jacqui835

Totally depends on your dog. The bones themselves are fine so long as they're not swallowed whole - which can result in a choking hazard. My dog started on bones very early in life and so now although he's big, we can safely feed him anything from chicken necks to whole chickens because he chews (we don't make a habit of feeding him chicken necks, just gets a couple because the cat can't get through a whole packet before they go off and I can't find smaller packets). Sammy's best friend is a chocolate labrador who is a little on the chubby side but smaller than Sammy overall. He can not safely be given anything smaller than half a chicken because he is half vacuum cleaner. Consequently we have to be careful when he comes over that Sammy hasn't left any bones in the yard - Sammy is not really an enthusiastic eater but the lab lives to eat and will eat anything, no matter how old or decomposed...

Poor pointer...

This. I know they say oh don't worry you'll find things to love in your next dog, but I never felt this way about a dog I've had before. I know I'm onto something special now and I don't want any other dogs

I am very sorry to have to deliver some bad news; Trevor has had some complications with his knee, and he is now in a brace and will be unable to move for 3 weeks - poor guy is very unhappy and I certainly can't imagine not being able to move for 3 weeks :s So no lure coursing this weekend I don't know that there will be too many more opportunities this summer, but you never know and I will of course keep everyone posted.

Cool thread, really makes you appreciate the value of preserving all the different breeds because there are so many different features on offer. 1. Intelligent and trainable 2. Handsome (my idea of handsome which is lean, powerful, large and pretty head) 3. Athletic and energetic (I want a dog that motivates me and can keep up) 4. Protective (at least a deterrent) and loyal 5. Loving and affectionate with me and people that I like and I'm going to cheat and add one more - it's not quite as important as the others but hey it's not my fault that my chosen breed has so many amazing attributes. 6. Short low maintenance coat with no doggy odour. Doberman ticks all of these boxes and Sammy exceeds all my hopes and expectations. He is my very special boy.

Hey guys some great news - weather forecast shows a maximum of 21-23 for this coming Sunday (20/11) which would be great for the dogs. Will keep everyone posted but looks like we will be heading up there this weekend :D

My dog uses his like thumbs. When he climbs he sprawls his paws and the dew claw helps him grip (we go rock and mountain climbing). He also uses them to eat - we feed him whole chickens etc a couple of days a week. As such I have to trim them maybe every 6+ months, not often at all. The rest of his nails never need trimming. And I don't know that I even need to trim his dew claws, it's not that they get long, it's that they are amazing weapons. I have some crazy bruises on my legs and arms right now from swimming at the beach with my dog - he does this cute thing where he stands on his hind legs when in water and walks/bounds along like a kangaroo. If standing still, he likes to put his paws on your arms (well if you offer them), and if you're playing with a ball at the same time or something, well he can get a little careless... If you hold his paw he will try to wrap his "digits" around your hand/fingers and he can move his thumbs too so I like him having them. It's entirely our fault though that we get injured, both my partner and I enjoy playing physically with our large male doberman so I'm sure if we were more sensible and mature I'm sure we wouldn't be covered in such an impressive array of bruises.

I'm no expert trainer but I have always taught my dog to maintain eye contact when I say focus and I have been instructed to do so by all of my training clubs. My dog did it naturally and I just added a command. Others will hopefully be able to tell you more but my dog and I now spend a lot of our training looking into each others eyes.

Don't worry, my dog was the same, and it was embarrassing at classes because he would listen to me with half an ear, and the rest of his attention was devoted to looking for small animals to chase. When I gave a command, his response was slow and sometimes he got it wrong because he wasn't paying enough attention. And the worst part was that instead of listening to me to get the correct command, he would just do all the commands he knew and hope he got it right so he could continue to focus on the small animal - ie wouldn't even look at me unless he absolutely had to (we trained in an area where there were possums in the trees). One thing that helped me with this sort of thing was to teach my dog that interacting with me was really rewarding. I taught him to initiate a lot of the contact, because I had tried for months to correct him when he was distracted by any moving animal etc but to absolutely no avail. I would stand in an empty field with the dog on the lead, and just wait. I would have something really tasty and smelly in my pockets (bbq chicken works a treat). As soon as my dog looked at me, I made really happy exciting noises and started to sort of jog backwards and the dog followed enthusiastically, they tend to want to chase when you go backwards. I would get him to chase me a bit and then give him the food. Very soon he stopped worrying about what else could happen in the empty, boring field and was continually trying to engage me. Key was keeping sessions short at first so that he couldn't get bored of the food and the game and try to entertain himself again. 5 or 6 pieces of food and it's time to leave on a high, so that your dog only remembers what an amazing time he has with you and how exciting you are and he associates engaging with you with having fun when out in the open. Hopefully this works for you, my dog naturally checked in with me from time to time, but if you just stand there with their lead on they should eventually look at you to see what's next.

Very sad indeed. For a dog with a history as long and impressive as the rottweiler, well I would hate to think that we will never see another Hackel. What a proud and powerful looking animal though, what I would have given to see him put through his paces... With that head and those legs, he looks like he'd be fast and your worst nightmare when he caught up to you - if you were the "bad guy". I am hopeful that we can change the perception of dog sports in Australia, because if they became more popular and valued, well perhaps people would start breeding dogs with those capabilities again. My dog and Hackel (not that I'm putting my dog in the same category as that Rottweiler) are proof that you can have a dog with those sorts of capabilities that can and should still be a balanced dog that can accompany their owners anywhere they go and be a valued member of society. PS do you mind if I post that picture and caption to the rottweiler lovers in my club?

Second that.

That would be fine, but it's only for 5 days. If anyone wanted a house to stay in for 5 days you're more than welcome and we have a huge yard if you have a dog. I hope I find someone, I really don't like the thought of Vasco living in a cage for a week, he's just not that sort of cat. I'm also not sure about a lot of the ads on gumtree etc though where they come to your house once each day and the cat is alone the rest of the time - he cries when he can't find anyone There's still more than 5 weeks before I go anywhere though so hopefully something comes up.

I'm sorry if I am not allowed to post this here, but I'm sure I remember reading posts from people wanting to mind animals and I would much prefer that my cat was in a loving environment for the 5 days we'll be away than just in a kennel/vet type environment... I will be going to Sydney over Christmas, from the 23 - 28th December and will be taking Sammy with me but Vasco (my tonkinese kitten) will be staying in Adelaide. He is a very friendly cat, quite frisky in that he attacks dobermans on a daily basis and loves every human he meets. He's addicted to attention and if there are 2 people on the couch, he will stretch out so he can be on both. He's one of those cats that is never happier than when he's sprawled on a lap, and in ecstacy with every pat. I imagine that he would be happier living with someone else whilst we're away, I think he would be very upset if he found himself alone at night. He is a 100% indoor cat, and I would provide all food and kitty litter etc. Details you may need: Breed: Tonkinese Age: just over 4 months Gender: male Vaccinated/wormed: up to date Parasites: none Desexed: not yet Health Issues: none Compatiability with dogs: good Compatiability with cats: unknown And of course I will pay a pet-sitting fee, not really sure what the going rates are but open to negotiation - I would like for Vasco to have a nice holiday while we're away.

I watched a lot of Cesar Milan before I got my dog, and that helped a lot. I know not everyone agrees with everything he does, but he taught me to watch your dog, and for me watching all those episodes felt like I was watching lessons on learning a new language. I have always been able to tell how comfortable dogs are with each other - ie I have never been surprised by 2 dogs "suddenly" going for each other, and I feel like a lot of the time I can "feel" the tension, the fear the whatever it is in the air around the dogs and my own. But, a lot I have learned just since having my dog, and there is still a lot I don't know, because I agree with what a few other people have said - there is a lot of common ground but some breeds are a little different. I would have loved a crash course when I first got my dog, probably could have learned what's taken me 2 years to learn in a much shorter time frame and so be further ahead. The thing is as well, it seems to be exponential, ie you a learn a little and you open yourself up to learning a lot more a lot more quickly. So for those reasons I think a class on this material could be very helpful. A few quick tips about dog posture, intensity in their eyes, learning to tell a relaxed dog from an engaged and tense animal, understanding some of those basic actions such as humping, positioning to be sniffed or to sniff (and the way some dogs refuse to let others sniff them) etc - that could be taught I think quite quickly and would help people to understand more about their dogs. And I think this would help people to strengthen their bonds with their dogs - now that my dog knows I'm paying attention and I step in early, well he comes to me and works with me.

My sister's papillons are another great example of a breed that still does a wonderful job at their original function.

In the countries that my breeds were developed, they were not supposed to be bred without having had their working ability certified. This does not take place in Australia, and in fact there are states trying to make the sports used to assess working ability (schutzhund etc) illegal. It is unfortunate, but now that I have started spending more time with people who are also interested in utilising the working abilities of these dogs, they have informed me that you really can't expect much from dogs from show lines (this is for the working german breeds only - I am sure there are differences between breeds). It is very sad to see owners coming with their working breeds from show lines and not being able to complete the tasks, watching the dogs hit their walls so early on. In the case of dobermans and rottweilers, there are very few even from working line breeders capable of achieving anything close to their forefathers, they never seem to place in any competitions these days. It makes me very sad that I have rocked up to a club full of some of the most passionate and knowledgeable people in the working dog world (in Australia at least), and they have looked at my doberman cross and described him as more of a doberman than the purebreeds they deal with. But of course they said to me, I can get all my titles and pass with 100 and yet even if I beat the pure dogs in a national competition, I would not walk away with the trophy. I love my dog but I wish he was pure doberman - I don't think there's ever been or ever will be a better breed. Unfortunately though I think we may have gotten a little lost somewhere along the way...

I'm desperate to go, but unfortunately because of work I think the only day I can make is the Saturday

As someone who has spent a decent amount of time in dog parks, I have had to make other dogs leave my dog alone on multiple occasions because their owners are like on the other side of the park and not paying any attention and I want my dog to feel like he can always rely on me to sort these situations out for him. But I have never kicked or hit another dog because I know that if someone attacked my dog there is a chance it would escalate the situation. I had some idiot once try and alpha roll my dog saying that he had to do that to all the dogs in the park. Well when he grabbed my dog's neck and started to try and push him down, he jumped away from the guy and growled at him - so I just don't think it's a good idea to implement physical strategies to address the problem, in case the dog responds in kind. Of course if I was desperate, and the dog just wanted to attack mine and wasn't listening to me at all or being swayed by body language, well yeah I guess you'd do what you had to, but I find that most dogs at the parks respond well to you positioning yourself between your dog and the offender and sternly telling them no.

That is good news indeed. There is nothing I wouldn't do for Sammy but well obviously some tasks are more attractive than others...

Quick question and excuse my ignorance but do all dogs need their anal glands tended to? Sammy will be 2 next year but I have never touched his or even know where to find them... is it something I need to worry about?

If it smells fine I would feed it to mine - but I eat food past it's best before date if it looks and smells fine and well touch wood I never seem to get sick... Goes both ways though. I have had food that was supposedly fine but smelt off so I didn't eat it.

Well I've seen the procedure performed on terriers and they certainly didn't seem to experience any pain, they were just unhappy about being away from their mothers for a second. And it was lucky my terrier had his tail docked, because he spent a good portion of his time down rabbit burrows... I watched a documentary the other day about the castrating of male pigs - to let them develop properly without growth hormones they live beyond puberty and so wouldn't be tasty unless castrated. The pigs hated being picked up, and squealed like crazy but the procedure was done with no anesthetic and there was no recovery time - they were good to go and stopped crying as soon as they were put down. The pigs then spent the rest of their lives grazing in an apple orchard - free range and in natural family groups - I have never seen such happy pigs. So I do not believe that tail docking is a cruel or painful procedure. My current dog is a doberman, and I don't mind his tail - I've gotten used to the look now and so if I had another, I wouldn't remove the tail. But I don't see why people shouldn't be allowed to choose one way or the other. If I ever decided to own another terrier (though I don't think I will because Dobermans are the be all and end all for me now) I would want the tail docked to remove the potential for injury - even if you don't plan to hunt rabbits if your terrier sees a rabbit he will follow it down the hole, and rabbits are pretty common in Australia these days.

Yup my male is entire and at about 9 months he started doing the same thing. I only tell him off in public, now I just say, time and place buddy and he stops and then when he's by himself if he wants to hump his pillow well that's his business lol. He listens to me around bitches on heat and doesn't just run off so it doesn't affect that side of things. ETA he doesn't do it often in public anymore, seems to get that I don't appreciate it. The other day was the first time I've seen him do it in ages, starts with a lick or two and then by the third one well you know something else is going on so I just said Sammy time and place and he remembered and stopped. The sad thing is everyone just laughs when it's a boy, but I once knew a female who did the same thing, and everyone was like ew gross Poor girls.

The rational IMHO is the never ending fight to save the Pitbull, a fight that will never be won I don't believe, the breed is canned and always will be and is time we moved on. Not that I don't admire the Pitbull supporters in their efforts to free their breed, but the problem I see in the process with posts like this is taking other breeds down with them. In reality highlighting breeds who have killed and saying in the Pitbull's defence "see there are no Putbull's on the fatality list" is not going to free the Pitbull from BSL, all the authorities will do with the information is say "thanks very much, we will add all those breeds onto the BSL list too" No one needs a bloody Pitbull as a matter of life or death, there are many other breeds to choose from to make a great pet. It's not about rights to own a particular breed, it's the law, bit like fighting about the rights to drive drunk, plenty of drink drivers I know of personally who have never had a prang driving pissed, but it's not the point, it's just these anti BSL supporters worry me that they can potentially put their foot in it, I have heard and seen it so many times before highlighting other breeds in defence of the Pitbull, geez, we have to tread so carefully with this I think. I am not necessarily fighting to save pitbulls. Although I certainly think people should be allowed to own them, because they're not my breed of choice well it's slightly distanced if you know what I mean. But what I am fighting is BSL. Because if we allow the precedents, what is to stop them one day implementing BSL against any other breed? You might think let the pitbull fall, but if BSL doesn't stop the dog attacks, which it won't because the problem isn't even dogs in the first place, but they're committed to BSL policies so they keep introducing new ones for new breeds, well I would worry that one day we will only have very few breeds to choose from - if any at all

He might have a super high pain threshold, but the procedure was also arthroscopic so recovery time should be faster. Anyway, I won't let him come out if he's still in pain, he's just enjoying his pain killers for the moment lol. Fingers crossed for next week though, Sammy just has such a great time Between tracking and training on Saturdays and lure coursing on Sundays, well you could say my life has really gone to the dog...