Aroura

I feed my dogs BARF, I was going to switch to dry food recently, and it was a toss up between Innova and Eagle Pack. Both look like great food, but I couldn't get over the thought of having my dogs on a commercial diet, so have decided to keep feeding them BARF with two meals of Eagle Pack a week, its got lots of goodies in it that I can't get for the dogs otherwise so I think it'll be good to have in the diet, just not all the time :wink:

Montie is probably the most spoilt little dog around, I'm always cuddling him and babying him, he's my little darling and I go completely spastic if anyone does anything to scare or hurt him BUT if he's being a brat I tell him, he's got a harness and if he is barking on a walk I gently jerk the lead until he stops, then when he is behaving I give him a treat, he's getting so much better :wink: Montie wins everyones heart over in a second. He stands there and wags his tail, and I get him to do all his tricks and everyone thinks its so cute. Rewarding the good behaviour and ignoring or correcting the bad is the key to owning a happy, well behaved dog :angel:

I don't have a deaf dog, but there is a lady in our dog club who has a deaf cattle dog that has titles in agility. I don't know much about general hand signals that she uses, but one trick that she uses to make sure her dogs are constantly checking in on her is keeps blue tack on her forehead and will occasionally put food on it when the dog isn't looking, as soon as the dog looks, the gives him the treat. Its worked really well and that dog never takes his eyes off her, which helps a lot with training.

Hazel, I for one would love to read it and think it would be great if you posted it in NDR :wink: I know how touching and painful it can be :cry: Well I got Lily, a Boxer, when she was 12 weeks old from an add in a newspaper. She had her papers and at the time just assumed that papered meant good lines - boy was I wrong. She grew up the first few months after I got her around kids and got socialised all the time, and went to dog training as soon as I could arrange it. At first her aggression started towards dogs, about the time she came into heat. She started fighting with Tessa in the home and "eyeing" other dogs, wanting to fight about anything and everything. Then there was this kid who used to hang over the fence and tease her, nothing too drastic, but enough to get her hackles up. Also, my schizzophrenic brother had taken to chasing her around the yard, kicking and throwing things at her. I must admit she led a pretty stressful life, but when I mentioned to the breeder that she had become aggressive towards people she didn't sound at all suprised, apparently she wasn't the first from those lines to turn aggressive to people. What I still can't work out to this day is why she would continue to breed from these lines. I tried everything, and had the animal behaviourist come over often to try to suggest new things, which I tried, but never worked. I tried desensitising her, giving her treats when children were near, but as soon as they caught her eye the food was valueless to her, she just wanted to attack. I switched her to a natural diet, which worked for a while and made her a little bit better, but soon enough she was back to herself again. Eventually it got to the point where she would nearly pull me over when ever she saw a kid, it was horrible, I had images of her tearing some poor childs face off. Her aggression moved to older people, like grade six people, thats when I realised that despite everything, the problem was growing. I was having nightmares about someones child jumping the fence to grab a ball, or someone letting Lily out and her running up to the nearest child and killing them. Thats when I made the decision to get her put to sleep. I've been very depressed about it, the depression comes in bursts, I've been having one lately - I miss her and wish there was another way. Talking about it now helps, but I still can't get over the fact that I had to put my beloved dog to sleep :cry:

[quote name='Bentleythewonderdog']I know this thread has really hit a nerve with everyone. Maybe it wasn't was meant to offend but ..... when reading the post it is clear that some people dislike the smaller breeds. That's fine, I don't have a problem with those of you that do dislike them.[/quote] It hasn't hit a nerve with me, I just hate it when someone comes on the forum with a simple comment about [b]some[/b] small dog owners, and others jump to their defence as though they are being attacked when they are NOT. I have two of the smallest dogs in this town, Montie in particular pulls off wins for smallest dog competitions all the time, but I haven't taken one bit of offence at this post and don't see why anyone else should. If people stop taking one liners out of context and read the discussion properly they will realise that not one person here dislikes small dogs, we've all had our fair share of run ins with them, but blame the owners, not ONE person has said "I hate small dogs just because they are small".

There were a couple of things that made me decide against Canidae, mostly because they didn't have an email for me to contact them on! There were these stupid forms, that asked for your address before it would be accepted, and of course me living in australia couldn't complete them, we have a four digit area code, not a zip code for starters.. duh! :roll: Innova does look very good though, very tempting.... especially if it means that if I keep Montie at home and don't walk him he wont need to be fed either! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I've never met an American Cocker, but the English Cockers are very popular here and every one I have met has been absolutly gorgeous, and friendly, even those unfortunate to be in the hands of completely idiodic owners. I just assumed everybody here was talking about the English Cockers! :lol:

Well Canidae seems a no go, but I do like the looks of Innova, it only has one dry food, so I think I'd still try to get Eagle Pack as a rotating brand, but I did find one thing pretty funny, I did the food calculater for Montie, here are his results: [url]http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=profile-wiz-results&animal=Dog&name=Montie&weight=1.7&metric=1&dry=1&can=0&ratio=0&treats=&biscuits=0&go.x=11&go.y=4[/url] Take particular note of what he would be getting if he were "inactive" :lol:

I'm looking at the web pages too. I've considered feeding innova before, but for some reason Eagle Pack stuck in my mind. I'll email some people and find out which I can get easiest for the best price :D

Ok Guest, thanks :D

Glad to hear you like it Horsefeathers, I have much faith in your oppinion :wink: TDG, I think I'm a far cry from being able to afford holistic formula! Its so hard to find any good food here, the only other food thats even half decent is science diet and eukanuba. I'd definatly be adding a variety of fresh foods, I don't think I could be satisfied not doing that! What would you consider a better product?

[quote name='Sharpeigirl']:o :o Now aren't you saying that "Large dogs" would make a meal out of any small dog??[/quote] No not I, I can't speak for others here... BUT I do worry for the lives of my dog when some strange dog comes out of its yard, and not an owner to be seen. I know how quickly it can be between life and death when a dog as tiny as Montie gets between the teeth of another dog - I've almost been there before and don't want to risk going there again. It was actually pretty funny the other day, when someones "untrained" cat came flying after my two little dogs and chased them away :lol:

I don't see this as a debate, what are we debating? I think we all agree on the topic of this post, that irrisponsible dog ownership sucks, but some people have just taken it out of context and taken it all to heart. I'll call an untrained little dog a brat, just as I'll call an untrained big dog a manace, because thats how I feel, but it doesn't mean I don't acknowledge that it is the ignorant owners fault :roll:

Why is Dr Pepper so loved? It came here for all of about three months before everywhere stopped stocking it because nobody liked it. I remember it was pretty big in Canada but the people here just wont drink it :-?

Well to keep all the people who are busy getting offended at this thread happy, I'll have my own little rant, about big dogs... even though this topic was origionally about small dogs! It bothers me when big dog owners think their dog wouldn't hurt a fly, so keep it unchained with the gate open to wonder the streets as they please. Aside from the obvious chance that it could get hit by a car etc, I get TERRIFIED when one comes near me or one of my dogs while on a walk. One snap from a dog even a cocker spaniel size could instantly kill Montie. He's nearly been killed before and I don't know what I'd do without my little mont-sta. The attitude that pisses me off hear, as opposed to owners thinking thier little dog is "cute", is when the owners actually look offended and say "he wouldn't hurt anything" when their dogs come racing up to mine and I quickly pick them up. How am I supposed to know that? Their dog should be under control, what if for some reason they took a disliking to Montie? I try taking different routes while walking Montie and Cassie to avoid these terrorists from racing out of their yard and giving me a heart attack. To be honest, I think that anyone who owns a dog should have it confiscated if they can't or wont keep it under control :evil:

Thanks for that malamum! I'll email them now and see what they say :wink: I was planning to alternate the foods, I've heard that feeding the same food for long periods of time can lead to build ups in the body, so its best to alternate every few months. They've got a fair variety at eagle pack, I went to the site, so I'll alternate between them and put them on a month or two of BARF every now and again to give them a change. I'm not a believer in feeding the same thing every day :wink: I don't think I'll be able to afford the holistic one though :o

Well I wasn't actually "planning" to get it from anywhere yet - I went to the site and emailed the contact they had for Australia, so I'm waiting on a reply. I'm thinking of asking one of the vets if they will stock it. I'd love it if you could find that info for me though, to be honest I've got no idea how much it costs! :o

I was just curious as to weather anyone here feeds eagle pack. I don't really have the time at the moment, or the energy to make up BARF meatballs, its mostly a matter of getting all the different meats etc from different places without a car, its impossible! Also bargain hunting etc, it just takes so long and with uni etc I don't have the time at the moment. The only problem is, the only kibble I would even consider feeding my dogs is eagle pack, I've heard what they have to say and I like it, but can't get it here so will have to import it... not such a bad thing now that Josh will be going me halves in the food bill! I was still going to give them a chicken neck each in the evenings, they need it for their teeth and I couldn't dream of feeding dogs on a diet not containing fresh raw meaty bones! So does anyone feed this? Any oppinions?

[quote name='pLaurent']Aroura - that brindled whippet is just stunning!!! What do you call that colour? The lady who owns the pet store I go to has one that's similar. So pretty,and very sweet natured. :)[/quote] He's absolutly gorgeous isn't he? Not sure what colour he is :oops: He is the father of my new pup who was born a week ago :angel: The other one is the mum, I haven't got photos of the pups yet but spoke to the breeder on the phone last night and apparently they are all stunning and show quality, and whats best - I get the pick of the litter! :angel: For all those people "defending" little dogs, they don't need to be defended because we aren't saying anything nasty about them. Sharpei was simply stating something that happend, which she was annoyed about, and the topic went from there. No body has said a bad word about little dogs, as we've said before, most of us own them! BUT we do have a problem with owners who think this ridiculous behaviour is CUTE, how many big dog owners think its cute when their dog is latched on to someones hand? The reason this topic is little dog specific is simply because its the attidude of little dog owners that generally doesn't occur in big dog owners that we are ranting about. Not saying that ALL little dog owners have this attitide, I know I don't, but those who do you must admit it is very annoying! :agrue:

How is she going? Have you got pic yet?

Good to hear that you know what you're doing Guest1 :wink: So many people start home made diets without researching first, their dogs get ill and the pet food companys say "I told you so" and use your dog as a demonstration as to why not to feed home prepared meals. I heard of a Eukanuba pamphlet one time using a dog that was about one year old and going to die from every disease and growth/bone/brain/eye etc problem under the sun as a result of feeding a "BARF" diet - what they didn't mention is that this dog was probably not fed a properly balanced "BARF" diet at all, and was probably given a diet of meat and liver its whole life - hardly credible. I always say to people before going into a BARF diet is to weigh up the pros and cons and make an educated decision, this is obviously what you did and decided on home cooked instead :wink: Guest, can I ask where you got that information from? I want to look into it more...

Guest, I suggest you go back and [i]read[/i] all the posts before you come in and start firing off at us - most of us own little dogs ourselves, why would we come on here and go on about how nasty they are? :roll: SinCity, thats pretty scarey... luckily we don't have rabies here, but we still do have leash laws... the only place dogs are supposed to be allowed off leash is in off leash parks. Microchipping is also mandatory in this state, I think its a great law, but they don't inforce it enough and my way of thinking is why have laws if you're not going to enforce them? :-?

Guest1 - your dog sounds very spoilt... but is this all they get? I'd be worried about deficiencys if it is. Its nice to give your dog a nice meal once in a while, thats fit for human consumption and is presented better than if you were to go to a resteraunt! I give my dogs scrambled eggs occasionally and will sometimes cook them up yummy meals like you mentioned, but as a general rule veggies should be raw and pureed, that way they keep their vitamins and minerals and the cell wall is broken down so the dog can digest it. Horsefeathers will probably be able to give you some good advice for home cooked meals - I myself feed raw which is different again :wink:

Does this really work? :o

[quote name='Kiwi']Not realllly, as my dogs are on Raw Food. I sure won't be fighting them for their raw chicken carcasses, fruit, vegies and yoghurt, all mixed together :o Ick.. :lol:[/quote] :lol: :lol: :lol: Thats true, though sometimes I'd rather eat that than have to think about eating Mc Donalds! :o