RuralPug

Those boys had to clamber over an outer perimeter fence AND a house yard fence on the property. (Gates were padlocked).Yes, they were trespassing, and armed, just why was never raised. The dogs owner felt that they had been punished enough when the dog finally turned on them after being stabbed several times. But she was devastated that the AUTOMATIC response was to declare the dog dangerous with absolutely no avenue of appeal. I am not clear on whether some of those stab wounds were caused by arrow shot and some by knife I suspect it was a mixture. This is not about individual people or individual dogs, this is about changing the law so that a victim is not being automatically punished for defending him/herself against grievous bodily harm. How would you feel if it was your dog in that situation? If your dog was stabbed repeatedly in his own yard by intruders and finally cornered? Would you accept that he had to be thereafter muzzled and caged? Or would you expect him to accept the extreme pain and torture without defending himself? I know where I stand on the matter.

I've been a member of Kodi's Army for about six months now. Sharing all the ups and downs of Vicki and Kodi as this formerly well-socialised boy struggled with trauma from the attack and having to be caged and muzzled when his owner was at work, rather than roaming the house yard as he did before. In spite of every sort of treatment, he could not recover and tragically had to be given final peace recently. We are all bereft and will work harder then ever to ensure that the laws in Tasmania are altered so that each case can be judged on its own merits rather than a blanket response of a dangerous dog order. We don't want what happened to Kodi to ever be repeated.

I'm with you. The dog is definitely uncomfortable. My guess is that he knows he is not permitted to harm the bird and is unhappy about that. I really don't see him as joyously playing with the bird, or even being protective of it. I don't feel that there is strong prey drive happening here, just wanting to be rid of a pest? Or am I drawing too long a bow?

... just what you think. Dog loves hummingbird

I used to prepare cockers for the ring and never used clippers - it was all hand and scissor thinning. Of course that was many decades ago and clipper combs are available these days for more than just poodles. I do clip pet cockers these days. I was just blown away a bit by the thought of clipping Brits (which look to have less coat than cockers) for show hmmm might be showing my age LOL Here's a thought - thinning scissors come in all shapes and sizes, why not just start out with a standard pair of double sided (e.g. Wahl 6.5" available from Clipperworld for about $60). The standard type will take a little bit more elbow grease than the super expensive graduated ones, but since you only need to do one dog right now that shouldn't really be an issue for you. In later years, if you have to prepare several at once for showing them maybe you could buy a dearer pair - but I would have thought that you could get excellent ones for around $200 - $250 a pair. $400 seems a tad over the top to me? Just my 2 cents!

I like this blog re raising two puppies - lots of hints here: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_1/features/Problems-Adopting-Two-Puppies-At-Once_16190-1.html

!00% agree with TSD on this but would just like to add that while varying placement of pens etc I personally would always ensure that the two, when home alone can always see each other. Two pens is really handy because they can share one pen while you are cleaning the other (I have a 12 week old high drive breed here ATM and she likes to help me clean her pen each morning AAARGH!) Poodles, as a general rule, need a LOT more stimulation than Cavs and are very quick to figure things out - often these are things that you don't want them to figure out like how to climb right out of a pen and other unexpected discoveries! You probably have a few weeks up your sleeve before you need to work really hard with her, but I would be definitely budgeting much more time than your cav needed. Can't help with recommendations for a Brisbane based trainer, but I'm sure someone will chime in! Good luck and yes hard work but well worth the effort!

What a tease!!! Must we wait for two weeks for puppy pics or can you share some now????

Let me try that again... Bummer. Pink embarrassed man came briefly back to work (see above) but has gone walkabout again. Ah, well, third world problems - not worth worrying about

OOOOH Thank you @Troy! Look who we have back now:

In the Find Emoticons box under the display, if you type in embarrassed, the pink embarrassed man shows up but click and he posts as the yellow geezer LOL

Well then he shouldn't be an option in the emoticon menu anymore, or he should have a different name or something! Hopefully @Troy can sort it out! Pretty please?

Thanks PK - I didn't bother to check the link or I might have realised and checked the date on the previous comment. Oh heck -why does it post this weird yellow guy when I'm trying to post this embarassed pink guy? Ok I give up! Pink guy from the emoticon menu keeps morphing!

https://www.petrescue.com.au/listings/509668 This dog is only available in Victoria, so not sure if that helps.

Another thought is that Nina from Golden Oldies Animal Rescue might know of someone in need. She is just out of hospital at the moment, so be patient if she doesn't respond immediately.

Easy to do this with his existing coat - just add velcro (dots for light coats, tape for heavier ones) so that you can turn up the coat at the hem over the back hip(s) and fasten it higher up. When not outdoors the "flap(s)" you created can be un-velcroed and let down again. If the dog always lifts the same leg, you will only need to do a flap on one side. If he likes to mix it up, do both sides.

Nine times out of ten they do grow into them. There are some breeds with huge erect ears compared with their head size (e.g. Pharaoh Hound) and the pictures of pups are stunning - you would think that they could hear a whisper on the next planet!

She is a genuine Cuddlehound! Kelpie pups of that age have similar oversized ears, she will grow into them. No telling what the mix is - it is actually against forum guidelines to ask here, just enjoy her as the unique mix that she is.

Given your background, you might be an appropriate owner for a Belgian Shepherd Malinois, ears are erect so would would not need to put a puppy through the unnecessary pain of ear cropping and tail is similar to the dingo and red-nose that you have already had. The Malinois is, these days, the most commonly used police and armed services breed worldwide but they do require a dedicated owner to keep them on track. Just a suggestion. Just curious - you said both of your previous dogs had erect ears. Did you import your red-nose then, as ear cropping has never been permitted in Australia?

I haven't read the education booklet (got my prefix in the 70s before exams) but the first thing that comes to mind is that recessive factors will only ever be expressed when there is not a dominant to screen them. You must get two copies of a recessive before it can be expressed. Google mendelian genetics to get a good understanding of this, Just realised this is in the wrong forum - I'll ask for it to be moved.

Have you considered joining your local obedience club? These clubs are not just for people who trial their dogs competitively - there are a lot of first time dogs owners learning how to train their dogs to just a responsible level. There are once a week classes for as long as you need.

This is not uncommon. Firstly, there is no feeding prior to surgery right? So there is very little in the intestinal tract when the surgery is done. Plus the anaesthetics and pain killers often have a mild constipation effect.It can be up to four or five days before they works their bowels again. By all means phone the vet, to put your own mind at ease,

It really is best for family members to be trained in how to educate the dog. This is because dogs aren't computer programs, they are more like kids and are as smart as kids. So they might learn a whole heap of lessons - but what good is a dog that is only obedient to the trainer and ignores the family because they don't know how to reinforce? The dog will soon be ignoring them. Your in house trainer was correct, in my opinion. Sending a dog away and receiving a robot back is a very common misconception that a few "training academies" exploit. But it doesn't happen, you might get back a machine that needs constant expensive maintenance by the "trainers". But you don't wan't a robot - you want a family member whose behaviour you can be proud of - and that will mean that you need to learn how to give instructions and rewards, and how to read your dog's body language. Learning to train your dog is worth the minor effort it takes, and your dog will really bond with you as well.

Fingers crossed that it stays that way! Chances are (you've got her this far without drama so if you keep on doing what you are doing) that you'll get her all of the way through! Good job!

Would you recommend this dog to someone wanting to train him for dog sports? I take it he will need either an experienced owner or one who is willing to put the effort in to learn along with the dog? Or should we wait until you've assessed him before we spread the word to dog sports obsessed friends?