Greytmate

Don't wait until you find them, make the report now. Council or police may already know who they are given they have three dogs. Your friend needs to visit a doctor if she hasn't already, and you could report it to either the police or the council.

If you don't want to use a crate you need to do whatever else you can to restrict the dogs movement through the house while going through toilet training. Toilet training works because of a dog's natural instinct not to soil its eating or sleeping area. That is why crates are good. But if you don't want to crate, use things like doors or baby gates to stop the dog accessing the whole house, and furniture to block the dog's access to parts of the space. The smaller the floor space the better your chances.

The dog bit, so it wasn't under control. You have a strange way of interpreting dog laws which don't seem to have any basis in reality. I walk my dogs daily past people on a main road, there is no space at all for people to move away. One side is a busy road, the other side has high retaining walls. The bus shelters on the path force me within half a metre of people sitting or standing there. It is my responsibility to make sure my dog doesn't bite, it's not the public's responsibility to avoid the dog. Your posts seem to put all responsibility on the person bitten, and none on the dog owner. It is that attitude that means that dogs have been totally banned from some areas. If you are going to support that strategy here on DOL and put forward the irresponsible line that dogs are dangerous and must be avoided, you can expect an argument. Nobody deserves to be bitten for walking past a dog in the street. I hope this dog is declared dangerous and forced to wear a muzzle whenever it is off its property. Despite your waffle an investigation would be pretty straightforward if the couple can be identified. There was no provocation, this dog is just aggressive and needs to be controlled more effectively. Common sense tells us that bad dogs like these need to be tightly controlled, the public should not have to be fearful of all dogs in the streets. Your posts are just needless scaremongering.

It depends on the family. Each family is very different. Factors to consider include: Amount of time you want to spent on exercise Type of exercise you want to give the dog Amount of time you want to spent on training What sort of interaction your kids want with the dog Amount of time you want to spend on grooming Tolerance for fur/dirt in the house Border collies require a lot more owner input than many other breeds, so they would not be a good choice for most families. But they might be the right dog for your family if your activities are compatible with the dog's needs.

Thanks Wuffles. I'm still not really getting it, though. If for example a handler uses numbers from one to ten in mandarin as commands, if the judge doesnt understand mandarin they'll just think it's random consonants and vowels strung together as a monosyllable in english. If I said the mandarin word for number 4 to make the dog sit, the judge wouldnt have a clue. There are set exercises that are completed, and the judge needs to know whether the dog is reacting to single commands, or whether the dog is merely responding to to verbal encouragement. Hand signals can be used instead, or as well as verbal commands. However they have to be given at the exact same time as the verbal command. Judges can decide somebody has given a 'double command' if the command isn't done in a single instant. The rules have evolved over time to make it as fair as possible on all competitors. If a person feels they will be disadvantaged by the rules they can discuss this before they enter a trial so that the competition can be made fair to them. Anyone can also play a part in getting rules changed if they feel they have a better idea. Most of us just accept that a competition will have rules so that we are all on a level playing field, and our dog and handler ability is being judged, not handler inventiveness in trying to provide verbal motivation for their dog in a test situation. That is why we have the rule and it seems fair enough to me.

Because a dog has to be paying attention to hear a single word command. Where as if a drawn out command is used, it has more chance of grabbing the attention of a distracted dog. To keep it fair for everyone, the same rules apply. The dog must obey the command without any verbal encouragement. Part of the test is to see whether the dog has been taught to pay close attention, and so the dog instantly responding to simple commands proves that it is paying attention.

Because people were making up words of many syllables (giving their dog a possible advantage) and claiming the words were Swahili or Inuit or some other obscure language. In a trial ring, a judge has no way to check. So because of that, only English allowed. You have to call your dog using a simple english word like "come" and not use a 'foreign word' like "Puppywuppypuppycarmheraaaaa!"

Take your dog to the vet asap. Don't leave it another day. The vet report then forms part of the evidence the council uses to make a decision. If your dog's skin is broken he may need antibiotics , and there may be damage underneath the puncture wounds that needs attention. It's important to get your dog checked out. You could also report this one to the police. Were there any witnesses? Any surveillance cameras? Identifying the couple might be hard, as they may avoid this area now an incident has happened.

No, it's unlikely to happen. But for the sake of consistency and lack of confusion while teaching the commands it is best to use one word, and make it different from the instructor's command. With beginner obedience, people have a tendency to draw out commands that are best be kept short. Short words like drop, sit, stand and wait, are quite good in this respect. In my class I would always advise people what command word to use, but it was not compulsory. I was always happy to explain why if asked.

When I instructed I used to ask people to use "drop", and that was because I would ask the handler to "down the dog" and so it was better for the handler to use a word I didn't use. If this instructor encourages his clients to compete for ANKC obedience titles (a good thing), he will be teaching methods that are not incompatible should they wish to trial the dog in the future.

There are no albino dogs, but if there were, they would not be silver, they would be white with pink skin and pink eyes.

You will get there. I hope all the diet advice hasn't been too confusing. There are a few choices been suggested, but you wouldn't feed all the suggestions, just pick the ones you want. 1. If you are feeding sweet potato and pumpkin, you would just add meat to that, you wouldn't add any dry food. You would add oily fish or fish oil, and an egg, and the meat would be normal fatty meat , and not lean meat. 2. If you want to use dry food, use a super-premium dry food, and use that alone. A couple of brands have been suggested. If the dog was healthier you could buy a good dry food, but your dog isn't healthy yet, so you need excellent dry food. Supercoat is not a bad brand, but it isn't even close to the better ones available as far as nutrition goes. Two points to keep in mind with your dog's diet. 1. Gluten is the ingredient in grains and cereals (and abundant in cheap dry food) that may cause a problem in an allergy prone dog. That is why people are suggesting the sweet potato and pumpkin, and telling you no rice or wheat ingredients. Oats is another one I can suggest as a low-gluten option, to add to a meat meal. Nature's Gift make a very bland chicken, vege and oats variety that might be a good solution for you (if convenience is important). You would just feed that, nothing else, and none of their other varieties. That one is a good variety for the itchy dogs. It is a supermarket canned food, but is a lot different from the cheap canned foods (which you should never feed that dog) 2. Oil is really important for the recovery of your dog's skin. Meat oil (lard) and fish oil is best for dogs (unlike people). The super-premium dry foods may have enough good oil in them. If you feed meat and veges, don't trim the fat from the meat. Meat with 10 or 20% fat is going to be fine. Too much fat is bad of course, but it is that fish and meat oil that will repair the dog's skin and hair. Dogs don't need a lot of variety, and your dog needs a special diet for the coat to recover, and to lessen the chance of any further reactions. But there have been success stories with dogs like yours, so let's all hope for the best.

This thread highlights a very important distinction for me. The ethical breeders that handle, socialise and enrich the lives of the kennel dogs that they will one day place as pets, and the other ones that don't do any of that. I don't think we can define a puppy farmer by the number of dogs they keep or the fact the dogs are kennelled. Good, ethical breeders can also have large kennels full of dogs. The difference to me is whether the socialisation, handling and enrichment has been provided. Because providing those things is not profitable for puppy farmers to do. Ethical breeders will do it, because it is in the interest of the dog and the breed to do so. Yes but how realistic is it to expect that large numbers of dogs in kennels are socialised enough to be suitable to live in a household when they have spent the first 5 years or so of their lives in a kennel environment? Is this even possible without many trained and dedicated staff on hand, which I doubt these breeders have? (genuine question - not "breeder bashing" ) I think it is very possible. Between the ages of 5 weeks and 16 weeks the dog needs to be exposed to a lot of different things to get it used to other breeds, other animals, kids, vehicles, vets, hats, old people, strangers etc. Whatever is appropriate for the dog's future life. All of their lives they should be handled pleasantly on a daily basis. Dogs in kennels need to be let out for work, sport or exercise daily (or as appropriate). And should be given toys, bones and things to do in its kennel. By doing this, unless a dog has an inherent temperament fault, it can happily make the change from kennel dog to house pet.. It will want to be a pet. It will be a good pet. I've seen it happen hundreds and hundreds of times.

This thread highlights a very important distinction for me. The ethical breeders that handle, socialise and enrich the lives of the kennel dogs that they will one day place as pets, and the other ones that don't do any of that. I don't think we can define a puppy farmer by the number of dogs they keep or the fact the dogs are kennelled. Good, ethical breeders can also have large kennels full of dogs. The difference to me is whether the socialisation, handling and enrichment has been provided. Because providing those things is not profitable for puppy farmers to do. Ethical breeders will do it, because it is in the interest of the dog and the breed to do so.

The critical socialisation phase is between 5 weeks and 16 weeks of age. So all dogs are sexually entire and immature during socialisation. Handling should happen at all ages, kennel enrichment should happen at all ages. So the answer to your question is no, it isn't harder to do. Except in the case of infant desexing. Although I gather that it would not be so different from the sexually immature animal. This topic is about adult dogs coming from breeders kennels being rehomed. These dogs are never desexed as infants.

You don't explain anything to a dog. You keep dogs separate if one is annoying another and keeps pushing things, or you could end up with a dog fight. The old dog has growled several times, if the young dog doesn't listen to the growls, what do you think the older dog's options are to stop another dog jumping all over it and hurting it?

The critical socialisation phase is between 5 weeks and 16 weeks of age. So all dogs are sexually entire and immature during socialisation. Handling should happen at all ages, kennel enrichment should happen at all ages. So the answer to your question is no, it isn't harder to do.

As well as diet, keep her out of the garden if possible. Once you have her back to health, consider rehoming her in a city or indoor environment, rather than one where she will be exposed to grass seeds, weeds ect. Some (mostly) white dogs just seem to be more prone to all sorts of allergies than some other dogs.

Just wanted to add. I don't think this topic is a criticism of the breeders that do put in the work their dogs require. Many breeders here are excellent. But there are some that don't do the right thing, and this is alarming.

No I think you are missing the whole point. Of course breeders need to sell dogs, pups and adults to continue their breeding program. Nobody is arguing against that. The issue is that some of these dogs are not of pet quality, because they have not been raised in a way conducive to them being a pet in later life. That is the problem Daveri is talking about. Bettering the breed through good welfare and husbandry. When people are putting dogs out into the pet market that are not up to pet quality, how is that for the betterment of the breed? I guess as many of these dogs will be desexed we are not talking about ongoing betterment in genetics, but we are talking about things breeders can do that will create better dogs, and how they can prepare their dogs better for showing, working, breeding or pets. Leaving a dog in a kennel bored out of its mind, isn't bettering that dog for anyone's purpose.

This is a really good topic. When we say "socialisation" I don't think it means that we all have to have our dogs running around playing happily with other dogs and kiddies or whatever. I think this word has become very broad and started to take on meanings it really shouldn't. Not all dogs should be playing with other dogs. There has been research done that shows that dogs living the kennel life really do need (breed appropriate) socialisation and also kennel enrichment to be at their best. This is really important for dogs that are going to be pets one day, and also for the welfare of the kennelled dog. This means the dog must be handled often and given the appropriate experiences during the critical socialisation phase. It means as the pups are raised into mature dogs they get to learn and play/work and be exercised and have their minds challenged. They should not just be left in a boring kennel all week between shows.. Obviously some breeders do not take the time to do this, and that is terrible if the dog is going to be sold as a pet. I don't think it is ethical to sell a dog as a pet unless it is of pet quality, so ideally breeders should be socialising with this in mind, and some dogs shouldn't be rehomed as pets at all. Lilli, it seems to me that your dogs have a very good purpose, but that purpose is not to be taken to a dog park to play with some labradors. I don't believe you would want to sell a dog to a family that would want to do that. But the majority of breeds are going to be sold as pets into homes in suburbia and they will be expected to tolerate other dogs. Daveri is right to be worried. This topic is about dogs being freely advertised as pets to unsuspecting people. Dancinbcs, your last comment is interesting. When I ran GAP, I rehomed adult greyhounds on behalf of owners and breeders. I NEVER called this rescue. It was rehoming. By doing this, our one organisation was able to rehome many more dogs than individual breeders could alone. Each month I had dozens of applicants for dogs and dozens of dogs to match them to. We were able to assess the dogs so that only dogs of pet quality were rehomed, and then they were assessed further by foster families so they went to the right homes. And the best pet quality dogs are the ones that have had the socialisation and enrichment when they lived in a kennel. There is no reason why this sort of rehoming couldn't be done in other breeds if there is an excess of adult dogs needing homes in that breed. But it shouldn't be called rescue, because these are not rescue dogs.

This is very sad, I hope you find him soon.

The demand for this breed is very high. There is no reason for somebody to sell one so cheaply unless there is a problem with the dog. I would also be wary of scams, where there is no dog at all.

Paint the town red - Rosa. Little white lie - Bianca.

I don't think the OP should rehome the dog herself. There is no reason to think she would be better able to place the dog in a home than a pet shop. At least the pet shop has potential customers that will see the pup right now. For every day that the pup remains where it is it is becoming less desirable, as it is missing out on socialisation time with another family, and it isn't getting any cuter.