amy_h

Okay kids, so i happen to be an amatuer photographer, with tatts and a buttload of fifties clothing and an Avon lady - but i only have Pig Dogs, too big to fit the Pit Bull Model. I'd need a Model and a Pitty/AmStaff, anywhere from a 8 - 12 in size and nearby to me and we can do a shoot to get an image in! Located in Queensland. PM for further details. Super Keen to Submit!

Regardless of who's at fault - pretty sick what eventuated. poor pup

No, not perfect. But I have sufficient control to keep my dogs off strangers. Honestly, its amazing what a bit of training AND understanding that not everyone welcomes being licked by your dog can achieve. ;) I know that, and it does seem this owner is a little lax in his concern for other peoples reactions, but i think when people post on here screaming train train train, we all need to consider that despite how well trained a dog might be - he still has his own mind too.

Guessing everyone who suggested the dog shouldnt have jumped up all have perfect dogs who NEVER EVER misbehave. pffft... yes the owner should have effected more immediate to control to avoid the situation but Who the Heck walks down a suburban street with a knife! Ithink that is the more imprtant issue here...

Thanks folks! keep you updated on what works

Was hoping DOLers could share their experiences and successes with training a deaf dog. We have THE MOST gorgeous boy, but alas he is deaf. (all white, blue eyes with a grey merle patch by his right eye) and i really want to give him a go, but am a bit confused as to how to 'call' a deaf dog? I think he may be pitch deaf - can anyone suggesta site i can buy one of those silent dog whistle's from? i want to experiment with that to test y theory. He seems to be able to hear the gate sqeaul when i open it (it's not visible from his usual hiding place, so he's not relying on sight). The vet has confirmed his deafness, but i am going to take him in to see if he has an ear infection. Is it possible that he could have been born with an ear infection, and that it could be fixed? hopefully have him to the vet in the next week. He such a gorgeous natured dog! he is a crossbred - american bulldog/mastiff x ridgeback/bullarab/dane... looking forward to responses!

Bloo update. Yesterday after i hopped off the net, i went out and played with bloo for a while, he was happy to just hoon around with the other dogs ( all our dogs live seperately from one another rather than one comunal group in the house yard). Bloo graduated to his own kennel out of the house yard last week and seems to be a much happier dog living away for the constant attention from the pups. i stayed outside, washed two of the other dogs, hung some washing, just let him be around rather than having to do something everytime he's near me. I left him be to come and go, and he willingly and waggingly came and went for about half an hour, i decided to see if he would attempt to go through the gate. 2nd attempt, he slid through on his belly piddling everywhere, but at least he got through! i didn't know if i should praise him or not, i didn't cos i didn't want to make a fuss of how he behaved, even though he went through, he still piddled and carried on. So i kept walking away and he dutifully followed me as he always does and when i noticed a change in his demeanour back to being a bit more relaxed, i sat down in the middle of the flat and gave him a big pat, he had a waggy tail and didnt go all weak kneed again so i was pretty happy with that. We do have a lot of people come and go here, as we live on a busy working farm the property owners are always coming and going as are we adn we always have visitors, i have no idea why he was so fearful of the gate, maybe someone did shut him in it at one stage. On our return to the yard he just popped over the fence before i had tim eto set up the gate for him, so well have another go this afternoon He does seem more relaxed being seperate from the other dogs - he's happier to see them too when they have their big run around time together, maybe he just gets sensory overload. How do i get him interested in toys - he has NONE. he'll watch other dogs play with them, yesterday i was rolling a tennis ball past him hoping hed at least sniff it, hed watch it ears pricked for a few moments and then go back to just being. I've no idea how to introduce toys at this age!

You got me right there - i'm guilty of making the mistake of treating them all the same, whereas he is definitely different from the other dogs. He's not like it all the time, just sometimes. I've worked out when he hears the door shut he comes back out and then i give him lots of pats and cuddles and he's happy then. He's strangely dog aggressive, he doesn't attack, i noticed it most when we had a friend pup stay here for 3 weeks and he would give her a good telling off about food, just a snarl and a snap but no follow through probably because shes yowl like a banshee. But hes most uncomfortable with other dogs being in 'his' space when they're confined to the cage for travelling (on back of ute/dog box) if the younger dogs start crying he'll give them a quick touch up almost like hes a discplinarian. It's hard because i've always had dogs that will be so anxious to see you and boisterous and love all the rough cuddles and silly noises etc, and he's so different. I dont think it's extreme, just seems to me that way because its a contrast to the other 5 dogs all being that bit older and more outgoing. Thanks for the trainer recommendations but OH would somply never allow it and he earns the money. He is definitely old fashioned, which might work on his boof headed bloody pig dogs but you cant tell them can you.

Find me one in outback queensland (i live on a farm near longreach) He's not a pedigree pup from a breeder as such, just a dog from another farm (and frankly im sure you know what their solution would be) I realise patience is the key but i am only human it's not my intention to yell at him but when hes been stuck under the house for half an hour, it's awful hard not to get frustrated. as i said i'm only human. The times he gets most fearful is when i ask him to come through the front gate - absolutely loses his business. have no idea why. he'll quite happily jump the fence beside it, but wont walk through the gate. sometimes i'll just get home and he'll be all piddly, he does live in our house yard with another pup, that i have since seperated the two, maybe she used to give him a towelling i dont know. I'd love to know how to stop the beggar from licking but i know that's a submissive behaviour, i believe that when i work on his self confidence a bit more that will resolve the obsessive licking behaviour.

So by your reasoning my dogs have no purpose, and thereby should be just 'left to be'? I don't know how well you know dogs or any thing that has been trained or bred for a purpose (including people) but when you remove that purpose you only create a whole other issue. And we'll allow roos to out compete each other and starve each other out because its just the way things are and cotton farmers descimate the land and strip it of future worth because its the way things are, and i like to wear jeans Oh, my horse is colicking, but i not going to intervene cos i left that sand in his yard near where he's fed cos it's the way things are it's just the way it is and i dont give a shit because im ignorant to it and i dont want to improve the ecosystem and try to compensate for the loss i've and generations before me have caused....Crows only eat dead toads to my knowledge i've seen with my own eyes and everything else has learned to just not eat them. I find a good job with an electric prodder does the trick. Bloody cruel but swift adn keeps them out of my patch and a few less to reproduce later on.... BTW, you are so wrong! i'm sorry but every person helps in their own way - dear family friends of mine halved their property as a conservation agreement, most cockies i know have wildlife corridors, landcare and landowners generally do their bit (for a selfish reason if you want to look at it that way) that if the land isn't cared for, it's not going to produce and is no longer sustainable... FFS you're typing on a computer because of mining - for the coal to burn for the electricity, the minerals to produce the hardware.... i'm confused as to what you're saying....I think that attitude is really really blase and feel quite sad for you that you dont seem to have any passion other than to argue that. Is the list too long to write, or could you just not be bothered to support that arguement? Why shouldn't we just try to find a solution - nothing will ever completely FIX the problem, but why shouldn't we bother to make it a more manageable situation? Do you recycle?

Could we affiliate and produce an australian one?

The Tasmanian Greens are certainly do not favour poisoning and are seeking to ban 1080 being used in their state. The NSW branch do not seem to feel the same and have no policy that I can find in this matter. If they are against hunting then there is no other real option to try and control feral pigs but baiting. You cant have it both ways. If they honestly did think that dogging was prefered they would have found out the facts about the Game Council hunts in state forests and this wouldnt have made the news and we wouldnt be discussing it here. The meat is just a byproduct of hunting. The primary focus is the control of numbers, erradication is probably an impossibility. The spread of disease and weed species, the potential as a vector for exotic disease, damage to land, native plant species, pasture, crops and infrastructure and the killing of native species and livestock are the primary reasons for the need to control numbers. Many hunters use the meat they catch - either to sell for human consumption or pet food, to eat themselves or to feed their pets. Kirty is right, it is much more humane to hunt animals like this than it is to have them commercially processed, its just that it it is far less confronting to see cows in a paddock miss out on all the middle bits and then see your rump steak in a cryvac pack at Woolworths. Spot on. No one has argues this issue better than this quote right here

I have had a game council licence for numerous years holding categories for dog, bow and firearms. I can tell you with 100% certainty that I am not a spousal abuser...

i have a lovely little cattle dog pup i was given christmas and am having a hard time training him because he is exceptionally submissive - to the point if he thinks he's in trouble he piddles himself and disappears under the house and i have to trick him into thinking i've gone inside to get him to come back out. I really love him, but am really struggling with finding a method that works. I've not ever really had a submissive dog, most of ine have been pretty average easy to train dogs, but hes really bad. He can be dog aggressive too (hes going to be desexed very soon). I want him to be a happy rambunctious pup! So far he sits, comes (sometimes) heels, and passes me pegs from the peg basket (cutest trick ever to teach your dog btw) but when he does come its with his beely on the ground and a nervous tail shake - i've not ever intimidated him (though i have resorted to yelling for him to come out of sheer frustation) Please help my little bloo!

That is cruel, yes- and the dog's owner should be stopped using dogs in that fashion many irresponsible people do not have a thought for the animal they hunt- agreed . We have only ever had dogs hold a pig by grabbing an ear.... or keeping pig/s backed into a corner,so to speak. Umm, that's PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. when we remove trophy tusks we have to use a very heavy machete so i fail to see how a dog can tear the lower jaw off a pig. i actually find it laughable that someone could even think that possible. Our dogs 'lug' which is a term given to the hold - it is usually by the ear, but can be by the cheek, nose, top of the skull, anywhere around the head. Young learning dogs will bite the legs but the pigs teach them pretty quick that's not a safe place to be. Personally, bailing may be effective for some but i find it too dangerous becasue the pig is not contained and the buggers have very nasty teeth (have scars to prove it). The pig is killed swiftly by being tipped over to it's side for the hunters safety, and a sharp blade plunged into its chest. they bleed out in about half minute to two minutes. Generally, if you are well equipped with a vehicle (or quad bike) the whole process is over for both dog and swine in about 5 - ten minutes. Pighunting is not anything other than utilising an animals natural instinct, refining it for your purpose (as you would for a yard dog, a retreiver, a guard dog, a fighting dog, whatever purpose you choose). I never said it wasn't barbaric, or even pleasant to watch. and i certainly don't enjoy when the dogs are hurt because contrary to popular belief, ours are family members (they just dont live inside!). But i do challenge you to find a method as effective for the culling of wild pigs. Or, should you feel it necessary to be outlawed, homes that will rehabilitate thta thousands of dogs whose death warrant you will have signed. Like i said. I think clothing a dog is cruel. Go figure.

So you wouldn't fix a mistake? how do you feel about cane toads? Wildlife is WILD animals, not a domesticated animal turned feral through mismanagement. It's not noble, but it's a pratical solution to a problem we caused. Take a trip to the territory to see what they do the wetlands and native bird species. Come and see stock in the dry season competing with pigs for food, or even the weaker ones being killed by them. it happens. Quote "Yes they kill and eat native animals, so do many native animals. Wild animals often do tend to prey on each other they don't generally worry about things like species diversity and niche preservation." - native animals should eat native animals. its the way things are meant to be. It's the way things would have been had no feral species been introduced. but they have and effective means of controlling the situation need to be employed to resolve the situation to a sustainable situation rather than one that has ballooned out of control due to the amazing amount of rain this year. can i also add that in the wet, baits are rendered ineffective, helicopter operators wont fly, shooters and doggers cant get access and trapping is inhumane because of that reason also (cos the pigs starve or impale themselves)

Please come visit our property and 'learn to live with the'. btw - my partned has never abused me. and i'm pretty sure i'm not a serial killer, and i dont think oh is either. There are always going to be haters and disbelievers, but i refuse to see my dogs health and happiness decline becasue they can no longer do what they have been bred FOR GENERATIONS regardless of not being 'pure' by breed standards, and what they have been trained to do - take pig hunting away and 6 months later the dog bodies will pile up becasue they'll turn sour because 'the law' says they can no longer fulfill their natural purpose, and take their frustration out on someones stock. I invite ANYONE who wishes to criticise WITHOUT HAVING EVER EXPERIENCED THE TRUE DAMAGE THESE PESTS CAUSE and to compare the effectiveness OF A WORKING TEAM to bowhunting or a gun. Point 1. PIGS ARE EXCEPTIONAL SURVIVORS - of course they are still going to bloody be around, so are frigging cane toads but you dont see people not trying to get rid of them. So are foxes, and wild dog dingo crosses - have you ever seen a baited dog die? well, baiting is also an effective culling method of feral pigs, but it's also hazardous to native species such as goannas and birds of prey. Pigs eyes rarely shine in a spotlight, unless you hit them straight on because their eyes are set on the front of their heads. You cant shoot them effectively in the front or the sides, a kill shot must be behind the front leg (good luck with that unless you are dead eye dick) or the back of the skull. Pigs, particularly boars, develop thick gristle pads that deflect or effectively slow a bullet so it only causes injury, rather than killing it. PIGS CAN EXIST ANYWHERE they are omnivorous, they 'root' or dig up the earth for soft sprouts or eat carrion. in the dry, when green feed is scarce, they will eat lambs from ewes as the are born if they are hungry enough, resluting in the death of both animals. They invade town refuse dumps, destroy fences, eat native waterbird nests, destroy wetlands. They are well equipped to protect themsleves against any predaotr (the most effective is a crocodile but we dont really want them running around everywhere). Quite often we have caught them in seemingly bare paddocks with no trees for miles - except the odd prickle bush where you'll find them resting underneath. They are difficult to see and elusive - for every pig you see i can guarantee after such a great season for them, there would be a hundred if not more. Point 2. BEARING IN MIND THEIR NATURAL CUNNING - if you can't see it, how can you shoot it with bow or arrow? Point 3. HELICOPTER CULLS COST IN EXCESS OF OVER $400 EASY PER OPERATING HOUR Point 4. REASONS FOR A DOGS EFFECTIVENESS Dogs can smell what we cant see, have natural drive to hunt and hold (ours have NEVER KILLED anything, are totally stock and native animal proof. every single one we've owned), and to please their master. YES HOLDING DOES INVOLVE BITING, YES THE DOGS GET HURT AND SOMETIMES KILLED but no hunter would let his dog suffer because they are a means to their hobby, their lifestyle and sometimes their paycheck. almost every hunter runs their dog with some form of protection and identification, and the more sophisticated use location technology as well. These dogs are BRED to do what they do, they are warriors and proud workers, and nothing fulfills them more than catchign a boar. an average dog can scent a boar within 500 metres, a good one within 2 km from a moving vehicle. In scrubby swampy country, you tell me how you would see that pig through a scope let alone with the naked eye. Some may judge the sport as cruel. I reckon it's cruel to clothe a dog like a person. Horses for courses. But dont judge unless you KNOW what the real problem is, and what the solutions are. I dont want my dogs to become problem dogs and have to be destroyed because some politican or fairy f*n hippy with no concept for reality reckons my past time is an ineffective method of control. MAY I ALSO STATE - I DONT BELIEVE DOGGING SHOULD BE ALLOWED IN NATIONAL PARKS normal people cant take their pets there so why hunting dogs? But in a pastoral situation, yes, dogs are the most effective method of control.

Oh! i had a dog that would not accept treats or eat while you were watching - have you tried leaving her unattended alone to her own devices? you need to restart her metabolism, so maybe even force feeding her for two weeks to get her used to having ffod in her tummy again might help. blindfold her to do it so she has less association with you and the force feeding. The same dog that waouldnt eat while watched when she grew up had to be force fed as a pup, maybe it stes from that but i didnt blindfold her or anything, just fed her. She eats while we watch now - cured that one by putting her in with a dog she had to compete with for food! wont work for everyone, but worth a try good luck

We had trouble with getting weight back on to our best bitch after she lost her litter we tried this stuff called NUTRIGEL from teh vet, it's an appetite stimulant and worked MARVELLOUS (and smells good enough to eat to). dont know if it would work on dogs but i had a horse that went on a spell and came back anorexic after being bossed by the lead mare (unbeknowns to me) and vitamin B injections got hi going again. Good luck! Failing that, lactose free milk mixed with lamb mince and an egg all uncooked, with some cooked barley and oats (make sure the barley is really well absorbed) will be gentle on puppys tummy

I was just waiting for it to happen seems to always be that way on DOL lol, what starts as a conversation about a tele show turns into a debate about training methods, snowball, snowball... (that's not a bad thing - everyone has their own opinions! good that people are passionate about their beliefs, and yes no one has yet. expcet me this time)

Do you know what really, really annoys me? dog owners who wont admit their emotions have gotten the better of them at some point adn they have actually physically disciplined a dog. I think it would be but e very saintly blessed few who haven't bopped their dog on the nose for nipping, or even as simple as imposing yourself in their space. Sorry but i do't believe anyone is that perfect. I dont condone it, but i dont believe there is not a single person out there that hasn't made an aggressive gesture or physical contact or even shouted at their dog. I haven't seen the clip (my internet doesnt allow me videos) but, im just being realistic. Everyone is so quick on this forum to get on their podium and preach! I'll openly admit i'm human and i have kicked a dog. I've also smacked them on the nose. and my dogs are generally well behaved dogs. I will say now, that the dog that got booted (several times for inappropriate dangerous behaviour) doesn't misbehave anymore. I didn't like doing it, at all, call me heavy handed, whatever you like. I'm just saying somemtimes situations, stronger discipline is needed adn id rather cop a bite to my foot than my hand or face. When i booted him he immediately paid attention TO ME - so in that regard it was effective because i wanted to distract him from the situation he was in. Guess its just horses for courses and who's realistic about admitting how they have disciplined their pooches

just wondering why?

I've kicked a dog - not a good boot but definitely a kick - when he needed immediate intervention in it's behaviour that was threatening other animals. I suppose it begs the question - do you smack a child? Everyone's got their own way and every situation can make even the calmest people react to immediately effect an end to an unwanted situation. so long as it's not overboard, i dont see that it's a method that is absolutely sinful. Should be avoided but sometimes a foot is the closet disciplinary tool.

I had no idea what it was about - so i clicked. Horrid and shocking did lure me in though

Thanks GT. we miss them so much.