poodlefan

Glad to hear it GB..

If it did continue, I'd also suggest a trip to the vet - it might also be an indicator of pain, particularly in an older dog.

Plush Puppy - all the way! I use three different shampoos (Natural Conditioning, Body Building and White Enhancing) on my dogs.

If you use a 'conditioning' shampoo, you don't need to use conditioner unless the coat is very dry.

Gemibabe:

Should I ask him to try again?

Definitely not. I'm with Staffordsrule on this one.

Your dog warned your son that she didn't want to be picked up by him. She might find the experience uncomfortable or unsettling due to his lack of size and balance and she told him quite plainly that she didn't want it to occur. I don't see that as aggression - hell, dogs are not inanimate objects and they are entitled to express themselves in such situations. Better a growl than a bite any day!

The bed may or may not have been a factor in the growling - only by close observation will you figure that one out. As Susan Clothier says, its not important whether or not your dog has access to the bed - what IS important is whether they'll vacate it if you ask them to.

I'd be keeping an eye on their interactions but the most important thing for your son to learn is that your dog is not a toy and that there are limits on what he can and can't subject her to. When she growls he needs to know that it means "stop that NOW I don't like it". He needs to learn that your dog has feelings too.

Standard rule applies GB - all play between the two needs to be supervised. :D

Bstone7:

I see no point in spending hours travelling to groomers over the other side. Especially when you consider working five days, spending one day travelling to groomers and waiting around and then showing Sundays. When do you have a life?

Welcome to the world of show poodles. You definitely have to be masochistic to do it. Most people start by learning from another breeder as it would be the extremely rare professional groomer who can groom a show dog if they don't have them themselves.

Who ever told you that you don't shape the front of a pup was obviously on something!! You dont' tend to trim the hair at the top and back of the neck much but the rest of the dog is trimmed.

Personally, if you don't feel you have the time and money to show this dog, I suggest you learn to pet trim it yourself and then start to use the Kalstone book to experiment with show trimming.

For you next poodle, buy from a breeder that you've seen out at the shows with really well trimmed dogs (that they do themselves) and make sure you reach an understanding about help with show grooming. Most breeders are very keen to sell to good show homes but the reality is that once people realise how much time and effort goes into preparing and maintaining it, they drop out.

Bring on showing in lamb clip!

George, its great the he's showing the 'warning' signals. If the other dog is ignoring them, then that's the time for you to step in and defuse the situation.

George:

but as soon as the other dog shows interest in something eg. a stick, my dog suddenly decides he wants it and bites the other dog.

George, you say he's actually 'hurt' the other dog? No nice way to dress this up for you I'm afraid... I think you need to start confronting the fact that you may have a dog aggressive dog. This kind of behaviour can be dealt with but right now the best thing you can do is think hard about what triggers him and record any incident that occurs. You also need to consider his safety and that of other dogs - if he tries this on the wrong dog, you may end up with a serious incident. Other dogs will be far less tolerant of this behaviour as he matures.

Whilst you might think me calling this dog aggression is an exaggeration, it doesn't matter WHAT the reason for biting another dog is (dominance, resources or whatever), if your dog has done this on more than one occasion and so early in life, you are being given very clear signs about what may turn out to be an increasingly difficult problem as he matures. Only by confronting this issue, can you begin to deal with it. I speak from personal experience on this one by the way, as I had a dog headed down the same path for a while.

IMHO, this is no job for anyone other an a professional dog behaviouralist to be dealing with in terms of reducing the aggression. However, as an owner, you can do a great deal to manage the situation.

Step one (you're already doing this) - work hard on obedience; the ability to recall your dog becomes very important in managing him around other dogs. A 'drop it' or leave it command will also be very useful.

Step Two - remove all obvious 'triggers' for aggression - food, toys etc. If you cannot control his behaviour, then he needs to be onlead (even if it is a long line).

Step Three - ensure that you can break up these incidents, QUIETLY AND CALMLY. Read the threads here about how to safely break up fighting dogs. If he starts to become aggressive, he needs to be told 'no' firmly and for playtime to end. There is no place for raised emotions in dealing with this. Do NOT under any circumstances get physical with your dog or put your face near his after such an incident - you are asking for trouble.

Step Four - for the safety of other dogs, I would strongly consider muzzling him in any situation where you feel there is a chance of a fight. That way, you and any other owner can relax and that relaxation sends an important signal to your dogs.

Step Five - learn to watch your dog - there are usually changes in posture and expression that precede this kinds of incidents... 'hard' eyes, curled lips etc.. THAT's the time to intervene and de-escalate things.

The earlier these issues are dealt with, the easier they are to solve. However, if he's prepared to bite another dog, then you really do need to act NOW.

I'd second Rachie's suggestion and suggest you find yourself a good dog training school. Its so much easier to learn by being shown how to train your dog than by reading.

As you have found, Halti's do not cure pulling on the lead... especially if you ALLOW the dog to pull.

You will not be able to train your girl out of this behaviour while walking two dogs - you need to focus on her and that's another reason I'd suggest taking some lessons - besides Labs are smart dogs and tend to enjoy the experience.

Koza, how long before travel did you give the tablets - the lead time on some of them can be quite long.

HilaryO I'd talk to your vet. Views on sedation have changed a lot over the years and from what I can gather, most vets advise against sedation as it can have unwanted effects on the dog's perception and on their ability to drink and control their body temperature.

What you've described sounds more like nausea than fear - you might look into giving some relief for travel sickness - again your vet would be a good place to start although their are also alternative therapies available.

Make sure you give the dogs a few days to recover before the National - much better to have a perky Beagle for the big day.

George, loose the attitude. Good dog trainers have an open mind and don't dismiss ideas out of hand. For what its worth, many people believe halti's to be far more damaging to a dog (physically and mentally) than check chains and I'm one of them. For a start, a check chain only acts when tightened - a halti places pressure on the most sensitive part of a dog CONSTANTLY.. Before you accuse me of telling you to use a check chain, I'll point out that personally I don't use one, but I DO prefer them to Halti's for most strong dogs. Both are training devices, both can be abused and neither of them, without proper training and use, will prevent a dog pulling on the lead. If you don't believe a dog can pull on a halti, then stick around... they do. BTW, ever try to fit a halti on a Boxer? ;) They don't suit all dogs and I think they should NEVER be used on small dogs - the angles of force are far to accute.

Six months old is a little young to be an adolescent IMHO - sounds to me like your little ACD mix is living up to his breeding and is starting to test the bounds of your control - start getting used to it as many an ACD owner will tell you its part of the charm and part of the challenge of the breed. Smart and cocky - that's the mix.

You need to get on top of the nipping NOW - no time is acceptable for this and if you are even thinking about agility, such behaviour will need to be curbed - because you and the dog run in that sport. Furthermore, it will not assist to curb nipping others when they run. BTW, do NOT start any training over agility obstacles until your dog is at least 14 months old or its growth plates have closed.

Let me see - an instructor with a dog that still humps... I'd be looking elsewhere for help on this one. Early desexing as many have pointed out only curbs sexually motivated humping - this does sound more like dominance. Personally, I agree with your vet about not desexing early - especially if you have agility in mind. Early desexing can lead to a few structural issues for male pups.

Junior is starting to push the envelope - if you believe that PURELY positive training will get you on top of this, good luck. IMHO, you will need to have some carefully thought out and calmly applied negatives to add to your training tool kit.

I only use reward based training to ensure a good relationship between me and George. I ask him to do things, I don't command him. If he doesn't do it, I use a firmer voice and he usually does it. If that doesn't work, I push him gently into position.

I hate to break it to you George, but if you are forcing your dog into position (gently or otherwise) you ARE using negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement only encourages and rewards desired behaviours - it does't 'force' anything. The aim of training (positive or negative) is to get the dog to do it the FIRST time, not the third - how many times do you consider it is acceptable for you to call your dog before he comes? There is only one safe answer - ONCE.

If you want to help out with training other dogs, I suggest you start reading and learning fast - no point in talking about positve and negative reinforcement and dismissing the latter when in fact you are already using both. Not all negative reinforcement is harsh - best you disavow yourself of that idea.

Edited to add: personally I do not encourage people to 'force' or place their dogs into any position. (Indeed, I do not allow it to be done in my class). There are several reasons for this... the first of which is just pure common sense - it only works when the dog is right next to you.. how do you get your dog to sit when its 3 feet away? One of the others is that some people do not know how much 'force' is too much and also some dogs learn quickly to resist this process and the whole thing turns into a wrestling match. My view is that you can train a dog without having to get 'physical' with it.... and you should be able to use the same method of training any size dog. Try forcing a grown Rottie into a sit.

On the humping, prevention is better than cure. Control interactions and keep them on a longline if necessary - if the starts to hump, you tell him 'off' - if he keeps going, you make him get off. If he will not come when you call him (the first time) when he is offlead, then don't let him off.

I don't advocate alpha rolls under any circumstances. Big or small, I don't believe in giving any dog an experience that makes it feel the need to defend itself. If you wouldn't do it to a big dog because it might end badly for you, why subject a small dog to such treatment? A bite is a bite - and you certainly don't want to be teaching any dog to do that, especially when the lesson in mind is teaching the dog NOT TO BITE.

Furthermore, a more timid dog can be traumatised by the experience.

Why use a training method on a pup that you can't go on with as it grows. Better to start how you intend to go on in my opinion. There are better ways of teaching bite inhibition.

Poodles come in all temperaments from headstrong to very submissive - I've got one of each and one halfway in between. ;) Furthermore, Bailey's Mum's dog is a poodle cross - so its temperament may not be at all "poodle like".

I believe it doesn't pay to generalise about the temperament of any breed - better to observe and evaluate the temperament of individual dogs - more effective for the dog's training and far safer for the trainer.

Bailey's Mum, mouthing will only be just a puppy thing if you train your puppy out of it.

I've seen a 10 month lab still mouthing - hard. Its owners never bothered to do anything about it until the dog hurt someone inadvertently.

Those thread should give you the advice you need.. but feel free to ask any questions.

My oldest boy had a grade 3 patella done.

You might see him run on Sunday if he's in the mood. My vet advised no bandages and no restrictions on movement provided he was kept less active. I didn't crate him at all (he was my only dog at that time) and seem to recall (it was 6 years ago) that he was restricted to no walking and then on lead exercise only for a while.

This is a pretty common procedure - provided you have an experienced vet perform the op, everything should be fine.

Paula:

And me crying "stop the music!!!! stop the singing!!!!!"   

Awww c'mon Paula - you'll be singing along to the Leningrad Cowboys with me by the time I get you home. [laughs evilly]

Bring the muzzle - better safe than sorry and others will no doubt appreciate your caution.

Maverick - listen for the screaming Vizsla - that will be FHR's Rogan beside himself with excitement. The squeaking white toy poodle will be my Lily although despite her excitement, she has yet to complete a course. :rolleyes:

It will be interesting to see if Darcy can run without falling over this time.

The entire paddock is fenced however, whilst there is a 'catching area', people and dogs waiting to run are up in the hill - probably no more than 30 feet away from the starting position at worst. Most people waiting to run are lined up fairly close together although this doesn't have to be the case.

Is he dog aggressive? Personally, if he is, I wouldn't run him - you have got seriously excited dogs there so the atmosphere is quite charged at times. Whilst they do chase the lure away from the other dogs and the catching area is further away, accidents can happen. Maybe you could come out and see for yourself?

He's probably better off running on his own - most dogs do unless they know the other's running well.

One of the reasons people should avoid raw pork is that some parasites are common to pigs and people.

I always freeze it first but feed it occasionally to the poodles - its a great source of taurine and they do love their ribs! :rolleyes:

Myszka it normally starts at midday. Its right down the back of Erskine Park behind the Jack Russell/earth dog area.

Paula Canberra, FHR and I will be coming. :rolleyes: Look for a maroon Citroen Berlina (FHR) and a blue magna wagon (me, Paula and poodles) with ACT plates...

Its such fun - make sure you bring a camera!

Cdenver:

I would be interested to know how you went with raising your pup on a "raw" diet.Did you have any issues at all, and did pup have any dislikes at all with this diet?

Darcy had been used to eating raw chicken necks at his breeder's so I went from there. Essentially I used Dr Billinghurst's "Grow Your Pups With Bones" book as the basis..Chapter 22 is the key chapter

I fed mostly chicken RMBs when Darcy was small but slowly added other bones. These were fed as one meal and 'BARF Patties' made in accordance with Dr B's recipie for the other ones. I was also followed the "non onlead exercise until growth has finished' rule.

Darcy wasn't overly fond of the patties at first so I added a little extra mince and slowly reduced it. He was always mad keen on the RMBS.

He was smaller and leaner than his litter mates when they were growing up (he was the smallest pup in the litter) but has ended up being the largest adult dog.

I certainly don't intend to raise my dogs any other way.

I've been feeding raw for about seven years and recently raised my first all raw fed pup.

My white toy poodle no longer has the eye stains she had when I got her. The dog's have great teeth, lots of energy and no body odour.

I feed mostly raw chicken (wing, necks), lamb necks and the occasional beef bone. They have two days of RMBs and one day of "BARF mix". Occasionally they get some mackeral or sardines.

The BARF mix contains, eggs, yoghurt, missing link, some offal, beef mince and a heck of a lot of veggie pulp. I make it up once every couple of weeks and freeze in meal sized batches.

I'm very happy feeding this way.

Personally, for a dog with allergies, I'd email Dr Billinghurst or join a BARF List and start from there. As a first step, I'd be eliminating cereals from her diet.

My dogs wear coats when they are outside in winter and their activity is constrained (eg in the car at night or tied up on the fence at dog club while I put agility equipment in and out)

They also wear jammies at night in winter because its bloody cold here and I don't heat the house overnight. They have a couple of polar fleece coats each of varying designs.

Oh, and Lil does have a pink sequinned one that I bought at Hall Markets in a moment of weakness.

The jury is still out on these I believe.

All my dogs have the annual jab. I believe that spacing it some distance apart from any other vaccination will assist with lowering impact on a dog's immune system. I haven't had any adverse reactions but I have heard of some dogs having localised swelling.

I certainly wouldn't be using any other product that contains heartworm preventative.

Thank heavens for that.

I hope its nothing serious Sidoney. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Sonny:

Seems like people are giving their pet chicken bones, is this true? I thought this could cause real problems for them?

RAW chicken bones eg. wings, necks are the basis of my dogs diet. No problems to date with feeding them. COOKED chicken bones are a whole different story and are dangerous.