Australians - Where are you all????

[guinea fowl galore]

Here's a picture of one of my newest chicks.

 

[Aussie Lady]

Guinea, that is sooooo gorgeous, what a sweet little thing.

It poses so well - you could use the photo for an ad - you should send it in for a comp.

 

[Aussie Lady]

I have just picked up my mealworms and all that goes with it. I'm just about to go out and set it all up. What a thing to do on a lovely muggy and hot Sunday mid morning. I am going to be using just the one single container for now and maybe work up to the draw system. Hope all goes well. Will post a picture of it when I'm all done in my thread "Help for the Newbies".

 

[guinea fowl galore]

Only one week left untill we pick up our little man from the airport.
We found our big dog breed as well; a portuguese water dog. So we are making the final decision very soon as to if we will be putting the last girl left on hold to be picked up on the 5th of march.
I have a feeling i'm going to be very busy in the not so distant future

 

[guinea fowl galore]

The girl was sold when we called so now we have a little (or should I say big) boy.
I can't wait to get them both. I love puppies but I LOVE older dogs even more. It will be good to get the puppy stage over and done with together instead of doing it one after the other.
We've never had a big dog before so this will be new.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Hey Guinea, if you prefer older dogs to puppies why not just adopt an older dog? There are so many wonderful dogs looking for their furever homes.

 

[guinea fowl galore]

Well it's a done deal now anyway as we've paid the deposit on both of them.
I thought about rescues but most have issues that are hard to fix and research has shown that the training (or lack of) that a puppy goes through from 8-16 weeks sticks with them forever. The dogs, especially the Portuguese water dog needs to be EXTREEMLY well trained and I thought it would be a much safer bet to hound in that huge amount of training when their at their most trainable time.
They need to be house trained and know where and how they stands in the family. With an older dog these could take a very long time. I am going to use the respect method to train them where they trust and respect me so actually want to do every thing I tell them to. No treats involved whatsoever. An older dog has probably got it's ways and ideas concreted in.
And I DO NOT ever ever ever use any kind of violence to train my dogs or for any other reason. my respect for them = their respect for me.
We went out today and bought them each a soft cuddly toy as well as a chew toy to get them started. They also got some new brushes and combs and two bowls each. We'll get their beds tomorrow. We're going to have bowls and beds everywhere with the four dogs :/
I also home cook the dogs food. I'm gonna need a bigger pot I think

 

[RareBreedFancier]

I'm glad your going to put the time and training into your pups.

All my dogs have been adult rescues. Most dogs from a reputable rescues don't have issues basic training can't fix, it's just that sadly they have sometimes had no training prior to coming into rescue. Most will be worked with while in rescue to give them basic training and manners. Many older dogs will actually have some training and already be house trained and are in rescue due to no fault of their own.

None of mine have come from a reputable rescue though, I've got mine as give aways or from the pound and my current dog I picked up as a stray and his 'owners' didn't want him back. Good for him though as he'd been abused and I really didn't want to have to give him back. Now he's a lovely friendly dog who thinks everyone loves him instead of the timid dog who'd run and hide if you tried to sweep the floor or water the garden.

I also took in a dog many years ago that I did not know at the time had extreme dog aggression issues, he also had no training at all. I trained him all the way up to competitive obedience level and was able to free run him with other dogs to play so old dogs can learn new tricks.

I'm sure you'll have your hands full with two pups in the house and look forward to seeing pics.

I've only ever met one Portuguese water dog, he was a nice boy but he had very little training. He was very protective of his house and the kids in his family.

 

[redfeather13]

lovely thought - and adopted dogs are so grateful to be brought into a loving family

yeah I know it's not a dog, but that's smileys for you!!
actually it looks like my dog when I'mhaving vegemite on toast and she'd waiting for her bit

We once took in a german shephard stray. Had her treated for heart worm. She was with us for 18 mths and we were broken hearted when she died (of heart failure) at about 11yo.

 

[redfeather13]

I'm with you on taking dogs in. and yes old dogs CAN learn new tricks.
The dog I have now is the first one I've had as a pup - I'm glad she's now an 'older' dog although she still thinks she's a pup!!

she loves the world and thinks the world loves her. Mostly they do too

I also have a cat - he adopted us and I love him, he's real coool