-
My Corso was crate trained as a puppy, and he goes in it whenever he's left - because of his size it's simply impossible to keep anything out of his reach and, with an open-plan kitchen, he can't be contained. He was over the 4 1/2 foot gate I put in before he reached 6 months...
I work from home a day a week and come home early one other day, and my partner works early or late shifts, so he's rarely left for long. When we leave him, he goes in the crate with a raw beef shin bone and a large Kong stuffed with raw mince - both are gone by the time we're back. He sleeps the rest of the time. I take him out for an hour first thing and half an hour in the evening.
He doesn't need a dog walker and, even if he did now that he's maturing (15 months), there's little chance of him accepting a stranger in the house without one of us being there.
-
Are you also feeding raw? We now have an entire freezer for dogs food, Kongs pre filled and frozen with mince, little Popsicles of blended offal with yoghurt, a few pigs heads, tracheas, currently two cows worth of green tripe cut into meal sized lumps etc etc.
-
Ditto on the freezer full. I feed him twice a day - breakfast is half a kilo of raw mince (beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit, etc.) and some raw chicken wings, dinner is another half-kilo of raw mince with sweet potato/brown rice/carrot/broccoli stalks/etc. Then he gets raw chicken carcasses, poultry necks, eggs (with the shell) and so on for snacks. My butcher gives me as many beef and lamb bones as I can carry, which get wrapped in cling film and frozen individually, so he has one a day.
Tripe is a killer when he farts, so that's off the menu. The butcher did give me some sheep's lungs, which I diced and froze. He loved that...
-
Our utility room is also the dog feeding zone. Our dogs fart so much less than when they ate more processed food (and we fed them all then high end stuff) tripe doesn't have any adverse effects on ours thankfully. Duck wings can be surprisingly cheap. It's amazing how few butchers get whole carcasses these days, many of them don't have bones or offal in abundance. I tend to keep the veggie off cuts to be blended into kong pastes or the doggie Popsicles.
It took our dogs a while to work out there was food inside eggs. Birds feet are also a favourite snack.
One of the hounds had a toy when she was younger that would be filled with treats and she'd have to shake it to get them out. She now applies the same technique to the Kongs, shaking them and throwing them, even dropping them down a flight of stairs.
-
I went to a BBQ joint for a meal on friday, had a full rack of ribs. Took all the bones home in a doggy bag. Gave the biggest one to the pup straight away, and buried the rest around the garden. Kept him occupied almost all weekend. He loved it.....The GF didnt like the muddy footprints EVERYWHERE in the house though.
-
I'd avoid giving your dog cooked bones... they can be too hard (cracked teeth), or will splinter (causing an issue if the splinter gets stuck/damages the tract), or will generally be harder to digest (constipation, etc).
-
We sent our dogs away for the day when we had the BBQ at the weekend. When they got home the boy was absolutely fascinated by the aroma of smoked meat, he spent hours sniffing round the garden. Every time the human fridge is opened he bounds up sniffing the left over smoked food. It's like a kid whining at their parents that they want junk food, not the healthy diet their parents prepare.
-
Our Dog. Two speeds, flat out or comatose. He's an Australian Cattle Dog - awesome little fellow but they do take everything VERY seriously and need a lot of walking / stimulation. That said, enough exercise in the morning and he'll spend most of the day asleep until 5 or so, where you start all over again.
-
What are the benefits of that mix? How does it improve the Labrador or the mastiff, both of which have been bred for very different functions? What kind of mastiff, the different types various enormously?
I wouldn't recommend a mastiff for an inexperienced or fist time owner. They are incredibly strong willed and required a huge amount of determination, patience and consistency to train, although they are usually keen to please. They need to be exercised and worked or they will cause havoc in your house. They also have a very strong prey drive, which means you need to be permanently on the look out for cats, squirrels, etc. They can be incredibly friendly but also suspicious of strangers, which you would need to be prepared for.
My 18 month Corso is pushing 50kg and is determined like you wouldn't believe. If you're on the other end of the lead when he sees a squirrel it can be fun. He's good around most dogs, but not all, and can provoke fear/aggression in other dogs because of his size. He's been attacked twice by staffs/pit crosses that were off the lead, and his response has been scary, he won't back down... On the other hand, he's totally pathetic around my kids and a big baby most of the time. You just need to consider all of this before getting a mastiff of any sort.
I've had Labradors too, and they are an absolute doddle by comparison.
Oh, and the lack of breeders in the UK. I would imagine there is no/little foundation stock here, so what is available is likely to be matings that were thrown together with no real thought.
-
Christ, that sounds like a bit of a nightmare.... I'm sure he's a lovely dog and all, but 50kg of slightly unpredictable brute strength around other pets!
-
Not really, he's not unpredictable just determined. I come across dogs every day that are running around off the lead, whose owners assume it's ok for them to come over and sniff and jump up at me, sniff around my dog. Herbie's exercised on the lead and only let off where I have control of him. He runs around with a vizsla, a borzoi and a French bulldog every morning - but I know and trust the owners. It's just about being responsible.
-
What are the benefits of that mix?
From what I've read the benefits over a lab (which has always been my better half's dream dog) are;
- less shedding
- lower energy
- better health
Over a mastiff;
- less drool
From what I've read they're meant to be very good with children (not tiny ones though due to size), highly intelligent and very affectionate.
Pure sentimental reasons would be I prefer them aesthetically and hung around a nice one in Perú.
I know almost all dogs require plenty of exercise, but I doubt my future lifestyle will allow for the amount of exercise I think labs require. Therefore something with lower energy appeals.
- less shedding
-
Interesting, and you're spot on about the drool. A lot will depend on what mastiff is used, I'm guessing English Mastiff is popular. You could end up swapping one set of health issues for another - hip displasia, cherry eye, etc. You would want hip and elbow scores for both parents with a large dog, and manage growth and exercise carefully in the puppy.
Do they have less energy? My corso needs more exercise than my lab, and demands attention, needs to be engaged and busy when not sleeping.
I think the biggest issue with crosses is with temperament. Sometimes it works really well - well bred bandogs can get the best out of neos and pits - but there are some mad mixes out there.
Good luck though!
-
Lots of dopey dog owners around here. Sipping coffee, staring at phones while their 4 leg chums get up to all sorts of mischief on long leads. Almost none of them have made any effort to learn anything about dog body language either.
Ours is now fully obsessed with ball. He'll chase it and find it for hours, often in the most acrobatic manner. He's also gained a third wind and will pester us for more jobs about 11pm. Top little fella.
-
A lot will depend on what mastiff is used,
Yes well that's one thing that has thrown me. I thought "mastiff" was a suffix rather than an actual bread in and of itself.
In terms of the energy thing, who knows. A friend has a load of lab puppies at the moment bred from hunting lab parents. So you can bet they'll be very high energy and they're basically only selling the ones they're not keeping to people who'll use them as working dogs. On the other hand I'm sure there are plenty of lazy labs out there.
Markyboy
deleted
dancing james
mands
JonoMarshall
Jung
hugo7
bashthebox
kl-
Post a reply
About
I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?
Posted by
Plus one on dogvillas. We used to use London Doggies but were less impressed by them.
Also... recently London Doggies were collecting a dog in our building, the hound had maybe been left too long as it did a wee by the lift (inside the building) and the chap from London Doggies didn't bother wiping it up despite being asked/challenged by a neighbour.
Not impressive.