raineth

I think tweety is saying that Southern Stars is where they are getting sarplaninac from?

I have been through the exact disapointment before with friends asking me for advise and then buying from a byb'er. You did your best and there is nothing to say the dog won't turn out to be a nice pet for them :)

awww good thinking Hamlet - you clever boy

Yeah I have noticed it too. I think its just about political correctness. Its generally no longer pc to make nasty remarks about people according to race or colour, or to elderly people, but its still generally ok to make disparaging comments about children. It doesn't bother me if people don't like children. But I think its quite off to be rude simply because they are a child.

excellent! that is really good

hi there :) its really important to never allow her to greet another human or dog when she is in an excited state. Otherwise she thinks that her excited behavious is what gets her what she wants. You will probably need to recruit some friends and dogs you know to start off with. Have her on lead and the person or dog around (not too close) and she is only allowed to greet, or go closer once she has started displaying calm behaviour. This may take some time in the beginning and you will need to keep practicing. This sort of behaviour does not just go away, dogs need to be trained how to greet in a calm manner :)

awww that's just lovely :)

Farewell Skoota hugs for you and your Oh nek

thanks for posting Wuffles! Wow! It looks so amazing! You must have had a really wonderful time :) I just can't fathom that amount of snow! It's always fascinating seeing dogs from other countries. The Alaskan Huskies look so athletic and reminded me of Kelpies too.

I can't understand why so many people are calling her stupid. Intelligence isn't measured by how much someone knows about dog behaviour. The responsibility is with the dog owner. He shouldn't have allowed it - he is the one who is meant to make sure he understands his dog and protects people from his dog, and his dog from people. Plenty of dogs have no issue with people doing those sorts of things. My Dane would queue to have a stranger give her that sort of attention.

when growing a giant puppy, diet is very important to reduce the likelihood of developing bone disease. Your easist bet would be to put him on a dry food designed for growing giant puppies; and not to add extras to it. my understanding is: Protein levels do not have a direct cause on skeletal development, but they do affect energy content and high energy content leads to extra weight gain, which is associated with developing skeletal problems because it can cause rapid growth. Calcium needs to be at a low level; generally around 0.8 - 1.6%. So I would be a bit wary of feeding him chicken frames that have a fair amount of calium in them. good luck with him, he's a cutie :)

I got the dogs primarily for me; but it's also really important that they are family dogs as well. The kids help out with training and care, and they love to spend a lot of time with the dogs. My daughter loves playing with our playful dog and our son is really big on giving them tonnes of adoring attention :D often he says to me "oh look mum, Digby is being sooooo adorable right now!" and he's always recounting funny and cute things to me that the dogs have done. The kids don't have set chores to do with the dogs but they are always helping out voluntarily and they are always helping with the latest training thing I'm attempting.

Wow! Thanks TSD! I can't say I understood all of it, but I am definitely more enlightened that I was :)

I tend to focus much more on socialisation than commands as such. things like: learning their name being handled nails trimmed bathed bite inhibition toilet training ofcourse collars, leads, coats people, places, things games and relationship-building like huski said too :)

oh he's such a handsome boy Hopefully you can find a behaviourist :)

They know the breed and have people who want the breed. If they don't want to take a dog like that on then they say no.. simple. She is in the process of getting a behavioural assessment.. I missed that. I'm glad to hear she is getting an assessment

I'm a bit confused by this? I don't understand how finding a home without children solves this situation? he didn't bite a child - he bit an adult ??? who would want an aggressive dog that has bitten people? and you can't avoid children anymore than you can avoid men, or old people, they are part of society. The first and preferred option is for the family to take the dog to a behaviourist to be assessed and to have a training plan implemented and followed. If the family doesn't want to do this; or feel that they are way out of their depth they need to pts.

Also by the looks of their website all the dogs are labradoodle with long/shaggy coats - how on earth do they keep up with the grooming?

You could counter condition him. Approach the crossing but stop before he gets stressed and give him a jackpot (by which I mean a reasonable chunk of treats that he really loves). Then later in the day do it again. Gradually get closer to the crossing. But it is important to keep him at a distance in which he is not stressed. It might take a little while to fix, and if you rush it, it won't work. I reccommend you keep a good eye on the signs he gives when he starts to get stressed. They probably include lip licking, yawning, hunching up, and tucking his tail in close to his body. The best time to treat is before you see these things happening. So if you see these things happening, take note and move him further away :) poor little mite, best of luck with him :)

I was just wondering because its quite good and normal for a dog to spend a lot of time sleeping while you're out. It shows that they are content, and they know that the fun will start when your home so they might as well snooze the day away :) If he's not barking, crying, or destroying stuff, I wouldn't be worrying :)

whoah that's full on! When I've watched those dog squad shows I've often wondered what would happen when/if they put the dog over the fence into a yard that has a dog in it. Your guys must have been having a very good sleep not to wake up though! I think really we can only ever hope our dogs are a deterrant to people.

you know when I first heard of retrieving trials, I was thinking along the lines of tennis balls - so I'm learning a great deal :D

awww thanks Double lab love :) yeah shell and Zero are such an inspiration :) oh good :) Please keep the thread updated, I would be really interested to see how you get on :) and I think we need a pic! glad to hear he had a fun afternoon :)

is he bored? Or is he just content to sleep while you're out Atanquin? Do you feed him breakfast before you leave? If you do, that could be why he isn't interested in Kongs and other food toys. my old dog used to love it when I tied an apple from the awning with a rope. I cored the apple and thread the rope through and he would have fun trying to grab it as it moves around.

Yeah the behavioural markers for depression are very similar to that in humans :) So Digby had (still has to a degree) flat affect and learned helplessness. He also slept all the time, and took little to no interest in ejoyable things (like you suggested). These are all things that are usually present in Depressed people. As well as that he just oozes miserable. His diagnosis covered the above things. Digby is not on medication... although that was on the cards. K9pro said that Digby doesn't have any opf the markers that suggest he has some genetic predisposition for depression; so maybe that is why he is responding so well to the activities and exercises we have been given that aim to improve levels of serotonin in his brain and create new pathways. hmmm are you sure your labs aren't doing that classic lab pleading look to gain cuddles and food double lab love :laugh: they are very good at the human manipulation those labs :D edit for pleading, not pleasing! Raineth - thank you for the clarification re dog depression.. I was curious about the correlation to human depression and symptons.. It's great that you can increase serotonin levels without medication - other than the side effects that sometimes result with medication - the plus side is that he would be much happier doing more activities that make him smile :) My heart just broke when you described how he tried to make himself invisible..he has probably forgotten how to be a dog I think you hit the nail on the head re my two....just posted before I saw your new post.. You are spot on :laugh: haha! those tricksy labs! Yeah I have had Digby for two years now, and only recently, I was able to play with him for the first time :D it was pretty special let me tell you! He still has a long way to go. But he no longer stops himself from being happy, whihc is wonderful and I catch him smiling now - its very special :)