Jigsaw

I'm sure a difficult decision but ultimately a wise one. I hope you advise the breeder fully of the problems you've had and suggest that maybe she look at further training before selling the pup again. Good luck with your conversation with the breeder. I hope your friend enjoys her new pup when its time comes and in the mean time I hope she takes up some of Erny's reading suggestions!

Glad she recovered from her scary trip so well! Hope there were some corks popping! Fantastic!

You going down PAX (and Prix)? When's it on?

I would suggest the dog needs a bit of space and time to readjust first of all to her new home. It's possible she's not had a lot to do with people hence the reaction you're getting, biting, defecating etc and possibly rarely, if ever been on leash. For the moment I wouldn't try to approach her with the intent of putting a leash on her if she's reacting so badly and is biting. Keep the pressure off her and let her approach you. I have worked with quite a few rescues with a similar type of behavior and it takes a lot of patience, kindness and time to bring them round to a more confident dog. I am concerned though that a breeder has sold such a fearful, timid dog to someone with no experience.

Interesting study on how human interaction with strangers can affect how dogs interact with them. Reputation-like inference in domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris). Authors: Kundey, Shannon M. A.1 [email protected] de los Reyes, Andres2 Royer, Erica1 Molina, Sabrina1 Monnier, Brittany1 German, Rebecca1 Coshun, Ariel1 Source: Animal Cognition; Mar2011, Vol. 14 Issue 2, p291-302, 12p, 1 Chart, 1 Graph Document Type: Article Subject Terms: *HUMAN evolution *COGNITIVE development *DOGS *BEHAVIOR *PRIMATES *ANALYTICAL skills Author-Supplied Keywords: Canine Cognition Dog Vicarious reinforcement Abstract: Humans frequently interact with strangers absent prior direct experience with their behavior. Some conjecture that this may have favored evolution of a cognitive system within the hominoid clade or perhaps the primate order to assign reputations based on third-party exchanges. However, non-primate species' acquisition of skills from experienced individuals, attention to communicative cues, and propensity to infer social rules suggests reputation inference may be more widespread. We utilized dogs' sensitivity to humans' social and communicative cues to explore whether dogs evidenced reputation-like inference for strangers through third-party interactions. Results indicated dogs spontaneously show reputation-like inference for strangers from indirect exchanges. Further manipulations revealed that dogs continued to evidence this ability despite reduction of specific components of the observed interactions, including reduction of visual social cues (i.e., face-to-face contact between the participants in the interaction) and the nature of the recipient (i.e., living, animate agent versus living, inanimate self-propelled agent). Dogs also continued to demonstrate reputation-like inference when local enhancement was controlled and in a begging paradigm. However, dogs did not evidence reputation-like inference when the observed interaction was inadvertent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Animal Cognition is the property of Springer Science & Business Media B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) Author Affiliations: 1Department of Psychology, Hood College, 401 Rosemont Avenue, Room ROS 27, Frederick, MD 21701, USA 2Department of Psychology, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD 20742, USA ISSN: 14359448 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-010-0362-5

My dog's resting heart rate is pretty low around 40bpm. When I took her in to the emergency vet for eating a bluebottle a couple of years ago (she was fine!) the vet became more worried as her heart rate was in the 70's. Which they thought was too low for a stressed dog. They did an ECG which was fine. She does have a minor heart murmur but it was barely audible last vet check. She is very fit which I believe is why her heart rate is so low.

Wow! That's really cool! Hope the origins of the wolf remains mysterious!

It amazes me the vehemence in some of the comments! No room for rational argument although I guess that's the idea of the opinion piece to divide and cause dissension. I find the fact that people are quite happy to denigrate and ridicule each other on this type of blog a rather sad indictment of the area I live in. :D

OMG! Heard about it from a friend who participated. You're all troopers to have gone out in those conditions!

Great pics! Love the running of the bulls!

Thank you for the information! I have a feeling that a standard might be a little to much for this person by the sound of it. But I shall recommend she contacts the Schnauzer Club for more info and to check them out more thoroughly.

I have had an acquaintance ask me about standard Schnauzers. She is interested in learning more about them and the possibility of acquiring a puppy as a pet soon. She would like to be able to view the parents so is not interested at the moment in purchasing interstate. So what information can I pass on to her regarding breeders in NSW? I will suggest to her that she check out the next local breed show and talk to some exhibitors she might find there. The only person I know of with one has sworn never to get another one due to temperament problems so she's not likely to give me recommendations!!

Coming in late with my congrats!! PAX and Prix - just fantastic, you both handled the conditions beautifully. You looked cool, calm and collected out there PAX! Congrats to Bedazzled for your fantastic win! Well deserved! Awesome to see Bedazzled and Ptolomy in action and meet them and their dogs. Little Cider stole a lot of hearts I think!!

For a start look at the way you are approaching your dog. If you are approaching the dog head on and looming over the dog in a sensitive dog you may induce submissive behaviour and subsequent urination. Same with if you pet him on the top of his head or back. You are better off crouching down sideways to the dog and calling the dog into your space, not giving full eye contact, be very calm and quiet in your greeting. I would refrain from petting the dog as this often causes the submissive behaviour but use either food or a toy to reward the dog for coming towards you and keeping calm. To get him through the gate you could try getting him to chase a toy through the gate (providing it doesn't lead to a road or area that could be dangerous, you could put him on a long lead for safety), put a trail of food down for him to follow or look at teaching your dog how to target your hand. Block off access to under the house or just leave him be for a while then start playing with a favourite toy by yourself and make it sound like you're having a lot of fun, it might be enough to induce him out. Again if he comes out, keep it low key, throw the toy for him and praise him gently for coming out. Let him make the choice whether to come out or not, the more you try to make him out the more likely he will stay under the house. This is very general advice though as I haven't seen your dog. In what circumstances is he dog aggressive?

Yes, it does seem to be a problem that compounds on itself.

I don't think he'd let the facts get in the road of a good rant!

This is a blog article that appeared in our local paper yesterday regarding a recent law passed by Newcastle Council that allows dogs to sit with their owners in outside areas of cafes. The whole manner of the article irritates me with the seeming desire to equate dogs defecating at cafes etc. http://www.theherald.com.au/blogs/jeff-cor...580.aspx?page=4 Dining with dogs - Jeff Corbett Newcastle City Council has changed its mind and now allows dogs to share outdoor dining areas with people, and illustrating that news item in the Herald early this month was a photo of one of Newcastle's doggiest people, Roy Duffy, with his dog Woody. Mr Duffy, a former Newcastle citizen of the year and the found of Doggy Fun Day, was pictured with Woody on his knee at a cafe table in Newcastle's Darby Street, a sight to warm a doggy person's heart. It won't, though, warm yours if you don't fancy eating with dogs. Sure, Newcastle council stipulates that the dogs be on a leash, on the ground and not fed in the area, and sure, Mr Duffy had Woody on his knee for the purposes of the photo. But it won't be the first time you'll see a dog on a knee in a cafe in Newcastle. And you'll see big dogs slobbering over food even though they are on the ground. Newcastle council bars smoking in outdoor dining areas on the basis that the smell is offensive and the smoke a health hazard, but it allows doggy people to inflict their dogs on us in public dining areas even though the smell can be offensive and the dog excreta a health hazard. This came about because the council received one submission calling for change to its dogs and outdoor dining policy. Yes, just one, and it refuses to tell me who lodged that submission. Yes, we may assume that a doggy person at a cafe would clean up his or her dog's poo, although we assumed the same for Newcastle's dog-legal beach, Horseshoe, which is now so littered with dog faeces it is out of bounds for most of us. And even if it is to be picked up, should we have to put up with dogs defecating under the table? Why should anyone be permitted to inflict their dog on me, to contaminate my immediate surrounds, in public dining areas?

I think Ralph has his tongue sticking out at Simon! this is the start of a beautiful relationship!!

I’ve just been wondering whether there are some dogs who are more tactile sensitive than others and whether this may be influenced by breed or is it more of an individual thing. I have been working with a 10 yr old dog, maltese x who has had a vet examination and declared healthy, no arthritis (x-ray confirmed) who is sensitive to tactile stimulation. Of course not knowing his history we don’t know if there is a past injury to the area he associates with pain. With gentle work by the carer he is becoming less reactive but I was discussing this with another trainer and her thoughts were that a lot of these sorts of crosses seem to have problems with tactile stimulation. Any thoughts or opinions?

I had an aunt who used to have two dogs "Whiskey" and "Soda"!!

She's very special and obviously highly motivated!!! I think she's got you all figured out! Clever girl!

Some ideas for introducing baby here Moving may increase their anxiety for a while. Make sure you have their mats, rugs, crates whatever readily available and set up when you first take the dogs to your new home. Having those things set up can help the dogs feel more settled. You might also want to look at getting some DAP diffusers to put around the house plus some DAP spray to put on their beds. Rescue remedy may help if they are a little anxious. Regarding the yard and barking dogs. It might be an idea to introduce yourself to your neighbours and let them know that you have dogs that might bark and if they are barking too much to let you know. Are they food aggresssive? You could try some harder chews like pigs ears, tendons, whizzers for the dogs to chew on when you leave. This can sometimes help them settle. If your dog with the SA is bad you may need to seek further advice from a professional on some more effective methods to deal with it. I'd certainly be looking at whether you're fulfilling their exercise requirements both physical and mental as well.

I use it if I feel it is warranted with a particular dog. I explain it, explain how it works, why it's good etc. Some think it's wonderful and do the work and you can see the change in the dog. Others just can't be bothered for various reasons.

Beautiful photos. There are some lovely areas around Dungog.

Frodo is awesome! OMG!!