Odin-Genie

My goldy whines and whines when she wants to go for a walk, or wants to be fed !! She would just sit in one corner and make these soft mournful noises. The moment her leash or the bowl is taken out, she would jump up and be her happy self again. My elky doesn't whine. Ever. He is too dignified for that

Love the second photo. Such expressive eyes

My elkhound and golden retriever get along really well even though their body languages are totally different. My elkhound's best friend is a staffy cross.

That totally depends on the people who use them. In principle, it is a great idea to have a place where dogs can run. My dogs love to run and do zoomies and my backyard is not big enough for two dogs that size to play chase. However, if all owners don't monitor their dogs very closely, a fight can escalate quite quickly with disastrous consequences. I use them regularly. However, I prefer to go there when there are very few dogs, and they are all known to me. If a strange dog comes in, I stay very close to my dogs to monitor their reaction and at the first sign of uncomfortable behaviour, I leave. If a known aggressive dog is there, I don't go in. Both. Some days my dogs have the best of time at the park when they get to play with dogs they've known since they were puppies. At other times we've had to leave after 15 mins since a dog I'm not comfortable with comes in. My dog has been attacked twice by the same dog in a dog park (not the one I regularly go to). No one was hurt since I and my OH reacted quickly and pulled our dog out of reach. But the owners did not move a finger to control their dog. When I told them they should not be bringing that dog to the dog park, their answer was "it's a dog park"!!! I have now reported them to the council since this dog has also attacked another puppy.

My dogs tend to use their back teeth when chewing on marrow bones. They were starting to get brownish stains on their back teeth and no amount of brushing helped. The vet suggested marrow bones, and within a month they had bright, clean teeth.

I always stop my dogs from humping each other or any other dog. My female goldy tries to hump my male elky when he plays with other dogs. I immediately pull her back. The reason I don't let my dogs hump is because I don't want them to think it is acceptable behaviour. Otherwise they might think it is ok to hump strange dogs as well. I find it very annoying when people at the dog park let their dogs hump other dogs and think it's funny. My male elky would not tolerate any dog trying to hump him (except my goldy who can get away with anything as far as he is concerned!!!)

You are the only person who listed the lovely elkies!!! My list: Norwegian Elkhound (have one) Golden Retriever (have one) Jamthund Tibetan mastiff Samoyed Alaskan malamute Akita Siberian Husky Leonberger Newfoundland

Same here. I often take my dogs when we go out for dinner. We sit in the outdoor area of the restaurent and no one has any issues with that. We always ensure that we ask the owners for permission before sitting down with our dogs.

From The Age

I have a Subaru Forester and an Outback. Very safe cars and excellent for driving with dogs. My dogs prefer the Outback since it is lower and has more space.

Totally agree. If I thought my dogs would bite when people try to pat or invade their personal space, they would be muzzled in public. If a dog reacts that easily, it is obviously not stable.

I use Lupi harnesses and short leashes for both my dogs.

Aussielover, was this in the Thornleigh dog park on Dawson Avenue? No, it was on the north shore. After speaking with some other dog owners, apparently it occurs frequently. Will not be taking my pup there for a while now which is a shame as it is a nice park with usually only a few dogs at a time and only 5 mins from my place. Can you tell me which park it is? I live in the upper north shore and would want to avoid such places.

Aussielover, was this in the Thornleigh dog park on Dawson Avenue?

Problem is that some people consider any barking a disruption of their right to peace. When they complain to the council and council considers their complaint invalid, it probably irks them even more and becomes a reason for personal vendetta. If your neighbour has taken the initiative to drop fliers, I would tend to think she was trying to stop her dog from barking, but the person who complained didn't have the patience to wait.

I would assume that whatever be the reason behind poisoning the dogs, the perpetrators themselves would be 'less than pleasant' if they feel it's ok to hurt animals who don't know better. I'm not sure about the powers the council have in such situations, but I wish they had greater power to act, including ordering debarking, so that people annoyed by barking dogs wouldn't feel they have to go to such extremes.

Not sure where you live but since my house is next to the bush, I often find similar globs of blood on the floor when it rains. The culprit is in all cases a nasty fat leech

Has Canidae been recalled? There's plenty available on Australian websites. Is it now made in Australia?

Don't know why they do that but my two did exactly the same thing when we had the power outage in the upper northshore last week. We lit candles (no glass of wine at 5.00am) and took them for a walk around the oval. They were ok after that.

I have and was extremely pleased with the support I received.

For me it has always been good socialisation and lack of aggression. I like to take my dogs to various places, including friends' and relatives' places who have dogs, cafes, restaurants, so it's really important for me to have dogs who are relaxed with other dogs and calm in public places.

My female goldy was like that at 12 weeks. She was ok with kibble but would growl if anyone went close to her while she had bones or raw meat. This is what my dogs' trainer suggested, which worked really well. I started by hand feeding her. I would take small pieces of meat, make her sit and then feed her one by one. Then I would walk away and come back to feed her again. This way she associated my approaching her with getting more food instead of worrying about her food being taken away. Also, while she was eating a bone, I would go to her and feed her pieces of meat without touching her bone. Now she and my other dog sit next to each other and chew their bones without any problem. I can take away her bones at any time without any issues. However, as others have said, it's always good to consult with a behaviourist.

My goldy does the same. She walks around trying to find the perfect blade of grass, then happily chews it!! She doesn't throw up afterwards or show any signs of feeling unwell. It looks like she just enjoys doing it.

I have two dogs and my first dog calmed down significantly when I got my second dog. However, as others have mentioned, they need to be trained separately, so require more time. I don't see any difference in bonding. Both the dogs are very close to us. It's also great fun watching them play and be silly with each other

I have a goldy who is prone to hotspots as well (I believe most goldies are). The first time I saw one I panicked since I didn't know what it was. DOL helped Now I watch out for any signs of persistent scratching. Usually I catch the hotspots before they start to weep. I trim the coat, put cortison cream and it's usually ok within a few hours. She recently had one which we missed so it grew to the size of a dollar coin and was weepy. We trimmed the area, put cortizone cream and took her to the vet. She was put on antibiotics. The vet also suggested bathing her with Malaseb.