nicolatu

I had been past that stage of checking emails every 5 minutes. I think most of us did that before! What colour and sex are you getting?

I have been bringing my puppies out for walk since he is 12 weeks old. You have to be careful when he meets other dogs though. Don't let him approach any dogs that are not vaccinated and don't let him smell other dogs' pees or poos. So far he has been meeting older dogs and this socialisation had helped him settle down when with other dogs. He is so well-behaved that he is able to play with my friend's maltese x shih tzu. My boy is 9.7kg and my friend's puppy is 1+kg. The other puppy he play with is 3kg. The other puppies were too tired to play with him though. He play with one puppy and when this puppy is tired, he will go to the next puppy. Its great that I am able to train him a little bit while with these puppies. He still listens to my command and was the best-behaved puppy(out of the 3 puppies). I think puppies learn to settle down pretty fast though. Now my boy would spend his time chewing on his toys if we are too busy to care about him.

Nope I dont have to desex my boy at that age. What age would you recommend to me? Thanks Nic

I live in Glen Waverley which is quite close to Melbourne. Any good vet recommendations? Thanks Nic

Thanks for that. My question was actually more, if you would consider feeding anything else than dry food? My puppy is still young and I am not sure how to make a perfect home-made BARF. When he is all grown and missing a bit of nutrition here and there does not matter that much, BARF will be my choice because I heard many good things about it.

I have been feeding Eukanuba dry food with 1 and a half chicken drumstick. His coat became shinier and he has lesser poo now. He used to eat Coprice puppy food and he poo so much! He also like the taste of Eukanuba compared to Coprice. Eukanuba comes in 3kg pack costing about >$30 and 12kg pack costing about >$110. This pet shop (don't sell live animals) that I have been going to, sells things cheaper. I am not sure about other size. Hope that helps.

BF - Congrats on your anniversary. As a man, I also tend to forget about these dates. I put the dates on an alarm mode 1 week before the actual day so I have time to get a present or prepare something for my gf. Glad to hear you are going so well with Zoe? Her eyes are all good now? My gf and I are also computer nerds we enjoy playing on the computer reading news and stuffs like that. Oreo is much more settled now compared to when he just came. I do lots of training and 2 x 30mins walks each day. After that he wi happily sleep around or settle with his chew toy. I am so glad now. All my close family and friends come to our place to visit Oreo because they love playing with him. Everyone needs to pat him and tell him that he is a "good boy" before he settle down a bit more. Then he will bring out his toys to play with the visitors. He is a joy to have.

My puppy hates brocoli and liver. The dog trainer in my puppy preschool told us to use brocoli to "reward" the puppy when they bite. He said most dogs hate brocoli.

Thanks for all the replies. Thats why I love coming to DOL because I get a lot of suggestions and learnt a lot here! We are going to get pet insurance for Oreo and one of them covers desex and vaccination of $150 (80% of total price) each year. That will help me quite a bit also. I am going to check out a few vets and see what they offer.

Michelle - How lovely is Georgia! She's got the "bling-bling" eyes~ Oreo usually plays with his toys but occasionally, he will try to have a go at my girlfriend's soft toys collection. BF - I bought a lot of things for Ore to chew and he enjoys them. I guess Oreo is teething as well because he chews a lot these days. He usually wakes up later than I do because he don't sleep during the day! He just wants to play, play and more play. Then he will chew on his toys but not sleep. Nic

Grats to Tyson and his family as well!

Agreed! The vet should do what is best for your particular dog. And those prices are VERY high for a male dog of that size!! But based on the original question- If you want to use this vet I would ask for the bronze package with the option to give fluids or take bloods if and when the vet felt they were necessary for your pup :D And I personally wouldn't desex him before he is at least 6 months old. I will call around and ask. Seems to me that this hospital's vets are not particullary good as well. I might as well change now. Thanks for the advice.

The vet haven't check his testicles yet. They just told me the price of different packages.

Thanks for the reply. Woah! It seems very expensive, I will shop around for the prices. This is a high rent area though. Maybe I will do it at RSPCA, some of the money will be put into good use to help dogs/cats there. I take my puppy to this animal hospital because he attends puppy preschool there and it is not as scary for him (I read it somewhere). The vet nurse also tell me that all the packages are very safe but the gold package is the 'safest'.

Thanks for that. I like their plan and wanted to see how others think of it.

Hi guys, I am thinking of getting my puppy an insurance and looked at a couple of companies. I was wondering whether anyone have any experience with ProSure? How was claiming? Nic

Thanks for your 2 replies. Made me understand. I will probably do the Silver Package then.

Pre-anaesthetic blood work let us assess kidney function, liver function and hydration levels before an anaesthetic. Is it essential in a young dog? - no. Is it useful? - Yes. The vast majority of young dogs we test have normal results but the occasional one will show up an abnormality which may indicate further investigation or treatment should be undertaken prior to GA. Choosing between doing it or not doing it might depend on cost, or how much information you need to feel comfortable going ahead with a surgery, or whether you want to do 'everything' or choose the routine options. You shouldn't feel guilty for not choosing them, you have only been offered bloods. Most practices that do this have in house equipment and offer bloods to every patient (key word offer - it is available for any and every patient). If they feel it is essential, it would likely not be negotiable in that particular situation. As for intravenous fluids, yes, yes, yes and yes. Fluids and pain relief are two things that my clients don't get offered a choice in. Intravenous fluids maintain blood pressure which in turn supports the blood perfusion of vital organs like the liver and kidneys (and brain). Any level of GA reduces blood pressure and we need to do something to counter that. The fact that most animals are "OK" without fluids just means that their compensatory mechanisms can kick in for 'long enough' to prevent damage. It does not mean there is no drop in blood pressure or drop in organ and tissue perfusion. Thanks for the reply. What does GA stands for? I am weighing my options because gold package is $435, silver package is $350 and bronze is $185. As I am still a student, it can be quite a pricey procedure but i won't do anything to jeopardize my puppy's health. What age do you suggest for a Border Collie to get desexed then?

Damo & Jaws - Your boy is so lovely~ His fur is so shiny. What are you feeding him? I have changed my boy to Eukanuba, his poo reduced and his coat is shinier. I couldn't be happier. =D

Hi guys, Oreo is my first dog and he is almost 16 weeks old. As the topic says, I want to desex him but I am not sure what package to choose from. There is 3 options: Gold - Comprehensive clinical examination by the vet after arrival, pre anaesthetic blood testing to check vital organ function before anaesthesia (to improve anaesthetic safety), Premedication with temgesic (pain relief), Intravenous fluid theraphy which maintains blood pressure and improves recovery from anaesthesia, another pain relief injection that lasts 24 hours, and lastly, take home pain relief for 5 days to ensure pain free. Silver - Same as gold excluding pre anaesthetic blood testing. Bronze - Same as gold excluding pre anesthetic blood testing and intravenous fluid therapy. I was just wondering if pre anesthetic blood testing and intravenous fluid therapy is necessary? At what age should he be desexed (I read somewhere and it says under 6 months?)? He got an overbite so will desexing him affect his lower jaw growth? Can someone with experience give me some advice please? Thanks in advance. Nic

[ wow thats a lot of exercise for a 15 week old puppy whos bones and muscles are developing. just be careful your little guy doesnt overdue it :D Sally is almost 15 months and she doesnt need that much exercise. she gets 1 hour- 1 1/2 hours lead walk/off lead ball throwing, a few short bursts of training, a few throws of toys at night and she runs around with bert. she is fit, healthy, and not destructive (except when there are sheets on the line ) it depends on the temperaments of the breeding stock- sally came from non working, not highly strung stock. you just need to do your research first good luck He mainly plays tug so it is not too much exercise fo him. He is playing less now so the play time might be closer to an hour. Apparently my boy's littermates are causing chaos everywhere. LOL So I think my puppy comes from a high energy family.

I got a Border Collie puppy and it sounds exactly like wuffles' Aussie pup. All I could say is based on my puppy. They need a lot of mental and physical stimulation. If you are able to provide that, then BC is the breed for you. I did a lot of research before getting a BC puppy but I still face a lot of problems with my boy when he came. He is so full on and what i meant by this is he needs a lot of exercise and attention. My boy is 15 weeks old and he needs about 30mins walk (twice), 1-2 hours of tug and fetch, and 2 hours of training. One good thing about my boy is that he can train for a long time. I can train him for like 30mins non-stop and he loves it(treats of course). He once went 5 hours without a sleep because we went to a friend's house and everything is so interesting for him (I dont think that is normal for a 12 week pup at that time). But he now settled very well and learnt to chew on his chew toys when I am not playing with or training him. He can be a bit mischievious if I ignore him for too long. Couple of points on BC in my case: They are a smart breed so you have to think one step ahead of them. He learn each trick in 1 day. He had learnt not to jump up on people and other dogs or he won't get to play or be patted. He NEVER barks at any dog or people. The only times he barks is when he doesn't want to sleep and I put him into his crate, and at strange objects he never seen. They want to play, play and play (thats my puppy). They are a joy to have and they are just so lovely They will reward you if you treat them well I am also looking at adding another four-legged friend into my household but it will be when my boy grows up (maybe in 1 or 2 years time). The breed I choose will depend on how he grow up to be. Good luck on choosing.

Same as persephone. I trained my puppy to toilet on command but he haven't mastered it 100%. On most occasions, when i say "toilet", he will wee even if only a small amount. My puppy is only 15 weeks old so it is not that difficult to teach.

Nushie - you got a very cute pup there. He just enjoys being on people's lap (as seen from picture). Haha as for toileting, Oreo used to run around playing and all of a sudden, he just squats and pee or poo. No signal whatsoever. It took me 1 week to find out that my puppy, Oreo gets excited whenever he wants to pee, poo or sleep (of course play but that is an exception). There will be signal, just look out for it. Now he can hold on his pee or poo until I bring him out. He is 14 weeks old when learnt to hold for pee. It takes time so just relax about it. Nic

I changed my puppy from Coprice puppy food(what the breeder has been feeding him) to Eukanuba puppy food. His coat becomes shinier and he has lesser poo. My puppy dont prefer to eat the Coprice. I still have quite a lot of Coprice left because there was only the 12kg pack. I am mixing Eukanuba with Coprice currently. My puppy dont get a lot of dry kibbles though. His main meals comprise of 1 and a half chicken drumstick(sometimes 2 chicken wings) with 1/3 cup of Eukanuba/Coprice mix.