Help! My Golden Is Destroying My Garden

[Old Man River]

....... may I suggest you get a doghouse? This is what I did. There is a company called Global Pets, for which I, nor my family, has any affiliation. We have purchased four dog houses from them and one of my friends with 3 Goldens has bought 3. ......

Thanks Old Man River,

It looks like I may have to seriously consider the doghouse solution.

I have looked at the Global Pets website - which is mainly in Thai. They have a variety of doghouses - which one did you get - what are the approximate dimensions of your one?

Did you have any problems putting your dog in the house in the first place? Or did he/she accept it straight away?

Thanks

My dogs are now in their houses, so I won't disturb them by taking measurements, but I believe that we have bought the largest that Global Pets has on offer (we have not opted for the houses with fans or lights). I have to physically put each dog in their houses at night, but I guess it is more of a game as our maids have no problem. Really, for us this is the way to go.

[bina]

they are not dog houses but CRATES which is what i mentioned in a previous post but u can really train them to crate at night on their own; just google crate training + dog

since it seems every one i know in the states is crating their dog at night there's lots of info and its not cruel; dogs like dark holes and crates give them that 'cave' feeling (ok its not like the sofa but still)

my boxer was crate trained and it was a blessing in disguise; he settled in his crate and would promplty go to sleep or chew his one crate toy, no probs...

[Old Man River]

they are not dog houses but CRATES which is what i mentioned in a previous post but u can really train them to crate at night on their own; just google crate training + dog

since it seems every one i know in the states is crating their dog at night there's lots of info and its not cruel; dogs like dark holes and crates give them that 'cave' feeling (ok its not like the sofa but still)

my boxer was crate trained and it was a blessing in disguise; he settled in his crate and would promplty go to sleep or chew his one crate toy, no probs...

I always thought a dog house was a dog house, but now after doing a little bit of research, it does look like we have dog crates, not dog houses. Anyway, my dogs are happy in their crates at night and I am happy that they are in their crates at night.

[Nienke]

Hello Mobi,

I think a big apology is in its place.

I re-read my reply and it's a bit (lot) blunt. I took my frustrations of the last few weeks out on you, which is stupid and unfair.

Since international holiday I came across several wonderful dogs 'looking for a good homes', others mis-treated (of which one even by a vet!), and as Bina mentioned: also I meet on a regular basis dog-owners who have no time, no mood, no patience, etc. in putting time and effort in a basic education of their dog, with the dog very often ending up to be hit for 'stubborn behavior, at the back of the house (seperated from the people), caged, dumped or re-homed.

Sometimes I get too much of these experience in too short of a time and then, as a result can over-react. This happened after I read your story with the several 'no options' and the part where your dog fled into the house and pee-ed. I immediately generalized which was very unfair of me.

I hope you accept my apologies,

Nienke

[Mobi]

Hello Mobi,

I think a big apology is in its place.

I re-read my reply and it's a bit (lot) blunt. I took my frustrations of the last few weeks out on you, which is stupid and unfair.

Since international holiday I came across several wonderful dogs 'looking for a good homes', others mis-treated (of which one even by a vet!), and as Bina mentioned: also I meet on a regular basis dog-owners who have no time, no mood, no patience, etc. in putting time and effort in a basic education of their dog, with the dog very often ending up to be hit for 'stubborn behavior, at the back of the house (seperated from the people), caged, dumped or re-homed.

Sometimes I get too much of these experience in too short of a time and then, as a result can over-react. This happened after I read your story with the several 'no options' and the part where your dog fled into the house and pee-ed. I immediately generalized which was very unfair of me.

I hope you accept my apologies,

Nienke

Hi Neinke,

Your apology is accepted and much appreciated.

I know there is a lot of cruelty to dogs in Thailand, even amongst farangs, so I understand where you're coming from.

I think I'll look seriously at crating, and have resolved to give the training another go. (right now she's got her two front paws on my lap and making it very difficult for me to key in this reply

[Gary A]

Mobi, you may remember that we also have a Golden named Cookie. He is now about 16 months old. My wife knows nothing about dogs but she has trained him VERY well. Her weapon is one of those short little brooms. I asked her how she trained him not to come on the front or back porch. She says she beats him. I witnessed one her beatings and it amounted to waving the broom and yelling at him. It really hurts his feelings and he will go hide and sulk for an hour or so. We have two rai walled in for him to run and play. Sometimes he likes to dig but my wife says he is after a rat so she just fills the holes and says nothing. She has many young fruit trees and he liked to chew on and ruin her durian trees. I told her that I trained him to attack those putrid trees but that didn't do much to protect him. LOL! She watched him closely and when she finally caught him in the act she went running after him waving the hated broom. Whether he learned or not is another thing but he has gotten over that. She had to train me to open the gate for him in the morning so he could go out and do his morning constitutions. We have fields around us so he can do his thing without upsetting the neighbors.

I hate the thought of keeping him tied up or in a dog house overnight. He is a delightful dog and learns quickly. They are really intelligent dogs and I think he would rather take a beating instead of getting yelled at and threatened with the broom. I think maybe your Cookie will grow out of her bad habits without you having to pen her up at night. I buy him rawhide bones that he now slowly eats. He also has balls and other toys to play with. His favorite toy is a paint roller that is still on the six foot handle. He never seems to get tired of dragging that around. If you can find things that she likes maybe she won't get bored and into mischief. Good luck, she is worth a few headaches.

[Old Man River]

Mobi, you may remember that we also have a Golden named Cookie. He is now about 16 months old. My wife knows nothing about dogs but she has trained him VERY well. Her weapon is one of those short little brooms. I asked her how she trained him not to come on the front or back porch. She says she beats him. I witnessed one her beatings and it amounted to waving the broom and yelling at him. It really hurts his feelings and he will go hide and sulk for an hour or so. We have two rai walled in for him to run and play. Sometimes he likes to dig but my wife says he is after a rat so she just fills the holes and says nothing. She has many young fruit trees and he liked to chew on and ruin her durian trees. I told her that I trained him to attack those putrid trees but that didn't do much to protect him. LOL! She watched him closely and when she finally caught him in the act she went running after him waving the hated broom. Whether he learned or not is another thing but he has gotten over that. She had to train me to open the gate for him in the morning so he could go out and do his morning constitutions. We have fields around us so he can do his thing without upsetting the neighbors.

I hate the thought of keeping him tied up or in a dog house overnight. He is a delightful dog and learns quickly. They are really intelligent dogs and I think he would rather take a beating instead of getting yelled at and threatened with the broom. I think maybe your Cookie will grow out of her bad habits without you having to pen her up at night. I buy him rawhide bones that he now slowly eats. He also has balls and other toys to play with. His favorite toy is a paint roller that is still on the six foot handle. He never seems to get tired of dragging that around. If you can find things that she likes maybe she won't get bored and into mischief. Good luck, she is worth a few headaches.

Gary, while there may be several alternatives, I don't think putting the dog in a dog house (apparently now called dog crate) is a mean thing to do. After all, when you go to sleep at night, you have a bedroom. Putting the dog in their bedrooms (houses, crates, etc.) is the same principal. It protects the dogs at night, as your house protects you. Same thing, really.

[Mobi]

......Mobi, you may remember that we also have a Golden named Cookie. .......His favorite toy is a paint roller that is still on the six foot handle. He never seems to get tired of dragging that around. If you can find things that she likes maybe she won't get bored and into mischief. Good luck, she is worth a few headaches.

Gary, I do remember indeed. Two adorable Cookies in Thailand.

I'm still struggling with the toys - she chews and eats everything. Someone, I forget who, suggested tennis balls. I bought some and gave her one. She loved it - it lasted 1 day, and only half of it left - the other half presumably in her stomach. I bought her a strong plastic toy bone which had a sqeaky whistle inside. It lasted five minutes.

Stupid question probably, but where do you get your rawhide bones?

Yes, I'm veering towards a house/crate. I'll check them out, and the meantime re-double the training efforts. She's been good the last few nights so we'll see.

[Old Man River]

......Mobi, you may remember that we also have a Golden named Cookie. .......His favorite toy is a paint roller that is still on the six foot handle. He never seems to get tired of dragging that around. If you can find things that she likes maybe she won't get bored and into mischief. Good luck, she is worth a few headaches.

Gary, I do remember indeed. Two adorable Cookies in Thailand.

I'm still struggling with the toys - she chews and eats everything. Someone, I forget who, suggested tennis balls. I bought some and gave her one. She loved it - it lasted 1 day, and only half of it left - the other half presumably in her stomach. I bought her a strong plastic toy bone which had a sqeaky whistle inside. It lasted five minutes.

Stupid question probably, but where do you get your rawhide bones?

Yes, I'm veering towards a house/crate. I'll check them out, and the meantime re-double the training efforts. She's been good the last few nights so we'll see.

I suggested the tennis balls and am surprised that Cookie destroyed it so quickly. Is Cookie a bear or a dog? The rawhide bones are available at just about any pet shop, as well as in some supermarkets that sell pet supplies. If you are in Bangkok, the Prima Dog or Pet Mania shops all have them.

[Mobi]

I suggested the tennis balls and am surprised that Cookie destroyed it so quickly. Is Cookie a bear or a dog? The rawhide bones are available at just about any pet shop, as well as in some supermarkets that sell pet supplies. If you are in Bangkok, the Prima Dog or Pet Mania shops all have them.

Sorry Old Man River, I was too lazy to scroll back and see who wrote it.

Yes, she does seem to be a bit of a destroyer. I must be looking after her teeth (fangs?) very well.

Maybe we should re-name her Mee

I think I've been feeding her the rawhide bones - didn't realise they were made of rawhide. I give her one a night - and they don't last too long, even a large bunch I bought recently which are bigger and tougher than some others I've given her, usually last about half an hour, I reckon. And before you ask, no, she's not under nourished; if anything she's slightly overweight, and the vet told me to cut back on her food. She's fed twice a day and never any scraps or snacks. Can I give her more than one bone a day?

I started my training again today. I'm using the click method (but without the 'click' just a key word) I'm supposed to train her to touch my hand with her nose, so that eventually she'll touch anything with her nose if I tell her to. Well, I followed the instructioins carefully, but instead of 'nosing' me, she licks me Try as I might, she just insists on licking my hand.

My wonderful training guide says nothing about dogs licking instead of touching - so what do I do? Is licking OK? or will I teach her bad habits? That's why I get frustrated, and lose patience I suppose, because I'm not sure I'm doing it right, and there's no one around to advise me.

Pathetic, I know - but we're not all born trainers.

[bina]

mobi, click training is really hard to learn to use if u dont know anything about dog behavior since click training is opertive conditioning.... and w/o someone to help u, it is very difficult BUT ''

the main idea in any training is to use the dog's natural behaviors and catch them at the right moment that fits YOUR idea of what u want her to do:

forget touching her nose to your hand, she sounds like a very submissive bitch so will lick (a way of showing respect to an older dog and a more dominant one, since that is the way a puppy asks for food from an adult, by licking the face)....work on more functional things first; or fun things for her; like bringing u her toy from a toy box (her name, and TOY or DOLL or BONE , whatever she brings u, then play a little and start again) TRAINING SHOULD BE FUN AND A GAME FOR HER AS SHE IS A GOLDEN RETRIEVER AND THEY ARE NOT SERIOUS DOGS BUT CLOWN DOGS; AND U SHOULDNT BE BORED FROM IT EITHER... KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE AND FUN FUN FUN as i always say (the same way to train a donkey also by the way)

when she sits, say her name, and the word sit every time; reward right away with a small piece of something tasty... eventually she will learn that the sound SIT means her butt is on the floor, so when u say sit she will sit automatically.... then reward sometimes but not every time... dont do this in sessions.... just do it automatically...' ; then, ignore when she sits, unless u ASK her to sit (her name, and SIT-- but dont bark at her or yell, just say her name pleasantly and the word)

its like learnig to drive a car when u automatically stop at a red light, you are CONDITIONED to stop at the light (unless u live in egypt i heard they dont stop at red lights, just honk the horn)

as she walks out a door, say OUT; as she walks in , say IN

i taught my boxer bitch to 'sleep' , 'settle down', 'tummy' (lay on back ), etc.... all useful for vet checks; where are my keys?, get the pine cone; get the leash; make pee pee; go to bed (crate); back off (when snuffling someone new who doesnt like dogs); no out (dont go outside); up (on to something including her going on to a seesaw, and up a small ladder, for the fun of it) ; up and in (in to the car)... etc etc.... ;lus they can learn more then one language including hand signs ... mine speaks english, hebrew, and hand signs, and is learning thai from my bf who is crazy about her (he cooks her special meals)

and all taught by the above method.... its sort of the shortend click training method

have fun, relax , remove the major things she's munching on, by her large large cow bones, try a frisbee, even plastic coke cola bottles are fun to chase, tgry a small tire on a rope swing for her to chase, get a cat,

oh, forgot, teach her 'good night'... which my beasts learned meant get a way from the bedroom door when the boyfriend is here, and go to the salon and go to sleep...

[Old Man River]

Mobi, at the risk of offending anyone who knows how to train a dog, you can also hire someone else to do it. There are several places. Usually, the trainer is a member of the Thai military and they do an excellent job. They will train using English commands, and then teach you how to follow up.

[soic]

I didn't see all the posts, but mixing 1 part pepper oil (Cayenne) to 2 parts water and spraying it around the perimeter of the flower bed and anywhere you don't want her to mess will take care of it. Just make sure that you don't get it on your skin or in your eyes. It is also great for extreme weather for cold feet and in emergencies to use the powder on a cut or gash, will temporarily cauterize the wound.

[Gary A]

I buy the rawhide bones at Tesco Lotus. They normally have two kinds. One is made from strips that are tied kind of like a bow on the ends. They unwrap when they get wet so he doesn't eat that kind. The other looks like thicker raw hide die cut and pressed. Those he chews on and is able to eat. When we bought Cookie the breeder gave him a tennis ball and he still has it. Whenever I find it I wash the mud off it and give it back to him. The first few days after we got him he was dragging off our sandals. I really thought that was going to be a problem but after getting swatted with the sandal and told NO several times he decided there were better toys for him to drag around. My wife's nephew comes around quite often and sometimes brings toys with him. Cookie chews and destroys those toys as soon as no one is looking. I don't punish Cookie for that unless I see him in the act. I do yell at the nephew and tell him that if he takes care of his toys that won't happen.

Amazingly enough Cookie doesn't chew up his paint roller on the stick. He just loves to drag it around and seems to enjoy when he gets it tangled up in something and he has to tug it loose. He does damage some of the wife's flowers with the long stick but she gets over it. He likes to drag even quite large long sticks around too. The wife keeps several long pieces of bamboo around for snaring fruit off the trees and she gets aggravated when he steals them.

I forgot to add that he also likes empty plastic water bottles and especially the little plastic bottles that come with flavored milk in them. He doesn't chew them up but he seems to like the sound when he is crunching them. About one a week I have to go around the yard and pick them up.

Edited July 6, 2006 by Gary A

[Mobi]

So many great suggestions and advice. Thanks everyone.

question:

I have read about giving her large cow bones before, but where do you buy them? And also, as she seems adept at destroying everything that enters her mouth, is there a danger that she will digest parts of the bone and harm herself?

Believe it or not Bina, Cookie is not totally untrained. She actually sits when I tell her (most of the time), and she comes when I call her (most of the time), and even when I say "get the ball", she goes and gets it and brings it to me - when she's in the mood to play! And if she enters the house without permission, and I say "out" she goes out - pretty much all the time. She will also come to me if she is bothering a visitor, and I call her. But then she will go back a bother them again So not a total disaster, on the training front, but certainly could do better. I get the feeling that she has learnt quite a bit in spite of having the world's worst trainer

Last night she dug up four plants ( I forgot to tabasco them). She chewed the leaves off, and left four, partially chewed plants upright in the grass, close to four shallow holes in the flower bed from where they had been removed. All lined up nicely for my early morning inspection. I usually get a bit upset, but today I just laughed, as did everyone else who saw it.

Onwards and upwards Cookie, my love

(BTW the wife says that if she ever catches me kissing Cookie, she will arrange a formal marriage at the local temple )

[bina]

i jforgot::

brooms, the street sweeping kind (the square head kind) are a great great toy: the boxers loved to attack the broom, wrestle it, chew it, decapitatie it, whatever....

cow bones are no problem; chldrens toys can choke the dog... it sounds like she is doing what goldens do best, she is retrieving things for u, including plants....

[Old Man River]

So many great suggestions and advice. Thanks everyone.

question:

I have read about giving her large cow bones before, but where do you buy them? And also, as she seems adept at destroying everything that enters her mouth, is there a danger that she will digest parts of the bone and harm herself?

Mobi, I can see from another thread that you are involved in something much more important than this. As an American, I can't help you with that. As far as it relates to bones for dogs, we get ours at Villa (in Bangkok) at THB 10 per kg. I would ask at any supermarket with a sizable butcher shop as this is waste to them. Our dogs (we have two, one Golden and one hybrid - poodle/+ ??), and they both eat the bones fully and never harm themselves.

[kayo]

Yeah, no worries about the bones harming the dogs. This is more of a small dog issue. The bigger dogs (incl. golden´s) will happily devour every last shred. Good for them too.

[Nienke]

I started my training again today. I'm using the click method (but without the 'click' just a key word) I'm supposed to train her to touch my hand with her nose, so that eventually she'll touch anything with her nose if I tell her to. Well, I followed the instructioins carefully, but instead of 'nosing' me, she licks me Try as I might, she just insists on licking my hand.

My wonderful training guide says nothing about dogs licking instead of touching - so what do I do? Is licking OK? or will I teach her bad habits? That's why I get frustrated, and lose patience I suppose, because I'm not sure I'm doing it right, and there's no one around to advise me.

Hi Moby,

Thank you so much for your kind reply.

I'm glad that you are looking into the doghouse/crate at night. It will certainly help in saving your garden at night. And as mentioned before, dogs that have been properly introduced to their doghouse usually don't mind at all to sleep there. As long as they know it will be temporarily, such as for the night only, or short periods of time when visitors are around, or the like. The advantage of a crate as doghouse is that you can take her house/bed with you where ever you go, giving your dog a safe place to rest wherever she is.

I have a boarding kennel with usually quite some dogs at the time. When I moved into my new place, my neighbors weren't happy at all, afraid for many barking dogs day and night. But the funny thing is that we (I) have more problems with my nightly barking neighbor dogs than with my own guestdogs. The reason is that all dogs go in their cages in the night with the mosquito nets down. This is for them a sign that it is bedtime.

The training method you're trying out with Cooki is a combination of clicker training with target training. the target is your hand that Cooki needs to touch with her nose. Usually they use an stick with white knot on the end for this, something like a radio antenna (how you write antenna??).

I'm very pleased to read you have chosen for the clicker training in stead of training punishment based with a choke chain. Clicker training is reward based, where you put your attention on everything that you would like your dog to do, in other words on her good behavior. That is what you're going to reward. You can wait untill your dog shows the behavior you want or you lure the dog into the position. For example the sit or down: all dogs sit or lay down at a certain point, right at that moment you click (or say your keyword) followed by giving a treat. Click ALWAYS is followed by a reward, that's the contract you make with your dog.

Now there are poeple who will say that the dog finally will only work for the reward. And yes, that is also the case. Would you do something time after time for only a 'good boy'? I assume you won't, after a while you would like your salary, a good meal, a kiss of the wife or whatever that you value highly at that moment.

However, when training the dog and keeping the food always visible in a way to bribe the dog to do what you want, you definitely may end up that the dog will only perform when it is in the mood for that piece of food, but won't perform when there are bigger distractions around or the dog isn't hungry enough.

I train with the clicker already for several years, and during the instructor courses I have followed abroad I have come accross the most spectacular behavioral changes in hyper-active, fear-aggressive, dominant aggressive, and traumatized dogs. Also at the kennel I have had highly unders-socialized dogs that pretty quickly came loose with the help of the clicker.

Clicker training is definitely not easy (but the same can be said about punishment based training). You need a lot of patience. But once you understand the learning process in the particular dog, patience comes with it. Impatience is often a result of misunderstanding.

That doesn't mean that I never use punishment anymore (usually voice corrections).

Punishment only becomes accurate when the dog knows exactly what you want from it and does not perform. Most dogs just don't have a clue what you want.

Punishment can come in different ways. You can punish directly, meaning applying something very unpleasant to the dog (jerk on the choke, hitting, etc), but you can also take away something that the dog really likes (e.g. a time-out in its kennel without any toys or anything else the dog can entertain itself with. Time-outs can take up from 30 seconds to 1 to 2 hours).

Both reinforcement and punishment are forms of operant conditioning.

Oh, and I donot agree with Bina about Goldens are not serious dogs. I have more the feeling that many goldens still have a huge working drive. After all, they were originally bred to work with the hunter. Goldens in general have a huge will to please and urge to work. If this urge is not properly fulfilled, the dog will try to entertain itself. Goldens in general aren't stupid and through trial and error (and often inconsistency on the hand of the owner), they find all sorts of ways to get rid of their over-dose of energy. Often these are ways the owner doesn't really appreciate ;-))

Concerning this huge energy, many people believe that by exercising the dog the energy need will be fulfilled. That is partly true, but the point is that the stamina improves with it. Only exercising the dog doesn't give much mental stimulation. mental stimulation tires a dog more than simple running and jumping around. Search-games are excellent mental stimulators. The dog needs to use it brains and nose, in order to find the favorite toy or piece of food.

Mobi, if you feel you need some help on the clicker training, please, feel free to contact me personally,

Nienke

[Nienke]

So many great suggestions and advice. Thanks everyone.

question:

I have read about giving her large cow bones before, but where do you buy them? And also, as she seems adept at destroying everything that enters her mouth, is there a danger that she will digest parts of the bone and harm herself?

General rule is NEVER give COOKED bones. The heating process hardens the calcium in the bones. When the dog breaks the bone in pieces, it can act as rasor-blades in the stomach and intestines.

Perforation of the digestinal tract due to cooked bones is quite common. It can kill a dog within a week.

In that case it is better to give the beef bone fresh (dogs love to lick out the bone marow). No worry about parasites, a dog's digestive system is made for digesting raw bones and meat. All the myth about a raw food diet for our pets is put into our brains by the commercial dogfood industry.

Beef/buffalo bones you can buy on the local markets.

Nienke

Oh, something that may keep Cookie also busy for a while is a hollow beef bone where you put some peanut butter in ... :-))

[thaigerd]

Great advise from an expert

On the way home I just bought a lovely oxtail for mine.

Gerd

This week in the sea:

[bina]

didnt say goldens dont work, but they like fun; like boxers (an other high work drive dog that likes fun)...

nienke there is a great book: 'dont shoot the dog'... i trained with someone who trained with the woman ... it was fun (just a short few days while in the states visiting)... but helped me with my semi attack trained (not by me by former crazy owner)super aggressive male boxer... it took 6 months but he became a fantastic , happy friendly dog that still had a very very high work drive for search/rescue type activities...so we sublimated them into search and rescue toys/family members/soccer balls etc... all by behvior shaping ... never used any physical violence with him since he might have used some back.... may he rest in peace..

never met a dog that didnt like peanutbutter actually sounds like the kong toys might be good for this dog... there was a thread onnce about kong toys somewhere here....

[Patsycat]

Mobi,

Admit it, you're just a big softie!!

[Nienke]

didnt say goldens dont work, but they like fun; like boxers (an other high work drive dog that likes fun)...

nienke there is a great book: 'dont shoot the dog'... i trained with someone who trained with the woman ... it was fun (just a short few days while in the states visiting)... but helped me with my semi attack trained (not by me by former crazy owner)super aggressive male boxer... it took 6 months but he became a fantastic , happy friendly dog that still had a very very high work drive for search/rescue type activities...so we sublimated them into search and rescue toys/family members/soccer balls etc... all by behvior shaping ... never used any physical violence with him since he might have used some back.... may he rest in peace..

never met a dog that didnt like peanutbutter actually sounds like the kong toys might be good for this dog... there was a thread onnce about kong toys somewhere here....

Hi Bina,

Sure I know that book! Great book. and absolutely fabulous woman!

Sorry, to hear about the boxer. So I had a while ago an 10 months beautiful GSD in training, although it was more rehabilitation. His history is unknown before the age of 8 months, but I noticed he had been trained with the choke and for 'sniffing cars' (maybe for drugs) . Didn't listen to commands though, only to the jerk of the choke The first few days of the clicker training he only showed avoidance behavior. Boy, this poor guy was insecure and scared.

beautifull dog, huge will to work and please, but by the age of 8 months probably dumped as NOT SUITABLE for ... who knows ....? Only 8 months old!!!!!

I didn't mention about the KONG toys before, as I'm not sure you can buy the real ones in Thailand. Maybe in Bangkok. Haven't seen them in Chiang Mai.

But Oh yes! Kong toys are great! Almost non-destructable ... almost because a rottie lady managed to bite a piece of a larged-sized kong And a fox terrier a piece of a small size kong.

Oh and they don't float, too. My sweetest GSD bitch is so possesive, she doesn't want my rottie to get the kong. So she takes it into the pond, where he won't follow her, and then 'puts it down' .... Blub-blub-blub Lost already two and gave up.

What you can buy in Thailand are those ropes, made of all thin threads/ropes, wires (how you call that?) , usually with two or three knots in it. Most dogs love to bite and chew on it and tear it apart. It only takes a while before it 'breaks' down. a perfect toy for a destructive dog.

[Mobi]

kong toys might be good for this dog... there was a thread onnce about kong toys somewhere here....

Bina, Can you explain exactly what a kong toy is?

If they are not available in Thailand, I have some folk coming out from The UK later in the year, maybe they could bring some.

This thread is incredible. we're already up to 54 posts. When I posted on this forum a few months back when I was concerened about Cookie's front leg, I only got about two replies and the thread dried up.

How come all these dog lovers have suddenly appeared?

BTW I also love cats - had one for years until recently. Much less bother - don't have to train them

Maybe I should get one to play with Cookie

To celebrate the success of this thread, here's five reasons why I might be a big softie, Patsycat

Edited July 8, 2006 by Mobi D'Ark

[thaigerd]

kong toys might be good for this dog... there was a thread onnce about kong toys somewhere here....

Bina, Can you explain exactly what a kong toy is?

If they are not available in Thailand, I have some folk coming out from The UK later in the year, maybe they could bring some.

This thread is incredible. we're already up to 54 posts. When I posted on this forum a few months back when I was concerened about Cookie's front leg, I only got about two replies and the thread dried up.

How come all these dog lovers have suddenly appeared?

BTW I also love cats - had one for years until recently. Much less bother - don't have to train them

Maybe I should get one to play with Cookie

To celebrate the success of this thread, here's five reasons why I might be a big softie, Patsycat

Hi Mobi,

what a lovely and beautiful dog you have!

When I see him in his pool it reminds me at mine, even the same ball.

We just came back from a little afternoon trip to a waterfall in Phuket here and they liked it very much: cold and not salty.

Here are some pix:

[kat]

Oh man -- you guys remind me of why I want a dog!! I feed soi dogs here, but it's not the same.

Nice dogs, and beautiful Golden!

[Mobi]

Hi Mobi,

what a lovely and beautiful dog you have!

When I see him in his pool it reminds me at mine, even the same ball.

We just came back from a little afternoon trip to a waterfall in Phuket here and they liked it very much: cold and not salty.

Yours look lovely too.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to start taking Cookie back to the lake again - she swims like a fish, but I was concerned that she was over excersisng and hurting her legs too much (not when swimming, but running in and out of the water) I think she's old enough now to start again.

I reckon about 90% of pet productas over here have a picture of a golden on the package, and I've been trying to convince "Big", (my cheeky step son in the photo) that Cookie was the model for all those products, but I think he just humours me - he's a bit too smart to fall for Dad's bullsh...

[Gary A]

OK, here's our Cookie;

[Mobi]

OK, here's our Cookie;

I reckon you 'n' I have the best two good looking Cookies in Thailand