DogPaddle

You could try putting a bell on a rope by the door. Every time you put her out, ring the bell, give her a treat and put her out, if possible leave her out till she goes. Then move on. Just before you think she needs to go out do a quick training session teaching her to ring the bell (kindof a directed shake or something) as soon as she rings the bell, even if it is with assistance give her a treat and put her out. Anyone else?

K - how much does your Saint weigh? Laduenda - You go through 100lbs of dog food for 7 dogs for one week? So if you had 3 dogs you'd go through around 85lbs of dog food every two weeks if you only had three dogs. Sounds like approximately the same amount of food, perhaps a little less, but your probably right, the difference will probably be due to the size of the dogs. Alicat - [quote]Mmillenia I believe is a beef based food, whereas at least the kind of Pets1st I used was chicken based[/quote] We have tried a chicken and lamb based dog food - Wellness. Kavik would only eat the lamb based if he was REALLY hungry, the other dogs were not that interested in it. The chicken wasn't much of a hit either. The beef - they like and their coats are great on it, the stools are not runny like they often were on the other food. I have heard feeding a chicken based food is better for them, is this true?

[quote]Mine get through 18kg of dog food a week!!![/quote] :o We are thinking our three will eventually go through 23kg or so in two weeks.

I definately agree with Carol. A lightweight/cloth crate is very easy to damage and should not be used unless the dog is already well crate trained. Other than that they are great - soft, easy to store and transport, some have machine washable components, airy - I've been meaning to get one for when we travel but with the amount of dogflesh I now need to contain I think we might be wiser to try to find a light weight xpen option.

We are currently feeding Mmillenia from Solid Gold/HundznFlocken or something like that. Its a good quality food with dense kibble and we are looking something similar. I've checked distributers in my area and no one has any options for larger purchases (the local distributer to pet food companies only offers a couple bucks discount on their massive orders and the shipping costs suck.) I do like what Mmillenia does for their coats. I'll have to see if pets1st will deliver in my area and decide from there.

Ah, that must be it. I'll check with my local distributors and see what they suggest because at this rate I'm stopping to buy dog groceries nearly more often then people groceries, when all the dogs are grown they will be eating almost 50 lbs of dog food every two weeks according to the suggested feeding on the bag. Might just have to buy more bags every trip.

Anyone know of a decent brand of dry dog food that comes in bags larger then 35lbs? Something at least 50lbs would be good.

I have BC - Kavik. He has . . . moxy. Very enthusiastic about whatever he does, such as, dominating Tyr, taking the toy from Zaphod, dominating Tyr, taking the toy from Zaphod, dominating . . . that's what he's doing right now, keeps him very busy. I don't think he would have made a good working dog though, not from working lines, never seen a sheep and only herds us, others, dogs or cats once in a while.

Good points poofy. Bullwise - I'm sure you will get responses on this thread but if you wan't more information on peoples reasons for dislining chaining you can also view the humane education thread in this forum and the my contract thread in breeds or breeding forum.

Guest - If you read the full 11 pages of this thread you will see that a number of people have made very valid points that are not related to the tendency for chained dogs to be neglected. In addition, at least one of the posts referenced to an agency that has done research. Further, many of the posts have clearly indicated the information contained in them was - personal opinion and/or personal experience. As for the validity of the idea that chained dogs are more likely to be neglected I can only refer to: a) my personall experience - 4 out of 5 chained dogs I have observed were physically and socially neglected, the 5th could have used more socialization and human contact but was not too bad off. (2 of the 2 sets of kennelled dogs I have observed were physically well cared for but 1 could have used a bit more 1on1 human interaction) b) my personall opinion - I think chained dogs are much like my cat's litterbox - out of sight, out of mind. When I lived in an apartment I cleaned the litter box every day as it was in my hallway. Now that I live in a townhouse, with the box in the basement, I have to mark the days to clean the litterbox on the calender or I will forget. (Note this is not because I hate my cats and don't care about them and the same may be true for people with chained dogs but the tendency is there in human nature.)

In my city in Canada a similar program exists, it is fairly standard throughout most of the more populated areas of Canada but I believe Hazel said her area didn't even have an SPCA - nearest one over 100k is that right Hazel? Anyway here we have to pay yearly for this mandatory service: $35 unfixed dog $25 fixed dog $20 unfixed cat $15 fixed cat Encourages people to get their animals fixed. Pays for some of the cost for local SPCA and the service. Cats currently cost less then dogs because the service used to be only dog related but due to the number of breeding stray cats they started including cats. Cat owners freaked out :roll: because now they have to pay - so little money though. They will be raising the cat cost gradually until it meets the dog cost. Neet trick though: it is illegal to allow a cat or dog to run loose here so when you go to pick up your pet the SPCA agent has the option of laying a fine (they usually only do this for multiple offences.) Encourages people to not let their animals stray. Overall goal is to reduce the number of unwanted dogs and cats.

I'm glad I live here. The limit for everyone is 3 dogs or (I think) 4 cats, no household can exceed 4 cats and dogs in combination, unless you have a special permit. As far as rentals go - it is ([color=red]technically[/color]) illegal for them to inquire on an application as it is illegal to descriminate against renters on the basis of thier pets here. Some places work around it, and certain private organizations are excempt such us Condo Corps and shared housing arrangements etc.

The average weight of a border collie should be approximately 38lbs. So a 20lb BC would be just about half the standard weight which is certainly possible but a little unusual. The average weight of a Labradour Retreiver should be very approximately 68lbs but they very a lot. Even at half the general standerd size 35lbs would be a very rare weight for a Lab. Its got to be a typo in the age, weight or breeds. Yellowlabs - congrats on your new nephew and possibly a new pup.

20lbs! 3yrs old! That can't be right for a lab/bc cross. Aren't labs around 60lbs and bcs around 45lbs at full growth? 3 months maybe?

:lol: Just found a neat trick that might work if I can find a way to adapt it. Kavik was barking at someone outside our fence, I walked to the window, looked out, casually told him it was ok and walked away. He stared (silently) at me fore a good two minutes with his head cocked and then went and looked back out the window (silently) and then lied down. :BIG: Maybe he's thinking - I'm alpha so if I checked it out and wasn't concerned by it in the least it must not be anything to fuss over.

Sounds like your doing the right things. Do go to obedience. I've never tried a clicker they sound like a good idea and could make for some fun games as well. One further clarification: When you are not home or cannot watch her put her in the crate, the rest of the time, as Black GSD said, watch her like a hawk. Remember a puppy is like a baby or toddler, they need constant supervision. You wouldn't leave a 2 yr old home alone or even out of your site. Your dog and most other young dogs just doesn't have the development or training to be out of your site. (Of course unlike a baby you can put them in a crate when you go to the store.)

When we first brought Kavik home we were keeping him in the kitchen with a baby gate when we went out. The cupboards were secure, he wasn't big enough to counter surf, all was well. Kavik grew and so did his determination. He was big enough that he probably could have climbed the gate but the thought just didn't occur to him. We were pleased. One day we came home to find Kavik happily eating our remote (all males, no matter what species, want the remote.) Perplexed we went to examine the gate. Kavik had cleanly eaten a whole in the gate, it was very neat, all the rough edges had been trimmed away from the wood frame, no bits hanging or loose, it was directly in the corner of the gate and there was no damage to any other part of it. Even in destruction BCs are obsessive.

Zaphod's house training is going well but once in a rate while, if we are not diligent enough he does piddle in the house. No biggie we clean it up and endevour to be much more diligent. But . . . . [size=6][color=blue]Why, oh why, does he have to walk in a 2 meter zigzaggy line while he piddles!?!? He stands in one spot when he piddles outside, but inside . . .[/color][/size] :wallbash:

Thanks all, we were doing ok until the trip to the vets, oh well, we'll just keep on working on it.

Our local humane society has taken a loan out against their building rather than accept government funding. :o They imply that it is the governments fault that there are all these stray and unwanted and abused dogs. Personnally if its the governments fault then I think they should be taking their money to fix the problem. The humane society has cells for the dogs that are approximately 1.5m by 2.5m or so, the dogs are walked (in a fully gravel yard) 2x a day or more if the volunteers can get to them. Most have no bedding, the bedding available sucks - a raised hard plastic platform and sometimes a thin blanket. Rarely any toys. I think they should take the money! Our SPCA is fully funded, rarely has more than two dogs in their holding area and is a cleaner better facility but no more toys, blankets or beds. Only our private rescues really seem to do a good job. I think the problems in most of Canada are like the problems in the states, yes we have less people and dogs but we also have correspondingly less money and shelters.

Kavik will watch TV sometimes but doesn't show that much interest. Barking, meowing, mooing, baaing sounds - nothing, no reaction. Fireworks on tv - he barks warningly, kinda freaked. A baby crying on tv - he whines, tilts his head, behaves very distressed. He has never really seen a baby.

We took Kavik to the new vets Thursday, Zaphod had to go in for shots, we just took Kavik so he could get used to the place - disaster. He freaked! Wasn't scared or anything, he just desperately wanted to see every dog or cat in the place. He was pulling and barking and twisting. I could get him to calm down and look for a few seconds at a time, once in a while and rewarded/distracted him with the kong whenever he was good. We have an obedience class starting in a week and a half and there is no way we (or probably the other dogs either) can work when Kavik is like that. We will be taking him for a vigorouse play session before each class and have been resocializing him and working on the look command but nothing was working at the vets. Any suggestions?

When we first sent Tyr to his new home he was nipping at the kids heels when the played. He would get excited, they would be playing, running, he would nip, they would squeal and move quickly, he would think they were still playing, he was getting what he wanted. What seems to be working for them is when Tyr nips the stop moving completely and say no in the deepest most seriouse voice the kids can muster, wait about 2 seconds and walk away and don't play with Tyr for at least 3 min.

Some Mormons came by our place while my mom was out watering the front flowerbeds once. They started talking to her, turning towards them with hose in hand she said "Are you Jehovah's Witnesses, I don't like Jehovah's Witnesses much?" Them - "Noooo . . . what would you do if we were Jehovah's Witnesses?" Mom - "Well, I would probably turn the hose on you, I guess." Them - "Oh well, we're (Mormons)." Mom - "Hmmmm, I don't like Mormons much either." They left. I use the witch line too only I tell them we are having a big witch study group soon so they are welcome to stay but I really have to get busy making tea. They do not take me up on my offer.

Our SPCA refused to do anything about a dog kept in a chain link pen between two commercial garages, next to no human interaction, junk and scrap metal and tires that collected stagnenet water (and mosquitoes in the summer) in its pen, out in all sorts of weather. The reasons they did nothing - the dog had food, water, a doghouse, there was not an excess of fecal matter, there was shade (from the buildings, of course there was no place in the sun at all) and there were even windbreaks (the buildings and the pile of scrap metal.) Just because the SPCA doesn't do anything or because you take better care of your dogs than some people (like the people above) doesn't mean you take good care of them. In fact depending in your SPCA even if they said you took extra great care of your dog it wouldn't matter much. So you may very well take good care of your dogs but what they say doesn't prove anything. Please find a way to contain safely them without the chains and if you are going to continue breeding consider breeding less dog aggresive dogs.