jacqui835

Rather than hijack my other thread, I thought I would start a new one and ask a question I have often wondered about. If I were to get a GSD, I would consider a white one as I love the reception my red doberman gets as he is rarely correctly identified compared with what our rottie used to cop (as everyone knew exactly what she was). I particularly like that I haven't seen any white Shepherds with backs as curved (and most seem straight) as typically coloured GSD's. I know white Shepherds can be born to coloured parents, and this would be ideal for me, but I also know there is now an emerging second breed/type (?) referred to as the Swiss Shepherds. Do they have the same temperaments as typical GSD's or in what ways do they differ? Has anyone found colour to have any affect on temperament?

If anyone here has seen the photos of me and my doberman, you will see straight away that my dog lives with me at all times. I take him everywhere with me, and fortunately my partner has fallen in love with him too so now neither of us want to go anywhere that we can't take the pooch. I'm totally confident that left to the backyard, my dobe would be destructive and noisy but he really is part of our family so that doesn't even come into the reasons of why we have him with us all the time. We do several short training sessions a day, and he always has to do something for any food. We do not reward or encourage begging or demanding behaviour and in fact I haven't seen him try anything like that in ages. If we want to invite him up onto the couch or something, we wait until he's lying down calmly on the floor. There are several things he does now without even having to be asked. He sits when he sees something he wants. He will stay seated where I took his lead off until I tell him he can go, without being asked to stay etc. I can't stand GSD's with roached backs and wobbly hindquarters. My doberman is from working lines, and I like that he is always on the ball, catches on quickly and wants to please, so ideally I want another dog like this. That said, he can relax, and will happily sleep in with me when we want to. I can take him with me to friend's apartments and he is very calm and reliable. He's best with a walk every day, and a decent off-lead run though on occasions when the weather has been shocking, he has managed ok without one. Sometimes we go anyway, and if it rains for more than a day well we have to go, but that's good for me too so no complaints there. I have had a few family/personal emergencies and during those times have had to leave my dog alone for longer than usual, and he has been alright (it's not something I really have to worry about if I know I'll be home that night). What would happen in those situations with a Mal vs GSD? You wouldn't believe what I saw down at the park yesterday - a half Belgian half German Shepherd called Misty. She was an accident but a fantastic dog and honestly if I could have one exactly like her I would take it. She matched my dog's energy perfectly and they had a great run and wrestle and despite her being smaller she was so quick she really gave my boy a run for his money. She was very intense, and you could tell she had a lot going on upstairs but that's exactly the dog I want in my family. I couldn't tell though whether she was taking more after the belgian or the german side, she was quite light on her feet though. I am really looking forward to meeting members of both breeds and seeing them in action.

Omg all such beautiful dogs. I particularly like the trouble shot of Zero, Kelpie in antlers, the happy frenchie, Cooper with his hat oh they're all great lol. And thanks, I think he's the best looking dog in the world, but I'm not even going to try and deny that I'm biased...

Yes. Mallies bark (lord, how they bark - your neighbours will hate you if you don't keep your malinois very well occupied). They're very sensitive, some are very nervy. The working lines are extremely high prey drive - as a baby, my girl wanted to bite everything that moved (toys, cats, birds, running children, kids on bikes, people that were silly enough to move their arms quickly)... and she didn't just grow out of it, I had to train her specifically not to bite all of these things. Definitely not a dog for the majority of people, although she can be a lot of fun. If you're looking for a protective pet or competition dog & want a mally, I'd definitely look at the show lines rather than the working lines, as the working lines are a lot of work. ;) Oh gosh I'm guessing Mal's are worse than dobes, but my boy went through a stage of wanting to bite everything that moved. Joggers, bike riders - all fair game. He will still try and kill small animals especially rabbits (lots of feral ones around us) and although now I can get him to sit and wait and not chase the rabbits, he still literally sits there shaking, pupils fully dilated etc and can't really focus or think about anything else whilst he can see and smell them. Everything he does he does in slow motion, ie sitting etc lol all the while trying to look and sniff for rabbits. He still wants to chase everything too though to be fair, I no longer have to worry about humans running around, he is just a guard dog in that respect now, in that he shows no interest unless they act strangely/threateningly and even then, if it's a child, he ignores them completely even if they run around screaming. He's not a barker though. He will only bark if he senses someone or something venturing near our house and most of the time I'm really happy he does this. Hmm starting to think I might be better off with a GSD. Not because the Mal's don't sound awesome, but because they sound a bit like a full-time job hehe and I am looking for something that is around the same level of intensity as the dobe (which you can put a huge amount of time into but you don't pay a terrible price when you have to be away for a day etc). I was just drawn to the athleticism and good looks of the Mal's. But I am still looking forward to going and watching them in action. You know what really scares me about all this, a guy down at the park bought a Mal pup from good ol' Pets Paradise because it was 'cute'. That was actually a couple of months ago, and I probably saw him twice and not since

Oh gosh reading that brought tears to my eyes because it's obvious you are really upset. From the sounds of things though, you took the only option there was. He got to retain his dignity, and you saved him from experiencing lots of pain. He would thank you for that. Grieving is normal, so don't fight it. But know that you have done everything you could for him, and he was so lucky to have had an owner who cared about him this much.

Thanks for the replies, that's quite helpful. I currently have a male entire doberman, and prior to that we had a female desexed rottie and a terrier cross. My cousins have 2 male GSD's though my love for the breed started when I had to share a house with one back when I was 16. Chose a dobe because I fell in love with his parents. Dobe has been absolutely wonderful, and I want to keep this dog forever. The rottie was a very loving sook, but didn't seem quite as bright as the shep's or the dobe, and not as perfect personality fit. I can imagine rotties making very good family dogs. I will never own any kind of terrier again, it's just not the breed for me. How would you rate Mal sensitivity compared to Dobe? Because he seems pretty sensitive to me, he is incredibly responsive and sometimes it's like he can read my mind. So I love dominant, naturally protective breeds, I love the partnerships you have with them and how hard they will work for you. I have a partner now though, and I guess it's getting pretty serious. He is already jealous of the bond between me and the dobe, so I guess that's a factor I also need to consider. That said, he just loves and plays with the dog, and wants something that will love and play with him, and fortunately, he's been very quick in learning how to be dominant and assertive himself, but it will be me doing all the training and most of the walks. I am moving to SA at the end of this week, but that is definitely something I'm going to check out.

One day I may get a second dog, the breeds I like that are available in Australia (no hovawarts ) are German Shepherds and Belgian Shepherds. In my mind now they seem fairly similar except that perhaps the Malinois (if I got a Belgian Shepherd it would be this variety) is a bit more energetic/athletic, but I would love to hear from people who have owned one or both on what they feel are the defining traits temperament wise of the breeds.

What a cutie. Do you know what breeds he has in him? My friend has a beagle and I almost think I can see beagle in him - just the cuteness of the face and the ear positioning.

Yes it hasn't been a good idea for me either. I've selected all the dobe stuff I want, and am now looking at papillon paraphernalia for my sister...

Most awesome site ever! Sure the dobe has erect ears and a cropped tail but it's better than anything else out there

Everyone is always saying that my dog has a really expressive face, and well I agree but it made me wonder about other dogs. So I'm keen to see any and all photos where you think you have captured your dog conveying their mood, wants, needs etc on their face. Naturally it's hard to capture in photo because usually they make the expressions in response to something you're doing then and there, but I thought that make the photos all the more valuable. Wanting something, but knowing he's being a bit naughty. A bit cheeky and excited about it. This is his pensive shot. And finally, His "I'm sick of having my photo taken why won't you just take me for a walk face" My favourite expression of his is his super cute face which he does when he first sees me after not having seen me for a while but it disappears as soon as I stop paying attention to him, ie to grab the camera or something

I'm going to have to take some photos (or get someone else to) because my dobe is very passionate about agility lol. In fact now when we're walking through the park, I will just find random obstacles and say jump and he leaps over them - he's very keen ETA He does actual agility courses, just he likes going through the motions on and off the course...

Hey guys, we will be driving to Adelaide this Friday (from Sydney) and are planning at this stage to try and find somewhere to stay just outside of Melbourne. We are keen to see some of the nice little towns outside of the main cities, so if anyone knows of any nice pet friendly accommodation in the area, or anywhere else along the route of Sydney - Adelaide, we'd love to know about it.

I do wash my pooch, but that's because he doesn't smell so great after the beach, and since he likes a bit of snuggle time in the bed, it's immensely more pleasant to have a clean dog. I wash him about once a week with oatmeal and aloe vera non-soapy stuff so that I don't remove too many oils, but he's not permanently covered in dirt (as this is his favourite state).

This is what I meant when I selected that I wanted a website. I very much like to have some information available about the breeder and the dog, and then from that, I decide which breeders I want to meet. If there are several breeders available to choose from, I have overlooked the ones that don't have a website in favour of those that do. The website does not need to be flashy or anything, but I like to be able to see the adults, and read their take on what they're aiming to achieve - especially with my chosen breed, I like to know what sorts of work they do with the dogs, I don't want dogs who are used for nothing but showing... I suppose if none of them had websites I would have to resort to other means, but at this stage I have been fortunate enough to still have 10's of breeders to choose from who all have informative websites.

Geez I have only had male dogs, and entire ones at that, but I always thought if I were to get a female (and if we got another dog it would be) I would desex her just because I thought it would be easier on the dog. Well this thread has made me change my mind, I think from now on my males AND females will be entire and we'll just have to work around it. I know when my poor boy drank half the ocean and had some incontinence problems as a result he was devastated and so embarrassed, I would hate to put a female through months or even years of that.

I had the perfect dog up until he was about 10 months old... I suppose that's not fair, he's always been the perfect dog, but he definitely went through a phase of really testing the boundaries. He's a doberman so I guess quite similar in personality, and for a couple of months, he went from always doing exactly as he was told, to sort of looking at us when we gave a command and deciding to disobey. We came down on him like a tonne of bricks, catching him every time he didn't come when he was called and putting him back on his lead for a while and reprimanding him but it was really tiring. He started pulling on the lead again, and when other dogs wanted to fight him, he wouldn't lunge back, but he would sort of act curious and try to approach them. He went through a stage of being possessive of items in the park and deliberately trying to use them to challenge other dogs. He had to be given every command a couple of times, shown that you really meant it, and still sometimes, if he felt he could get away with it, he'd disobey anyway. So he spent a lot more time on the lead, a lot more time at training and a lot more time in trouble - it was quite a trying time and I don't miss it. Probably lasted about 6 months, and honestly, prior to this, he was the most obedient and respectful dog you'd ever met, we never saw it coming. That said, he has a decent temperament, and although he was quite arrogant and sure of himself, he was never DA or really wanting to fight. A lot of the GSD's he used to play with when he was younger stopped coming to the park at that age and never came back, because either their owners were unable to reassert themselves or the dogs really wanted to fight (these sorts of breeds are not known for their friendliness and desire to be around other dogs). There a couple of older GSD's, but the majority are not seen again off-lead at the park after they become teenagers. Now we have an understanding. For the most part, he does as his told when he's told, and if we need him to do something, he will do it. That said, if we allow it, he will protest or again even ignore us, but we know who he is now, and hence can predict how he's likely to respond/or what we need to do to get him to do something. So having been through all of that, I would definitely advise that you wait until you know exactly who your dog is going to be, and then you can choose a companion that will be better suited and compatible.

I agree that it is really my job to protect my dog from people, dogs and everything else, but that said, there have been a few instances where I have felt quite powerless, but fortunately, my dog was able to help me deal with or better yet avoid a potentially undesirable situation. He has not been protection trained so I don't know how far he would actually go, but he has positioned himself between me and scary people approaching on several occasions. Sometimes, I'm not even scared yet because I haven't noticed the person yet, but my dog will just stop, hackles raised and let out this omen style spooky growl, staring directly at whatever is bothering him. He typically looks back at me continuously too, as if to see what I make of the situation. If I keep walking, he will too, but unless told to do otherwise, he will walk between me and the potential threat and continue to growl from time to time. I have never been unhappy with his response because he only does it with people that I would be worried about too, and he is not excessive or dangerous about it, just kind of sets up a perimeter around us but doesn't charge or chase them or anything if they keep their distance. Once he was at my mum's place alone, and the cleaners who come on a random day each fortnight showed up when no-one else was home. Well, he wouldn't let them in the house, they could stand there with the front door open and be ok, but he would not let them cross the threshold. They actually tried to use a broom to move him out of the way, as they said a lot of the houses they clean have dogs and this typically works for them, but in this case, the dog bit the broom and continued to snarl at them. As soon as I got home and told him it was ok, his ears went back and he put his super cute face on and started acting like the cleaners were his long lost best friends - took them quite a bit longer to be comfortable with him though lol My fox terrier cross RIP also tried to be protective, but I could tell he wouldn't stand his ground, he was too scared. When confronted by the perceived threat, he would turn tail and run, but return to barking behind them as soon as they turned their back on him. I imagine the cleaners would have easily been able to push him out of the way with the broom. That said, I think what many people have been saying is true, a barking dog alone is a pretty good deterrent and hence decent protection.

Thanks guys, I will contact Virgin and Qantas and make some inquiries. My dog is only about 40kg but he's really tall so finding a suitable crate (we don't own one) is likely to be a challenge :s Wish that if you had a trained dog and certificates to prove it you could just have them onboard with you...

I've actually had my cat and dog in together, and only paid the one consult fee. Typically though this is just for vaccinations and heartworm etc so there's hardly any consulting required... If I were you, I would just show up with the both of them and I'd be surprised (unless they both genuinely required indepth consultations) if they tried to charge you for 2 separate consults.

I am about to move to Adelaide, and naturally am taking my pooch. We are not moving until mid Jan, but need to go down in advance to view potential new places to live, and although initially we had planned to just fly down for the day, flights back at this time of year are pretty pricey. So to make the inspection and not pay a fortune to get back, we would need to stay for about 3-4 days. Most of my friends and family are overseas, and I'm not entirely comfortable with leaving my dog in boarding - he's also not desexed so a lot of places won't even take him though I may have to further consider that option. Since we're staying with friends in Adelaide though, we have started considering the possibility of taking the dog with us for a bit of a holiday... Whether we do take him this time or not though, I need to start looking into pet transport options. Does anyone know any good air transport services that take good care of your dog? I am having nightmares about that story where the pug died on a plane; that is not an acceptable outcome for me. Any advice or experiences would be most appreciated.

I'm no expert, but I did have similar issues with my dog - a doberman and since no-one else has replied yet I thought it could be helpful. He was shocking when he was baby, cried if I so much as had a shower whilst he was in the bathroom and could see me but couldn't get to me :s Leaving him home alone was just not an option at first, because he actually howled and made noises like someone was trying to kill him and when you live in a built up area well it's not something you can just expect your neighbours to tolerate. I was worried this would be the case and so elected to get the pup when I was on uni holidays and could be with him all the time in the beginning. Once he had been with us for a couple of weeks though, and realised that we weren't going to abandon him, I started leaving him alone. Just for short periods at first, as you've said, and always with something new and exciting - like a bone or something. As he's gotten older, he has gotten much better, and now, when we moved house, he only cried once during the first week the first time we left him there alone (I think because he was worried we were returning to our old home and had forgotten him or something, ie didn't consider that our home yet). Now he can stay there for 8+ hours and be fine, not make any noise or mess. So yes I think it's a gradual process, but they do seem to get better as they become more assured of their position in your pack and also more confident as they get older. PS any new puppy thread should include pictures...

I voted that I thought it was cruel if the dog was confined to the backyard and never got any exercise/mental stimulation, but that said, I think it's far from ideal (though perhaps not so far as cruel) to never take a dog for a walk off the property. I know of dogs who don't particularly seem to like going for walks but I still believe there is something to be gained.

I should have... but I felt compelled to defend us for some strange reason and try to explain... I know what you mean, I've been told all kinds of things like that my dog is too thin, that I'm too harsh or that he shouldn't be out at all because of his breed, and I always used to feel this need to try and make them see that I wasn't just wandering blindly here and my dog was happy. But they never listen - randoms who approach to lecture you are only interested in themselves and what they have to say, so now I just say ok or I'm not so sure about that but who knows and nod and talk to my friends again.

I'm going to be totally honest here because I think many people will try and make you feel like you're being silly for being more scared of staffy types than other breeds, and I just don't believe this is the case. I know exactly how you feel. Every time a new staffy type shows up at the park I freeze a little bit and watch it like a hawk - I don't do that with any other breed. This is because my dog has been attacked twice by this breed, and never seriously by any others. I know it happens, and I've met GSD's and even Lab's that wanted to have a go at him, but all of them calmed down faster and seemed happier about not having to fight. The staffies, once they reach that point - which can happen extremely quickly I might add, don't seem to want to give up on the chance for a fight, you can have the other dog away and still you have to block him continuously until the staffy can be physically removed. I don't believe they are just like any other breed, because that would be like saying my doberman would be as good at hunting as a GSP or something etc. Fact is if you spend any time at the park with a variety of dog breeds, you will see that there are differences between them. Not all staffies are the same though, and out of the 1000's I've met (because they're so popular in Sydney at least) I've met 2 that I trust to the same level around my dog as other breeds, who really seem to be more dog than staffy if you get me - same as there would be hunting breeds who didn't have any urge to hunt/retrieve etc. For me, there are 3 categories of staffy - 1: quite rare - those that are just like other dogs, 2: the most common - those that are fine to walk past, have light interaction with, see across the street etc but who you wouldn't want your dog running off-lead with, and 3: the rarest - the ones that will attack your dog given a chance and fortunately are rarely seen off a lead, still pretty scary to have to be near. Most staffies I meet are pretty good really, but I just don't let my dog play with them off-lead because too many times, I have seen one suddenly snap going from quite happy to ready to kill in less obvious steps (perhaps not to a staffy owner but for a doberman and mixed breed owner like myself) than other dogs and start trying to kill another dog. I'm trying to make the point here that all dogs can and will fight, but with staffies, they seem keener, have less obvious or fewer warning signs and are better equipped for it. Now this is only their reaction towards dogs. I have plenty of friends who have staffies and I love them, so long as I don't have my dog with me. They are not a HA breed, and make shocking guard dogs because as far as they're concerned, strange people are just friends they haven't had the pleasure of licking yet. But when I have my dog, I don't take chances - because with staffies you can't. If your dog gets into a fight with one, unless it's another staffy, it will definitely lose and it could well die. So yeah, introduce yourself, the dogs will likely love you and you probably don't have to be worried about just seeing them on the street, or them trying to escape into your yard to attack your dog. Unless they are poorly raised and never exercised etc they are very unlikely to do that. But don't think they're just like any other dog either - there are reasons that certain breeds are better at certain tasks - because they're different from each other, and you don't have to go back too far in the history of any bully type breed or those of the breeds used to create them to find unfortunate histories.