Tapferhund

I use to be a member of Berwick and found it a pretty good club,but if you have multiple dogs training in various areas........the club becomes too expensive at $3 per dog per class. I had two trialing and two doing flyball and Agilty which equaled $18 every week and if you work that out over a year it would cost us approx $900+ PLUS membership renewal to train there. So I left and joined Frankston, which is also a very good club and it costs me a third of what Berwick charges it's members.

Daccydog, Stone eating is not unusual in puppies but it should not be encouraged. One or two stones/pebbles may not be that harmful but if the pup eats too many you could end up with problems and a trip to the Vet. This happened to me.....I also had a young pup who loved eating stones, he ate so may he would literally rattle when he jumped around. My Vet told me to keep him away from the stoned area of the yard until he was old enough from continueing the habit. I also knew a Labrador with this annoying stone eating habit and the dog ended up on the operating table with blockages . I have also heard that dogs who do this are lacking something that helps in their digestion, digestive enzymes(?) minerals(?) roughage(?) so they eat stones and pebbles to try and help aleviate this lack........how true this is I don't know.(?)

Bullygirl Sorry I don't mean to offend but I am shocked from reading your original post. I can't believe, as a dog person (Bullies) that you would think that chaining and muzzleing that poor dog of yours would teach him to behave.(?) He is a dog NOT a human that you "put in the corner" for unwanted behaviour, so I suggest you start looking at life from HIS 'canine'point of view and stop thinking that he understands "human" This dog of yours is a highly intelligent working dog and is obviously frustrated to hell because YOU do NOT understand him.....you are exercising his body(which is great) but his brain needs exercising too in lots of mental stimulation.....WORK ! For him , obviously teaching him to sit,drop and shake hands is not enough. I see that you are in NSW, so why don't you get in touch with K9 Force who is considered one of the best Trainers/behaviourists in the country. I am sure someone here has his address(email and website). The only other suggestion I can make is to have the NSW Police look at him.......he may be suitable for them and they will work him,giving that brain of his a purpose in life. I hope you haven't taken offence at all this but as a Shepherd person I really feel for your dog. Whatever course of action you take, I hope it works out for the both of you !

Yep, even when they are puppies ,I give my dogs Pork hocks and they love them. Lots of juicy meat on the bone for them to rip off and then they demolish the bones. I don't give them the trotters much though, I prefer to boil those up,boil the goodness out of them and then let the juice cool down in to jelly and pour that over their dinners...........very good for them.

Hahahahaha...........I can believe that !

This is one of my favourite photos of a fantastic dog here in Australia Fax v Grenzganger (spelling)

Nekhbet...........here ya go.....these photos were taken some time ago of my Tenterfield T Poppy doing Schutzhund. She was spot on in the Protection work and an absolute ripper at Car Protection.

Firstly I have to say how shocked I am there are soooo many ignorant ratbag trainers/instructors out there telling people their dogs are untrainable or should be PTS because they themselves don't have all the answers for ALL types of dogs and their problems. As for the Prong............I don't think they're entirely illegal??? I think there is a clause in the legislation that says the collars can be used as an aid for "medical" reasons (?) such as if the dog has a spinal problem.......which is a total contradiction to the supposed reasons why the collars were banned(?) in the first place. That idiot Hugely Wirthless got the collars banned(?) due to his ignorance, HE thought they looked cruel and awful , BUT , most Chiro Vets recommend the collars because they are less stressful on the spine of the dog when the dog is out walking. I have a friend whose dog (GSD) had a hemilaminectomy(spelling?) .....had half of a disc removed from his spine. When her dog fully recovered she used a Prong to walk him as he use to pull like a tank on a slip chain which was doing more damage with the pressure of his pulling,causing him pain and him not enjoying the walk.......but on the prong he he never suffered pain and enjoyed his walks everyday. He lived a further two years than was expected. I also had to use a prong because of a slipped disc problem with my little Mini Foxie. Several times a year I would have to take her to the Vet who would put her on cortisone and tell me to keep her confined to a cage for some weeks. After seeing a chiro Vet ,he recommended I use a prong on her (and yes they do come in "small" size) for her walks which I did and it had now been some years since she has had any problem. What was happening ,prior to my using the prong collar on her, was she was pulling on her flat collar which was placing stress and pressure on her spine causing one of the discs to become inflamed.............but this never happened when she was on the prong. I can't recommend the collars highly enough and I am sure if these collars were the collars recommended and used by all obedience clubs,then most people wouldn't be struggling with training and getting their dogs under control. The dogs basically correct themselves on the collars...........physical corrections are rarely needed.

"Do you think that giving a physical correction is a worse option than euthanasia?" OMG.you are joking I hope?? Compared to death a physical correction is NOTHING and if any of those so called positive trainers think otherwise,then they are the ones who should be PTS. Cosmolo, you seem to have the right attitude to training and you are right ....all dogs are different and one method of training does not work on all dogs. What annoys me are the people ,who have become so tunneled visioned,they can see nothing else but "clicker" ,looking down their noses at anyone else who do not train by this method. They seem to think that if you don't use a clicker you are somehow a bad trainer using negative reinforced "old" methods (what ever that means?) LOL As to head collars..........I don't like them ,apart from the fact dogs find them extremely uncomfortable , these collars are the worst training tool to ever hit the dog world as they are dangerous and can do a lot of damage to the dogs spine. Just picture a 30 to 40 kg dog suddenly lunging forward on one and the owners reaction is to "pull back"...twisting the head back towards the dogs body...........not good !!! IMO these are the collars that should have been banned.

This topic of Prongs has been done soooo many times before so I won't say much other than I am an absolute believer in these collars,they are the most humane collars which should be the only collar used other than a flat collar. I always find it amusing that those people,through ignorance , who are against the use of Prongs are more than happy in the use of Slip Chains and Head Collars,both of which can be dangerous to dogs.

WOW all this negativity towards puppy wonderful excitment and exuberance This is something I have never worried over as all pups do this and I love it. I have also found they grow out of it with time and obedience training. Why don't you try enjoying it by getting down to the pups level, hug him heaps for a minute or two during his jumping then firmly but nicely get him to sit and give him a bicky or some type of treat for doing so and which will occupy him from further jumping . Then each time the pup comes up for a jump, shorten the time for 'hellos' and hugs getting him to sit....then eventually as soon as he comes up to you,get him to sit straight away giving him his reward. Now I suppose I better go and :D

Everyone, I have really enjoyed reading this thread,been in stitches larfing ,mostly because I can relate to the bruising too! K9 Force, You would be the most highly respected person on this forum and your training methods are A1.....methods that have helped sooo many ,including myself, so when it comes to the likes of henryclo & co trying to discredit your methods ,take no notice, cos nobody else does. Personally, I soak up everything K9Force written

Chell, Yep that annoys me too and it is amazing just how many think Schutzhund is "attack" training only and when you mention Obedience and Tracking,they flately refuse to believe it. Only the other day,on another forum,someone stated that Schutzhund is training a dog to attack to "bring a man down". Geeeeez !

Sparty, Tell your father in law not to worry ,Schutzhund is alive and well here in Australia and if he wants to continue the dogs training ,after moving here to OZ, he can, as there are over a dozen clubs operating ,legally, throughout the country......4 of which are here in Victoria. He needs to get in contact with the Australian United Schutzhund Clubs,or if you want to give them a call,they will tell you exactly where Schutzhund stands within Australia. If you get in touch with either Evan Turner or Tom Stewart of the Australian Working Dog Magazine,they will be able to help you. [email protected] or [email protected]

Cactus, you're right,those poor dogs are f*ctus and there are thousands more like that guy........unfortunately.

Zorro, My understanding of the future new Vaccination protocols is, the ages for Vaccination will be at 8 , 12,16 and 20 weeks of age,with a further booster 6 mths later ,resulting in the dog/s being vaccinated for life.

Ohhh your a killjoy Inspector Rex, fancy taking the apple of her......she found it so she shoulda been able to eat it,bird slag and all.............actually it wouldn't have hurt for her to have the apple...........better that than the cat poop,even though dogs do find it a delicacy............YUK ! INDY DOG, why don't you change over to a complete BARF diet for your pup(?) or if you want to keep feeding a good quality dry,then only give it at "one" meal,then feed her raw chicken necks/wings with EITHER some vegies,fruit,yoghurt or offal etc for the other two meals of the day? You don't want to be feeding "balanced" in every meal, it is to high in protien for a growing dog, which is what you do when you feed a high grade commercial dry food . The trick is to feed 'balanced' over a period of time, say over a few days.. For example, you don't eat meat and veg for breakfast,dinner and tea, you eat different things at each meal and different things each day of the week,which adds up to having a balanced diet over the week. The same should be for your dog, balanced diet with varying foods over a few days. For my pups, they had raw meaty chicken necks/hips/wings most days ,but each week ,instead of the chicken ,they would have a whole pork Hock OR half a rabbit or a very meaty raw VEAL bone to chomp on ,along with their juiced vegies,sometimes fruit.........offal twice a week......egg twice a week, sardines in oil once a week etc , yogurt everyday etc. Their diet was balanced over the week.

onya Gillbear, that is soooo good to hear. Fingers X'ed she stays on the up n up

isavis Mine too this year........coats have gone really dull and dry to the touch, all are itchy and have scratched so much around the shoulder/wither area,the hair has actually broken off. I know it's not fleas and I thought they might be lacking some fatty acids, so bought them some Megaderm to add to their diet. I will give the wool wash a go though..........what brand did you use?

My very first Shepherd was very similar in regard to her eating habits. She hated food and to her the thought of eating it was worse By 8 months of age she was so thin, when I walked her people would stop me and say,'why don't you feed your dog.' She had test after test for various things,all came up healthy. Then when she was about 10 months old, she started to chew herself ,front legs,flanks and at the back of her thighs. More tests and they came up with the skin problem, Pemphigus,not uncommon in GSDs. She was prescribed cortisone,which she had to stay on her entire life and it not only helped her skin, it also helped with her appetite. As long as she was on the drug,she ate. gillbear, I am not saying your dog has this or should be on cortisone for the appetite, but maybe there is a deep seated physical problem with the dog that the Vets haven't picked up yet.

Goosco57, Interesting read,but did you know the majority of Vets get their nutritional knowledge from commercial dog food reps. I feed my dogs BARF and have done so for years and I have read quite a bit from experts on nutrition,in particular BARF ,such as Drs. Peter Lonsdale and Ian Billinghurst. I also read an article some years ago that stated.....that since commercial foods have been in existance , canine cancers have increased .

Interesting topic guys ! I know the medi honey works magic on humans,but after reading all your replies, I will definately be getting some to use on the dogs.

When i was grooming, my pet hates were some of the owners and the excuses they would give. They must have thought I was stupid to believe some of the excuses they gave as to why their dogs were in such a disgusting condition. For example...... I had one woman with an OES that she would have done once a year......clipped off to the skin because of the felted matted mess the poor dogs coat was in , dags hanging from its bum,urine burnt skin............and the excuse given........"Oh, he got out for a few days and came home looking like that." Duhhh...YEAH RIGHT ! Most of the dogs I did were pretty good but there were some breeds that I had a few probs with. American Cockers.........*#@*# coat texture and thick on many of them and crappy temperaments. Black and white poodles, I had 4 on the books and all had nasty temperaments towards everybody, including their owners.

I did 15 years of Grooming.........worked from home to start with,then had a shop for about 2 years and after the owners of the shop sold it, I decided to go Mobile and as far as I know I was the very first Mobile service in Melb.

Megzz, How lovely of you and thankyou