corvus

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It can be challenging figuring out ideal etiquette. I've had people get all anxious because I've put my dogs ON leash as they approached with their dogs. They were all like "Oh no, are your dogs unfriendly?" "No, I just didn't want them to scare your dogs." "Why, don't they like other dogs? Should I keep mine away?" "No, they love other dogs, I just didn't know if your dogs would love them." Blank look... I eventually decided it made more sense to loosen up a bit seeing as leashing them seemed to cause more trouble than letting them do what they liked. When we go to places where people don't know them we take a more conservative approach and expect a lot more self control. That seems to work out all right, as the dogs naturally exhibit more self control in unfamiliar places. ETA I don't know why this always has to be such a big deal. Most of us just take our dogs out and walk them and play with them and try to be considerate of the other people using the same public spaces as we are. I don't want to upset anyone or scare their dogs. Those are my guiding principles. Following those principles means I need to be flexible, because some people have different values and assess situations differently to me. It is easy to manage this if everybody is polite and communicative.

If "heel" means stick to left leg no matter what, you don't need two cues. You just need "heel" to call them into position and they should stay there until you give them another cue whether you're moving or not. In fact, part of "heel" is that they should sit automatically when you are not moving unless you've told them to do something else. It's a deceptively complex behaviour. The more detailed you are in your criteria, the more consistent the behaviour you get. I do a lot of trick training with my dogs and use food lures. Sometimes Kivi in particular gets fixated on the food and stops paying attention to other directions I'm giving him. This is exactly why he also knows a hand target, so I can put the food away and still tell him where I want him. Often just putting it behind my back is enough to snap him out of it.

Bringing up Newkirk and other extreme PETA agendas is creating a straw man argument while real problems slip under the radar. I totally agree with Steve. If pedigree breeders don't start making significant inroads in self-regulation they will lose their chance at shaping their future. I expect sooner or later there will be a major paradigm shift about breeding. If it doesn't come from within it will be forced from without.

Doves make pretty cool office pals as well. Here's Ruin standing on a pile of books on my desk and giving me the "Why aren't you working?" look. ;) The best thing is when he stands on my keyboard he's not heavy enough to press keys or close windows like another animal of mine does when I foolishly give in and let him sit on my lap and look at my work space. I say "look" but what I really mean is poke everything in sight until I say "All right, that's enough. Go play outside, now." ETA Erik is also being very companionable today. That'll teach me for deciding to do some work on the laptop. Had to push it down my legs to get the webcam far enough away to shoot anything other than a wall of grey fur .

Gathering 'a lot of support' from whom? The people who own the 33 million pets in Australia?

Who is "they"? I have never met anyone who wants to stop people having pets, and I'm neck deep in the animal welfare industry at the moment. I know people who think zoos are a major welfare issue, and it's unethical to eat meat, and we should do away with purebred animals (although they would never be bothered trying to legislate it), but I've never met anyone who wants to do away with pets (or livestock) period. It's a 6 billion dollar industry in Australia, and increasing. There are a lot of stakeholders involved. Maybe people should check out some places that do have a lot of animal-related legislation, like Sweden. Despite pet ownership being highly regulated in that country, there are still dog breeders there, and I don't think there is another country that is more proactive in improving breeding practices and breeding pedigree dogs that are sound in body and temperament. What is happening in Australia is not unprecedented, and nor is it extreme. In Sweden it took some refinement of guidelines before they got it right. They did actually adjust regulations that turned out to be impractical.

My dogs 'come' to work with me - the whole 3m from my bedroom to my study. Epic journey. I actually really love having them around all the time. One day I will have to go back to working in an office and probably won't be able to take them with me and I'm dreading the day. I miss them so bad when I'm out for the day. Both have come with me a few times when I've been working somewhere else and it's definitely harder to get work done when they want to explore and so on, but they usually settle down and snooze after a while. One of my dogs probably wouldn't make a great office pal considering he tends to be territorial and alerts me to everything that goes on in the vicinity, but my older dog and my previous dog would have made great office dogs.

I think you just have to take it as it comes. If they are more aroused than usual assume the distance will be less than usual. Beware of trigger stacking, watch where your dog is looking, and look for the quiet, long look. If you see one you know you shouldn't go any closer without offering some support at least. Erik has been really unpredictable lately. His distances have gone way up for no apparent reason. Just gotta roll with it and pay attention to him and adjust my expectations. It's surprising what they can learn when over-aroused. Kivi's one major weakness is dogs barking aggressively from behind fences. He used to melt down and lunge and scream and generally be beside himself. He still finds it very upsetting on a basic emotional level. He does have a really fast recovery, though, and as soon as I could after walking past a mean dog, I would have him in a heel rewarding him with food. I couldn't do it while we were walking past because he was too far gone. However, over time, he started using the scary dogs as a cue to heel. Yesterday I walked him right past two fences where he knows scary dogs live and he heeled the whole way, nice and responsive. I've had him offer it from time to time when an off leash dog has frightened him. It's like a safety signal for him. If a dog is scaring him he knows he will be safe in heel with me, and when he does this he is calm and happy because he is always happy in heel. So we got there in the end despite him going over-threshold every time. Mind you, he is very focused on one thing at a time and had a massive reward history with heeling. This is harder to do with Erik because he splits his attention and cycles between stimuli so fast I never quite know what he's making associations with. It's more important with him to get that arousal down, or at least get appropriate outlets for it. My preference would usually be for low-key rewards where arousal is a problem. Sometimes it's not really possible, though, because Erik is too wound up for low-key rewards. Then I get him to take a breath on cue and do some calming exercises and then cue him to do something active to get rid of his excess energy. There are problems with Erik at least using exciting rewards. When he's excited he's way more likely to behave inappropriately and it's much easier for him to flip into aggression. Kivi has copped it a few times because he is too aroused and excited. I'm really glad you're enjoying CU, Wobbly, and I'm sorry I suggested GMAB when you were already doing it! You should pop by the CU_Dogs Yahoo group. Every now and then Leslie herself comments.

Really, what does it matter? Are you saying whatever anyone says on any dog-related topic should be viewed as dependent on their stance on BSL? Do you think you can change someone's mind by calling them out? Or are you just hoping to discredit them in everybody's eyes? Where is the benefit in that? This is really a very basic issue and it seems pretty much everyone is in agreement that inborn temperament affects future behaviour. You can't have it both ways. You can't say it does, but only until the behaviour actually becomes dangerous, and somehow breed does not factor into how it does, yet also claim that purebred dogs are more predictable. There is no cognitive dissonance in accepting both the existence of breed-specific behaviour and rejecting BSL. There is a reason why I don't own any terriers or bully breeds. I'm just not into living with the associated heightened risks. Does this mean I think they should all be banned? Don't be freaking ridiculous. Does it mean the things I want to avoid in terriers and bully breeds can't pop up in the breeds I do have? Don't be freaking ridiculous. We're talking about risk assessments, here. It's all grey areas. Believe it or not, it is possible to acknowledge heightened risks without condemning a breed or breed group.

Assistance Dogs Australia does, but you do have to be reasonably close to Heathcoate so you can attend regular classes. They also only really raise Labrador and GR puppies. Although to be fair, I was not a Labrador person a few years ago, but after working with a bunch of them during my studies I've become much more appreciative of them. Sharp minds, and some of them seem to have a wonderful sense of fun. Something that might work out better for you is B&B. Most of the ADA dogs in advanced training go to volunteers on weekends and over holiday periods to get them out of the kennels when there are not many trainers around, but some dogs need a bit of a break from training, further socialisation, or are waiting for placement and go on extended B&B for a few weeks or longer. Most of their dogs are retrievers, but recently they've been branching out and getting ex-racing Greyhounds and other dogs from rescue.

Read the article, mantis. It explains why it is not the dogs or the owners. It's BOTH. : You know what really makes me mad? People grossly oversimplifying complex issues and then developing some kind of fierce belief in the oversimplification. Having owned, bred and shown dogs for 50 years means nothing if you can't grasp the complexity of fairly key issues like temperament.

Pet Rescue. There certainly is evidence for breed-specific behaviour, people. It doesn't serve anyone to deny it. Which is not to say BSL is evidence-based in the slightest. I quite like this blog post for explaining the interactions of genetics and environment: http://paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2012/12/10/its-all-in-how-theyre-raised/

We use the "Dogs are indoors at home" line as an excuse to leave social functions when we've had enough. ;) People never question it. Even non-doggy friends and relatives ask us "How are the kids?" because we have no human kids and they get that our dogs are part of the family. Life would be different without the dogs, and we would do things we don't do so much at the moment, but we chose the life we lead and are happy with it. Nothing was sacrificed.

In males it can make a difference in some cases, but in females elevated aggression and emotional reactivity have been statistically associated with desexing. As my supervisor said to me once, they don't know they don't have a uterus anymore. I don't think anyone understands this well enough to know what the mechanism behind this might be, although in males it is much more straight forward. Testosterone = intermale aggression. There are some vague suggestions that desexing males and females can have a variety of effects on their personality. The trends haven't been documented enough to identify what is going on at an individual level. It's just broad correlations at the moment. No doubt there are plenty of people here who saw no discernible change in their dogs after desexing. ETA, yes, dogs of the same sex are more likely to fight than dogs of different sexes, but there's a breed effect as well, unsurprisingly. Back in the 60s Scott and Fuller suggested that the more similar dogs are to each other the more likely they may be to fight. So same size and same sex may see an increased risk of aggression. It's complicated, though.

I like trail running. Or failing that, a nice 12-15k pavement bashing fest will do. My dogs do not like running with me. The Lappie is too slow. Looks fantastic trotting beside me, but has no stamina to speak of. The Vall loves running, in theory, but I am an impatient task master and he has short legs. He got so tired of me constantly pushing him faster and farther he steadfastly refused to accompany me anymore. So if I want to go for a 75-90 minute run I have to do that on my own and then later take the dogs out for their exercise. I've had days where I've done a 12k trail run, then come home and taken the boys out for a 7k bush walk. Seems kind of stupid, really. Plus when I have the dogs with me I'm always finding really brutal hills I'm like "Oh yeah, I'd like to give that one a go." but I'm wearing jeans and hikers or something equally uncomfortable to run in. Woe. Incidentally, if I did have a dog who didn't mind racking up some mileage with me there are limited trail options outside of national parks. At least trail running sans dogs gets me to some gorgeous places I wouldn't otherwise go because the dogs aren't allowed.

I don't find the love I have for any of my animals is comparable to the love I have for any of the others. How can it be when they are all different and therefore my relationship with each one of them is different? There's nothing in common to compare. Basically the more I get to know an animal the more I love and appreciate their own special unique selves. If I don't feel as strongly for one it's because I don't know them so well yet. That's all there is to it.

Wobbly, sounds like you could use the Give Me A Break game. This is how I got both my dogs to train in the bush. It was the last step, though. We started in much easier environments and worked up to the bush. Here's a little description of how to play it:http://reactivechampion.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/cu-seminar-give-me-break.html I often think Staffyluv could use this as well.

I'd look at paracord leashes. Heaps of people on Etsy make them for good prices and whatever length and colours you like. You can even get those lobster snaps, which I love. I've only played with one paracord leash in real life, but it was surprisingly soft and comfy. I was way tempted to buy one. They have a wee bit of give, but not enough to get into trouble with. Tough and super strong. E.g. Paracord leashes

One time we stopped to get some breakfast on the way to the park with the dogs. Got them out and when Kivi realised I had banana bread he wouldn't take his eyes off me.... until he realised my partner had toast, prompting him to do a massive, comical double-take with his eyes bugged out, and leap into the air and twist 180 degrees so he could instantly direct all his attention at the surprise toast. He really likes toast. And bread. I've had him throw a five minute tantrum because I wouldn't let him pick up a sandwich he found on the side of the road. Erik is pretty big on apples and bananas.

IME there's no point trying to explain to the trainer why you don't agree with them. I have rarely found trainers who were comfortable with this. To them, they are being challenged on their own turf and I'm sure to some it seems threatening. If I don't agree I keep my mouth shut, smile and nod, and quietly do it the way I want to do it. It is hard when they put you on the spot. Both my dogs are well socialised enough that I rarely feel I need to get into conflict over it, but I think that when push comes to shove, backing away and saying "Sorry, I'm not comfortable with this." is the most likely to be respected. You don't need to explain further or defend yourself. Just think of it as a stop signal and keep saying it if you are pressed. I once saw a professional trainer do this to another professional trainer and they averted a potentially nasty situation by doing so without getting into an argument or creating conflict with the other trainer.

If it's been weeks and the Weim hasn't improved, THIS SHOULD TELL THEM SOMETHING. "Socialisation" like this can single-handedly create all the problems those doing it are trying to avoid. They will not "learn how to get along" by being forced to interact when they don't want to. They will learn how to head off interactions they don't want, and then they will decide there are more and more interactions they don't want. My parents had a dog that went through this and by the time he was a year old he was downright dangerous.

One of my boys had two undescended testicles and they had to rummage for them. When he was desexed he was very uncomfortable and distressed in the day or two after. He would not settle and whimpered a lot. He was on pain medication, but obviously still far from a happy boy. Called the vets the night he got home and they said we could bring him in and they would look after him, but there's a thing with our vet hospital that once you sign them in for a night that's it, they stay. Because it's students that man the place at night and they aren't allowed to release them. We opted to have him with us and my partner managed to get him to sleep on the couch with him. The next night I slept with him on the couch. It was THE ONLY way he would settle. After that he started to recover and calm down a bit. When our other boy was desexed we were kinda trepidatious, but he acted like nothing had happened. He didn't worry the wound, but the older dog was licking it for him. The vet gave us a bitter substance to dab on around the wound. That sure solved that problem.

If fits happen anywhere, any time, it seems for the moment they should be left out of the equation. You also say she started to get upset when the little white dogs came around a blind corner. I presume they were not frightening the foster dog just by being there, but they got her anxious enough that she was not interested in treats? If so, this really points at an issue independent of the foster dog's emotional state, don't you think? I'd still be inclined to treat this as a relatively simple case of the dog being anxious about other dogs. I'm betting there's a pattern to it. I'd be looking first at tension and movement in the other dogs. Some dogs are incredibly sensitive, especially if their anxiety is quite specific. Have you tried a nice, structured approach based on keeping her below threshold and teaching her alternative ways to cope with her anxiety and arousal? If not, go take a look at the reactive dogs thread in the training section. Lots of modern and sophisticated methods being talked about over there.

They sure can mess with you. Erik has several times swallowed a chicken wing or bit of bone too large and spent a minute or two in terrible discomfort trying to vomit, distended tummy, bringing up foamy white stuff just like a dog with bloat. Each time some firm stomach palpitation has eventually shifted it and all symptoms have cleared up instantly. I have actually been on the phone to the vet telling them we may have a blockage emergency when he's cleared it and trotted off happily. He is a miserable little bugger when he does this, and I really wish he would learn to slow down and chew. We have several things now on the "don't feed to Erik" list because of this. In the meantime, last week Kivi threw up a pool of maggots in my kitchen. Awesome. That's all manner of wrong right there. Goodness knows what that was and where he found it, but it made him pretty sick for an hour or so. He was in and out voiding his stomach and when he did lie down he looked pretty unhappy. Thankfully once he got it out of his system he recovered quickly and even managed to convince me he needed some dinner that night.