megan_

whippets seem to be trendy at the moment, which means there will be more and more rehomes in the not-too-distant future. This is why I don't really promote the breeds I love :-(

Clearun.com have the hurtta reflective vests with free shipping at the moment. They're great quality.

Im starting to fall in love with silkies...

Agree pers. If that dog is DA (and they are raising it to be that way) Hugo won't stand a fighting chance. A 4 ft fence is nothing but a decent jump. Even if I had a run, I'd want it to be very strong, fully roofed and have a concrete trench around it. Dju - until recently, my dogs lived very happy lives with no garden - just a teeny courtyard. I also work 12+ hours a day, but found the time to walk them twice a day, take them to obedience, agility, they learned tricks, had puzzle toys etc so were happy to chill out at home.

I know that's why I am curious. e.g if you crossed a pug with a great dane (wild random hypothetical example) could you conceivably end up with a dog that might satisfy the standard set out at the bottom of this page and therefore be deemed a restricted breed under the Act. You're right. It isn't pitbulls that are restricted - dogs that *LOOK* like pitbulls are restricted.

My dogs used to live with a teeny courtyard, but where walked twice a day, did agility, obedience etc. Plenty of happy, well adjusted dogs living with small outdoor areas. I can't see the link between that and an attack? Maybe if we don't want the media to jump to conclusions, we shouldn't either....

Make sure you have a very high (think 8ft+), very strong fence with a concrete trench for good measure. Pitbulls are very good climbers and diggers. I'd also report them to the RSPCA for hitting the dog. ETA: Just read about the fencing issues: The only solution I can think of is never let Hugo go in the yard again. I wouldn't risk my dog with an unsocialised dog that I couldn't defeat myself. It has nothing to do with the breed, but rather the d*ckhead owners and the fact that he'd be very strong.

awwww.... that bag of food is so much bigger than her!

Don't store the food in the pantry, even in a sealed container. I dud this and the pantry got infested with almost microscopic beetle (brown cloud beetle or something). I hate to throw everything out, even Tupperware because despite putting them in the dishwasher twice, some of the beetles survived. It took weeks of daily scrubbing the pantry to finally get rid of them.

Megan how do you tell? Cos I was wondering about that too. :) Oops - forgot to answer this. I only buy plastic that is graded for storing human food. I have the deco 12L tubs. I only have small dogs and I can fit an 8kg bag into three containers easily. Added bonus is that they're BPA free.

DNA testing is unreliable and the law specifically says that it can't be used to prove that a dog isn't a pitbull. Even if it wasn't, Vic legislation says that any dog that looks like a pitbull and meets the checklist is deemed restricted regardless of parentage. The ONLY exception to this is if your dog is a pedigreed amstaff. ANY other dog that looks like a pitbull (and the checklist could describe thousands of dogs) is at risk. The fact that the parents weren't pitbulls makes no difference according to the legislation.

I think people are only now realising that the Vic legislation isn't about whether a dog is a pitbull or not - dogs are deemed restricted based on how they look, regardless of parentage. The fact that these dogs aren't pitbulls means nothing according to the law. The ONLY exception being pedigreed Amstaffs (so, under the law, if you have a pedigreed SBT that met the checklist your dog could be seized and put down too). The sad irony of this all is that people will soon learn to hide their bull breed dogs, not take them out and socialise them (for fear of getting them seized) and we'll land up with more unsocialised, dangerous dogs.

*ahem* pictures *ahem*

I know a few standard breeders twodoggies and have a few standards in my family too, what I have written isn't "nonsense". They are wonderful dogs in the right hands but the breeders I know would only sell them to experienced homes because of their strong personalities. To the OP - maybe PM becks. She is in the UK but knows a lot about the breed. If you want an older dog it might be worth getting a breeders rehome rather than a rescue as standard schnauzers are rare in Australia.

I see three dogs posing with the right amount of grace and seriousness....and Bruno.

Always a risk, and the larger the door the greater the risk. My dad used to be a locksmith and you would be surprised by the number of break ins that occur through doggy doors. Me personally? I'd never get one larger than a JRT sized one simply because of this issue, if the door is not secure you won't be covered by insurance...A medium/large doggy door will mean it is unsecure simply because someone can fit through it The insurance did pay up twice, even though the second police report said that this is how they gained access. The first set of numpty police insisted that I must have left a door unlocked, which I hadn't. They also insisted that they were druggies and wouldn't come back, but they returned that night but couldn't get in. They returned again 2 days later and stole my laptop which was in my bedroom during the first robbery, which is where the dogs would have run to. The second police officer told me that it was common and some professional thieves look for houses with dogs because they're likely to have dog doors. My dogs put on one hell of a show if someone pitches up when I'm home. Alone, with no back up, most dogs run and hide, and maybe growl a bit.

This is definitely not usual. They are lovely dogs in the right hands but they are very stubborn and smart. People often say they are the hardest of the schnauzers to live with and train.

This is very normal. She obviously isn't toilet trained so keep taking her out after meals and at regular intervals.

I have one - mini schnauzer sized - got robbed twice through it!

I'm really regretting not going now after seeing TSD's pics. We want lots of photos please!

Mine have never chewed but they are kept very busy with training and walks

Based on what?

Does she actually know a release command? If not, I'd train that separately. I use the release command for everything (eg I ask sit, they have to sit until I say "play", I don't use a "stay" at all). I'd start with something she knows really well (eg sit) and do "sit, free" then reward in really quick succession and repeat this lots. Then "sit *pause* free". If she gets up doing the pause a light "ah ah", put her in sit then release. For my dogs, a clicker is a marker + a release, so I phase out the clicker pretty quickly for things that require duration.

Stop going to trial and just have some fun with her? Play etc and don;t worry over the technicalities (eg reward for 80%, not just 100%), the focus being on getting her motivated, not getting everything right. This is what Uta Bindel does, because she said that no matter how much she tries to relax, she's always going to act differnet on competition day: Once the fun is back, start "acting" like you're in the ring bit by bit during your super-fun training sessions(stand a bit stiff etc). Still reward her lots and play lots so that she knows "My owner acts all nervous" = "we have lots of fun". Build that up bit by bit.

Her father was right there so she was being supervised. Supervision won't prevent a pack of dogs attacking or killing a kid. It is the one thing that really bothers me about the "supervise kids around dogs" message - people seem to think it keeps kids safe around unsafe dogs. The dogs should have been locked up before she arrived, in an enclosure that a child can't open. I do that for my FA mini schnauzer and she couldn't kill a child.