OSoSwift

We have lost two old cats and a dog since we have had our kids, we have another old dog we have though we were going to lose a couple of times. We tell them they have died, they are gone and not coming back. I have found they have no concept of death and do not tend to mourn as we do as they have no experience on what it means. Our almost 5 year old is now starting to understand that death is final. I have always believed in telling them exactly what is happening. A few animals that died when I was young the whole thing was sugar coated and I looked for some of those animals for years and also wondered why they didn't want to stay and chose to leave me. My five year old the other day was telling me how one of our cats got old, he died and he wasn't coming back. I said yes that is correct. He answered okay and that was that. We have had handraised calves that have died, or calves I have had to pull that have died, so being on a farm it is something they are exposed to from a very early age. She will not fully understand, but she will beable to move on know he is dead, he is gone and as much as it upsets all of you he will not and cannot come back. I am so sorry you lost a dog in this way, it is not the first time I have heard of this happening, although the Shepherd I knew of did live as his Kong went into his throat large hole first and he was just getting enough air through the small hole to get to the vet in time. You will cry and it will hurt, over time the better memories will be the first that spring to mind instead of the awful events at the end. Sending lots of hugs your way, it is a terrible way to lose a dog.

The site says that Paypal will be available soon, OH told me I definately need to buy one From something I was reading the other day, it says a new study has revealed that 40% of dogs in Australia are regarded as overweight or obese. I think that is really sad. The health implications for those dogs (who have no say in how they are kept, but have to deal with the fall out) is huge. Rommi always acts like she is dying of starvation as well. Doesn't help the image at all. As much as I like to educate people sometimes they don't want to listen. I find is amusing that they are quite often holding the lease of what can only be described as a coffee table with legs. Yep my dogs unhealthy and your isn't! Oh and we need more photos of your lovely girl over in the Whippet thread please

I would ask the going middle rate for your breed. If they are very high I am inclinded to think they are more likely doing it for the money ( I do realise that import litters are likely to be higher so once I had that info this thinking woudn't apply) If the price is very low I do tend to think that they are cutting corners as realisitically no-one goes out of their way to make a loss, yes it happens but you don't deliberately do it. A price somewhere around the average to me is the best road to take. I don't worry about the price for a particular puppy as such, but there are some breeds I wouldn't get because they do have a very high puppy price and I cannot justify in my circumstance at the moment paying that amount of money. If someone couldn't pay the average price for a puppy in my breed - a pet puppy, non-import litter- I would be concerned that they wouldn't be able to afford to have the costs associated with a dog/puppy, or the money to seek treatment if they got sick. Obviously illnesses or injuries of the many thousands are sometimes not affordable to people that do have the money to look after a dog and more run of the mill illness or injury. Not sure I am making sense, but essentially no I do think you should sell them too cheaply, you are a registered breeder that is breeding quality puppies, don't sell them short.

Need to get one of these http://www.stickdog.ca/

I think you should count yourself and your daughter very very lucky. You had a wonderful presence of mine to act as you did and I think what you did saved your daughter from some potentially horrific bites. I really hope am I ever in the same situation (and I dearly hope myself or anyone else never is!) that I think as clearly as you did. Very well done. That dog needs to found and quickly. A dog acting in that manner towards a human and a child at that is extremely dangerous.

Good luck I hope he is okay. Does sound rather like a cruciate. Hopefully it isn't and with rest he can recover. A little while ago I had a back leg lameness injury with Rommi. It was really hard to pinpoint, we tried rest, anti inflammatories. After some time the vet asked me to exercise her then take her in as she was never very sore there but on three legs from time to time here. They thought there was some pain in her Gracilus Muscle but were not sure. A few weeks later I saw a hard boney lump inside her hind leg near her knee. I freaked slightly. Took her to the vet and she basically had tendonitis of the ligament that connects the Gracilus muscle to the bone. More rest and DMSO roll on and so far it is all good. Sometimes these things can be a bit tricky to pin point, but any gait change means they are experiencing some sort of discomfort or pain. Fingers crossed for your little guy.

Aidan Yes I have trained this also in dogs that are either dog agressive or extremely timid and strike out to get in first. I call it my "cookie dog" exercise. The calmer the dog is the more rewards it gets. If it chooses to make a small step towards the object of it's passion it gets a reward until the previous object of rage or whatever, becomes an object of desire ( obviously you do not allow a DA dog to get close enough to another dog to be in striking range). The dog chooses to want to be closer to get their reward. Obviously you need to find out what that reward is. It could be anything - not just food. It can take a long time to get there but over time you can. That is to me different to focus on me. My dogs are always trained that yes other dogs, birds, sheep, horses, cats, cows are around but they are taught to pay them no heed. When I go to training my dogs do not play. They are not there to play they are there to work. If I wanted them to play I would take them to a play date. Over time the other dogs being there is neither here nor there, so they take no notice of them as they don't when we do happen to walk around town which isn't very often.

I dont get it either corvus. In the scenario above how would a dog know its an interupter not a marker. Agro dog looking at the other dog just about to lunge and you click? That could be very dangerous marking the totally wrong behavious! That is my thinking as well. Click means mark, means treat. I am only going to mark what I want to reinforce and reward. I think to use it as an interruptor is a bit dangerous as to the dog, you could be marking and reinforcing something that could come back to bite you on the bum later. I wonder also if it will, over time, reduce the "power" of the clicker when rewarding what you do want? Probably not, but got me thinking. I agree Bedazzledx2 and although I try I know I have a long way to go and many more things to learn.

I dont get it either corvus. In the scenario above how would a dog know its an interupter not a marker. Agro dog looking at the other dog just about to lunge and you click? That could be very dangerous marking the totally wrong behavious! That is my thinking as well. Click means mark, means treat. I am only going to mark what I want to reinforce and reward. I think to use it as an interruptor is a bit dangerous as to the dog, you could be marking and reinforcing something that could come back to bite you on the bum later. I wonder also if it will, over time, reduce the "power" of the clicker when rewarding what you do want? Probably not, but got me thinking. I think it would be better to read Leslie McDevitt's description of it, seeing as it's her method. The idea is you use it under threshold to mark a behaviour you're going to ask for again in a moment anyway, and then the dog automatically turns away from the object of interest to get the treat from you. You wouldn't click when the dog was lunging or carrying on. The only thing you are marking is looking, but it simultaneously interrupts that looking because the dog turns back to you for a treat. You're then rewarding them for attending to you, so the only behaviours you're likely to increase are looking at a trigger and then looking back to you. I am thoroughly confused by this thread. What actually are prong collars being used for? What does it do to teach impulse control? I will have to have a read. Although - I am am merely attempting to understand - If I click while a dog is looking at another dog to get it to look at me/come to me so I could treat it. I do not want to mark it looking at another dog I want to mark it looking at me. In my way of thinking I would be better off to use something else to get the dog's attention away from the dog and when it did look at me click/treat then. The otherway seems to be teaching them to look at the dog for a C/T. Which is what I don't want?????? Sorry but that seems to be taking the state highway around Australia when I could get home by driving just down the road. I remember being told many moons ago by someone I admire (and is on DOL), reward what you want. If you want to trial you want a perfect straight sit in a certain position. So don't ever treat what is not that sit. Treat the perfect sit then you are highly likely to get it, treat the half backed sits and then you are highly likely to get half baked sits. So that is why the other idea doesn't compute for me.

She looks lean to me, but certainly not skinny. I am going to get a shirt that says "no my dog is not skinny yours is just fat"! That would be because the comments are wearing a little thin after nearly 3 years! Anyway back on track If you have a recent picture of her standing I would like to see one, but no drama if not. This is what I personally would do. Put her on raw food and feed no dry food or change her dry food to a puppy formula due to the fct it is more calorie dense. Add some raw ingredeints such as chicken mince or any other things you like and her tummy tolerates. I also feed mine sardines, beef, yoghurt, cream cheese, egg rarely as they get very stinky bottoms! Give at least two meals per day. Mix it all together well. Put her food down for 20 minutes absolute maximum and remove it. Do not leave any other food out to graze on. Some times if there is dry food all the time they get into a habit of grazing. This can mean they either get over weight, or they never eat a proper meal and do not eat enough as they are picking just a few here and there. It can be helpful if they will eat some dry food so if you wish for her too then stick with it. If she is otherwise healthy she will not allow herself to starve to death. Creating a good feeding routine (ie food down for a set amount of time) usually helps reduce any problems with fussy eating (there are always exceptions!) You could give her two meals of mixed meat and dry and then a bone of some sort for a third meal. Rommi was lean as a young pup, now at 2 and a half years of age there are no problems with her maintaining weight and occasionally she gets a little more cover than I would like so I cut her back until she has dropped it off.

I dont get it either corvus. In the scenario above how would a dog know its an interupter not a marker. Agro dog looking at the other dog just about to lunge and you click? That could be very dangerous marking the totally wrong behavious! That is my thinking as well. Click means mark, means treat. I am only going to mark what I want to reinforce and reward. I think to use it as an interruptor is a bit dangerous as to the dog, you could be marking and reinforcing something that could come back to bite you on the bum later. I wonder also if it will, over time, reduce the "power" of the clicker when rewarding what you do want? Probably not, but got me thinking.

And do the full tie!! If a dog's penis can't go back, don't wait too long until you get help, though, because it can be very painful. Yes, that's what we were worried about that if it stayed out we'd be in further trouble. There's no other way to put this, but I was at the actual size of it when it was out. It was seriously about 10cm long, is that normal for an 18 month old ???? Ummmmm........................Yep :D

Who said that it was? Hands up, did anyone think that I said that it was? Sorry Aidan I wasn't meaning you at all I think you may have taken this the wrong way. The bit I was thinking of when I wrote this was this bit

The most important thing to consider when looking at this sort of situation is what is best for the dog. Will have the same level of care or better? Will he have the same or more time spent with him? If the answer to these is yes then I think you have your answer. Yes it is going to hurt, but I don't for a minute think that you are being a terrible owner. I have rehomed my inlaws dog after we had him for 6 months. The main consideration in it was that he did not have the level of attention he was used to and he was living with two other dogs and wasn't happy. We found him the right home, I still see him from time to time and he is having a great time and is very much loved. It was a better home for him than what I could offer him at that time.

I use it as an interruptor and a cue and a marker. It's good for short range. If I need longer range I have emergency recalls. The nice thing about clickers or markers is it doesn't take long to get a good conditioned response. It took about a year to get a good reliable recall through conditioning for Kivi. In contrast, I tried with the marker a couple of months after I introduced it in training and it was very effective then. I am sorry Corvus, but that sounds like a recipe for confusion for a dog. I just cannot fathom how using the clicker as three seperate things is conducive with training that is precise and clear to a dog. There are so many other things to use as a cue. For myself the clicker is a marker that is it. I do have a verbal "go on" signal but that is it. For a cue, such as "focus we are training" is a verbal word. As far a Prong collars go I have never used one, never seen one in the flesh so cannot comment. It is such a shame though that these threads seem to turn from intellegent discussion to, They are wrong I am right arguments. I think much could be learned if people read what was written instead of pushing their own agenda. Some people are great at PP training I have seen some dogs that bring a tear to my eye they work so well, I have seen other PP trainers that wouldn't know how to train it properly if it bit them on the butt. Similarly I have seen a Check chain in the hands of a person reduce a dog to a quivering mess, I have seen others where the dog works to perfection. Competency for the method they use is the key. Everyone and every dog is different, I train the way I do because it works well for me, I have trained differently in the past and while it worked what I do know works so much better it is not really comparable. I also think no-body can say what has been achieved with Zero can be "wrong" he was trained with a method that suited him and his owner and gave him a second chance at life, and a fulfilling good one. In this instance the owner, trainer and dog liked that method got it right and it worked - how can that be wrong?? I think people need to stop bickering and pushing their own agenda and think of the dogs

Mine never hump either, have had a couple of different breeds as well, some quite dominant breeds and it isn't a problem. I have seen male dogs who have had a problem with their penis getting stuck out. As pers said if they are stimulated it will enlarge because that is what happens, over 5 or so minutes in absence of the object of their desire it will all go back no worries. If not then sugar water is a good one, or lubricant of some sort to help ease the skin gently back over and put it away. Rarely a dog has a smaller opening to the prepuce than they should and this causes a problem because the blood that collects in the penis when stimulated cannot get out and back to where it should be to enable the penis to go down. If this is a problem then they require the prepuce opening to be enlarge very slightly, a few sutures, then it shouldn't be a problem.

Looks like she did! Well it said she has been breeding since the 70's so maybe you could buy them from petshops then??? I have seen a Rotti with papers bought from a petshop around 15 years ago.

Huntsmans are harmless, but they can and do bite. Usually you just have a large, sore, red itchy spot with two distinct fangs marks, but the shield variety can give you nausea and blinding headaches for a day or two. How does she know this you ask????? I have been bitten by huntsmans 3 times! Once on the foot twice on the neck. Yes they jump, and they are hairy! Good to hear Lincoln is home

Unfortunately my vet makes it more expensive to get the triennial and 12 monthly kennel cough than to do it yearly because they don't want people to move to the three yearly vacc regime. The told me that themselves. Mostly money talks so they make it more expensive, doesn't help people like me though that will take their dog for a yearly check up regardless of wether they need a vaccination and do the right thing.

I had a quick read up and it said they are very rare outside Japan, so I would think that may answer your question. The only way to get one would be to import from America as it sounds they are pretty much the only place that really has them outside Japan. Any particular reason you want on of these as they are very much like the Akita and Shiba. It would be much easier to source a Shiba, although they are of course smaller

Erny I don't think that would be a problem as the vet would see the dog as unprotected, then vaccinate him with a 12 monthly vaccine and then consider him up to date- for the next 12 months anyway. If they sign off on a 12 month vacc for 3 years and the dog gets parvo, then they could get in the poo as they have signed off on something that is "off label" use. I do not think they would refuse you a 12 months vacc purely because you haven't had it given for the previous 2 years

We had an "Aussie Bulldog" at Puppy pre-school. I asked him about the parents, the breeders etc . Have they hip scored the parents, eye tested for entropian etc. Umm the parents are healthy. They haven't had them scored, ummm No. Out of interest what does one of these set you back?? $2500. So the average Jo Public will buy a $2500 puppy from non-health tested parents and not rego'd (well maybe with their own club or whatever it is) but will complain that registered breeders are just trying to rip people off and have unhealthy dogs when they are health tested??? (yes I know not all are) and complain about spending over $1000. Makes me wonder. He was a sweet little guy with a lovely temperment, but still. And I have no idea what that stupid person was thinking! Who in their right mind would mate a dog that large to a dog that small and not expect it to go to poo!

Our 14 year old Stafford would try to mate with her if he could and he is desexed. Rommi doesn't care if she is standing, he comes within cooee of her behind, and she shaves mm's of his ears! Not so with Lewis - tart! Lewis has the 12 month implant so I hope it doesn't last 2 years or something! His weight is as per normal as is his lala sooky boy attitude

Hmm snakes, yes they are out and about. Long handled shovel, or hoe, or a long piece of 1and a half inch poly pipe. We have one on each side and one near the dog runs. This year we have had two warm days in a row and on my travels I saw 4 dead snakes. nowhere near my house thankfully, also when I was in the vets the other day they had two snake bites and they are not the only snake bites they have had!

I have Petplan, $100 excess and $9000 per year. I personally would be unlikely to give my dog Chemo, I may it would depend on the situation. Generally I am covered for snake bite, stitch up broken bones. If my dog was that badly brokewn it would need $9000 worth of surgery I probably wouldn't do it. Once again case by case. But I think it would cover most things and I could afford a certain amount over the $9000 so I could pay the difference if I exceeded my cap. I did think about going up the next cover, but at the end of the day this seemed like an affordable amount for me to pay out and a reasonable yearly limit