Staycalm

So you took in 7 dogs at $35 a day per dog = $245 for each day x the number of days each dog stayed. As well as exercising them and grooming them you fed one of the dogs high end dog food for four days and so far you have been paid nothing?!!! You must be a very generous person because you have just handed over a thousand dollars to some company that did none of the work! I would be approaching the ombudsman because they broke the contract you had where you should be paid for services rendered. You should not hesitate to accept the dog back for more holidays - at $35 a day. You owe that company nothing.

Got a message from my sister today. She has been working with the pup the last few days to improve recall etc with great results. She's instituted the call and treat game with others helping, so he's been running madly in search of his treats. She's still got the electric fence around the washing line but now is able to leave a gap and she plans to gradually widen the gap if all goes well. The best thing is that she's been able to involve her hubby and that he's also responded well Everyone now feels much more positive about the pup and I feel certain that, although they will have their naughty puppy days, they will be able to have a lot more fun with him.

I'm a total research head, being a librarian and info junkie and she knows I can find the best advice in the shortest time.

My MIL's dog is so annoying in that respect that I swore my dogs will not beg from the table - and they don't. We do not feed them scraps from the table and they are not allowed to hover while we are eating.

Yep - some very helpful advice has been given. I've been copying these and other references from the Internet and sending them through as I got them. No response from sister yet but knowing her she will be working through the best approaches and getting set to give them a try. I think that it's not so much she was ignorant of the destructiveness of puppies, just that the size and type of damage has been more than she's used to with her previous dogs. I have full confidence that she will be able to deal successfully with this. I have seen her work with her horses and she has done wonders with her naughty miniature horse. She is not a thoughtless person, just hadn't quite thought through what her previous approach was really doing.

Thanks dancinbcs. Some excellent suggestions there. There has already been a lot of picking up and prevention of access to items they don't want him destroying. The washing line has the electric fence around for now and parts of the house yard are already fenced off, separating a lot of the kid's toys, etc. I imagine they have circumvented quite a bit of destruction already. I think the frustration they have with him has maybe overshadowed their ability to see clearly the cause and effect of their old ways of dealing with him. I am confident they can turn this around. BIL is just not as animal oriented as us and would be finding the behavior quite challenging if he has been used to their older mature dogs. My sister is the animal person and I am sure she will soon see improvement now she can understand what she needs to do.

Thanks Monah. I'm aware that toys aren't the only solution but I figure that one part of his mischief is the chewing and destruction thing so giving him acceptable things for him to spend time on might help. My sister doesn't work full time and one of her children is still a preschooler so I imagine she's home a fair amount of the time. Thanks for the treat/recall idea. That's the sort of thing that would definitely work. ETA I also want it recognised that my sister asked me to research for training advice. They have already recognised they have not done it right and want to change their approach and improve the situation by working at it.

I know wuffles - just trying to explain to a couple of others that rehoming is not really the issue here. Neither is there some sort of doggy torture happening. There has been a recognition that their first, rather old fashioned, approach to the problem has not worked and now we have moved on to how my sister can improve things. Some good practical suggestions are what's needed and I have been recording these and passing them on. Thanks for your suggestions. They are the sort of things that will help. ETA The adoption wasn't an impulse. He was chosen after a lot of debate and my sister wanted a large breed rescue pup. She's already had to deal with his front legs bowing and at first they thought he'd have to be put down. Some careful feeding and lots of specialist advice have seen him recover fully.

Just keep in mind please that I am not prepared to write reams and reams about the situation. You can't judge whether they are good dog owners from the little I've written, especially as you've never met the dog or the family. Yes, I think they did not act appropriately when the dog started destroying things and now have to rethink their approach. Is there anyone making these judgments who has always had the perfect solution to everything? I would imagine not. My sister needs advice on practical ways of keeping the dog's destructiveness to a minimum, not being told she should rehome. Yes I am sure they have thought about what life was like before they got this puppy and wonder whether it was such a great idea. I have thought that many times with my own child but that doesn't mean I would give her away (well not today anyway!) She has all the animals because she loves them and enjoys taking care of them. She's had many of her animals for 10+ years. She's not into giving them away when it all becomes too hard and they are all well looked after. If I can make a few practical, workable suggestions I am sure she will do her best to implement them. She's just never struck this issues to such a great extent. I am sure you've all had a dog that has behaviours that has given you major frustration... I am interested in the toys that will keep him occupied for a while. Will recommend the frozen blocks, etc. Any tips on what to put in them and how to use them to gain maximum attention from the dog?

Why does anyone get a puppy? Because they are cute and people have selective memories about the work involved. I am hoping I can persuade them to take a step back and accept that as a pup he's only doing what most pups do - just on a greater scale - and they need to turn their reactions around and start focusing on the positive behaviours. Rewarding him for recalling, etc. I will also get an idea of what they have been giving him to keep him out of trouble (toys, kongs, bones, etc) and how much attention he get on an average day.

Actually it's my sister's birthday next week - what would some good toys, etc to send?

Yeah I when I read that. I think she had gotten so used to her well behaved older dogs she has been blind-sided by this pup. As far as the hose goes I think this is something they have to pump water or sewerage to or from the house. Not sure. I think it's something they pretty much have in permanent use but I have asked for more detail. I have suggested they get lengths of pvc piping and thread it on like beads to give it some protection but I don't know if that would work. I think I'll be recommending they do a lot more work on recall and stop the punishment thing, working instead on building his trust and keeping him interested in appropriate toys and stuff for him to play with. I guess with his size it could be a bit challenging. What would you give him to play with when his people aren't around?

Getting updated info from her atm. He's 9 months old and their biggest issues are with him ripping clothes off the line and chewing the pump-out hose (been replace twice and on it's way to a third... He will do these things when they are home but mostly when they're not. He never seems to get caught in the act. Previously he has been picked up, taken to the object, growled at and a open handed smack on the bottom but now if they grab his collar for any reason he'll slip it and run and if he has lost his collar while they've been away it takes ages to get him to come back and get it on. To me he now has little incentive to come to them now, as he keeps getting punished for stuff he doesn't really get that he's done wrong. Any practical tips to protect a pump out hose (whatever that is)?

My sister got a mixed breed from the pound last year (probably going to be a largish boy) that she's had chipped as a Bull Arab x. He has grown into a sweet but naughty boy and she's at her wit's end to manage him and stop her hubby giving him the old heave ho. I think he's 6-8 months old. She lives on some bushy acreage with horses and has two other well trained dogs (heelers or cattle dogs) and is normally very dog savvy. Her dogs all live outside and have access to a well sheltered deck with bedding and kennels. They live north of Brisbane. She's had to put an electric fence around the washing line and I believe he's chewed and destroyed all sorts of things, including the kid's toys, shoes, etc. Apparently recall is also hit and miss as he knows when he's in trouble. I believe it's a stage but I think she needs some ideas on how to contain his behavior until he grows up a bit. I think he's too big for crating, not that I think she'd do it, but I'm hoping we can get some ideas on how she can curb and redirect his creativity and energy. I've recommended she give the recall a workout but I think part of the problem is she's a busy wife, mother and worker so I think she's stretched herself a bit thin and that's left her little time to spend training a boisterous young dog.

Wow. That is an interesting development. I will wait to see what is planned after Christmas and will help if I can.

Gracie is getting a new beautiful red food bowl (melamine with metal insert) and a Christmas colored Loopy toy. Alfie is getting a smaller blue version of the bowl and a squeeky hotdog toy (no.3 because Gracie likes to pull them apart ) Wrapped and under the tree now :D

I have been looking around but can't quite find what I want. I would like one large red and one medium blue placemat to go under the dogs food and water bowls. Rectangularish. Not bone shaped. They don't need to be doggy related design. A plain color would be fine but it would be nice if they had a simple bone or paw pattern. My ideal would be ones that came customised with their names. Anyone know of where such things can be found or maybe how to make them? I have them in my head but can't find them in real life.

When I set up my daughters tramp and swing I gave a lot of thought about where to place them so that they were not going to cause noise or privacy issues. It's part of being a considerate neighbor. I consider other people's rights to "quiet enjoyment" of their properties. Having had some very noisy, intrusive and nasty neighbors in many of my 25 house moves, no way am I going to do anything to cause people distress. I know how horrid it is to have a migraine and suffer the loud tv and the drunken arguments coming from a neighbor's house or the teenage "drummer boy" thud his way through the wall of house. Having a new baby and having cars coming and going next door when World Cup Football is on and everyone tooting as they leave EVERY GODDAMN TIME!!! First night's sleep after moving day and being woken at 3am in the morning because someone decides that they want to listen to a Stevie Wonder album at a very loud volume. Our current neighbors are all lovely and I have made sure we know all of them and they know us, because it's one thing to ignore how you are affecting strangers, another completely different story when you know your neighbor is having chemo for breast cancer. Relationships, however ephemeral, do make a difference most of the time, in how we deal with each other. It's not always easily done but early expressions of friendliness can bring about better community relations. Once you go down the really negative path it's not so easy to come back. Having said that, I also think that sometimes doing your nut can be quite effective, especially with younger peoples who have yet to learn there is, in fact, someone else apart from them in existence

The Dr would be noticing the increase in patients showing the same symptoms of seasonal allergy and would likely treat you the same. You should definitely go through proper allergy testing at a later stage just to confirm but it sounds like what he said. It's a bad time of year and it's the worst in 10 years. I am seeing so many of my workmates and family with allergies atm. It's crazy.

Use the day of the month he came to you and just calculate the months back to get to an approximate birthday. I am glad he's staying as he seems to have really clicked with Tango. He'll keep your other dogs on their toes.

Sad news indeed. Be comforted by knowing she had a wonderful life with you and that you were able to put her needs first. I am sorry for your loss. :D Run free

I love your Tango tales Speaking of tails - it's lovely to see all the happily wagging tails on Tango and Dylan. Just lovely to watch.

I saw him reasonably close up - maybe 5-10 metres - as he was heading to where I blocked one of his escape routes. He's a lovely looking dog. Would definitely say he's a white shepherd and in pretty good condition considering. His fur is a bit yellowed but he didn't look ribby. Just lean and a little rangy.

Have we got a specific meeting place?

I will try and be there too. I will just need to get hubby to take our daughter to swimming. I think he can manage it :rolleyes: