lanabanana

Goodness, what a weirdo. A while ag.o in NZ a family were caught barbequeing their dog - LOL. I know it's not funny at all but that sentence just gives me the giggles. They were left a dog they did not want so they proceeded to shoot it and they decide it was better to cook it rather than waste it. A whole investigation was done into it but no charges were made as the dog had been dispatched humanely with one shot to the head.

I always wanted a dalmation - I guess because of 101 dalmations However, my real dream dog when I was a child was an Irish setter, I really really really LOVED the book "big red" and I just couldn't wait to have an irish setter one day. When I was at highschool my dream dog changed to a rottweiler to the point where I got loads of books about them, made other people buy me books and I read about them all the time. Now, none of those breeds are on my "to own" list LOL

Yea I wanna see that too, I will take my daughter LOL

Asking as this is the first time Barney has been the older dog, the first time we have had a really small dog, and also the first time we have had an older dog who NEVER tells the younger dog off.

So we have Barney (5 yr old male - lab x) and Pippi (1 year old female - foxy/shih tzu x). They play all the time etc, and as young dogs can be, Pippi is extremely annoying to Barney. She just LOVES her big brother and always has to be jumping on him, biting him, playing with him, bringing him toys etc. Even when he is sleeping, if she starts annoying him, he will put on his play face for her and have a game of whatever she wants to play. He has only once told her off and that was when she snuck up behind him while he was eating (she finished first). Other than that, he just will not tell her off even when she is gettign excessively annoying. In fact, she will soemtimes hang off his face and if he doesn't like it, he will cry about it and then give us big sad eyes so we tell her to cut it out (this doesn't happen often as like I said above, he will just generally play when she wants to). He is sooo patient with her it is ridiculous. I thought at first that it was due to her being a baby and him recognising this fact, but it seems like he still gives her this consideration, maybe because she is small?? Anyway, my question really is, when is he going to decide she is not a baby anymore and tell her off for being annoying? Will he recognise her as an adult at soem stage despite her size and how old does she have to be (I am thinking it's around 2 years for large dogs and 1-1 and a half for small)??? I hope my question makes sense.

LMAO at some of these posts

my dogs have eaten old meat and stuff before. occasionally they may throw up after eating something a bit gammy but usually ya wouldnt even know. Ypoure dog will be fine

Guy musta just been a moron. I am not a hardcore and any core trainer TBH, but if I was out and saw a dog working/training it would be very obvious to me and I would keep my dogs away untilt hey were finished. Though I would possibly watch as I love seeing well trained dogs going through their paces.

Just thought I would add...would I do it again? I am going to horrify some people with my answer....yes. I wouldn't go out looking for a BYB or petshop pup but if that's where I was led then so be it (though as we specifically want purebreeds next time - which we usually don't care - we will be finding an ethical and responsible registered breeder) I believe that there are certain dogs you are meant to have for whatever reason and when the time is right you are led to that dog. Hence why I have ended up with what looks to be a lab (mixed but very labby) when I didn't like labs, and a small breed when I didn't like small dogs LMAO

I haven't read the rest of the thread, but definitely not the only one. Our wee girl Pippi (foxy/shih tzu x) came from a BYB. I didn't even like small dogs but saw the litter advertised in the paper and we went to have a look. An hour later we were home with our tiny tiny bundle of gorgeousness who has turned us into big small dog fans - we cannot wait to get our next small dog (I want a purebred shih tzu next although OH may have to get his Bulldog first as he has been waiting a long time LOL) The breeder was breeding her own two dogs (who has gone out when we got there - we were early admitedly), the pups hadn't been deflead or wormed though had had a vet visit. I asked about health checks on th eparents and the lady didn't have a clue what I meant only responding that the dogs were healthy (she was not an English speaker so that also didn't help). Anyway, our wee girl is now 14 months and thus far as fit as a fiddle. All our dogs have been x-bred and apart from one who developed allergies when she was older, they have all been very fit. Our other dog is of totally unknown parentage and he is and has always been in excellent health (although recently had some issues with his back - suspected strain not major). We don't go into having a new dog with the expectation that they will become ill or be of perfect health. We just take em home and love them and then whatever happens happens. At the end of the day, any dog can be a genetic timebomb regardless of how they were bred, and any dog can be in perfect health all it's life. A good breeder just tries to minimise this. I know this is a purebred forum but I don't necessarily agree that ALL purpose cross breeders are bad breeders, it just so happens that it is trendy to have a cute fluffy wee mutt so they attract puppy farmers, but some pures do too. Anyway, I have started waffling now so better stop.

Awww OP that is just gorgeous! Our little girl has a wee quirk but I think yours is much cuter. When my other half looks at her and holds his hands a certain way, she immediately just to attention and starts quivering and the minute he moves his hands or any part of his body, she races off and does zoomies barking and growling. Then she'll run back and wait for him to do it again. We don't know how we discovered this but she does it every time without fail.

It's different in NZ as NZ does not have the same position on public liability etc as Australia Yep, thought it might be diff here.

Wow at post #65 - that is ridiculous. I have my large dog as a pet, but secondary to that he is there for protection. He is a very good guard dog (so I have been told by a tree feller who attempted to enter my yard) and does what he is meant to do - deter anyone from coming on th eproperty without me. I also (this is probably bad) tell wee fibs when people ask if he bites. I tell them not if oyu are with me LOL - kind of implying he does when I am not there but without atually saying it (the chances of him biting are pretty much NIL). The point I am making with this is, if someone came into my yard (burglar or rapist or whatever) I would "almost" hope he bites them. As for kids coming into your back yard anbd getting bitten - what about the fact they shoudlnt be there int he first place??? I am not sure regarding the signage here but in NZ, you could have a sign that said "Dogs on property, enter at own risk" or something like that....because oyu dont say the dogs are dangerous, and the "enter at own risk" is like them agreeing it is their responsibility if something happens. I don't bother with the sign myself. If someone is stupid enough to enter my proprty with a 40 kilo dog going hard nuts on the other side of the fence then they must be really brave LMAO

I have a dog who can be LA. Usually meeting other dogs off lead at home he is fine and in fact a bit sooky. However, I do not and owuld not take him to an off leash dog park. Not because I am concerned that he might attack someone as when he is offlead I think the chance is pretty much non existent (he would definitely fight back though) but because his recall is terrible and if something did happen, he gets a case of the major deaf ears. He has had one fight at the beach once. I had my two dogs down there onlead as it was quite busy with dogs (my other dog was fine with other dogs even on lead) and I didn't want any dramas. Anyway, we had stopped and were watching the sunset when a lady came down off the street with her 3 dogs off lead. The started runnign round us, which was causing my LA dog to get wound up. The lady said, you can let him off the lead. I said, hes got all worked up so I am not sure. Anyway she insisted so I let him off. He met and sniffed two of her dogs, lots of waggy tails and moving on. Then the third dog came over, he looked like a big black retriver (gorgeous) and they had a sniff...and then her dog attacked my LA dog. Naturally he fought back. Anyway, the fight was broken up very quickly. He generally stops any shenanagans from a harsh word from mum or dad so I told him to stop and he started backing off - the woman actually bashed him on the head with her stupid plastic retractable lead case (I dont know why she even had it, she wasnt using it) which caused me to give her a bit of a abuse. She then proceeded toblame me for the whole thing. Luckily, another woman came alone with her dog and starte din at the lady as apparently the lady makes a habit of allowing her dogs to wind up other dogs and start fights. Anyway, that was the last time that dog went anywhere offlead where we might run into another dog. When we go walking I sometimes let him have a very quick blat at the park across the road to get out some excess energy but he is always put back on very quickly in case another dog shows up. Unfortunately, it appears our wee dog has the same issue. When on lead if she sees another dog she becomes very aggressive (its kinda funny coz she is so small - but its not funny IYKWIM) and in fact attacked a large dog the other day. I was actually carrying her ready to cross a busy road and th eother dog actually jumped up onto me to sniff her so she bit his face....really the other dog owners fault IMO as he shouldnt have been jumping on me. Anyway, I digress, she has the same problem and they are not walked together so it is not a leartn behaviour. She went to puppy preschool too and off lead is actually scared of other dogs until she knows them. I thought maybe it was me, but our two previous dogs were both very dog friendly so it must just be the two I have chosen lol Anyway, the point was I will take neither to an offlead area, or even to an area where I think there will be a lot of other dogs (well I take the same one coz if she starts getting all agro I can just remove her quite easily). Someone mentioned the vets, My boy has only been once here so far, but I made my appointment the last of the day and then rang from outside to make sure no dogs were about. He did stay in a kennel before he came here though and they said he was fine with other dogs....it is most likely just the lead thing though as he has met and does like other dogs. *waffle waffle waffle*

Going with a bit of both posts above... If he is doing well on his current food, no need to change. I usually move my dogs onto adult food at around 12 months (got one big dog and one tiny dog).

When I was a kid, I always wanted an Irish Setter, a Dally and a Rottie..... My how things change. My top ten would probably be, not necessarily in order: Dogue de bordeaux English Mastiff Neapolitan mastiff English bulldog Great Dane Shih tzu Staffordshire bull terrier doberman french bulldog newfoundland There are many more I would have, but over the years these are the breeds that always turn over in my mind

LOL that sounds like my dream too.... Now...just need to win lotto lol

Pepe is sooo good! My big boy Barney gives high fives, big loves, rolls over and "get dad" (and/or mum)...among other usual boring stuff like sit etc. Our littleun Pippi does "dance" and that's about it. I think her ears are purely for decoration because unless she thinks there is something in it for her, she doesn't hear a word you say. Our old girl Chevy (RIP) was our little circus freak. She could roll over, crawl, when you asked her "what do you say" she would beg, she could "shake" (her paw) and "the other one" change foot, she would "get the smokes" (lol I know bad eh), she danced too, she also did get dad/mum, we went through a period where we spent a bit of time teaching her to "give us some light" and put th elight on, but for some reason once she learnt it we never actually repeated it lol. There are some I have forgotten but she was a very very smart girl and learnt all her tricks in only a few minutes, and her last one she probably learnt at about 11 or so. I never put in any time for tricks, my OH does all the trick work - usually when he has had a few beers LOLOL. Though I did teach Pippi to dance but only because it was soemthing she did anyway so it was just a matter of encouraging it and getting her to ad in a twirl lol I wish I had the patience and the time to do it!!

It wasn't in Melbourne, but when I was in NZ after we adopted our dog from the SPCA I asked about vollie work and they said just rock up whenever you can. I used to go down every saturday morning, and some weekdays when I didn't have classes and help out. There were often a lot of people there as some people do their community service there. I don't really foster, though I did foster two pups once and it was semi accidental. They were posted on a MB as needing to be picked up before the man of the house got home as he'd already said the pups needed homes or they were going in a bucket. So I contacted the lady (who was quite distraught) and went and collected two 6 week old staffy x girls. They stayed with me for two weeks until they were old enough to be out in the world, learning about dog stuff from my girl and boy (and teaching my boy a few things while they were there) and then they went to another person I know off a MB where one coninutes to live with the woman and her 3 children and the other girl went to live with a couple in their 50's who have never had children. Good luck with it

OP, it's obviously just your dog - or a phase she is going through at the moment. IMO, you can get timid dogs in any breed regardless of cross or purebred. My big boy went through a timid phase when he was about 9 months old and was very wary of strangers. Even now as a 5 year old, while being an extremely loving and friendly dog he is never anywhere near as freindly with people he doesnt know as people he does. I liek this trait to be honest. He isn't timid but is very watchful if he doesn't know them and he is also a fantastic guard dog. My wee girl on the other hand...she is ridiculous. Ever since I have had her, if we go for a walk and she sees someone, she will pull and pull to get there. Her little body wriggling so much it bends in half and her tail whacking her own face. She is so embarrassing she them jumps all over them (or should I say ankles) and will also automaticlly roll over expecting belly rubs. She is like a squirmy pup and she is 1 now. Luckily, because she is such a cutey and does all that "cute" stuff to strangers they pretty much always oblige with a belly rub and lots of cuddles. She never ever had a timid phase at all.

My dogs don't really hump much. Bg boy used to hump wee girl when she first came (it used to crack us up coz she was so small there was really no point in him trying as it was more of an "air hump") but he would be told to "stop it" and would. I think he stopped doing this when wee girl was round 6 months and was speyed (big boy is entire) Very occasionally the wee girl will decide she wants to have a hump of big boys front leg (its all she can reach) and we usually crack up because it looks funny, but again, she is told to "stop it" and does. It very rarely happens though and hasnt happened for a number of months. However, big boy LOVES to hump my mums dog (who is no longer with us). Whenever we would go and visit and stay for a few days he would just constantly ride their dog (a neutered male) and their dog didnt seem to mind, and occasionally they would switch lol. Once, the humping even went so far that my big boys wanger came all the way out and was like dragging on the ground (we had all been inside but saw out the window the "ending"). Anyway, I generally put a stop to it. Especially if it continues. If it's a quick hump for a second I do't usually bother. I have never had a dog who humps people or other objects lol

Unfortunately, usually once someone has their heart set on doing soemthing they will go through with it anyway regardless of what others say. I personally don't think it is worth losing a freindship over so if she has already decided she is definitely going to have a litter, I PERSONALLY would stop focusing on why she shouldn't have one and instead change tactics and start giving advice on how she can make sure the pups are as healthy as possible and get good homes etc etc.

Hmmm, he is still doing it. He is not constantly doing it, ut like every few minutes he is going hard nuts. He seems ok though and still all happy and stuff. Even running round outside when I took him out for a drink and wanting to play. I am off work tomorrow so if he is still doing it I think I will pop down to the vet with him...unless it gets worse tonight then we will have to go tonight. I hope it isn't anything serious

Is this what a reverse sneeze is?

So I posted about my dogs spine a while ago, but it came to nothing, by the next day he was fine (as I had suspected) - *phew* Anyway, tonight he is asleep in his usual place (the chair next to mine) and all of a sudden he starts sucking in air really loudly and forecefully. It may not be sucking but thats the only way I can think of to describe it. He has done t twice in the last 15 minutes, its very similar to what some dogs do sometimes when they eat too fast. I have a vague notion that many years ago he done this one night, just one episode and it was never repeated so I didnt think much of it. Is this something I should worry about? I am usually pretty good with most "sicknesses" but I have never really seen this before and am unsure whether it is normal or not. TIA for any advice.....though I will be doing a quick google while waiting for responses.