poodlefan

Rather than vent here about it, why not confront the issue head on. Next time your problem dog approaches, gather yourself up and yell in your best parade ground voice: I've told you my dog is dog aggressive - what part of "aggressive" don't you understand!! Keep your bloody dog away from mine or I'll take the muzzle off.

Staycalm: I agree. However most of the posters know better than to blame an bored adolescent pup for finding its own amusement. When your sister looks to her management of the dog for the problem, she'll no doubt find the answers as well. The solutions have been given. Provide the dog with a safe fenced run, give it some stimulating toys, train it and exercise it. Your sister may not want to give the dog away but from what you've said, her OH might take the decision out of her hands. All I can say is they'd better do something before the dog graduates to roaming or stock chasing. If they're calling the dog and then punishing it for acts that occured some time before then I'd say they've got the recall they trained.

In summer? I'd say all it would do is dry the dog.

I'd be more worried about hyperthermia. Hot ute, no ventilation in the back and wet dog.. not a good combination. Water holds heat and slows heat loss.. a wet dog is at risk of overheating as much if not more than a dry one. There's a reason they scrape excess water off racehorses after hosing them down. Dogs deserve better treatment than transport in wheeled suitcases. No reason I can see why the cover can't be removed and the dog tethered safely in the tray.

I think if your sister and her OH were to regard the pup as "bored, untrained and understimulated" they might find the solution to the problem. If they aren't prepared to step up with a training, exercise and stimulation program, then I'd say it would be best to rehome the dog. With a bit of effort, they'd probably get a lovely pet. Without it.. well they know what they get for that already.

I used the word "punishment" quite deliberately by the way. "correction" implies the dog knows the appropriate behaviour.

Picture a dog physically corrected for showing any interest in a child. Imagine the impact of a severe correction on a prong collar for sniffing clothing. Would the dog understand the lesson? My guess is not. Now picture that dog among children in a family home. The stress for the dog if the child showed any interest in it would be profound.. anticipating a severe correction for attention it could not avoid. Now lets add a tendency to defensive aggression and what do we have? Do the math people. Seriously, giving advice to reef the hell out of a dog on a prong collar? Is that the best some can do? Didn't we get the bigger brains for a reason? How about a little active management and teaching both dog and child about appropriate interaction? I fail to see how dogs or children learn anything if the dog has been taught that any interest meets with punishment. How does a growing child develop any sort of relationship with an animal that's been taught to avoid or be punished?

God forbid a dog demonstrated natrual canine behaviour in a designated dog offlead area. What a crock. I feel for Tiger's owner.

Ever had him chiropracted?

It might be due to his construction. If he's more angled in the rear than the front, he'll load his rear end. Loading his front end might develop into soundness issues if he's not built to take it. The first place I'd be headed with an unevenly muscled dog would be a good canine chiropractor - it could be sign of injury or unsoundness. PME - shifting the weight of the dog pack off the dog's shoulders would see all the weight borne by the spine alone. A good backpack will be designed to load the shoulders. The challenge for designers of these packs is to do that without restricting the dog's movement.

I would recommend Ruffwear float jackets. If you want to swim your dog in one, they are cut nice and high to free the shoulder for swimming. I'm not a fan of loading weight on a dog for muscle building. They don't have a proper shoulder like a horse to bear the weight and frankly plenty of road work is all you need.

If you're overfaced by the idea of feeding raw then I'd recommend a diet of raw meaty bones (eg. chicken wings) and kibble fed alternately. Feed a decent quality kibble with rmbs and you can't go too far wrong. A poor home made diet will not be better than kibble. A lot of pups get some quite inappropriate diets due to lack of research.

My 13 year old Toy Poodle Lily developed it two months ago. She is receiving Stilboestrol and when the time came to cut it back to weekly, she leaked at the 4 day mark. I have her on it twice a week. Apparently some dogs can store estrogen and only need a top up of hormone every 18 months or so. I'd say Lily isn't one of them. ETA: Lily was dry within 3 days of starting the hrt.

My thoughts also. One thing the Canberra fires taught me - leave and leave EARLY!

I dont' think any state with BSL can be considered "dog friendly".

Dr Zink also said that a very fat dog has a lower desire for exercise. Some folk opt for feeding over walking.

I feel your pain. 57kg Golden = Christine Zink made an interesting observation on vets and telling clients their dogs are too fat. She said you balance the risk of never seeing the dog again against giving the advice. A lot of people won't bring a dog in if they think they're going to get a "lecture".

Abcess?

So sorry to hear about Zues Vickie.

Ah, thought of another well known one. The Maltese Terrier. Right up there with Shit Zoos.

My old dogs sleep on my bed!! I added a set of steps to make it easier for them to get on and off but the only dog that uses them is the 2 year old!!

Thats very true never really thought about that :\ i feel stupid haha They do "look" strong.. but they're hard to have in your hand and I've seen a few break at the clip. I'd recommend them for a person who has to tie a dog up (say at dog training) when the dog chews through leads but that's about it. Cotton or leather is always better to handle - which no doubt is why reins on horses are rarely made of anything else.

Yes, but they aren't designed to jerk dogs around on them and a dog that hits the end of a lead wearing one stands a very real chance of causing itself spinal damage. Chain leads are usually quite cheaply manufactured and only as strong as the metal links that make them up. A really good quality leather lead with good fittings is usually better. You don't see police or security dogs worked on chain leads.. its leather all the way.

Please read the whole thread Dogperson. Head halti's are not a good option for a dog that lunges and chain leads are not particularly helpful for controlling a lunging dog. These topics are discussed in the thread.

x 2 They are a lot of dog.