Quickasyoucan

For a work colleague in Auckland who has a mini foxie/jrt cross with anxiety/fear/excitement issues. Dog is desexed male 2 year old. Vet has apparently prescribed clomicalm, but I am not sure how effective it has been nor whether behaviour modification has been suggested/or tried. Any suggestions??

Is there any news on what has happened. I can't seem to find any recent updates.

You've only got to read Karen Delise's books to realise there is usually something "off" when a dog attacks regardless of breed. It's always easier to blame the dog than the living circumstances... after all a dog can't say I have been starved, beaten, overbred, lack veterinary care, live in an environment where there is often domestic violence, been tied up 24/7 etc. Doesn't get the chance... Great that Steve has stepped up, hope he gets a chance and this then starts a precedent for all breeds.

The news article I read said it was in its own fenced yard. May have been defending its territory. Animal looks pretty distressed and it is covered in blood. Awful all round. But any dog is capable of an attack regardless of breeds if the conditions are right or should I say wrong. A lady I met at a party had a GR that had badley bitten a small child and was in the process of being declared dangerous. She had tied it up to a lamp post and gone inside a shop. I just wonder what gets into people's heads really. She said the dog was nervous around strangers. Why would you tie a nervous dog outside in a public place and not expect something to go wrong?

Not a silly question at all. Spaniels in an Australian Field Trial are expected to hunt, flush and retrieve. I guess if I didn't do any training, Em would naturally hunt and chase (she is VERY birdy ) - but in competition, they must hunt close to the handler, flush immediately and then hold steady until sent to retrieve. So instinct is all well and good but training is essential. I don't know much about Welshies to be honest. Always enjoying a challenge, I decided to take on the wonderful Labs at their own game :D I meant to add I love the flying ears and the enthusiasm. And is it wrong to say I so much prefer the look of working ESS to show line. I think its the jaunty ear set On a training note can someone tell me how I can untrain a behaviour my my dog in terms of retrieving. Being the mad ball fiend he will retrieve both seen and unseen retrieves (ball only unfortunately). I have taught him to return and put the ball in my hand (lazy much!) but he does it standing up. I can't get him to sit or he will instantly drop the ball. I would love for him to sit and then give. Is that too hard to retrain, if so any links/tips to how I would do it. I know this is not strictly retrieving and he is very definitely not a gundog, but as he gets older I am always looking for ways to complicate the straight up ball throwing and chasing as I am trying to go a bit easier on the legs. He loves it when I send him out on a "blind" retrieve!! (well my version of it anyway not a proper one ).

Sorry have mucked up the quoting a bit. Have been thinking abou the movement and rythmn thing (not specifically in relation to CM). I think if you can get it right it is a strong source of communication with dogs. When you meet the rare people that seem inately to have that energy and ability and timing with animals it is awesome to watch, I do believe people are born with it. You meet people who don't necessarily have any formal training or connection with dogs and they just have it. I also notice that those same people are often quietly spoken, the focus is on the physical and not the oral. I think we can assimilate or "learn' elements of their behaviour but I personally believe you either have it or you don't. No matter how you break it down on a step by step basis and say do this or this, translating it into the physical is no easy thing. However, also think that unknowingly we exhibit elements of the behaviour. My dog is roughly 8 we have now settled into that wonderful routine of the physical "conversation" where we understand what the other wants. I expect that is largely down to my dogs ability to read me rather than mine to do the "dance" but nonetheless it is something that never ceases to amaze me.

Stupid question here, but are working line ESS normally used for retrieving as well as springing game? I grew up with welsh springers, and always thought traditionally they were used to get the game in the air and the retrieving was left to the retrievers? I know it's a dumb question but I am working for knowledge my father probably told us when I was about 9!! ETA: all our welshies were crap retrievers, though they did have soft mouths. They were more intereested in chasing than coming back, although I am 100% certain that was a father related training issue!

Off topic but I watched this show on Foxtel at the weekend called blue collar dogs. It was about dogs that are used for medical work (cancer sniffing but also assistance dog). There was 14 year old lab, the first graduate of an assistance programme who had been taught to execute commands like sit, drop speak, off large cards with either the word written in spanish or english or a picture. I am still not sure whether this is actually possible or whether the person was giving them sneaky hand signals. I thought dogs had problems with 2 dimensions, bar that cleverest border collie in the world who lives somewhere in Austria Was great to see a 14 year old dog still enjoying her "work" and giving back to the community by giving the odd demonstartion here and there. A lot of the cancer footage I had seen before but it is still very interesting. Some scientists had tried to creat a robot "nose" which would have the same capabilities as a dog, the machine took up a whole room and was still not foolproof. just proves what we already know, dogs are superior in so many ways. BTW back on topic is the waving from side to side or forward and backward?

If my dog has no concept of time why does he get up (and want me up ) at 5.55 am on the dot every day of the year. Even if daylight saving has stopped or started it is still exactly the same time every day. Unfortunately has recently added an earlier "get her up" attempt into the mix 4.00 am. Jokes aside I have always thought it was some external cue, like someone who goes to work at that time in the neighbourhood. But the circadian rythmns thing sounds quite interesting. He knows what time I am due home and my neighbour who sometimes looks after him when I am going out for an evening says he starts waiting by the window at that time and seems put out if I don't arrive... He also puts himself to bed at exactly 8.30 pm every night!!!

I second getting some counselling for yourself as well as help for the dog. I suffer from anxiety and understand that sometimes events can cause one to have an irrational fear that something bad will happen. However, even if there are a lot of unleashed dogs in your area (as there are unfortunately in most areas including my own due to idiotic owners) this does not mean that every single one will attck you and your dog. We meet unleashed dogs at least a couple of times a week sometimes more, my dog has only ever been attacked by one. Even though that's not acceptable in any way (and believe me irresponsible owners make me mad ) there are pretty good odds that an attack will not happen every time you step out the door. Even if you don't have a dog, you want to be able to walk the streets with your children without an irrational fear that something bad will happen, just as you want to be able to drive a car without thinking that some idiot will crash into you. Yes it could happen but it is unlikely. Unfortunately there will always be people who choose to ignore laws, be it drink driving, speeding, stealing, parking in the wrong spot, letting their dog crap and not picking it up or letting them roam off lead. The council, no matter how responsible, will never be able to stop all of them, nor will the police. We have to live in an imperfect world. From your posts it does appear that you may have underestimated the needs of the breed and/or the difficulties in meeting those needs when you have a young family. However, what is done is done. Others have given good advice here, but I second that, just running a long way with the dog (if you were able to get out again) would not solve your issues. The dog is just going to get fitter and demand more. He needs brain stimulation. You would be amazed how much more tired and relaxed a dog can be if it has to work through more complex issues. My boy has border collie in him as well as stafford. He could chase the ball forever (and he is 8 years old) but he is much more tired after a some scent games or something where he has to work his mind. I hope that you can take on some of the things people have said and give your dog a chance.

I think there can be degrees of dominant behaviour and I also think there can be a fluidity depending on environment. This is probably a separate thing from what working people have described as a truly dominant dog though. A lot of bull breeds, my own stafford x included, have a degree of self confidence around other dogs which I wouldn't put down to necessarily being bossy. My dog has never shown any interest in dogs smaller than himself, at most he will give a vague wag of his tail if they approach, sometimes he will completely ignore them. Dogs the same size as himself he will mostly ignore, however if a dog is bigger or undesexed he will adopt a posture, and when younger would try and either put his head over their back or mount them (not something that I have encouraged to continue). I have never seen him submissive towards another dog off leash, though he has shown some on leash reactivity /fear after being attacked by a GSD. However, I have seen him submissive towards a 19 year old very infirm cat . This cat never backed down the first time Jake met her as a youngster and to the end of her days even when she was so infirm she could hardly move, he was respectful and submissive around her. That cat was truly dominant.

Am trying a couple of people (as we are near there) will let you know asap but not sure if they will be amenable. I would take the cat myself but, although my boy has been fine with dominant cats before I would be worried if the cat was timid or a "runner" as he has quite strong prey drive.

Awful that such an attack should happen. I am, however, glad to see that more action is being taken than simply blaming a dog and putting it down. If more charges follow on from attacks like this perhaps we might actually see a decrease in the number of attacks. My heartfelt best wishes for the recovery of the child and their mother.

Sadly some dog owners are just fools. I have heard anecdotally via rescue of people who brought a dog back after 2 days because, despite being told not to, they took it to the dog park and "it wouldn't come back when it was called". That is a mild incident but who the f would take a dog they had had a couple of days and let if off in an unleashed dog park. A friend of mine is rehabilitating a DA dog who is always street walked on leash. She saw a woman walking a husky on the other side of the street (not in an offleash park) and as the woman seemed friendly used the opportunity to talk to the woman at a distance whilst maintaining calm in her own dog as a sort of training exercise. In conversation she of course mentioned her dog was DA and the woman said her husky was a "bit DA and HA". She then went on to say "it's lucky you came along now as I was about to let him off!" WTF, in a suburban street where there could have been children playing she was planning to let off her HA dog. :D No sensible person would take an unknown dog to school where there are lots of excited kids milling around with little or no idea of dog etiquette. But there are a lot of dog owners out there who are not sensible...

I think what someone said about defining drive levels being problematic is true. For example, my understanding about the more "primitive" breeds for example basenjis being a PITA to train to hight levels is not that they are low drive but that they are difficult to focus in that being more cat like for want of a better word they would rather do what they want than what you want. Someone might say they lacked motivation, I watched an interesting documentary about PNG singing dogs. These are hunting dogs, I am sure they have a decent level of drive, but the scientist who was conducting an experiment by keeping one as a pet (apparently there are abuot 200 singers in captivity in US) said, you don't adapt a singer to live as a domestic pet, you adapt yourself to living with a singer. I thought that about summed it up. So I guess what I am trying to say is couldn't a dog have good levels of drive but bad levels of focus? My dog has strong prey drive towards certain items and is generally pretty motivated by pretty much everything. I haven't competed with him and to be honest when he was younger some times I wished he would just relax... though I love him and his responsiveness and intelligence. ETA I guess that is off topic since I am not a competitor but I guess I was saying drive can be a double edged sword particularly for a person who is a pet owner as well as a competitor and has a full time job and perhaps children etc, very high drive would be hard to satisfy I would imagine.

What other people have said re not having the temperament for it. I also don't think I am very motherly and actually prefer adult dogs to pups anyway, in that puppy cuteness doesn't really light my candle, I like to see the grown up product (if that makes sense). I prefer to leave it to the experts

Slightly off topic but on the topic of lung cancer or more specifically mesothelioma (the asbestos related one), my doctor told me her dog died of meso, I said to her I often wondered about dogs and fibro houses, or dogs on building sites for that matter (given that asbestos is dangerous when disturbed) and dogs do a lot of sniffing around. She said, oh my house is fibro and the dog used to sleep underneath. Have often wondered about whether many dogs have been affected by asbestos exposure. In terms of smoking and mesothelioma, statistically there is a link between those who have been exposed to asbestos in a work environment AND smoke in terms of their increased likelihood of developing mesothelioma compared to non-smokers. Don't know what the medical reason behind it is though. I am allergic to cigarette smoke and my boy won't have a bar of people who stink of cigarette smoke wanting to interact with him, he loves smelly drunk derros but he can't stand smokers

To anyone on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, my friend received a letter from Warringah Council yesterday (she lives near a reserve) to say they would be baiting from 7th March, also in May, August and the end of October. Sites include: Manly-Warringah War Memorial (aka Manly Dam) North Curl Curl Headland (this is not the Curl Curl dog park but not that far away) Dee Why Lagoon Deep Creek Garigal National Park (there are leash free bordering the park including Seaforth Oval) Just so that people are aware that 1080 will be laid from 7th March onwards in baits buried 10cm deep. It is part of the regional baiting program that includes other councils on the North side so if anyone lives in the Pittwater, Warringah, Ryde, possibly Kuringai area (sorry don't have flyer with me), might be worth checking with your council to see if you are affected.

I had a TPLO done at Sydney University Vet hospital on my stafford x in October. We did try conservative management for about 6 months but the problem just waxed and waned. Given my time again I would probably have had the op done sooner as I do worry about the strain put on the other leg. I think the first 2 weeks post op(before the stitches came out) were the hardest. After that it was just a case of keeping him quiet and after the all clear at 8 weeks gradually building up exercise. We are back to full exercise now and and no problems at all. I would say his gait is slightly different (but the TPLO does change the biomechanics of the knee). He didn't even really get any swelling post op and I had read some real horror stories. Most importantly my boy is now pain free when he used to be quite obviously standing with his weight on 3 legs toe pointing and at times clearly in pain. I am very glad I had it done. I think with bigger dogs the TPLO or TTA are the recommended route (depending on which procedure your dogs anatomy is most suited to). Generalist vets still do seem to do the de angelis method though even on larger dogs, not sure about failure rates though.

:D And I thought it was only cats that proudly brought back their "kill" to show their owners!!!

My boy always gets his toy when he is excited when someone he likes comes to the house, or when I come home. If he can't find his toy he will get one of my shoes and run around the house like a loon (even though he is nearly eight years old!) He is a mad keen ball fiend but I see it as a bit different with his toy (or my shoes) as he doesn't give it to me, which he does with his ball. If he is outside and the neighbour's dogs are barking he will also shake his toy madly and growl - since he isn't allowed to fence fight with next doors dogs. I saw it as some kind of displacement behaviour. My boy is a stafford crossed with a border collie and probably a few other bits and pieces but, so no retrieving breeds in him either but he definitely will retrieve a ball on land or in water, he will also search for a ball if I have hidden it, and loves scent games. ETA interesting when dogs do things you don't expect. In another thread about working line dobes someone said dobes tend to grab decoys with their front legs, my boy used to do that when we first started to play tug before I taught him to release properly (I probably had the tug too close to my body).

I got my boy at around 10 months (he is a rescue of unknown origin) and it was fantastic to discover he was already housetrained, beyond the puppy biting stage and actually, only ever really chewed up one thing - a pair of glasses I am another person who loves the joy of an older dog. When my boy finally passes I will definitely be looking at an older dog (or two!), possibly more like 3-5 years old or even an aged "verandah dog" rescue (ie one that just needs a warm and shady spot to eek out their days). I think dogs can have issues whether or not they have been raised by you from a pup. Depends a lot on genetics and your ownership style. Older dogs don't automatically mean problems. And my boy had no problem in bonding with me either. Missing the puppy stage doesn't bother me at all, it is over in an instant and then you get to enjoy the real dog

My sister just called her fourth child after my dog, Jake, well she says its Jacob but we all know he is going to be Jake when he is older. I think of it as a compliment. Jake has a lot of other names too, Roger (due to his mounting propensity when younger), Derek, etc depending on what he is up to. He comes to all of them I met a mastiff once called Keith suited him to a tee. And little short legged short haired crossbreed called Ian. :D We called our first ever pet, a cat, Jason, so I guess human names are a theme. I have a few trees in my garden named after friends and loved ones who have passed - that probably makes me weird.

There is a silky terrier of some sort round the corner from us that was "got to" by a staffy (not stafford brindle BYB type thing). A couple of the pups are still around they look very much like your boy though a lot hairier

Holiday, what's a holiday, oh I think I might have had one of those about 10 years ago. If you emigrate and leave family behind at the other side of the world "holidays" are taken up with vast amounts of time and money on planes going out of your mind with boredom to visit family left behind. Bad enough I have to do 24 hours on a plane let alone my poor boy (even if it were that easy with quarantine etc wouldnt dream of putting him through it). Can't remember when I actually last had a relaxing holiday. I did go and visit Warley once though and her many beautiful dogs. she didn't mind me bringing my boy.