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RedFeather

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Posts posted by RedFeather

  1. 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.

  2. 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...

  3. 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...

  4. 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!

  5. 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!

  6. 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.

  7. 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...

  8. 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).

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. Redfeather you have a Lappie? how old? desexed or no?

    You are correct thinking it wont be a cheap job, but may not be as expensive as you expect. maybe 2 or 3 cartons of beer lol!

    If you are planning to use the services of a groomer before going away, please plan and book ahead, as we are coming into the super busy time of the year and calling a week ahead for a 2 to 3 hrs appointment at this time of year wont work. If a salon can fit you in at short notice in the warmer months id question why. They are either not busy for a reason, or are willing to packem rackem and stackem production line style which is never best for the dog.

    And please dont be the owner that puts off seeking professional help leaving it too long and then grumble when we have to be hard on the coat to try and fix it in a humane manner.

    Ps....it would be a pleasure to do a nice big double coat and not trim a single hair! It makes me ragey when I do a beautiful natural spitz coat that grooms up beautiful but the owners always want the bum trimmed or the feet trimmed or 'outlined' which I particularly hate! No one seems to be able to cope with a perfectly untouched spitz coat the way it should be, so it would be awesome :thumbsup:

    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!

  12. 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?

  13. redfeather

    I get my evil hound a hydrobath, claw trim and blow dry for less than the price of a cheap carton of beer.

    Mostly I just get a claw trim and that's totally worth every cent.

    I'm sure you could find it in the budget. But if hubby wants to do it for free - let him. Otherwise - he's paying.

    https://www.everydollar.com/

    By the way - last time I costed out a 24 hour a day live in house keeper, cook, child/dog minder, taxi service... it was over $120K per year.

    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!

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