DogPaddle

I think that just 25% Canidae and 75% of the old stuff should work to start, give it a try, go slow, maybe even 20% Canidae mixed with rice and boiled chicken and work up from there.

Solid Gold is a good food. If you like it and your pup likes it maybe give it another go mixing starting at 1/5 Solid Gold, 4/5 old food and moving up slowly from there. Of course also do ensure that your pup's health is fine if things appear off.

Glad she is doing better. Take care of both of you.

We got Zaphod from the pound at "8 weeks", however, we are pretty sure now that he was actually 7 weeks and he had already been there for at least a week - holding time. So Zaphod had not been with his mother or littermates since around 6 to 6 1/2 weeks. He has never just gotten on well with other dogs and did mouth an awful lot and still licks excessively. You may need to be extra dilligent with your pup for similar reasons. Everyones suggestions have been great but I'm with Judy in her concern regarding age. Start carefully. Best of Luck.

Good suggestion Kendalyn. Judy - Kavik's obedience is pretty good, we tested his recall of lead today with other dogs around for distraction - good success but he still has this a tendency to want to stop on his way back to mark a bush or something. He does not seem to be distracted by the other dogs as well but toys are a problem. He is distracted by thrown toys unless I have his throw toy as well - then no problem. We can work on these issues in the park as well. Zaphod will probably take another year. He learns slowly but once he has something he is very good about it.

So we want to start both Zaphod and Kavik in agility this spring, both are very athletic and I think will enjoy it, although Zaphod takes a little time to warm up to new things. However, I would still like to improve their socialization. Here is where we are now: So we have Zaphod to the point where he will play with dogs he knows and not be a jerk - except when on leash - I think it makes him nervouse. Kavik will also play with dogs both those he knows and new dogs if there are no toys. If there are toys he ignores other dogs. Kavik will still get snippy with adult unnuetered males taller than himself or dogs that behave aggressively or very dominent with him. (We have spoken with his breeder and are going to nueter him in March - finally.) Here is what we tried: We took them to the dog park - surest place to meet new dogs with owners who will allow them to interact. We decided to do a quick 5 min visit just to warm them up. Kavik was fine but got a bit over excited and snippy towards the end of the 5 min when dogs zipped past him - he was on lead, other dogs were not. Zaphod took 5 min in the car to lower his hackles and calm down enough to be let out of the car. We then gave him 2 min in the parking lot, not in close contact with other dogs but easily able to see them, no more than 30 feet away. He did not throw a fit and bark but was not calm. We praised him up and down anyway, gave him a treat and took them both out to a quieter park for some excercise. What we are thinking: Zaphod might not be ready to start agility by spring. Kavik should be ok. To help things we are thinking of repeating the above process but only taking one dog at a time. Each dog would get to the dogpark a min. of 3x a week and we'd slowly increase time and proximity. I'm thinking Kavik will [i]probably[/i] be fine off lead eventually, we have been practicing his recall with distractions but not with this sort of distraction. Any suggestions?

Maybe try Rescue Remedy and leave the TV on to Animal Planet. Start by leaving her in another room for less than 5 min and treating and praising her, move up from there. Extra excercise and obedience sessions should help to improve her overall contentedness and may reduce her seperation anxiety.

[quote]But surely I need to get her right first else I could end up with 2 howlers [/quote] My goodness, that would be a challange. As for timing - definately wait till your ready and take your time, should work for Ellie too.

[quote]well first, I'd have to cripple her[/quote] :lol: Oh is that how those folks get their GSD's to look like that :wink:

Maybe, when you are feeling ready, you can consider getting her some company???

I'd go with the english springer spanial - more active and a bit larger than the cocker, better able to deal with the kids, don't know much about the welsh though.

I agree Edgar. In addition many puppy foods contain more grains and carbs for some reason, can't see how this would be that helpful. Also once weened and able to eat regular food most juvies in any population, human, wild dog, deer, etc all eat what the adults eat, albeit sometimes a bit more. :lol:

Courtnek - I hope to move into a home in the next 4 1/2 years. I have the same concern about doggy doors as you but I'm hoping to do a little home renovation to deal with it. I want to find a place that has a main floor room with a door, preferably an entranceway or main floor laundry or sunroom. Then I will put the doggy door off this room and put an "outside door" with deadbolt between this door and the rest of the house. Otherwise I was thinking of building a huge dog run with a chain link top - may have to do this anyway because of the cats. Either way the dogs can go in and out but people can't access most of the house through the doggy door.

Presumably once your move is complete things should settle down, until then maybe just try to behave as normal and when Felix is not acting up, give him a little extra attention.

I can't believe the AKC opposes this, it can do nothing but good. The AKC has really become unreliable. :-?

Images of certain words increase sales as they make people feel good. Likely this is an amatuer who heard about it and thought he'd give it a whirl.

Yes, try leaving him out of his crate but maybe shut in your room.

That might be it, why does Zebra sleep in the crate at night and where is the crate?

No cart yet, cashed dried up, oh well. Thus far I have just been trying to teach the boys to walk harnessed together and possibly get the gist of left and right. Kavik seems to be catching on to left and right but thinks that walking UNDER Zaphod is perfectly fine when they are tethered together. Zaphod completely ignores left and right but walks excellently when they are tethered together. :lol: To teach left and right I just give the command and a split second later direct them that way lightly, if they go I praise. For Kavik I could sometimes give the command and wait for him to go the right way and then praise but not Zaphod.

[quote] i usually spend 50-100 dolalrs on dog shopping a month ([b]but guess here its mroe expensive than in us[/b])[/quote] I guess so, I feed Canidae and have two dogs, totalling around 100lbs and spend around $50/month on kibble if that is all I feed. (BTW I am in Canada and that is Canadian $)

Check the amount to feed per day between the two foods. Sometimes a bag of food may be cheaper but you have to feed more per day by body weight, may not actually be cheaper. And in general Royal Canin is a pretty good food.

When you finish up the bag of ProPlan will you continue mixing or go back to the Royal Canin? Do you find the ProPlan . . . well, stinky?

[quote]"Aww, puppy! *pause* Umm, puppy?[/quote] :lol: I think that's it exactly!

Royal Canin is pretty good, why do you mix it?

Does Zebra do anything else during this time: lick self alot, drag but on ground, chew paws, avoid a certain area of the house . . . ? Does anything change in the house during this time: timed electrical device come on, person who is typically not around show up - especially if they wear strong colognes, everyone all together, tv on, paticular show . . . ?