poodlefan

One horse (broken leg) One cat (18 years old and going into kidney failure) No sedation, no thrashing. I was there both times as I will be for any of my dogs if they require it. Yes, its upsetting but I won't have them die isolated in the arms of a stranger. I don't care how upsetting I find it, I consider it my duty to them. I'm usually OK at times like that. Its afterwards I fall apart.

Who do I email? Honda Head Office? [email protected]

How old are your kids? A Toy Poodle wouldnt cope with my 18 month old daughters "love fatctor" and I would worry since we have lots of kids here about it getting hurt. My Miniature Poodles are great - good size, go mad for a game of ball down the park but require grooming. I (with lots of help from here) learnt myself and they are a wonderful dog that I would recommend to anyone will to do/pay for the grooming And when you load up your family sedan to go on holiday, the mini poodle fits better in the back seat with the kids than the Golden or the Lab would ;) If you treat them like real dogs, they tend to act like that too.

I must say I agree with this. It has always been difficult for me thinking along the evolution form wolves line when I look at Pugs. They are so far removed from wolves it isn't funny. I am more interested in the modern dog and the theories around them. Ditto to what you said about poodles and Whippets. Yes, prey drive is there but lots of other behaviours have been modified. I think also you need to factor in the impact of socialisation and training on domestic dogs - that also modifies behaviours. My dogs are a pack but they don't have to defend territory or feel the need to run off or kill strange dogs.

;) At least they didn't roll in it.

Ooooooh ..... the outline shape is a bit boxier than I'd prefer, but the interior looks great and perfect for canine access (including gear). What a shame they're not bringing it out here. Not enough dog population in the country, I guess. Would be 'up there' in the price range though. But then, so are many of the luxury 4WD type vehicles these days. I been wanting a Rav 4. Actually, I would prefer a Rav 6, with all the mod-cons of course. I emailed them. They said that they do respond to interest from "the market" so send them an email Erny!! A few of us have and apparently they've had others too. I have thought it would price about the same as the CRV.

My opinion is I don't care any more about this than I do about whether Australia or NZ invented the pavlova. We've got thousands of years of selection for certain traits in domestic dogs and culling of others. I think if I want to understand my dog better, I'll read the studies done on dogs. ;)

Italmum, a Miniature Poodle might be worth a go. I've had a few asthma suffers be fine with my dogs. There are other low shedders that might be worth spending an hour around too. So sorry to hear about Christian though.

Flea comb or warm water and shampoo.

Just a tip, you don't turn to face her immediately at the end of the triangle so don't do it for the stand. Face the same direction as her and offer the treat from the back of your left hand. Different body cues from you may help her to realise she's not to sit. If you keep the food forward of her nose and move it forward if she goes to sit, she should get it quickly. Cue the stand from a walk.. then from a trot. Only when she is stable in the stand should you turn to face her. Okay that is helpful, thanks! I have another question, I start obedience training beginners class next week, should I be asking them if I can be excused from sit work or suck it up? HAHAHAHAhahahaaaa ahhh. See, I'm part of the problem. Fixed! I think its fine for obedience sits. However you need to have a cued stand that you and ask for at the end of the triangle and you need to constantly reinforce the behaviour outside classes. There are plenty of dogs that are shown and do obedience.

See I would look at this totally the other way around - IME Staffords are much better at agility than formal obedience. OP wants a dog which is going to be OK meeting random strange dogs which would make a SBT unsuitable IMO. Sadly. We have an OC Stafford at our club. I've seen the width of the dog walk defeat a few and for a dog the same height as a Mini P, they're hefting 3 times the weight over each jump. It's doable but not as easily as for a lighter dog.

Just a tip, you don't turn to face her immediately at the end of the triangle so don't do it for the stand. Face the same direction as her and offer the treat from the back of your left hand. Different body cues from you may help her to realise she's not to sit. If you keep the food forward of her nose and move it forward if she goes to sit, she should get it quickly. Cue the stand from a walk.. then from a trot. Only when she is stable in the stand should you turn to face her.

Stand first. Once the behaviour is reliable, work on extending duration. Coach yourself and your parents to reward ONLY the stand. If you didnt' have to pick her up because she wouldn't move, you did better than me at my first show!

I don't really think a lab, golden or boxer could be considered small-medium. There are some smaller labs and goldens out there but they would be medium-large dogs imo. A brittany is a good suggestion though. I also don't think a border collie would be that suitable as they can't really last on 30 mins of exercise a day. I know, they are not really small - medium sized. Personally, I don't subscribe to the theory that small breeds are better with small kids. I think gentle nature is more important than size - but that's just me. I'd have a golden around my baby in a flash (depending upon the dog). They have a gentle mouth, and are intelligent and aware of their bodies. They are highly rated as being one of the best breeds for young kids. I'd sooner the nice big gentle dog any day. I don't much like little dogs, it having been my personal experience that they tend to be a little more jumpy, scratchy and even mouthy and can quickly bowl kids over by running near or under them. It is probably wrong of me to push my own preference onto the OP. She did make it quite clear that she wanted a smal to medium dog, so I apologise. I don't think anyone else automatically does either. Jumping, scratching and mouthing are all undesireable behaviours that need to be trained out. Any size dog can exhibit them. You'd have to go a long way to get past a well bred SBT as a kids dog. They are perfectly capable of obedience work but agility is a bit of an ask. If the OP wasn't interested in an ability dog, I'd have suggested one.

The only dumb thing I've done recently was continue holding my dog in his stack while the judge stood there holding his hand out to award him BOB. Took me over 10 seconds to realise. Note to self - look at the judge ya drongo! Havent fallen over in a Championship show but did during judges training - narrowly missed a star picket too.

Colic in horses is an absolute nightmare of a thing to deal with. If this girl came down with severe colic, then a vet's decision to PTS would have been a merciful release. What I can't understand is why they needed to move the horse to supposedly vet check it. Vets usually travel to horses, not the other way around. I wonder if she was colic prone or recommenced windsucking once moved. RIP Brandy - it does seem to have been an unnecessary death.

Next door neighbour has the Commodore Sportswagon for work. Not as big as the old Commodores but he says roomier than it looks. A Liberty or Outback with the seats down would be OK. You'd need a roof box for your stuff though. They drive well. Or email Honda and ask them to import the Honda Element - it even comes in a dog friendly variant but they don't plan to bring it here atm.

Lots of folk around here are opting for VW Caddy's.. and adding false floors for more carrying space. They're a good option if you only need to carry two passengers. The diesel is a popular option and folk say they drive well. In a traditional wagon shape, the Ford Territory would be an option. Many of the other wagons are too small these days. Ford will discontinue their Falcon wagon this year - another option gone.

You can always buy some cans of Hills I/D food at the vet. Its basically chicken and rice.

Darcy says hello to his friend across the Tasman!!

You'll have to heavily reward the stand, cue it and add a "stay" as well. My guess is she sits because its the first thing you taught her and has been the most heavily reinforced behaviour. Start doing it now. All treats now given in a stand position and practice stacking for a few minutes twice a day. If you put your hand over her stifle, not under her belly, you can probably hold the stand better that way. But at the end of the triangle, if she goes to sit you can lure her forward.

I'd go Plush Puppy for a Whitening Shampoo.

I see them occasionally at shows and we have one doing agility at our club. I taught one to sit on cue in 10 minutes at a show once. By the end of the third day she was offering the behaviour to anyone who greeted her. I think like most hounds, provided you tick the WIFM box, they are trainable. They're just not working or gundogs. The few I've met have had lovely temperaments.

You have to get out there and meet breeds before you'll know which one is for you. Miniature poodles tend to be a bit softer than toys. Provided you're up for professional grooming or learning to do it yourself, I'd say a Miniature Poodle would suit your situation very well, provided you're prepared to have it be inside with the family. Go for a common colour - black or brown - IMO they tend to be more bombproof than some of the rarer colours. You'll need a breeder testing for PRA. If you tell us where you are, we could have some breeder recommendations. A well bred, well trained healthy Mini can do pretty much anything you ask of it athletically. Obedience and Agility will be easier with a Mini than a Whippet - I have both! One of my Minis has his Endurance Title. Minis tend to be velco dogs, they learn quickly and can do well at agility. Being a bit larger than the Toys, they are a bit less fragile too. Toys are tougher and tend to have more drive but either can do well. If you go the Shetland Sheepdog route, look around carefully for outgoing temperaments - the breed tends towards shyness. Mini Schnauzers and Cockers would tick those boxes but again, neither are low maintenance breeds.

I cry when Pood owners bring their dog in for grooming and say " don;t make it look like a Poodle " FFT is the only way to go Shite but I'd be tempted to return the dog looking like this: Or this: