RuralPug

I hear you - he would make a great pets as therapy dog, but won't be allowed unless he will sit on command etc. You are aiming for PAT, so need a good sit. Training him to sit etc. the first thing to realise is it won't make any difference that he was a show dog. It is not unusual for people who have had great success training Dog A to be confused when size or learning style of Dog B creates a need for an amended training style - perhaps this is happening to you? It is simply that you are not luring him correctly to offer the behaviour you want to reward. It might be that his height is awkward for you when holding the treat - think of it as more getting his head and eyes to go back which will automatically mean either rump down or backing (rear against wall stops the the latter). So think about the shape of his head when deciding where to hold the treat - probably if you are holding above his nose rather than above the top of his head, there will not be any incentive for his rear to go down to access the treat. If he is a reluctant sitter, you may need to start by shaping the behaviour as detailed already by others. Another thing to try is it doesn't hurt to mark and praise if you see a behaviour that you want to the dog to reproduce on command. Not all dogs can learn this way, but many can. Whenever you see the dog sitting of his own accord for whatever reason, you need to get his attention (not over excitedly LOL or you'll lose the behaviour that you wanted to mark) name the behaviour ("Sit!") mark ("Yes!" or clicker or tongue click) and praise and reward. This works well with dogs that are indoors with their owners pretty much 24/7. You need to understand the mark and praise rather than just just the "O Clever boy! Good Boy!" which, if coming out of nowhere, won't help him to work out just what he has done right. Finally, dogs can learn by watching other dogs. When Joe and Sue and Curly receive a treat for sitting down each morning, and I start fostering Rex who is untrained, I will often find that on the third or fourth morning Rex will sit too!! Of course, he gets a reward as well if that happens! So it may be worthwhile attending your local obedience club - not only can the trainers give you advice, they will most probably lend you a trained dog who will accept rewards for sit from you whilst your setter watches...

I haven't actually experienced this in dogs but it is not uncommon in native owls (particularly Tawny Frogmouths) and brushtail possums who have eaten the intermediate host (slugs and snails, who are infected by eating the faeces of infected rats.) It is also not unknown in flying foxes. The only information that I could find on treatment in dogs in Australia was this snippet from an elderly Wildlife Health Network paper (2009 is my copy) which stated: " In puppies,betamethasone (1-2 mg/kg orally or by injection) was effective in reducing the severity ofclinical signs in the initial 2-16 days after developing paresis and was also very effective inlessening the residual damage left at 32 days (Mason 1987)." If your vet wishes to source the base papers by Mason, they are quoted as: Mason KV. Canine neural angiostrongyliasis: the clinical and therapeutic features of 55natural cases. Aust Vet J 1987,64:201-203. Mason KV, Prescott CW, Kelly WR, Waddell AH. Granulomatous encephalomyelitis ofpuppies due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Aust Vet J 1976;52:295. But one would hope that more recent studies have been done and are available. Have just found a 2012 paper which cites 2002 - 2005 studies on this parasite in dogs in Australia (comparing their survey with Mason's earlier study) and , cutting to the the chase, it looks as though success rate is quite good and turning point will be observed within a few days of treatment commencing although the treatment may need to continue for a few months. So this is the paper to check out (which I found online here): Twenty two cases of canine neural angiostronglyosis in eastern Australia (2002-2005) and a review of the literature. The only odd note is that it seems unusual for cases to occur outside of the time slot April to July, although nowhere is it stated that other times are impossible. Hope this helps and I hope your pup recovers well.

I scrub the deck down with Biozet washing powder - one scoop dissolved in a bucket of warm water. I pour this into a kitty litter tray and constantly dip the broom (outdoor broom) into this. No trace of a smell afterwards, as the water drips down through the deck into the soil underneath and cleans that too. I use the same mix for any spot cleaning that is needed, and save the expensive stuff for any needs indoors. I've never tried it on concrete, but I don't see why it wouldn't work there too.

Sad to say, but the majority of breeders who breed with the first goal of selling to the companion market tend to be puppy farmers and/or backyard breeders. I am sure there must be SOME breeders out there who do this ethically, but the only ones I have ever met are those whose first goal is really in breed development, so they are really breeding for themselves first just like "show" breeders, so there is not much difference really. Unfortunately, if you want mass production, then ethics and careful breeding seem to go out the window. Don't get confused with super-dooper top winning dogs, this is not all that registered ethical breeders produce. The best purebred pets come from show breeders as most of the litter from an ethical breeder will often be unsuitable for the show ring, but are much more likely to be healthy, well-socialised and reasonable breed specimens when compared with unethically bred and raised puppy farm victims or backyard bred randoms. Show dogs are actually family pets who get to compete in the confirmation ring!

SQUAWK!!!!

I have this in a jigsaw puzzle. Landseer did wonderful work, and of course his name is still attached to the pied Newfoundlands that he painted so well!

Agreed, the captions are truly odd, but the artworks are lovely. Thanks for sharing!

Do please let us know the vet diagnosis. Yes, keep her as quiet as possible - I thought knee joint at first, but the speshul sit at the end of the video was quite worrying...

Please let us know it goes and whether (in due course) her learning through that gadget translates to loose lead walking on a martingale or flat collar....

I'd like to ask how long is the lead you are using? Is there a way to shorten the leash so that he doesn't have enough extra leash to cross in front of your mobility device? I understand that this breed can be quite stubborn, which is why I haven't automatically advocated getting someone to train the dog to walk quietly on a loose lead at their side, and then transfer this training to the mobility scooter, which would probably be the best method.

Am totally loving this conversation. It is great to learn more about the science, and quite a lot of interesting points. I maybe now will be happier to clip a mostly indoor dog on request and will continue to try to convince owners with outdoor dogs to let me thin out the undercoat without touching the topcoat. Lhok, that was a great point about the dingo, I had known that Alpine and Desert dingoes are double coated and that Tropical dingoes are single coated but I had never before thought to see the relevance to the clip vs thin argument. That is the clincher for me, natural selection over 30,000 years is most likely to get it right.

espinay and DeltaCharlie thank you so much for those images - I have stored them and will be using them the next time there is an argument. Pugs are a double coated SHORT coated breed and sometimes owners shave them claiming they are cooler (sigh) when the real reason is that owners simply can't be bothered removing dead undercoat and they think that shaving will limit shedding (it doesn't, the shed hairs are just shorter, itchier and spikier LOL).

LOL it is not uncommon that the pup that the breeder kept for themselves to show, turns out not quite right and is quietly rehomed as a pet some months later, while one of the "pet quality" pups that went to a great home is seens around the same time and the breeder tries to talk the owners into showing because that one is now fantastic. In spite of puppy puzzle and heaps of experience, even the most knowledgeable breeder can be caught out and most probably have been at some stage. If you want a guaranteed show dog then buy an adult that is already winning. Sorry for the bad news, but that is the way it is. Puppies are a gamble - you can reduce the odds by carefully choosing an honest and knowledgeable breeder and then waiting for the one that your breeder says is the best pick, but there is still no guarantee.

Yep Ballarat on a Wednesday is super easy! RSPCA Gillies Street is fine, I assume you don't mean RSPCA Pets Place in Sebastopol, although I could arrange that if you like. I always insist on a two week trial to make sure that the adoption is going to fit into the home - if you want want a longer trial given the sort of "work" he will be (happily!) doing, a longer trial can be negotiated. :) You should have my email - we can swap mobile phone numbers via email and text for meeting time etc.

Patience with pullers - you have to out-stubborn them! Best method I have found (although you have to steel yourself against feeling embarrassed, so what if the neighbours think you are crazy?? LOL) is whenever they pull, stop dead and reverse, walking quickly in the opposite direction. You will get giddy at first, because then they race ahead to pull in that direction, so you need to constantly about face (often your strolls cover about ten miles in ten feet LOL.) I like to put on offended body language when they pull, but not make a sound, just stop and instantly reverse but praise happily and treat for the split second they are on a loose lead while catching up. You have to start walking fairly quickly but once they have the idea of a loose leash it is best to vary your gait from fast to slow. In your case you will want to find the best show gait for each pup anyway, so getting them to gait on a loose lead at various speeds is ideal, as the best speed for each pup may vary until maturity. Sometimes zigzagging madly will make a puller stop and think and start to watch more carefully where you are going instead of where they want to go but it looks even crazier than the constant stop and reverse!

I don't bat an eyelid when I see that a responsible, ethical breeder is charging what Joe Public might think is a huge price for a puppy, because I know exactly how much money that breeder has spent already on sound broodstock, health tests, writing off broodstock that hasn't passed the health tests, quality feeding and husbandry, time and money spent in studying the breed and participating in performance or conformation etc. etc. etc. What gripes me is when a BYB or puppy farmer with substandard broodstock, and substandard, even cruel, conditions and total lack of care and backup for puppies produced, charges the same damn price OR MORE!!!. That is truly a rip-off to the puppy buyer, especially when they cross-breed without giving a single thought to future health and well-being. It is up to the purchasers to INVESTIGATE each and every breeder. If they are offering puppies at below the current average breed price, find out WHY before you buy. Same goes if they are charging a lot more for certain colours which seems rife these days.

I'll send you a PM. I may have a good candidate. :) Your profile is not accepting PM's ATM. Oh well, nothing to be ashamed of - here it is for all to see. ETA - oops, just realised - email sent. Hi I have little Rocko, a smooth coated pied small terrier mix. He is 100% terrier, (I haven't found an indoor foster home for him yet, so he is outdoors in a run here during the day, and crated indoors at night.) He was surrendered from a farm due to a lifestyle change of his owners. Chases sticks and sometimes balls, LOVES to run and play chase with other dogs. Great with other dogs (his best mate here formerly was a BullArab ten times his size that he bossed about LOL.) He is kept with another similar sized broken coated terrier ATM (not offering that one as he chases livestock so I will only place in an urban home.) 3 yo Rocko is desexed, vaccinated, wormed and chipped of course. I haven't advertised him yet as he is not yet completely house trained (nearly there). Bad habits - he raids the cat litter trays for nuggets and gets overly excited with birds and possums and noisily "trees" them LOL. He has caught a couple of field mice for me so I wouldn't trust him with small furries either. He will chase cats if they run and if he thinks I am not watching LOL. Will check and see if I have a pic somewhere. I am west of Ballarat but happy to meet in Melbourne on a weekend for interview and for you to meet Rocko. Adoption fee Is $200. Let me know if you are interested. Edited again to add the only pics I have of him ATM: LOL looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth in these pics - very misleading as he is very terrier!! LOL

This was Sonya with the Sammy right? None of the Ballarat vets carry paralysis tick antitoxin so she had to race the bitch down to Melbourne for treatment. (Bitch is ok now, heart may have been affected a little but she will live. :) ). I did ask if she had been interstate for shows recently, she said no not for months, and that particular bitch had been indoors for the last two weeks (season or maternity duties, I forget which). She did say that they attend a large regional obedience club each week with another dog, so possibly picked up the tick from there. We are all hoping like mad that these little beasties have not mutated into a frost-proof variety. Years ago, heartworm was unknown in Victoria except on the Murray, but it is carried by mozzies in most areas here now.

Australia is also considered the country of development for the Border Collie. If Koolies ever gain ANKC status, they will make a fifth working group breed (counting ACDs and Stumpy Tailed ACDs as separate breeds. :)

Oh I agree with you DM in principle, which is why I said I what I did. And to date, I haven't heard a single thing more from the (known to me and quite sensible) third party who was screaming for emergency help on behalf of the foster carer. Which I hope means that the situation has now found some sort of solution. (Still waiting after following up). It is not uncommon that a badly bred Pug (especially if ignorantly owned by surrenderers) will have multiple health problems that are very, very expensive to fix. And it has happened that non-breed wise rescues have excitedly accepted such a surrender of a popular breed and then been aghast to discover that they will need to find multiple thousands of dollars for health fixes before the dog is adoptable. Of course the sensible thing to do is to transfer the surrender to a specialist breed rescue who can and will meet those costs, but sometimes the sensible thing just doesn't happen. I was told that this bitch needed "either a new rescue or a new carer". And that the current carer's dog was suffering badly from the foster bitch's attitude. Which made me suspect that the rescue is over its head in this case, needs time and doesn't have alternate foster carers available - that being the case, they may well be quite happy for a breed savvy rescue to step in or for a new foster carer to stick their hand up. All assumptions on my part - maybe they just don't have any spare carers, or maybe, worst case scenario) a moonlit flit has happened, in which case a common sense investigation followed by a stat dec should sort the chipping out.

Agree with the others and add that it would not hurt to ensure that any trigger odours are totally removed by cleaning the spots with an enzyme cleaner such as Nature's Miracle or Urine Off. If you have access to a black light that detects invisible biological trigger stains then you can just use diluted white vinegar to clean until the black light shows that the stain has gone.

Don't panic. Long story short - if he has plenty of energy and nice firm stools, and has not been subject to distraction (fun game in another room or something) then not finishing the odd meal now and again in the set time his bowl or carcass part is down, then all it means is that his hunger is satisfied and he doesn't feel any need to eat further. No problem. Energy requirements in growing dogs WILL vary and you have a great dog who does not feel the need to stuff his face except when he is hungry - bonus! If he declines all food for 48 hours (assuming no other symptoms) then you go right ahead and panic.

I've just been asked for details of pug rescue in NSW. I advised them Denise at Paws and then Pugs SOS, and then was told it was really really urgent because the bitch just didn't get along with the male pug she had been fostered with. Whoa!! I said, this needs to be sorted with the rescue that she was surrendered to. Long story, they said, she needs a new rescue... I don't know any further details as yet, but just in case it turns out to be a rescue that has folded I'm putting the word out ASAP for a foster carer - obviously one with the means to separate dogs or with no other dogs just to be on the safe side. At this stage I am waiting for information on vetwork status while an appropriate new rescue is sourced. So this MIGHT be a very very temporary foster, then hand over to the new rescue's foster, or the temp foster could apply to foster her under the new rescue. Of course, it also might be that the current foster carer doesn't get along with the current rescue who will supply their own alternative foster carer... I have heard of that happening too and I won't be assuming anything without making my best attempts to contact the rescue that was was surrendered to. This 6yo was a private surrender and not through a pound, so probably won't need strict quarantine. "Very bossy" is the description, hasn't been behavior assessed yet as far as I know. Currently in the southwestern suburbs of Sydney. I know that seeking emergency foster care BEFORE finding a rescue seems like putting the cart before the horse, but I am back up rescue if all else fails. And please don't ask me for details of the rescue involved - remember it MIGHT be the foster carer that has the problem, not the rescue. I will update in general terms as I get more info but I don't believe in naming and shaming as a general rule.

Hand stripping, then finishing off with a little knife stripping will keep your terrier looking it's very best. For ideas on method, try googling for terrier stripping - you will want something more like a Border Terrier finish than a Fox terrier finish though. The very best way of all is to find a JRT exhibitor near you who is willing to let you watch and learn while they prepare a dog. I have a bunch of stripping knives that someone backed out on buying, if you're looking for some. Ooops I probably should NOT mention that on an ordinary forum page

I guarantee you that almost everyone in rescue for any length of time has met serial puppy owners exactly like this. Not cute, too hard to manage, its out with the old and in with the new. I have met them. They are real. Not a hoax. Dogs are disposable items to them.