raineth

poor thing as much as you feel for her, don't comfort her as that will only encourage her fear. For the long term though I would look into desensitising her so she can be rid of her fear. A thunderdhirt may also be of assistance

Wow! They are so beautiful! love the crimped golden fur especially So Monah and others can you give us more info on what they are like? breed traits etc? Please :D

Corvus I would reccommend finding a good butcher or two. I buy the dogs' raw meat and bones from a butcher and I have a general cut-offpoint at $3.50 per kg... a bit more for the offal like kidneys, but they eat less of that anyway. the only thing I don't get from the butcher ischicken necks, which I buy from Coles for between $2.50-$3.50 per kg. everything is human grade and good quality and nothing is frozen so you don't have to go through the painful process of thawing and re-freezing.

thanks!

hi k9pro I started TOT with Digby this morning. When he saw the food bowl he automatically sat. The program says though that in a few days I should ask him to sit when I am standing beside him. So what should I do? should I just tell him to sit before he sits, or should I give him a different command when I get to his right side (drop for example)?

that's hilarious! and Dusty what gorgeous girl you are too Occasionally for a treat I'll let my dog Delta watch a clip on youtube that has cats groeling ast each other, she could watch that clip all day

just wanted to add something they you might not have thought about...which is that if you choose to go with a different breed ( a breed that might have the qualities more suited to what you need) you can always get a mini foxie at another time when it suits your life better You also said that you're worried that if you get a big dog you might have to return it if it doesn't end up suiting your situation... but that is just as likely if you get a mini foxie or a tentie - you might have to return because it turns out to not have the temperament qualities that make it suitable. Just thought I'd point that out Dogs can do something for kids with autism that's like magic :)I truly hope you find the best companion.

porridge is absolutely loaded with carbohydrate, much more than a dog needs. Good luck with getting her to a good weight

I have actually done it once Corvus, and while it didn't exaclty work the way tis described it did result in a better outcome. One of the offlead dogs we came across not long after I adopted Delta, was barking at her (from a distance of about 5 metres) Delta was stressing out and I wanted to make sure he didn't come closer so I threw a few treats for him. Well it was obviously a catalyst event in this dog's life He has never, ever barked at us since, he greets us tail wagging. He does come closer than he used to and he does follow us around, but that doesn't bother us as much as his loud and annoying barking.

Hey Barking doesn't always lead to a bite... But I assume that he is barking out of fear (there could be other reasons, but fear is most likely). Because he is afraid, he is barking to say "you (child) don't come near me... I am serious, keep away!" It is his fear that is the problem, because it can lead to him thinking that he needs to defend himself; which can lead to a bite. Also left unchecked, what often happens is the fear gets more intense, and also starts to be generalised more. Ideally we want him to see a kid and feel relaxed, that everything is o.k. So its a matter of changing his mindset. Because a dog that has relaxed happy feelings is much less likely to bite than one that is afraid If you're seeing those people they should be able to help you out with firstly seeing why he is barking (whether it is fear-based) and changing his mindset and emotional reactions

thanks Pavlova, that's the one I was thinking of does anyone know if there is a way to make it more printer friendly?

I think its referring to baked liver when the surface goes that chocolate brown colour, not the inside that is that silvery-brown colour Have you ever noticed though, when you're buying liver, that there is often a variation in the colour, from red-brown, to a lighter pink, light brown and grey? I always wonder what made the colour difference.

thanks for the replies everyone, very much appreciated hearing them and your experiences I think what I'll do is when she next brings up the topic mention some of the things in this thread and maybe send her a link to one of the other bitch-fighting threads. Then after that I'm just going to let it go, cross my fingers and hope for the best. Dogslife, I don't think either bitch would be able to be ethically rehomed as they have also attacked another dog before. its not that they are awful, uncaring people (far from it)... its just like they think something so awful couldn't really happen.

friends of mine have two bitches (one older bitch, one younger). These bitches have had three fights, each increasing in intensity. They don't want to separate them. Their owners are currently working (and therefore living) in different places, and the Man has the two bitches and the Lady has taken up two female foster puppies. She has fallen inlove with both of them. She wanted to keep both of them but I have managed to convince her not to. However she has decided to keep one of them. These people are good friends and their dogs are very important to them. I am very fond of their dogs too, and I am stressed out with this situation as I think its going to lead to disaster I have told them I think the younger dog may kill their older dog; I have told them that the puppy could be hurt or killed if (when) a fight breaks out. They have consulted a behvaiourist who told them not to keep either puppy, and that they need to work on their leadership. But they are not doing these things. So I guess at this point I'm wondering whether I should just shut up about it because ultimately it is none of my business... or is there anything else I could say to them to make them realise that adding a puppy at this point could make things much worse?

We have had about 8 dog attacks over the years and have stopped at least that many that were in full aggressive charging mode with the stockwhip. I can walk round a dog show that has 1000 dogs on the ground with no problems because all the dogs are trained, socialised or under control. We often stop to let dogs greet on lead with no issues. The dogs I see loose in the street or parks are never friendly but territorial and aggresive. I never let unknown loose dogs even approach mine now. The only time I have had a friendly dog really launch itself at my dogs was an exuberant male GSD at a show that literally jumped on top of my two dogs who were lying on the ground on leads next to me, to say hello. No harm done, no reaction from my dogs at all and the owner quickly grabbed his dog and apologised profusely for having the dog on too long a lead and not watching it properly. sheesh well we've been very lucky then. Many of the dogs we meet aren't friendly as such but don't want a fight either.

I think its a great idea SSM Oakway, It is more about the broader picture, or pattern, that such statistics would present. Even if you as an ethical breeder had some bad luck, such as the scenario you put forward, the majority of the time your ethical practices would keep your dogs out of the pound system. Overall the statistics would show the correct picture

well I said it was of little/no importance. But that's not completely true as some colours/coat patterns are associated with certain health issues and so in regards to that I would avoid those colours coat patterns. There is a terrible surplus of un-ethical breeders in the harlequin colour family in Danes and I would not get a Dane from the harl family again (except an adult from rescue like my current girl).

no I'm not joking. It would be awful to be in a situation where nearly every dog you come across attacks yours So how many times have your dogs been attacked then? I come across, on average, 2 or 3 offlead dogs a day (completely sans owner) and not one has ever attacked. Some might posture, but no attacking. Only one of my dogs has been attacked and that was by another dog who was onlead at training club. I do completely agree that offlead dogs are complete nuisance - I really don't understand why people can't take responsibility for their pets.

I agree, surely the screams of a person and their dog being torn to shreds would be more disruptive than the crack of a stockwhip. yeah but the thread is about how to deter approaching offlead dogs. Most dogs that approach don't attack. If I cracked a whip at every approaching dog on a walk I'd be cracking it a lot!

there was someone who used to go round our 'burb cracking a stock whip and it most definitely was disruptive, you could hear it streets away because it echoes off everything!

Your dog is giving you a big warning sign, so best take it seriously if you don't get professional help for it it will most likely get worse, and you will have a dog that is at an increased likelihood of biting a kid - he is already at increased likelihood actually. Kids are part of society and you can't avoid them altogether. Its your responsibility as his owner to do your best to ensure your dog is not a hazard to other people. Its also absolutely no fun for him to be afraid of things so you will be doing the right thing by him by addressing this problem Every time I've seen someone ignore a warning sign in their dog, and not do anything about it, it has come back to bite them in a big way later on (pun intended). Don't let that happen in your case

we (hubby and I) recently hosted our own boot camp Members of his family are having trouble with their dog and so we had them all over for the weekend and taught them loose-lead walking and NILIF. its only a start but I was so excited to get a phone call a few days later talking about the dog's completely changed attitude obviously the benefit in this case was for the humans and the dog to learn together

hey just out of interest, there are still hound-type ones rather than the bully-type ones. Here is the pic of my foster (at about 3 months):

there are regularly staghound adults and puppies in Wagga Pound (therefore you can check out Wagga Animal rescue and RADAR, which are rescue groups that generally take dogs/pups from wagga and surrounding punds for rehoming). I myself fostered a staghound pup from Wagga Pound and she was a gem

Oh I am so sorry to hear this update and so sorry that Emma's time has come and you've had to say goodbye to her 3 1/2 years is a short time, but I'm sure that for Emma it was the best time