raineth

Actually if the rescue dog is an adult then you know more about their health status and their temperament than you do about a puppy

Thanks for all the interesting responses everyone Wow that's really interesting. I had head abuot other dogs responding differently to pugs and the instructor said that this also happens with poodles, especially those in their show clip. Hmmmm not sure about this one . If it was one or two dogs who are not used to seeing different dogs, then it may be true..... but if it has happened on several occasions- different dogs .. then I'd agree with you - it could well be her body language . Happy to be corrected , tho I know lambs get confused by our koolies with more white on ... but they are just tiny, and going on size and movement I'd imagine dogs assess all sorts of characteristics. haha that's so cute re your mostly white Koolies. yes its happened with different dogs and even if we're walking with other dogs they will usually pick her out. Ofcourse the more this happens the more stressy she gets. She doesn't bark or growl or anything like that, but you can see she is stressed/worried. The other reason I thought it was more about her body language than her appearance was because my other dog Digby used to also have this happen to him, but now that he is confident he is no longer targeted as much. She is 2 1/2. I would love to see your pst-doc on that. I really hope you chose to do it! I find it fasinating as well. Most of the time dogs are so so specific. But then for example, I know that I can say the word "toy" and she knows that means anything she plays with, not just one specific toy. And I didn't have to train her to understand that. Yeah it has happened that sometimes a dog will come up with a friendly manner, but when they get close and they feel that size difference, they get scared. Maybe that's what happened with Max with both the horse and the GD? With Delta though I find that mostly they are just unfrinedly whether they're near or far :S

oh yea I second a GSP, they are excellent

I was at club today with Delta my Great Dane. She is a harlequin (white background with black patches). I mentioned to the instructors that she seems to be targeted by other dog's anti-social behaviours more than my other dog, and more than my friend's labrador. They told me it was because the other dog's being anti-social toward her didn't recognise her as a dog because of her markings and her size. This really sruprised me as I generally think that a dog's primary sense is smell, and she would certainly smell like a dog. So what do you think? I always thought they targeted her more because she doesn't give off the confidence that my other dog and my friend's labrador does; so I'm very interested to hear other people's theories.

That's so gorgeous! I love the looks on the whippy's faces when they see the water

Sometimes, when you bring a new rescue dog into your home it is a good idea to not take them out for a couple of weeks, and also to be very low-key, no-fuss around them (hard I know!) Its just that it can be such a big change for them, especially if they weren't socialised well by their first owners. This time can then give you and them a chance to build a bit of a relationship and trust. I would consider implementing this with him now, until your appointment with a trainer/behaviourist, then they follow the plan they have given you good luck

poor dogs! Alkhe, sounds like a good plan. The more people who are willing to make subtle-ish comments to him at the dog park, the more he'll realise that its completely unacceptable (hopefully). I have been in a similarish situation recently. The man around the corner who I think is an alcoholic, has let his little terrier become so obese that its stomache is literally about 2 cm from touching the ground. It pants excessively and struggles to walk up and down its driveway I have been wondering if I should do something about it, and what to do about it.

thought I'd put Digby up just in case

Wow I'm very impressed with these. ITs just amazing how sharp the images are considering the speed they are going. And they just capture the atmosphere and the athleticism so well

What is your definition of a backyard breeder? There are a lot of breeders out there that many would label a 'backyard breeder' that are ANKC registered and abide by the ANKC rules, only breed purebred dogs and register all dogs/pups with the ANKC. [ Please email me at [email protected] with details of the breeder. If nobody tells us of issues, we have no idea there is a problem. Even if you do not have any proof of this that you can send, if we know of a potential issue, we can place the breeder in our suspect file so if we get any further complaints about wrongdoings (even without proof), there is a good chance that they are actually doing something wrong and we can remove them. OK - the conditions the pup were in at 2 weeks old was appauling ... they were lying on tiles with NO BLANKETS , towels or any kind of bedding nearby.. The female dog has had 3 litters already this year - and a fourth is planned for late december... how can THAT be good for an adult dog to have so many pups in one year? The reason I found this out - was dates of pups born on the "breeders" website (which has all been removed now - but I have been watching the website for around 6 months now... The reason I know thi is becasue the breeder has only 2 dogs on premisis and could not go into much detail of the parentage other than where the 2 dogs that I saw were there the original breeder and who it was - which is how I got to finding out about the unethical breeding going on there.. Do you really think that one breeder who sells 2 dogs to another PERSON (one male, one female) and then having that PERSON who purchased from the ethical breeder break a de sexing contract with the original breeder is OK? This so called breeder broke the agreement with the original breeder to breed dogs clearly.. the original breeder did not consent to the dogs being used to breed. So howis that "gossip & assumtion" this breeder avoided all my questions re: papers and registration and her qualifications... I was so gutted when I left that place - I was shaking and crying... it was appauling conditions and the adult dogs were not in good condition. I had no idea about registered councils or any of that - which is why I came here - for help.. I can only report what I saw... and I was disgusted by what I did see... as far as papers go - YES it is important to me, when I am paying nearly $2000 for a pup that I have a pup that is of the best health, raised in the correct conditions and well looked after - what I saw was no where near even me - as a simple person who has not much of an idea about breeding and so on could see things were not as they should be there... I came here for help and ideas and I thank you for giving me advice of the correct authorities to report to - I can now investigate further and report the person correctly - through the right channels If the problem is that the dogs and puppies are not receiving adequate care then I think that you need to report them to the RSPCA and the if they are not abiding by their code of ethics then they also need to be reported to the organisation they're registered with. If they are found to be guilty of breaking the COE then the club may de-register them. THen if they are de-registered they will not be able to advertise on DOL. I *think* that's how it works.

don't know if you've seen this ornot wantsapuppy, its a list of breeders who are selling mature labradors: http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/mature/labrador-retriever.asp might be useful I guess how I look at it is this: Do you have a good training club that you can easily attend for about the first two years of pup's life? Knowing the things that can go wrong, are you committed to work through them, and do you have the means to work through them (i.e. access to good trainers, money to spend on private sessions if needed, and time to implement training)? You don't have to answer that here ofcourse, they are more questions for you to ask yourself if you think the answers are 'yes' to those above questions then I'd say go ahead with your research for finding the right breeder and puppy for you. And before you get your puppy have an idea of the rules you want to implement and an idea about how you'll implement them

I think the best approach would be the friendly one. If Spudd is generally kid-friendly, you could go and introduce yourself and Spudd to the kids. This will show the kids a different way of interacting with your dog. If they meet him, and its a positive experience, and they like him, they are probably going to stop being silly over the fence at him.

Hi there, I'm happy to receive any comments and feedback about the questions, but I would prefer if you contacted me privately as I wouldn't want to bias other potential respondents I can be reached at [email protected] And thanks very much to you and Kiara&Heidi too Thanks! Tiffani yeah I thought that might be the case thanks for the address I'll go and send you an email

I did the questionnaire too. Do you mind if I make a comment on one of the questions here, or would you prefer if I send you a private message?

I can't believe he actually implied that he's had personal experience with all those various breeds of dog, some of which are extremely rare are they not?

Not sure that I agree with that. Come in and try and take my animals and prepare for war. My pets are part of the family and I would be highly emotional about any attempts to remove them without my consent. I think you misunderstood me. Don't forget that is coupled with treating the pets poorly. I don't imagine you treat your pets poorly. And I say you wouldn't emotionally breakdown. As you say "prepare for war"; that's not emotional breakdown.

I sincerely doubt that you will need to worry about any socialisation or training affecting that. In fact, the more you do, the better your dog will likely be at protecting you. Natural instinct is just that - natural instinct, but the better you train your dog, the closer its bond with you will be and the more you socialise your dog the better it is able to discriminate between who you see as a friend and who you don't and in what situations these things occur. Beleive me, a dog may look and act like a marshmallow when all is good, but when things are 'not right' that instinct to protect its 'pack'[ comes out. I have been in a situation when the seemingly biggest, softest and well socialised and trained dog protected me when I really needed to be protected so I know what it feels like to trust your dogs natural instincts 100% in these types of situations. The other person was surprised as they had actually met the dog before in other circumstances, but I wasn't ;) . I really want to second this Socialisation is especially important for any dog that has guarding instincts. Otherwise you may find it interprets kids, ladies with prams, or men in helmets (just examples)as a threat.Socialising will let him have a sense of what is 'normal' so he won't react to things that aren't a threat.

First sign is how well the animals are cared for. But in my view that is not completely accurate for instance if you think of what has been found at certain puppy farms (large number of animals and not well cared for) they still don't count as hoarders as they are doing it for profit. So another way to tell is how they react to having their animals taken away. Like any hoarder, animal hoarder's emotional well being is tied to their hoard. So if you come in and take it away they are likely to suffer a kind of emotional brakdown. Also they will continue over and over again, to hoard unless they get treatment for it.

that was lovely! he has the most lovely expression when waiting for the frisby

not trying to open a can of worms here, but I thought you had two labs lovemesideways?

I have a Great Dane and big 60kg Mutt :D and I love them to pieces :D

In many cases, but not all. Not every dog from every rescue has been assessed or fostered for any length of time, if at all, and not necessarily in family situation with young kids. I'd want to know that for sure before consdering any rescue dog. amen to that!

I was lucky enough to meet two of these beautiful guys at the vets a few weeks ago. Sooo sweet from what I could gather, but much much bigger than I had anticipated!! They were all shaggy and had just been for a big swim. Such smoochy dogs :D aww pheebs I'm so jealous now!

its lucky you don't live where we live because they are everywhere in summer! Sometimes they accidentally jump into your face when you're walking. I love the first photo especially

Cant all dogs be naughty when puppies when they get bored. Well i wuold of thought so quite right...but there's a whole world of difference in terms of the damage that a small breed puppy can do in comparison to a large breed. not necessarily. Sometimes nothing compares to the determination of a terrier My Great Dane puppy chewed up the occasional bit of paper... that was it. Because he didn't require tonnes of stimulation he didn't really get bored. it was very easy to meet his needs in that respect. I personally like big dogs for kids (although I know staffs can be great too). For instance, talking to a boy on the way home from school one day. He told me that both he and his brother have accidentally trodden on their maltese, and both times it suffered a broken foot from it and they got bitten in return (understandably). I think mature dogs can be great. You would have to check what sort of socialisation it had previously had; and how comfortable it is with kids. But the right mature dog, would be a better choice than any puppy for a busy Mum and Dad with a young and growing family