LadyConstanze
Posts: 9722
Joined: 2/18/2005 Status: offline
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Ugh, makes me angry to hear that, I could never ever be a breeder, I wouldn't be able to let go off the puppies, and would possibly demand that they are under constant observation just to make sure the dog would be alright... I tend to restrict the water intake in the evenings, just to make sure I get my 8 hours of sleep (he's better than an alarm clock, at 6 am he starts whinging) but during the day they always have water, with the dog food, Kia's on senior dog food as she's suffering from arthritis in one leg and keeping her weight as low as possible while still healthy helps her a lot, that along with flexi-joint pills and injections that are about £300 every 3 to 6 months plus salmon and cod liver oil capsules and evening primrose oil... She has improved a lot, when I got her, she was loved but they didn't have time for a dog that obviously needs lots of exercise, like Alfie she had no commands, they thought 10 minute walks twice a day are enough for a Doberman and made up for the lack of time with food, so I got a dog that was 4 years old and almost 50 kilos, she's now down to a healthy 34 kilos, I didn't starve her but just lots of walks and play, bulked the food up with low calorie stuff (string beans and veg - she loves eating cooked veg), she now does tricks and all sorts. Alfie also came without commands, was pulling on the lead like a nutter, he already walks at heel, sits, gives the paw (and the other plus "Bunny" - that is him sitting on his hindlegs with both paws up - he did that by mistake, praised him and gave him a treat and said "Bunny" now if you say Bunny he'll do it), comes back when called... Dobermans are seriously clever dogs, if people don't work with them or teach them stuff, they're getting up to no good and then they will chew up things, they basically want to learn and be challenged to use their brains. It did Kia a hell lot of good, due to having a docked tail (fucking stupid breeding standards, I am so happy they outlawed that now) a lot of dogs couldn't tell she's friendly and bit her, so she was a bit stand offish with other dogs and growled - sort of "Stay away, I don't want to get bitten again..." Now with Alfie, he has the tail, he plays with other dogs, she hangs back a bit, when she's sure that the dog is friendly, she will join in and play chase with them. Alfie was pretty afraid of kids, he does the same with kids but lets Kia have the lead there as she adores kids and will go up to kids just to sniff them and rub her head against them, our neighbour's kid learned to walk while hanging over her shoulders and she did little steps, used her snout to break his fall when he was losing his balance... Both of them are such adorable beasts... Let me find a pic and throw it up Kia is the silly girl wrapped up in a blankie and Alfie is the slightly bemused giant...
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There are 10 kinds of people who understand binary Those who do and those who don't! http://exdomme.blogspot.com/2012/07/public-service-announcement.html
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