Grey

thanks guys, almost exactly what the trainer i just spoke to recommended (this trainer has worked my dog and been to my house before) i appreciate the advice

Hi dolers I'm back again asking for advice! *deep breath* my dog (3 yo female desexed gsd) can be classed as dog aggressive, although the majority of the problem begins with her manners and progresses as other dogs respond unfavourably. We have never had to deal with living next door to other dogs so far, and we attend dog school every week and are currently dealing with her approach to other dogs - slowly but surely. For the last month or so the neighbour behind us (whose backyard corner backs onto a portion of back fence) has had a small jack russell. initially this has been no problem, they have barked and snuffled through the fence at eachother, but no great issues. A cpl of weeks ago his dog escaped down the driveway and rushed my dog (totally in a friendly way, but rudely rushing nonetheless) while we were starting our walk. Skylla (my dog) was very unhappy about this and the bloke finally came over to get his dog and offered for the two to meet while holding it out at head level towards my girl and I frantically corrected her and tried to explain simultaneously this was not a good idea. Within the last week this bloke has had a friend move in with another jack russell, and now his dog (aside from barking constantly when they are out which i really am not that worried about, dogs bark, and i know skylla prob does as well from time to time if a possum appears) is at the fenceline digging, so of course skylla is at the fenceline digging and barking at eachother. We are in the process of blocking off the bottom of the fence so they cannot get to eachother, but this morning, whilst other half was putting tiles down to block the 2-3 cm gap created the new neighbour launches in with how he will 'neck' my dog if she digs through to his dog. I can understand being protective of your dog, but where do I stand if his dog gets into our yard and something horrible happens - if we are not home or fast enough to stop it? I have contacted a trainer to discuss how to get Skylla to stop barking and scrabbling, will ask at dog school this week and also am looking into an ecollar. I am beside myself at the thought of her hurting another animal. The neighbour is also shoring up his fence, but of course the mind runs rampant with scenarios. Currently we are keeping Skylla mainly inside to prevent any incident, but do any of you guys have any suggestions? thanks so much in advance

hey there just wondering if anyone can recommend any good in-house pet sitting services, I have heard of free services that are registered etc in exchange for members not having to rent (ie they simply go from job to job looking after homes and other people's pets) is this too good to be true? I am going away in late feb for a fortnight and would much rather have the cats and dog looked after in home rather than in a kennel - although they are currently booked in for this time in a kennel just in case. any advice or recommendations would be appreciated, i found 'happy house sitters' on the net, but quite reluctant to trust such a thing without finding out other people's opinions and experiences first? The whole entrusting of animals and home to a stranger thing heheh thanks heaps in advance for your time dolers!

ooh the ultimate question haha I did trial runs - after of course, blocking off all rooms that were risky and removing EVERYTHING from dog reach or that was dangerous or that i valued in any way whatsoever. then it was hope for the best! I had some issues with chewing of bench corners, but once i learned the appropriate exercise and training routine, and also what treat toys actually amused we were home free. good luck, i know this wasnt much help, i just winged it and hoped for the best, taking care of every eventuality i could think of, and then learning of a few others i hadn't

i must say tho shelle, and i may just have had a weird pup, skylla bonded very strongly to me, but when she was very young i noticed that she although she greeted and played enthusiastically, she was at least 6 months before i saw her actively wagging her tail when i spoke to her or looked at her etc. was just something i noticed, but by the time i started worrying about it i saw the behaviour presenting itself..

thankyou mokha - i agree, but then i am biased she is about 8 months older than that pic now, but it is still my fave of her, the first time i could see the adult she is destined to be lol and I know!! the cats would eat an entire bag of rc in a week if i allowed free feeding, but skylla is totally 'meh' about it all. which is good, cause i get credit for having a beautifully weighted gsd with little or no work involved *edit* to say your labs are just gorgeous!! you can't go past a good looking lab

LoL shelle - skylla was so impressed that there was a bbq with a heap of ppl that did not conform to 'on your bed' before treating that the thunder was the least of her concerns.. there were far more pats and tidbits of sausage to be concerned over - we are v v lucky to have animals that are not bothered by storms or fireworks! we all stood out the front watching the lightning before the rain started, had skylla with us on the leash at the naturestrip and i even had one woman walk/run past telling me that i should take the poor dog inside she must be so scared with the thunder.. obviously she paid no attention to the fact the 'scared poor puppy' in question was chasing flies and eyeing off the guests looking for a random bit of bread, chip or meat...

not tshirts, but i bought some cool bumper stickers from there.. took a while to arrive, but totally happy with them when they did!

oh wow - i swear by my furminator - i even use it on the cats! the video on the website i thought was a joke, but it actually happens like that lol i used to vacc the house everyday with my shepherd, but when i use the furminator for a few mins each day after our walk, i vac maybe every 3 or 4 now

just a quick thanks again - we appear to have hit the jackpot! although she is certainly not eating anywhere near the recommended guide, she is quite happily chowing down about 2 cups of royal canin a day, and approx 90% of toilet trips end in a nice firm manner lol yay!! thanks again for the suggestions

I grew up with my grandparents raving about the gsd's they used to own, my friends raved about the shepherds they owned. My girl is 18 months old now, and, as the first dog i have owned by myself and having to go through an extremely steep learning curve regarding training, dealing with prey drive, exercise and consistency, i could never ask for another breed of dog - i am officially in love with shepherds. I will never breed, i will never show her (unless maybe local agility shows etc) and i will only ever expect her to work in our training sessions or maybe in the house and personal protection she provides naturally, but she is content. I know this, not from how many snuggles we share, how often i move my foot to feel her by my feet or how often she pops into a room to see what i am up to if she has just woken up, but from her demeanor. There are posts in this thread however that do more than infer a gsd should not be owned as a pet, that as a breed, they should simply be working dogs. I could not, off the top of my head name a breed that is not owned as a pet these days and to continue to argue that such a use is not what the breed is for can almost be described as naive - they ARE being owned as pets, and despite this lack of traditional work, many (not all, i am not that naive lol) are content and bring joy to the lives they enrich. The point of this thread is to advise potential owners, not jump on the soapbox and give an almighty and powerful opinion. I would like to thank those that responded in a relevant and fitting way to this thread , however, as with Raz, if anyone i ever know asks about shepherds (and seeing my girl and how happy i am, a few do) i would never direct them here. Unfortunately, most threads where a question is asked regarding shepherds (anyone remember that almost informative thread re back slope months ago?) becomes a mud slinging match where those that are genuinely after information feel unwelcome and walk away with a bad taste in their mouth. maybe we can cut and paste the helpful parts of this thread and lock it? meh. *dons flame suit*

only issue i can see is that if you are to stop using dimmitrol during the year at any point (ie non mozzie season etc) then you will need to retest for heartworm before you can start using again. i have always been taught that heartworms will generally only show up after 6 months of presence, so once the initial test has been done another is recommended (not enforced, always owner discretion) in 6 months time. This is half the reason we recommend ppl stay on dimmitrol all year, simply to avoid the cost and hassle of testing.. but that's just from what i have read and been taught.. if there's medical ppl here who know better feel free to enlighten me :D

i wouldn't feed a cooked bone to any animal - they tend to splinter a lot more easily and then you can have issues (among others) of intestinal/bowel/stomach perforations and lots and lots of pain (to both animal and your wallet!).

Oh - it was Monday. Do'h! This week is getting away from me! My excuse is that i've gone from couch potato to GSD handler for 2hrs of walking and running a day so my mind is melting, hehe. i am there with you Nic, when my partner asked if i wanted a border collie like i grew up with and i responded with no no, thats a working dog, i really dont have to time nor energy level to accommodate one of those, and he then came home with a german shepherd (obviously not noticing the whole shepherd bit of the name) i suddenly went from computer nerd to walking, running and intense training every day regardless of weather and sickness especially since i am currently classed as a single mother for another few months! in relation to the topic however, we did the whole turning around and ignoring, and that reduced issue, but what turned the tables for us was as soon as she jumped we put her in her crate (still in same room, but confined) and let her out later, if she jumped, back in the crate for a few mins etc etc.

yay dvd arrived today, now just waiting on the other books i ordered. i wonder if we all ended up going through the same us company and if they are looking at this sudden influx of australian addresses lol