YippeeGirl

Like everyone else, if I know it's going to be particularly hot, I'll go in the early morning (around 5-5:30am) or later in the evening. If it's been warm, I always feel the asphalt/footpath etc. to make sure it isn't going to be too hot on their paws. Oops forgot to put a maximum temperature. I'd probably say anything over mid to high twenties, and I won't walk them.

Unfortunately I think he had earphones on or something because my mum shouted at him when he first came in that our bitch would probably go after his ball, but he just ignored us and kept kicking it around. Usually when people hop over the fence we can quickly leash the dogs and remove them from the oval. However, in this instance we didn't see him until he was halfway over the fence and then we he started kicking the ball around our bitch decided chasing that was much more fun than chasing her old tennis ball.

One of ours has hip dysplasia. She was x-rayed at 12 months so she could go through breed survey. Unfortunately, we got the news that she had hip dyplasia, and it was really quite astonishing to see how bad her hips were at such a young age. She's four now, and fortunately has never shown any signs of pain or even discomfort. Obviously, there's always the possibility that she will start to show symptoms as she ages. Because she's not showing any pain we don't have her on any pain relief. However, we do have her on a couple of different supplements to try and keep her happy and healthy for as long as possible. At the moment she's getting a couple of green-lipped mussel capsules a day, as well as a twice daily dose of Joint Guard. She also gets coconut oil to keep her coat shiny, and will occasionally get a treat of shark cartilage. We feed her a premium grain-free dog kibble (Wellness Core Original Formula) mixed with raw meat, green tripe, and the occasional meaty bone. We do take her to the chiropractor. Not as often as when she was being worked hard for shows, but it's still every couple of months. I'm not really sure how much it helps, but it doesn't seem to cause any harm either. For exercise, she goes swimming in the indoor pool at Kepala Pet Resort once a week. This is around 20-30 minutes of constant swimming. We did try hydrotherapy with her, but it was fairly expensive when all she did was walk at a snail's pace and wail the whole time. I've always read that it's important to build up the muscles in the hind end for dogs with dysplasia as this will help support the hip. Therefore, we try to keep Nike as fit as we can, without running her into the ground. I suppose though, that this becomes more difficult when the dog is in pain. We have a lot of hills where I live, and so when the weather warms up, she gets a lot of long, gentle walks around my suburb. We also try not to do anything too concussive to her joints like jogging on hard surfaces. It's such a shame to read about a dog so young being in pain. I really count my blessings each pain free day we have with Nike, because I know there's no guarantee that they will continue

We run our dogs at a reserve that has two fenced ovals for soccer and I assume other sports. Dogs are permitted off-leash in the reserve, although I think someday this might not be the case if more dog owners don't start picking up after themselves. The other day while the dogs were running around in one of the ovals, some guy jumped the fence without even checking to see if they were okay with strangers, and starts kicking his soccer ball around. Our oldest bitch is ball obsessive and so she immediately starts trying to maul his ball. Instead of picking up the ball and waiting a few seconds for us to come and catch her, he starts snatching at her collar. Our dogs are German Shepherds. I am likely more cautious than the average person, but I couldn't imagine just clambering over a fence into an area where there are strange dogs running loose without checking with their owners first. I will readily admit our dogs have crappy recalls and apart from our oldest bitch and our puppy, are not particularly dog friendly. But this is why we run them in a fenced area where there are almost never any other dogs.

Not sure if it's been suggested or not, but how about 'Clancy', from the poem 'Clancy of the Overflow'.

Same here. Clio would stare you dead in the eye while she was biting you. If you squealed or turned your back to ignore her you were just setting yourself up for a good mauling. Y

Our six month old German Shepherd was a holy terror when she was younger. She would bite hard enough to draw blood and any action made by you to discourage her from doing so (I tried every method covered in this topic), would only result in winding her up even more and her biting even harder. I had bruises all up and down my legs and arms because she was such a feral. Basically the only thing that really worked, was either removing ourselves from the room, or putting her in the crate to calm down when she got overstimulated. Redirecting with a toy would sometimes work, but then she learned to carry a toy in her mouth and ram you in the back of the legs with it. I personally think it's a stage most puppies simply age out of. I think if you have a particularly bitey puppy/breed you really just have to grit your teeth and manage it the best you can. Sometimes it seems like no progress is being made at all, and then one day, you wake up, and you can actually pat your puppy without losing a hand :laugh:

Owning a German Shepherd I would say the puppy landshark phase, the shedding, and the fact that bad hips are not as uncommon in the breed as some might think/suggest I also don't like how people ask me if my dog bites, or when they gather their children up and practically run to the other side of the road when I walk past with one of the dogs. I mean, I'm not even walking the actual crazy one when they do this :laugh:

Apparently, my grandparent's old neighbour hanged one of his dogs because whatever it was tied with was too long, and it fell out of the tray and from what they said, he drove along with it for some way before noticing (this was out on a country road so no one to warn him). I'm not sure the truth of that story, but since hearing it when I was younger, I've always been very anxious with watching dogs on the backs of utes.

We have German Shepherds, and the latest puppy was a nightmare for biting. She would bite hard enough to draw blood, and if you reacted in any way (such as yelping), she would continue to escalate. Most of the time we would redirect her onto a toy. If she was particularly overstimulated, she got put into her crate until she'd calmed down enough to be let back out.

I would say once. I had been doing something in the backyard and I thought I'd shut the side gate, but the latch hadn't shut properly and so if you pushed on the gate it would open. I was inside when I get a knock on the door, and it's my next door neighbour asking me if any of my dogs were out, as she had a German Shepherd wandering around in her front yard. I could see one of the dogs in the backyard, but I go out the front, and there is a very sheepish looking Ares standing there. I nearly had a heart attack at the time. We live on a quiet, dead-end street, but I kept thinking about what could have happened, especially if he'd gone after someone's dog. I would suspect what has happened was that Ares got out the open gate, and when the other dog tried to do the same, she shut the gate behind him. He's then been unable to get back into the yard, and so has just wandered off. Now I make sure I really give the gate a solid push to make sure it is shut properly before I go inside.

Our dogs get fed wherever. Sometimes in bedrooms, sometimes outside, sometimes in the dining room, sometimes in the powder room, and sometimes in the kitchen. The two bitches are separated because they hate each other, so they eat separately, and the male gets put in with either one of them. Puppy has to eat alone or with the male because she will try and stick her head in the other dogs' bowls, and he is the only one that tolerates it. For something like brisket bones or chicken frames, we have to be careful, as one of the bitches resource guards (only with other dogs) and will only settle and eat her bones in the crate. The other two can eat their bones together without any issues. No one is allowed to sniff anyone else's bowl until everyone is finished eating so as to avoid fights.

Sounds like his reactivity stems from fear, whether it's from the previous attack or just an age thing. Our puppy is a similar age and at the moment, hackles up and barks at anything that isn't a German Shepherd. Mostly I have been using positive reinforcement, and redirecting her attention away from the dog and onto me before she starts to react. There is something called the 'Look At That' game, which may be something worth having a look at. If you plug it into Google, you will bring up a lot of articles and Youtube videos. I agree though, it would be best to get a professional involved. I wish we had with another of our dogs as she is very reactive towards other dogs (stems from fear) and it can be extremely challenging at times. It's definitely not something you want to let go on.

Two meals a day here for everyone. My childhood dog died from bloat, and owning a breed that is prone to bloat, we thought it was better to breakdown their daily 'rations' into two separate meals. On top of their regular meals, they will also bones and treats.

What I really hate, is seeing elderly dogs that are grossly overweight and gimping around. I prefer a fit and lean dog, but I have been told a few times that my dogs are underweight when really they are at a healthy weight, it's just the average pet owner is so used to seeing obese dogs that this becomes their 'normal'. For some German Shepherd owners, having a 'big' dog is almost like a badge of honour. Sadly most of these big dogs aren't actually oversized, they are just overweight.

We have three adult German Shepherds on the Wellness Core dry food. Two get the 'Original Formula', and one who has issues with yeast and allergies is on the 'Ocean Fish Formula'. They pnly get about two cups of food a day, along with some mince meat and their various supplements, and they are doing great on it. It isn't a cheap food, but with other foods we've had to feed a lot more to keep the weight on. Unfortunately feeding a raw only diet here isn't possible. However, I've had no reason to complain about the Wellness Core kibble, and based on my experience with it, I would recommend it. The range is really quite extensive and there are also the grain-free topper cans etc. you can mix through as you mentioned looking at feeding wet and dry.

I think my dog Nike would have made a good cat. She does come for cuddles every now and then, but she usually just drifts along in her own world. Most of her time is actually spent out in the laundry with the cat as otherwise she just sits in the kitchen staring at the door leading to the laundry. I've actually found her really difficult to train as she doesn't interact with me in the same manner as the other dogs. Really, the only time I feel like there is any sort of bond there, is when she wants to have a cuddle, and when we are digging a hole together. Like CaseyKay said further up, sometimes it is hard not to feel just a little rejected :laugh:

I live very close to Lower Plenty and walk in a lot of parks near my house with the dogs, so this is rather disconcerting news I always have my dogs on leash though. I'm fortune that all our surrounding neighbours are friendly and you have to walk right down past our front door to leave anything in the yard.

I still struggle to understand with all the publicity surrounding puppy mills etc. how so many people continue to believe any reputable breeder is going to let their puppies go to a place where they are sold to the first customer with the money to buy one.

The dog likely to be re-homed in my case is a fear-aggressive German Shepherd with hip dysplasia, who is too unpredictable to be safe with children, and requires someone who doesn't let their attention lapse and knows what they are doing. Here with me, she gets joint supplements, visits to the chiropractor, once weekly swim sessions, daily walks/free-runs, and most of her time is spent wandering through the house or lazing about on someone's bed. But I guess it's so cruel that she has to spend 8 hours at night in the crate it would be better if she was rehomed. As an aside, the two bitches don't spend their time trying to exterminate or intimidate each other. It's simply that the reactive one doesn't know how to be with other dogs and the other bitch has no patience for her. I'm sure some breeds also make it easier to go without crating than others. Big breeds can do a lot of damage when they are young and going through their destructive phase. I couldn't imagine leaving the current hellion puppy out in the kitchen unsupervised. She's like a beaver.

Just wondering, what do people who don't use crates do when they have multiple indoor dogs and bring a new puppy home? Do you just section off different rooms for different dogs? I have a puppy hellion here, and the crate is the only way to keep her from constantly pestering the other dogs.

Yes, I certainly don't agree with just locking the dog in a crate all day because you don't have time for it. I always see crates as a tool. They can be a great tool when used properly, but when misused I personally think they do start to cross the line into what I would personally consider neglect/abuse. It's the same as how I hate seeing dogs that are never exercised, socialised, or interacted with in any way, moldering away in someone's backyard.

Circumstances can force it. I live with two bitches that will fight and cause injury to themselves if left together. One also tends to bark quite a bit if left out in the backyard unattended, so she is usually in the crate at night, and if no one is home. Yes, I would rather that the crate was not necessary, and didn't have to be used for extended periods of time, but not everyone has a rural property with dog safe fences and no close neighbours, where their dogs can be outside in pens or yards rather than inside in a crate. Edited to add, no one is locked in the crate for probably anything more than 8 hours.

That video did make me wince. I'm not sure what's cute about watching your puppy repeatedly fall over/almost fall over.

As the owner of a dog-reactive dog, I probably shouldn't laugh, but I will anyway :laugh: Some of those dogs were just so determined to get that bone. I wonder what sort of insults were being slung by the stuffed dog.