Sharna3

Yep, its waiting 2 weeks for his vaccinations to kick in .. better to be safe than sorry! He's already learning 'sit', 'drop' and 'wait' (stay) ... I've home-trained my two dogs (a Rotti and a Sibe) but wanted Harley going to obedience more for the socialisation - but I will just ensure I get him out and about as much as possible after the 2 weeks. . . was hoping to get to the Perth DOL meet but he'll still be too young . Maybe the next one!

We went down - but spoke to a lady there who said we should wait till next term cause Harley will have to miss the first two weeks... so maybe next term :-(

That is awesome - congrats!!!! the image is really, really good! Can't wait to see it on TV either :-) And love the puppy pics - what a gorgeous pup!!!

Only speaking from experience, my 'first' dog as an independant adult was a male rottweiler. He was the sweetest, most obedient, loving, loyal and tolerant dog you could ever ask for. As a pup (meaning up til about 2.5yrs) he needed training and a firm hand but he was home trained and was just a wonderful ambassador for his breed - meaning that even a non-trained human (me) was able to train this breed because they are quite smart and ultimately really want to please you. Exercise wise, a daily walk and a play should keep him happy and if there is a day where you can't get out that would be OK. My boy was just happy to do whatever I was doing. Bastian was an excellent natural guard dog but his best quality was his obvious and great love for me. I cannot recommend rotti's highly enough as a wonderful breed to own and love. Hope this helps

Hi, I am in Thornlie, near Warton Rd, so the CAWA centre is pretty close but definitely open to suggestions! I have tried calling the Southern River club but just got a voicemail, so will try again a bit later. Harley will be 12wks on Tuesday and is getting his 2nd set of vaccinations on Sunday.

Hi, I'm looking to take my new pup to obedience classes and just wanted to pick some DOLer brains... 1/ Does anyone know any good obedience clubs in Perth? (Southern suburbs better) 2/ I've found the Southern River Agility & Obedience Club - is anyone attending this club that can give me any info/feedback on it? 3/ What age is OK? Harley is only 11wks, so not sure if I have to wait til 2wks after his 12wk vaccination?? Thanks in advance for any advice!! Sharna

Funnily enough, I was scanning this forum for a thread about diarrhea, because our 10 wk old mastiff seems to not tolerate raw chicken at all ! At 8 wks we gave him chicken necks and within 2-3 dys he'd developed diarrhea... back to just dry food for 2 weeks then gave him a singular chicken neck on Thursday and Thursday night he had absolute liquid poop. Tiny bit of brightish blood in one 'pool' but thats it; obviously we minimised his feed and only gave his dry food and plenty of water and his poop tonight (24hrs later) is firming up (its soft serve consistency now). Will keep an eye on it and if no improvement tomorrow take the next step (vet) But we came to the conclusion that it was the chicken neck and I find it reassuring that its not just us and our puppy! He's fine with pigs ears.. We might try lamb or beef bones next I think!

I know you've hit target but I signed anyway. Something I agree with wholeheartedly - the OWNER, not the breed, should be under scrutiny

Hi, Just wondering if anyone experienced can shed some light, we brought home a mastiff puppy (male) who is absolutely adorable and doing lots of cute things, just wanted to check his weight gain is OK cause he seems lighter than what we see on websites? We've been tracking his weight since 6 wks.. 6wks 4.07kg 7wks 5.3kgs 8wks 7.0kgs 9wks 9.0kgs Does this seem right??

I totally agree! I do too, I am a fan of DOGS, be they little, medium, large or giant - I am equally an anti-fan of ANY dog that shows aggression and more so of any owner who promotes that by their non-action.

I think PETA could do great things if they focussed their considerable resources on some really major animal issues, ie the near extinction of so many magnificent animals like tigers. Why aren't they all up in our faces about that? Yes, they do good work for stopping baby seal clubbing and I agree with that BUT I have to also say i agree that the end does not justify the means. As for their stance on "pets" and owning / breeding dogs, I do acknowledge that there are a lot of problems out there (ie puppy farms and 'accidental BY breeders'), but PETA seems bent on attacking the members of the dog world who DO care about dogs and DO do the right thing. If they want to stop the endless stream of puppies into pounds and shelters - shut down the pet shops that sell puppies and target puppy farms. Responsible, registered breeders are not the issue. For one thing, they dont generally produce that many pups per year and two, frankly people will usually not dump a dog they've paid hundreds of dollars for. I don't think many (and yes there are some, but not many) pedigree dogs end up in shelters... In the end, PETA will become known more as an extremist organisation. I am not sure if I believe the anti-freeze job was PETA work though, simply because of the cruelty involved in the animals if affected. But the letting dogs out, though still with the potential to be cruel, isn't as obviously murderous, if that makes sense. Ok I think I've rambled enough now!!

One last pupdate. Harley wasn't getting worse but not getting better either - and I noticed a bit of a potbelly so off to the vets we went. He's got worms - not so unusual in a puppy and I'm glad that's all it is :-) So he's wormed, will re-worm in 3 days then every 2 weeks and he should be on the up and up from now on Also going to stop being a sooky-la-la and cut out the puppy milk completely; he doesn't need it and will be better off without it. Thanks all

fingers and paws crossed for you from the cooks ...

It's not actually a Mastiff of course - it will be some random crossbred brindle dog. Big ones are Mastiffs and smaller ones are staffy crosses Poor Minnie Mouse I agree - I wish the media had some responsibility to report these stories accurately, now all mastiffs get tarred by the same brush, when the dog probably wasnt any thing close to. The owners should definitely be held responsible, although there are two sides to every story so I guess we have to be careful judging before we know the entire picture. In the end, terribly sad for the owners of the little dog...

No, no chews, I haven't actually let him have any treats yet, just the supacoat and milk, and water. I think I will wean him off the milk and maybe replace it with water slowly. Ive read that he shouldn't be introduced to any new foods for 2 weeks; is this about right? As I'd like to introduce mince to his diet, with a little vegies, but don't want to do it too soon??

Well I thought I'd give a "pupdate" ... ;) Harley's poop got progressively better and today they are actually becoming firmer with each 'elimination'. If it starts to go backwards or stops improving I'll be taking him in to see the vet; in the meantime just keeping track to ensure he's eating & drinking properly. I spoke to the breeder and she said none of the other pups are ill and his poop was firm before he left so she believes its the stress of leaving his mum & littermates. Thank you everyone for the advice and words of wisdom, I cant say how much I appreciate DOL and its members, and hopefully I can return the favour to everyone some day. Sharna.

Thank you - yeh it seems a lot better already, it just weirded us out!

I can do the faecal sample - I've been keeping them (usually we pick up the poop and dispose of it). He's done 3 poops today, inc the greeny mucusy one, the last two have been soft and dark greenish-brown but no mucus. I spoke to the breeder too, his diet consisted of the supacoat, mixed with puppy milk. In the mornings he also got a bit of weetbix crumbled in too. I know the puppy milk is not ideal but when i mixed about a tablespoon of it with his dry food today he ate enthusiastically, which he wasnt doing before, so Im loath to completely cut it out yet. Ideally I want to get him onto a RAW diet but I dont want to change the breeders diet for a couple of weeks so that any bugs that show up i can rule out diet change. I think I will ring my vets and talk with her, shes great, and then go from there. Thanks for all the advice, I think its really great that everyone helps out, I know its made me feel heaps better already. You guys rock

!! So Harley didn't have any milk after my post yesterday, just dry food and plenty of fresh water. No more diarrhea but still mr whippy poo. Now today, first poo - mr whippy still Second, smaller poo - Mr whippy and GREEN and mucusy. Help I know I'm probably being a worry wart but I cant help it

hmm tough one. I can see both sides, driver licence really doesn't have much to do with dog ownership so think it could be unfair in that regard, however I also agree with the comment I say use whatever method hurts them most and thus causes them to pay up. Drivers licence seems to fit the bill. This woman obviously feels no urge to do the right thing and pay the council fine, some of which will go back to the pound and I guarantee is only a fraction of the money spent by them on the dogs she so cruelly dumped there. This woman SHOULD however be banned from owning another dog until she pays the fine and maybe not even then.

Thank you, so do we :-) I will txt the breeder, she then usually calls back as soon as she can. Thanks guys.

He is on supercoat pup dry food and puppy milk. Breeder is at work atm so cant get hold of her Scrap the milk. That will give him the runs. No worries, will take that advice - is it ok to soften the dry food with a little warm water? And I can agree to the stress factor, we are doing our best and he seems pretty happy but it would of course be hard on him no matter what; will keep an eye on hix next 24-48hrs and see if it improves with time and no milk, thanks guys

He is on supercoat pup dry food and puppy milk. Breeder is at work atm so cant get hold of her

Hello, We bought our new pup home last night and its been nearly ten years between pups so just want to verify his developing poop habits... Is pooping a lot, will do a mr whippy style (moist but solid), then the next couple will be diarrhea. Then back to whippy again. I think he is pooping a lot - has probably done 7-8 today since he woke at 5.30am and its now 3.30pm. But is that normal??? and is the varying consistency OK? We have him on the exact same diet the breeder had him on so that isn't it.. What do you guys think?

Hey Nekhbet, Thank you; at the moment we are letting Jazz in around the puppy in limited doses - but trying to keep her calm (she just wants to play with him), but letting her sniff him and lay nose-to-nose with him. We are also trying to spend time just with Jazz so she still feels special (play and walks). Do you have any other suggestions for how we should be treating Jazz (our older dog) or their interactions?? Cheers, Sharna