Aussienot

I used to think I was only a dog person. But working at an animal shelter opened my eyes to the plight of cats in our society. Most people surrendering their dogs felt some remorse and grief, but most people dumping cats were just relieved to be rid of the problem. So I am a cat enlightened dog person now.

I used the Roomba pet model in dog day care and loved it. It didn't completely eliminate all dog hair, but it picked up about 90% making vaccuming so much easier. Yep some dogs want to chase it, and the capacity of hair bin is not great but overall I had a good experience with mine and would buy another in future.

Ask the behavourist you see to give you an unbiased assessment of your chances of 'managing' Missy's aggressive responses. Even with training and behavoural modification it will be a situation you manage, not one that will disappear. You will not have a house with two dogs, you will have one house for each dog. You will separate and try to find time to deal with each dog indivually. It can be done, but there's no room for error, which makes it stressful for you. There is probably not a 'happily every after' for the two dogs. If you got Missy as a playmate for Astro, you might have to rethink that idea. I've not a fan of getting your dog a dog, if you know what I mean. Getting yourself a second dog because you want another one is a different scenario. Finding her a home where she will be the only dog is not a real solution either. She will encounter other dogs anytime you take her out of the backyard. Unless you can guarantee that she will never escape, and you can find a way to give her exersize and an enriched life in her backyard, the only dog solution fails.

To me, the registration that the dog is placed on is part of the terms of sale that you negotiate with the breeder. If you think you want to show or breed, ask for a mains registration. Tell the breeder what you want to do with the puppy and agree on the terms, or walk away. I think the elitest label can be applied to some aspects of the puppy market, but on this issue I think it is the breeder's call. I have had a pet quality Lab on the limited register, which was fine with me at the time because I got her as a pet. My German Shepherd boy came as mains registered, even though the breeder knew I planned to desex him. Would have been fine for him to be on limited, because the only showing I wanted to do with him was obedience trialing. My new girl is a potential show quality pup on the main register, and I plan to show her. If she can earn some reasonable show wins, and if she has the working ability I hope for, I might decide to breed her at maturity. But only if she can contribute better offspring and positively add to the small gene pool for the breed. And I'll take the breeder's advice on whether breeding her is a good idea. Otherwise she'll be a fabulous pet. So some breeders do help the next generation of breeders, but they are few and far between. No breeder has a crystal ball at 8 weeks, and for most puppy buyers it is safer to put on limited and change later if there is reason to. And nothing about the registers will stop the next ByB from producing substandard pups from any two dogs.

I too recommend a prong collar for large, lunging uncontrollable dogs. It is a corrective collar, but it modifies behaviour with only a few corrections, so is much more postitive than constant jerking on a check chain. Any tool used incorrectly will not work the way you want it too, but since you are working with a trainer who undertands their use I think you'll be happy with the outcome.

I saw in Metro mag that a man was assulted in his home by three large 'mails'. Didn't trust envelopes for a long while after that . . .

I paid much more than I wanted for my German Shepherd because his mix of working bloodlines doesn't come up that often, and it was a great breeder. I knew the price going into it, and now I think he is priceless. Is worth much more. Perfect temperament, good looking and a great dog. I was prepared to pay a bit more for my new puppy because she's an uncommon breed, from very good show and field lines, and was pleasantly surprised the price was reasonable.

That's very funny. Evil and smart, that dog is dangerous. I hate when my dogs are smarter than me. I was recently conned by a nine week old puppy. Working on house training, I had been praising excessively every time she squatted and peed. At first it was hard to time it, but recently we have been extremely sucessful, with 100% completion rate every time I took her out. ! For some reason, I became suspicious on one occasion and felt the ground underneath her. It was dry. So my puppy has learned that squatting gets praise, not the peeing outside gets praise. Sigh. Wasn't training what I thought I was.

Koala the bear, I think you are talking about the 'follow the leading hand' exercise, not the 2 x 2 weave poles. The spinning in front of the dog while doing a figure eight really threw me for a loop too! Brings back bad memories of why I don't dance. Definately practice makes perfect with that one.

In short form the 2 x 2 method teaches weaves starting with just two weave poles. You use shaping to get the dog to walk between them, and deliver a treat in a spot that encourages the dog to wrap around the second pole. You keep raising the criteria until the dog can enter from anywhere and always enter correctly, and wraps around the second pole. If the dog can learn correct entries and the wrapping motion, they have all the skills that they need. The rest is just repeat, repeat, repeat. Once the dog does two poles perfectly, you add another set of two, then a third set of two. You increasingly move the sets of two closer until your dog is weaving 6 poles. This is really short form explanation. Get the dvd to get the details. Having used a couple of methods before, I think it is a brilliant way to teach the weaves. I taught my dog how to do two poles in two evenings, and a week later she was doing 12 poles perfectly.

Since you asked, I met Cam though the AVA at a conference, and I met Jane at a training clinic. There is no business relationship and we are not related. From what you have written about his barking and financal contstraints, my advice would be to consult a behaviourist. If behaviour modification alone is not enough to solve the problem, I am sure Jane would tell you.

I pass along without comment the Pet Industry Association of Australia's press release on Puppy Farms. 7 April 2011 Update on Puppy Farm Issue The puppy farm issue affects every participant in the pet industry whether you are in retail, grooming, boarding or related services. The wild claims made by some animal activist groups might be wrong, or might be motivated by an ideological desire to shut down pet retailing, but they do hurt the image of our industry. The PIAA has for the past four months been working on a policy in response to community concerns about puppy farms. Activists are making two accusations about our industry: We buy dogs from puppy farms that are cruel and unregulated By offering dogs at retail, we are creating the problem of unwanted pets that are being euthanased in great numbers. Both claims are wildly exaggerated. As part of our policy development process we have been doing some modelling on the numbers of unwanted dogs and their fate. PIAA modelling shows the true numbers of dogs euthanised due to no room for adoption is a fraction of that claimed by activists. About 450,000 dogs are sold in Australia each year1 Pet stores account for less than 15 per cent of total dog sales, about 67,500 dogs.2 Breeders, through newspaper, internet and word of mouth sales, are responsible for the remaining 85% of sales, about 382,500 dogs. So pet stores can only be a minor contributor to the problem of unwanted dogs. 1 Australian Companion Animal Council (2010). “Contribution of the pet care industry to the Australian Economy” 2 Australian Veterinary Association (2007). Sale of Pets through Pet Shops PIAA believes that while pet stores are a minor part of the cause, they are a major potential player in the solution. Pet retail stores represent a professional and well managed resource for any policy response to the problem of unwanted pets. Professionally operated pet retail stores provide informed advice in matching pets with owners. Pet retail stores demonstrate a duty of care to both the pets and potential owners – so the right animal is selected for the conditions in which a family lives. We have Australia Veterinary Association data that shows a pet selected following good advice from a pet shop is less likely to end up in a pound than an animal sourced elsewhere. We are developing a solid platform to rebuff activist claims and demonstrate the role pet shops can play in responsible pet ownership, from breeder through to pet owner. During this process we have sought the views of various PIAA members, RSPCA Australia, the Australian Veterinary Association, the Animal Welfare League, the Australian Association of Pet Dog Breeders and the Australian National Kennel Council. As we have worked with stakeholders in good faith to develop a policy that deals with the issues raised, it is particularly unhelpful when an organization with significant credibility and public funding, like the RSPCA continues to campaign against the pet industry. The RSPCA will argue that their campaign is aimed at cruel puppy factories, and they do not necessarily have a problem with PIAA pet retailers. But when the RSPCA endorses posters with headlines stating “puppy factories are the suppliers of the cute puppy that you see in the pet shop window” it is hard not to believe elements in the RSPCA are joining the radicals who want to shut down our industry. We aim to form several ad hoc policy committees within our membership to help finalise our policy response in the next two months. I will keep you informed of progress. Roger B Perkins Chief Executive

My vet once assured me that any dog who is getting food put in front of it at least once per day is not going to willingly starve to death. It may become a battle of wills. Just remember you are the one that decides what your dog eats. He does not get to decide for himself. Stay strong!

In a shelter adoption situation, normally an adult dog would be going to a house with an existing cat. Raising a pup up to respect the house cat is one thing. I have two high prey drive dogs and they both learned as puppies the house rule that Scooter is not a plaything. But introducing an adult dog with high prey drive to a territorial cat that may or may not be afraid of dogs is a whole different dynamic. Not saying it can't work, but it requires training and vigilance beyond the skills of many pet owners. And sometimes you can never cat proof a dog. So in a shelter, most dogs who have a breed type prone to chasing will not be recommended for homes that have a cat or "pocket pets". It's a safety thing for the existing pet. And protects the dog from being returned with a reputation for cat killing.

I know them both. Cam is a veterinary behaviourist, which means he can provide medications to assist with behaviour modification. Jane is a very good behaviouist. Both are experienced and well qualified for what they do. They have different skill sets. What problems are you trying to solve? Do you know why your veterinarian recommended a veterinary behaviourist rather than just a good trainer?

Bones can be a "flash point" to spark bad manners around normally peaceful dogs. Don't invite trouble and give them a reason to fight. Just separate them to give bones. Remove all bones before letting them into a shared area. Preventing resource guarding is as much about management as it is about training.

They end up in rescues a lot in the US. Most pet owners can't deal with the temperament issues. It's the idea of a miniature husky that appeals, I guess. I wish the media would stop giving profit driven bybs free publicity.

I wish in future attacks only say it is a Dog. Can say a large or small dog, but in all attacks the breed is irrelevent. It would be great if it was reported as " a dog chained in a yard attacked" or "a dog never given socialisation or training attacked" or "a dog that may have medical problems attacked", but that will never happen either. Cause we all know that only certain breeds attack "without reason" . . .

As a puppy buyer, I think all responsible breeders, even the "hobby" ones, are selling something. Not the puppies, but themselves as a reputable breeder. You are selling your experience in the breed and knowledge of breed standard and type, you are selling your selection of lines and breeding pairs, your focus on health and temperament, you are selling your care of the birth process from mating to litter, your work on puppy development and you are selling your genetic and health testing. You are selling the breed and the qualities that you love about it. You are selling your ability to produce sound and healthy pups. It's the wisdom, passion and hard work that separates registered breeders from bybs. Your reputation is your greatest asset, If you don't sell that, and make me understand why all you do is important, then to the buyer there's really no difference where you get your puppy except the registration paper and pedigree.

Got her, thanks everyone. And they are building a KFC there too! Spoiled for choice (of crap)

Which of these statement is true? Potential puppy buyers are impatient, with unrealistic expectations, lack knowedge and are unsuitable homes Breeders have unrealistic and hidden expectations of puppy buyers and since being burned by time wasters in the past now refuse to extend common courtesy to strangers. Put "some" in front of each of those statements, and they are both true some of the time. There are very few absolutes, and on both sides people are on a spectrum of expectations and communication skills. Which will only end in frustration if only one person is communicating. I know most breeders put their hearts and souls into the puppys they breed, and they are right to vet homes and make as sure as they can the pups only go to suitable homes. I feel honoured by the two breeders who initially didn't know me from a bar of soap, but at least responded to me and let me start the conversation. I appreciate the breeders on here who do respond to emails and telephone calls because I've experienced stone cold silence 50% of the time. It doesn't have to be a Yes. It can simply be "No puppies until next year" or "Can't promise a purple male with white paws, let's see what hits the ground and talk then". " Or "Sorry, these pups are only going to show homes, try XYZ breeder who might have what you are looking for. Unless breeders want to keep all the pups they breed, or they already know everyone they will sell to, they have to deal with the public, as ugly and stupid as people can be. A percentage will actually be the perfect home. But you'll never know unless you respond. And sales of registered dogs will continue to decline. And unless puppy buyers are willing to settle for poorly bred, profit driven imitations of what a dog should be, they will have to accept that there are criteria to qualify for ownership and that you can't always get what you want immediately. Just let us know what the critera is and adjust our expectations. And respond to emails and return phone calls. Assume every message could be a good home. Courtesy even for the time wasters who have done no research. So if we agree we all want the same outcome (healthy registered puppies in good homes), how do we move forward from the blame and finger pointing? What can breeders do, and what can puppy buyers do?

And that, in a nutshell is one of the reasons registered purebred dogs are in decline. It's the potential puppy buyers fault.

This dog has had litters before and I am assuming she was a good mother to them. The fact that she is rejecting this puppy means she knows there is something wrong. In my experience, any time a mother animals rejects one and cares for the rest, the "one" has always later had a problem. I've seen animals be bad mothers and reject and neglect the whole litter but never selectively refused to mother just one healthy one. The mother always knows best, and I've learned not to disagree. The human instinct is to rush in, hand feed, and deal with the behavioural problems that handraising a singlton cause. But in my experience, your friend is fighting for a lost cause. And she's in no position to fight the good fight. My advice is that the kindest thing to do is to take the puppy to the vet and euthanise. And if she didn't know her bitch was in season, didn't manage to prevent a mating, and didn't know her bitch was pregnant, it doesn't say much about her ability to responsibly breed more. She should do the breed a favour and get the bitch desexed as soon as it is safe to do so. Just my two cents.

Thanks, that helps too. I know where the MacDonalds is.

Thank you very much! Exactly what I needed.