megan_

The griffon bruxellois are ratters though? So high prey drive?

Now to what this thread should be about... If Telida Whippets poodlefan? ETA: D'oh, I've just seen her avatar. Welcome back PF.

A little update on our Road to Agility Recovery: * I have always practiced NILIF but decided to make eating more of a game, with some work thrown in. So, when I've gotten home from work, rather than putting my stuff down, changing, having some dinner, feeding the dogs etc, I have run inside, grabbed Fergus' raw meal from the fridge and run outside to play/train and feed. I have focused on getting his drive back up, getting him engaged and re-enforcing the re-enforcement zone. So lots of me acting like and idiot, with him eagerly engaged. We have done a bit of OB work like this, with some hand touches thrown in. * I put out 6 weavers a few days ago, and he did some weaving work as part of our play/train/eat session. He loved it! When he made a mistake - namely popping a weave at the end to try and shortcut getting to his food - I said "oopsie, let's try again" and he didn't take the shortcut again. I could see the concentration in his face. * I put two jumps out for our session 2 days ago, with no intention of getting him to jump. I just wanted to play around the jumps so that he would feel comfortable around them. When I let him outside for our session, he immediately jumped over one and came running back, very proud of himself. He got a lot of "good boy"'s and was showered in food. I then just started running on parallel to the jumps, not saying anything. He jumped over both, and they were "proper" jumps, not tentative ones. Good boy etc and end of session. * I haven't even had the tug within sight as he wasn't enjoying it and I didn't want to "poison" it. Yesterday morning I left the tug on the bench - he could see it, but couldn't reach it. Last night I thought I'd see if that had gotten his interest up. He tugged a little bit (big win) but he didn't have a good grip. My other dog, Lucy, wanted some tugging action so I started tugging with her (another tug). Well, that did it! He wanted in on the action so I have two dogs thrashing around, tugging their hearts out on the bed. I'll give it a rest today, and then will try to move outside to tug around the equipment. SO in a nutshell my boy is making progress!

I loved this picture too. A terriorist being a terriorist!

Bull Arab - you might want to edit your original question then, because it sounded very judgemental. I have never used one - they are outlawed in Vic - however they have saved many dog's lives. They are not a tool to be used by newbies with no guidance. When used in conjunction with behaviour modification, they can help rehabilitate a dog. I believe that *~shell~* used one with her dog Zero when he was so fear aggressive he would try to attack anyone or anything that spooked him. He was a large dog so she couldn't walk him without one. By giving her a tool that allowed him to be walked safely, she could then work on his bahaviour. I hope I've explained that correctly. I don't get where the whole puppy thing comes from to be perfectly honest. To the OP - your firend could get a cover for it, just in case they don't want people to see that it is a prong.

Someone can always hand the dog to the pound and then pu their name against it so that they can pull it out before it gets PTS. There is no excuse for this behaviour - even ignorance of the law. I would be absolutely ropeable if someone found my dogs and didn't hand them in to the local pound - that is the first place I would look.

I'd lock sight in the house when you're out. What state are you in?

The OP has already said her child won't sit on the dog agsin

I agree. I was concerned watching that. Yip - not interested in the bunfight but that body language wad very dominant and she wad stood over and rounded up a fair bit. She didn't look comfortable all the time. FWIW not a great idea to hold your dog dangling like that either - this often encourages dogs to jump up. TW hasn't said anything controversial, other than break an unwritten rule...

Licking doesn't always mean good things - it can be a sign of stress and a way to say stop. I suggest you look up calming signals on this forum - it should help you recognize when your dog is telling your boy that he needs space. Some dogs tolerate being jumped on - most don't.

Tell us how you really feel SK! Edit: They are a breed I admire from afar (Michael Ellis vids on youtube), with the hope that one day in the distant future I'd have what it takes to own one. Steve makes Venom sound like an angel though...

Are you able to put in a bigger dog door

My insurance has paid over $5000 - and my dogs aren't elderly or sickly. If I had saved I wouldn't have been able to cover the costs with those savings. Most things are covered, but then I've had them covered from day 1. You can't expect insurance to cover everything for an elderly dog if you're insuring them for the first time.

Yip - at training I talk to trainers but keep my eyes on my dog and my surroundings. I always say "I'm listening, but I have to focus on my dog" and they understand. The benefit of this too is that your dog will most probably focus on you which is half the battle when you have a fearful dog. Also, don't be afraid to muzzle your dog. They seem to get a bad rap but when the muzzle is on you don't stress as much, which in turn places less stress on your dog.

oops tehn

Yip, insulting owners is the way to win them over, yeah? I own an oodle cross. I bought him before I knew about puppy farms etc. I will never get another oodle but he is a hell of a lot smarter and well behaved than most dogs we meet - mutts and purebreds included. He has more drive than almost every GSD we've ever met too. This forum is about promoting purebreds, no? So why the need to constantly insult other owners? Rather than pointing out how stupid they are, how ugly their dogs are (happens a lot on DOL...), point out the benefits of a pedigreed dog. Make it a race to the top, not a race to the bottom. I wonder if a post that talked about how all lab owners were inconsiderate, all bull breed owners were bogan, all husky owners only got their dogs for their pretty eyes etc would get the same applause? Stereotypes - no matter what they are - don't do anyone justice.

Any new insurance will exclude the skin condition ( even if it disappears fir years then comes back) so it might not be worth changing. To the OP , I'm with petplan. They cover conditions for life, while many only cover it for the first year. This can make a huge difference. Bear in mind that any previous conditions will be excluded, even if they're not ongoing (eg skin condition s fee years ago would most likely be excluded).

Forget the blog: should people be allowed to mate melre to merle to produce a stud that is always going to have merle offspring (which is why the breeder bred this stud)? The solution is very simple: ban merle to merle matings.

You're right Gussy's Mum - that is why every dog on lead either needs: i) An owner that can hold a leash properly (including when your dog is aggrevated) OR ii) It should be muzzled if you know you can't actually contain it While all dogs can bite, for many dogs it would take a lot more than a bouncy greyhound to provoke a full-on attack. As dog owners it is our responsibility to assess our dog's temperament without rose coloured glasses, know their trigger points and act accordingly.

Dxenion - the grehound didn't attack though. Yes - I'd be bloody ropeable that there is an out-of-control dog offlead, and I'd feel differently if the greyhound had been with in striking distance of the other dog (so that it got attacked when the other dog was on lead). However this dog broke from its leash to attack. This means it wasn't properly restraint or the owner couldn't physically handle the dog. Either way, it is a danger to the community and this needs to be addressed.

People debating about whether the puppies will be blind or deaf are missing the point. the breeder deliberately bred merle to merle to get a stud that can guarantee an all blue merle litter. So it is all about colour. Pavlova - I'm suprised taht you don't take issue with it. What they're doing is a hell of a lot worse than the blue stafford craze IMO.

Exactly. I wish it would become part of the COE - breed merle to merle and you're out of the AKC/ANKC. Breeding deaf & blind puppies can't ever be for the betterment of the breed. I wonder why the stud was originally bred? Pretty colours perhaps?

Thanks all. The good thing infuses is that this forces me to go back to the beginning and re-solidify foundation work. I'm also planning on doing the derretts online foundation course I. March. When infinallt get dog #3 I'll have foundation down pat!

Genetics plays a very big part with respect to neves. You can't sociise glorify out of a dog. Given they are a rare breed in Australia there is a very limited gene pool from which to breed. If I was to get one I'd make sure to see both parents and bring something novel along to see how they react. I've met two and both were very timid and reactive (including one that exploded at someone he knew). Both are owned by very good, experienced owners who have raised other fdogs without these issues.

Yes - I have a few