Steph M

There's no response for some people, just nod and back away... It's not a thing that people say, more that they do, but people who stop to greet Gus and encourage him to jump up on them. I am all for him meeting friendly people but for heavens sake! Even after I mention one day he'll be close to 40kg (sometimes I exaggerate that to make a point ) and it will be much less cute then, they still persist. My standard introduction has become a rapid fire "This is Gus, he's an FCR and if he jumps on you or happens to get any item of clothing on your person in his mouth please give him a nudge off, stand up and give him nothing til he relaxes and sits down" I repeat variants of that like a well rehearsed airline hostess! We've worked very hard to nip the jumping and excitement mouthing in the bud, and he only does it when he's wound up by strangers. Drives me mad!

I'd love goat but the supermarket near us has it next to the quail and rabbit and both are in the high double figures per kilo. Not that lucky, dog ;) I would love rabbit, but Masterchef has a lot to answer for to Gus. Haha. He's not getting a 20 dollar rabbit.

It's true, if it ain't on the rug or in the dog bed it ain't as delicious.

Chicken hearts are good too if you can get them and don't like cutting up bits and pieces every night, I'm no expert on the feed side of things but I luuurve not having to chop things up where I can avoid it. I heard sheep heads are amazing but I just can't get myself there yet. Baby steps ;)

I got asked if my flat coat puppy was a staffy the other week. Totally! Same thing! :laugh:

The tips about the late night/early morning supermarket trips and grabbing things when they're marked down are great too. We got 1kg of chuck steak today for 1.50. Straight in the freezer for Master Gus. Awesome find at Coles! My local fishmonger looked at me like I was mad, even more so when I said it was for the dogs. Did promise to keep me one though.

No. My incredibly nervy, spook dog was born that way. I knew where she came from, how she was raised, saw her frequently before she came home and if you saw her reaction to picking up a mop/broom/stick then you would think, yes she has been abused. But she wasn't - 100% guaranteed. I didn't think you beat her, hope I didn't offend you! I was thinking more of a pound situation where it might be more likely, I guess in my mind the odds of a well managed, much loved dog with weak nerves ending up in a pound with minimal history is less likely than a dog who had perhaps been less carefully managed and the shelter staff less informed. I imagine when someone takes the time to drop off a dog they genuinely care for and simply can't handle the question of any fears or phobias or 'quirks' shall we say, is probably asked, so perhaps even in that instance there might be more information available to the staff. In my mind anyway, I'm a bit idealistic though ;)

I guess abuse is a pretty broad term too, safe to say if a dog is showing signs of being anti-social or incredibly nervy would it be fair to say some sort of abuse has likely occurred, be it physical, neglect or a serious lack of socialisation or any training? (I'm talking a serious lack, not just a 'my dog doesn't like bikes as he hadn't seen one before age 5' type thing, I mean dog lives in a backyard from 6 weeks to 3 years) The boots thing would have me agreeing too. Good way of answering them too MUP. You can only work with what you have and what you know from there on. No crystal ball, unfortunately.

Forgot to say, Gus outdid himself at the beach today. Broke the age old 'no pooping in the water' rule. You don't know yourself until you have a plastic bag in your hand and find yourself chasing a floating poo out to sea....

She's gorgeous! Very cute!

It's great! I think he was more pooped then than now after an hour at the beach. Haha.

The face and the sounds, it's all so much fun. He is a special creature... you've got that. Haha. I wish the quality had come up better but I grabbed them off FB. Worst.Image.Compression.Ever.

It was the wisest investment ever! Hahaha. I would strongly advise you all to go get the pipe cleaners and dishwashing liquid tonight. I had a blast! :laugh:

Going by the video it looks as though they picked a few 'mascots' out to get the message across that mutts are unique. Can't see how it's different to any advertising drive.

I think it's a bit of fun, they've gone to incredible effort there and it looks to have paid off for them.

We got the bubble gun out last night for a laugh, I have to say if ever you're feeling down, get a puppy and a bubble gun. We were in tears laughing! My personal faves are the bottom few, the action shots and the crazy eye!

And power to you if it makes your lives easier, sure he may not win Crufts but if he's happy and you're happy I doubt anyone will be tearing you apart. Haha.

Is he difficult with them? Doesn't justify it at all but might be too much for them to manage. I find the vet is fast and efficient with nails I can't manage. Haha.

When our English Setter aged he got the full clip, he was arthritic and started to squat to go and thus had a lot of trouble peeing with any great accuracy, so rather than him making a mess of his fur, it was easier to clip him right down and it did make him cooler, I believe. He didn't spend lots of time outside toward the end so I don't think sunburn was much of an issue, but from an older dog point of view I think it makes life a bit easier. He certainly didn't mind, and it alerted us to any new 'old dog' lumps that might be cropping up, or when his nails needed doing more regularly due to less walks or other things like that.

I believe it's something you can do even without one, using a very very low oven. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Beef-Jerky Sounds nice to me! I imagine puppies probably don't need much seasoning ;)

Hello there, I'm a total raw newbie and have gone through most of this but it really hurts my brain. Gus is a 4.5 month old Flat Coat and eventually I'd like to move him to totally raw, he's on high quality kibble at the moment for convenience's sake while I get my stuff together (and organise a chest freezer ) Rather than shock him with a total change what should I start with? So far we have about a cup of kibble with a whole egg or a tin of sardines or yoghurt for breakfast. Lunch might be more kibble or a big meaty bone if I have one on hand, he will usually have a small lamb flap or something similar mid morning if he just gets kibble for lunch Dinner is similar to breakfast, plain kibble or with some yoghurt/sardines or egg if he's had a plain breakie. Lots of scope for improvement, I know. He does seem to be doing well on what he's on, so I'm trying not to rush into it all too much, I'd hate to balance it wrong when he's growing so rapidly. We alternate his lunch to keep it interesting, he's had boiling chicken quarters, chook frames, turkey wings, chuck steak and various offal like lamb hearts, beef tongue, chicken livers etc, so he's definitely receptive to the idea. What's the best formula for balance? Anyone have a similar age/size/breed dog with a diet I could steal and start with? I'm really worried about leaving him deficient in anything when he's so young!

Perhaps it's a kid on a super processed sugary diet, hard to get and keep their attention? Haha. OP also mentioned coming back from an injury, could be that too. I find our critters are quieter and happier when on raw diets or even mostly raw.

I'm sorry Steph, I don't mean to keep singling you out, it's just that you mention things that I want to put my 2c worth in about and it's a general response, not directly aimed at you :) Big dogs get nervy, too, which doesn't equate aggressive. It's a shame really when people can sympathize with a small dog reacting a bit nervous about dogs approaching them, but people automatically assume aggressive when it's the big dog feeling uneasy. No, I do not have an aggressive dog, she has the loveliest nature with people and known dogs, but feels quite uneasy with strange dogs approaching her - which is why I prefer offlead dogs not approaching her in such a manner. I am quite confused why people don't understand big dogs have the same emotions, but don't have the same understanding they do for them like they do the little dogs? I have big dogs and little dogs, they all get along well together and with known dogs and I am far more at ease about friendly strange dog interactions with them, I just tense up (rationally or irrationally, I still do) when it comes to this particular dog as it upsets her. Until you've owned one, you probably can't fully understand. I didn't until her. She's really made me see things differently. Not at all! I know what you mean, she doesn't much go to parks unless it's 'off peak' so to speak, and I know what you mean when people see the worst in bigger dogs too. I've even had people ask if my dog is nasty when he and their dog are both showing happy play mode signs. Quite something to see, given he's the loving-est puppy out.

My uncle is big on the masturbatory self love that is hearing himself talk on Facebook. Has an opinion on every topic and every status. He had to be hidden, for those who suggested blocking though that actually removes them from your friends list and they might notice you missing, you can always say you deleted the account but it does show you're missing. Just a hint! I made that mistake once, then got caught out as having not deleted the account at all. Ooops.

I had a coffee and was thinking how to clarify myself a bit better (I felt kind of like a jerk walking away after posting that Didn't mean to be so abrasive!) I was thinking if you really want off lead dogs off the street there needs to still be somewhere they can go and be dogs, it just feels to me like another step toward a dog intolerant society. Lots of us place lots of importance on exercising and socialising our dogs, we all do it differently and heaps of us choose to avoid dog parks which is totally understandable, but for those of us who don't they serve a huge purpose. I sure don't live on an acreage (as much as I would love to one day) and day to day urban life isn't incredibly stimulating for all dogs, mine wouldn't enjoy a lap around the block and back to the yard once every few days, I know to wear Gus out takes an off lead run, some fetch and probably a swim. For a lot of people the park is invaluable training and exposure time, as properties get smaller and yards more often paved a good romp in the grass can be rare. I am the first to stand up and say I'm not a super dog trainer, I wish I was but it's a work in progress here. I've come to realise I'm still sometimes miles above Joe Public with their first puppy and 3 kids in tow, not always mind you, I've been put to shame before and will again. There's always going to be dogs trained less than perfectly or in ways you disagree with and dogs will be dogs, even a seemingly perfectly trained dog might still ignore or miss the odd command? Does that make them less deserving of off lead park time or does it give the owner a chance to get an idea of what they have to work on and catch any issues early and reward the good stuff? There was some discussion in another thread about an acceptable recall and someone posted something from a council (from memory) saying the dog who will return within 3 attempts to call them back has an acceptable recall, everyone has different levels of acceptable training and I guess that's something you come up against, most of all in an off lead dog park with good smells and distractions and fun things to do. If that really really stresses you or your dog out, I can't imagine why you would want to walk there. Sounds like my nightmare! :laugh: