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Pjrt

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Everything posted by Pjrt

  1. 2 more from outside the box. One of my favourite breeds the Tibetan Terrier. A sturdy affable dog on the bigger side of small, really only terrier by name. The Lowchen too possibly. if you’d consider a small dog I’d take a serious look at the Papillion
  2. Maybe add Smooth Collie in there for consideration. An often overlooked breed with many great attributes.
  3. Most of the Standard Schnauzers I’ve dealt with tend to have a middle ground sort of personality. A sensible purposeful mindset without the working dog hype. Possibly Shetland sheepdog from the right lines. Some can be overtly timid but I’ve met some fabulous ones too.
  4. Best to consult a vet about it. There are 2 things that spring to mind, one of which is sadly fairly common in small breeds, luxating patella (sloppy knee joints) and in Westies, “Legg Calve Perthes” which is a condition that affects the ball of the hip joint and is quite painful & debilitating if not diagnosed & treated. pit might be neither of those things, either of those things, one of those things, or none of them, but unless your dog is examined by a vet, you can’t guess.
  5. OMG I’ve been trying to find a succinct way of summing this up!! And there it is. crazy how everyone seems to want their own little bit of equality these days huh! Sorry folks, that’s not equality!
  6. Also you need to bear in mind that no breed or individual within a breed can really be deemed reliable with chickens (and possibly cats) until you have the dog and work out what level of management you need to implement for your situation. You might raise a bomb proof dog but it’s always wise to supervise and separate when necessary with chooks, and sometimes cats, when supervision is not available. a couple of other curve ball breeds in the slightly bigger than small category Standard Schnauzer (a bit more coat care. Most standards have harsher coat than Minis and is usually a bit easier for every day coat management) Whippet Beagle.
  7. Personally I don’t think you could go past the Border Terrier. Yes there are a few other breeds that might also fit your wants & needs, but the Border is a robust affable highly adaptable wash n wear terrier, and cute as hell to boot! other suggestions to look at Parson Russell Terrier ( a Jack the size of a Border) Manchester Terrier Smooth Fox Terrier i think most of the short legged terriers, such as Westie , Cairn, Australian etc would fit most of you brief aside from cycling, and also most of them are of course lower to the ground and have a little more coat furnishings, so likely to pick up more debris and require a bit more maintenance and grooming.
  8. If the rest of the coat is growing normally I doubt feeding anything will make that patch grow. id be more inclined to try something made for scars, like bio oil or whatever.. . The skin is damaged and unless it repairs to a level that allows hair growth, you may have a small bald spot.
  9. Also check the flew, that little folded pocket of skin about half way along the bottom jaw. Stretch the skin out and have a good look in there. Even the tiniest bit of salivary moisture build up in there can cause localised bacteria to explode and even the inciest winciest bit of bacteria/infection in that little fold can reek like you can’t imagine! keeping it clipped, clean & dry will help but if there does happen to be a tiny bit of bacteria/yeast in there, ‘cleaning’ alone won’t hep, it will need some medicine first, then maintain hygiene. might not be that but it’s certainly a common cause of gnarly stank from the mouth area.
  10. Do you have the kennel prefix? It would be on the blue or brown pedigree papers that should have come with your puppy?
  11. I’ve been looking for a dog for a long time now and it’s just getting harder, especially in SA. There isn’t much to choose from and the majority are extremely expensive fluffy mixes averaging 4000 to 6000. I saw a mixed poodle pup advertised in the next town from me for 8700.00 last week! People are even asking 2000 plus for Staffy mix, kelpie mix etc. the shelters are empty most days zero to a handful of dogs availability, add to that read their bios they are mainly bull breed mixes and working dog mixes and most are reading as poorly socialised, poorly conditioned, shy, anxious, fence jumping, noise phobic crazies with separation issues! Hardly any of the purebreed ads here have an indication of price, and so many breeders seem offended if it’s the first question you ask. Also there’s stuff like this from ANKC breeders too , which I just cannot understand. What has the covid got to do with it? That’s just taking advantage and price gauging
  12. I worked with Newfy for a few yrs at a big kennel. The young dogs were out in 1/4 acre grass runs with another juvenile to grow up. The only real structured exercise they got was show training. Newfy are giant furry wrecking balls when young! personally at that age I’d be dialling down the leash walking and ramping up Basic obedience training , trick training, structured play sessions. Also try hard to find somewhere to swim your dog. It’s excellent non weight baring exercise and Newfy love it! Keep you dog on a long line until you can trust him not to keep swimming to China! Newfy were bred to pull. Their job was to jump into water, often treacherous ocean, and drag the weight of a human through the water to safety. Look into structured sports like weight pull, dock diving etc where your dog can learn to focus his natural instincts and ability.
  13. Regarding the supplement I looked up the brand and although it all looks fine, I am not personally a big fan of supplements. Reading through that website I see all the usual marketing drivel designed very carefully to make people question themselves about feeding their pets. The supplements are made from all the things that are entirely available in the raw diet, only in the raw diet are much more likely to be available, proportional, and digestible. And they are right there subtly pushing that idea that every meal needs everything in it..... aside from the extra calcium which if your pup is eating bones daily, calcium supplements could actually be detrimental, there’s probably no real harm in the supplement, but I really don’t see it as necessary. People seem to have been brainwashed to believe that actual real whole foods don’t have any nutrition and everything needs supplementing! Marketing and advertising is very powerful, especially when you have a few doubts and concerns already. EVERYTHING your pup needs is perfectly available in its natural state across a varied raw diet. I say go for it! As for the grooming, I’ve been a groomer for over 30 yrs and personally I have never used cage drying method aside from the very very rare instance of complete intolerance or ‘special needs’ dogs. A Newfy should not be cage dried, even in part. Yes it’s a big job hand drying a newf with a high velocity dryer from wet to thoroughly dry, but it is truly the best way to release dead coat and produce the best coat finish. Find a groomer who ‘gets’ that!
  14. I worked for a Newfy breeder for 3 yrs moons ago. Back then they were fed a mix of Eukanuba kibble & raw meats. if I owned one myself it would be entirely raw fed. a few things... at 7 months your pup is hitting ‘coat change’ where all that soft thick puppy fuzz starts to give way for the nice flat shiny strong adult coat. You might be able to see that stronger adult coat coming in around the shoulder area and along the back. During coat change a lot is going on with the skin and grooming needs to be doubled down on. Really thorough brushing down to the skin with a slicker brush. Push Into the coat with your hand and push a small section up and back then using the slicker brush pull that section of hair back into place. You need to go through the entire coat like this several times a week. The alternative is to get a professional groom where the dead hairs will be blown out of the coat with a high velocity dryer after the bath, then a thorough groom through to finish. I’d be doing a professional groom once a month with home brushing at least weekly between. You could also purchase a professional style dog dryer for just $100-150 on eBay etc and do it yourself.. point is, puppy coat change & seasonal shedding in general needs to be taken care of properly to have nice healthy skin & coat. on to feeding. Raw foods are whole foods, and digest much more slowly than commercial pet food, so your pup will naturally feel fuller and stay feeling fuller for longer, if eating & digestion raw foods, so eating less goes along with it. growing a giant breed takes time. You want to grow them slowly & steadily, keeping them slim, not roly poly fatties. if you are feeding raw meaty bones and or good quality kibble, please do not give your pup calcium supplements. If I was growing a newf I’d probably be using whole chicken carcass, lamb rib flaps, turkey necks, lamb & beef hearts, chicken livers, heart & giblets, eggs, oily fish, natural yogurt, cottage cheese. If you want to add vegetable matter it needs to be as processed as possible but still raw. The pulp from a juicer is ideal, and even the juice in moderation. I wouldn’t cook any ingredients with the possible exception of lamb/beef livers as many dogs find them unpalatable raw but will scoff them lightly cooked! (That’s why I use raw chicken liver as I find it is generally better accepted as a raw product) I use meaty bones as the base for a meal then add one or 2 ‘sides’ in rotation so a day might be a whole chicken carcass plus an egg plus a couple of chicken liver, lunch a section of lamb rib flap with 2 or 3 ribs in it plus cottage cheese and a diced up lamb heart, dinner 1/2 chicken carcass plus a tin of sardines and a dollop of yogurt.. next day similar bone base with a rotation of different sides. So over 2 or 3 days there’s a variety of bone and sides, then start the cycle again. Don’t be afraid of raw. It’s not designed to be a complete and balanced meal at every sitting. The key to good raw feeding is balance over time. No animal sits down to a ‘complete balanced meal’ at every sitting. Thats marketing brainwashing nonsense that we seem to have largely fallen for! Relax and enjoy watching your pup crunch rip and tear at raw foods. And don’t be afraid to add variety. Depending on your location you might be able to get goat, deer, kangaroo, etc etc.
  15. Genetic testing is all well and good but one has to remember that it’s is also another problem in the ever diminishing available genes in a given breed. It’s a dead end road. A breed of dog by default has limited genetic material to work with to begin with, and genetic testing dismisses more and more genetic material within the bubble of genetic material within the breed.
  16. Current situation on gumtree in SA! And a total of 12 ‘litters’ on DOL breeder pages. No wonder the boutique puppy sellers are having a field day....mind you, they’re even hard to get here!
  17. Wow in SA it’s currently .... 3 or 4. No zeros. Just 3 or 4 dogs !
  18. A few things. What breed or type? A lot of dogs with tightly ‘up’ tails are prone to leaky easily expressed glands. feeding the dog bones like chicken necks or lamb ribs regularly would be my first option. If you’re a bit leery of bones, raw pet chicken mince is minced whole frame with bone in. also expressing glands externally isn’t difficult to learn so consider doing it yourself rather than the regular vet trips. anal glands can be removed as a last resort. It’s not a fun procedure but once healed the issue is resolved. I co own a little dog who had his glands removed via a new wax method last year after repeated gland impactions. Also dogs can express the glands if very frightened anxious or nervous so if you think that may be contributing to the problem, a behavioural assessment might be useful.
  19. I don’t suppose they thought about people rehoming older entire dogs. It would seem to me the increase fee is to incentivise early desexing?
  20. So you only pay once for the lifetime of the dog? in SA it’s annual. Depending on the desex/microchip status of the dog it’s anywhere from 30-100 annually per dog as all councils have different fees and concessions. Id be happy to pay $500 if it was just once!
  21. Definitely a Cock-a-poodle that one
  22. Many groomers will shout out and say don’t clip double coats but in all seriousness I’ve never met a dog with a double coat who’s been anything other than happy & relieved to get that coat off. If you want him ‘short but not shaved’ ask the groomer to use the 10mm or 12mm guard comb, or if they use blades, a 3# or 4#. If you want him quite smooth, a 7# blade is a popular choice. Pomeranian are unfortunately one breed who’s coat often seems to grow back a bit funky, where the undercoat is slow to catch up with the guard coat, or occasionally, doesn’t really grow back much at all. but if you’re after comfort over looks, I’d go for the haircut. My personal Chow Chow I used to clip him later in his life. He’d go from a panting stressed out mess to a bouncing happy dog, and his coat was always perfectly groomed out, but despite having a perfectly maintained coat, the haircut made all the difference
  23. Les Pooch Mat Zapper brush not cheap but worth its weight in gold. Some people reckon the ActiVet slickers are an adequate alternative. A strong metal comb that is all pins with no handle, half widely spaced pins, half moderately spaced pins. Often called a Greyhound comb (that’s the brand nothing to do with greyhound dogs!) Fine toothed combs, pin brushes and bristle brushes ( anything that looks a bit like a people brush) will be next to useless. Now for the hard reality. A full coat on a wavy/curly coat plus swimming plus harness rarely ends well even with the most dedicated of owners. When the coat gets wet and then air dries, it dries tighter, curls up like an open to a closed hand. Personally, if you want a swimmer/ beach dog, I’d keep the coat trimmed back to an inch or so. Then the dog can have all the fun without as much grooming stress. Trying to have the coat & the fun just usually isn’t viable. If you are dedicated and groom the coat out 100% to the skin after every swim, you might have a chance, but one or two slip ups will end in a matted train wreck. If you trim the dog cute & short do it regularly, plus home grooming, and you’ll have an adorable teddy dog who can still have fun without so much grooming rigmarole. The way you’re going, especially coming into the age for ‘coat change’ don’t be surprised if you end up having no choice but to shave it off and start again. Ive been a groomer for 34 yrs and I could count on one hand the dogs who’ve gone through with a full coat. There are the occasional unicorn owners but most often it just works out easier to maintain a nice inch long teddy style approximately every 6-8 weeks.
  24. Could be anything from allergies to age spots to immune mediated thrombocytopenia (which is extremely serious & life threatening) and everything in between. a picture would help but we can only make suggestions. a vet check Is the best bet.
  25. I think he had tape on his ears trying to get the right set happening.
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