Aya

So I have forgotten the actual date Aya was wormed... is this a major problem? I know she was wormed at 6 months but not sure when the actual date was. Should I just count 3 months and worm on the first day?

Are you sure about this? I once thought I would play fetch with mine ... she does not fetch and from my understanding most sibes just give you that attitude look "you wish I'm going to get that for you". But I'd get a 100ft lead, no restrictions. And when it comes down to it, just think, with a 100ft lead you can always make it 50ft (just shorten it), with a 50ft lead you cannot make it 100ft.

Hi everyone, for the last 2 days (Today and Yesterday), Aya who is potty trained took 4 craps inside the house. This is the first 4 times ever... Also, I have not changed her diet (fed raw diet) but her stools are liquid and not soft-solid which is what they have been the last 4 months I have had her. I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow but just wanted to see what everyone thinks. I might be giving her a bit more bones (1 or 2 more) but I don't think that it would cause her stools to become completely liquid.... or does it? Her behavior is still the same, she is a bit more energetic but that's because she is approaching teenage years. Thoughts welcomed, thanks.

My current mattress is $2.8k , can't put a price on protecting your back and a good nights sleep. I'm not a millionaire, quite far from it, I would spend 7k on a mattress if I had the money. Most I spent on a mattress was for my parents who have worked hard their whole life to support me and my siblings so they deserved it, it was almost 4k (mum yelled at me, saying it was a waste of money but I know she loves the mattress).

Haha, this is so true of Aya as well, she won't willingly go inside the vet clinic no more, I have to literally carry her in. It's probably because every time she is at the vet she gets a shot. My veterinarian is a young girl and adores Aya but is completely gutted that Aya doesn't like her. Every time she touches Aya, Aya backs off immediately. But the story is utter garbage, a couple of stories do not define an entire population. There should be a law that states you cannot discriminate across species, not just people.

Check it out fellas, Aya passed her puppy class last Saturday and will be moving to Basic Obedience class as of next Saturday. I have two more lessons of puppy training left but she passed early so the trainer said there would be no need to stay in puppy class. I'm so happy and glad she passed, the loose lead walking needs work but the trainers said as she was just a puppy they weren't going to be that strict, they said it needs more work, focus and attention for basic obedience class. But I was just happy Aya passed and whatever they said flew through the other ear (so not quite sure what other advice was given). Just got the certificate today so I'm loading up some pictures and just generally bragging. I tried to get her to hold it up using her mouth, but that didn't work, would of been a neat trick.

Seriously? 1020lbs? that's over 460kgs right? is it safe for em to pull that much? won't it break their back or damage their spinal structure in the future?

If you want to have him do commands without treats, start off with reinforcement and reward every time he does the desired command, slowly reduce reinforcement (this means you can show it to him) but he will not always get the reward even if he is doing the desired command. Research has shown that reinforcement on a fixed schedule (so every time he does a command he gets a treat) will possibly cause extinction (meaning he will not do the command at some point), however, if you reward on a variable ratio (randomly) it will provide a resistance to extinction, and he will soon learn that if he does the desired command he might get a treat. One of the best marketing strategies involve variable ratio reinforcement and most people are victims of it, slot machine gambling. Gambling gives the notion that if we put money in a machine we might get more money, same principles apply to dogs, if he sits he might get a treat. But for this to work you must start off with reinforcement for every time he does a desired command and slowly start reducing. I train mine everyday, 15-20 minutes, twice a day. If you really want training to be effective, I've read you should train them for 15-30 minutes for every 3 hours of a day, but unless you have no job or school this is quite impracticable.

Do dogs prowl at all? I noticed on my walk today Aya, actually started prowling ... she lowered her back, her head and started slowly and quietly walking (exactly like a lion or a tiger in the wild before trying to grab their prey). She began prowling about 2 houses away from the house with cats (we walked past there yesterday and she tried to chase em) but today I think she was aware the cats were there so she began prowling. I have never seen this behaviour before so just a bit flabbergast .

I currently have Aya on the puppy worm syrup and as she is reaching six months of age I will be switching to drontal puppy worming (10kgs), is this okay? I haven't used it yet, but Aya weighs roughly 13kgs so one chewable per 3 months or should I use drontal plus a smaller chewable/tablet to ensure weight-ratio (as in each kilogram should be accounted for). Also, I think I might have been tricked ... everyone seems to be treating heartworm, my vet said one injection should last six months so I gave her a heartworm injection. Does this work? She doesn't have fleas anymore, but when she did I used Frontline.

I understand the difference between adult and puppy is more fat, protein and calcium which are needed for growing pups, and that would be okay if the Lab wasn't already big. I'm just scared that feeding the boy puppy kibble will make him grow too fast, as he is already big, and will cause joint issues later in life. I'll probably recommend my mate to go see a vet. LOL, Aya does that too, which is why when it rains, she is not allowed outside, I keep her indoors most days anyway, but I tend to let her outside on sunny days. As soon as it rains, and she gets out, I have to give her a shower, she digs and plays in the mud and gets bloody too dirty. Thanks for your input, always appreciated.

My friend recently adopted a lab and his almost 4 months old. I told him I would give him all my spare kibble (as some of you guys know, Aya is on an all raw diet, but for the first couple of weeks she wouldn't eat so I bought every premium brand I could get my hands on). Now the question he asked me, and I'm not sure how to answer is: is it okay to feed the 4 month old lab a mix of puppy kibble and adult kibble? or just stick to the puppy till his past 6 months of age? The dilemma is the boy is huge (might have had his growth spurt early), he is bigger than Aya, and she is older by a month. Second question is: does anybody have a sibe that has random energy bursts? In particular, on cold days or colder days, Aya gets randomly or more energetic, she is calm most days, and even though people have said that they could be a nightmare approaching teenage years, Aya still seems quite relax and calm, only she gets segments of running crazily around the house (she gets 2 walks a day, 30-40 minutes each). Thanks.

Thanks, it was recommended by the nutritionists, I did do heaps of research before though, but getting a second and professional opinion always helps make a decision easier.

Damn, Tilton is bloody amazing. Has he (assuming since the name) been adopted? such a stunning look, as if his previous owner let him go.

Hi, guys. Happy Easter to all, hope everyone enjoys the couple of days break from work, or just a couple of days to yourself. For Easter, Aya got 2 new bags of treats and I wanted to show everyone how much we love her. Check out her treats.