poodlefan

That explains the detail.. You're not responsible for the way other members of your family treat dogs.. Hell, my brother thinks my dogs are "spoiled" because I allow them in the house. My parents don't even LIKE dogs.

I'll say. For once I agree with GayleK Its a dog food. Feed it or not - your decision. If your dogs like and do well on it fine. If you want more provenance than the company is willing to provide, feed something else.

Enrol him in obedience training, ask in the Golden Retriever thread about feeding and grooming and take it from there. Personally I'd take most of what you've been told about him with a grain of salt - that level of detail being passed from one indifferent dog owner to the other seems highly unlikely IMO Deal with the dog in front of you. Make no assumptions about his temperament based on his breed. I'd not be making any about how he's been treated either.

Bemboka has a triple - I'm going there.

Where are you intending to stop? The Holidays With Dogs book would be a good investment but pet friendly accommodation does book out very early for the Christmas period.

As long as you're happy to own your paranoia and can afford it, who cares really? No harm done to anything but your wallet. true true... (umm.. i kinda don't pay attention on how much i spend on the dogs... it makes life a lot easier ) Yes, its kind of a "stick fingers in your ears and go lalala" thing isn't it. I don't want to know what I spend on my dogs either.

As long as you're happy to own your paranoia and can afford it, who cares really? No harm done to anything but your wallet.

There really are some sick b@stards in this world. I love the way the papers make the 15 year old horse out to be geriatric.. its hardly on death's door for a lot of horses.

Nope. I think its overkill. Unless the dogs have some symptoms of illness I think you're wasting your money. I realise that Charlie has some special needs but they shouldn't require a vet check if you're happy with him. Do you trust your boyfriend to take them to the vet if they are unwell? If you don't, find a reliable boarding kennel and leave them there.

What does your mother think of the idea? If she's like most registered breeders I know, my guess is she'd be horrified. Ask yourself if the world needs Pomeranians that don't fit the breed standard. No reason why a family dog can't be as beautiful as a show dog - most show dogs I know are family dogs during the week anyway. My guess is your girl will be in season before Christmas. Personally I'd allow her that one season IF you can safely manage a bitch in season then desex her.

Mrs RB: Did they add a check chain to the advice? Why do so many folk ascribe every damn behaviour to the dog trying to put one over on the handler? Dogs that are overwhelmed by situations can shut down. I have a dog like this. I also had one of the "just give her to me and I'll sort it" type of instructors early on. So he dragged my dog and I didn't know better then or I'd have stopped it. She never budged.. never. That dog lacked confidence. By building her confidence in ME, we got past it. I made sure that all her experiences were positive, that my responses to her behaviour were never worse than neutral and I worked hard at making her comfortable. And it worked.

The number of purely positive (no aversives) trainers and handlers on this forum are few and far between. If that's how they choose to train THEIR dogs, so be it. I train in the real world and I train people who want a well behaved dog and realistically will visit my club for no more than 8-16 weeks with a young dog. Talk about "shaping" and "targetting" makes most glaze over. I suppose I worry about Cesar's methods because like it or lump it, while I regard much of what I see on his show as "lion taming" (I used that expression earlier in the thread), Jo or Joanne Average regards what they see as ordinary everyday dog training despite the qualifiers Cesar gives. So if Fido bares his teeth and growls at an approaching dog while out walking - what do you think fans of the show will do do correct this behaviour? Cesar controlled everything in the encounters. In the real world stringing up your dog for an aggression display, in addition to potentially escalating the behaviour, makes your dog a target if the other dog is offlead. I've seen a toy poodle owner hold her dog off the ground by its collar while other dogs lunged at it (to prevent it biting )- would it suprise anyone to learn that that dog displays symptoms of discomfort and aggresses when it SEES other dogs now? Physical confrontations with severely aggressive dogs ARE in the realm of wild animal handling as far as I'm concerned. I've done what was necessary in an emergency but I don't kid myself it resolved the dog's behaviour. My perspective is one of a pet dog trainer that teaches others how to handle dogs, not one of professional dog trainer who deals with dogs with severe behavioural issues for a living. My job is to train what I know and refer dogs beyond my capacity to professionals. If that makes the "working dog" folk wish to sneer at me then so be it. The facts are that, as I said earlier, an emphasis on boundaries, leadership and exercise for dogs as promoted by Cesar are invaluable messages to get out the the public. The lion taming, might make for good TV but it's neither an accurate nor realistic portrayal of the time and effort it takes to resolve such issues as Cosmolo has said. It sets owners of such dogs up for unrealistic expectations and frankly IMO, for failure. For what its worth, its not just suburban volunteer dog trainers that have issues with how Cesar handles aggression. If Ian Dunbar, Patricial McConnell and others of their ilk raise the same concerns expressed by some in this thread then perhaps those who sneer at the "cuddly food stuffers" might like to get out of their comfort zone and read what's written by folk who see a lot of pet dogs with issues. As I've said what folk choose to do or not do with their working dogs is out of my realm of experience. But please don't suggest that everything done by working dog trainers is appropriate or suitable for your average pet dog handler because it simply isn't. If Fido severely bites his owner in the real world, Fido's getting the green dream. Those who work with pets focus on preventing that from happening, not correcting it after the event ESPECIALLY once the owner's confidence has been irrevocably shattered. In the other thread I drew folk's attention to the body language of Shadow's owners as Cesar handled their dog. First rule of dog training in my world is don't demonstrate methods that the handler isn't capable of replicating. Park your ego and teach the person how to handle their dog. What you can do with it doesn't matter a damn after they go home.

So she was actually biting through skin? Not good

I'll ask the same question - how many puppies ended up with holes? What's been described can be standard play behaviour for some pups - especially Staffords

That's what Jed said. No, It wasn't read It again Where does Jed say it was about glory for anyone? All she says is it wasn't about glory for the EDBA.

That's what Jed said.

If they're strong enough to puncture human skin, they're strong enough to puncture one another. Picking a snapping pup out of a scuffle is a recipe for a bite - and again not necessarily enough to label a dog 'aggressive'. ETA: My youngest poodle and his sister used to get in scuffles so vocal you'd swear they were killing one another. Never a mark on either of them.

To me it's horrifying that a puppy preschool trainer allowed it to happen. Puppies get in scuffles involving snapping and screaming all the time. If neither pup ended up with holes, I'd be loathe to label either as "aggressive" so young. Under what circumstances did the SWF's owner get bitten?

If the choice is strictly one between that sort of 'treatment' and PTS then I'm on Cesars side. However there's more than one road to desensitising an aggressive dog and some of them don't involve provoking the dog to bite.

Cas: After my old cat went to the bridge, I would see him out of the corner of my eye and 'felt' him from time to time for months. That certainly seemed real to me. I don't think separating Jake's ashes is a bad thing - we all grieve and remember in different ways. He was a lucky dog to be so loved.

Neither does my Whippet. He just roo roos with excitement and chases the poodles.

Wrong age Bindi Boo. She may simply be a timid dog.. plenty around. OP will need to build her confidence. When the OP said that the pup was 16 weeks, it reminded me of this information http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=89 First fear period might not have finished I suppose.

It could be that the presence of the other dogs stimulates her past her timidity.

I am so very sorry to read of Jake's passing. He was clearly a very special dog. RIP Jake. Taken far too soon.

I think that poodles love most games - they seem to remain playful for life What breed is your pup?