipping every time Leila got really excited until about 16 + weeks from memory. We had to control her excitment levels to reduce the yapping, nipping and blood. I have quite a few nice jumpers with small holes in them....and had to come home from the park with a big rip in the back of my trackies after a spac-attack!

Treacle? She was in our beginners class and she is lovely. Leila loves her! She comes from a house of 2 almost teenage boys and would get so much love. At the christmas wind up she was dressed up as a reindeer and Leila didnt know who or what she was until the costume came off.

Yeah, she has heaps of potential and when you have her attention, you really have it....when you lose it, it is all over! It doesnt help that we are still learning too. Valley, I meant to have a chat but Leila had lost it! Your baby is so precious.

Dont you mean like a kangaroo?? See you tonight then.

Hi All, Im a WA-er as well and have been lurking in here keeping an eye on things. We have a 1 year old GSP called Leila aka "the monster". We've been going down to vic park obedience and have just been bumped up from the beginners - yay! She has improved but is still crazy. Last week she was described as "just very immature"! OH just popped in to City Farmers to check about this and they did say it was only for the small bags.

Great chart. Advance has it on the side of their kibble bags and it gave us a good wake-up call for our cat. Since mid last year she has been on a diet to bring her into line with the chart (she has an obsession with dog bickies and will rip open a bag for them). The vet commented just yesterday that her weight was just right and any more would be too much.

I agree with the comments about fencing. We stayed in a fantastic dog friendly place (which we will be returning to). However the yard they had which they suggested we could leave the dog in for the day so we could go and do non-dog friendly things (like tasting wine) had 1.5m fench which was made of pickets with the pointy tops. Leila had a bit of a freak-out just being put in there to have her dinner and nearly hung herself. I was watching from inside and was able to save her but she spent the rest of the trip in the back of our car while we had lunch, tasted wine etc. Luckily it was the middle of winter and she was more than happy to sleep all day in the car.