wherezaball

Hi guys I need to buy a good dog run or possibly two in the SEQ/Northern NSW areas. Can anyone recommend a business please? Maybe provide photos of what they have purchased? To give me an idea of the style. many thanks

Yep I would invest in about 6 of the Black KONG Extremes (toughest ones) and have them made up in the fridge. Build up your dogs ability to get the food out and freeze them. They last heaps longer. PM me your email address and I will send you a great KONG stuffing handout and boredom buster ideas. As for the so called breeder...

As others have said you cant change his temperament but you can change his behaviour through training (both you and him), management of him and his environment and mental and physical exercise. I would be crate training him so you can have him inside and learning to settle, rather than outside barking at the rain. Feeding his ALL of his food in KONG and similar toys. have you tried the KONG Wobbler for dry food only. It's great for longer lasting activity/work at feed time. all that said and done you may find his behaviour is on the abnormal side of what is considered normal. Please don't take offence at this, it happens very often many dogs who display excessively abnormal behaviors and require the help of medication to help them learn more appropriate behaviours. Much like people do. Though valium may not be the correct drug in his case. I would recommend a consult with Dr Cam Day www.pethealth.com.au who is a veterinary behaviourist in Brisbane. As he is a behaviour specialist AND a vet he can look at your dog from both sides and help you with a thorough behaviour modification program which may or may not include the help of medication. You really need to do the hard yards now, otherwise your new puppy is going to copy the same behaviour as your adult dog. I would be crate training the puppy NOW so you can give them some separate time from each other and hence less opportunity to learn the stuff you don't want. It also gives you a chance to train the puppy in good manners behaviours NOW before bad habits are learned. another good information site is www.drsophiayin.com she is also a veterinary behaviourist with awesome behaviour help as well. I can thoroughly recommend her Perfect Puppy in 7 days book as well. Good luck!

No one is saying belting a dog out of frustration is ok. But the idea that a dog will never understand a smack or it will never work is incorrect. There is a difference between taking your dog out the back after a show and laying into it, and a short, sharp smack on the rump when you catch the dog with their head in the kitty litter. The latter, if timed correctly WILL punish the behaviour and the dog will associate it with the behaviour you want to deter. The smack doesn't hurt more than discomfort, and serves much more to startle the dog than anything else. Like I said, I'm not promoting smacking as a be all and end all, it's only really useful in a very small amount of situations, but I disagreed with the notion that a dog will never understand a smack or learn from it, no matter what the scenario. I'm not disagreeing with you. i also said some dogs will learn via punishment using as you say "a short, sharp smack on the rump" they through fear but they may still learn. In the kitty litter example a stern voice would be just as useful to have the startle affect. either would be effective for some dogs...others dogs may just learn not to do it when you are around as the motivation is too strong to raid the litter tray or the bin....scavenging is normal dog behaviour after all. I think the original post was more about incidents at trials and dogs being punished inappropriately.... not a tap/smack on the bum for eating kitty crumbed sausages in the litter tray. Any physical punishment or handling of a dog at a trial in public land is not acceptable from the dogs welfare and the image of the sport. Regardless of how minor others may think the punishment was, incidents should be reported to have the message to all competitors it is not acceptable. What people do in their own homes is up to them but they should be more careful when out and about.

I find it interesting that some people might say it is Ok to smack a dog in order for it to learn....yes it is learning through fear but in some cases it will still learn. Yet if their partners smacked or hit them to "teach them a lesson" it would be considered abuse?? If a woman is hit by her partner only once it is considered abuse and against the law.....yet it's Ok to do that to a dog?? We do need to use and can use punishment in dog training but it need not be physical or abusive? Punishment needs to fit the crime, be delivered at the time of the crime (just like a reward should be for stuff we like) then we move on and the punishment can be as simple as withholding a reward, isolation from us, a stern voice is often enough to interrupt a unwanted behaviour.... any punishment delivered after the crime is not effective and only destroys the relationship you have with your dog, the same goes if it is too harsh for the dog AND the situation... I would imagine most incidences at trials etc are a result of the owner/handlers frustration... if so this is not punishment it is abuse...and no amount of trying to justify it as "punishment" will cut it.

the KONG Wobbler is made of hard plastic which is REALLY difficult to chew or pick up. It is designed for dry food only and dispenses the food as the dog pushes it around the yard. think it is the best food dispensing toy on the market

"Nah I don't want to get rid of Ziggy, besides the bite, he is my ideal type of dog." mmm...but are YOU his ideal type of owner???? mmm I think not....

I would leave him inside each day until your next day off then that day keep the routine the same but set up a camera and just head down the road and sit and wait..... In my shelter experience the best ways were fully enclosed runs with roof etc or keep inside the house safe to do so. The fence overhangs do seem to work well but it may just give him something to work on for a while. I wouldn't worry too much about him being inside and not outside playing with other dogs because when he is outside he takes off anyway and goes walkabout. so I don't think playing with the dogs is high on his list! Some dogs are just happy to stay inside all day no dramas. Crashie is more than happy to spend the whole day on the bed inside if i let him. when he goes out for a wee he is back at the door in 5 minutes.

The trouble is with the "stupids" is that they really are STUPID!!!

of course the same applies to dog people ;)

Oh yes if life was just so simple...maybe yours is Brighton but seriously if you believe this problem is just diet related or treated by diet alone you really don't have a clue about dogs and their behaviour. Let's put it in human terms cause at least you may have some experience in that....what about people who eat a very healthy diet, exercise regularly, don't smoke or drink (in excess or at all)...I guess they would NEVER suffer from anxiety or depression problems or not contract nasty disease such as cancer etc?? of course they do....they may need supplements to help them manage their problems and so do some dogs.

Just another example of Council Rangers being damned if they do and damned if they don't. So what would you say if she left the dogs there and did nothing and then they attacked child? Accuse her of not doing her job??? YES. i did used to work as a Council Ranger and it was my job to go into these situations. thankfully most are fine and you will not be in any huge danger. Most in fact you could catch the dog on a lead and put them in the car, as they were just scared and if you took your time with them and didn't frighten them they would come round OK. Though you get the odd one or two who you would need to use a catching pole or in RARE cases a dart gun. But there was always a risk and this time she was attacked. yes there may have been other options like getting back up etc but we don't know the situation so should not pass judgement when we don't know all the facts.

I am a big fan of Dr Sophia Yin's two dog behaviour books in this link below. They have the latest information in an easy to understand format for dog owners and trainers. With excellent pictures to accompany the lesson/topic. A must read for pet owners and dog trainers. I have a book shelf FULL of training and behaviour books (it is an obsession of mine) and these are by far some of the best you will read. The next would be The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey. http://drsophiayin.com/dogproducts

The Aussie from the GIO ad is Hazard. Thanks Poocow! I thought I could see the lovely Trig in there

Been meaning to ask does anyone know who the dog is in the GIO Insurance ad which was mentioned at the beginning of this post? Also, wanted to say Red Aussie's rock too....think you need some red ones in your next photo shoot Gayle