StaceyB

I chose: Escapes confinement - luckly Gypsy is very well behaved inside so when we go out she gets locking in the house. Other undesireable behaviour - she is a kissy dog. Everytime she goes near someone she licks, it's almost like she can't help herself. She gets told No licks when she does it, and if she keeps going a light tap on the nose usually stops her... but not for long. I've pretty much accepted that this probably isn't going to change any time soon, but considerring the things she could be doing wrong, this is fairly mild so doesn't really worry me too much.

poor baby. This just breaks my heart.

I think it's case of understanding the needs of the animal and providing for those needs to the best of your ability.

I respect your opinion, but your dog is meant to be under effective control at all times, and that means you can control dog introductions. If my dog is in an on lead dog park, I don't expect evevyone to "keep their distance from me and my dog", but I do expect their dogs to be under control. I no longer take my dogs to dog parks when other dogs are using them, because too many cowboys with their untrained dogs (of all breeds) were there, and I saw too many nasty situations, including one where one of my dogs was very lucky to escape serious injury. In the latter case, my very dog friendly 6kg dog was bowled over by a completely out of control, friendly large breed dog (I won't name the breed as it is irrellevant) approaching him. His back was injured, and it took many months, a lot of money and considerable discomfort on his part to heal. The larger dog was simply brought from the car and released into the park. My dog was within 1m of me and was still injured. I still do take my dogs to dog parks, because they are the only local areas I can let my dogs run free in a large area, and I think that free exercise is important to them. However most of their exercise is on lead. I would be more than happy to have my dogs play with other dogs at such parks, if the introductions were controlled and the other owners could call their dogs out of the play at any time that things became too rough. I do let my dogs play with friend's dogs, but we can all call our dogs back when we need to. Please don't see this as a little dog / big dog bashing. I also have a large dog. I just gave an example of why uncontrolled dog greetings can be a problem, even without any agression on either side. I don't take my girl to off-lead parks when other dogs are around for exactly that reason D4F, she is about 30kg, generally well trained and usually has good recall, but she goes stupid when other dogs are around and she is offlead. Sometimes she is over friendly and sometimes she gets aggressive. It's not fair on her and not fair on the other dogs & their owners. I'm just lucky that my local park if fairly small, fully fenced and rarely used; if someone else is using the park we just don't go in. In Teal'c case though, the dogs had already been playing well together so I really don't know what the other owners problem was...

I don't think you should ever allow your dog to approach another dog without the permission of that dog's owner. But that's just me. They don't know if your dog is friendly or not. Their dog may have issues and not like being rushed - previous aggression by other dogs, and injury that can cause pain if the dog is knocked over, or may have behavioural issues that are controlled as long as the dog is not crowded. Well - I agree if the other dog is on the leash I would never let my dog approach or if the other owner says something. But in my opinion the dog owner with the issue should react... That would make things so much easier! I mean she saw me and walked past us it was not like that Teal'c came out of nowhere... The dog in this case may not have an issue, but in my opinion you should not let your dog approach someone elses dog without their explicit permission. You don't get my point ... It's about how people, not dogs behave in a public space. And to be honest: "explicit permission" kind of takes the fun away. If your dog needs "explicit permission" to be approached then don't walk it in a park with 200 other happy off leash dogs. Because if it all was about asking for "explicit permission" it would get very noisy... But hey - my first day in the forum... I better shut up. I agree with Teal'c on this one, if you don't want your dog to be approached by other in the park don't take it to an offlead park. It's kind of silly to go to a public area where you know dogs are going to be allowed offlead and expect everyone (and every dog) to keep their distance from you and your dog.

Thanks for the welcome! @lilli - you got a point! I guess it is not as is was "when I was young"... It can probably cause you more grief then the clean garden is worth and the kids don't learn to work for their lollies anymore. SIGH! Is it true that, in Australia, you are responsible if a burglar drowns in your pool if you haven't had a proper fence? Same kind of thing I would say... You'd get in the pooh for not having proper fences, and that could cause problems... but it'd be pretty unlikely. Anyway, I reckon $10 or $15 per pooh patrol is fair for one of the neighbourhood kids.... just make sure the parents are ok with it first.

Thats what I first though too, she sounds like she either has some sort of mental condition or her phobia is so extreme that she can't see that what she's doing is very wrong and could get her into a lot of trouble and could be arrested for it.

EXACKERY! but...there are plenty of people on DOL who walk with big stick and poles to protect their dogs if they get attacked. Is that not okay? Well I personally don't take a big stick with me when I walk my dog. If other people are going out in public instending to use and big stick as a weapon then no, it's not ok, it's illegal. If someone has a big stick that they use as a walking stick and someone/something attacks them and they use it in self defense thats a different situation entirely. The difference with the woman that Huski has been encountering is that she has demonstrated on a number of occasions that the pole is meant as a weapon and she uses it to intimidate regardless of provocation. NicGSDlover, I'm a law student in WA so my information might not be as accurate as what you have access to, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here...

If it was me I would just move off to the side of the path, put gypsy in a sit or drop position and stand between her and the lady. If the woman started waving the stick around and carrying on like that I would just yell at her to stay away from me. This woman is actually breaking the law because the stick (or pole or whatever) is being taken out in pulbic for the purpose of using as a weapon - even if she doesn mean it for her own self defence. Waving it around like that is seen as threatening behaviour, especially in Huski's situation when she had pulled Daisy off of the sidewalk and put her in a sit, and there was absolutley no provocation from Huski or Daisy. I understand that this woman seems to suffer from a fairly extreme phobia, but her behaviour is (legally) unacceptable in a public space and if she can't hadle even walking past a dog she needs to get phyciatric help. Other people have the right to walk their dogs on public streets without being threatened with a pole.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to have dogs.

Most Kennels I've looked at charge a full day regardless of what time the dog is dropped off or picked up. The one I actually chose when I had to board Gypsy was fantastic though, they were a bit pricey for just 3 days but I was very happy with the service and facilities and Gypsy was happy, in good condition, bathed (which I wasn't expecting) and she was so smoochy with the lady running the place. I wouldn't hesitate to take any dog back there if I ever need to use a boarding kennel again.

Some people just don't deserve to own dogs!

Oh, just wanted to add too - Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you train or socialise your dog, some instinctive behaviours will happen anyway. (I have an pitbull X, she was socialised and trained from the day we got her, she is very well behaved and until 18 months she was great with other dogs. Then she started showing DA behaviour for no reason other than the fact that she is a pitbull. It was just lucky that I had done the reseach when I got her and recognised what was happening, I got a trainer in to help out and we have been able to avoid any major incidents. She is still very well behaved and adores being around people, just can't have her with other dogs)

I feel so sorry for shelters at this time of year, it must break the staff's hearts having to turn animals away knowing what will likely happen to them.

My local council has a pet information day/expo type thing every year. They have information and stalls from the council about dog registration, local vets, training & obedience schools, rescue groups, pet supply stores etc... They really make it into a big family event and I think it really encourages people in the area to be better informed about pet ownership. Maybe you could suggest something like this to your council... PM me if you want to know the details for council.

I wish I knew that I would never be allowed to go to the toilet alone again. It's nice that she wants to be with me, but I really don't need help with that! I think this is the most important piece of advice you can give anyone looking to buy a dog. Also research vets and trainers, there can be a huge variation between the price and quality of people around - just because the are more expensive doesn't mean they are better than people with cheaper fees (and visa versa).

I would never bring Gypsy to anyones house without express permission first, and even then it's only happened once when we went to a frinds house for a big night and were planning to spend the next day with them too, and only because they lived too far away to quickly run home and let gyps out for the toilet and feed her. She stayed outside the whole time and on a teather because their yard wasn't dog proof. I'm the only one of our friends who has a dog so i don't have to worry about anyone wanting to bring a dog here.

Gypsy just runs around in circles around me wagging frantically. When OH and my best friends come over she get so excited, she can barely contain herself running between them and us with the frantic wagging... I think she gets more excited about them than she does when we come home.

It's a great article, very well written and researched. Nice Hugh. I'm sure the woman who introduced me to the first APBT I ever met would like to hear that... somehow I doubt that a woman with degrees in Australian Law, English Law and Polotics can be described as a "deficient" member of society. And I can say with all certainty that I would never be caught dead in footy shorts! My girl is an escape artist and has been picked up by the local rangers a few times, they have never impounded her, when they bring her home they have always commented on how friendly and well behaved she was for them.

Tybrax would probably be a lot more helpful than me, but I know the Dog Laws and I know Pitbulls. PM me if you'd like and I'll help out in any way I can.

1; education Don't sugar coat things, this breed has it's faults (just like any other breed) and it takes a stong willed person to overcome some of these, like the pre-disposition for dog aggression in APBTs, something I have found easy to manage with the right training and precautions. The breed is also extreamly loyal, trainable, affectionate and fun to be around. If you are prepared to take the good with the bad then these dogs can be amazing companions. Owners need to be aware of the breed history and work with that to make a good dog. 2; responsibility Do your research before considerring owning a restricted breed. As I said above, they can be a handful, but if you know what you are getting into they are easily managed and can make very rewarding companions. 3; public perception Unbiased media reporting. Too many people see the news shows making such a big deal about pit bull attacks (and very little is heard about other breeds) and they generalise and think that the whole breed is like that. The public need more education about dog behaviour to realise that just because one person has done the wrong thing with their dog doesn't mean it's to dogs fault because of what breed it is. 4; attack prevention This comes back to doing your research before buying the dog, if you know what signs to look for a DA dog can be managed fairly easily. I picked it up with Gypsy, got some training, stopped going to the off lead park and I haven't had any problems since. It would be nice if other dog owners around my area would contain their dogs and keep them on lead. 5; training/socialisation This is a big thing! If you don't train your dog from day 1 you are just asking for trouble. Socialisation helps the dog learn how to interact with other animals, although it doesn't always head off DA, Gypsy was socialised regularly from the time she was vaccinated but she still ended up being mildly DA. 6; containment Every animal owner has a legal obligation to contain their animal, regardless of breed or species. Wandering animals are a danger to themselves and others.

I use Polarmine for Gypsy during summer too, 2mg in the monring and 2 mg in the evening. That and a weekly bath generally keeps her grass allergies at bay.

Did the pup look like this at all? It's not the greatest photo, but it shows what she looked like as a pup. She is a Bull Arab X Pit This is her as an adult

Not really sure why that happens, maybe it's just they way some dogs react. I've tried both with my girl and she did better on the Bonnie biscuits.

During winter I don't wash Gyps very often, just when she's getting a bit smelly from playing in the rain. During Summer/spring I need to wash her every fortnight at the very least because she has fairly sensitive skin and the dry grass irritates her too much.