jacqui835

This would be impossible for me. For people who own working breeds, even a 2 hour walk on the leash doesn't begin to drain their energy. I could walk all day with my dog on the leash, and when I got home, he would still be rearing to go and probably destroy my house in frustration. I know my sister's papillons are more than satisfied with a walk to the shops and back, but my doberman can do a morning of lure coursing, an afternoon of swimming and running at the beach and an evening of chasing the cat and still have energy to spare - and I imagine that a german shepherd could be similar. I do not walk my dog on the leash to drain his energy, I can't not walk fast enough or for long enough to do that. I do it for training purposes and so that I can take him with me everywhere. This is a difficult situation, but given the dog is still relatively young and subsequently energetic, I don't think leash walking will cut it. I also agree that 'firm handling' could be of use. My dog went through a stage at 7-9 months of wanting to fight and dominate other dogs, as did many of the other dominant breed males he had played with so happily up until then (GSD's, staffies etc). We came down on him hard, I don't mean beating him or anything, but grabbing the side of his neck, corrections with check chains etc and after a few weeks of that, well over a year later and he has not had any further issues. Sometimes a behaviour comes naturally (male entire dobermans are not typically accepting of other large males), and your dog doesn't have fear or feel pain so they're not looking for a way to avoid the situation - they want to dominate and it drives them. So praising them for good behaviour doesn't cut it, they are not satisfied. We had to make sure our dog knew we would not accept that sort of behaviour. One of the ladies back at Centennial Park owned a GSD, a couple of months older than Sammy who went through a similar phase. She used only praise and desexed him to try and solve his behavioural problems, even though prior to that he was going to be used for breeding (he was to this day the most magnificent GSD I have ever seen). Well he can't go to parks anymore because he's very DA. I have a dog now that other dogs can launch themselves at, rudely bash right into him kind of thing, and he barely bats an eye lid.

I'm near Glenelg - but that sounds like an amazing special and worth traveling for. Hopefully now that Christmas time is approaching there will be more turkeys available! At this point in time I'm trying to avoid giving him mince, as he will then just sustain himself on mince and the bones and no biscuits and when that happened in the past his fur starting losing pigment because I think he had nutrient deficiencies. Now what I do is leave only biscuits out because he will eat a bit in the evenings once he's inside with the cat (he gets worried that the cat might eat his food because kitty plays with his biscuits), and then once he's finished his bowl, I give him his meaty bone outside. I've bought him the best quality biscuits I can find so that he gets more from eating less of them as it is such a struggle to get him to eat. In the mornings before I go to work I give him a poultry bone which helps to make him not so mopey when I leave (when we wake up, as soon as he sees me putting work clothes on he becomes despondent ) so I like to give him something to take his mind off things, and the more nutritious and good for his teeth, the better!

This may just be with some other animals, but is the bitch fertile again immediately after giving birth?

Hey guys, I am hoping that we will be able to go up this weekend, however unfortunately at this stage the lure is undergoing maintenance as unfortunately it's out of order. Trevor says he thinks it should be good to go by this weekend though so fingers crossed and I'll keep updating this thread

I know of a breeder whose dogs are not pure and yet she is able to have their hips and elbows x-rayed. She has recorded their pedigrees though.

Yes, I bought 3 turkey necks when they were available and he gobbled it up. Fortunately my dog will eat almost any meat, just has a thing about dry foods. We have him on canidae now which supposedly is meant to be a good one and still he has little time for it Thanks for the advice though. I usually go to coles and they had nothing aside from turkey slices for sandwiches so I will try Woolies and the wholesalers idea sounds good too - might have other good stuff too!

I have always fed my dog bones, but recently at my favourite pet shop they had some turkey necks and informed me that turkey is actually a lot more nutritious than chicken - so I would like to switch indefinitely from chicken frames to turkey parts. However, the pet store explained that it's very hard to secure turkey in Adelaide, and now I can't get anymore Does anyone know where I could obtain turkey from? Necks, wings everything and anything (once a week my dog has a whole raw chicken as his meal, and I would like to give him turkey parts here too).

I'm so sorry to hear that. I am very sorry for your loss, I can't imagine what sort of state I'd be in if I lost Sammy. Beautiful photos, seems he'll be waiting for everyone on the other side... Loving all the photos. Anything next to a kitten looks friendly. I am a little scared of sharpeis just because we have a few poorly trained ones at the dog park I go to, but when I see those guys with their feline friends I immediately think they look harmless.

To think I let my poor innocent dobie play with Mindy... If only I'd known. Someone needs to inform Guide Dogs right away!

Might just be my dog, but he did go through a bit of an awkward period when he was 7-8 months old - even tried to start fights with other aggressive dogs that until then, he had avoided. We came down on him like a tonne of bricks, really made it known how much we disapproved and fortunately by the time he was 9 months old he was like he is now - energetic but no longer aggressive. But we really did come down hard, I mean, I used to grab him by the side of the neck and really tell him off and I know a lot of people here wouldn't condone that strategy but we didn't hit him or anything and now whilst still proud and dominant, he won't fight, and he is back to avoiding other dogs that do want a fight.

Hi guys, thought some might be interested in my story. When my old cat was about 8 years old, she either fell out of a tree or was hit by a car (the vets could never tell) but either way she broke her jaw badly. My mum took us to the vets immediately, and they explained that she could definitely be saved, but that it would cost us $3500. I begged my mother and she loaned me the money and I was paying her back for years afterward. Aside from that though, my cat never cost me anything above the usual initial vaccinations, flea treatment etc which insurance wouldn't cover anyway. I made a decision though after that incident that I never wanted to be in a position where I had to choose between the life of my pet and money. So I thought pet insurance was definitely for me. But you read over the policies, and none are all inclusive. The last thing you would want was for your pet to need vet treatment, you've paid $1000's over the years to insurance companies and yet they won't help you. So I started saving $50/month for potential vet bills and put it in a high interest savings account. Today I have close to $5000 saved - and my dog is not even 2 years old. He made need it one day and if he does I'll be able to help him and I know I have the money for the treatment and whatever the treatment happens to be, my savings will cover it (unlike insurance with all their exclusions). But should he get to 13-15 years old (like his family) and never have needed anything serious, well I'll have a healthy savings account. It's not for everyone, and it takes a while to accrue a decent balance, but I think in the longterm and with current pet insurance options being what they are it's worth considering.

I trim my cat's nails weekly - they seem to grow insanely fast but fortunately he loves having them trimmed and will happily lie on his back on my lap for the procedure. My dog does a lot of running so his nails trim themselves. The dew claws also stay reasonably short but I do trim them maybe once a month. I wouldn't say my dog enjoys the experience, he will try and eat the nail clippers if we let him, but he is not worried and I can sit on the floor and make him come over and hold out the target paw. He's a very trusting dog though and he knows I can fix his problems - for example, if he steps in an ant's nest he will rush over to me and hold up the sore paw so I can pull the ants off (little buggers always bite him), or remove bits of bark that get stuck between the pads etc. ETA the dog that I had growing up would not let us trim him nails, he would bite if we tried so we had the vet do it. He had a lot of issues including seizures and what not, but he was a good pet and made it to 15 in the end.

Gosh how terrifying. I don't usually bother trying to talk to the owners of poorly behaved dogs. I figure if they're the sort of people that don't supervise their dogs when off-lead, they're not going to be of much use. Now I certainly don't kick any dog just for humping or wanting to dominate my dog, but I do shoo them off, and I try to assert myself so they back off and realise that if they touch my dog, they'll get trouble from me. I find almost all dogs respond to this well, except for the huskies and more independent breeds who just evade. My dog is entire and strangely it's been my experience that we have far less problems with the other entire dogs than what we do with the desexed. I think unfortunately sometimes people think that by desexing their dog, they remove the need for training and just assume their dog will be fine by itself. I also think though that for whatever reason, some desexed dogs are weirded out by entire dogs because my dog does get sniffed more than most dogs in the park - often he has a following. It's weird, but sometimes dogs will try and hump him at first (always desexed dogs), and when he evades and doesn't submit, they follow him around the park like some sort of party.

My dog and I had to stay a couple of nights with some friends who had a shocking flea infestation (I didn't know about this when we moved in). My dog had never had a flea before in his life, and within 2 days he had so many he was bleeding. I still remember coming home from uni and finding him and being so upset that all our local vets were already closed that I looked up alternative therapies online and went around the neighbourhood collecting lavender (which by the way does kind of work, where the lavender was the fleas avoided). First thing the next morning I bought him some comfortis and the fleas were dead within hours. He had one dose, no side-effects and has never had fleas since. I would give it 5/5.

Owners of these categories of dogs have a higher degree of culpability because they would be aware of their dog’s dangerousness by virtue of either their previous dangerous behaviour or training, or by their breed, that carries with it an inherent dangerousness. This has never been proven and in fact all the evidence suggests otherwise.

This. What are they hoping for? A dog with the power and protectiveness of the rotty but the tenacity and aggression of the terrier? Does not sound like a dog I would want...

17 months is definitely still a pup, and they have a lot of energy (mine is 18 months and bigger and according to his breeder he won't be an adult until 3!) I'm sorry you've had a bad experience here, I wanted to say good on you for asking for advice in the first place (not everyone does) and obviously wanting to change your dog's behaviour. I think more training is a good idea and could be fun for you and your dog, but something I would add. From watching Cesar Milan (I know not everyone agrees with him, but I'm a fan and have had good results), I would say what you need to do is exercise your dog first, then train, then reward. I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking, oh my dog is frisky, better take him to the dog park to burn off energy - and that is not what the dog park is for. In my case, I take my dog for a 15km bike ride, then I take him to the dog park because he is a social dog and enjoys interacting with others, but he is also a dominant dog and when he has a full tank of energy, he's a lot to handle. I also find that after exercise, my dog is much more amenable to training. He listens, because we have just done a pack exercise (a long walk/bike ride) and he's too drained to muck up. I think labs are at least as energetic as dobermans (one of my dog's best friends is a choc lab and they wear us just from watching them...) so I would definitely recommend exercising your dog before visiting the dog park and see how you go. ETA: it is still mentally a puppy, but that doesn't mean the behaviour is acceptable and it's good of you to want to make improvements.

I take my dog almost everywhere with me, but on the few occasions when I haven't been able to (work pays for hotel accomodation or something), I leave him with my partner. There hasn't been an instance yet that neither of us were available, but it probably will happen one day. If/when it does, I would ask one of my friends that own a dog Sammy likes if he could hang out with them for a while. He hasn't spent a night outside in his life, so it would need to be someone who understands both his need for firm handling but also his need for lots of love. It is something I dread.

Geez reading through that newspaper article does make me think the whole attitude towards dogs is ridiculous. A total of 12 people killed by dogs when you consider how many there are is crazy. And then, only 7 of those 12 were as a result of attacks. "Dog-related incidents left 12 people dead, including two from cars trying to avoid them, two from people falling over them and seven from being attacked by them."

People can be injured by dogs just walking down the street, for example, you can be wanting to go and buy some coffee and be attacked by a dog that doesn't belong to you. To be injured by a horse you have to want to interact with one. Who is more likely to report the attack? If I was bitten by someone else's dog randomly, I would report that for sure. If my horse (not that I own a horse ) stepped on my foot because he didn't want his bridle on and broke my foot (true story - though I wasn't the victim), well it wouldn't have happened if they hadn't engaged with the horse. Anytime you elect to engage with an animal that size, there is going to be decent risk involved - hence you often sign waivers when you go riding, you are never asked to do that with dogs.

Hey guys, I went last weekend with the staffy club. Was a fun day however unfortunately the lure wasn't working quite right so we had to walk it down ourselves. There were only 3 non-staffords there so Sammy took out first place in that category (against a whippet though so no mean feat...) Huge thank you to the stafford club - Sammy loves his prizes although unfortunately they have all been eaten (the ball as well as the treats :s) Spoke to Trevor - the lure is getting fixed this weekend so we can't go, but the weekend after that (if it's not too hot) I will be there again. I will post a bit closer to the date to work out how many want to come etc. I do have some photos but Dan has misplaced the chord to connect the camera to the computer but I'm hoping the stafford club will have some up soon.

I have pulled ticks off my dog and had no issues, as they were literally 1-2mm. However unfortunately my cat once had 5 (this was how I learned to check for them - and how important it was to do something about them). I didn't know she had any parasites on her, but I did notice that her back legs were wobbly when she was trying to climb onto my lap. I rushed her immediately to the vet (after hours emergency) and he told me there was a less than 50% chance they would be able to save her. Fortunately she did survive and I now check my pets almost every day. I moved to SA at the start of this year and luckily there don't seem to be any ticks here, but checking is now a habit - and my pets enjoy the extra "patting/grooming sessions".

Poodlefan, I absolutely love your idea of aptitude/instinct tests for dogs to gain stronger titles - I believe that might help to kill 2 birds with 1 stone as well because the wider community would be more interested and confident about dogs from breeders who show. How often do you hear down at the dog park, at the vet, at the cafe or wherever else you talk to people about their dogs - oh I don't want a dog from show lines, true to temperament is more important than true to looks. And I met a lot of dobermans and german shepherds who rolled over onto their backs upon meeting us for the first time (all who held grand titles) - but that is not a doberman or german shepherd in my books... I don't look twice at dogs who haven't completed any sort of working activity - if I wasn't interested in their working ability I would choose a different breed. And I am not talking about breeding for aggression, but they're meant to be be aloof and fearless, not submissive and labrador like in that they treat everyone like a friend before even getting to know them. "The breed has a distinct personality marked by direct and fearless, but not hostile, expression, self-confidence and a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships. The dog must be approachable, quietly standing its ground and showing confidence and willingness to meet overtures without itself making them." I personally don't believe that a male adult shepherd who rolled onto his back upon meeting us for the first time should hold any titles or be used for breeding - because to me he does not conform to standard.

I find that teaching your dog to do tricks is a great way to help alleviate people's fear of your dog - probably more applicable when you own a doberman. My dog knows all sorts of crazy tricks, and people who are initially scared of him lose most if not all of their fear when they see him performing his tricks - by the end they're often so confident with him they can ask him to do tricks/teach him new tricks themselves. Plus my dog loves learning/doing his tricks so it's a fun bonding time for us. He does obedience classes twice a week, but they never teach us any tricks. I usually go on youtube, see what other people can do with their dogs and then teach Sammy.

Very cute, it's so sweet to see different animals showing affection towards each other.