poodlefan

There are pro's and cons for desexing bitches but no benefits I can see for desexing a bitch under age 6 months. Weighing up the issues of bone density, chances of hormonal incontinence etc, I'd be doing it at about 12 -14 months old IF you can manage seasons and around 7 months otherwise.

If she'll sleep through the night in a crate in the kitchen, why does she need to sleep outside at all? Your neighbours will thank you for keeping her inside after dark, that's for sure.

In the case of my dogs.. never!! My dogs have 24 hour access to my house and to a secure yard. If you want the pup to have unsupervised time outside, wait until your fences are done. You'll find toilet training a lot easier for a start.

I think if you want a dog to sleep outside, it needs a kennel not a crate. A kennel is better insulated and provides a safe "den" for a dog. A crate would need to be covered and doesn't have insulation. This is a baby puppy. Personally I think you'd be better off getting the pup used to being outside during the day and for meals etc than just putting her out there and expecting her to cope. Dogs are social animals. Socially isolate a pup only recently separated from its littermates and I'd expect a very stressed and noisy pup too!

Same here. Or someone drove me to the dog club and I hobbled around with them. I also played retrieving games.

There are no limits on the number of Associates you can have in NSW. Until recently you couldn't do obedience or agility AT ALL in Qld with an Associate so it is an improvement on times past.

Well then I fail to grasp why you're congratulating Aidan for his responsible ownership of a dog that does't kill things in the back yard while castigating Huski for a dog that does. Where's the handler control for an unattended, unsupervised dog that kills things while secured on your property? I too have dogs that kills rodents and birds in the back yard when unsupervised by me. Does this make me an irresponsible owner?

No and I'd not personally recommend it. There's a point at which a crate does become a prison and confining the dog to a crate for 10 hours a day crosses that line IMO. This is a relatively more common practice in the USA I gather but they deal with greater extremes of weather and far more serious animal threats to dogs than we do. I still don't like it though. I'd confine a dog to a room or pen before I'd use a crate.

I say this respectfully Huski, but how about you gain some experience raising a dog with real prey drive like a working line GSD or Belgian Malinois before you become over confident in your drive containment process. My working line GSD has never killed anything. What advice did Huski give? Being a responsible dog owner and trainer Aidan, I would expect nothing less from your dogs, good work Exactly how do you train a dog that's not under handler control NOT to kill prey Abed?

A good one should surely have had its prey drive modified into herding instinct? Maybe you should consider that dogs bred to hunt do have real prey drive Abed. You know, sighthounds, scent hounds etc?? ;) Love to see some of the 'working dog' folk trying to train a sighthound.. or maybe not.

Yep. Register it as an Associate with your State Canine Control. It has to be desexed though. For non ANKC agility, I don't know what the requirements are but it doesn't have to be purebred.

Lets not forget that its possible to take a dog incubating the parvo virus to a show and have it shedding without ever developing symptoms. I

Evidence? All around me. Meet them constantly and given the shite start most get in life, they are nice dogs. Any assumption that its the DOGS that are the problem with pet shop sales has their eyes fastened firmly on the wrong end of the issue. Dogs are the victims in this trade, not the problem.

What sort of crate are you using? Plastic or metal?

Personally, basing objections to pet shop dogs based on the assumption that they are 'defective' is wrong. Most will grow up to be happy healthy dogs. The reason to object to pet shop dogs is welfare, not 'inferior product' based.. and the misinformation that is shovelled out by the retailers. Ask yourself where all pup bought, kept very poorly in apartments and dumped later on by students in the CBDs come from... Melbourne is the hot spot for this I believe.

Thanks everyone for really valuable information. I still desperately need another case study and wonder if anyone could suggest someone we could film who has had, or even better, is having trouble after purchasing from a pet store. Can be in any state. I think a hidden camera "purchase" inquiry could be interesting. Walk in, flash your credit card and test the assertion that retailers carefully vet purchasers for suitability. That's what they're claiming. Comparing something like a pet shop purchase of a Shih Tzu or similar to what a responsible breeder requires could be interesting. So many of those pups go to plainly unsuitable homes and its the dogs that suffer.

What do your course notes/instructors suggest? I assume you're doing a dog training course? Obtaining focus is an important first lesson. It teaches principles that will be applied in more advanced training. Principles to use are: * train it first with no distractions then increase the level of distraction OR duration of focus - not both at the same time. * It can be lured - put a treat near your face and most dogs will look at you. TOT is another method you can use * It cannot be "nagged". Incessant/repeated use of the same cue with no compliance taints the cue rendering it useless. If this is where you are at you need a new cue. * Applying aversives (eg. jerking the dog around) ineffectually will turn the dog right off. I think you need to go back to square one and start again. By the way, for most dogs, their name is not a cue. Use a fresh word. Sounds to me like hand signals are a long way off yet. You need to use a word and a visual cue and fade the voice cue ONLY when you've got reliable performance.

Given that you've got yourself two female pups aged less than 6 months apart Chellz, I can see why you think the OP is doing the "right thing". Posters suggesting two bitch pups close in age are not a good idea have experienced and heard of situations like this time and time again. The smart advice is never to have two dogs close together in age, size and gender. All very well and good having two pups "grow up together" but given that this can lead to two dogs who can never be together without trying to kill one another, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. The stress and heartache of trying to manage two bitches hell bent on destroying one another is not to be underestimated. That doesn't take into account that the dogs may bond far more strongly to one another than to the owner. I think the OP's "wait and see" approach is fine but if rehoming is on the cards, do it sooner rather than later. It will be far easier for humans AND pups if that happens.

I'm aware of that Megz. However there's a difference between encouraging correct position and encouraging stability. I think one needs to be worked on before the other. Has the dog been seen by a chiropractor. Fidgety dogs can sometimes be experiencing discomfort holding correct position. Worth a check I reckon. Poodlefan, he holds correct position on the ground almost everytime, but for some reason he doesn't on the table. I have tried lots of different ways to get him to stand on the table and none really with much success so far. I would of thought that with the correct positioning, correct stability with come along with it :p It might. What's his general demeanor on the table. Is he concerned. What happens if you just pop him up there and dont' ask for position?

I'm aware of that Megz. However there's a difference between encouraging correct position and encouraging stability. I think one needs to be worked on before the other. Has the dog been seen by a chiropractor. Fidgety dogs can sometimes be experiencing discomfort holding correct position. Worth a check I reckon.

As soon as I put him on the table he generally sits down as I am trying to stack him. He already has a lovely stack, I just thought maybe if I trained him on the stackers he wouldn't be able to sit down!!!! If he sits down on the stackers he will fall, therefore after a couple of times on the stackers he would learn to stand up and once you get him standing nice and still on the stackers in theory he should stand on the table no worries Wouldn't it be easier to teach him a 'stand' cue? There's more positive ways of getting a stand than making a dog fall. Teach him 'stand' on the ground then add the table! He stands very nicely on the ground already. It's not like he would fall metres to the ground as I would be standing there with him, it would be more like just slipping off the stacker. I do appreciate your comments but i feel like you are critising me and making out that it would be cruel for me to use the stackers. :p Suit yourself. Dogs aren't silly though. I fail to see how using the stackers means he won't fidget once you remove them. I'm suggesting a training method I think will be more effective. If he'll stand on the ground, what's the difference on the table.?? Do you stack him using the same method in both locations?

It is actually. Same as India, South America, Asia. Westerners come in and go Ohhh Noessss these poor dogs. Much easier if they're just shot and the people are educated about feral dogs spitting out lots of puppies. Islanders used to eat their dogs, ( some may still) Probably didnt have as much of a problem then. According to that wonderful show Meet the Natives, "only the naughty ones"!

As soon as I put him on the table he generally sits down as I am trying to stack him. He already has a lovely stack, I just thought maybe if I trained him on the stackers he wouldn't be able to sit down!!!! If he sits down on the stackers he will fall, therefore after a couple of times on the stackers he would learn to stand up and once you get him standing nice and still on the stackers in theory he should stand on the table no worries Wouldn't it be easier to teach him a 'stand' cue? There's more positive ways of getting a stand than making a dog fall. Teach him 'stand' on the ground then add the table!

If he won't stand on a table, why would he stand on stackers? If the issue is discipline, I'm not sure stackers are the answer - if the issue is getting a perfect stack then some folk advocate them. I've never used them.

I can tell you that the mark up on pups in pet shops makes the clothing mark ups look pale. 200 -300% isn't uncommon.