minxy

That one claim you made has more than been worth your while!

RIP to both Harry and the dog

Dammit, this just reminded me that I have a 4 month old kitten to worry about. I can't even stop him from attacking my ankles yet :laugh:

You are organised! Raven....how cute!!

Our aussie shepherd arrives tomorrow afternoon, he's flying in his own new crate. We've bought food, a collar and lead, toys, grooming stuff. His little bed should arrive today and i need to pick up some bowls, a ticking clock (where on earth do i buy one?) and a couple of blankets. My husband is building a playpen for him tonight.

Excited!!

Maybe try the cheap and junky stores?

Yes, I believe they do. When Kyojin plays with puppies he lies down and lets them jump all over his face and lets them do whatever they want to him. He's very gentle with them and loves having a puppy climb all over him.

Rotties and Huskies would probably be my top two to watch after my own breed.

Beautiful garden. Thank you for sharing :)

Two and a half more weeks until my kitten comes home

We didn't get Kyojin til about 14 weeks old, and we started puppy school right away. It was with a trainer. All dogs were on lead and not actually allowed to interact as such, so it wasn't just a puppy free for all. I wouldn't go through a vets.

We were originally looking at getting a husky before we discovered the akita. A sibe would have been more full on than we were after. I'll never be without an akita again.

Wow, I wouldn't even think of reporting her. Sounds more like she was just making conversation rather than a harassing sales pitch. I wouldn't give it a second thought

For food I love: https://www.pawsforlife.com.au/

For cheap toys etc I love: http://www.trixanpet.com.au/

She's stunning!!!!

I was going to suggest Pawsforlife buuuut since you've already used them and weren't happy that wasn't much help.

I used to use Pet Store To Your Door and they were always wonderful, but PFL are cheaper and I just set our food up to come every 4 weeks so that's nice and easy for me.

:rofl:

Probably a bit sensitive. "Old" isn't a criticism, it's just a statement. 10 IS old for most dogs unfortunately. That's just how it is. If someone pointed that out to me, I'd probably say something about how awesome it was to have such a great friend for these last 10 years etc.

What was the reason why you stopped training your dog? We stopped training when we found out that Kyojin had luxating patellas and then had to reduce his exercise and freedom greatly. We didn't think that continuing going to group training was going to be a good idea at that point.

Do you feel your dog is well trained enough? Yes, enough that he is very easy to live with. Certainly not as well trained as many people's dogs on here who have done extensive training, but he knows everything we need him to know. His recall isn't always bang on, but I'd never let him off lead in an open area regardless.

Did you not get results from previous training attempts? We got some great results. We didn't always agree with what we were told, so sometimes we came up with different ideas, but on the whole I think that the training we did was a really positive experience.

Is training too far away/ too often/ too expensive? Are you simply too busy? Did you find training boring? The club we went to was about 45 minutes away, so yea that was really far for us, and Mr M is a shift worker so it was really difficult to find a suitable class and then try and make arrangements to be there every week. We were at one of the most expensive clubs in the area, but it suited what we were trying to achieve when we first got Kyojin. If we were to return to training now we'd be going to an obedience club instead, which is only about 10 minutes away and about 1/20 of the price. I found training usually pretty interesting.

What would prompt you to start training again or would you not start training again regardless? I probably won't even though I really enjoyed it because I'm not really sure what else I want to achieve with Kyojin, and it's too difficult for us at the moment with shift work. It's possible though so I won't rule it out.

Sorry to hijack your thread MUP, but now I have started laughing all over again, I can't stop... and this is the other photo that does it to me every time.

This is my Fame. Hope you can see the crazy eyes

Fame looks like she's doing a zombie walk up to the bar.

Oh Ollie is just so beautiful! Surely you can't part with him? :laugh: I love seeing photos of your boys.

I do not believe that dogs feel humiliated, or that they would laugh at another dog that is wearing silly clothes. That's what humans do. Dogs couldn't give a crap. It CAN be cruel, as other have stated, if the clothes cause the dog to overheat, or cause more than minimal restriction of movement, or if the dog just downright doesn't like wearing a coat/clothes.

I'm not personally a fan of dressing up dogs to look like little girls, but that doesn't mean it's abusive or cruel. A lot of dogs who wear costumes LOVE the extra attention and treats they know it will bring them. My Tommy Greyhound adores his flash ouside coat, because he knows that when it comes out, he is going to go for a walk or a car ride somewhere. Both greyhounds leap up and run over to me when I bring out their longjohn pyjamas during winter. Nissa even picks up her paws for me, in the correct order, so that I can put her pjs on her faster :laugh:

Yes, my dogs' coats and pyjamas are worn because the dogs get cold during winter (we had snow the other day - yay!) but whilst function and comfort are the primary concerns, they are not the ONLY things I think about. I'd rather dress them in warm, comfortable coats made in a nice colour and pattern than in equally warm, comfortable coats in baby-poo brown. My dogs don't suffer just because what they are wearing isn't ugly :laugh:

Love that present carrying costume, it is very clever. I've seen a similar one, on a larger dog, with pirates carrying a treasure chest. I also love the Imperial Walker whippet coat I would absolutely dress my greyhounds in costumes like these if we were going to to breed promotion at something like a Million Paws Walk because, funnily enough, it helps people to see them as fun pet dogs rather than creatures-that-are-only-good-for-racing-but-you-wouldn't-have-one-in-your-home-besides-they-wear-muzzles-so-they-must-be-vicious.

Yup, how good is it :D

Wow, what a lucky girl!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Takoda

Looks like i can join this thread now

In 9 weeks i will be a proud griffon owner :D

Congrats! I'm so glad I'm away from that length of waiting...they tell you time will drag, but no one elaborates on how much it actually does ;)

I'm waiting on a kitten, does that count? :laugh:

Well I reckon it should count :D How long do you have to go?

:D yay! About 8-9 weeks, he's 4 weeks old now and will get desexed at about 12 weeks old before coming home. I was thinking I should do a bit of shopping tomorrow :D

I'm waiting on a kitten, does that count? :laugh:

Philip Moses from VSS is wonderful. He's the orthopedic surgeon who operated on Kyojin. http://www.vss.net.au/index.php?page=index

I honestly can't fault my pet insurance. I used over $10k worth of value out of it in my first 12 months of having it.

Thats interesting Minxy - what sort of things did you claim for?

Patella surgery, xrays, general consults, medication etc etc.