monkeytrunks

I go past that road a bit and if it is the property I am thinking of, it is a house on its own surrounded by bush. It is a semi-rural there. It would have been pretty dark. I have seen a bloody big dog out the front of this property before having a snooze in the sun and if this was the one attacking the K9, shooting it would have been the only way to stop it. It was huge! And there was another dog as well. It would have been a very frightening experience indeed.

I agree that if the dogs don't bark at them the kids are going to be less inclined to tease them. But my problem is that if I keep both dogs away from the fence line the kids will be more able to hang over if nothing is there to stop them. When I put in the second fence I caught them sitting on the fence 'cause the dog couldn't reach them. The Father also tried to jump the fence to thump my Husband. The Father tried to punch the Bullmastiff. The Bullmastiff is rightfully wanting to defend his property and a bit sensitive if he hears the fence rattling now. It seems unfair to stop him using the backyard when he has done nothing wrong. But I know I will have to enclose him because I am someone who will do the "right thing" and I am the responsible one that can see what will happen if things continue like this! These kids are not regular kids you would be happy to have interacting with your dogs. They have done damage in the neighbourhood in the past and I do not want to encourage my dogs to be accepting of them in any way! But yes it is beyond that now anyway. And yes the Father is a tool. I feel guilty selling the house knowing some one else will have to put up with him. My strategy will have to be to raise the fence where the kids are teasing them. If I make it difficult for them to get to/and see the dogs and lessen the ability of the fence to rattle I think that will help. If I take the Bullmastiff out of the equation and put him down the other side of the house when we go out I think that will help too. I don't want to spend too much cash 'cause ultimately what we spend now we can't use to get outta here. Oh well, at least life around here is not boring at the moment...

You are right about the order. The kids in the past have hung over the fence, but now what they do is just rattle the top of it or bang on it from their side - at least that is what is happening while I am home. It may even be the Father doing it. It is hard to explain but it is like they bang it every now and then - just once not to make it obvious they are doing it so I can't ring the Police and complain if you know what I mean. They would just say they were doing something on their side and accidently hit the fence. Lets just say that as soon as I brought the dog inside all of the noise stopped. I will speak to the Officer I dealt with on Monday though to see what I can do. I am going to get a camera to catch them and in the meantime I am going to have a word to my other neighbours. I may be able to get them to ring the Police every time they hear the dog barking and that may help my case.

We got the Violence Restraining Order against the Father mainly because we were concerned he could bait one of the dogs. I said as much in court. We are sure the only thing that stopped the Father jumping the fence and thumping my Husband was the fact the Bullmastiff kept jumping up at him. I know you can never say a dog will "attack" someone to defend you unless he has been trained to do so but my dog gave a pretty good impression of it! He wasn't letting him over. My Daughters witnessed the event and they feel safe thinking that the Bullmastiff won't let him over - whatever the reality may or may not be. I don't think the Father would bait the dog though - if it happened it would be pretty obvious who it was. I think they will be more sly, teasing them when we are not here. I will have to just leave him inside, and leave the Dobe out. Not the best situation, but if there is no dog at all I just would not trust that the kids would not come over the fence. I think we will have to get a camera. At least then we will have proof. We are not in the best financial situation - especially as the real estate market for selling here is not especially good. But you gotta do what you gotta do! This street is the best though! Everyone is lovely and the kids can walk to school, but we got saddled with the problem neighbour who is not going anywhere and who makes it crap for everyone else.

Thanks for the advice. I have rung the Ranger on a previous occasion and they weren't particularly helpful. Their opinion was that if I am aware of my dog barking the onus is on me to do something about it. If someone is teasing my dogs I need to contact the Police. I have done this on occasion to have some kind of official record that the teasing has been happening. Not much that can be done from there though. I keep a diary of the teasing too so that if someone does complain I can say to the Ranger I am doing all I can do on my side of the fence, but I cannot control the Neighbour deliberately making them bark! I just don't get how they get their jollies out of it!

Hi All. I have a bit of a situation I need some different perspectives on please! I have two dogs - a male Bullmastiff and a female Dobermann. We (me, Hubby and two kids) have lived in this house for six years and over this time have had the occasional problem with one neighbours kids teasing our dogs. We have in the past spoken with these neighbours to sort it and the problem was intermittent enough that it wasn't too much of an issue. However the kids are getting older and their behaviour more anti-social. The teasing behaviour is becoming more common and the Father has become abusive towards us. This culminated a few weeks ago with me taking photos of his kid hanging over the fence (they always say "it wasn't us" so I was getting proof) and when he told his Dad the Dad got up on the dividing fence and threatened violence against us. He spat on the Bullmastiff and tried to punch him when the dog kept jumping up on the fence towards him. Now we have a restraining order against him but the problem still remains. I think they (including the Father) now slyly bang the fence every now and then to get the Bullmastiff to bark. My problem is the Bullmastiff jumps on the fence when this happens and he is sure to damage it. The fence has been protected from him a bit by a second shorter fence we have put up previously but this also sort of encourages the neighbours behaviour 'cause they know he can't get at them if they hang over! I have no idea why they want to tease a dog big enough that could break through the fence given enough motivation - it is not in that good a condition! Clearly we are planning to sell and move, but this is going to take some time so what advice do you all have for the mean time? The dogs are outside dogs (I am allergic to one and my daughter the other - go figure) but the only way I can see to diffuse the situation is to treat the neighbours like dogs and make sure they don't get a reward for bad behaviour - make sure the Bullmastiff is kept somewhere they cannot tease him and this may be inside somehow. The Bullmastiff seems to really want to get them - or at least acts very convincingly that he does - and this is another worry. His temperament has not changed towards us or our visitors (he had a visit to school the other day and behaved like the prefect gentleman with the kids and Mums) but he seems more sensitive and aggressive in reaction to the noises next door and I cannot help but be concerned for what could happen if this continues. I am not concerned about the Dobe at this time as the Bullmastiff is very protective as his role as the "defender" of the property and does not let her get involved. What do you all think (besides "glad it's not me" ) I can do?

You are right. In the article he invites pedigree dog breeders to contact the magazine to give their opinion. Starting an discussion/arguement with him gives his opinions value, and we know they don't have any!

Someone's watching Don for signs of Alzheimer's...right? My folks have a subscription. I agree 100% with Poodlefan. That's why I didn't start a threat although it p**sed me off no end. The article does come across as a bit of a biased rave based on his opinion rather than fact. He did sound like a bit of a nutter! I did wonder how his rant about how pet shops and puppy farms being fine sat with Dr Chris Brown who also writes for the magazine....

I have the latest edition of "Burkes Backyard". You should see the article in that about Pedigree Breeders being the problem and how fantastic pet shops and puppy farms are! I've been waiting for this discussion!

Thanks heaps for the replies and support. Fantastic to hear from a fellow Dobie owner too. My girl is only 4, but she is not really full on active like most Dobes (although she does love doing zoomies) so I am hoping her temperament will help her recovery heaps. I have heaps of those Bunnings wire cages so plan to restrict her using those. And no playing with her boisterous mate for some time! I plan to have a good talk with the Vet Monday once my head has cleared a bit so that I understand it all. I did do a search of the surgery before I posted and that is partly why I was further flummoxed. Everyone was talking about different types of cruciate surgery and I wasn't sure which procedure my dog was up for. Either way I will get more info on Monday and appreciate you sharing your experiences in the meantime.

We just got home from two weeks of a blissful, peaceful holiday to find that when we picked up our dogs from the boarding kennel there had been a little accident that morning. Apparently when they were washing my dogs - a male Bullmastiff and female Dobermann - the dogs were playing afterwards and the 53kg male barrelled full on into the 32kg female and injured her hind leg. We took her straight to the vet and now she is booked in to get a cruciate ligament repair surgery on Thursday. I admit I was and still am in shock about the whole thing, especially as we also got home to a smashed window and a heap of unpleasantness involved with that. I even walked straight outof the vets forgetting to pay the bill. After searching various sites I am even more confused about the surgery than before. I am going to see the Vet Monday and have a bit of a discussion about it all (and pay the bill!) and would like a little advice and direction about the questions I need to ask! I keep reading about the different types of procedures and I don't know which one is the one my dog is going to have!!! Do I need to crate her or can she be restricted to a small pen? Don't judge my vet badly as she did take the time to explain some of it at the time and they have all been fantastic since but I really was that devastated and shocked it just went in one ear and out the other! Especially when I realised how bad the injury was and how much it was going to cost! It was just horrible seeing my dog so happy to see us and obviously so hurt. :p

Two questions for two BM people specifically. Ravensmyst00 - Is there a term for the colouring of the dog in your little pic? I love the look of the pale underside of this dog in contrast to the darker top. Can you post a full picture? He/she is beautiful! Kaffy Magee - I have a female Dobermann and a male Bull Mastiff and I know you have the opposite arrangement (and a lot more of them) How do you find they get on? I find the BM to be the boss - but you know how pushy Dobes are - I can't help thinking it may be a better arrangement to have the one you have next time. My last Dobe was a male and a lot more laid back than the bitch I have now. They get on well and she accepts he is the boss but still constantly has to try her luck to see what she can get away with him!

I will have to do some more checking out of the Advance range - you all may be right and I may have previously picked up the wrong bag. Or maybe there is such thing as a Large breed bag and a separate Large/giant breed one? I will have another scout out this weekend. I chucked him some more of the kibble before and it is just mind blowing the way he just swallows it! It must scratch going down I was more worried about bloat if he swallows this stuff and then has a drink and it swells to much in his stomach. Is that possible? I am not worried about his teeth - he gets bones from the butcher and his teeth are sparkly white! I work in the dental industry and that is one thing I keep an eye on - no fear there! The butcher I buy my bones from always gives me a look because I only buy bones - never meat! I only get the cheap stuff for us from the supermarket - the dogs eat better than we do LOL He does tend to eat fast but I slow him down by having chunks in it - or stopping him for a break (sit, down etc) halfway through. My last dog was so bad I used to put a heavy ball thing in the middle so she had to eat around it. Used to slow her down heaps.

When I opened the bag and saw the kibble size I did think that it was great because he does tend to eat too fast and I thought the size would slow him down. It doesn't!! He doesn't chew them - he swallows them whole! No teeth used during the process at all! :rolleyes: Seriously cannot be good for him to do that! I have bought the adult about a year ago (mistakenly bought instead of the puppy one) and it was the same size as the puppy. That was why I got such a shock it had changed so radically.

My Bullmastiff has reached the age where I can buy "adult" dog food for him. I have just done that - buying the large/giant breed Advance bag . When I opened it, instead of the little-ish pellets, there were these huge biscuits at least a couple of centimetres wide! My computer is mucking about so I can't get on the Advance site - so when did this happen? I usually feed the kibble softened with water and with mince and veggies so it is not too much of a drama there, but sometimes I just like to chuck him a handfull. I can't do that with these though because he hoovers them down without chewing them (very surprising considering their size) and that just cannot be good for him! Has anyone else noticed this and does it bother you too? Looks like I might be on the lookout for a new kibble!

Thanks for all the replies I have been really thinking about the issue today and they only seem to have problems when bones are given to them. When they have their dinner it is always given in their bowls and they have to sit and wait to be commanded to eat. They have been fed in opposite areas of the yard - but in the same area and there has never been any aggro or attempt by him to steal her food. I can hand feed them treats side by side without any jostling or grumpiness whatsoever. Now I think about it though when I feed them bones I tend to chuck them in the back yard and I guess that would trigger a bit of an instinct in him to get as many of them as he can and get aggressive with her to that end. When they had the fight yesterday it was over the potential of food. I guess I have to give their bones to them in the regimented way that I give them their dinner and remove the grab for them. He is not competing with her for dominance in any way otherwise. I am just very antsy as I am holding off desexing him until he has grown (as suggested for large dog breeds) and I have never had a dog entire this long before! :cool: Thanks again for the suggestions - I will be taking a few of them up to try and get the situation sorted.

I have an eight month old male Bullmastiff puppy and a nearly three year old desexed female Dobermann. Today they had a short savage biffo that concerned me quite a bit and I would like some advice from you all! They get along very well and play quite a bit. He is quite happy to be the under dog (although the hormones kicking in may change that shortly) at the moment and even lets her drag him along by the side of his face when they play fight. However food is an issue. He is hyper food orientated and protective of it (from her not me). I feed them separately and they do not eat anything ever unless given a command to. She never cared too much for food until he arrived. She would turn up her nose all the time at whatever she was served - no longer - she eats all in front of her! Today they had a biffo after I came home (with their bones from the butcher) and I think they fought over who got to smell the bottom of the pram where the bones had been which had been left at the back door when we went inside. I split them up by throwing a kids chair at them in a panic (first thing I could grab) and he had left a mark on her neck I chucked him in his crate for a bit of a time out - it was the only think I could think to do! She may have started it - I didn't see - but he didn't back down and did the damage! They have had serious fights ( that I have witnessed ) only two other times - but this one was a bit more dinkum and I thought I'd better break it up. Should I be worried and is there more I can do? Obviously I have children so I am concerned that they are not in harms way. The children are always supervised around the dogs or the dogs fenced away from them, and they never have food around the dogs or are around the dogs when they have bones and such to prevent problems. I have been holding off desexing him until he has stopped growing (12mths) but if it will help with preventing the aggro I will take him tomorrow!!! What do you all think?

Eeeewww! Mental note: move dog bowl to where I DO want him to pee!

Is it at all significant that he is deliberately peeing right near his bowl after eating? Is he just not getting it or am I looking at the beginnings of a dominant boy who just wants to mark everywhere?

Please more advice needed!!! We have fenced off the entire patio area he was peeing in and scrubbed it all down. He is only allowed in when supervised. He is crated at night and never wees/poos in his bed. However he is refusing to get not going to the loo in the patio area! He sometimes breaks into the area when we are not home and goes to the toilet there. The worst thing is that I separate my female dog from him when they eat - as he is VERY food orientated - he has taken to finishing his meal (outside the patio area and she is inside it ) and then piddling right near his bowl. Any suggestions to tackle the situation very appreciated. He will shortly being wearing the kids nappies if he doesn't start going where he is supposed to!

Thanks all for the great tips. I will be spending the rest of the weekend with bicarb and soda scrubbing! Yippee for me! :D And I am glad someone else mentioned the possibility of it maybe being a yukky boy-thing. When I he sat down that day and then decided he may as well do a whizz while he was comfortable there I was pretty impressed with his laziness (I thought OH had that title stitched up ;) ) Has anyone else's dog been so lazy to do that?

No I used citronella smelling dog and cat repellent. I washed the area with dish liquid (is that maybe my problem?) and then sprayed that stuff. It seemed to work for a while and then he started again. We actually had the area fenced off when he first started doing it. We then let him back in and he was okay for a couple of weeks and then started it up again. I have used the fencing to block off the gardens he has decided to dig so unless I buy more fencing I can no longer fence it off. Is it possible he is just lazy? I even saw him piddle while sitting down once - couldn't be shagged to stand up! ;) He has been taken regularly to the areas I want him to go (and praised for it) but he still does it next to his food and bedding. I thought dogs didn't wee/poo where they ate and slept - yeh right!

I am getting really frustrated! I have a 16week old Bullmastiff male pup who is toilet trained. He does not go to the toilet inside at all but I can't seem to stop him piddling around the back patio area near the back door. Once he even piddled on the back mat while watching me at the kitchen inside!! I wash the area down and spray the area with deterrent stuff. I have placed the food and water bowls in that area as well as one of his beds and also some rubber type matting down to show him that area is not for toileting. But he even takes a whizz on the matts supposed to be used for sleeping on! He only poos in the area very occasionally. I have another 2 year old female dog and she has never urinated in the area he is defacing! Any suggestions on how he may be convinced to piddle elsewhere are appreciated!!

Thanks for the suggestions. I am hoping the vet would of picked up sunburn if it is that! She didn't even mention it as a possibility. I sound really stupid but what does it look like when a dog gets it? Hopefully it could be as simple as that. I was thinking it was something that she could be allergic to but the vet said it didn't seem to be that. She said that allergies don't cause that kind of reaction - does that sound right? I assumed that is what it was 'cause I get hayfever and I am getting a stuffy nose now myself. I think the vet is leaning more towards some form of disease or bug she has in her nose. She said long nose dogs are more inclined to get these kinds of things although Soda is young to be getting disease. Does this sound like the vet is being a bit overzealous? I am confused! Do I try another opinion? I should have also mentioned it is the inside of her nose that is also affected. The outside is dry and occasionally splitting and scabbing - but the inside of her nose was swollen and sore before the antibiotics.

I have a 2 year old brown Dobermann (Sodapop) and she has a dry sore nose. She has always had a drier nose and skin on and off but two weeks ago her nose got so dry it cracked and scabbed up. Soda also sounded snuffy like she had a blocked nose. She didn't seem unwell in any other way and didn't go off her food at all. I took her to the vet and she didn't seem to think there was any sort of allergy link and said her skin was more to do with her being a brown Dobermann and therefore being more susceptible to coat problems. She thought her sore nose was a separate problem. She put Soda on a two week course of antibiotics (there is no discharge so a foreign body has been ruled out) but suggested that if that doesn't help she will have to do some tests under GA as there are all sorts of bugs or diseases Soda may have that cause her to have such an ulcerated nose. I will have to take Soda back to the vet in the next few days and although the problem has improved - it is still there. Has anyone had any experience with a similar problem? I would love any advice you can offer.