Loyal K9

I don't know if you are after a small breed. We have a Norwich terrier. It's the smallest breed of terrier. We have her since she was a puppy and got along with our guinea pigs. Actually she was bitten by one of the guinea pig on her paw and bleeding quite a bit. She doesn't shed hair but it has to be stripped back (or trimmed) every few months. She can handle few kms walk without a problem but also happy just to play around in the backyard. However, she is not a lap dog. She prefers just to stay near us. She is a bit stubborn and strong will. Very independent and very friendly. It's characters of the breed. We also have a sheltie. He sheds a lot.......... Everytime I clean the vaccum cleaner, 3/4 of it would be filled up by his hair.

We have a 4 years old Norwich (Bailey). She is a very friendly dog, too friendly sometime. We walk her almost daily. She will say hi to most people she meets. For a small dog she can walk a fair distance. Like most Norwich, Bailey is not a lap dog. She either runs around or sleeps. Like most terriers, she is stuborn. She is cute though.

I haven't tried Nutro brand. My dogs so far have been happy and healthy on Advance All Breed so I'll stick with the brand. My small terrier much preferred Advance to Eukanuba. Stockfeeders are quite far away from where I live but I will look around. For people in Perth SOR. Pet City Jandakot is having 20% off dog food (Sunday). You have to print the coupon from their website to get the discount.

I'd like to know where is the cheapest place to buy dog food (Advance) in Perth SOR? Usually I pay $100 for 15 kg All Breed. Thanks.

We have a small terrier that turns into a bear everytime we try to cut or dremel her nails. So I want to try filing them by hand, with no sound of electrical motor like dremel. Can someone suggest the best nail file that does the work well? I need something that will file the nails reasonable quickly. Where can I buy it? Thank you.

Thank you. I will call her tomorrow. Hopefully he can be fixed for his own benefit and ours too.

Thank you for all the reply. Some dog owners who I regularly meet at our local park think that something must have happened to him during the first 8 months of his life. Maybe he was attacked by another dog. Erny, I live in Perth (southern suburb near the city). Could you recommend someone that can help him. Today we walked our terrier without the Sheltie. It was a much more pleasant walk. She ran around with other dogs and I didin't have to constantly concentrate on the Sheltie.

I don't know how he grew up as he was an ex show dog but got too big so the breeder sold it to us. We made a mistake by not visiting the breeder to see him and his parents first. He was in Sydney and we were in Perth. I was pre warned by a local breeder not to do this but I was assured that he was a well socialised dog. Maybe the breeder didn't know about his aggression??? because he was only mixed with other shelties and didn't walk/socialise him outside the ring? He is very aggressive. If he sees other dogs he will approach and pick a fight no matter the size. 2 weeks ago he saw another dog (Australian Shepherd) chasing a tennis ball (exercising) in a park. I know the owner, actually I accompanied the owner when he bought her as a puppy from a farm. My Sheltie barked at him and she approached him. She sensed the aggression and barked back, it spooked my dog and he come off the lead. He ran about 2 kms home and didn't listen to my call. On the way he stood in the middle of the road confused, a driver had to sopped his car and helped me to catch him. He was completely spooked and decided to run home and completely ignoring my call. He also pooped himself. It was a drama with about 8 people trying to stop him. He shows aggression from being frigthen. Outside the house he walks with his tail down. I can see slight improvement since we got him but I surrended to the fact but he will always be anxious. Even when I come home I have to call him before he approaches me but he is much better than before. My terrier jumps in excitement before I even open the garage door. I try to calm him down by talking to him and rub his face gently regularly. He trusts us more and get quite cheeky sometimes. Lately he likes to fetch ball at home. At home he runs around playing chase with my terrier, tail up in excitement with happy face asking people to play. You wouldn't be able to tell but he is so aggressive outside by looking at the way he plays at home. Once I met a lady that used to breed shelties. She said she has never seen a sheltie as aggressive as ours. That is not comforting. Also a few times he tried to nip people that visited us by approaching from behind. We, especially I, make sure that he knows that is not acceptable. We have taken him to an obidience classes and walk him 2 - 3/week in winter and daily in summer. Don't know what esle we can do.

We have a sheltie for 9 months now. We got him when he was 10 months old. He is aggressive toward other dogs except our small terrier and other shelties. I wouldn't trust him with little kids. He much prefer to stay home than going for a walk. Always anxious outside the house. Inside he is a wonderfull dog, playfull and gentle. My daugther loves to cuddle him. Shame about his aggressive temperament, my wife finds walking him a bit stressfull.

Hi Kelpie-i, Thats sounds very similar. He was also a show dog but he got too tall. I don't think the breeder knew about his anti social behaviour because they don't walk their dogs. When they take them to a show they only meet mostly other Shelties. Because I get home after dark (Winter) I've been walking my dogs in the dark. He is not comfortable in the dark, he looks at me and behind/around him often. Honestly, the main worry that I had before I got him was excessive barking that is quite common with Shelties. Aggressive Sheltie didn't even crossed my mind. All other Shelties that I met at dog shows and local breeders were very friendly. They are known to be very friendly aren't they. We were quite surprise with his behaviour when we got him. Looking back I should had returned him. I thought it was an easy thing to fix by simply socialising him. That is not the case. Now he's been with us for 5 months I've grown attached to him. We had him desexed but we didn't notice any difference. I'll ring around few places/vets this weekend. By the way, what are you doing with the Sheltie? Good luck with yours.

diagnosed by ... is he shy, fearful or just aviodance is he maybe not socialised are you really sure its fear driving his behavior or lack of socialisation and a learned response to situations he doesnt like if he is aggressive then he shouldnt be in a park where there is stresses that can set him off. The point of taking him out would be to step by step train him to get over his problem not make them worst. Have you seen a behaviorist about this problem? THere are few dogs that are 'write offs' when it comes to being so aggressive, maybe there is something you guys have missed or misread in his behavior :D He is a shy dog (I think). When I come home my terrier will jump all over me asking for a cuddle. The Sheltie will stand back and wait for several seconds. Only when I call him we will come. He is a cautious dog?? He is just not as calm as the terrier, when we call him he acts like he has done something wrong. Ears pointing back and lower his posture when he approaches us. Likes he is going to get a smack. We don't smack our dogs, sometimes the kids tease them but they don't hurt them. He is like that since we got him. Maybe wasn't socialised when he was a puppy. We walk our dogs several times a week, daily in summer and during nice weather. He is fine with few dogs that he knows in the park but most of the time he is just aggressive. We haven't taken him to a behaviorist. We don't know where to find one. Few months ago I asked here but someone said we don't have one in Perth??? I would be fantastic if we can fix the behaviour. We bought him (through this forum) without seeing it first - BIG MISTAKE. He is from Sydney. I was told he is a gentle dog. Well he is gentle to us but not toward other dogs (except other shelties). It gets to the point that I want to leave him home and just take the terrier for a walk. But that won't be fair. Can anyone help??

I have a fear aggressive Sheltie. Apparently quite unusual for Sheltie to be aggressive?? He is the same in or outside the house. He is aggressive toward other dogs but very friendly to our Norwich terrier. We got him when he was 10 months old from a dog breeder. He has been aggressive from day one. Now he is 15 months old. He is very timid toward us very different to the Norwich. The worst thing is we see no improvement. Last week he was lunging at a small dog in a park so I pulled the lead and blocked him. He ended up ripping my jeans (by accident). Once he become aggressive he doesn't listen to any command. Yes he is as bad in and outside the house. It's ashame, he is a very gentle dog toward us.

Sandgrubber, do you know somone like that in Perth. Maybe I should take my Sheltie to a dog whisperer or whatever we call them over here.

I also have a problem with my 11 months old Sheltie and has been with us only for 3 months. I takes him to obedience classes (the third one tonight) but he is still agressive toward other dogs sometimes. He is fine with some dogs but not others. He doesn't like other dogs to approach him first. At home he gets along very well with our terrier.

Thanks for the advise. I have contacted an experience dog trainer. She said most of the time this type of behaviour can be fixed/modified with some works and persistence.

We have a 8 months old Sheltie, he is an ex show dog. We only have him for 3 weeks. At home he is a friendly dog and gets along very well with my terrier. They play together and if one gets a pat the other will want one too. Unlike my terrier he is a more cautious dog. When he sees people at home he first barks then approach them in a friendly way. I think he is a good watch dog. The problem that I have is when I walk him. He sometimes bark at people but he is getting better. With dogs is a different issue. When another dog approaches him he moves back or tries to "escape" from the lead/collar. If he can no longer step back he snaps. He has done this twice but he didn't seem to hurt the dogs. He also barks at other dogs when they get close enough. How do I fix this behaviour? I want him to be comfortable and friendly toward other dogs and people. One day I want to be able to walk him without lead like my terrier. Currently I say NO when he barks but I don't know how to make friendly toward other dog. I have difficulty trying to stop him from pulling the lead and calm him down. Advise please. Thank you.

Good point, we will concentrate on the daytime training. Also my daughter managed to get her to bark several times today by playing games. Hopefully she will understand one day. Thanks.

Erny, Thank you very much for your advise. What you said make sense. We will try not to ask her if she needs to go out. As to teach her to bark, I am not sure if it is within our ability since she is a pretty quiet dog. I think it will be pretty difficult because I am not an experience dog trainer. I will get a bell that we usually find at receptionist desks (round shape with a button to press on the top). Maybe we can teach her to press it. I hope by showing her to press the button everytime she goes out she will get the idea? This will fix the problem with peeing during daytime but not nightime when we are a sleep. One step at a time maybe is the way to do it. Yes, we only have to consider a doggie door.

I have a 19 months old Norwich terrier that is still not fully toilet trained. She doesn't let us know when she needs to do her business. We have to ask her and if she runs to then door that means she needs to go. So we have to remember to ask her every few hours. I would great if she could let us know by barking but she is a quiet dog and hardly bark. She also often pees in early morning. Sometimes on the carpet or on the place she sleeps (the sofa!). Presently she sleeps in her crate at night. I usually make her sleep in the crate for a couple of weeks and then let her sleep where she choose. Usually she is fine the first night but the following night she will wake me us in early morning. This is her way of telling me that she just pee. Then I put her back in her crate for the next 2 - 3 weeks. This cycle continues many times without showing any improvements. I thought by putting her in a crate when if she pees in early morning it will make her learn not to do it again. Maybe she doesn't mind sleeping in the crate. On the same time she doesn't pee in it. I puzzled as to the reason why this is so. Maybe she doesn't care? What should I do to fix this?