OSoSwift

I have used extenda leads, but never for walking, as in walking down a foot path. I use them when travelling so my dog can trot around a little and go to the toilet. For lead walking I only use webbing leads.

Uhoh forgot to add I also have Taj the gorgeous black Alpaca who turns one on the 12th of April......but shhhh and he'll never know

On another note has anyone seen the area the WA ET is being held??? I was going to google map it, but our internet is crappy and slow at the moment and Google maps gives it a hernia!

Well we had a beautiful cool day it stopped raining and was very calm so off we went on the bike. We 6kms and Lewis's heart rate was actually slightly lower than when we have done the 4 kms, go figure!! I did it off lead to make sure I wasn't draggin him along and he stayed in position quite happily and was barely in a pant when we got home. I didn't quite make it up the steep hill up to the house today, my little legs got to tired, but other than that it was good Off for a walk this afternoon when we get another break in the rain ( So I can get fitter and Rommi egts some exercise as she doesn't liek running next to the bike too far), then some speed exercise with the chuck it and Kong ball last thing :D

Hey Emery - whats the secret??????? Can't say only that much then not fill in the details!

Umm okay We have 3 dogs, only one cat since a week ago but had 4 at one point, 3 guinea pigs, a small fresh water tank with only 3 fish at this point!, some pet sheep and pet cows, then the mob of 16 sheep and 54 cows (+calves)of beef cattle. One of our dogs is very old, but we will have Whippet babies and keep one of those so then it will be 3 again and the OH is angling for another kitten, but not just yet. I also have 2 kids and the husband - who is a much work as another kid! Needless to say any going away requires extensive planning!

Ahh no worries, Yep that is late to be staying out at night!! Ours is on a Saturday afternoon

Did you say they don't accept trienniels or that you don't want to give trienniel vaccine? What about if your regular vet gives you a letter stating that you have had the titre done and it is at anacceptable level and therefore due to past vaccine reaction they have recommended in your dogs particular case that you do not vaccinate for health reasons? Can you meet the trainer for training just after the lessons have finished so one the same day, but after their rental of the oval is up, or is there another area you can go to??? If you know people from the club are they happy to meet up afterwards and reconstruct a similar atmosphere? I guess at the end of the day if they are totally against everything you can't argue with stupid!

I think sometimes when we are waiting for the puppy of our dreams we tend to romanticise it and we think of all the brilliant things and how wonderful our puppy is going to be and how great we are going to be together. When they come home it doesn't take long for the shine to dampen a little. They are full on, we need to get up during the night, we end up tired and grumpy, they destroy things, don't do as we want (yes I know its because they are babies) and the reality is quite often nowhere near the perfect picture we had painted in our minds. Sometimes we even think what the hell did I do that for!!!! We can then feel a little let down. I think it also depends on what sort of things we wanted from our dogs. I had one dog that I really didn't like and the feeling was mutual. I wanted a dog that liked to be a round me, wanted cuddles, would have liked to play with me, do training, go to the beach off lead. What I got was a very independant dog who didn't think he needed humans in his life to survive, wasn't interested in training (what we did achieve was a very hard slog) nicked off at any and every opportunity, didn't care ever if he lost sight of me anywhere. We had no connection what so ever and I totally ended up resenting him. In the end in desperation I sent him back to his breeder who agreed he was very independant, rather stubborn and after much discussion he stayed with the breeder. He ended up being rehomed to a house where he could essentially do what he wanted as in laze around inside, run around their large block etc. He was walked every day but not expected to do any obedience or never had much asked of him. He loved living there and actually cared for his people. I got a bitch from the same breeder and we got along briliantly. I now have two. Rommi and I get along well and have a great relationship, she also loves OH and will happily sit on his lap for a pat, will go to anyone for cuddles. Then I have Lewis. He arrived at 8 months and within a day he was my dog. He will sit on OH's lap if I am not around but is off the second he can sit with me. If I leave a room he will get up and follow me or sit and wait looking at the door until I come back. He doesn't suffer from seperation anxiety from me but he just loves to be with me. He will work his socks off in obedience or anything else I ask of him. He would work until he dropped. I think sometimes it happens, but I also know it can take a little bit more time from both parties. I think you will find as he gets a little older it might come a bit easier as you are not so worried about training and making sure he is not destroying something etc. Young Dobes are hard work and young male ones can be moreso. Give yourself time you are putting in the hard work now and in time when you can relax a little I am sure you will become closer. I also second some trick training, it doesn't need to be so precise and it helps you to laugh, which inturn helps the feeling with both of you. Good luck

My First Dobe bitch had bloat 3 times and had surgery times. It is one of the most traumtaic things to go thorugh. I was very lucky that as soon as signs were noticed she was rushed to the vet -at 5am in my purple and green stripped Pj's and Ugg boots - stunning!!! the first time. She had been fed, crated etc and was fine until 5am! The next time she was staying at the breeders and broke into the laundry and ate 5 litres of food in under 5 minutes and the thrid time she ate dry lupins, had a big drink and well you can guess the rest! her last surgery was at 7 and she died at nearly 12 from heart issues. I took every precaution I could. My second Dobe bitch never had an episode, good luck or good planning - who knows????

Very interesting thank you. Lewis sometimes does this when he inhales his treat when training and also when down the beach and he sniffs to close to the fine white sand. I rub his throat but may try the other methods and yes it can look like the dog is quite distressed.

That sux Boxagirl, bloat is very quick and very nasty! Fingers and paws crossed!

Well that has to nearly take the record for the crapest day from hell! What a good boy you have I have always thought along the same lines as you. How can a dog know whoi is good when they have never met people, the more people thay have met the more they are likely to realise when someone is not good or something is not quite right. If they are never socilaised and they base their aggression on fear it is like a loaded gun and it will fire at randome, could be a baddy could be a young child or an old person miding their own business. If they see lots of normal they will never fire at random on normal people. Well that's my theory anyway, seemed to work for my Dobes. Please be careful and yes definately report it to the police with as much info as you can remember

If it is for subsidsed desexing yep I am all for it as well.

I feel your pain! However there a couple of people that now are very interested and we hash out training things and theories and training issues. My Dad (family) has VERY different idea to me and they have a dog to have a dog, not to do training, agility or obedience. Having said that my dad's dogs are VERY well trained and easy to be around, just not in a formal sense. Now I finally have a breed he likes so he agrees with me much more than he used to :p All dogs above your knee are dangerous and should not be allowed!!-I kid you not!. Only working dogs (as in Kelpies etc) are real dogs and have earnt their right to be here! What about working dogs of other breeds that do things other than herd things?

X3 Interested as how this would help. Usually things like this only make things aharder for those that do do the right things anyway. My dogs are entire and they will be until I decide to desex them!

My first dog was Rotti. Oh wanted a male Rotti I wanted a female Lab, so the female Rotti was the compromise. She was brilliant but suffered from hereditary joint disease so I changed slightly and went for the Dobes. OH loves chunky and Braccy breeds and wanted a BB we didn't have the money so he then chose a Stafford - whom we still have. My last Dobe died from a hereditary disease at 8 and a half and it broke my heart, I will never have another Dobe. Also I now had young children and didn't want a guarding type breed. I have heaps of dogs that I like the look of but cannot live with. I have always liked Whippets and Pugs among a couple of other smaller breeds so researched them. The mega shedding put me off the Pug and the Whippet fitted the bill for what I was after. I wanted low shedding and grooming requirements Could handle a reasonable amount of exercise but wouldn't tear the place down if a day was light on was likely to be readily trainable for obedience and physically capable of doing Agility non-guarding breed Liked to be close to people and hang around ( I love velcro dogs) A good dog to have around young kids. and not a large dog, but not a toy breed either. I think I have found the perfect dog

It is very sad because if people obeyed the laws these dogs would be able to be walked at normal times in average places because all dogs would be under control. But no, the rules don't apply to me brigade, make that impossible. Makes me very mad.

All fingers and paws crossed for Zoey. Hope she is a littler better tomorrow.

Lewis did that once - still not sure why?? I recall him standing up against the ringlock fence so he could see through it but couldn't go past me. He hasn't done it since thank goodness. The thing I find hard about using a lead for that is you hold onto the end near you. Now to use the lead to stop him running past you eitehr have to reel it in when he is recalling - very messy and distracting - or grab it as close as you can to him, but by then he has already turned away from you and you are just reeling him in. I would go the leadless option and get creative about where you do your recalls, highly reinforce coming to you etc. Once i was glad Lewis did decide to go past me very slightly and then he did come infront, but he was going that fast my knees were in real danger (think Whippet at not far off top speed on a nice looong recall!), I braced for the impact but he did go just to one side. Since then has has learnt to start shifting his weight back a bit sooner so he can stop and I shorthened up his recalls a little until he learnt to control his speed!

If she is not actually swollen and bleeding she may not be in season (they can have silent ones though) your male may be picking up a change in hormones and reacting to that. My male tells me around 2 months before my bitch comes into season. An area for a bitch must be escape proof and also must not be able to be climbed into. It needs a concrete or hard floor, small mesh that a dogs penis cannot fit through or solid lower walls and a roof that cannot be pushed open or that will no collapse if a dog climbs onto it. Mine is concrete floored, tinned roofed, brick house and chain mesh that is then covered in small aviary wire. Are you planning on keeping her entire or desexing her down the track?

yeh now you are talking my language

The first time you know that your dog isn't a robot and the perfect dog may well be the day they go onto a road and are killed by a car. Too late then they are dead. I have worked in the veterianry industry for 15 years and the amount of times I have heard - but he/she has never done that before is amazing. I am completely frustrated by the fact people think the laws do not apply to them and their dog is somehow different from mine. They are not special and neither are you. I don't care how well you think your dog is behaved. Have it one leash in the on leash ares and off in the offleash areas - not hard!

Didn't the last thread like this turn into a discussion on icecream???? Yum

Whilst I don't agree with some leash laws I abide by them. I don't have a small breed, but I dohave a breed who can easily be severly damaged with one bite. I have had off lead dogs bowl straight up to them with a dominant stance and the owners were like oh he only wants to play. He was easily three times the size of mine and as he was trying to T-bone my on lead dogs they could have been badly damaged. Luckily I managed to grab the dogs collar in one hand and apart from a sore wrist all was fine. I do not know that the person who has the dog off lead has any form of control and I have to say 98% of off lead dogs I see are not controlled. Last one was a small JR who ran into my dogs faces (they were on lead) they didn't react so she launched herself anyway. One decent growl from me and she turned tail - luckily for her owner as I know his name and he would have been reported. It isn't hard, there are laws follow them, no you are not special, neither is your dog.