poodlefan

Any true breed fan is not blind to the more challenging characteristics of their dog of choice. Cesar, Dianne Jessup - no "breed blindness" there. Good on them. Every breed needs supporters like that.

If I had a responsive dog that didnt' pull, I wouldn't use either.

More like trainability and.. well... obedience!

You're comparing apples with oranges there. Gundog folk will tell you that the flashy retriever that does the fast direct line leaps into water (thus gaining the points) to retrieve the bird would either impale itself on a submerged branch or not last the morning on a "real" shoot. The only true test of working ability is working. We've developed dog sports to amuse ourselves, keep our dogs stimulated and keep some instincts alive. Nothing more.

I say no. Unless the dog is in ANKC Group 5 or earns its living, I'd not use the term. I don't know any obedience person who'd say their obedience dog was a working dog in the sense of the term that you are using it. However, when the dogs are doing their thing, they can be described as working. Eg. Gee Fido worked well today.

Are you asking the dog to perform a set task or series of tasks in a certain manner? Does it require training? Why is a dog finding drugs in airport luggage or a dog tracking a lost kiddy's scent "working" when a dog a performing seekback or scent discriminating not. I dont' think obedience is "real work" but there is no doubt in my mind that dogs performing the higher levels of obedience are "working". It's challenging and sometimes quite stressful for them. The difference in my mind is that in dog sports there are no real consequences for failure and the "work" occurs for less time and less frequency.

Irritated bowel would be my (lay person) guess. Mucus covered poo is one symptom. Start keeping a food diary and note what he eats and when this happens. My guess is that it may be related to a particular food.

Pumpkin is full of fibre and certainly helps. You can feed it baked, mashed or pulped and most dogs like it. :rolleyes:

Lack of muscle tone in older dogs also seems to affect the bowel but lower levels of activity by the oldies certainly don't stimulate it as much. You need to have movement to get bowel movement it seems. :rolleyes: I find my older boy needs a daily walk to avoid getting constipated if he has chicken wings. If I know he's going to miss out on that walk (eg. a long car trip or being mostly crated all day at a trial) I'll feed a softer meal.

Clearly when her flight option is removed, she is prepared to offer up a fight. It would pay to keep that in mind. You may also wish to discuss sedation with a behaviourist for essential veterinary treatment. Once again, you need to talk to a veterinary behaviourist about that.

I think the APBT is in a worse state - they were banned from import by the Commonwealth government before BSL was introduced by the States. You also have individual councils imposing their own restrictions. No breed in Australia has faced that level of restriction before.

I have a special "jackpot" for Darcy - the ball. If he does something really good, its end of exercise and a quick play. For treats, if the duration of giving/eating them is longer for jackpot, I wouldn't have thought it mattered much whether they got a handful or one after another although one after another extends the amount of time YOU are involved in the treating.

Definitely a behaviourist and in this case I would recommend a veterinary one because eventually any desensitisation will need to invovle a vet surgery/vets. Do you take her to the vet with your other dogs? You need professional input but I do find that visits to the vet where nothing is done to the dog and a treat is given do help to make it less stressful to be there. This is way beyond such a simple solution though.

Giving the knowledge (or apparent lack of it) some vets have of dog behaviour, this is potentially a backward move. Agree that cessation of singling out breeds for banning is a good thing but you wonder how this new legislation will prove in practice.

My first post in this thread: How dreadfully harsh of me to point out that obeying the law (as owners of another breed have been required to for decades) would not be that restrictive. And please point out where I have been negative about the breed. Sometimes you need to recognise that people who disagree with you aren't necessarily against you. ETA: I speculated at the time of Sydkings posts that that he/she might have been a journalist on a fishing expedition. I still wonder about that.

Yes, I am disturbed by law breaking - I work for a law enforcment agency. To answer your question, I'd be as devastated by the ban as all APBT supporters have been. However, I'd be on the offensive long before any ban became legislation and I'd not be insulting the lawmakers and the media, screaming discrimination (which it isn't if you know a thing about law), pointing out that other breeds were worse or showing pictures of poodles and whippets kissing babies when hard facts, objective lobbying and cool heads are called for. Those methods were how the bans were largely fought by APBT supporters. And you wonder how it happened. Look, if they even suggest BSL here, I'll be chaining myself to the front of the Legislative Assembly with the APBT owners because such laws are just plain stupid and ineffective. But I know for a fact that the most influential animal lobby groups here in the ACT don't support them. How do I know that - I asked them and I stay in touch. :cool: Would I abide the ban. Yes. But gee I'd be doing everything in my power to see it overturned. I would not be requrired to "get rid of" my existing dogs. No APBT owner has been either.

Couldn't agree more. However, undoing the ban is not assisted by the kinds of behaviour encouraged in this thread. All irresponsible dog owner behaviour has the potential to create issues for the rest of us. If you think differently, you are sadly mistaken.

I couldn't give a toss about the media. Most of them wouldn't know a pitbull from a poodle anyway. I do care about intentional law breaking when it rebounds on responsible dog owners. And believe me, every negative media article has flow on effects for dogs. There is a place in Australia where it is completely legal to own an APBT. If you give a damn about your breed why not move here, bring them out of hiding and explode the stereotype whilst obeying the law. Two hours south of Sydking's current residence he woudn't be facing any of these issues unless he raised a dangerous dog. The best advice I can give is to move to the ACT. Or does that require a little more commitment than most of the die hard APBT fans encouraging unlawful behaviour are prepared to give?

I don't think Schutzhund trainers will find anything to cheer about in that legislation.

NSP: God forbid those within the breed actually stood up and took some responsiblity for the situation the dog finds itself in.

Praise is a reward. Tell him he's being good (quietly and not in wildly stimulating way) at random intervals. :D Oh great, thank you, will keep doing that then Although perhaps I wasn't doing it quietly...I'll do it calmer next time The reason I suggest you do it in a soothing tone is because you don't want to stimulate them to break what they're doing.

I blame irresponsible breeders who let irresponsible owners get their hands on the breed and the types of owners who want the breed for its tough image and fail to properly train and socialise them. The media simply make the most of them.

Praise is a reward. Tell him he's being good (quietly and not in wildly stimulating way) at random intervals. :D

I would use intermittant rewards to build duration. Reward him on the matt at random intervals, gradually spacing out the intervals.

We weren't sure if his Parvo level would be really high (seeing he has already had it) or really low (hence why he caught it in the first place). Worried about the Distemper results - can you just vaccinate for that or do I have to do a C3 again? Now the idea is that his low immunity may be inherited. Tempted to do him parents now and see what they come back with. As far as I know it will have to be C3. :D