poodlefan

Oh, one more thing. Under no circumstances should a resource guarding dog be put in a situation where there are children and food. It's a bite incident waiting to happen. The easiest way to manage (not fix) the issue is to feed him in a crate and put him in one whenever you have children with food in the house.

Don't allow him to run up to strangers. He is greeted sitting calmly by your side or not at all.

This is resource guarding. I suggest you get a trainer/behaviourist in to give you some expert advice. In the meantime, if you want somethign off him, offer him something better - like a treat. He can be taught to "give" items. Initially, keep him on lead so he can't get close enough to jump. The lead goes on when visitors arrive and doesn't come off until he's sitting calmly to be greeted. Don't let people rev him up - they must ignore him until he's calm. Keep him onlead and away from people at the beach until you've trained him to reliably come when called and stay close to you when you ask him to. Work on teaching him to sit for pats.. no bum on ground, no pats. He's getting inconsistent messages. It's not OK to pee on the floor in the bathroom but it is OK to pee on newspaper on the floor during the day but not if there's no newspaper. You need to make it more simple.. eliminate outside or eliminate on newspaper. If you want him to toilet outside you have to get him out there and give him access 24/7. If you want him to toilet on newspaper then he needs access to that 24/7 My guess is that he has no idea what you expect of him. Training your dog doesnt' stop with puppy preschool. You've got an intelligent strong dog that can be a challenge as an adolescent - my advice is to find a decent dog training club and keep him in training until he's at least 18 months old. He needs a job and mental stimulation. You will get a lot of help on bread and butter issues like these. For the resource guarding I'd suggest professional help. I'd also suggest you buy a crate big enough for him to sleep comfortably in as a adult and use it. Crating him when visitors arrive would be one very effective way of eliminating unwanted behaviour from him and unwanted encouragement of that behaviour from your guests ( and that will happen) Thanks

Is skim milk ok to give them? Are they lactose intolerant to it though? I could give her that watered down perhaps too. None of my dogs is lactose intolerant but you might try watered down lactose free milk (the human stuff is way cheaper than the pet milk). I think someone's already suggested that.

When I need my oldest boy to drink on long trips, I offer him skim milk - he loves it. My guess though is that your girl is getting enough water.

Yes i honestly do. I have felt this for months and months now. She has two one is cermaic and one is plastic. Is your feeling based on veterinary advice or just your perception of what she should be drinking? She is a tiny dog getting significant water in her food. I rarely see my smallest dog drink but she's not dehydrated. I'd suggest you get rid of the plastic bowl and replace with a stainless steel or food grade ceramic one. If the ceramic one you have is not food grade, I'd replace it too.

Why do you think your dog needs to drink more? What is her drinking bowl made out of.

I'm wondering what she did to make him conclude she was hyperactive? Did she jump all over him or something?

Darcy has Vic holidays.. we'll be back in Sale this October.

good excuse! Get a cyclist to do the enduro and handle the obedience yourself.. that's what I did. I wanted Darcy to survive it. I'd have run him over.

Suck it up Spotty and take the plunge.. if a Mini P can do an ET, it should be a cake walk for a Dally. Just make sure you practice at the right pace and a Dal should be able to wander along OK. Here's Darcy having a nice outing.. for 20km.

No but in the right home they do just fine. Not a good choice for someone likely to struggle with enforcing very clear boundaries on an ongoing basis.

I remember at our dog club some years ago we had an Mal owner who was quiet and reserved as this woman seems to be. Her dog (a stunning red) paid no attention to her whatsoever. She loved it to bits but was reduced to tears in every class I saw her. She simply couldn't control her dog. You'd not wish that on anyone.

TonyMC: Oh for pity's sake.. what's so bloody dreadful about thinking some puppies are cute. It doesn't automatically lead to dressing your dogs in clothes and setting them a place at the dining table Tony. The breed I named as cutest is a breed I will never own - what do you make of that?

You haven't talked her out of getting a puppy. You talked her out of getting the wrong puppy. If she wants the spitz look in a far less challenging breed, I'd direct her towards the Finnish Lapphund.

Once again, discussion between trainers goes off the track and the OP is probably wondering what the hell hit them. This is another good example of Ian Dunbar's comment about discussions with trainers online being worse than pointless. :wink: If you want to resolve the differences in your training philosophies guys perhaps it might be best to start your own topic.

Oakway, what you've heard supports my vet's advice that flaxseed oil should not be the sole oil supplement. It should be rotated with others or fed as a blend.

Reality check: Your average pet dog owner is not going to spend hundreds of dollars on an e-collar AND the training required to use it effectively. Lack of recall is a bread and butter dog trainer/training club training issue. Either get a dog trainer to come and visit you or join a decent dog training club. In the meantime, DO NOT LET YOUR DOG OFFLEAD. As K9Force points out, every time you call your dog and he doesn't come, you reinforce his behaviour.

Totally agree on getting professional help. Sounds like some kind of transferred aggression.. from barrier frustration (ie being kept on leash when he wanted to be elsewhere) or from his primary reaction. All pure guess work SK - you need to talk to a professional, even if only by phone. However, as you've learned, applying any kind of aversive to an aggressive reaction is fraught with danger.

I've always found those blocks to be pretty useless - on dogs or horses. They just don't hold an edge well. A tool with a serrated blade or a curry comb works far better for hair removal IMO. I thought it helped with sline - lol! Removing dead hair does improve coat appearance.

Did he see something? How does he react to cats? I wonder what the trigger was..

I've always found those blocks to be pretty useless - on dogs or horses. They just don't hold an edge well. A tool with a serrated blade or a curry comb works far better for hair removal IMO.

You could rotate with fish oil (now available in bottles as well as capsules) or evening primrose or even good olive oil! Vets and online stores sell oil blends too. My background is also horses (which is what I based my advice on). You can get some products that provide a sunscreen for coats. Rugging with a light cotton rug might work too if it was likely to stay on. Treat her like a horse in terms of grooming and you should see results. Horses are brushed daily to help shine their coats.

Kelp, oils (flaxseed shouldn't be fed as the only oil - rotate it or use a blend), daily brushing and keep the sun off. When you wash her for the speciality, add a squirt of coat oil (or baby oil) to the final rinse (in about a litre of warm water), pour over the coat, smooth through with your hands and don't rinse off. She will gleam.

I found the more stuff going on in the ring, the less likely my dog would lie down. A dog breaking the sit stay to go to its handler was a gift from God for me. No way would she move off the mark even under very high distraction.. just lie down if left to her own devices.