Steph M

We can be a little all over the shop, it depends what they are having. If we get a large hunk of meat/organ/bone or whatever that cannot be split in two it will be one meal a day (dinner time), if we have smaller delicacies it's two meals. On the upside we never have any dramas at meal times. The times also rotate madly as well. Some would call it disorganised, I like to pretend it is a careful scheme to make sure no one ever 'expects' a meal at a set time. ;)

And it must be quite hard work to get a dog who's so active to that point. They would be working off much more than the average house pet so they must be feeding a heck of a lot. Yes and no Steph - unlike a dog in the field they might only do a couple of competition runs on a weekend once or twice a month. My first priority is strength and fitness with my dogs and I squeeze training in around that....long walks in the dark and the pouring rain aren't fun for me but sometimes it has to be done! Good point! I guess I'm assuming there's a pretty high degree of fitness needed but you're totally right.

And it must be quite hard work to get a dog who's so active to that point. They would be working off much more than the average house pet so they must be feeding a heck of a lot.

There's never a perfect time, unexpected things happen all the time, if you think you can handle the two and OH is happy to pick up the slack I'd be inclined to agree.

We just adopted a kitten and I have had similar feels, but hopefully pup will be good company for Lucy as well in what is undoubtedly going to be a time of huge upheaval. :)

It's the look of luuurve! Haha.

BUT if anyone needs you to demonstrate 'nap on the couch' or 'make yourself a really small ball in a cat size bed' you guys have it down I bet!

I have an idea! You have lots of points that you might like, however finding them all in one dog breed might be a bit of a push, how about you write a little list out with a few columns, non-negotiable must, would like and non-negotiable must not traits, perhaps that might help build a clearer picture?

And if you like using the loo alone and not having pleading love eyes on you all the time, maybe not a flattie. Hahaha.

I did think about a flat coat, but I wondered about the exuberance factor with little kids running about as without a careful eye they can get overwound and knock everyone flying, I know Gus can, while inherently very gentle and very sweet he does get very excited easily, and they're not a dog that will suffer not being part of everything you are doing all the time so that's something to think about. You can pretty much kiss goodbye to any remaining alone time you had before..haha. They can also err on the sensitive side as well, so training has to be upbeat and fun and not boring, a bored flat coat is one who landscapes and barks and makes his own fun. Punishment is pretty much a non-event in our house, the most effective thing is withdrawal of attention. OH and one thing we learned very early is that they are big furry people, if you laugh at a naughty FC puppy that is all the positive reinforcement he needs to do it again and again. Many a day have we struggled not to laugh when Gus was doing something ridiculous. He also does need quite a good run every day, and a swim. I hope you like mud on everything! And he sheds little black tumbleweeds around the place, not anywhere near a lab and they do kind of seem to bond in balls but if we don't vac all week I certainly notice it. At least black goes with everything? Having said that ours is just gorgeous, and we are expecting our first baby and I know he will be an awesome canine big brother one day, and he is perfect for us but I do know for a fact they are not perfect for everyone, when he is being a jerk he is 100% jerk. Haha. ETA basically everything here is 100% fact and a nicer way of saying just what I said! http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/information/flat-coated-retriever.asp

I'm working on it! My brain isn't quick today...let me think about it!

I would be looking at a breed that can be quite forgiving of mistakes, there are certain breeds that absolutely take a mile when shown any weakness or inconsistency.

what about you bring fun things instead? A new toy, a treat, a Kong filled with something smelly and irresistible? No need to push it on him, but might help forge a new connection over the crummy one?

Because the thing these people are really good at is marketing themselves as what they are not, how many times have you seen websites proclaiming puppies live inside and by day wander through lush green paddocks and eat top quality, chef prepared meals when they're in cages, starving and eating newspaper and poo. A lot of the large scale farms sell themselves really convincingly and if you want to believe, you will.

People seriously do! Kids scream, women cross the road and one bogan guy asked if he was a good pigger, uhhh. If you mean snuggling with them he would be most excited! One pizza guy won't deliver to our house now after Gus slipped between his legs and got into his car...we called him back and he came back in but the guy POOPED himself. On the upside, we haven't been broken into? Haha.

Rosie was a flop! Haha. Whippet x Koolie, loves to run and run, is a big fan of catching low flying minah birds and toys, we were SURE she would love it, lo and behold she didn't know what was going on, then someone kindly offered to run her with theirs and see if she got it...she just wanted to play chase with the other dog! Would love to try it again now she's a bit more confident and older, tempted to take the moron retriever too but I feel like he would end up in someone's lap rather than chasing the lure... If it happens I will let you all know so you can watch for a laugh. Hahaha.

I agree, people cross the road when this big black gumnut comes walking down the street. Little do they know...

Those can be some pretty full on dogs... You'd need to put in a lot of training time and be quite committed to leading the dog and kids, haha. What attracts you to those guys?

This is good - you got information from people you knew and trusted who were not the breeder. And you met some of the other dogs they had bred. Nope! We didn't meet one. We just asked around, best contact was the club secretary to be honest! She was able to give some really good insights. :)

Absolutely! Some awesome strategies have been suggested on this forum for various problems, doesn't mean they work for everyone. Would be a boring world if they did!

And the breeder has picked the sick puppy with only one testicle for you. Not good. Personally, if it's not a rescue - I want to meet the bitch that's having the puppies, and the breeder, and have them pick the puppy that is maybe not the "prettiest" but is healthy and has all the right bits in the right places and is friendly with me. Very hard to do that from 5000km away. We bought our pup sight unseen, had seen lots of results of his parents being shown, asked people who had met them what they were like and away we went. I think as long as you are sure your breeder is reputable, aligns with your views and you've both been clear about what you want from a pup and can expect from a pup from these parents/lines/breeder there is no problem with buying a pup blind. We are in VIC and he came from SA, so perhaps we could have visited but I didn't feel the need to spend the money and time when I know I am not best equipped to pick the best pup for me. I have to say as well knowing a few of his littermates, Gus's breeder could not have picked better for us. If left up to me I would have picked whichever pup I cuddled first, but having someone impartial who knows how you live and knows the pups was invaluable and I would trust her to pick for us again. The other pups in the litter have met their perfect matches too, one couple run and hike and are very very active, so they wanted the more spirited pup and I can tell you they got her. Even at 8 weeks she is the first one out of the pen and doing laps of the yard in the videos we were sent, whereas Gus was the people-puppy and usually one of the first to give in and get in the puppy nap pile. To say she picked the sick one is a bit rough too, pups get sick lots, sometimes you could just be unlucky and yours could get the bug! :)

Gus went outside as a pup, as far as I can tell it hasn't scarred him for life. From 9 weeks he spent his days napping in the sun, playing in the grass and being quite happy. We did set up a webcam to check in on him and left him with toys and bones and stuff to do. We did lose the odd plant (at one point he did eat a huge patch of Kale I was lovingly growing, that was impressive and gross!) but that was more a failure on my part that said I didn't leave enough exciting things to do, so he found his own. Brooke worked from home some days, or had late starts on some, and I had mostly early starts so they weren't long long days, but now he and Rosie are outside of a day (we both work full days now) and when I say outside time both race to the door and wait for their bone/toy/cuddle etc. To a degree puppies will be puppies as well, I was a lot less worried about him outside than if I had left him in. Our yard is secure, big and he had everything he needed whereas inside there are power cords, cupboards to be opened and all sorts of things to be chewed and ingested. I would do the same again next time, worked for us, but like everything it wouldn't work for everyone. And being a chunky retriever pup is vastly different to say a chi or something, but I don't feel any guilt about the life he lived and lives.

He only has one testicle or one is undescended? Big difference! Bottom line is though, if you're not comfortable you don't have to go ahead, having said that sometimes testicles come and go, you'll hear a million stories on here of testicles missing, appearing and doing the whole cycle again and again. Sick and stress would be a contributor as well.

While that may or may not be correct, not everyone wants to or is able to prepare their own BARF in the correct levels.

Your vet sounds like they are speaking very generally, and unfortunately a lot of vets have partnerships with certain food companies, so I would be wary of any vet who wanted to change the food a dog was doing well on to one untested. I third the cutting down the portion, and I wouldn't worry too much about the composition of the actual food if they are doing well on it it works for them, if however the malt acts like a starving child when the portion is reduced you can be sneaky and make up the difference with veggies or fruit in the interim?