Aroura

Lilys due to be desexed on Friday and all of a sudden I'm all worried!!! I don't want to send my baby to be cut open and have bits chopped out of her :o :( And she's so beautiful, everybody says I should breed her so I will never have that choice again after friday. What if something goes wrong? Argh, I'm so paranoid, I just don't want my darling to get hurt. She's having blood tests and a full physical first so I know that there is nothing wrong with her, so at least I'll have some peice of mind there.... but still, I need some reassurance!!!! :drinking:

Mama, that sounds like a great idea! :lol: Actually we're doing something at obedience at the moment, teaching "steady for pats" where the dog has to sit there while another person in the group circles around it, getting closer but as soon as the dog stands up or gets excited the person walks away and the process starts again. It sounds so easy and its something that anyone can do, but its so hard to find a friend who will do it with you! And to do it consistantly too, every time someone meets the dog telling them to stay away until the dog is settle. If I can manage that though that will be the first step to introducing her to children, its hard to find a child who can controll a dog so the only way around that is to teach the dog to controll itself before it meets children. Hopefully in time she'll be a happy boxer just like all them other boxers out there :D Oh, and about the horses.... I'm terrified of them and they know it! I was chased around a paddock once by a territorial clidesdale stallion and he was massive, he attacked our car too and nearly knocked it over. No, I can honestly say I can't trust anything that could knock me out and knock my teeth out with so much as the flick of a hoof :o

*sniff* so sad, if only it were fictional then it would still be sad, but the fact that it happens every day makes it absolutly heart breaking :cry:

Very interesting, makes alot of sence though... Tessa's racist, very racist. She hates black people and always has since I took her home from the pound all those years ago. I took her over to my piano teachers house soon after I got her, my teacher was suprised and said she'd seen the same dog wondering around just a few days earlier. The area where my piano teacher lives is right near the mission - for those who don't know the mission is where alot of poor aborigionals live. Now, not being racist myself, but from what I've seen alot of them will torment dogs at any chance they get, hence Tessa's attained hatred towards them. Lily on the other hand (who also dislikes blacks for different reasons) has a predjudice against children. Although I'm unhappy about it, I can understand why she goes psycho every time she sees one. I've looked out the window so many times to see children hanging over the fence, barking at her and throwing things, basically tormenting her to the point where she's in the situation that she wants to attack them. Its a real problem, but what can I do about it? They are always different children visiting different neighbours so I can't stop them from doing it, and it will be really hard to re condition her because who wants to introduce their child to a big mutt that will jump all over them? And what makes it worse is my anticipation of what will happen, so I get tense and Lily thinks she needs to protect me more and so gets more protective and aggressive. Any suggestions? :drinking: Oh, and just for the record I'll be taking out a loan to get Lily desexed early next week, so if hormones is a part of it that should help a little!!!

I've never actually owned one, but I've heard they make great pets. Before they are re homed they are re trained to live around cats and rabbits etc and to live in a family environment. If I didn't already own two dogs I would definatly get one :D

I usually add grated veggies, raw meat, an egg, kelp etc a couple of times a week, plus any dinner left overs if they are healthy (we pretty much only eat healthy here anyway). I also give the dogs a raw bone each every day.

Wysong sounds like probably the only honest brand of dog food on the market! Yes, dogs do need variety... no other brand would have you beleive it but how could dogs honestly have a balanced diet if they were eating the same things day in day out? Not only is variety the spice of life, but its the best way to stay healthy too, so long as you keep it balanced too. Personally I'd go with wysong if I were you, I've seen something about it on the net but havn't actually heard of it over here... still, it sounds like your best bet.

Oh, well you learn something new every day don't you? I think I'll be staying away from the grape juice from now on! I actually read that stuff about tomatos in a cat site where it actually mentioned cats who had died from tomatos... it did say the same applied to dogs but I don't know, maybe its one of those "ok in small doses" things.

BK, send some of them avacados up this way!!! :fadein: From what I've hear its the seed and skin of avacados that are toxic. Tomatos are also toxic, they contain selenim which is poisonous to dogs and if they eat enough they can die from it. Onions give dogs anemia and can also kill them. Potatos are fine (although I'm another anti grainer), its the green bits on the unripe ones that are poisonous and are also poisonous to humans. Hazel, I know what you mean about dogs going crazy on grains, I noticed the difference when I fed my dogs solely on BARF, they still have the same amount of healthy energy but just aren't hyperactive. Anything with preservatives can give many dogs allergys. Raw egg white contains something that inhibbits a dogs ability to digest biotin, in return egg yolk contains large amounts of biotin to even it out, so as long as you feed the white and the yolk together its ok. I never heard about the grape thing before, what exactly do they do? Does this mean I shouldn't feed them to my rat either? I'd hate for him to get sick!!! :o

Thanks for the memo!!!! All our animals used to be registered with them, then I lost the address and couldn't find it again!!!! I'm going to register with them again tonight!!!! :D

Yeah well Doris is the type of person who wants to help everyone and wanted to go and get the dog out of the pound for him. I told her its a bad decision, they are both better off without each other and obviously he doesn't really want the dog that much or nothing could take it away from him... she saw my point and decided that we'll both just hope for the best for that poor dog. Fingers crossed.

How come some dog owners have to be so irrisponsible??? Mums friend, Doris, has been staying with us for a few days... anyway, she took the dogs for a walk this morning and didn't know that dogs aren't allowed in the cemetary, until the grounds keeper came and told her. Anyway, they got talking and he told Doris about this guy who had been warned repeatedly by the police not to walk his dog through the cemetary but was too lazy to walk around it and eventually got a maximum fine due to his attitude. Anyway, what makes me angry is that instead of listening to the warnings he got fined, and now that he's been fined he's decided he can't afford the fines and so has taken his dog to the pound!!!! :x I'm furious!!!! Why can people be so stupid and heartless???? :evil:

Thanks for your suggestions, I've had a think about it. You're right, I shouldn't change but I'm not sure how convenient that will be, as it is I'm making batches for a fortnight at a time and it takes up the whole freezer, plus it takes forever to make. I don't know what I can do about getting other brands of food, I'm in a country town and its just impossible to get other foods without paying a massive shipping fee that I can't afford. :drinking: I think I'll have to feed the euk at least for the first few weeks of uni until I've settled in and know whats going on, I'll just give her a bone to chew every second day and a stuffed chicken carcass once a week (just a chicken carcass stuffed with grated veggies, a little bit of liver, egg etc). If she doesn't thrive on that I'll just somehow have to make time to keep making up her big batches of food (i wish I had a personal cook, for me [i]and[/i] the dogs!!!) :lol:

I've looked around at kibbles, of the brands I have to choose from I think Eukanuba would be the best, it has some quality ingredients and is expensive, but still (just) affordable. My only other choices are Science Diet, Nutrience (which I think is rubbish) or super market brands. Science Diet is in pretty close competition with Euk, but I think Euk comes out that little bit on top.

Lily is doing so well on her diet at the mo, she's on a diet of supercoat with a meal of blended veges, chicken necks, roo meat and liver a day which I make up fortnightly. She's so healthy, probably one of the shineyest dogs in town but making up the food each fortnight is going to be really hard once I start uni etc and I wont have so much time on my hands. I'm just curious for you guys oppinions on whether or not I should change her to eukanuba... the cost works out to be about the same only I wont have to slave away in the kitchen each fortnight grating vegetables etc but seeing how healthy she is I don't really want to change. Argh, I hate making tough decisions!!! What does everybody think?

Nah, it doesn't hurt. The spikes are blunt so its almost like they're not even there. Neither of my dogs look right without a spiked collar, Lily got Tessa's old one when Lily grew out of her normal red collar. Now Tessa's got the red collar and it just looks so wrong... I've gotta get her another spiked collar. I've also found that most of the spiked collars last ten times longer than the others. Most of the dogs that are dumped here either have one of those worn fabric collars, a peice of rope or nothing at all around their neck, spiked collars cost too much for most people who don't love their dogs that much. :evilbat:

[quote name='alicat613']Glad everything is ok!! I just kept repeating "posting reply for emails" like saying it over and over would help LOL. It's like the commercials for the washable disposable plates. Ummm...are they washable keeper plates or disposable?? Any plate is washable disposable then!! Sheesh I'm nuts![/quote] :lol: :lol: :lol: Oh how true, whats this world coming to? They'll invent anything!

So what exactly are the differences between Billinghursts and Pitcairns methods? I go by Billinghurst myself.

Black GSD, have you ever considered BARF? That way you can feed your dog nothing but the best and you only need to go as far as your local butcher :wink:

I wonder if there are any dog women out there? :lol:

She hasn't learnt to close doors yet, I don't think she wants to either... why close them when you'll only have to open them again??? Its a bit of a problem at night when the dogs all go in the sunroom together, Lily unlocks the door, opens it and then Tessa jumps the fence and runs around the neibourhood eating cat food and getting fat. We have to always remember to lock [i]and[/i] put a chair infront of the door to stop them! :mad: :lol:

This could become a serious problem, its just a good thing she has an owner who loves her and will make an effort to change this behavior before it does become a problem, rather than someone who would just take her to the pound like unfortunatly so many dog owners would do. I strongly suggest taking her to obedience, let her know you are boss. Never feed her before yourself and when you do feed her make her sit and wait for your command before she can eat. Never let her sleep on your bed, that will only make things worse if she is already challenging you. Good luck with her! :wink:

mcobbin, that dog in your signature very closely resembles a few of the men I know, maybe it is possible to find a man trapped in a dogs body? :lol: Thank god for dog-men!!!! :angel:

*Gulp*, thats why I never take any medication unless its absolutly necissary. If your sick your sick for a reason, if you have a sore back its sore because you've strained it, rest is the best way to recovery, drugs are only there for extreme cases. It makes me mad how some parents dose their kids up on as many drugs as possible when half the time there isn't even anything wrong with them... sorry kinda straying from the topic here :roll:

I'm going to stand in defence of men this time, seeing as my bf has put them in my good books after turning up yesterday with a rose (no one's ever given me a rose before, I'm so flattered :D ) and a bottle of champagne. Then he cooked my family the nicest dinner (he's a chef) and even washed and dried the dishes after. Mum asked me to help him and he said I can't, when she asked why he said because he wont let me :wink: He always insists on doing everything for me, I can't even up to get a glass of water in my own house without him insisting I stay seated and he'll go get it for me. He tells me at least every 5 minutes how gorgeous I am (and I ask him if he's looked in the mirror lately? :wink: ). He cooks me breakfast every morning, even when he's at my place, when I'm at his place I can have anything I want because his parents own a shop and pub. He'll sit there for hours opening oysters for me and when we go out its always his shout, as soon as he see's me reach into my wallet for anything he'll jump in and pay before I can even stop him. If I want to buy myself a drink I have to sneak away so he doesn't see me. He lives 40 minutes out of town and is always paying my friends with cars $50 just to drive me out there when they would probably do it for nothing. He's great for my brother, Willem always wants to spend time with us when Matts over, being schizzophrenic its hard for some people to talk to him, but Matt always goes out and talks to him and as soon as he goes home Willem comes to me and asks when Matts going to be over again. And he just LOVES the dogs, he's crazy about them. He's going to bring over some roo legs for them and was going to give me $100 to feed them so I could spend my own money on myself.... but I talked him out of that one. Hmmm, maybe its true what they say about men and dogs though, maybe I've just found myself a dog trapped inside a mans body? :lol: