flame ryder

I use those little round exercise trampolines. I get them from garage sales or cheap second hand shops. I've never paid more than $5.00 for one. Toss a few old blankets on them and they are very comfy. They last for years.

yes the cheaper one is alot darker. I'd ask the butcher what they actually put in their minces. Get a feel for the butcher...is he dog savvy? Does he have his own dogs? Does he look shifty like he's putting any old crap in his pet mince to make money?

The mince on the right looks exactly the same as what I buy and feed all my dogs and cats.

I have access to free band saw dust from the butcher. I think it would be a good source of calcium...am I correct? I don't feed beef or lamb bones anymore as my dogs argue over them, then 1 dog takes off with all the bones and hides/buries them...digging massive holes in annoying places. She then digs them up later when they smell and have maggots and the arguing starts again. So no more bones here any more except maybe a few on occasions. I thought a bit of band saw dust added to their regular pet mince could be a good alternative to bones. I'd also like to add that yes I know the bone chewing is good for their teeth, but only the one that steals them all gets to chew. I have lots of other chew things, chew sticks, nyla bones ect as alternatives.

Yes my Chinese Crested can be a bit naughty when it rains because he HATES it so much. Although I forgive him cause he does his poos in the garage and hides then behind my car. When I got my new boxer puppy I timed it so I would get the pup on the start of spring/summer so as to avoid taking him out in the cold and rain for toileting. But rain is rare atm here....rain? What rain?

Wow that's pretty cheap. I used to feed this sort of cheap kibble to my dogs years ago. The cheaper the better. Nowdays I am better educated and feed better quality. Judging by the cheap price I would say it's not very good or healthy to feed your dog long term. Although like I said I used to and my dogs lived to a good old age. They did poop alot and I thought that was normal, now I am feeding better quality and my dogs only poop once or twice a day and the poops they do do quickly decompose. I still buy cheap kibble, it has it's place for when we are busy or someone forgot to get the dog meat outta the freezer, but makes up maybe only 10% of their diet.

Oh wait I forgot...I hate my brother-in-laws dog. It's a stupid yappy thing. We try and have a conversation and the dog stands there and barks and barks and barks and...well you get the picture. I can't stand that dog. I think he knows we hate his dog. We would not allow behavior like that from any of our dogs.

I've had the odd rude comment about my dog (a Chinese Crested) and while I admit he is a bit weird I do think he is the most beautiful dog in the world. I don't think the popularity of those silly competitions for the ugliest dog do the breed any favours seeing as a Crestie won. Google ugly dog and guess what breed comes up 1st every time. My son tells me everyday how ugly my dog is and I recently added a Boxer to our family and when I told my sister she said "oh another ugly dog". How rude! One wouldn't be so rude as to say someones baby is ugly (and let me tell you I've seen a few ugly babies)

And yet there was one occasion when I was walking my Crestie and a couple were following slowly in their car...I thought I was being stalked, then they stopped jumped out and came up to me to tell me they had been admiring my dog because he was so cute, wanting more info on him, and patting him ect. He thought it was great (he loves human attention).

There's a few breeds who I think are the ugliest dogs but I would never say it out loud to the owners. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Can people please be a little bit nicer when attempting to educate new forum members, tearing people to shreds and being condescending doesn't help.

I agree........Where's the like button

Call me stupid but whats a troll?

At the other end of the spectrum I hate it when I send an e-mail to a breeder about puppys and detail everything they might want to know such as where the pup will sleep, what other dogs and pets I have, that I want to do obedience training with the pup, a bit about me and where we live, and yes I'll ask price - of course I'll want to know if I can afford it.....then the breeder doesn't bother to reply back. This happened to me a few times on my quest for a boxer puppy. Phone messages too went un-answered. It got really frustrating after a while.

I've seen it with kids too...one time I was at a friends place, she lived on a busy main road. There was a group of people walking down the road and they had a little girl about 2 years old with them. They were having an argument and wern't watching the kid. Kid toddled onto the road right in front of an oncoming car. We heard the squeeling of wheels and expected disaster but luckily the kid wasn't hit. Next thing the father (well I assume it was the father) beer bottle in one hand, smoke in the other proceeds to yell and swear abuse at the poor driver who was obviously very up-set at nearly hitting a kid.

Some people shouldn't have kids or dogs

If you have internet and/or mobile access while you travel you could come on here and ask others if they know of any free, dog friendly places to camp...I know of a few down this way. Nothing like a bit of local knowledge.

I'm so jealous! It's good that you are doing this while you are relatively young, I'm sure you will have lots of fun, but how are you affording to just drop everything and go. I've often thought about doing this but could never work out how we would make a living while traveling.

I spent two years travelling around Australia in the early 80s, in a trusty old Torana. That was back when you could easily have a dog in a camp ground and there were no rules about National Parks or great Australian landmarks. Back when you could leave your dog sitting outside a shop and it would be there when you came out again, back when no-one worried about your dog on the beach with you and back when you could camp for free in lots of spots around this beautiful country.

I don't doubt that Badger would be fine with the travelling but I do worry about how limiting this will be for him and you because of all the no dog zones you will face. What will you do in a hot town when you want to visit somewhere? You can't leave him in the car. What will you do when you are bone tired after a long day of driving but can't find a camp ground that will let you have an animal? What if you really want to visit a particular National Park but can't even park there because you have poor Badger.

Yes I know how this really sucks because he is a beautiful boy and just a pup. Back then I owned an adult old english sheepdog (who would've taken up a lot more room in the Torana!) and I practically broke up with my partner over him not allowing me to bring my dog with us. I couldn't understand it given he was an animal lover himself, but pretty much straight away I realised how difficult it would've been, particularly in the summer in QLD, NT and northern WA. And there were so many places we visited that my girl would've sruggled with - she couldn't have climbed inside caves or spent hours floating around in hot springs or watched from the hot sand as we snorkelled the ocean. What would we have done with her when we went on short side trips to islands?

Sorry to be Devil's Advocate but there is a lot to see and do in this great country and taking a dog with you will restrict what you do and how you do it. If you are ok with this then go for it, but if you make a list of what you want to experience and for at least 10% of it Badger has to be exluded then you need to think realistically about how you will manage this from Badger's perspective.

One thing about travelling around Australia too is that it is easy to get side tracked by things, people and places you never imagined existed and whether Badger goes with you or not I hope you have a magical trip. It really is an amazing country.

Oh yeah the good old Torana...we used to have a LJ 4 door Torana...oh boy I wish we'd kept it they are now classics and worth quite a bit...very nice cars!

And yep everything above is right...having a dog will unfortunately limit where you can go...it's amazing how many beaches are "no dogs". Not to mention all those lovely National parks you will miss out on. Personally I think it sucks big time. I plan to do the same one day and going without my dogs will not only break my heart but will spoil all the fun too. If I can afford it I want to buy a Winnabago Camper, I can then leave/hide my dog inside (small quiet dog) and know he will be comfy and safe. Would limit all those adventurous 4wd tracks though...but worth it have my dog with me.

Will follow with interest how you go.

Oh far out man...I thought barf was a brand of canned food. Thanks for enlightening me persephone

My GS used to break into the chook yard...no not to get at the chooks, but to pinch the eggs.

By the way...as a result of the stuff I've read on here about the cheap dry food/kibble and canned stuff I rarely feed it anymore the benefits are there is a lot less poo output and the poo that does come out breaks down and vanishes into the soil pretty quickly . It still has it's place when there is nothing else though.

That's why I love these forums...you learn so much that I wouldn't have otherwise learnt.

It's not really rocket science is it. I try to just feed everything in moderation. Just as I do myself...some junk food (tinned or cheap crappo kibble) once in a while is ok. Mine get expensive kibble from the vets, some cheapo kibble, raw chicken mince from the butchers, chicken necks, raw beef and lamb bones, vegetables, pasta, rice, eggs (raw),even cake and biscuits...and tonight they will share some of my spaghetti bog, I made it with no onions especially so they can have some too

It comes down to a couple of things

- Breeders coddling their pups a little too much. So many spend too much time locked up or in the whelping box, they're dogs and they need to get outside ASAP no matter the breed. They need to fall over, hear loud noises, get dirty and sometimes, be frightened of things and then run back to see whats going on as pups do. Too many people bringing home chubby, dry-socialised dogs that have met the same few people and barely left the breeders home. My friends current litter is already out on the grass at 4 weeks of age, had pots banged, CDs of thunder, music etc played and this week they even had firecrackers set off near them. They didn't bat an eyelid.

Personally I think the more the breeder does, in terms of seperating the pups from each other, crate/pen training them, taking them for car rides, handling them, having others handle them etc, makes a world of difference to how a puppy settles into it's new home.

I rarely get calls that mine cry or they are distressed in any way, most say they march in and take over the house like they've always been there.

I do see the same thing with new pups purchased. My Mal bitch too, when we babysat them at 7 weeks they were happy to entertain themselves if you were too tired, toilet trained and went straight to a crate to sleep. Never heard a peep from either of them. A little effort goes a long way. Dogs need to learn to learn. If they dont learn as pups it becomes an uphill struggle from there.

As for the puppy purchasers, there is this obsession also perpetuated by vets, of locking up pups. It shits me to tears that we're so obsessed with disease risk that it's better to lock them up. They're puppies they HAVE to go out and explore and be outside. The fact peoples backyards are shrinking too doesnt help, imagine living in these modern 'boxes' as a dog.

It's also an idea of we must protect our pups from being frightened by things! Oh no it got scared, quick RUN HOME AND LOCK IT AWAY AGAIN! We need to become a little tougher. Fear, anxiety, stress, etc are all normal parts of how an animal learns. Fear periods are now the new pop word for excusing dogs behaviour and owners/trainers backing off making the dog deal with it. We have instilled such an anxiety in dog owners that many I have seen literally reduced to tears in frustration and afraid of ruining their dog. Dogs are more resilient then we give them credit for, the more we fuss, dote and panic the more neurotic a creature we are raising.

These half-baked puppy preschools that somehow have become a replacement for the old style of taking the pup straight to dog club after the last vaccination are contributing too. 4-5 hours of mucking about somehow becomes a replacement for a couple of years of real dog training in a lot of peoples minds, how that logically works is beyond me. It's in the same category of 'I went to kindergarten, ready for VCE now'. More accessable dog clubs are required, I am in awe of any group class only classes that charge clients up to $1000 in order to get 'lifetime training'. Remember the old days you'd pay a little yearly admin fee and then chuck a gold coin in the box? OK trainers were mainly volunteers but there was an option for everyone, no matter your income, to go out and train your dog, see other dogs in a controlled manner from a young age.

Whattya mean "Remember the old days you'd pay a little yearly admin fee and then chuck a gold coin in the box? OK trainers were mainly volunteers but there was an option for everyone" it's not the old days here...my local club still works this way....where are you?

I have regularly used surface spray on all my outdoor areas including around the dog areas and inside kennels. I really don't know why I bother as it never really works. I haven't learnt my lesson I just keep trying different brands right through from the cheap home brand to the more expensive. Just 2 weeks before Christmas I did my front verandah - de cobbwebbed ect....fast forward 2 weeks and there are spiders and their webs back already. On the can it claims it works for 6 months pfffffffffffft crap!!! I've been thinking about buying the type in the plastic bottles that come in 1 or 2 litres and claim they are "what the professionals use". But they are like 3 times as expensive. I'd be interested to know if anyone has used them, if they indeed work or if I would be again wasting money.

My 14 week old boxer puppy seems to always have wet paw pads. I find this weird as I've never noticed it with any of my other dogs. Everywhere he goes he leaves a trail of little wet paw prints. Is it true that dogs sweat through their paw pads? I thought it was an old wives tale but maybe not? Is this normal or do I just have a dog that sweats more than any other I've had before?

Ok so in most places of Australia it has been baking hot the last few days...here today 41 deg yuk. My dogs choose to sleep in the worst places. I have over an acre of garden for them to roam in...shady trees, lush green lawns...but no the GS chooses to lay under the front verandah with the alsanite roof, hard hot slate floor...hottest place in my opinion. Second dog laying on concrete, Third dog goes in his kennel in my car shed...again one of the hottest places. Believe me they have other choices, including inside but they choose these weird places. Got me stumped. Anyone else's dogs as weird as mine?

Thanks everyone. Well looks like their diet of chicken is ok, long as I mix a bit of other meat every now and then (and vegis n pasta n stuff) Good! I'm just sure I read something bad about too much chicken in diets a while back..musta been dreaming it.

Didn't wanna hi-jack someone else's thread so thought I'd start my own. I've read some bad stuff about feeding chicken. I would just like to know is it that bad for your dog, if so why?

Recently got some Advance dry puppy food from the vets...only seems to come in chicken, I even asked is there a beef or lamb version...appears not. Then off to the butchers I go to get some pet mince. It's all chicken based! Coupla chicken necks a day as treats. So yeah my dogs eat alot of chicken...don't get me wrong, I do feed other meat but the chicken is most easily accessible and cheap...and what about Roo, does anyone feed that?

This post caught my eye because my puppy also had sore pads/feet. (only the bottom pads not the top of the toes) We worked out he got sore feet from pacing his yard which is paved. I guess he'd never been exposed to pavers before. He only stays in the yard while I am at work, he don't really like it too much but it's necessary as at 13 weeks he is like a 2 year old kid and would get into too much trouble if left to wander about the house/property un-supervised for the few hours I work. Lucky for him I only work part-time.

I took him to the beach because I think it helps relieve his sore feet...salt water is good for that sort of thing. I didn't let him walk up on the soft sand, only walked on the hard sand and paddled in the water. We've been a few times now and he loves it. I can't see how there can be a risk of parvo where the water constantly washes on the sand...also the beaches we go to are pretty remote anyway. So i'd say yeah take your little puppy to the beach and let him dip his sore feet in the ocean. There are also products on the market that can help harden puppies pads...do a search on here...I found something in another post about sore pads. But probably only time will cure his feet as they will gradually harden as he gets used to his new environment. My puppy's feet have improved alot in just a few weeks...already he is getting tougher!

By the way I have 3 dogs and one of mine is a MoJo too...must be a popular name now.

I have one The brand is Sureguard and is Australian made. Their customer service is excellent. We are very pleased with it, it keeps our German Shepard in 24/7. However we did have a few problems at first...you need to remember that your dog needs to be trained to use it, you can't just whack the collar on and he'll automatically stay in. It's not hard to train them though...only takes a few hours, but well worth it. As some others have suggested it wont keep other dogs out which could be a problem if you are in a built up area with lots of roaming dogs. It's not cheap though and I did a lot of research and asked others...what I was told is don't get the cheaper imported ones cause they wont last long and aren't as good. I have over an acre and if I was to fence that whole area it would have cost a small fortune and there still would have been the digging out or jumping over risk...not to mention that we are too lazy to open and close gates all the time. I am very happy with mine and consider it money well spent. However it may not work for you or your breed of dog...do lots of research before you make the decision.

Easily solved problem.....put the hubby outside at night and let the dog sleep on his side of the bed.

Joking lol sorry couldn't resist