poodlefan

Do you mean the Polish Lowland Sheep Dog (Polski Owczarek Nizinny)? If so, you're talking about a medium sized herding dog, not a livestock guardian. Very different temperament. Thanks Poodlefan for the clarification. The PON is a much smaller dog I understand? Yes. I have met one - someone local imported several. Very nice dog it seems if you can cope with the hair. They are popular for dog sports O/S There are two breeders listed for them in the breed pages here. One is in Tassie!

Do you mean the Polish Lowland Sheep Dog (Polski Owczarek Nizinny)? If so, you're talking about a medium sized herding dog, not a livestock guardian. Very different temperament. To the OP - I understand the lure of the unique and the rare. From what I can gather, this is a dog that would have to be locked up every time you had visitors come to your house, that would represent a serious physical threat to visitors without notice, that could never be boarded and couldn't be walked or exercised offlead in public places. New people staying in your home and relatives visiting would be at some physical risk. No one other than you could safely care for it. I wonder if you are "in love" with the idea of the ultimate protector but how different the reality of owning one might be. That's a challenging dog to own and I would worry about what sort of life you could give a dog like that in anything other than a home on a large country property - it sounds totally unsuitable for the 'burbs. Imagine the police having to shoot your dog to get past it if you had an accident and needed medical attention. Imagine a friend dropping by while you were out and your dog threatening them. I imagine your visitors would dry up pretty quickly! Owning a dog like that in an unsuitable environment sounds akin to owning a big cat and I for one am not sorry we don't allow that in this country. Those 'pets' kill quite a few people every year.

x 2 I can live without it.

I was joking RSG.

Just out of interest, how would this be scored usually? I've never really thought about it The time I can remember doing it, the judge started me again and asked for the correct cue. I don't think I got a deduction which seems fair enough because the dog hadn't stuffed up. I'll ask my judge friend though. It can be a tad challenging sometimes to hear the judge's cues on a windy day.

After I said Corgi's suck its probably just as well for my safety. We'll do it one day Aziah!!

So if the judge days down your dog, and I stand him by mistake (it does happen), how does the judge score that - the dog hasn't failed to respond as cued. Or if I call the dog's name constantly and (which I could do using other language cues) how is that scored. Using the fruit example, the dog could be cued as Teddycarrot, Teddyapple, Teddyorgange and the judge wouldn't be any the wiser.

Totally agree with this. My beagle was aquired because my cocker was lonely while I was at work. Jodie is happiest when with other people or dogs. She is extremely unhappy and destructive when left alone. Folk need to remember their original function - pack hunting. This is a dog developed to live harmoniously with other dogs and to perform a job. Not an animal to isolate in a back yard and fail to exercise without consquences.

I can see it being a big deal if you miscue the dog because you misunderstood what the judge said or the dog did something other than you asked for. As I said, if the dog performs one behaviour when you cued another or you cued one behaviour when the judge asked for another, scoring would be a challenge.

I voted no. We're talking about a handful of cue words here - not asking everyone to be fluent in English. Schutzhund folk often train their dogs using German cue words. You could train your dog to cue off names of fruit if you wanted to - we're not talking all that many words. This isn't an issue about multi-culturalism IMO but ensuring that everyone understands both what's required by the judge and what's being said to the dog. If English manages to function as the international language of aviation, I can't see why it can't be used as the agreed language for ANKC obedience. If a dog is verbally cued to drop in another language and stands instead - how does an English speaking judge score that?

I don't own a Beagle myself so these are just observations Pros They are generally very affable - get on well with dogs and people - many seem very affectionate. Short easy care coat Generally pretty healthy dogs Manageable size for most folk Cons As scent hounds, they can be easily distracted by scents - this makes them unsuitable for offlead walking unless you have done a hell of a lot of training and even then, not near roads. A lot of Beagles lose their lives to cars because owners don't follow that advice - if they get on a scent they will go for km's. They can be challenging to train - not impossible but as easy as some breeds. People get frustrated with them because they're not floppy eared Border Collies - they will plant their noses on the ground and follow scent because that's what they were bred to do. If that would frustrate you, don't get one. Roaming - 4 out of 4 pet Beagle owners I know locally have had their dogs either jump the fence or get away walking and disappear. In two of those cases, the results were fatal for the dog - hit by car. Here's a breed evaluation you might like to breed. However I don't think we have the same issues with temperament that they see in the USA.

I don't know any of the private trainers here but until you get a chance to get one in, I recommend you walk each dog alone.

Poo. I was going to enter

You have more faith in the vast majority of vets than I do Most would be quite happy to see 5kg more on any of my "little" 15-17kg Staffords + 1 +2 +3 I do "fitness checks" on aspirant agility dogs at my dog club. For weight assessment I use Christine Zink's method (linked earlier in this thread) and until we started giving out information about weight requirements, would have evaluated 1 in 10 dogs as "ideal' and failed about 30-40% for being too overweight (that's a polite euphemism for "fat as a pig"). If I had $10 for every time an indignant handler said "my vet says my dog's weight is fine" I could probably have bought the club a new set of agility equipment by now. My response has always been "perhaps its weight is fine for sitting in the back yard and going on strolls but now you are asking your dog to become an ATHLETE" I had one very indignant handler give that standard response and say some very uncomplimentary things about me around the club but they returned for reaassessment 2 months later with very slimmed down dogs. Opening comment "my vet can't stop complimenting my the condition of my dogs now"

No but I'm not sure I'd want to use in on a Sheltie Cowanbree - its Ivermectin based.

I'd probably go for an equine product like Filtabac Chewie. Check out your local rural supply or saddlery.

Why the hell can't the dog be locked away from the mailbox

Raineth: The dogs skip is talking about look more like Bearded Collies.

MadWoofter: I think you nailed it with that statement MW - I couldn't agree more.

I'll pass that along, just a quick question though, why is it a choke hazard? I thought the point of these collars is that they don't actually fully choke because even when they are fully tightened they are still as loose as a regular collar? or is it that it might get caught on something? Just curious 1. The chain can catch easily on things - including Golden Retriever puppy jaws - folk here cant tell tales of one dog strangling another or a dog having its jaw broken by another dog's collar when they've played. Chain or cloth, the extra loop can be dangerous. 2. If fitted correctly, a martingale is tight when pulled by that chain - tight to the point where a dog cannot shake its head out of one or back out if caught. A lot of folk leave their dogs naked (no collar) when unattended or in the back yard. I'm one of them and I'd highly recommend it for anyone who has multiple dogs in particular.

Ruffwear life jackets rock! When you have a poodle that swims like a brick they are great for your blood pressure.

I lubs a happy ending. :D Lovely shots.. very handsome dog. But tell Andrew not to leave a martingale collar on him.. its a choke hazard.

I have to fatten Howie up to show him. :D He would usually have three visble vertebrae and my vet says that's about right for a sighthound. I love my vet.

Hmm ok.. Well I have to agree and say she does look quite similar to that I've never seen an amstaff in this kind of shape before.. I used to own an APBT and he was a very solid dog up until the day I lost him at 14 years old, so to me, the dog looks underweight :D So, are you all suggesting she is fine the way she is and not try and put weight on her? I will upload more photos after work. Some more shots will be good! Some breeds seem to be routinely kept fat. I suspect its because their owners confuse sheer bulk with muscle or have never seen a lean dog of that breed. I'm not going to name breeds but the condition some are shown are a long way from "hard working condition" A lot of bull breeds seem to be kept by their owners with extra condition on - that's what prompted my comment about "kegs". Dogs aren't supposed to look like beef cattle. :rolleyes: I can tell you this much - keeping your dog lean will stave off arthritis and help protect against injuries like cruciate ligament rupture. As the article I posted says, the best method of judging what sort of condition your dog is is to get your hands on the dog.

Keep safe. Hope your home stays above water.