monique.c

I just spoke to Julana in Brisbane on the phone and am getting a sample in the next couple of weeks My dog is on Nutro at the moment but after reading all the good feedback I think we will switch him over as it seems a lot better and also a lot cheaper

Love it :D

I do, I do. She is absolutely gorgeous, love the photos showing the progression over the weeks, from weeks 3 to 4 seem like a bit difference, like becoming a proper dog not just a little baby puppy... I will be overseas skiing in NZ (it's a hard life) for my dog's first birthday. He will be at my mum's place so hopefully 'grandma' and his 'aunties' will do something, his birthday is my sisters too... We get back the day after his birthday so will probably give him a toy and try to take photos with a party hat then Here are some photos of my boyfriend's brother's cat's first birthday

I have an 11-month-old Golden Retrieve and he has destroyed all the soft toys that we have bought him, he loves them but he loves ripping the stuffing out and it was getting expensive buying him toys only to have him destroy it within hours of getting it.. He too loves the empty coke/milk/whatever plastic bottles, will play with them for hours, especially when he was a baby. His favourite toys are the moment are: - A red rubber (same type of rubber as kong and cuz) hippo with a really obnoxious squeaker which he loves - Green rubber (as above) octopus with squeaker (top right in photo) - Tug toy with green rubber spiky ball thing in the middle, he loves playing tug-o-war and throwing it up in the air and chasing it around the house He also loves his flat titans rugby ball...

I find the photoshopping of the photo pretty funny...

I have a friend who successfully changed his 11-month-old Labs name from Dimples to Sapper. He just rewarded him every time Sapper responded when he heard his name...

You're not kidding! Massimo's at Noosa takes the word 'delicious' to new places! I've worked my way through most flavours... My dog doesn't mind, If it's bowl or stick. When there's Ice Cream involved, She'll get a lick! Yeah it's so good hey, I have a friend who used to work there and she would bring home the leftover ice cream sometimes. So so so good, I love the fererro rocher and hazelnut flavours and pistachio the best!!! Mmmm I want Gelato now!

Do you work at Massimo's in Noosa or Gelato Mio in Coolum? Both those places are amazing! My dog gets to lick the bowl if my boyfriend or I has ice cream, he loves it

He is so so so gorgeous! My partner and I want to get a little girl berner a few years in the future as our next dog. They are just to lovely! Beautiful pictures

Great Photo, so so cute, the photo below is one of my favourite photos, all three in the photo were killed in afghanistan last year and the reason we have this photo is because a reporter from Four Corners was with their section at the time. I love how the two guys are just laughing and the dog Herbie seems to be the only one being serious and paying attention.

My mum's dog she had while growing up was called Christy, she died when I was 2. When we got our family dog when I was 8 she looked similar to Christy, even though it was a different cross breed (border collie x lab compared to border collie x german shepherd)and we called her Crystal in memory of Christy...

I wouldn't take too much notice to what parents tell their kids to get them to do stuff, I work in a pharmacy and today had a lady tell her kid that he better be good or the pharmacist will get him and crush him up and make him into medicine... Pretty bad though about that lady because that's how kids get irrationally scared of dogs

BUMP

I'm on the northside, in Mitchelton. I was thinking of trying the Metro Dog Club in Chermside, I have heard some good things about it, do you know anything about it?

Thanks Annie, I think I will call a behaviourist, hopefully someone here can give me some tips of some good ones in the Brisbane area because I would have no idea how to tell if someone is a good behaviourist or not. Snowy is my partner and mine first dog apart from family pets and I want to do the right thing by him...

Yes he would be more at risk of being stolen if entire. In cats and rats and some other mammals, desexing completely stops that sort of marking behaviour. In dogs, desexing may make no difference at all, or it might help only slightly. What it will do is make the urine a lot less smelly and sticky, and it can make a dog less distractible when you are trying to train it out of some undesirable habits. I would go ahead with desexing and because of this problem would do it sooner rather than later, in the hope the lowering of hormones will help with this behaviour. The reason we were waiting was the growth thing, I thought that it was better for their development if you wait until they have finished growing? Is this right? He is 10 months now and weighs about 38kg so I think he would almost be done with his growing anyway...

I'm kind of glad to see that other people have had this problem too. I like the idea of keeping him on lead and greeting people if we go to the dog park again. Definitely going to buy a long-lead for when we play fetch in the park (our backyard isn't really big enough for a good game of fetch). And definitely going to start with the toileting on command again, we don't do it much at the moment as he is only inside when we are home and he just takes himself out when he needs to go. I probably am over reacting, I was just so embarassed when he did it... With the de-sexing thing, I actually don't mind too much if we do or don't desex him, I just figure if he gets out if he is de-sexed then he won't contribute to the stray dog problem... we have pretty good fences but accidents can happen. Also would he be more of a kidnapping risk if he is left entire? Being a purebred dog?

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I guess I was hesitant to physically reprimand him but I will definitely give him a kick up the butt if I see him do it again. Corvus we have been taking him to the dog park since he was about 5 months old and he is now 10 months, he first peed on someone maybe 3 weeks ago. I get him to sit down before I take him off the leash but he is definitely really, really excited when we get to the park so this excitement probably has something to do with it. It's a good idea to call him back with treats when he gets excited, I will definitely start doing that more. I will call the Metro dog school on Monday to book him in for classes, we did about 10 weeks of classes when we first got him but he definitely needs more. I guess I just need to learn to be tougher on him and not baby him as much

Hmmn might be an idea if he does it again, I really wanted to hit him in the face myself but I didn't think it would help the situation and I might get charged with animal abuse. Man I was beyond furious though. I think he is just pretty territorial at the moment. He has been house trained for months and months, but last week my boyfriends brother brought his little mini foxie puppy around and when Snowy came back inside after they left he peed on the floor in the living room because he smelled the other dog in his terrority...

It will be more healthy for me to go for walks in the morning too i guess, exercise is always good! I was thinking about joining the metro dog school in Chermside in Brisbane anyway, I think I will do that too, they have lessons on a Monday night, that way Snowy can get more exercise and brain training.

I guess I am just scared of taking him somewhere where it could happen now as I was so embarassed when it happened, I wouldn't trust him off-lead around other people now in case he pees on them. And that won't solve the problem will it? Or do you think it would be something he grows out of eventually if I just don't even give him the opportunity to do it?

Yeah I won't let him play with other dogs while on a long-leash, I was thinking I would use that when I take him down to an oval near my house which is designated off-leash, we go and play fetch there. I will have to take him for more walks in the morning before work, it's just so bloody cold and hard to get out of bed. I don't let him mark whenever he wants on walks because I think that is gross as well. Do you think it would be worth it desexing him earlier than we planned? We definitely plan on doing it, this is just a little earlier than we wanted..

It has only ever happened at a dog park. When I walk him on lead I don't let him mark, my boyfriend sometimes does though and I tell him not to let him and he says that Snowy can mark if he wants to I will be much more firm on not allowing my boyfriend to let him mark from now on as well, I told him we should get a girl dog! With most things he seems to not be too dominant, like if another dog growls or goes at him, he just lays on the ground on his back or slinks away... I think I will give a behaviourist a call on Monday, do you guys know any good ones in Brisbane? If you do can you PM me the phone number or put it on here?

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will definitely buy a long-lead and go back to keeping him on that at the park for our fetch sessions. For the training sessions Persephone what sort of things should I be training him or do you just mean the toilet training, we had a toilet word 'go wee wees' when he was a baby but he never pees in the house now and just takes himself outside I so rarely see him go to the toilet at home anymore and when he is on leash walks he rarely goes to the toilet anyway until we come home. How do I go about re-training him to toilet on command this being the case? Do you think de-sexing will help? I try not to let him mark stuff when we go for walks if he looks to be wanting to because I don't want him to get into the habit of marking stuff? I will just have to take him for walks at night instead of going to the park, it was just easier because the park has lights so he can run around as it gets dark so early these days.

Hey Guys, I'm not really sure what to do but my dog Snowy (ten month old, entire, male golden retriever) has on two occasions now peed on people. The first time was at the dog park and he was really excited and running around peeing on trees and stuff and he ran straight up to someone and peed on their leg! I was so mortified, I ran over, yelled "NO" at Snowy, apologised profusely to the poor person and left. I haven't taken him to the park for a couple of weeks since it happened but I took him this morning because I figured there would be hardly anyone there and I thought he might have just been excited around all the other dogs last time, well pretty much as soon as we got there he peed on the one other person who was there, I reacted pretty much the same as the time before and took him home straight away. I don't know what to do so I thought I would ask on here. I don't know how to train him not to do it because I am scared that he will do it if he is around other people now, I don't even want to take him to the off-leash park to play fetch in case he does it. He has pretty good recall (could be better) but when he gets all excited sometimes he doesn't listen to me. Is this something that could be fixed if I de-sex him? I wanted to wait untill he is about 12-18 months to do it but we will do it earlier if it will help. Should I call a behaviorist or do more lessons with him? We did puppy pre-school and basic obedience... I am so furious with him and so embarassed!