RedFeather

Brings a poo inside and leaves it on the mat for us. Worst. Present. Ever

If you go through the DOL pages there are a few who specifically mention breeding old-style GSDs

We had a couple of beds that I made when Basker was a puppy. He has since shown no interest in them except to try to destroy them. He sleeps on the floor or in his crate. I feel like a terrible mother but he didn't use them even before he became intent on destroying them. The cold hard ground is apparently much more comfortable

Puppy loves stealing and eating hubby's ear plugs. Mmmmm waxy foam goodness.

My dog loves everyone. My cat hates most people BUT will eventually come and say hello and with people she knows well she won't run away when they arrive. Except my mum. My mum, who she lived with for the first 5 years of life, and used to sleep on her lap in the chair. Then, I moved out and took my cat and now if she so much as hears my mum she will hide in the wardrobe and not come out.

There isn't a state breed club for Lappies...I'm a member of the Victorian and NSW club facebook pages but I'm weighing up the pros and cons of official membership since I don't show and won't be going interstate for events etc.

I took my Lappy for a walk yesterday when it was just over 30 degrees, but I think it may have been a tad too hot for both us in retrospect. Today it's forecast to be 34 or 35 degrees so the monster is inside when he would normally be outside. Ideally I'd stay home with him but alas I have too much work to do. On days like today I'd like to get up early and walk before it gets hot but that didn't happen today either. Since I'm pretty heat intolerant, I follow a general rule that if it's too hot for me, it's too hot for him...

Pedigreed dogs are not without their problems. But neither are rescues or crossbreeds from BYB. Ultimately, you choose which path you want to take and you'll probably think you're the only one who took the right road until one day you look up and notice you all arrived at the same place...which is loving a dog and getting unconditional love in return. Unless your dog hates people. Then you are unlucky...

Because we rarely eat at the table (we're 'eat out of bowls on the couch' people, especially since our tiny dining area became the dog's pen area) Basker doesn't seem to realise what people sitting at a dinner table are doing, so he just looks for cuddles. When we eat in the living room he is either crated or in his pen so he's never learned that when humans eat, he gets food. Hopefully this can remain but he's only 9 months old so he has loads of time to learn bad habits. If however I have been doing training and feeding bits of schmacko, I definitely have to the do 'all gone' hand gesture!

If you go through the pages on the main Dogz Online website, I seem to recall a few breeders saying they are breeding old style Shepherds. Macklin (VIC) Fax (QLD) Vom SS (NSW) NOBELSCHUTZ (NSW) Wiltyne (NSW) Shrekherds (WA) Nothingbutgsd (NSW) Those are the ones I could find specifically mentioning 'old fashioned' style. There are several other 'working line' breeders but those dogs might not suit your needs (depending of course what your needs are...) PLEASE NOTE I don't know anything about those breeders, they might be terrible people or irresponsible breeders. BUT at least it gives you somewhere to start to narrow down your search. And yes, check the breed specific forum!

As a university student I can get a copy...but I don't know if I can share it easily here, especially without breaching University codes of conduct...

I worry about the 'adopt don't shop' crowd sometimes. There aren't always dogs available for adoption that suit everyone's lifestyles. The local rescues are full of staffy and kelpie mixes, and for a good reason - people get them and find they are high energy dogs that aren't really suitable for the way they life their lives. A few of my 'adopt don't shop' friends are very anti-pedigreed dogs too. And yes I know there are good reasons for that sometimes - there are of course issues with a lot of breeds, yes crossbreeds might live longer (if they are a healthy cross breed to start with) and yes there are dogs that need adopting. But there are also people out there who haven't done their research the way many of us have, who choose a breed because it's cute or trendy or has a funny 'oodle' name and is available in the newspaper that day. But I dislike this notion that all people who own pedigreed dogs are morons who don't care about animals at all. I've said a lot of times, if I could find an ethically bred cross breed puppy that met our needs, I'd get one. But because of puppy farmers, it's pretty impossible. The problem is not that pedigreed dogs are all bad and the people who own them are monsters, it's that people simply don't research before getting a dog. People honestly don't know about puppy farming and responsible breeders and why it matters. And sadly people who have done this research, like most of us here on this forum, get tarred with the same brush, as horrible puppy-farm supporting, unethically breeding monsters who won't adopt a dog because it's not pretty enough. End rant. You can't win em all, sadly.

Westiemum - I have a friend who has two elderly dogs...I think they are pom-chi crosses. She loves her older babies, I could contact her if you'd like? She had kids and cats.

^ I think my dog is broken...lol

And a cattle dog and call him Anthony...sorry, no purple dogs to call Jeff...although I saw someone who had dyed her small fluffy purple in parts, maybe he could be Jeff...he'd have to be very sleepy though :laugh:

Currently the yellow wiggle is a girl called Emma but the 'original' was Greg...could always just call him 'Wiggle' though :)

My dog loves lemons. I think he thinks they are balls, but he seems to like the taste too. So much for the citrus based chew deterrents. Then again, he will eat any plant he can get his mouth on. Even the rose bushes despite the fact they bite back. If you want another climber how about kiwifruit? You need a male and a female plant if you want fruit...

Is a beef pizzle the same as a bully stick?

I should have qualified that statement, that when he starts to mount we do tell him to get off and will pull him off. He's quite good at 'off' and we keep an eye on him to make sure he's not actually going to annoy another dog too much, especially one that obviously doesn't want to play. But that's the thing - if your dog doesn't like to play with other dogs, don't take it to a dog park. To my mind, that's what dog parks are for - to run and play and interact with other dogs. Our nearest park is good, not too many dogs and you can always identify who's dog is whose. We will always make sure we talk to the owner of any dog ours seems to be interested in to make sure their dog is OK with other dogs. I've seen dogs snap at mine for no reason than he went up to sniff butts as they do, to be told 'oh, s/he doesn't like other dogs'. Why are you here then? I realise that you need a fenced space for your dog to run in, but as people here have stated, there are other places, or times when there are no other dogs there. But you can't go to a park where there are other dogs and get annoyed when your dog is approached by other dogs. I also use 'SWF' as a generic term rather than a derogatory one, sorry if that causes offense. I could say 'westies' or 'maltese crosses' but sure as eggs I'd be wrong about a breed and someone would get offended! I happen to quite like them (so long as they aren't snappy, but it's not like that is limited to the dogs of the small white fluffy variety).

Ah, the Lapphund. The intelligent and stubborn Lapphund. There's a look mine gives me, and I'm sure other owners (as well as other Spitz breeds) know it. It says 'yes, I know what you asked me to do, I just don't want to. Nope. Not even for my dinner. Unless there's schmacko in it for me, it's not gonna happen'. Everything else ever is far more interesting than what you actually want them to do. There have been days when I just think 'why oh why didn't we just get a sweet biddable labrador'. Also the coat drop.

We had trouble with our puppy not being super interested in his kibble. Definitely wouldn't eat if we were in the room, because we are far more interesting! Mixed a little cream cheese (like, a teaspoon) into the bowl and voila. Puppy eating kibble again.

I love taking our boy to the dog park, but I can see why some people don't. He is a goofball who loves everything and everyone. He can be a jerk to other dogs at the moment (he's starting to mount dogs a bit) but I've found other dogs are mostly good at warning him to get off and stop being a brat without hurting him. There are good parks and bad parks though. I find it weird how parks can get a 'reputation' but that's just how it is. For us it's essential to take him, because it's hard to give him a good run without some other dogs there...he's not super into fetch, but if another dog is playing, he'll chase the dog! Or he'll herd the SWFs, although not so much anymore because he's too big for the small dog areas.

He's nearly 8 months, and not desexed (yet - will happen in a few more months). Will keep your recommendations in mind! The only trimming I'd ever consider is his feet to reduce mud tracking, but they are supposed to have snow boots! He does have some hilarious looking longer hairs on some of his toes though!

I knew some dogs growing up which loved tearing coconuts like that apart - but I grew up in Darwin and they just had the coconut tree growing in their backyard like most of us did...not sure where you'd get them outside of the tropics?

Hubby isn't THAT stingy, I've just only ever seen pretty high prices quoted before now. What I might do is suggest we get him groomed really well just before we hand him over to my sister-in-law and her fiance when we go on holiday - that way they don't have to bother grooming (their dog is a greyhound, not sure they'd cope with my spitz boy's coat!) while we're away. I already promised them that if he starts dropping coat while we are away I'll entirely pay for a groomer!