Danois

A day? We have done a couple now - 1 took 10 mins and the other took about an hour but that involved 4 dogs (individually and groups). it was cheeky of me to use it but used the opportunity to give Ruth a plug!

I am sitting under one of the Ikea ones (in baby blue) right now and its nice and warm and only $5.

I got a pink fleece blanket (Queen size) from Coles tonight for $9 - the single bed ones (all gone) had been $5. Its in the crate already!

He does not respond to the verbal command - he responds to you putting your hand forward which to me shows he does not understand the connection between the command and the behaviour.

Kikopup on Youtube has some excellent videos for teaching behaviours/ tricks if you're looking for more inspiration.

Nice start. I use clicker training and that is the same as using a marker word so with this trick - I would shape the behaviour first and then add the command later. Otherwise you are not marking the exact behaviour you want - and you can see this in the dog at the end. With your voice I would use a more distinctive marker word if you do not use a clicker - you need to indicate a degree of praise to the dog. I would not use 'good' as a marker as many people use 'good' in general with their dog such as 'good boy'.

I have a MasterPet Serenity for my dane - about $190 for the big one from memory. Lasted a good 18 months but needs some new filling as its now a tad flat. Failing that - a king sized bed is about right!

Gorgeous Kirty! Am so pleased to hear she is starting to play and she is looking well. Its a shame you don't pop into the dane thread more often!

Agree - I was going to say its the skin not the coat that needs to be looked at.

Contact the Great Dane Club of Vic's rescue people. Otherwise I echo GDG's advice - get him off the Pal and on to a premium food for Giant/ Large breeds. I would not feed chicken necks to an 8 month old - maybe legs but probably carcasses only. Lose the pasta and vegetables. A lean dane is better than an overweight on.

My dog was like that - what I described as a 'soft' temperament. He was very good at shutting down and then avoidance. But what he learnt was if he went into shut down then I would back off and leave him alone so he'd offer that behaviour to get out of what I was asking of him. So he was winning and it was undermining my leadership. Diagnosis - he is a bastard! He does not have a lot of drive and will do things sedately but solidly. I really saw a change in him once I started doing a lot of clicker work with him (as part of training challenges we do in the dane thread). I was able to use the clicker to build up things and reshape behaviour. Previously I could not spray him with a spray bottle - he now lets me do it without issue. He would run away and avoid if I tried to give him tablets - he now stands there and lets me open his mouth and put them in. I also saw K9 Force.

With weims still on the top of the list - perhaps some experience weim owners/ breeders should set out the things to look for in a good breeder as I know from previously having a dog with a dilute (blue) gene, there can be some health issues around the immune system. I am also assuming weims are a bloat prone breed? From my own experience, owning a bloat prone breed takes a bit of planning/ organisation and being mindful of separation anxiety given stress is thought to be a cause of bloat.

Just pulled this out of your post. Quarantining the dog downstairs until it is trained is likely to hinder the training process. Toilet training a puppy is all about constant vigilance - if the puppy is not penned nearby (i.e. within eye sight and ear shot) then many people use an approach of keeping them on lead at their side. PS there is no such breed as a spoodle - it is a crossbreed i.e spaniel cross poodle.

True Ashnali re insurance - I was just meaning Joe Bloggs who was standing ring side with their camera. A prudent professional photographer would have appropriate PL insurance especially if they are using human subjects.

Why would you need PI (i.e. professional indemnity) insurance - this is for people like lawyers, accountants and engineers who provide professional services. PL insurance is public liability insurance and you don't need that to take photos. I am really interested for more information on that the VCA thinks the law is re taking photos. Anyway - on topic. Unless they are a professional photographer (or someone portfolio building) then they should not be charging for photos. If they are going to charge then this must be disclosed up front (basic contract law). I would expect to receive the photos within a couple of days.

Tyra2007 - Troy has previously posted this warning on the forum: So quit insulting other people's informed decisions to feed what works best for their dog.

Suggest to your family member that they go and sit in the area where the dog is kept. They can't have anything with them - no books, no phone, no ipod, no iphone, no internet, no radio, no TV etc etc and see how long they last before they get bored. Some dog toys are simply toys (ie the plush ones) but other toys like treat balls, kongs, ones with squeakers, puzzle toys etc are all designed to get the dog to think and work out how to get the treat etc out of it. Mental stimulation is good for a dog and also works to tire them out.

Boo and his best buddy do this - he has herded away a GSD at the beach and engaged it in play when it was hassling his friend. In turn she has intervened when Boo was being harassed by a SWF and kept it away from him. They look out for each other.

Meg - refresh my memory - does our breed standard have any disqualifying faults in it? I know there are matters considered to be a fault (extent of departure and how it impacts on health and wellbeing dictates how serious the fault is).

:D

Not possible for me as I work in a 51 story building and our lease does not allow animals on the premises - not to mention the lack of an area for toilet breaks. But if he's not well, post surgery etc then I can work from home - just do a quick run to the office to grab my laptop and I'm all set. Work is more than happy for us to do this.

I agree with stormie's posts - its a good balance of the 'medical' side of it as well as personal experience. I recently desexed my giant breed male at 22 months. While he seemed to handle sexual maturity well (and I even had a behavourist comment that they could not believe he was a nearly 2 year old entire male) - it was the reaction of other dogs to him which finally made me get it done. The older he got the more hassling he got from other males - which he was starting to react to. This meant off lead time was no longer enjoyable for both of us. (snipped) My male will mark outside - but then again I never stopped the behaviour but has never marked inside and would not dare! Never had any humping. Never had aggression but as I said above, the more he matured the more he was willing to stand his ground. He was an easy dog as he matured but I know others who have not had such an easy time. It comes down to your willingness to step up the leadership and ability to handle an entire dog and also your savvyness at handling situations like off lead spaces and the interactions.

(snipped quote) I am a client of this clinic and what stormie said is exactly how I feel. While I had a rough idea of the cost (and their protocol from previous discussions), I left Boo in their hands to do what they needed to do. I do not expect to tell my vet what I want done or not done as I have not had the training they have- just like my clients don't tell me how to do my job. If you cannot trust your vet to do the best thing for your pet then it might be time to find a new vet!

Not sure why people are bothering to argue with Black Bronson - have you not figured out yet they are the expert when it comes to inter alia GSDs, training, aggressive dogs and desexing? I realised I had to be humble and recognise my own inexperience when I read this post from them:

Well.... There is a couple of bottles of shampoo on the side of the bath, a bottle of shine spray on top of the dryer alongside the curry comb (no idea really why that is there). Poo bags are on the low open shelf in the kitchen. Dog medications are the high open shelf. Dog treats are on top of the fridge. I found an old puppy collar in the kitchen cupboard the other day as well as my number holder from showing (again NFI on that one!) Food is in one of those ProPlan tins (although I don't feed ProPlan). He's got one coat on, the other is in the laundry pile and the other is chucked on the table at present. 2 of those plastic containers from Ikea (that go into the bookcase) hold the toys. Grooming box is in the spare room cupboard. Dog towels are currently in the clean linen pile but having a back injury I am not up to folding them all. Nail clippers are on the bookcase in the lounge. Another plastic container of misc stuff is in the spare room in the bookcase. Lead and collar is in the middle of the floor in the hall where I dropped it earlier (along with the poo bag). Oh - just spotted a poo bag on the bookcase in the lounge too and his spare collar is hanging off the door knob in the lounge. Not organised but I know where it all is!