dididog

I've been feeding my puppy Advance Puppy large breed and to start of with her stool was fine but then when we ran out and bought a new bag she got pretty bad diarrhea for about 3 days and the only thing that changed in her diet was the new bag. I also noticed that despite it being exactly the same the kibble in the new bag was smaller in shape and lighter in colour? We just bought a 18kg bag which will last us over a month (the 3kg only lasted a bit over a week) but she again has gotten diarrhea even though the kibble from the 18kg bag is the same as the previous one (smaller, lighter colour). Has this happened to anybody else (for any brand not just Advance) or is my pup just super sensitive? It strikes me as very odd for there to be large discrepancies within the same type of food. To be on the safe side I will buy the next bag a bit early and feed her a mix of the current bag and the new bag to ease her in... picking diarrhea up out of grass is possibly my least favourite thing to do :laugh:

Thanks for the suggestions. I by chance tried spraying her in the face with a spray bottle and saying NO! in a growly voice which was good because it a) snapped her out of it and b)let her know that bite=punishment=not good. Since doing that her biting has reduced a lot and when she does start its much easier to get her to stop and even though I obviously can't have a spray bottle on me all the time but now she associates the NO! with she needs to stop as what she's doing is wrong. Hopefully if we keep doing that and not giving her attention when she's all riled up she will get the point that biting and being crazy gets her nothing but playing nicely and being calm gets her cuddles and food and toys. Don't worry though she still loves water and getting sprayed in the face with hose when she chases it around the backyard!

My 12 week old Great Dane x Mastiff puppy is very well behaved for the most part except about 3 or 4 times a day she will get really wound up. Despite playing with her or walking her during these times she always reverts to biting... hard. She used to chew on hands before we redirected the chewing to bones and toys but now when she's in a playful mood she barks and growls and bites arms, hands and clothes. Ive tried yelping, ignoring her, redirecting the bites to toys and even growling back and pinching her neck to simulate a nip from a dog. Nothing works and in my frustration she normally ends up outside until she calms down. I really dislike physically reprimanding her and chucking her outside but absolutely nothing is working and my mum no longer wants to be around her. Is there anything I'm doing monumentally wrong, should I seek professional help as even at 12 weeks and 11 kilos she is powerful and causes damage so I don't want this to continue when she's 50+kg. Thanks!

We just adopted from a rescue org in Victoria and we also have to pay an admin fee to get her microchip transferred over so I don't know if its a Victorian thing or just a discrepancy between organisations?

Hi there, I have a 12 week old Great Dane x Mastiff pup who is in need of positive interactions with nicely behaved dogs (up to date with vaccinations). By positive interactions I mean she will be a very large dog (I'm thinking 50+ kg) and needs to know that she can't play with every dog she meets and I want to work on my control on her around other dogs (teaching her to ignore dogs or wait until I say it's okay to play). Nobody I know really has appropriate dogs for this or don't really understand that I don't just want her to play with their dogs as this will just lead to her thinking a new dog = play. So anybody in the inner Melbourne Suburbs (preferably to the west) that wouldn't mind going for a walk sometime or can offer their assistance? I'd come to you or where ever you want to meet. Thanks for hearing me out and if you have any other ideas of what I can do/where I can go to make her comfortable around other dogs (as of now she seems intrigued by other dogs but not overly frightful/excited) but at the same time teaching her play is on my terms? Thanks, Terri!

Thanks for some of those ideas, I think starting distraction training around the house might be a better idea as while out and about there is a bit too much going on and even if I can get her to sit while on a walk she often does it while looking at something other than me so I think I probably need to real back distraction levels. I think possibly the key thing I have done wrong with this puppy is taken her good behavior for granted and rarely offer a food treat unless its trick training or on walks. She's pretty food motivated so maybe I will really have to start treating her for every good behavior even though she does many of these anyway without me constantly reinforcing it. Now starting to think having a such a well behaved pup has lulled me into a false sense of security and actually created problems.....

My god. Welcome to my world. My family were so inconsistent with my dog that I ended up training him in a different language so they didn't screw everything up! 'Come' has inadvertently being trained to mean 'go chase lizards'. Consistency is one of the most important things when training a dog so you really need to get onto your families non-compliance. If they won't listen to you then perhaps get your puppy trainer to drop them a hint.... a heavy hint. Sometimes when biting has become rewarding in itself, I choose to punish a pup instead of redirecting it or ending the game. I know that's a bit taboo, especially with pups, but I want any dog (especially the big guys) to understand that biting is not only non-reinforcing, but an unpleasant experience. When I adopted my Mastiff (avatar) he had a very bad play bite problem. When a dog weighs +50kg and was leaving bruises when only mildly excited during play, you know you have a problem! I chose to smack him in the nose the second her laid teeth on me. I did this twice (the first time was actually unintentional, but it stopped him) and he has never done it again. He's suffered no loss of confidence, no bite strength on the tug (not that he really had much) and will still willingly play with me at the drop of a hat. And about the socialisation thing, have you tried contacting a private dog trainer? Some have dogs that are suitable to have around puppies (if they don't, ask them if they do know someone -even a client - with nice dogs), and they'll be well trained and socialised too. Meeting up once a week for a social session with some obedience mixed in can work wonders - and if there are any red flags in your pups play style the trainer should pick up on it pretty quickly. I'm not too keen on socialising puppies with other puppies, they get into mischief and learn bad habits and manners. Just my 2 cents, good luck :) Thanks for your advice, I have tapped her nose once or twice when very frustrated and while this has made her let go she continues the biting again When we are playing with toys she is very good I can stop the game and dangle the toy right infront of her mouth and say 'wait' and then 'take it' and she's super compliant but it's almost like she knows that biting people isn't acceptable play!!! The rescue I got her from have offered behavioral assistance if need be during our 4 week trial period so I'm starting to think I may consult them as this problem will only get worst. I've known people with a Boxer and the someone else with a Newfie that never corrected rough play biting as pups and you would always have to keep your hands well away unless they claimed them as a chew toys. I think my Dad wants to get on board with what I ask but just has very poor dog sense and struggles to read her body language and he has a very gentle disposition whereas my brother just wants to play rough with her all the time. In fact all my brother does is pat or play with her and because of that every time he walks in to a room she goes berserk!!!! No use trying to get across to him, he's rarely here and thinks I'm being strict and get the whole "She's not just your dog" treatment which irritates me because she is mine and when I move out in the next few years I'm the one that will have to put up with any bad behaviors she inherits.

I have tried being a bit louder with little success but I will keep on at it and get more forceful if need be. I think it's largely due to the inconsistency in my household; mum and I are quite forceful and tolerate very little nonsense whilst my dad and brother offer very passive 'No Bitey' sort of talk whilst still patting and playing with her. I'm finding the hardest thing about training her is my family never listening to me which is extremely frustrating!!

Unfortunately he is one of those people I am friends with due to circumstance not because I really enjoy his company as he can be very stubborn and arrogant (hence why he doesn't want to help out). I do really like his Mum though so maybe I can try to ask her. I can look around a bit more for other dogs and in the mean time encourage her to look back at me in times of distraction. Also any advice on play biting? She was very mouthy when we first got her and she has definitely reduced since then but when she's in a playful mood she tries to bite hands and clothing. I try redirecting her by saying AH UH then give her a toy and praise her for playing with the toy which normally works if I can fully commit to playing with her but other times when she wants to play and I have to do something else, if I just give her a toy to bite she gets bored quickly and starts biting people again. She gets plenty of bones, toys and kongs to chew on so I don't think it so much of a teething issue as it is she thinks that's how to play with people. I've tried what is commonly suggested with the redirecting, ending play and ignoring her if she bites hard and praising her for playing nicely but she still does it too much for my liking. Any suggestions?

Thanks for those links they were quite useful, the dilemma I have though is that all of my friends with even quite well-behaved dogs is they don't understand much about dogs. One of my friends who lives near by has a very well behaved dog that is calm and ignores other dogs on walks but when I asked if I could join them on a walk one day so I could give her a good experience around another dog while still focusing on me he said to just take her to the dog park. When I tried to explain that was probably the worst thing I could do to her since she is so inexperienced and impressionable he just looked at me like I was being over the top. None of the dogs on my street are friendly/are atrocious on walks so I am a bit lost as to what I should do :/

I probably should have worded what Id like to achieve socially a bit better. I know she.won't be able to play with other dogs for the most part, learning to ignore is definitely what I want out of my dog, there's no way Id feel comfortable walking a dog that big and it want to go greet every dog we meet. At the.moment she ignores dogs apart from glancing in their direction she keeps going and I suppose I shouldve asked instead how do i reinforce this behaviour. Just reward for every dog ignored? I think puppy school might be useful as its encouraging her to listed to me whilst around other dogs and I can always skip play time afterwards if I feel it will only serve as a negative experience. Thanks for your advice!

Well to be honest her dad is a Dane/Boxer/Bull Terrier mix and the Mum a Lab/Mastiff/Irish Terrier/Dachshund mix so I just simplify and say Dane x Mastiff because I think she's inherited the traits of those two. I have checked out this puppy school before and the class sizes are 5 and for the most part based on training as well as correcting typical puppy behaviours (mouthing, separation etc.) with the pups playing a bit at the end. I wouldn't take her to a free for fall sort of affair because she is used to playing with her litter mates who were all bigger than her and she has absolutely no idea how big she is. Her walks are just around the block no sniffing the grass and that sort of stuff, I will start properly sussing out my friends dogs and see how they interact, I have not allowed her to socialise with any dogs on our walk for both the health factor and also that I want her first experiences with strange dogs to be positive and useful, not traumatising! I think I might start her off with my friends puppy who is smaller than her as its just the two of them I can monitor their playing and make sure she knows how much is too much before we take her to puppy school and it is harder to keep her in line. I have no idea how you carried around a Dane pup! My arms nearly fell off carrying her a few hundred metres to the vet haha. Thanks a lot for your advice I only have one other friend with a big dog (Irish wolfhound mix) but she got him at 7 months so kind of couldn't relate with me so it's nice to hear from another large dog owner :)

Hi there, I have a beautiful Great Dane x Mastiff pup (I know not a purebred but this forum is probably the best place to get answers from). I've had her for a little over a week now and she is in the grand scheme of things a dream to own; 95% success rate going outside to toilet, sleeps through the night, doesn't chew up the house and has picked everything up really quickly! In saying that though as she is a big pup (already 10kg+) and will be an even bigger dog I'm really concerned about socialising her adequately. I got her from a rescue group where she was fostered in a fairly busy home with cats and chickens and also visited other dogs occasionally. She is wonderful around strangers and I have had at least one person a day visit her but it is really the dog to dog socialisation I am worried about as the earliest puppy school I've been able to get her into is 2 weeks away and I only know one other person with a pup her age. I feel like if I wait till puppy school she would've missed some crucial dog to dog socialisation time. I've started taking her for short walks as she has so much energy but am very wary about her meeting other dogs because even though it was over a week since her second vaccination I'm still anxious about her catching something and also because most dogs in our area aren't very nice/well controlled. I had to pick her up yesterday because this dirty looking little thing came tearing out of her front yard barking at us aggressively while its owner watched passively from her porch. Lucky my pup didn't really notice the dog chasing us so me picking her up didn't assert the idea to her that it was a bad experience I had to save her from. What should I do? Is it okay for her to mix with other adult dogs that are vaccinated that I know are nice and well behaved as many of my friends dogs would be suitable. I am just worried about her picking something up a these dogs do go to dog parks/are allowed to sniff grass etc etc. Obviously she is always at risk to exposure but I don't want to increase that risk. My vet wasn't very helpful, kind of rushed through our appointment so I think I might see a different one as he seemed to think I should keep her confined till her 16 week jab and seemed very concerned about even letting her play with another pup that has been vaccinated but confined from the outside world. Anyway sorry for rambling, any suggestions or advice about the tricky balance of socialising her before fully vaccinated would be much appreciated! I have the advantage that she is very indifferent to dogs that we have encountered, she kind of looks at them and then just keeps going even if they are carrying on like little monsters which puts me in a much better than situation than if she was cowering in fear or responding aggressively.