Red Fox

Is the bed on a hard (non absorbent surface?) She could well be using it as one giant pee pad. Take it away completely and give her a towel to lay on for a week or two instead (in the meantime give it a good wash with BioZet and air it out). I'd take a guess that this (above bolded) is your problem. She's been so good and learnt so quickly that it's easy to forget she's just a baby. Drop your guard and they regress pretty quickly! Lose the bed for a bit, up the consistency in your house training (take a step back if you need to) and you'll probably find you can break the habit before it becomes a major issue.

Both mine love the Kyjen toys, doesn't matter which ones. I think because many of them squeak, grunt and rattle (all within the same toy). They seem to prefer the shape too. Heaps here: http://www.petsprovidore.com.au/kyjen-company/?sort=&page=2 Tuffies toys are also pretty good. Have a look here http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/227129-tuffys-creatures/ One of these would make a nice gift for a new pup too, very cute. Snuggle Puppies: http://www.k9pro.com.au/categories/Dog-Toys/Snuggle-Me/

^This. I took my pup out from the day she arrived. School, shopping centres (including inside some shops), car parks, playgrounds. Areas that aren't frequented by many other dogs. Cemented areas are good, you can let the pup run around on a long line to burn up some extra energy. As far as tiring the pup out, does she have toys, Kongs, bones? Are you doing any training with her? Teaching basic tricks can tire them quickly, small amounts of focus work, searching for treats around the house or extracting them from a treat ball, Kong or plastic bottle. Yeah that's normal. Pups tend to have big bursts of energy, go feral then crash.

Matthew has done a great job with my dog also. Highly recommend him.

I'm interested to know what they mean by 'trained'. Trained in what? Certainly not bitework. I'm guessing they meant hunting dogs. However it's a bit of an assumption given the dogs and owner haven't been identified yet... Poor kid having to watch her little dog being attacked on her birthday.

Correction; until you have put something utterly disgusting in your pockets and then forgotten about it for a day or two I tend to find a vest is better anyway. Less fiddly and more places to put food/balls/tugs/clicker/tracking articles etc.

I've tried a few, including those mentioned. The best one by far has been this one http://www.prok9.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=91

How come everyone's postage is so expensive? I've never paid more than about $20 for delivery from Dogwise. Also looks like most things are one off's? There was a lot more available last night and the book/DVD's I bought are no longer listed... **ETA, just randomly added 4 books to my cart and postage was $18. $25 for 6 books.

I paid $18 postage for 4 items.

Awesome. How cheap are their Orbees!! Just got 1 book, 2 DVDs and a treat ball all at 70% off

I think 4-5 hours occasionally is fine. Providing the dog is crate trained. Your other options are gating off a room (if he wont jump it) or a dog run. If you think it may be an ongoing issue an outdoor run may be your best bet.

Good one MRB. I just spat out my breakfast. tanstaff, are your dog and the bitch you want to use him over on the main register? Breeding unregistered, non health tested dogs isn't a great idea. particularly bull breeds, particularly in Vic... Apologies if I have misunderstood and you are in fact a registered breeder. Personally I'd wait until around 12-15 months before desexing.

I tried to teach my pup to bark on command using the vaccuum, (foolproof I thought). BIG mistake! Ended up with her going ballistic every time she walked past the bloody thing. A friend gave me a tip to make a low barking noise at the dog (more air than actual noise if that makes any sense) and they will usually bark back, then you can mark and reward until the dog makes the connection. Worked great for us and I managed to teach a pretty solid bark on command within a week.

There's a world of difference between a kick and a tap. A kick has force behind it and is intended to hurt, a tap is intended to startle and and can be very effective. Tap with your foot rather than your hand (or whatever else) and the dog doesn't see it coming. I'm pretty certain that Cesar Milan doesn't go around booting dogs for fun....

200g dry + 200ml water = 400g (+600g meat = 1kg of prepared mix per meal). So based on that, if you soak 1kg of dry with 1L water then add 3kg of meat you will get a total of 5kg pre made mix, or 5 meals for your dog. I make it up in this ratio for my pup then freeze in smaller containers for the week. Though I have found that she only needs about half of the recommended amount for her weight.

Similar problem here. If my dogs bark for more then 5 seconds straight, even once per day, the neighbour is out there yelling. The first time I thought there must really be an issue so went over, knocked on the door and explained that yes, I have a 4 month old (at the time) puppy, I realise her bark is very loud, however the small amount of barking you heard was because of .......... and I am working on training her out of it. I was met with "Well that's not good enough and I won't tolerate it". The dog had barked for less than a minute at 7:30pm at night. o_O Well several repeats of her screeching through the fence to "Shut that dog up!" every time she made a noise and I realised that she wasn't 'suffering', she was simply being a bully. Took the wooden spoon out into the yard and bashed it against the water tank for 30 seconds, told her that if she wanted real noise then I'd happily give it to her. Haven't had any problems since.. The thing that makes me so angry is that unlike everyone around me I DO do the right thing by my dogs. They are walked at least twice per day, trained, crated inside on a night, never bark for hours on end. The Mali has a supersonic bark that could probably be heard from 2 streets over however she never barks for more than about 15 seconds at a time, never more than once or twice per day and never during the night. Usually it's from inside the house anyway. Makes me think that perhaps I should turf both dogs outside for 24 hours with no exercise and no stimulation like the rest of the dogs on this street so they can find out what 'real' problem barking sounds like. Mind you these are the same neighbours that complained when my pup knocked a bone against the fence because 'she might damage it'. Argh! My concern is never the council, they do jack shit, but nasty (or fed up) neighbours taking matters into their own hands.

Ahh thank you. I was trying to remember the name of the shop and couldn't!! Awwwww. Ferrets solving puzzles is just too cute I would have thought the dog brick would be easy though. A bit worried the plastic bone things may get eaten. Are they very small? I'll have a look at the dog finder too. Thanks Megan. Haven't heard of the 'fighter', I'll check that one out too.

I'm thinking about getting the dogs some puzzle toys and am trying to decide between the Nina Ottosson dog twister and the Kyjen Star Spinner and/or treat wheel. Dog Twister looks a bit more challenging and perhaps more durable? But it's very expensive! The Kyjen toys seems similar but I'm not sure how challenging they would be? Anyone tried either, or both? What do you think? Are they sturdy enough for large dogs? Thanks

Is this her first dog? My guess is that the woman is following along blindly in class and not really understanding the method behind the training. She probably laughs out of embarrassment and cries on the way home. Been there, done that... If obedience schools do not take the time to teach owners then how can they expect to teach dogs? If no time is spent building strong foundations then how can anyone expect the poor dog to learn more complicated behaviours? IMO the majority of obedience schools skip the focus work (perhaps they assume owners will teach this at home??) and jump straight into dragging the dog around in a circle and telling them to sit/stand/drop/stay. The dog hasn't been taught how to work under no-low distraction let alone in a class!! Then the poor owners, many of whom have never trained a dog before, have no idea and wonder why their dog isn't 'getting it'. Hmmmm...... If I saw that woman on the street I'd tell her to pull her dog out now and find a decent trainer who will teach HER how to train her dog. But's that's just me :p. I was in her shoes 4 years ago and I'm glad I was. Not nice at the time but spurred me on to much greater things. Don't think I'd have anywhere near the amount of knowledge I have today had I bought the 'right' breed.

Artur, is there much difference in temperament between the FCI lines and KNPV. Do they make good sport dogs or are they better suited to security and/or personal protection? Has the breed retained their herding instinct at all? Also, how do Dutchies differ from Malis in your opinion? Thank you.

another Mali?? ***don't venture in here much...

Better a kick from a human than a bite from a much bigger dog who has taken offence to rude behaviour. (or having to deal with the fall out afterwards). I would have booted the little shit too...

http://www.eagleheightssportdog.org/ Contact Eagle Heights if you want more info on IPO in Vic.

I'd suggest she either travels to Adelaide or Melbourne (5 hours either way) for a consult. Cosmolo, Erny and Nekhbet are all in Vic. Mark Singer is in SA, Steve Courtney (NSW) may do a phone consult for her also. I'm not sure that there are even many decent obedience trainers in Mildura, let alone anyone qualified to deal with behavioural issues.

Easiest way is to switch to a good premium dry food - Royal Canin, Nutro, etc (personally I'd avoid Science Diet though) and swap the canned crap for roo and/or chicken mince with the occasional meaty bone thrown it - chicken frames / wings, roo tail, lamb flaps, etc. Otherwise VAN complete mix. Make a months worth and freeze it.