dee lee

To you as well. I am giving Honey a big hug when I get home.

Sums up my GR too. Every time I am greeted (first thing in the morning, when I come home etc) I get a shoe. Any shoe will do. NEVER EVER chews them though, doesnt even want to give it to anyone, just holds them in her mouth waiting to show you. I agree completely that the biggest difference seems to be the GR "softness". Even when being naughty or boisterous, all goldies I have met are just so "soft" in temperament. All the labs I have met are lovely but more "up" and intense. 90% of dogs walked early at my local park are gun dogs. Labs, Goldies and GSPs. The Goldies cruise the perimeter, the Labs and GSPs bowl right through the middle (and steal the balls!!). ETA: My female goldie loves cuddles and pats more than ANYTHING. She is biddable and enthusiastic but not as "sharp" as most labs I have seen training. (she is bit of a bimbo bless her)

Great question Bub! Having had a bad previous experience and a consequently nervy daughter, when we were planning our new dog it was a question I was very interested in. Unfortunately I lost confidence in breeders picking the right dog (so many variables- I just didnt want to make a mistake) so opted for a more predictable temperament match with an adult. Its great to hear the breeder side of it!

Could be that they didnt mean to stare at you with hatred but more embarassed,annoyed that their child would have such a reaction and were trying not to show the child their annoyance. Parents getting annoyed at a childs dog phobia wouldnt have helped the child, ie see a dog-get into trouble means dog=tears and even worse reaction next time. Sorry just seeing it from the otherside of the fence. My eldest loved dogs untill 3 Labs (whom she was used to playing with in a friends house),once put outside, lunged and attacked the glass door seperating them from her(they went insane!Vicious was not the word and I adore dogs, they nearly broke the door and I have no doubt what would have happend), she was only 2. After that she would become hysterical when she saw ANY dog even if it was a chi an oval away (woke up with dog nightmares for 4months). I can assure you that I was gritting my teeth and had a pissed off look on my face when she did it but I couldnt get angry at her and I certainly wasnt angry at the dog owner. More P'd off that I wouldnt be having a dog in my home for some time untill I could fix the phobia. She started rubbing off on her younger sister and then I was really annoyed/taking deep breaths when she saw dogs. So could possibly be that the parents were not angry at you but more irritated at their kid "bloody hell, theres a dog, just great, now here comes the screaming ready 1..2...3.." and too worked up to apologise for the kid. Not saying thats the case but could be. ps I do think I apologised most of the time but 2 screaming kids can easily distract you from doing the polite thing sorry. I have a dog phobic daughter too and I agree, the pissed off look most probably is at the situation, not you. I imagine if the kids were sopping wet they'd been up to no good already & the parents may have had a gutful.

I agree. I have had painful experiences with both big and small. As annoying as the little ones are, I do worry a lot more about the bigger ones. Some owners are so bloody stupid, I prefer to steer clear of all new dogs until I can be sure of their temperaments.

Couldn't have hit the nail more on the head. What everyone seems to be missing here is that it is the owners responsibility to make sure that the dog knows that its place on the pack heirachy is at the bottom. The dog should not be expected to just assume that position on its own without any direction. Ok, so what happens when, for whatever reason, an owner is unable to convey this to the dog? Sure, there is an ideal and owners should teach their dog who is boss, but not everyone is up to the task. When children are brought into the equation it is very difficult to change pack structure. The dynamics of a family are hugely influential- I know this from bitter experience. I have no idea why my DA dog was the way she was, but I was unable to effectively change her behaviour despite extensive help from a behaviourist. We just could not change our family dynamic and had to rely on management until that became unmanageable. If she had've been HA, I would not have tried for as long, I would not have risked my family. You can blame the owners for doing a bad job til the cows come home, the fact is that many owners may not be able to change this situation.

Oo-ee, lucky OP when they come back to check their thread! To add my 2 cents worth, I agree that the dog being a mastiff has decided that it needs to protect the OP. This may be rectified by a behaviourist, however, if it were MY family the dog would be out of my house. With children in the house the risk is too high and they (AND the unavoidable visitor children) must come first. If it has gotten to this stage then the family environment is wrong for a guarding breed and it is very hard to change that. Children, not just the adults contribute to the problem and good luck getting them to change if they are very young. Sadly, Greytmate is right, rehoming would be unethical and irresponsible.

Check the website for the new member registration days (every second weekend I think?), get there about 8.30 with your vaccination cert, $30 and you can fill out the forms when you get there. If your lead is not suitable you will be asked to purchase one of the clubs standard issue ones (cotton webbing) before you can take part. I think they look for if they are strong enough and not retractable. Each week you pay $3, each year you can renew for $10.

It's entirely up to you, but the instructors are all very approachable and happy to give advice.

I know what you mean, Sundays aren't very convenient for me either. Sadly, there isn't much else around nearby. I looked for years and you have to travel quite a bit further. With the beginners class you need to attend the 6 week block (though you can miss a week or 2), but once you graduate to 1st class (& everyone does) you can go whenever you want. Once a month, or even once a year, as long as you maintain your membership. Aside from Beginners, progression through classes is by tests/trials, not by attendance. So missing classes for your family visits wouldn't be problem. Also, the class starts at 9am and you are done by 10.

I am. Though I haven't had much opportunity to get there recently. I like it, they are lovely and friendly. The classes are pretty big, but I have only found that annoying if there is an idiot in the class (one NQR guy springs to mind!). I am in the first level- you have to do a beginners or puppy class first to get there, so that tends to weed out most people who don't take it seriously. For socialising your pup, it's great. Eta: I haven't been able to find any other decent classes in this area.

I'm jealous! Are they an imported pet or are they going to work for breed recognition. He said he was an import, he was his pet in the US and when he moved here for business he brought him along. His vet here refuses to believe it isn't a rotty x golden OMG, I just googled them- what beautiful dogs.

I would recommend taking the time to find a good rescue organisation that will support you and advise you through the process. As wonderful as it is to rescue a dog (I have only ever owned rescues), unfortunately not all dogs in the pound are suitable for all people. A GOOD rescue organisation will be just as keen to make sure to make sure of a good match. Afterall, they won't want the dog to end up in the pound again. My current dog I got through a breed rescue. I was very clear on what we needed and what we could offer. I was willing to wait for the right dog. Along came Honey and the rest is history. We adore her, she is the most wonderful dog.

Agreed.

In our neighbourhood we have a Bedlington Terrier, a Griffon, an Akita, some Shiba Inus and a Curly Coated Retriever. I work with a guy who owns a Wirehaired Vizla and a lady who owns a Bernese Mountain Dog. I have also met a couple of stunning Finnish Lapphunds and a spunky little Swedish Vallhund. (thanks Corvus and TerraNik ). I have to admit this- I met a gorgeous Flat coat retriever recently and to my shame I asked if it was a GR cross. I did wonder if it was a FC before I asked, but to be honest I had never met on before, and the owner didnt seem to dog savvy, so I thought it more likely she was a cross. Understandably they were a little miffed. Even so, I was excited that I had met one and was thrilled that it looked so much like my GR but had black fur! Really some crossbreeds could be mistaken for a purebreed. As another example, I think I saw a Tibetan Spaniel the other day, but I could be wrong and it could be a peke cross. I have seen and correctly identified a Malinois at my obedience club- I would have thought they are pretty easy to pick if you know about the breed.

I believe so. I had this happen to me and the ensuing discussion on here indicated that legally the leashed dog is under effective control whereas the rushing offlead dog is not. The discussion on ethics was not so cut and dried though!

If the owner takes them to a fenced offlead park and removes them at the first sign of another dog, then I say yes. Otherwise no. With a DA dog comes a huge responsibility to protect all other dogs from your dog. If that means no offlead walks, that's far better than risking a situation where another dog can potentially be injured or killed. I had a DA dog, she was high energy and entirely walked on lead. I felt terrible about it but as we have no fenced parks nearby, I had no alternative. We walked over an hour a day, every day, and she jogged with my OH a couple of times a week. She was very fit. I didnt use a muzzle. Perhaps I should have- it would have reduced my stressing over roaming dogs, but I really struggled with the idea. It was hard enough living with the stigma of owning a DA dog ("yes, I trained her to viciously gnash her teeth at your dog" ), I wasn't up for advertising the fact from afar. Kudos to all of you who do the best you can to manage your DA dogs. Its a bloody tough and heartbreaking gig.

Thank you for checking up on her. The lumps are still there but they have gone down a bit. No more redness. So I will put some more of it on her today & hopefully it will be fully gone soon. That's excellent!

How is the patient? Did the lumps clear up?

Me too! My OH and I made the decision to wait until we had kids before we got a dog. Even though that dog was a huge amount of trouble, she was nothing compared to the kids! I get concerned when I hear of people anthropomorphising their dogs then talking about having kids. I can only imagine the confusion of a dog that has been treated as a baby, who then has its access to it's "mummy" restricted once a baby is born. Of course everyone says they wont do this but the reality is that it does happen. Far better to begin as you will need to continue if you have kids. As I am sure all of you already do. :D

Thanks DeeLee. I will give that a go. Unsure what sort of allergy it would be. She has never had something like this. Oh sorry, I didnt mean she has had an allergy - its the resulting irritated skin from any localised licking and scratching that leads to infection. It may have started with an insect bite that she bothered, could be anything really. With Honey, it developed from her scratching at her rash. Thank you. Learning all this stuff still. First time the dogs have had that sort of thing. No worries, I hope it helps!

Thanks DeeLee. I will give that a go. Unsure what sort of allergy it would be. She has never had something like this. Oh sorry, I didnt mean she has had an allergy - its the resulting irritated skin from any localised licking and scratching that leads to infection. It may have started with an insect bite that she bothered, could be anything really. With Honey, it developed from her scratching at her rash.

Looks like a staph infection. Licking and scratching can bacteria under the skin where it flourishes. Paint some betadine on it and see if it helps. Honey had something similar after a contact allergy and it worked a treat. If it hasn't improved in a day or two, you'll need to get some ABs from the vet.

Honey looked the same allover her groin area/tummy and muzzle. Exacerbated by scratching and licking. Once the itch was taken away she stopped both and it cleared up. I hope the Malaseb does the trick and stops the itch. ;)

A couple of weeks ago Honey got a contact allergy that sounds pretty similar. She hadnt been anywhere new and it just appeared. ;) I tried a few home remedies but in the end it got worse and she needed antihistamines. Once she was on them she was immediately improved. Does he get allergies? Do you have antihistamines on hand?