raineth

Aww I love seeing pictures of Mo :D I don't have a snooza bed, but the reason for that is that I thought they went quite flat? That's what I heard and why I decided not to get one. I have a hand-made bed from a lady who farms alpacas, so that's not very helpful for you, sorry. It is 150 cm long, and poor Del's head still falls off the end if she really wants to stretch out. But what I most like about it is that it is very cushy, and very warm in winter. Other than that we managed to get this absolutely enormous wicker basket second hand. We have a layer of Yoga mats on the bottom and then cushions above that. I have spent a lot of time online trying to find another that big, but I've never managed it sadly. I've not even come close Other than that I have been hearing very nice things about the Henry Hottie beds.

Thank you for weighing in Corvus. :) Loba, Corvus is an animal behaviourist with a PhD in dog behaviour, emotions and cognition. I would follow her recommendation. Yes, I absolutely agree!

Feeling scared as you say is a behavior and rewarding that fearful behavior gives the message that being scared is ok. Only reward dogs when they are relaxed confident and doing the right thing. I am personally not a fan of constant food rewards.Praise and positive voice / body language speaks volumes to a dog. Sorry Purdie but feeling scared is not a behaviour. Feeling scared is an emotion. Biting someone (triggered by feeling scared) is a behaviour. I use food rewards extensively with my clients' fearful dogs. If used correctly they are extremely powerful - much more so than praise. of course it depends on how we define 'emotion', but if it is defined as an 'experience closely linked to the arousal of the nervous system' then I'm pretty sure that I / we can manipulate and reinforce emotions...e.g. when the dog is too close to the object that triggers the fear and cause this arousal we can use distance to manage the level of the arousal and therefore the dogs emotions...conversely if we would ignore the dog's fear and drag the dog behind us, his fear level will become likely so overwhelming that it will cause significant behavior issues that will be even harder to eliminate. ...we can also manipulate / reinforce emotions with drugs, by stimulations of senses, music, food... According to scientific studies about 'emotions', 'the level of emotional tension is determined by the strength of a need and probability of its satisfaction', and these are parameters that definitely can be manipulated / reinforced. ETA:...and of course,'feeling scared' is the emotion, not the resulting behavior; the resulting behaviour is ducking for cover, trying to hide, trying to move away from the object that triggers the fear...and that is where the reinforcement training starts: once you managed the emotional state of the dog by increasing the trigger zone to a distance big enough to lower his fear level that allows him to respond to you, you can start with rewarding wanted behaviour, e.g. every step closer to the object that triggers the fear...at the end the dogs learns that e.g. a parked car is no danger and the fear (=emotion) and the unwanted behaviour (ducking for cover, trying to hide...) disappears. Willem if you are interested in emotion and conditioning then you might want to look up the work of Joseph Ledoux.

What people forget is that every instance of operant conditioning is also an instance of classical conditioning. That is why you can go ahead and feed your dog in the presence of something scary, because the classical conditioning will work to reduce the fear. If you use punishment to try to reduce an undesirable behaviour that is brought about by fear, the problem is you are also conditioning your dog to be more afraid. However it is always better to have the dog below threshold when you are doing any conditioning.

I have limited experience with both breeds, but from what I see, like others say, the Vizsla tends to be a little less intense. I really like both breeds by the way, although they are not for me :) With both training the dog to settle will be a priority. I'd also encourage you to commit to going to a nice training club for the first two years of the dog's life. I generally think that most problems that might occur will tend to surface in the first two years and by going to a training club you will have very experienced people to guide you along the way, often preventing problems before they even begin. good luck :)

I think that everyone who is posting here about their successes with multiple females in the household have had their dogs in very different context to the OP's. The OP is talking about having two bull breeds, who are outside only dogs, whose purpose is to guard the property.

Amstaffs are not bred for guarding. Keeping two entire females makes it even more likely that they will fight. ETA: this is another thread on the forum right now: http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/266160-bitch-on-bitch-aggression/page__pid__6797645#entry6797645

No way would I risk it! And even if your current girl is fine, doesn't mean the new addition will be. I have seen intra-household aggression between females and its terrible consequences. There is no way I would go there when it can be so simply avoided by getting a male.

How gorgeous! Congratulations

I just can't imagine Staffordshire Bull Terriers being rare anywhere in Australia. They are one of the most popular dog breeds at the moment. I wonder if it's because you searched for 'English Staffy' rather than by the proper name that you missed a lot of results. If not spending a lot of money is important to you, then why not look at adopting one of the many Staffy pups that end up in rescue? They'll be a lot less expensive than buying from a back yard breeder, and have had just as much thought put into their breeding.

I agree with all three comments above. That's how I would make the decision.

Do you think he might be going in his sleep?

Oh that is good news! 43 days is a long time, so I reckon you've solved the problem for good. Now if only you could make something that will stop people dropping kebabs on my nature strip All I can think of is someone drunk walking down your nature strip with their 2am Kebab then your Dane scares the beejeebus out of them and they drop it and run away :laugh: --Lhok :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I should leave her in the front yard one night for this to happen! You are right about the drunk part though! On the positive side, her 'leave it' command is so solid these days from all the practice she gets

Oh that is good news! 43 days is a long time, so I reckon you've solved the problem for good. Now if only you could make something that will stop people dropping kebabs on my nature strip

We currently have a little foxy and she doesn't like that either, so I'm thinking if we start off at pup then surely she wouldn't mind it and can see it grow and get use to dogs Hi Bullybreedlover, What is it your daughter doesn't like about your Foxie? Has she had a bad experience with him?

That's interesting Sars. It's so hard to know what's going on in their minds. I know my own dog (adopted at 15 months) takes an interest in professional painters and their utes. It's a happy interest, she gets excited. It does make me wonder if her old owner was a painter. I know a little bit about her previous owners, and I understand the man was very fond of her and played with her often, so I could understand if she'd be happy to see him again. Having said that, she is definitely attached to me, I don't have the feeling she's rather be with someone else. Interesting to note, we visited her foster carers over Christmas, and sadly it was quite clear she didn't remember them Although partly I think it was just that she was very interested in their dogs. maybe with the hipster movement we'll see a corresponding decrease in dogs afraid of men with beards :laugh:

Yes, don't get too infuriated. I'd put money on it being automated letter :)

Wow, I just love that photo so much

Thanks for answering. The MacMillan diction offers this definition: 'rheumy eyes look red and wet because of illness, sadness, or old age' and I was referring to this photo from the link quoted by chequeredblackdog in #15. Yes, we are definitely talking about the same thing then. Obviously we can't know for sure how having eyes like that feels for the dog, but I do worry that they are uncomfortable, and therefore should be actively bred away from. Anyway, I hope that went some way to answering your question :) Your dogs' eyes don't bother me at all (sad but my favourite breed is the boxer and they have sad eyes and I love them) but the dog in the photo I posted has red eyes. Your dog doesn't. I just wondered about the red eyes. I thought it usually meant conjunctivitis, and I was wondering why it is happening in the Euro danes. It's all right, nothing you've said has bothered me in the least, I just wanted to add that statement because I was putting a photo up of my own dog as an example. The colours in that photo are very dull, her eyes (or more technically, the flesh below them) are indeed quite red. It's just that the iPad doesn't have a very good camera. They are not diseased as such, but it is far from the ideal conformation for the eyelids because it leaves the eye more exposed, as Mita mentioned :) however when you combine this problem with a dog that also gets contact allergies they can become even more red and watery. This is not just a problem seen in Euro Danes. Many Danes here have this problem, without having the characteristic exaggerations of the Euro Dane. Excuse the first on her nose, she'd had a nice dig in the garden

I just want to say thanks so much for sharing the photos of them Kirislin. I just love coming in here and seeing them :)

Thanks for answering. The MacMillan diction offers this definition: 'rheumy eyes look red and wet because of illness, sadness, or old age' and I was referring to this photo from the link quoted by chequeredblackdog in #15. Yes, we are definitely talking about the same thing then. Obviously we can't know for sure how having eyes like that feels for the dog, but I do worry that they are uncomfortable, and therefore should be actively bred away from. Anyway, I hope that went some way to answering your question :)

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the term rheumy eyes, are you talking about droopy eyes (ectropian)? If so then no, they are not meant to have droopy eyes. The standard calls for almond-shaped eyes. Not all of them have droopy eyes. It seems more prolific in the harlequin colour family, so it's not as simple as being related to excess skin on the face. I think it is actually hard to find a dog in the harlequin colour family that doesn't have droopy eyes, so therefore it's very hard to breed away from. But I am happy to be corrected by someone more knowledgeable. This is my girl, and she has very droopy eyes, but for a Dane, she has very little excess skin on her face. And I have seen dogs with a lot more excess skin, and they don't have droopy eyes. I just want to add that I would appreciate it if people do not say overly negative things about her appearance. I wish she didn't have droopy eyes (for her sake) but I love her dearly and I find it unpleasant when people tell me her eyes are ugly etc.

I think it sounds like a good idea. They have someone with them to ensure their well-being is looked after, and it's a way of giving them new socialisation experiences. And if it educates people about rescue and spreads some happiness around, then that's good too :)

Yes, I think Del's moderation is a big part of why she is so full of vitality. At 7 years of age she still gets mistaken for a puppy! She still has very droopy eyes unfortunately, and her lip problem as you mention. But it's a sad state of affairs when my back yard bred dog turns out to be a far superior example of her breed than these pedigree dogs I don't know how the breeders can look at them and think it is a good direction for the breed to go in!

https://greatdanegnosis.wordpress.com/2016/02/24/no-good-deed-goes-unpunished/ You might find the langauge in the article a bit off-putting, but it's well worth looking at just for the photos. This is what many Danes in Europe now look like. I think we should all be concerned. Not just for the dogs in question, but because this sort of thing could happen to any breed really. Although the breeds that no longer perform a function are presumably more at risk. The photo shows a Dane in 1980s compared to a contemporary "Euro Dane". Actually the dog in that photo isn't even close to the most extreme example I've seen. A quick google image search of "Euro Dane" can show the extent of the problem.