WeimMe

I am looking to change vets as mine is just about impossible to get into, even in an emergency situation which I think is unacceptable. Does anyone living in the South West Brissie area have an amazing vet, that doesn't charge and arm and a leg that they could recommend? If such a thing exits, a clinic that will care for sick animals overnight instead of palming them off to the Animal Emergency Clinic would be ideal, but at this stage I would be happy just to be able to find somewhere that has great staff who are willing to see your pet when they are very ill and understand the concept of triage. I'm willing to travel for 30 minutes from Forest Lake.

OMG - such a beautiful dog! I have never seen a Shiba before. Sorry to hear you have had such a rough time of things. I agree with the others that you should go vet shopping. There is no way that my vet would dismiss my concerns like that. I am glad that she is feeling better :)

Oh I'm so sorry to read that you have lost your beautiful dog. Please don't blame yourself for this - you did everything you possibly could for her and while her life was short, I am sure that it was very happy. Run free gorgeous girl.

Thanks so much for sharing! Yes that definitely sounds like the kind of craziness I am anticipating :laugh: expecting lots of time-outs as well, regardless of what dog we end up choosing! I know you mentioned you had a beagle X but what is his personality like if you don't mind me asking, is he very playful? A beagle is definitely the runner up at this point if we don't decide on a Golden - we've done months of research on both but I like hearing from the owners! He has quite a strong personality - very willful and confident and at this stage still very naughty! He is pretty full on - has a lot of energy and is very playful. When he was younger I despaired of him ever learning how to behave indoors. He ate two couches and scratched up my kitchen cupboards. I have learned that he needs to be kept busy, otherwise he will find something to do on his own that generally is not something that I want him to do. He's not a purebred and I couldn't say with any certainty what other dogs are in his lineage, so I don't know if all Beagles are like that. There is supposed to be some Tibetan Spaniel in there too. Reading this I guess I have painted him as some kind of demon dog, but he does have his good points! He is a lot of fun to own and very affectionate. Makes me laugh every day. Life is crazy with two dogs!

I have an old Wiemaraner and a young Beagle cross. Hugo the Beagle X is 18 months now and still very feisty. They play a lot - pretty roughly sometimes! - and yep, they do crash into furniture and often I have to put Hugo on leash while inside to calm him down and give Daisy a break. I have to say, it can be bloody annoying isn't very conducive to relaxing! Nobody has been hurt here, but Hugo is quite a bit larger than a Frenchie.

I've found a few strays. I used to work on reception at a school and for some reason we'd often have stray dogs wander in - maybe they were attracted to the kids? In all cases I was able to either call the owners direct from the dog's tag or the council would contact them from the registration details and the owner would call me & collect them. I've also rescued a terrified maltese cross who nearly got run over by a rubbish truck. Her owner was at work so I just looked after her for the day until she could come and get her. She'd been missing for 5 days, poor little thing. She's the reason why I ended up getting a second dog :) I'd only take them to the pound once I had exhausted all the other avenues I think.

Both of my dogs seem to shed an incredible amount considering they are both short haired. I have a Weim and a Beagle Cross. I can understand why the shed factor plays a part in choosing a dog breed if you are houseproud. I have wooden floors throughout and have to run about with the vacuum twice a day to keep on of it. It is embarassing when relatives with allergies come to visit and their eyes start streaming - obviously there is still plenty of dog hair about! That said, I love both of them to death, so the hair is just part of the deal. I was thinking of getting a miniature poodle at one stage and thought wistfully of how lovely it would be not to have to battle with the dog hair, but I have always had pets of the wash n wear variety and I realised just how much grooming they require.

Mine is "locked up" in his crate in our bedroom to sleep ....and he is nearly 18 months old! He would probably be OK to let out, only he sneaks up onto our bed during the night. We started using the crate at night right from the beginning and he just sees it as being his bed now.

I honestly don't know how you would go about this without having poultry of your own as it can take quite a while to get them to understand that the chooks are out of bounds. It took my weimeraner about 3 months before she showed no interest in them but we have had our new dog for nearly 18 months now and he will still chase them if he has the chance. He doesn't hurt them - he just pins them down - but obviously it's not a good thing so Hugo is not allowed in the back yard when the chooks are out and I can't see that changing for quite some time. There is no way that I would trust him at the moment.

"Either way, people should be able to take their well behaved dogs to the beach without them being disemboweled." I completely agree. This is the real issue here, not what breed the dog was, not if the attack was provoked. Some poor family took their dog out for a nice day at the beach and instead had to witness their beloved family pet die in the most horrific way. A dog that is known to be aggressive around other dogs and/or people has no place being off leash in a public place. Idiots like the owner of the larger dog are the reason why I feel that I cannot ever take my dogs to a dog park. I know that they would love it, but there are just too many risks involved.

I second the idea that perhaps the vet might be a good temporary solution while Roo is being trained if they are willing to take her on. My old girl generally doesn't cope well with being away from home but apparently behaves like a different dog when she is at the vets...until I come to pick her up and she starts howling at the sound of my voice.

I hear your pain - I was in your shoes about a year ago. I think perhaps that some dogs just take longer to get the idea than others. What eventually worked for me was going back to basics and taking him out every hour, after naps, play and eating while he was on the lead. I would take him outside, give the command "toilet" and ignore him until he went then praised him madly and gave him a few treats. After a while I was able to have longer periods between toilet visits and fewer accidents on the floor. He'll get it eventually :)

My puppy used to do this too. In the end we decided to temporarily fence that area off until he is older. Our older dog (in my avatar) also did this (and chewed up the clothes!) and she eventually grew out of it. It did take a few years though...

Wow...those are some confronting images. That poor dog I wonder how the poor thing will cope with having it's tongue constantly exposed like that.

I think for ticks, the general recommendation is Advantix spot on administered every 2 weeks. This should address the fleas as well. If for some reason it doesn't my vet advised me that it is OK to use it in conjunction with Comfortis. It would be a bit on the expensive side though.... The ticks are bad right now - I pulled one off my 10 month old puppy last week and I have only ever seen one tick on any of our animals in 12 years of living here.

I did think about this as a temporary solution for while he is indoors. I will give it a go until I can schedule a trainer to come and work with him I think. At the moment he's not supposed to be walked due to the stitches etc from desexing and I am wondering if the lack of exercise might have contributed to his boredom. It is next to impossible to keep a very energetic dog "quiet" for 2 weeks!

Long ago I accepted that Hugo loved to chew and needed to be kept busy - very busy - or physically separated from chewables in order to maintain household harmony. All of the rooms that can be shut off to him have the doors permanently closed and I've drilled into the family that any items left on the floor are as good as gone. He's put outside when we go out, and crated at night so that he doesn't destroy our bedroom while we sleep. This was a soloution that we were all comfortable with...until he moved on from chewing shoes and swiping edibles from the kitchen benches to eating the furniture. A few weeks ago he discovered the joy of chewing on the kitchen cabinets. This morning in the 15 minutes that my daughter left him unattended in the main part of the house while she sat oblivious playing on the computer (he is forbidden access to the study as he can sever a cable with one snip of his jaws), he ate the couch. This is the second one he's wrecked. The last time he pulled chunks of foam out of one of the cushions that had the cover off (I was washing the slipcover), this time he dragged the couch into the centre of the room and tore the fabric covers from both cushions to get at the foam. All while wearing an elizabethan collar (he was desexed a few days ago). My heart just sank when I discovered the carnage because I know that this means that my husband will no longer tolerate him being in the house at all unless he is in the crate. Has anyone else lived with a very destructive dog? Did they grow out of it? How do you cope with them/manage them while they are going through this phase? We have another dog who ate shoes etc when she was younger, but her naughty phase pales in comparison with Hugo's. If things don't turn around I don't know that we will be able to keep him - we simply can't afford to replace the things he destroys. UPDATE Just wanted to update this post in case any other owners of insatiable chewers are interested. It's nearly 2 months since I posted the above in utter despair (Hugo is about 8 months old now) and I am pleased to say that he is doing so much better. From the advice I received I devised a strategy of lots of legal and fun things for him to chew like boxes with kibble inside and also plenty of rawhide type chews as well as basically making it impossible for him to have the opportunity to do the wrong thing. I spend a fair bit of money on chew things and toys each week, but it is worth it to save my own belongings (not to mention the furniture/house!). He is only allowed inside offlead for a few short periods a day and he is closely supervised for those times, otherwise he is on leash (with something to chew on) while we watch TV or in his crate. He doesn't seem to mind too much as he likes being outside. I also do obedience with him and walk him every day. He is very active and athletic and needs to be kept busy - if nothing is provided then he'll find something to destroy. I can't recommend the obedience classes enough and I am so glad that I decided to re-enrol, even though at the time I didn't really want to invest any more money in him. It is a difficult thing to admit...but for a while there I did not like him or enjoy owning him at all. He was so full of energy that I couldn't even pat him - he would just bite me and run away, and frankly...he was was just completely out of control. He has a long way to go obedience-wise (probably more due to me than any shortcoming on his part!), but attending the classes and working with him every day has really helped to develop our bond. He is still a handful and has to be watched all the time, but I am hoping that in time he will grow out of it and one day I might even be able to let him loose in the house.....

Our Beagle cross Hugo is about 7 months old now, and seems to be becoming increasingly destructive. I would be interested to know if this is a normal phase of puppy development and also...other than removing potential items from harms way, is there anything I can do to get the point across that his chewing should be limited to his toys (of which he has many!). Our other dog did like to chew things when she was younger, but only if she was left at home alone and generally they were things that were left on the floor. I'm home all day with Hugo so I know it's not a separation anxiety thing, I really think he just immensely enjoys tearing things to bits. He used to be allowed to be in the living areas of the house, but that had to stop when it became apparent that it wasn't just items left on the floor that were attractive to him, but anything put up on a bench or table (not necessarily food), cupboard doors, any kind of electrical cable and furniture. He also takes great delight in "stealing" things - he'll snatch a item and run off with it and if left unchecked, tear it to pieces. Many many many times a day. He enjoys being chased and considers it a great game, but if I don't recover the item it's as good as gone. After he tore apart a couch cushion when left alone for 5 minutes, I have had to resort to leaving him in the back yard during the day (where he is also destructive, just in less financially devastating ways)and crating him when he's inside, which is really not the life I had in mind for him ( although frankly, he seems as happy as a clam with the status quo). Is there anything I can do to teach him to leave our things alone? Is it just a stage? I should mention that he is currently entire, but scheduled for desexing in the next few weeks and gets an hour long walk each day (surely that is enough!).

Good luck with your search for a Weim pup JaCaMa. I'm sure it will be worth all the effort - they are beautiful dogs :) As for it being wrong to ask the price....I can't understand that at all. If the information isn't freely given, of course you'll have to ask! Ultimately you are making a financial transaction with the breeder and the differences in price from breeder to breeder can be substantial. If the asking price puts that particular breeder out of your reach, would it not be best to know upfront rather than wasting your time and theirs?

It depends what you are using it for. If you use it just for flea control, then you could just treat him as needed if you see fleas on him - this is what I do for my dog with Comfortis. Same thing for worms really - I do all of my animals (and family members!) every school holidays so every three months or so. You can pick up some Drontal from the vet for that. As for ticks, I guess it depends on if you have them often in your area, how regularly you check your dog etc. I don't use a tick preventer unless I am going away and won't be able to check the dogs myself but it is a risk. You will have to make sure that you get your dog on some kind of heartworm preventative though - the chew, tablets or the annual shot.

Awww what a sweet little video! I would call him a "little brown pound dog". Whatever he is, he's adorable!

Apparently she's been found safe and well. It's all on the facebook link. So nice that this story has a happy ending!

I don't know that I would introduce another dog to into your home right now personally as it can upset the harmony in the home somewhat - I guess it depends on your dogs. Only you will know if they will be accepting of the new dog...and you will have to see what the personality of the new addition is like. I introduced a new dog into our fold and while I do love him, I know that my older dog is not happy about it and I feel guilty for not allowing her to enjoy her golden years in peace. If I knew how it was going to be, I wouldn't do it again.

I have always had larger dogs - Weims and Doberman, but I would really like a cuddly little poodle. Don't know if it will ever happen though as I am very appreciative of the fact that having a larger dog can help deter burglars.

I sometimes wish that I lived in a great big house out in the country so that I could have four or five Weims - I just love them! I'd also love a Great Dane, a Standard Poodle, an Afghan Hound and an Italian Greyhound. Obviously these are all dream dogs - I can't imagine them all getting along nicely and safely together!