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

ummm.. a warning to everyone here who is thinking of getting an Aussie.....get one who doesn't like mud!!!

Well said Souff! Governments only put these laws out there because of irresponsible people who repeatedly break the law or fail to comply with requirements. Speaking from experience most Councils will assist a dog owner by giving them more time to comply IF the dog owner can show they are trying to comply with requirements. Some Council's even offer payment plans for impound/release fees and rarely are these fees paid in full. So why should Councils/Governments pay for enclosures for dog owners who will not use them anyway? Just another case of the responsible people getting nothing and the irresponsible expecting/getting everything. Rant over...

I have been following this thread with interest reading all the different opinions which is to be expected on a forum such as this. It does tend to remind me of a couple quotes from some very well respected trainers; Dr Ian Dunbar - the only thing two dog trainers can agree on is that the third trainer is doing it wrong Susan Garrett - punishment starts where understanding stops....

Hi all, After some years i have decided to go back to feeding my dogs BARF and I was wondering what people use these days to prep the vegies? Previously i have used a juicer and used the pulp but that was very time consuming and i no longer have the juicer what do you use to prep the vegies i.e food processor, blender etc and what type of consistency do you end up with? thanks for your help.

checkout the new KONG Wobbler they are fantastic. My 11 week old aussie shepherd pup gets all his food in that and loves it.

sounds to me someone has their wires crossed...OR something VERY dodgy going on...either the dogs are not actually at the pound and have been been picked up by someone pretending to be the pound OR someone has mis-interpeted the phone call. Now while it is not unheard of for Council Officers to try to go outside the law. This is WAY outside and not something even the most dodgy Officer could even think of getting away with. In NSW non-chipped dog must be held for 7 days before they are processed through adoption program and desexed etc in preparation for rehoming. chipped dogs must be held for 14 days. If the owner is a reigstered breeder, can produce pedigree papers for the dog and sign a declaration stating the dog is for breeding purposes they can then lifetime register the dog, chip it and pay release fees and home the dog goes. The council can only make an owner desex a dog IF it is declared dangerous or is a restricted dog and that is a whole other debate and process... will be interesting to hear what happens here.

Hey all We have been feeding Great Barko to our guys off and on for a while now and have noticed when we feed it a couple of the dogs cough up or regurgitates the food or rather fluid, mostly the next day. Has anyone else noticed this? Other than this they seem to do really well on it. thanks

Hi all i am trying to do some research on the best place on DOL to advertise a doggy related business which services a portion of a State rather than a whole State or the entire country as the businesses target audience is a small portion of a State. Advertising in the banners on DOL would not seem ideal given it goes to the whole country or targeted State, ie we cant target just SE QLD which is what we would prefer. My question to you guys is; 1. Do you visit the Marketplace Canine Products and Services advertising page on DOL, and 2. How often would you visit? Advertising in the Marketplace is inexpensive and very reasonable and we will probably go ahead with it, but I thought would ask the question anyway to gauge an idea of if many people visit the page on a regular basis. thanks in advance...

ok, so this may be a silly question as I know a horse would be a distraction for the dogs but can the handler ride a horse instead of a bike in the ET? yes I know there will be some dogs not proofed to horses so that may be an issue... the horse is an endurance horse so he can do 20km's easily....the same handler on a bike I am not so sure

[ Any dog microchipped legally in NSW as APBT or Cross would have already been issued with an NOI.] That is if Council has done their job. There are plenty out there chipped as PB or ABPT crosses that have not had an NOI issued yet. [Any NOI dog who DIDN'T go through with the BA and TT is automatically listed (by law) as Resticted. You do NOT have to go through BA and TT before they can restrict your dog. You do not even HAVE to do BA and TT.] Yes, this is correct but that was not the question asked. [Once the NOI is sent out/delivered to the address on the microchip and registration, the owner has 28days to comply with BA and TT and if the owner fails to present those the dog is automatically restricted. If the owner did NOT recieve their NOI the Council take no responsibility as it is up to the owner to keep microchip/registration details uptodate. Dogs that are microchipped as RBx's and have NOT passed the TT test are all restricted and the Council has full right to PTS. The owners would have already been issued NOI's (whether they received it or not) and there is no 'rules' that the Council has to issue a second NOI.] Again, this is correct but again it was not the question asked. There is a facility in Companion Animal Register to issue a second NOI giving a further 28 days to have the dogBA/TA'd. Also, I have known Council's who issue and hand deliver a second NOI to ensure the owner is given every opportunity to have the dog assessed. In this case it seems the dog is not chipped therefore an NOI would not be issued at all unless claimed by an owner. The dog would not pass the Council process for rehoming whatever that may be. Unmicrochipped/unregistered assumed RBx are NOT supposed to leave a pound/shelter UNTIL some type of BA and TT has been done. They cannot release a 'supposed' restricted dog before having a Temp Test done incase it does attack someone or something. IF the pound think the dog is safe, then they can rehome and serve a NOI, but they usually warn people of the costs etc involved beforehand (which usually puts people off) As I said they can always get around it by euthing the dog for behavioural or medical reasons (i.e. failing the pounds temp test or vet check) or they can rehome the dog and issue an NOI with the new owners understanding the process and what is involved before adoption.