Stressmagnet

Ah yes, why am I not surprised at 63% of Labradors? Honestly, if I had a dollar for every person that asked me if Ernie was a 'real' Labrador since he's thinner than the norm - he'd be paying for his own feed. And I'd STILL like to take 2-3 kilos offf him.

Grumpette! I swear you make me want to go adopt a Rottie. I'm in so much love.

Oh. Oh. This is so cruel. So unfair. I'm lost for words. Just know I'm sending love to you and Bru.

Ernie isn't allowed to chew my undies. Disgusting tortured dirty boy. :D

Well done you!!

I'd love a frenchie. But Ernie's got a long life ahead and he chose me so maybe the girls will get one when he and I are gone. I have no idea how they became so trendy.

Thank you. I'm so pulling for Bru. So is Ernie.

When I first got Ernie, he hated hated thunderstorms. I took him outside and gave him rare roast beef while we ran around the yard in the rain playing. Unfortunately, now he looks for rare roast beef during the loudest claps and only gets the evil Smackos. Every pup I've had, I've rewarded with fun and treats during fireworks and thunderstorms. The worst was Georgia the Amstaff who exhibited behaviours during thunderstorms and fireworks that could have seriously put her at risk. Which is when I came up with the roast beef game. I'm pleased to say by the end of her life she was able to sit outside with us on NYE and enjoy the show without any nervousness whatsoever. But it did take a lot of wet nights and roast beef to get to that point. Worth a try?

I had funky smell Ernie which turned out to be mostly anal glands. I had been giving uncultured yoghurt to combat the after effects of antibiotics as he had a yeasty smell and itchy flaky skin - first time ever. I started back on the pumpkin last week and the smell is gone, tho his skin is still a bit flaky so I'll give it another week and brush him every night in case it's just leftover.

Ah yes. The food time limit. Ernie learned in ONE lesson.:laugh:

I'm so thrilled. This is the best news to go to bed with. Thank you for the update at a time when I'm sure you had s million other things you'd rather have been doing.

Ernie... - Cannot come into the kitchen when I'm cooking. So he puts, ever so delicately, ONE PAW over the imaginary line and sighs. - Cannot jump on the beds. So he blasts out of his crate, races to EVERY BED and jumps once then sits politely With a 'who me?' look on his face. - Gets a frozen narrow bone every day for his breakfast. He doesn't like it frozen, he likes it warm. So he stares at me every morning in disbelief, takes it, puts it in the sun than humphs himself down and stares at it for two flipping hours till its thawed to his liking. Does. Not. Move. - Must wait for his dinner. Mournful pleading look every damn time. Wait time? About 30 secs. - Must get fed at 6pm. If we are late with our dinner, he attempts to hurry us along by going into his lounge room crate and sighing at regular intervals until we are finished eating and he knows his dinner is in the way. He's not impressed if our timing is off. - He gets an hour to two hour ramble with me every morning but Sunday and he's fine. But after his ramble, he's out in the back garden while I catch up on housework? Is he chasing bunnies? No. Is he seeing off the bush turkeys? No. Is he racing around our 800sq metre grassy yard with trees and bushes and things to sniff and explore? No. He's plonked, long suffering look on his face, at the back door until he can come back in. To sleep and do nothing. I swear, he's got the mental processes of an old age pensioner. - Can only poo in one spot in the garden. And that spot must be clear of previous poos or I get the most unbelievable look of hurt and bewilderment. - MUST MUST go to bed at 9.30. Maude forbid there's a show that we want to stay up later for. He begins his telepathic stare at 9.20 and I have to pile cushions in front of my face to block him out, and he maneuvers himself every damn time so I can see his eyes. Staring. Willing me to go to bed. - Has to have a chat with me once he's IN his bed and can see me. Should I not respond to his noises, he starts throwing his toys around until I show him what I'm watching on Netflix and tell him how utterly special he is and how he is a king amongst dogs. Honestly, what goes on in that dogs brain is anyone's guess. And he does get treated like a dog, he's from a show kennel where I don't think he had a lot of one on one contact with people but I swear he reckons he's just as entitled as the two divas. What's the equivalent of a diva? Coz that's him.

Poor Ernie. He's so upset. He's only allowed on the BLUE couch but it's across from the BROWN couch. We are on the BROWN couch. So he's humphing and sighing and doing his best 'noble Labrador' face at us but we aren't budging. He's now flinging his teddy around and giving us side eye to see if one of us will relent and let him up with us as he's so damn cute.

Ernie is still crated overnight. He's got some toys and a bone to keep him occupied if he wakes before I do. It's right beside my bed so we often have long talks about life and I show him animal docos on Netflix if I'm watching. While he's happy as hell to be released in the morning and prefers to do zoomies for 15 minutes and ignore his bursting bladder in order to say hello to every person in the family - he still goes in eagerly every night at 10pm. In the lounge room, he has a crate he goes into while we are eating that has an open door. He goes in of his on accord when he hears me call the girls for dinner and then sighs and huffs and puffs loudly if we don't eat fast enough. I've always been home with him when he was younger so he had free range outdoors. However with my other dogs, as pups, I took 2 weeks off to bond, then set up a secure room in the house for them. The laundry was my choice. I'd come home at lunch to play and let them out and then pop them back in. When they got a bit older, they were crated for 3 hours in the morning, then 4 hours in the arvo in a big crate that was semi partitioned into sleeping and weeing areas. I walked them for an hour in the morning and again an hour at lunch. Once they hit 5-6 months, they were given the full run of the large garden. All my dogs so far were well adjusted and seemed to suffer no ill effects from early crating. The only dog that had an issue was my amstaff who turned dog aggressive as she got older but that was not from lack of socialisation, it was because I hadn't a clue how to really manage a bully breed.

So sorry. You must be beside yourself.

Ernie sleeps in his kennel all day - well the 4 hours I let him outside to enjoy the fresh air and chase the bunnies and birdies. He'd rather sleep like a stone inside his kennel the whole time. Mind you, he gets a long ramble every morning for 1.5-2 hours but still...

Well SeaWorld is in damage control after that Orca movie came out and the conditions under which they get their orcas AND how they keep them became public knowledge. Not to mention their appalling treatment of Tillicum which led to him savaging a trainer and killing another. They have a LOT of work to do. So it doesn't surprise me they are jumping to rectify their public image - colour me cynical. That said, PETA is just an embarrassment. They really need to hire an experienced clever PR person as they just keep lurching from one crackpot ill thought out position to another. I have NO time for them, and as an impressionable teen, I was a huge supporter. Now I just wish they'd go away, and stop tarring every animal rights group with the same brush.

The Fex used to load our dog in the car and then phone the girls and say he was going to dump her in the bush if we left him. Which is why he's known to me and mine as 'the FEX'. Need I say more?

Is the one for brown coats any good?

Gosh Sheridan. Raising two pups at once really doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Re-reading this thread, it really does sound like its nothing but hard work and no joy. You've definitely cured me of ever doing the same thing.

I'll be watching this thread, as you could be describing Ernie and I'm always worried that the silly loveable boofa will knock over the toddler next door. As much as he is gentle once the initial thrill of 'OH MY GAWD A PERSON A FACE A HAND TUMMY RUB LICK LICK LOVE ME LOVE ME GIVE ME A PAT PLEASE THROW A BALL I LOVE EVERYONE BUT ESPECIALLY YOUUU' excitement has worn off, he's a complete tool while any ability to control his impulses goes out the window.

I use these guys for Ernie's food. The 'free shipping' is just for metro areas tho - be warned. I do like the convenience though.

Ernie still sleeps in s locked crate at night. He's still quite destructive and with my recent shoulder surgery, I don't need the big doofus jumping on me to wake me up in the morning. As soon as my shoulder is 100%, I intend to go back to transitioning him to an open door crate at night. That said, he has another crate in the lounge room, where he goes when we are eating. He's taken to going in there voluntarily in the attempt to hurry my dinner prep along as he knows first we eat, then him. Poor deluded baby. The interesting thing he's started up doing is to put himself in there if we've left him alone in the lounge room for some reason. I'm not sure what's with that, but it's pretty sweet of him.

Just posted and asked why they haven't bothered to contact the breeder. Let's see how long my comment stands.

Oooh. This looks great. I've noticed Ernie had some dandruff. Either the girls didn't rinse him well enough after his last bath or he's still reeling from one week of cheap kibble and roast drippings when he went to my friend's. (I KNOW he's still carrying 4kgs, fatso). I'm always looking for a great dog soap. I use expensive shampoos on myself so I have no issue with paying top dollar for my dog as long as it does what it says it will do. I also prefer all natural stuff on Ernie as he is a licky boy. He's also prone to rolling in decomposed bodies so whilst I know he SHOULDNT be bathed more than once every 2-3 months, I'm not living with him inside when he stinks. So gentle on his coat and skin is paramount.