Inka3095

Thanks :) Yes, my friend is a big fan of Royal Canin (says it's one of the best you can get, end of story) and is shocked that now 2 pet shops have asked me why I would want to buy Royal Canin when there are much better foods on the market. Each time I say anything though she asks me for proof as to why corn isn't good, and grains are bad and WHY, "scientifically" I would wish to feed anything other than something like Royal Canin or IAMS or Advance or whatever else you would want to call 'premium' in Australia. (I'm currently feeding TotW Salmon mixed with Big Dog BARF patties btw) I am happy to be proven incorrect or correct, I don't really care, I just want to feed the healthiest food for my dog to have a long healthy and happy life. I know that the 'best food is the one your dog does best on' and agree completely, but I'm just looking for proof in writing with actual studies to continue a sensible conversation with my friend who is just as passionate about this as I am but believes she has a lot more knowledge (which is fair enough given she's a vet lol).

Hey DOL So, so sorry if this has been discussed before, but I'm currently in a deep and ongoing discussion with a vet friend of mine who is very interested in why I am feeding my dog BARF patties and bones as well as a premium kibble instead of 100% kibble. She says all the Australian super premium foods have scientific evidence to increase health and longevity in dogs and has no idea why I would want to play with/deny that science by feeding BARF/raw food I personally do it because my pup loves the BARF patties and I feel it allows her to experience different textures and temperatures and flavours of food to try and prevent her becoming fussy or fixed on one type of food. I also have heard such positive feedback from people who feed their dogs BARF. I haven't, however, read any actual studies in peer reviewed journals doing a head-to-head study with a super premium food vs BARF and don't know if one exists?? Do any more learned, well read people know where I could find actual evidence as to the benefits of BARF to help me stop saying things like 'but lots the people on DOL like it....' Thanks!

Thanks so much :) I tried chicken necks but she eats them in 2 bites so they're not really worth it!

Are chicken frames safe for a 16 week old puppy? I was feeding chopped up marrow bones until my friend said she was FAR too young to be eating them

I couldn't be happier with my pen from VeboPets - it's strong, sturdy, withstands a crazy leaping shiba when she spies us coming home, doesn't move around the room, isn't too nasty on the eyes (not ideal having a giant cage in your living room but could be worse), and has a roof that can be opened easily as well as a door that's easy to use and very safe. It was delivered within 48 hours from Sydney and for what it is, was a very good price. We were thinking of so many different ideas for play pens to try and save money, customise it, etc etc but ended up going with this because we were desperate and time became an issue (pup absolutely couldn't cope being alone outside and we had to go back to work after getting her) so we loved how easy it was. Just unfolded it and it was set up!

Whoa! Enya's portrait is just gorgeous!

I know it's probably really bad for her, but my pup loves doggy yoghurt drops more than anything else when we're training. That's her 'high value treat' for toileting and tricks. Everything else gets dinner kibble or other random treats

This has found a home ty

Nice post Haredown, I wonder about this stuff allll the time; probably too much lol

Thanks guys :) I'm taking her to her 2nd puppy class at the moment and was hoping that would help us a lot, but the trainer is 100% positive reinforcement, which, for this pup, I don't feel is necessarily going to work all the time. She responds well to 'AH AH' noises and learns we don't like that behaviour (licking/biting etc) so I think that's ok to do? We're not physically reprimanding her in any way, so I hope the voice negative reinforcement isn't going to traumatise her even at her tender age, lol. If I could read her mind and know why she's doing some of the weird things she does then I'd be so happy! I'm planning on taking her to get some Erny love soon, so I might sort that out asap, thanks again

Really???? Omg if that's true I'm so happy! I feel like I'm the most defective dog owner/trainer ever coz even such a simple concept of 'toilet is the grass!' I can't teach her

Yeah she chews everything when unsupervised (carpet/furniture) and isn't reliably toilet trained either (despite our best efforts)

Hi! I have a new puppy and have been given a tonne of random stuff in a showbag from the vet :) One of the things is a $20 cashback on '3kg bag or larger of Hills Science Diet Puppy' - I'm not feeding science diet so was wondering if anyone here could use it. It's just a piece of paper voucher so I can pop it in the post for anyone; better than being thrown out! Thanks :)

Hi :) I have a 16 week old shiba inu puppy who is generally a very good pup with only the usual things to worry about (mouthing/biting/jumping up/pulling on lead) - all of these I believe are normal and can be corrected gently over time with consistent training etc. However, she decided that from day 1 she will not be outside the house alone. As in, just will not tolerate it. Anyone familar with the noise a shiba is capable of producing will understand when I say she violently disagrees with it. We had to accept this for the sake of the very close neighbours and bought her an ex-pen for inside the house. She now spends the time we're at work in her ex-pen with a potty pad, water, beds, chew toys etc. She shows no anxiety when we leave the house each morning. She lets us put her in her pen then stands on her bed and calmly watches as we leave. I have never heard her making a fuss when I arrive home each day either. However, when we are home and have to put her in there for one reason or another (like sleeping in the afternoon as I do shift work at the moment) she seems to know we're home and screams blue murder without a break for however long she's in there. She also screams/shrikes for a good 15-20 minutes each night after being put in her crate for sleeps. Some nights about once a week she doesn't settle down at all and works herself up into a right state. We have tried to ignore all this behaviour and just hope that she'll learn in time, but it doesn't seem to be simply about getting attention now, it is true anxiety that seems to be motivating her to yell and scream (I can't describe the noises she makes... it's out of this world in both quality and volume). Going out and saying 'NO!' will just be giving her attention surely? So we're just unsure how to combat it.... the graded leaving her alone thing would be ok if THAT were what was upsetting her, but for example, at night, she starts her tantrum as soon as the crate door shuts so we'd just be rewarding her noises? I'm no trainer but that's the gist of what I have read so far about this stuff... oh, just to clarify, she doesn't hate or fear either her crate or ex-pen and will choose to go into either when she wants during the day. It's just the separation from us things (when we're home) that she objects to... Thanks heaps for any advice :)

Hehe yeah I love them and their beds too, I met the guy who makes them at one of the markets down here, and he was lovely :) Sadly my pup barely eats anything so I just feed her using a kong and the dining station would be wasted

If you want something a bit posh http://www.lyrebirdpetfurniture.net/diningstations.html

Oh Oh I've just gone with PetPlan because of that exact reason... When the girl was talking to me about their plans, I said I had consistently heard they were very slow with their payments and she said they have just begun some 'new technology' that will hopefully improve their claim payout times... Lol........

I went with PetPlan because my best friend's cat has lymphoma and she's 100% covered (by PetPlan). They have paid out a small fortune in chemo and other costs - takes ages to get the money but it is 100% of the costs and she has never regretted choosing them as a company.

Thank you :) :)

So not all grains are bad??!! I wish I knew the ACTUAL best food to feed! The petshop guy said Earthborn puppy didn't have any 'bad' grains or fillers in their food, but that was compared to the Canidae which had 0% grain so that is then supposed to be superior? confused

I wandered into a petshop today and had a chat to the owner who said the 'Earthborn Puppy" was pretty good (does contain grains) or the Canidae PureOcean (?) which is grain-free and will probably tempt my exceptionally fussy little 3 month old shiba pup who turns her little black nose up at most food I offer her. I thought I'd come to DOL to check which would be best for a pup before I spent the $$ on a bag - my pup eats food so slowly we'll probably have this same bag for about 6 months lol Thanks guys

I searched for a while for a 'trainer-run' puppy school but didn't find one until I'd already signed up and paid for a 4-week puppy school run at a vet clinic by vet nurses who allow a free-for-all I was close to not returning after week 1 because my pup was SO unsure of herself, hid behind my legs and growled/snapped at the puppies coming too close. Also, I didn't like the way they dealt with her temper tantrum after their attempt to 'get her used to having her nails clipped' but I went back for a 2nd attempt the following week and my pup loved every second of it. However, I'd done a TONNE of work with her during that week and she was a lot more confident with life in general, so perhaps that helped. I'm finishing week 4 this coming week and then swapping into a puppy class run by a dog trainer who only allows matched puppies to have some supervised off-lead time and no free-for-alls. I can't wait to go to this class, wish I'd found it before I paid my $120 for the first one. However, Cinder has a ball there each week so I think it's worked out ok.

My breed (shibas) are apparently quite prone to OCB/Obsessive type behaviours and things like laser pointer games are strongly not recommended. That's why I'm trying to stop this tail chasing before it becomes a really big problem - I also don't like the fact that life ceases to exist as she spins around. She will crash into anything with her body or head as she's going around at top speed which surely isn't a) normal or b) good

I haven't 100% worked out why she does it to be honest. Sometimes we'll be playing fetch or something and she'll catch sight of her tail and go it, spinning in circles until she crashes into something (I don't like her doing it at all). Other times it will be in the middle of her zoomies, and other times for no reason at all (perhaps this is the boredom one). She's in an exercise pen during the day without enough room to get a good spin up so I'm fairly sure she can't do it while we're not watching her - I'll just keep up the vigilance and hopefully she'll grow out of it

Thanks guys, should I make it a 'bad' thing she's doing? That is, say 'no' and then redirect? Or just simply distract her without any verbals?