Odin-Genie

You're lucky Mine sleep in our bedroom (one on the bed) and they wake up up at exactly 5.30 every morning for their morning walk The only time they sleep late (till about 6.30 am) is when they have had a play date the evening before. In the evenings, they stand next to the door, waiting for their after dinner walk!!!!

Good initiative. However, all buildings have governing bodies who regulate the building policies. What happens if a building defined as pet friendly by the developer later changes its rules? All those who bought units thinking they could keep pets would either have to sell and buy another place or rehome/abandon the pets. Can these pet friendly rules be made permanent?

Awwwww...he's a darling. I wish I could get another one too :D

I did that with my elkhound puppy. We did extensive research on the breed, but when we were driving to the breeder's place to see the puppies, my OH and I kept telling each other that we would not put a deposit, we would not make a decision on the spot. Well, I saw this puppy out of a litter of four and instantly fell in love. He had to be the one. And guess what, every single second I look at him is a time I treasure over and over again. Do the research, but also go with your heart

I looked at a few breeders before deciding to get a golden puppy. I chose this breeder after talking to her about her dogs, interacting with all her dogs including the mum (they were all such happy healthy dogs), and looking at the health test results which she carefully explained. I also had a preference for a slightly darker shade female so I did a bit of research and realised that the colour at the tips of the ears would be their coat colour when they are older. I had a choice between three pups that the breeder thought would suit me. All of them were playful and confident, so I picked the one that had the colouring I wanted. When I first contacted the breeder and put my deposit, she encouraged me to visit her and the puppies every week till they were ready to go home. I picked mine a bit late (at 12 weeks) since I wanted to take a week off work. Few things that were important to me (apart from the health tests) were: Ensuring that I got along well with the breeder Ensuring I liked the way her dogs were kept The breeder asking me lots of questions about my other dog and how this pup would be kept

Thanks. That sounds like a cat From a training perspective, is that because a cat can be more easily hurt? So it needs to be higher in the hierarchy?

Thanks. Great suggestions. I would prefer to have indoor only cats. However, since my dogs have access inside and outside, I'll have to lock the cats in a separate room, otherwise they'll use the dog door to go out. This would mean no unsupervised interaction with the dogs. Is it ok to have the cats in one room for close to 11 hours a day? I and my OH work full time. When we are back from work, at least 1 hour is spent taking the dogs for a walk and to the dogpark. The dogs sleep in our room (one of them on the bed ). I want to ensure that I make the right decision here. Also, are there any particular breeds of cats who are better as indoor only cats? Someone had suggested Ragdolls. Would you suggest getting cats from rescue or a registered breeder?

Hi, I'm thinking of getting two kittens. However, my dogs have never been around cats. The only time they have seen a cat is when the neighbour's cat sits outside the fence, completely ignoring their barking. I saw a few rescue kittens and the person in charge advised that I should keep the kittens in a spare room and let the dogs get used to the smell without actually introducing them. Then, about 10 days later, I should take the kittens out while the dogs are kept on leash and sit next to them petting the kittens. This person also mentioned that once the dogs and the kittens are comfortable with each other I should just let them be together and let the kittens use the dog door if they want to go out. I am not comfortable with letting my cats roam. We have colourbond fences. Can cats jump those? My dogs are used to playing with small dogs. Any advice/suggestions would be great.

I thought this was for purebred dogs only. There is a dog listed as a 'cavoodle' in the catalogue.

In some cases it may never run out My elkhound, now close to 3 years, still babies my female goldy who is 2 and a half. She can get away with pretty much anything, including taking away all his toys, jumping up on him, butting in when he's being petted. My elkhound is definitely the leader of the pack and she follows him around everywhere, but he grooms her, lets her be silly. He wouldn't tolerate this behaviour from any other dog.

+1 I do exactly this. I tried those wipes and found them completeley useless.

Genie (Golden Retriever) is perfectly healthy. Odin (Elkhound) can't digest chicken/pork/beef (gets soft poos), but is otherwise very healthy.

One of my dogs can't digest chicken either. I feed him EP Holistic Select Anchovy formula which doesn't have any chicken or chicken fat. I'm going to try the Canidae Grain Free Salmon Formula as well, which is also chicken free.

Vet told me the same thing whilst we were there so that's done. I was initially scared to do it because I am worried our council will take it out on all dogs, but the attitude of this guy was just something else. Thanks guys, my boy seems to have forgotten about the whole thing and I'm just trying my best to stop comforting and hugging him lol. Hi jacqui835, I'm so sorry to hear about the dog attack. My dog was attacked a few weeks back as well, though since I and my OH were both there, we could pull this dog off without anyone getting hurt. But I told the owners that I was going to report them to the council (since they refused to put their dog on lead and were quite rude) and I called the council immediately. Usually, to enable the council to take any action, you need to provide the breed, name of the dog and address of the owner. If that's not available, car registration number would work. Then you'll have to fill out a statutory declaration about the attack. The procedure might be slightly different in other states. This is how it works in my council. Please do report this dog. This dog might end up seriously hurting another dog someday if the owner is not reported.

Do you think this type of aggression is not serious enough to stop a dog from being allowed offlead with children around? Is it that hard to say to a child - "STOP, dont pat my dog"? There is no reason for a child to be in petting distance anyway My dog would go off his nut if a strange child tried to touch him. Would he bite them? Perhaps if he was pushed.. I really don't know. Would I allow a child to get close enough to find out? No way. You can say what you like to people, but in a public space, you cannot control what others will do. If you get into a situation where children don't listen, or you are caught by surprise, you would be fully responsible if your dog bit. Knowing how your dog reacts, he is a good candidate to be muzzled. I agree with Greytmate. I've been surprised by kids once while walking my dogs on lead. Two teenagers walked up politely and asked if they could pat my dogs. I said yes since my dogs are excellent with kids and people. While petting the dogs one of the boys suddenly crouched and made growling noises at my dogs. It's a good thing my dogs don't react. They just stepped back behind me but they were shaking. I understand that people with aggressive dogs wouldn't allow a dog to come close to their dog, but when the dog is offlead, any child can run up to it or chase it.

:rolleyes: Using the definition of aggression given by the OP I answered yes to the HA question - I don't agree with the definition but answered the question as asked. Would I take out a dog I defined as HA - not unless on lead and muzzled (recall/training doesn't come into it). Here's how I defined aggressive in this poll (Note: I don't think this definition includes all forms of aggression, but I tried to come up with one of the more serious cases of aggression) Do you think this type of aggression is not serious enough to stop a dog from being allowed offlead with children around?

Good article dogmad. It might be worthwhile getting it published in North Shore Advocate as well. I think general people need to know about dog park rules.

That's wonderful. Happy birthday Ricky!!!

Agree with geo - NO to both! That was my answer too. It's good to see that most people wouldn't take DA/HA dogs to public places when there are other animals/people around. However, outside of this forum, a surprising number of people do so. In one of the dog parks, an owner had brough in a seriously HA dog. This dog was an angel with other dogs but extremely vary of people. She was muzzled, of course. But I got the fright of my life when I was playing chase with my dog and this dog suddenly jumped at me trying to bite!!! The owner was very upset since this was a rescue dog who would have otherwise been PTS, and she was trying to socialise it. The intention was good, but it still wasn't a good idea.

Hi, Just curious about people's reaction to aggressive dogs. For the purposes of this poll, I would define aggressive as a dog who is likely to bite in retaliation if it is scared or surprised through sudden petting or sniffing etc.

Both my dogs are from registered breeders with ANKC papers. When I started looking for a puppy I ensured that I went to see the pups, the environment the pups were kept in, their parents etc. There was one breeder listed on DOL who put me off terribly. The dogs were in a shocking condition and the owner had a huge wound on his arm which he explained was caused by his puppy biting him (the one that he was offering us ). Needless to say, we got out as soon as we could, though a part me did want to get the puppy out of that horrid environment. But I already had my first dog by then and I couldn't subject him to a potentially aggressive and ill-bred puppy.

I might be wrong here but in my experience the dominant males are the ones that attract humping... my boy is dominant and gets humped by other dominant males quite a lot. He rarely humps, but when he does, it's definitely not the submissive ones that cop it I thought males whose place in the hierarchy was uncertain got humped since other male dogs were trying to figure out if they could dominate him. My male dog is a quietly dominant dog in the sense that he doesn't try to dominate other dogs, but wouldn't let any other dog dominate him either. I have rarely seen any dog try to hump him.

This is not always an option. One fear aggressive dog at one of the dog parks was playing chase with other dogs. My dog, who doesn't like group games, was at a distance drinking water. This fear aggressive dog, while being chased by other dogs, suddenly panicked and because my dog was in front of her, jumped on him and attacked him. No serious injuries since we pulled this dog off immediately, but if we weren't there my dog wouldn't have had the option of walking away. The idiot owners of couse refused to put this dog on lead and said that if their dog didn't like mine, perhaps my dog is the problem If I ever see them approaching the park, I would leave immediately.

My opinion would be 'definitely not' when there are other dogs around. If DA dogs are taken to the park at off peak times, and the owners stand guard near the entry to warn others, and are willing to take their dog out when others arrive, then I have no issues. In any other instance it's an absolute 'no'. Would anyone risk taking their HA dog offlead near children, however well trained the dog might be? If not, why should we value others' dogs' lives any less?

I'm definitely going. My dogs frequently come with us when we go out for dinner (we usually sit outside) but it would be great to take them to a place where they can have special treats.