poodlefan

And ear cropping isn't an "unnecessary surgical procedure"? It serves one purpose only in the Dobermann - cosmetic alteration for the owner's preference. Yeesh. You're not changing the shape of the ear - you're removing ear and forcing it to grow into a different position. Where's the "benefit" for the dog?

He's a DOG. They were prey. Smack your partner for considering punishing a dog long after the deed was done. Its utterly pointless. Either dont get any more guinea pigs or get them the equivalent of a Fort Knox hutch and put a fence between him and them. Personally I'd be going for the first option. Dogs and small mammals are an accident waiting to happen.

Is he on lead? If people will not do as you ask, WALK AWAY. He's your dog, and its your choice as to whether or not you allow others to pat him. If they will not wait for him to sit, then they don't pat him. Simple really. If you aren't a member of a dog training club or attending some sort of obedience classes, then I suggest you start. Clubs are full of people who will be willing to help you address these issues. Sounds to me like a dog that would benefit from being taught some self control. I'd be starting crate games and formal training.

Lol i know because their dog was going off too! Lol poor bastards. I webt out about 10 times to try to shut them up and we only had two of those muzzle thibgs as well. Next time put them inside or in the car. If I'd been the next door neighbour I'd have been ropable. Your friend might get a visit from the ranger I'd say.

Oh Goody - Hounds! :D

Still no full Whippet results I only know BOB

There's another sad dimension to all this. Irwin is a wild animal. He's not been domesticated and I simply cannot believe that if he could move, he'd tolerate what he has to put up with now. Shame on the wild life refuge for not doing right by him.

Dear god, the poor bloody thing can't stand up and you'd want to keep it alive. I am against euthanizing any animal for any reason unless it is dying or in severe pain. This animal could live a perfectly happy life if it was in the right care IMO. Would you kill a person because they couldn't feel anything from the neck down? No - so why do it to an animal. Because as as a prey animal it knows its helpless. Anyone who's had horses knows that they don't deal at all well with serious injury. Unlike carnivores who know they need to move or die, prey animals know how vulnerable they are. As an animal it cant' reason that being totally paralysed is better than being dead. And because its totally at the mercy of someone who's clearly not dealing with a full deck.

Get a dog door!

Personally I'd save your money. The results seem questionable at best. He might be a Beagle x Pug. Some of those crosses lean hard towards their pug ancestry. Does it matter?

Can't wait to see her!

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that misguided "caring" by people who are emotionally not all that competent is a much more significant animal welfare issue than I previously recognised. That's partly why I posted it. It reminded me of the posts we've had recently about the partially paralysed dog and the chis with no front legs. I shudder at the thought of all of the animals out there that we don't know about. There are certain kinds of mental health condition that feed on the need to be perceived as a "saviour" of someone or something. Unfortunately, those being saved don't always get a good deal in the bargain. Criticise or question that perception of being a saviour iin someone suffering from such a condition and all hell tends to break loose. Ms Carr sounds like she needs help IMO.

Bizarre, just bizarre.

Oh go on Aidan - you know you want to.

If your friend woudn't consider a dog like a GSD or a Rottweiler, I'd tell her to pick another breed. From my limited exposure, I'd describe Standards as smart as hell, very trainable but requiring firm boundaries. That goes double for Giants - great dogs though!

I know the big dog v small dog issues always arise in these threads and there are owners of obnoxious small dogs and those who think their little darlings can do no wrong that need to have be given a decent book on dog behaviour - preferably up a nostril. But lets bear something in mind. Owners of small dogs know that in a big dog v small dog aggression incident, its not unlikely their dog will be seriously injured or die. It tends to colour your perception of such interactions somewhat.

Sometimes you don't have time. When a dog has rushed you, picked one dog up in its mouth and tossed it, and is coming back for the second, asking someone to remove it is the last thing on your mind. You're in full on combat mode. I can tell you from experience that many many owners freeze. As an instructor I've covered 10's of metres to grab dogs when their owners were shocked into paralysis.

Quite a few poodle and GSD owners have observed the breeds don't mix well. Very different body language, ear and tail set for a start. I have had three fairly serious aggression incidents towards my poodles over the years. 3/3 aggressors were GSDs. Each incident required me to physically intervene to get the aggressing dog off mine. On each occasion, the owner of the aggressing dog did nothing. On one occasion, the incident was observed by about another 6 owners who also did nothing. You learn very bloody quickly that your dog's safety is in one persons hands - yours. ETA: Oh, that's not right. On two occasions the owner did something - one abused me (standing with a dog screaming in pain in my arms) for kicking his dog. One snatched the dog's lead out of my hands (I had strung it up) and his dog promptly bit him.

Into whose hands should we place them? The owner of the offending dog that's standing back doing sweet FA or telling us "he's just playing" while our dogs are being terrified or attacked? I'll take a bite to keep my dog safe. Don't think for a moment that every dog owner that weighs in doesn't know what they're risking or what they're prepared to do to keep their dog out of harms way. Oh and if your dog did bite? You'd be the one staring down the barrel of a DD declaration. Way better to protect your dog by not allowing such situations to develop. I prefer to prevent attacks happening. Small dogs sometimes don't survive very long in such circumstances.

I agree with this - it's not fair on your dog to put him in a position where he can be intimidated Find some nice friendly dogs belonging to family/friends,and organise walks/playdates or whatever , instead of unknown dogs with owners who may not be responsible. This is the default position in public dog parks. Sad really that while we all pay our rates, only some dog owners get the benefit of the parks constructed for ALL dogs. Some basic knowledge of dog behaviour and a decent level of owner control would have made them a resource for so many more.

The last time one of my smaller dogs was stood over and reacted by showing his teeth, the larger dog went to attack him. Dog was onlead and had dragged child handler over to us. I can only imagine what the results of allowing them to sort it out would have been.

You're fighting an uphill battle against ignorance, indifference and stupidity. Retreat. You won't win. The other issue to consider is how much you think Max enjoys these experiences. Sounds like he doesn't. If he isn't enjoying it, just don't take him.

Possibly. Don't let it get to that stage. Remove him even if you have to pick him up. And tell other owners to call their dogs off.

Can I ask, is Max's reaction to these dogs "normal" or should he be taught to tolerate them? I'm just worried that he is the one with the problem, not them, iykwim. I also suggest dont go to that park anymore....stick to Pugwood. Max is reacting like a typical Pug, and if you put him in that situation too often he could be asking for a fight. You have to remember that Max thinks he is as big as a Rotti and he will stand up for himself if pushed too far by a big dog. Somehow I doubt that. Max tried to remove himself from these dogs. He couldn't. If flight wasn't an option, he didn't have many others.. So now you claim to know more than I do about my breed. No, but I suggest you know no more than I do about this dog. I'm trying to figure out how, from the OP's description of her dog's behaviour, you've concluded that Max considered himself the equal of dogs he was intimidated by. He didn't not behave aggresively until cornered.

Yep, they will. One method is by fighting. That's not acceptable to me, particularly when the odds are stacked against one dog. People take their dogs to offlead dog parks to run them offlead. Who says they have to want to play with others? Allow your GSD to approach my dogs and I'd be telling you call it off very quickly. Allow it to chase them and it would be copping a boot. A dog in prey drive is capable of harming another dog and I've had the vet bills to prove it.