ChristineX

The irish terrier tends to be as active as its owner. If I am in a couch potatoe mood, my two either sleep with me, or go off and do their own thing outside. They can go all day - but just as happy chilling out. Once they get over the normal young dog needs activity thing - but I think most dogs go thru that. Not being well this year, there has been very little physical activity for my two - and they are as sane as normal - actually, Duke could even be considered normal, at the moment.

Yup, the easiest solution would be if they were allowed inside - even if it was only to sleep - or I sleep in the sleepout. While that seems obvious to you and me, Mum just can't get her head around that. She is too phobic about dog hair, dog germs and the notion that dogs belong outside. We are never going to see eye to eye on that last one! I am so hoping that Kate settles in a week. If not, I may need to take Kate to see the dog shrink too.

Heading says it all. Kate, at 10.5 years, is now an outside dog - not my choice, but we have moved in with mum while I get my house rebuilt. Kate barks, loudly, if I am not with her, but only if I am actually there. If I leave the property, the barking stops. Because next door (it turns out) have a child that is handicapped and is not sleeping at all thru this, we can't just wait for her to extinguish bark herself so Mum has been staying up all night with the spray bottle. I've put her on Rescue Remedy, I'm clicking when she stops barking - what else can I do? Mum will not allow her inside, nor allow me to move out to the sleepout (stubborn dutchness coming out again!) Duke, on the other hand, who is my problem dog, has been a lovely, easy to handle dog (mums words)- she's never liked him before!

Drop into the breed subforum and find the poodle thread - the guys in there helped steer my boss to a fantastic breeder. She now has a lovely little mini poodle called seph - who will keep her busy mind and body for years to come! :D

Thats why we say go see a real professional like Mark Singer - aggression/reactivity is a symptom, and you need to treat the cause. If you'd tried 'firm handling' with my Duke, you would have broken him for life - his stems from fear and hysteria (no coping mechanisms for the outside world at all). On the other hand, there is a reactive german shep at my club that has reached a point where firm handling is doing nicely. You need someone to identify the cause, and work out how to handle the cause. Fix that, you fix the aggression/reactivity. And at the moment, aggression at home is rising, but there is no point in 'firm handling', looking at his legs, Duke has put his back out again and its a symptom of pain. Recommended course of action: see the Chiro again. :D

Agree with the instructors. I don't think Duke (my problem child)was ever taken out of the backyard until I got him at 17 months. Really well socialized with other irish terriers, and put him next to an irish setter and watch him relax! Small dogs, particularly the small white fluffys - at age 5, he still is really unsure as to what they are, and will still wind up in hysterical barking (at least its not screaming anymore!). It is still noticable that when we come across a body shape or colour/colour combination he hasn't met yet, he will freak out over it. (Should have seen him around his first pug - that pug milked it for all it was worth!)

Hi Teela, Nope, not getting you confused with the other person! I second getting in touch with Mark , even in WA I have heard of him. He is good. In the meantime, what you can try - speak to your dog club instructor and ask if they can announce a request for others to give your dog a bit more space. Try to establish what triggers your dog has, and keep distance from that trigger (one dog I know just cant tolerate shaggy brown dogs). See if there is a distance that your dog is happy at, and work there. Don't let your dog stare at another dog, or another dog stare at yours - break the stare line, either by stepping in front of your dogs face (called body blocking), or asking for attention/action. Work at getting really good focus, and rock solid sit or drop as if your dog is obeying a command, they can't lunge for another. Don;t just ever stand there listening, your attention needs to be on your dog at all times. Keep your leash short so that your dog doesn't have a lot of room for lunging - maybe look at a front ring harness that will spin the dog to face you if they lunge (I use one of these on my reative irish terrier). One of the reasons for getting to someone like Mark - they pick up very fast on subtle signals that your dog is about to lunge - at the last reactive rover class one of the ladies was told to watch out for a left ear twitch! And they are very very good at working out a solution for you and your dog. And let us know how you go! Christine. Let us know how you go!

Not today! Dog from across the road was out front,and one of Duke's reactive triggers is loose dogs (particularly moving rapidly towards him. Which meant that Kate slipped her collar and tried to be the protector (she comes up to Hunter's knee, thereabouts, he's got the great dane height). Hunter is a nice dog,but I did not need the adrenaline!!

Thank you for the invite! Count me in (just me, no other half). :D

Hi, welcome to DOL and congrats on your new puppy. Have a trip over to the puppy forum - there are a lot of threads on socialisation. A few quick things to remember - socialisation is introducting your puppy to the world,not just other dogs. And you don't need to teach your bullmastiff to be protective of your backyard/home, those instincts will kick in normally. Particularly if you give your puppy a good foundation with a good socialisation programme so it grows up with an understanding of what normal human behaviour is. If you take a trip into the subbreed forum at the top of the page, there is also a bullmastiff thread - they would be delighted to meet you and answer questions in great detail. ChristineX

Irish terrier Kate - sane, sensible and bombproof. And Irish Terrier Duke - nicknamed 'psyco' who suffers from dyscopia and hysteria and small dog monster syndrome. :D

I really liked charlotte - described as a couch potatoe who's hobby was food!

for some reason, its one photo per post. Don't know why.

I didnt take a massive amount of photos, just the dogs that I haven't come across before. Some more pics from the royal show:

Dear RoxiandHemi - Yup!!!!

Hi KenDol, Nice to hear from you - I had a mini poodle once that used to do that to me - I always thought it was her punishing me for being absent without her leave!!

Okay, lets see if this works.... I think it has, if so a fewmore will follow.

And would you believe, at the Perth Royal Show today - 2 gold lakelands, one gold with blackish saddle, and 3 black ones! And one 6 month welsh terrier - about 6-7 Kerrie Terriers and only one irish! The lakelands and welsh were lovely little dogs!

Yep, recommend Kathy - the difference in Duke has to be seen to be believed!

There was a recent thread in training on reactive dogs that is interesting to read. But the recommendation to find a good behaviourist is seconded (and thirded etc etc)as they can observe and advise on both dog and human components of the problem which leads to a much faster resolution. It seems to be a fairly common problem, these days. (from another reactive dog owner) :D

If this dog is growling when told to do something it does not want to do - it does not have good manners. Its just picking its issues. Your friend needs a good dog shrink to have a look at the situation - please, not bark busters. Try Kathy Kopellis-McLeod - she is very good. If your friend would like Kathy's contact details, let me know and I will pm them to you.

I got Kate as a puppy (irish terrier - my previous dog was a mini poodle. talk about culture shock!), I then aquired her dad Quin aged 6 (kennel dog) - who spent the first six months with his eyebrows touching his ears at the shock of his new abode, (I still miss that dog)and then Duke, aged 17months (rescue, I just got to give him a home). Pro's and cons: housetraining is usually done, there are some brains functioning. Can they learn? You bet!! You do get to see the fully formed personality straight off. With both rehomed and rescued - I have had some suprizes - Quin was scared of men for some strange reason, and Duke was an absolute fruitloop (more like basket case, but I have learnt so much!)- an adorable doofus one, but we are still dealing with the sideeffects of his first home. (there's a reason why dogs should be socialised as pups) After Duke, I don't mind going thru the teenage years, its just those puppy ones are so much work on top of a long work day. And older dogs means you can start going for walks straight away! And older dogs bond just as well as pups!

Forgot to add - when I cut down the walks, I upped the training at home.