Staffyluv

And here's where my experiment worked. All I said is they do not have a family friendly temperament so immediately the mind spins to dangerous, lock them up ala prison style. The government has brain washed you well. Not family friendly does not equate to dangerous. Not all dogs and breeds are bouncing, slobber all over you for cuddles dogs. That is a fact. Many were bred to be that way. That does not mean they do not deserve a normal life like any other dog if they are controlled. It's true. I lock my dogs in the house now because little brat shits insist on scaling my high fences to get into my backyard. If something did happen it would be my fault, not the shit that scaled an almost 7 foot fence to get in which is set waaaaaaaaay back from the street. That or retribution will dictate they are poisoned or worst. I can't leave my little dogs outside because they will be stolen. There's no responsibility for action any more, in fact attitudes are flout the law and if there is recourse it's everyone elses fault, not the offenders. People need to wake up. If you want a dog, get one with a decent temperament. If dogs with shite temperaments were rejected more often, just like anything, money will talk. I also see too massive a push on rescue dogs to be taken despite still having problems which make them a burden, not a pet. Rescues are popping up like mushrooms, not enough of them actually retrain the dogs properly or have them decently assessed before rehoming. Worst still, rehome breeds they know nothing about. We are losing and have lost a LOT of dog skills and we are accepting it, in fact we're perpetuating it. I like this, a lot.. When I have a foster dog, I do my utmost to make sure they go to the right family - sadly, sometimes and it has happened to me once, a family will make all the right moves and say all the right words and you think you have done the right thing by allowing them to adopt. There was only one foster that went to the first application for the dog - that is because they were long term family friends, I knew them, their home and I knew that the dog would fit in perfectly (and she did). I tend to focus/foster bully breeds because that is what I know. I am very fortunate that our obedience club allows me to bring the fosters along and do obedience training with them at no extra cost because my boy goes there. I took my rescue boy along to obedience because I was having issues with him and I hadn't trained a dog in over 10 years. So much had changed since the last time I was at an obedience class with a dog - I think it is a good idea that all dogs and owners go and at least do the basics and take responsibility for the animals in their charge.

Gus is just finding this out, and it's breaking his little puppy heart! At 8, 10, even 14 weeks he was adored and loved up on the street but now people cross the road to avoid him, even if he's looking the other way, carrying a stick or totally focused on my fist full of bacon. Poor little guy just wants everyone to be his friend! I don't think I'd enter a yard with a dog in it if I didn't know them, they probably are friendly but I wouldn't want to chance being bitten or anything happening to the dog, especially not if it were my fault. We lock our gates and put Gus out when tradies come as I have a fear he will knock the ladder over or steal their things. Both valid... I know what Corvus means about there is little support for black dog syndrome but if you own one - you know what it is.. There does seem to be an aversion to black dogs. I know if I have Zig on my own, walking around the park we are mostly avoided. But put the little ranga girl in the mix and people want to say hello.. But at the dog park, it is the opposite. He seems to get the attention and pats and she is mostly ignored. It is funny watching people try and call Zig for a pat and slipping in a pat as he flies past them playing with other dogs. I also think everyone loves a puppy and once they pass that puppy stage, some people lose interest in them.

Is there another park that you could walk at? Or a sporting field? Or show ground? Just taking guesses here at what might be around where you are.. What about the local dog club? Would they give you access to their grounds when they aren't training? I know for us, our local park is the safest place to walk, as opposed to just walking around the streets near home. Maybe because there is a sports ground, kids playground and a nice pond area, people are more inclined to have their dogs on lead. It took a while to find a place I felt comfortable to walk and then you have to work out what time is best (so there are less dogs around, less chance of being off lead or loose). I do take Zig to off lead parks but he gets really excited, so he is closely monitored and we leave if he looks like he is getting overly excited. Our dog park is pretty good most of the time and it also has two sections that are fenced off separately. When I have foster dogs, we tend to go into the side with no dogs in there and they Zig and the foster get a good run with a tennis ball. But still get to see other dogs and say hi through the fence.. Again, it depends on time and also what dogs are there. You get to know those that go and the dogs that do play nicely..

Find a 'safe' place to take your dogs to walk.. I only walk my dogs at the local town park - I haven't walked dogs around our suburban streets for many years for the same reason (you just never know how many loose dogs you will run into). We do still see the occasional off lead dog down at the park but mostly, they are on lead. I also find walking really early in the morning (say from 6-6.30am to 8am) there are not as many off lead or roaming dogs around (maybe because the family are still home before they go off to work and the dogs get bored and sneak out??)

Black dog syndrome.. I find people want to pat the little ranga more than Zig if we are out walking. But at the dog park, it is always the guys who want to pat him.

That was really why I was asking - I was curious as to others perception and if they would assume it was safe because I am working from home. I usually lock the dogs in the yard or the house if new or certain clients are coming because they can be like a welcoming committee when they go to the gate. They don't bark or jump up thankfully.

My brother owned an adorable dobe that was like that - anyone could come in but they had no chance of leaving (if we were not home).. He would just stand in front of the gate and not let them out.. We came home from work/school/town quite a few times to find my brothers mates in the backyard playing with the dog. :laugh:

Thanks guys. My gates are normally locked between 5.30pm and 8.30am (earlier or later depending on when I start or finish work) and always of a weekend. Most of my clients (especially the ones with dogs) will just walk in because they know Zig now. They sometimes bring their dogs with them and the dogs play, while we chat.

Wishing you and Bruno all the best with his tumour removal - hopefully removing the tumour is the end of his MCT journey. Ollie's biggest tumour was grade 2, no clear margins, even after they went back in a second time just three days after the initial operation. He lived 6.5 years after he was diagnosed. His biggest tumour was on his rump (on the right hand side up near his tail) - his lymph glands close to this site also had active mast cells when they were biopsied. Over the years he had a few tumours removed and they were all mast cell but we didn't bother grading them. All the reading I have done on MCT over the years, when I had Ollie, one thing stood out more than anything else - dogs with skin issues or allergy issues, seem to be more prone to mast cell tumours. Boxers, Staffs and Schnauzers seem to be the breeds most prone to them. MCTs can vary in shape, size and colour. Ollie had one that felt like a hard pea under his skin and he had another that was like a clear wart on his toe and yet another was more like an ulcerated sore..

All the talk about aggressive dogs and what to do about them got me thinking about the two that I have here. Most know my boy Ziggy (dark brindle boy) and a few have seen pics of the new foster girl, Zipp (little ranga). If you saw these two peering at you from the other side of a fence, would you just come in the gate?? Zip & Zig 17.8.2013 by jamoore photos, on Flickr Today a repairman turned up to fix my printer and as he couldn't give me a time he would be coming (I did suggest he call when he got here), he just showed up. He was greeted at the gate by the two in the photo (both calm and wagging their tails, no barking or anything) - he calls me to tell he is here and I go out to bring him in. The dogs walk calmly beside us and he says, there is no way I was going to walk in your gate with those two in there.. On the other hand, a new female client turned up at about 6pm last Friday and just walked in the gate (as I hadn't locked it yet) and down to the office and was greeted by both dogs again. She bent down to have a pat and say hello (she had never met them before). Personally, I wouldn't enter a yard with a dog on the other side of the fence (no matter how big or small the dog was). But I found it odd that anyone would just walk in without knowing the dogs.. Would you enter a yard with dogs in there? Edited to fix the photo link - so you can see the dogs that the people were confronted with.

I only just saw this - I tend to avoid rainbow bridge a bit since losing Ollie dog.. I am so very sorry for your losses - losing two so close together must have been so hard.. Rest in peace Karma and Stitch.

Don't feel bad - any dog that bites a human (unprovoked) should be reported.

Sadly there will always be people who can't see the forest for the trees and will always blame breed.. Just wanted to say congrats on Team Dog.

I have had quite a few 'shelter' dogs here and not one has been aggressive in any way. No food or toy aggression or possessiveness was displayed by any of them. My own boy is a testament to this - he is a pound mutt (bull breed of unknown origin) and he shares his food, bones, toys, bed and me with every foster that walks in our front door and not once, ever has he ever shown any sign of aggression.. My lad was attacked at obedience training yesterday by a well bred, papered GSD - her owner comments about her 'wonderful' breeding. My boy, didn't react - he simply run to me and I blocked the GSD from getting near him and her owner and a couple of other caught her, leashed her and she left. By some of the comments here, being a bull breed of unknown origin, he really should attack everything that walks into our house and should have given the GSD a run for her money. But he didn't and I don't believe he ever would. He has an amazing temperament and because of him, I can continue to foster bull breeds of unknown origin and find them wonderful homes - like the ones that have already been through my home. Shelter dogs are not broken, they are just discarded by a wasteful society of selfish people who have no idea how to manage a dog that they should never have acquired in the first place.. Every dog deserves a home - but not every home deserves a dog.

Edited because I really can't be bothered anymore.

He didn't do that last week - it was like he was possessed with some demon dog that wouldn't do anything that was asked of him.. Maybe he was having a bad week - but he really did make up for it this week..

True but the biggest difference between a shitzypoo and a the noted bull type dogs that are showing up as aggressive is the damage factor.. A bully type will do far more damage than a shitzypoo type in an attack situation. Hence the reason for the hugely popular news items that all bull breed attacks are compared to the story on the working breed dog that attacked the child and damaged her face - this story hardly made a splash in the media to other bull breed attacks. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that HA aggressive dogs have any place in society but the media is very one sided on the reporting of these things. I don't recall meeting a nastly oodle either - the ones I have met are just crazy dogs (usually in the fun way).

It might make a difference if you bred for lowered reactivity, higher bite thresholds and higher bite inhibiton and you ruthlessly culled any sign of HA. However, "culling" is a dirty word to animal rights types, even if it doesn't mean the death of any dog. It conjurs up images of seal pup hunts and that is part of the problem. In the "old days" a pet dog that displayed any sign of aggression off its property to people in the community got a bullet or worse. Nowadays that also is a dreadful suggestion to a lot of people. They find excuses for the aggression (seen plenty of that here) and line the pockets of behaviourists, most of whom know damn well that raising thresholds to aggression doesn't cure it. Fact is, we've got ignorant dog owners buying dogs from ignorant dog breeders and failing to raise them and contain them as they should. The only cure for ignorance is education. Penalties tend to educate one owner at a time - and we need to do better than that. This is so true.. If only there was a way to stop those with no idea breeding.

And today, he was perfect. Every sit, stay, drop, recall and heel was on the money.. I guess he just didn't feel like it last week?? He was even working off lead with sit stays and drop stays and recall from about 10m away. Not once did he break and run away. He stopped in front of me at recall every time. I love him to bits but he does my head in sometimes

Glad I'm not alone! We go at our own pace, but I get the feeling we're miles behind sometimes! You're not.. Even the instructor last week asked me what I had done to Zig.. It was like he had forgotten everything from basic heeling to staying and even recall (running past me)..

In an ideal world, only ethical registered breeders who knew what they were doing would breed, temperament and health tested dogs to improve their chosen breed.. We can all hope for Utopia but it is never going to happen.. The powers that be don't police/enforce most of the laws surrounding dogs now. They introduce more stupid laws as a knee jerk reaction to every dog attack there is and then Joe Public comes out jumping up and down demanding the death of all the bull breed crosses/pigging dogs/pit bulls/sbt etc etc.. Perhaps if they could police the laws they already have - registration of ALL dogs in a principality would be a good start..

I probably should have elaborated more on my post - I totally understand why Steve from K9 Pro doesn't do videos (I just wish he did) :) There would be all sorts of dills out there trying to implement the one training method on all dogs - I do realise this doesn't work. I have tried many things with my boy and found that basic obedience seems to work best for us most of the time.

I wish Steve would make videos of his training.. Steph M, I agree with you - I often feel like a total loser as far as training is concerned. Zig has been a challenge from day one. We take leaps and bounds forward and then just recently, we have taken a huge leap backwards. I am not sure what I have done but I need to work it out quickly. I don't blame Zig for his lack of concentration when we train or his lack of interest sometimes - I know it is me and my delivery of the training that we do..

The ball doesn't get thrown as a reward, he gets to catch it (I throw it up in the air, just in front of him - I do the same with treats. He seems to prefer that delivery, than just getting a treat handed to him).. Once he ran past to the fence line where other dogs where in the run behind us. He runs past, but then runs back and wants me to chase him.. I turn and walk away and say 'lets go'.. He can't stand the thought of me leaving without him, so he will come after me so I can put his lead on if I do this. I think you are right and reinforcing the sit in front might be the thing to work on - I was just a bit stunned (as was our instructor - he actually asked me what have I done to Zig because he had been so good)..