Scrappi&Monty

I can't help you with that specific breeder/breed sorry. but we did adopt Scrappi, a rescue puppy from WA and he was flown to Sydney when he was 12 weeks old in 2009. It seemed like the flight was fine. That's very different though to when it is from a breeder as it is nice to interact with the breeder and their dogs in person first. And it is a good idea to do that if possible to ensure the pups are in a good place. Although at the same time if you are pretty sure the breeder is really good and you are interstate, don't let that stop you from getting one of their pups, the flight is usually fine. Perhaps you could FaceTime/Skype the breeder and they could show you their pups and dogs and where they live via video call?

Both my dogs have them still and we've never had an accident regarding them (touch wood). They do use them sometimes, when holding chews/toys, and when doing zoomies I think it might help them.

Oh that's so sad The poor little pup dumped in the river! One dog dying would potentially pass as an accident but two is terrible animal ownership. Dogs eat things they shouldn't and it should be the owner's utmost priority to ensure they don't chew on things they could choke on! Obviously he felt guilty for it because he must've allowed the pup chew on something it shouldn't while he was supposed to be supervising it. Because if it was an accident why would he go and make a false claim to the Police and throw the puppy in the river? Sad story

We've used ant sand type stuff before, pretty sure that's dog safe, just check the package or call the helpline. Just don't let pup eat near it or eat any of the ant poison regardless just to be sure. If you are still to reluctant to use poison, you could try pouring boiling water down the ant holes. I remember Dad used to do that when we were kids with the Green ants. Have you seen your pup deliberately eating/digging up the ants? Hope not, my uncle's old mastiff does that and she gets confused when her mouth is all sore.

Hi everyone, Scrappi has this little lump which is about the size of a pea and has been there a bit over a month. It's in the skin and it is the same colour as the skin. It isn't big or squishy. I feel like we should get it checked out because if it is something bad (ie malignant) it can be sorted out and hopefully be fixed before a problem arises. I'm thinking it's probably just a fatty cyst but I feel like it would be nice to know for sure. But when I was talking about it with my father he said not to worry because it isn't effecting him in any way. I dropped by our local vets today on our walk and I asked the receptionist/nurse what she thought and when we should get it checked out. She said she wouldn't worry, unless it causes him pain or grows. So I thought I'd ask the wise people of DOL and see what the general consensus is. Thanks

Hmm I'll go have a look. Is it expensive?

Yikes, that's a royal stuff up...! Next time my dogs go to the vet I will ask if she can scan their chips. To be honest I'm not even 100% sure which details are on Scrappi's microchip/what registry he is on. He was adopted from Western Australia and we live in NSW so I think he is on both registries? Or a national one. Monty couldn't have any old owner details on his because the RSPCA did it when he was 5mths old. The previous owners never bothered.

Yes, when we were looking for a new pup about a year ago I did some of those breed selectors, they aren't the most accurate, and are really just a bit of fun. Some of the breeds it suggested were my favourite already and I was genuinely considering those breeds. But in the end we went to buy our dog food at Petbarn and came back with Monty the amstaffy puppy... oops! (they had an RSPCA adoption day, and he was too sweet to resist). The breed selector thing said that American Staffy type dogs were unsuitable for our family but Monty is actually the perfect fit. A few years ago my grandmother was looking for a non-shedding dog to be with her and Pop as a little friend (Pop had lung issues so dog hair & dust provoked them) but long story short, the type of dog they were after was completely different to what we were after, but the breed selector quizzes came back with the same results.

Scrappi is allergic to fleas and what we thought was grass allergies turned out to be bad allergies to flea saliva. We checked frequently and never saw a flea on him and the vet said she couldn't find any, just a tiny bit of flea dirt, but we started using advantage and it helped clear it up (+ coconut oil and baths to fix where he scratched himself) They sometimes just catch a flea and it bites them then jumps off and if they are allergic to the saliva they will have bad dermatitis for quite a while (a week or so) and if they aren't allergic it will just annoy them for a bit. We thought we had been using flea preventative meds but turned out Sentinel only covers the early stages and doesn't kill adult fleas. If your pup does ever have a flea problem or you think there is one you can use capstar and it kills all the fleas on them (it doesn't prevent though) Best to ask your vet's opinion though, could be something other than fleas. Good luck with your adorable pup!

As mentioned before; it is very important to make sure the puppy has alone time. Otherwise she will have to deal with separation anxiety... not fun! When we got our younger dog there were originally a few fights between him and our older dog, but then they bonded really well and are best mates. They both get really upset when the other leaves (especially the younger one when I walk the older one). And also while the pup is young make sure it learns a reliable recall and to listen when playing with the other dog etc.

We have tried samples of the K9 naturals freeze dried stuff. Pretty good, it was only 2 tiny packets from the Dog Lovers show so I used one as treats (they loved it & was easy to break up) and the other I dissolved in water & put on their normal food (I think that's what you're supposed to do?) I haven't tried Ziwi though as it's pretty expensive :-/

I was just having a look on the Leura Doggie shop website and there is a brand new version of Ruffwear Front Range harnesses. I hadn't even heard about it anywhere. We have 2 of the old style and they are great. This new version doesn't seem too different to the other ones, the only thing I can tell is the strap is coloured instead of being grey. They look good but I think I prefer the old ones. The old style might start going on sale in different places if they are being replaced by this style. https://www.leuradoggiestore.com.au/dog-store/ruffwear-front-range-harness/

Thistle and Rural Pug; haha. Thank you I wasn't in charge of the paper work when my family adopted him so I don't really know where it's gone in our house. They don't give us vacc. cards at our vet, it's only on the computer...

Breaks my heart seeing that sort of thing!

I'm not 100% sure how finding a microchip works. But I would've thought that if there is a chip it will come up (regardless if the dog is registered with NSW registry) so wouldn't they think "oh it has a microchip, but the microchip doesn't come up on NSW registry so we'll check the others?"

Thanks for the info. I actually don't really know which registry our dogs are on, so next time at the vets I might check Scrappi's. (He was from WA and we are in NSW so might be on a different register.)

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to let him put too much weight on quickly, but a friend adopted a rescue boxer who was skinny and ribby like that and they gave him meatballs to fatten him up. We tried them for Monty too when he was a bit scrawny. Mince, cream cheese (or cottage cheese or something. Can't remember), kibble (crushed up to crumbs/powder), and some grated veg if you want. And you mix it to a meatball consistency and make patties and freeze them, defrosting as needed. For a dane I suppose you could add a decent portion to his regular meal? The cheese might be a bit rich on his tummy though.

Haha pretty over the top but some of those things are useful.

Sigh. I know how you feel. Monty does this, but he's a 20kg staffy who we adopted at 6mths old. Already had learned bad/reactive behaviours. I don't have much advice sorry, but definitely a good idea to keep doing socialisation and find out a way to nip it in the butt before she grows big and thinks it's ok! Otherwise it is really not fun. Cute little puppy barking is ok and cute so people don't mind, but a big dog is annoying and scary, especially as ours is a staffy. The receptionist at our vet wasn't very helpful either, glad you had someone to try and help out while you paid! Makes it a lot easier. Good idea to get her refocused on you, and to remove her from the waiting room for a while and get her used to it in short bursts, and take her outside if she's getting squirmy and looks like she's going to bark. Also maybe you could give her a little treat to chew on for being calm (as long as other dogs don't try to take it!) Does she go to a puppy obedience class? Maybe doing that if you can will get her used to training in the presence of other dogs and smells, and first maybe you could do training with her while your parents do training or play with their ACD on the other side of the yard?

Sentinel Spectrum is good until a flea gets on the dog, and then you probably need something to break the cycle. A quick fix is Capstar. It is a tablet that you give every time (week? Day?) you notice fleas and it kills them off. It isn't a preventative though, but a good way to get them gone for good before you use preventative. As showdog said you could fleabomb the house if it is quite bad, because they can lay eggs in the dogs bedding, your carpet/rugs, and lounges/beds that the dogs have been on. You could also flea bath them; at home or Pet Quarters does medicated flea baths in the DIY hydrobath. For preventative we use Advantage as well as Interceptor Spectrum instead now because Sentinel doesn't kill the adults so Scrappi caught a flea from another dog which bit him and he had flea allergy dermatitis for a few weeks, this happened a few times and we never saw an actual fleas .

Yes sorry I saw that the other day and forgot to post again on here, I commented it on another thread instead. I find that absolutely appalling that someone would do that, they wasted the public's time, the media coverage and let alone the police time and money! And whatever happened to the poor puppy if it even existed in the first place too...

I don't know. It is meant to be a chew toy, I've seen them before. Maybe he was wearing a different red collar and it's a coincidence, but I have never heard of a "coiled collar" before? I have seen coiled springy leads made out of those surf leg rope type materials, maybe they got collar and leash mixed up, people do that surprisingly often. Nonetheless it is quite a weird turn of events. I am annoyed though that he tricked the public, the media and let alone the police into thinking it was true though, such a low thing to do. Perhaps he had a (probably twisted) reason to do so, but regardless.

The other morning I woke up at 6:30 to the sound of Monty coughing and vomiting up a (medium) mango seed. The second morning in a row that he threw up something weird. Over the year we've had him, he has been notorious for eating weird things, he's not as bad as some dogs but it's pretty dangerous! We have several fruit trees, and when each come into season he eats the fruit/nuts that fall (excluding mulburries, he also picks those haha). At the moment he has been chewing up macadamias (the hard shell then (probably) eating the poisonous nuts which are nowhere to be seen among the crunched up shells and peels) and also mangoes. The bats get in the mango tree despite all of our efforts to stop them, then they take a little nibble out of the mangoes and often drop the rest in the middle of the yard. Then Monty will go and eat the rest, usually skin and all, and at least one time he has eaten the seed too (the one he threw up!) Surprisingly this hasn't had any particularly negative effects, and gorging on lily pillies doesn't seem to do much either and mulberries when they are in season just causes purple poos and a tummy ache. But one day I swear that dog is going to make himself really sick. I was really worried about him getting a disease from the bats but apparently it's very uncommon and things like Hendra virus are spread from bats to horses to dogs? We have tried fencing the trees off with a temporary wire fence and a puppy pen kind of thing, and we pick the fruit up as often as possible but it doesn't help much. I was thinking of maybe trying a "Smuzzle?" http://smuzzleme.com/ any thoughts?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-22/egg-the-pug-owner-charged-with-making-false-robbery-report/8292576 Here's the new news report. ^^^ Not sure if it's true, but apparently he made the story up to cover up for accidentally killing him or losing him or something. That's appalling that someone would make rubbish up like that, wasting police time, the public's time and media coverage. I remember thinking "wow, it's unusual that it has been so widely covered", but obviously it's because a) dog lovers felt sorry for the owner and the dog, and b) media would've known it made for good story; a cute pug with a cute name stolen at knife point. Meanwhile actual stolen dogs and lost dogs aren't getting coverage (suppose that's "boring" for news) This whole time we were worrying for the owner, and being worried about what these "burglars" would do to Egg, but then it was the owner we should be skeptical of... Hopefully Egg is ok. (if he ever actually existed I suppose.)

I think though if BYB and Puppy mills were somehow ended, and that wasn't an issue anymore, there would be more registered breeders. I would love to be a (registered) breeder, I find genetics quite fascinating and I love dogs and puppies (obviously), and would love to show and do dog sports. Although I doubt I will ever breed, because there are enough dogs and pups needing rescue that I feel I should be doing that instead. (though I'm so glad there are awesome registered breeders, no issues with that)