Aramiss

Thanks will do

Thanks for the link Looking it up now. Yep Morgan is a very tolerant dog, and I was honestly very surprised when he and Kettle developed problems, she's so soft and gentle, and has always loved other animals, including our cat. He is boisterous and still young but really very social and happy. My mum who is really frightened of larger dogs loves Morgan, her initial reaction to us getting a large dog was something like this (she asked if he would attack her ) but two seconds after meeting him she has nothing but lovely things to say about him. Kettle has always been soft (best word I can think of to describe her personality) she's loving but hates sitting in laps, she will emotionally fall apart if she gets in trouble (usually that involves nothing more then a firm "no") and she seems to prefer the company of other animals then to people, she will only very rarely play with toys. Now that I think about it, I think I know what the problem is, I was trying to remember when it all started for Kettie, and it wasn't when Morgan got home, it was a while before that. A few years ago when we lived in Sydney our home was broken into, the dogs were inside at the time. I came home to find the front door wide open (took me a while to realise that we'd been robbed, I thought I must have not shut the latch properly), the dogs were huddled in the lounge room terrified and after I realised what had happened I checked the dogs over to make sure they were ok. Fitz was fine, but a bit frightened, Kettle had a bruise and a small cut on her side, like a boot mark. After that she developed allergies, and I always thought a lot of her problems were from the fact that her skin was so itchy (we've taken her to the vet heaps of times, tried a million different diets, and pills, shampoo's and the works) and that it was distracting and distressing her, but I wouldn't be surprised if that incident had more to do with it. I will start her on a gentle training program and that might help her confidence levels improve, as well as keeping her away from high stress situations (which is when Morgan usually gets agro at her). I'll keep treating her skin condition, and keep her calm, and see how it all goes. I think we might have to arrange for an allergy test at some point, and hopefully get her a vaccine for it. Her old vet was looking at eliminating things from her environment and seeing what helped but honestly we didn't see any improvement. I guess her behaviour has declined so slowly we just thought she was a bit slow, but I'm hoping it is something we can cure to make her a bit happier, and for her and Morgan to get along a bit better. If nothing else I will just keep them segregated when there is a lot going on, and reward them for getting along when things are calm (verbally no treats lol).

Ignore it, let him out at the designated times for a toilet break but other then that don't respond to any of his barking or whining (and Shepherds are known for being vocal , if however he seems to be in an unusual state of distress make sure he isn't hurt or sick). If it has been a while and he starts getting restless then he probably will need a toilet break, but make it all business. Straight outside, praise for going to the loo, then back into his crate without too much fuss. If you want him to settle down a small treat at crate time can be helpful as long as it isn't a chocking hazard. My lot love their crates, they run in their right after dinner and have a great night sleep

Just make sure it is big enough , when Morgan came home he had a medium size cheap leather collar and he out grew it so fast. Now he has a nylon padded collar with a belt type buckle, it's actually a little big on him but it will do until I'm sure he's stopped growing It is very secure and he seems comfortable in it, but his next one will be a proper leather collar and lead set I think. His lead is a cotton one I got at training (which I usually use with his check chain), and I like how comfortable it is to hold, and it's not too long either. He also has an extendible lead which I only use when we are alone and roaming about in the wilderness with his flat collar, he's not a puller but I don't want to risk him snapping it and frightening anyone. He's really friendly, but not everyone appreciates a large dog running over to say hi Grats on the new puppy, and beware the teething stage

My dogs just have their bedding and a small, non squeaky toy each in their crates. For a pup I would be setting an alarm and taking them out every four hours or so just to be on the safe side. You really don't want them going in their crate, it leads to toilet training issues down the road. As soon as they come home the only good place to toilet is outside, make sure any accidents are cleaned up really well with white vinegar or a washing powder with enzymes in it, it's the only way to remove the ammonia smell which lets the dogs know its a good place to toilet. Needless to say any cleaning product with ammonia in it needs to be thrown out

Yep Phesephone it does make these things so much harder, but even though we are having some dramas at least we are back in the country and out of the darned city

Thanks Aidan :p Poor Kettie, she had a horrible puppyhood and yep we did get her at around 14 or 16 weeks old (most of which was spent in the pet shop). She is almost impossible to teach anything really, she forgets things almost instantly, even commands we practice with her constantly. Things like "To your bed" have to be reinforced with me showing her her bed. Then she hops in, stays a minute and is out again. Any high stress time like people at the door and she is impossible to command, she won't listen, just mills around excitedly making a high pitched barking. She is really food driven but she even ignores that if something else is going on. From now on if there is someone at the door I will pop her in her crate with a treat and see if I can't associate someone knocking on the door with going in there (if nothing else it will keep her out of harms way). I will look up the dog fighting threads, I felt so helpless today that I really do need to get an action plan sorted out. Thanks for the suggestion I have been separating them around food for a long time now, but I will be more vigilant. I really dropped the ball today, no doubt about that, its the first time they have had food near them together in around a year and hopefully never again, but if there is a next time I will be ready to stop him before blood is drawn. My husband and I have always been the dominants in our little family, never the dogs, but I think they are having the issues sorting out their own pack orders below us. We never would have gotten such a large dog if there was any doubt about that, I would not risk having a German Shepherd thinking he ruled the roost lol, I can imagine the chaos ;) I will start running training sessions again with them all though (we've been moving and it's been a bit hectic) just to make sure everyone does remember who is boss. At our last house Morgan was not allowed inside, and we moved to this house so we could have him in with us and I think the new dynamic is what is causing more issues, especially since the last time he was allowed inside it was when he was under a year old, and still very much a puppy. Thanks again, it just feels great to have a chat about it, and to think about what more I can do to keep them all safe and happy

I forgot to change my profile, I'm many many hours away from any kind of help. We moved almost a year ago to a really small town, hours away from anything else. There are no dog clubs, trainers, or anything of that type (it was my first thought, I was even hoping to keep up dog obedience training with Morgan, he loved it and was really doing well with it all, I've kept up his training at home, but it's not the same as working in a group). Our one vet spends most of their time out tending to live stock. We have a labradoodle breeder close by though I don't expect advice from a forum to fix all our issues, just hoping for a little insight I respect that's it is a hard thing to ask people who haven't seen the dogs and how they act, I was hoping maybe someone else had a similar experience and some pointers ;)

I thought you were talking about these at first http://houndbag.com/ Which I love lol (I have the black bag with the pink camouflage design ). Actual dog back packs though I would be a little wary of, especially with dogs prone to back or hip problems. A healthy dog with a well fitted back pack, with nothing too heavy in it though I would have no problem with, a harness and a small cart might be a better option

I think my dog Kettle might be intellectually impaired. She has a lot of trouble learning the simplest things (many years on and she has always been an inside dog but we are still having issues with her toilet training despite taking her out often, using praise and cleaning any messes up really well). She knows how to sit, but only beside her food bowl, she can not remember it if it is not dinner time. She has trouble with her confidence, even if we use really happy voices she will still slink up to us as if we have yelled at her. She refuses to come when called, when I find her she is usually cowering in her bed, from there I can gently encourage her out but it takes a while. We have owned her since she was young, she has never been hurt or abused at all and our other dogs are happy and confident. We did get her from a pet shop though, she was there for around 6 weeks, we brought her when she was put on sale (I felt so sorry for her, the store she was in was right near my supermarket and I saw her there for weeks before she went on sale, having owned dogs like her all my life I just couldn't stand the thought of leaving her there to a very uncertain fate). When she first came home she was so happy to actually be outside and on the grass, it was heart breaking how happy that simple thing made her. She gets on well with our smaller dog Fitz, but she seems incapable of learning how to deal with Morgan. Especially when it comes to food so I do separate them at dinner time (since she attacked him for his dinner one night and he mopped the floor with her, he was a lot younger then but still a good deal bigger then her, he is a German shepherd and she is a foxie). If I supervise her she is ok with Fitz and the cat at meal times, but her and Morgan can not have food together at all. She seems to be constantly fighting with Morgan for dominance, and she usually surrenders when he rolls her over gently, but she wants to be the first at everything especially to the door (causing a huge ruckas when he asserts himself and rolls her over and she fights back, making things worse). If I know someone is coming over I separate them and make sure one of them is outside, but unexpected visitors get the full show. This strikes me as really strange since she lacks the confidence most dominant dogs usually display, it seems to me that she just forgets the rules and is being punished for it. Today we had a terrible incident between the pair, unknown to me Morgan found a treat (we are moving and there was stuff everywhere, I didn't think there was any food in reach though). He left it when he came out side with me to hang out some sheets, while we were out Kettle got it. When we came back in he immediately went to get his treat back. Kettle bit him on the face and cut his lip which caused him to attack her back, I didn't have a great angle to grab his collar and pull him off her but he did stop on his own (at this point I was probably not being helpful, I was yelling at him to back off and let her up, but didn't want to grab him in case I made it worse or got bit as well, which makes me feel so awful). He avoided the really dangerous areas, but she does have a few minor cuts on her face (I cleaned them up and put her in her crate to rest and settle down). I'm at bit of a loss here, Morgan is wonderful with Fitz, he lays down and plays gently with him, and I have noticed no dominance struggles between the pair at all despite Fitz rough housing and being cheeky with him (although I suppose the fact that Fitz lets him through doors first and respects the pecking order helps a lot). Morgan is very bright and a pleasure to own, he is gentle and loving with everyone he meets and is usually very good with strange dogs, unless they act aggressively toward him which seems normal). I don't want to leave Morgan or Kettle outside all the time, and I have been ignoring the little minor dominance struggles and just stop it when its getting too rough, but since I'm in the middle of nowhere with very little resources (not even a dog club to turn to) I was hoping someone here could give me some pointers or advice.

A battalion of German Shepherds given their association with the military and their regal bearing. A cuddle of Maltese since that's all mine likes to do

My vet has two cats, I thought it was pretty rare . My dogs don't have a problem with it, they get a little excited to see a new cat (we have one too), but other then a little gruff or whine, they are fine and settle down quickly. These cats tend to be pretty good though, they meander around but give the dogs room, and since our vet has rules that ask that all visiting cats be crated, and all dogs be on leads, it stays pretty calm. I can imagine for real cat haters it is stressful, and for their owners too , but I have never noticed it to be a problem. I guess for the dogs it is someplace neutral, it already smells of heaps of other animals, and we are present to keep them company, and settle them down so they are calmer then a strange cat usually makes them I actually kind of like it, I think it shows that the vet is kind enough to take care of some strays. As it was our cat came from our vet, he was re-homing Chade's litter because they had been dumped on the doorstep over night ;)

Gerturde would flip me the bird if I ask her for a massage We get a lot of Maltese Shits in and people don't even realise what they've got. If the dog is snappy, they explain to me that that is the Terrier coming out in them ;) Those pesky Terriers... Maltese are not terriers, they are lap dogs through and through, and are actually very nice little dogs. My oldest here is a maltese cross chihuahua and is and always has been a great and loving companion. Here's a pic ;) Oops edited to add, Congrats to your mum op, I'm glad she found a nice little companion, no matter what the breed/cross ;)

Thanks Iltby

I'd love to come too, I have a gsd pup that is pretty spunky and is pretty good in pubic :0) My only prob would be that my hubby is working (I don't drive), but if someone has some room and is coming from around the Blacktown area I can put in petrol money for a lift