Hi,

Just a quick message to all the other Deerhound owners/lovers.
My husband and I bought our first hound three wks ago.
His name is Brodie, he was born 10 mls west of the Mound (Sutherland) Scotland.
He is our pride and joy and has a liking to stealing my best undies and my husbands white shirts and office socks (lol).
He is Blue Brindal, and already weights 13 kgs. We hope he will grow to be a large dog (Fingers crossed)!!
We are debating on which Puppy food to feed him? Our breeder recommended Beta Large Puppy our Vet recommends Hills.
On futher research the best food we can buy for him looks like James Wellbeloved for slow growth and proper nutrition. Can any experienced owners/breeders advise?
Any and all info will be greatly apprieciated!
P.S does anyone having any training experience as our Brodie has went from one accident in one week to using the kitchen as a toilet in one day HELP!!! Dirty Dog as a command and Clean as a command seem to work but he's still using the kitchen as a toilet! (Its been poring down with rain all day though!). Oddly enough he sat in the car on an hour journey today and no misshaps but as soon as he came home straight to the back garden , no toilet after 10 mins came into the kitchen and messed the floor?
Thanks to all who read Michelle Paul.(Any advice PLEASE!).

Congratulations on Brodie. He sounds like he's fitting in really well!

Ours are still occasionally fond of the kitchen floor if it's raining - especially our wee girl. Please dont' be too harsh - it's a phase and he will eventually get the idea. Wait and see the next dry day he'll be fine.

(Frankly I'd rather go on the nice warm kitchen floor if it was horizontal rain outside and, if you're truthful with yourself, so would you!)

Please tell us a wee bit more about Brodie. Did you get KC papers? What's his Sunday Name?

You'll get dozens of different but equally valid answers on this forum. If you have any concerns whatsoever then (in a perfect world) your breeder should be delighted to help. But you did ask...

As far as food goes: ours went from being spoiled on a £50 bag of Purina Large Puppy Athletic down to a £10 for 15kg bag of Wagg working dog food from Tesco recently and, apart from the colour of their poos, there's been no noticeable difference whatsoever. We're looking into sourcing some tripe too as they got that at their Aunty's and they loved it - variety being the spice of life and that.

Welcome to the forum and to your life never being the same again. You'll be itching for another deerie in a month or two...

Hi and welcome to the site

Your pup sounds fun (apart from the accidents!). As Murph says dont be to harsh as he is still only as baby. My 10 month old devil deerhound Carys took ages to housetrain and in fact when I was on the phone to a friend earlier this evening the little darling wee'd on the kitchen floor! - Well it was raining outside mum and you know I dont like getting wet!

Your pup will 'get' it eventually - just persevere. Have you tried clicker training. I did this with mine and Murray my boy got clean very quickly but hasn't worked quite so well with Carys.

I kept mine on Arden grange when they were younger but have now got them on a raw diet. Breast of lamb, chicken wings, tripe, sardines, eggs and shell,lambs hearts ect and they seem to be ok

Do enjoy every minute with your pup - they grow up so quickly but are equally as lovely when they reach adulthood and again, as Murph says one d/h will never be enough! They are totally addictive. I waited years till I got Murray and now I have 3! Lucky, lucky me

Hi and a warm welcome from all of us here in Wick, Caithness, we have two deerhounds blue and brodie and whilst blue hates any form of water and you have to chase him out in the rain brodie dosent mind and will be out through the door like an exocet missile as soon as its opened.We feed ours on welbeloved and butchers dog mince it has every thing in it,as far as house training it just takes time and lots of patience. Have lots of fun with your new family member.

Welcome to the forum,from South Lincolnshire.Personally,I would recommend Autarky.It's one of only a handful of brands to receive a 5-star rating and at least round here,is less than half the price of others such as Arden Grange or Burns per 15k bag.

Hi and welcome from Brodie's sister Tulla and (even older first litter sister Clunie!!)

Don't worry about accidents - it seems to us that whenever we get a deerhound puppy it rains for weeks on end and so the puppy won't go out as our garden becomes a quagmire!! Tulla is exactly the same or more annoyingly she will go out and even when I go out and tell her to toilet, outside is too much fun and within about a minute of coming in there's a puddle on either kitchen or dinning room floor However after Clunie who was a January puppy we quickly accepted this as part of puppy life and they do grow out of it! At least the mop is getting well used!!

Today is dry though and so far so good no accidents!!
Love to Brodie from Tulla and Clunie too!

Hi and welcome from another relative "newy" -Freya. We buy IAMs for Large Breed Puppies, over the internet as it is cheaper that way. A 15 Kg bag is £31 delivered and lasts a month. Both dogs seem to thrive on IAMs and of course Freya also has some meat/cheese or egg as well although the company said it was not necessary. Prior to Freya we had another terrier dog with skin allergies and used James Wellbeloved -still use their treats in fact! A friend who is a vet but now works for another food supplier reckons that dry foods are very well balanced these days. Hope you have lots of fun with Brodie!

Can I suggest Bac to Nature or something similar should be used after there's been an accident indoors? It digests the scent and means that the offender won't automatically return to the same spot. I've always had some handy for house-training kittens and it works a treat.

We feed ours on chicken and rice and then mainly Royal Canin which is expensive but we think it helps keep the weight on them and they eat it well and they never have poorly tums with it.

Daisy also took 10 months to toilet train and we have Rocky 5 months that does the same - spends ages outside then comes in a pees

I may try the clicker training myself.

Welcome to our lovely site and congratulations on getting your new baby Deerhounds are such a delight & be warned you will want more

I fed my girl on Burns Lamb & Rice for underweight dogs & large puppies. Now she is 2, both my girls are on Beta racing greyhound, it is much cheaper!! Also seems to suit them so far & they have a little bit of Natures Diet (soft food) mixed in with it.

Don't worry about the little accidents, they all get there in the end!

Hope you can post some photo's

Hello Brodie94

My wee horror, Morag, has been with us for over 8 weeks and she only has about one accident per week now and that is when I have been distracted by something and not noticed that she is restless. It is always when it is raining as the door is usually open when it's fine. Her older "sister" Isla was much quicker and was totally clean after a couple of weeks.

I have started buying IAMS large breed puppy from Seapets via the web. It is only £24.99 from them and free delivery. It doesn't say that it is only an offer and so I'm hoping that it is the normal price. I also get large breed adult IAMS and the senior IAMS. They are all £24.99. I have an eleven yeay old beardie, Lizzie and a two and a half year old deerhound, Isla as well.

You really have lost your chair to your little one. We replaced a settee in the sitting room this year and kept Isla off the new furniture but she will not allow us to get rid of the old one and so it is squashed into the dining room even though there is no room for it. Sometimes she will condisend to keep us company in the evening but more often than not she lies upside down in typical deerhound sleep position with legs in the air in the dark on her settee.

Enjoy Brodie while she is tiny as she will reach the hooligan stage soon enough.

Hi

I think with food you have to find one that suite's your dog,
with Layla i tried a couple of different brands - skinner duck and rice
and another one, the skinners i do like as a food, as its hypoalagenic
theres no nastys in it, price wise it not expencive,
but Layla had the squits with what ever i tried, my other dogs
are on a adult dog food, its not branded - 8.35 a sack,
i tried layla on it and with in a couple of days she was normal,
shes doing well on it, so have kept her on it.

With house training its always hit and miss,
just take her out every time she wakes - when shes eaten after play time,
and she will soon get there, the rain dosent help, as most hounds wont go out in the rain
unless the lead comes out lol, even layla at nealy a year old has had the odd accadent

Hi,
Thank's for your great reply,Brodie is nearly house trained just a few accidents but nothing over the last week,he has been really good,the only time he has has pissed in the kitchen was when we left him for a short while as if to say how dare you leave me!
Brodies Sunday name is Kinnauld Rogart Fradh He is 6th generation with what we think as impresive papers!
Thank's for your reply and sorry for the delay in our's
Michelle,Paul and Brodie

I always cook up a mince stew, add liver or kidneys sometimes, spuds, carrotts, greens, broccolli, whatever is in the fridge. I make a big pot up, which lasts Deerhound and terrier 5 days. DH also has scraps, if it is doggy edible food (not chips!!) spaghetti bolognaise, roasts, stews, even the odd curry (his fave) terrier has no scraps as he is prone to balloon, he has dog food and thats it. I add 3 large cups of OMEGA for WORKING DOGS. £11.99 a huge big bag, grat value. When he was a pup, I made the mince thing up and added Bakers Puppy. All puppy foods are expensive. They seem to fill out naturally when they come of a certain age, but you will find the food that suits your pup.

With the accident, as Sid says, once they have been somewhere once, it becomes a habit to re offend in the same area, so even if you have bleached, they can detect the scent. Just keep popping him in the garden, rain or shine, he will learn. I must admit, I must have been the luckiest DH owner ever, never a wee or a pooh, even overnight, from day one! and all those newspapers I kept!!!

WElcome and good luck from Helen, Murphy in WAtford