mackiemad

my mini schnauzer likes to play with other schnauzers but any really terrier type will do-not JR's though. so there's a welsh terrier, an airedale, a few borders and an irish terrier that sometimes use our park. he loves them all, rumbling and playing chase but he'd choose a schanuzer over anything. he loves all dogs but he kind of stands next to working breeds like labs, GR, borders etc looking at them as if they're mad. especially any dog that plays fetch with a tennis ball he thinks is a bit of an idiot-he retrieves it once and then looks at you when you throw it again like, "i only just brought it back, why'd you throw it again?". mind you he's figured that if he steals their ball some dogs will chase him, which he adores, the little toad. and he doesn't play with the aussie at our park but he worshipps her. he follows her around as close as he can get, sits next to where she poos until her owner picks it up, generally fawns before her- good thing her owner and i get along well!

i cannot believe that the liberals sat by and did nothign, at the very least, you're the opposition- OPPOSE! very disappointed. i got the email from william sykes as well. so who do we email now guys? lets not give up on this

does this help? the non-leash free beaches you cna take your dog on but it must be leashed-so i'd take down a long line or something... http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/page/PagePrint.asp?Page_Id=86 hope that works?

i have a schnauzer, domestic and a burmese-and they all fall in line behind the burmese. he is the eldest and won't take no for an answer. when he wants a patch of sunlight the other two move over for him. but the domestic is better friends with the dog-perhaps it is because the DSH is a female and the schnauzer is a male? however the dog's adoration for all things cat stops at our fence. the neighbourhood tom, who likes to try anf fight with our quite mild and elderly burmese male, is always chased away loudly ad agressively (we have told the woeers to lock him up but they won't and he keeps coming onto our property at night!). max will also chase any cats he sees on the street (well tries to but he's on lead and, well, he gives up pretty quickly so i don't think he's too serious). our old collie adored our cats. we went through a bad run with a few burmese and car accidents when we had the collie and he would fret. we always knew when something had happened to the cat, even if we had thought the cat was inside and fine, because he would whine and fret. he was always right. and he was always very depressed after the death of the cats. so we decided no more cats. then i inherited the burmese and the DSH (as a 6yo who had never met a dog and a 9week old kitten) and the elderly collie broke them in very gently to dogs. so they had to then break ni max to cats as a puppy! i would agree with getting a cat who is self-assured and will keep the dogs in their place. i do however reinforce this by feeding the cats before the dog and making him wait to eat until they have finished. they sleep and eat in the laundry and he isn't really supposed to go in there...

bumpity bump!

yeah, i got exactly the same response from her. and an acknowledgement from baillieu-and given he is my representative (as in i live in his area) i had hoped for better. i also got a response from a woman on behalf of a MP (can i say his seat?) Dear xxx Thank you for forwarding a copy of correspondence relating to Restricted Breed Review Panels. The bill was not debated in this week of Parliament, as previously thought. I will take your views into account when the bill is debated and I will advise you of the outcome of the debate when it occurs. Regards xxx so i'm not sure that that is really a fab response, feels awfully like a cold shoulder, but we'll see how it goes...

funnily enough erny- that sentiment of it being an elections year and the gov's failure on water, Myki, police and public transport may have made it into my emails! and again, i likened it to phrenology for dogs. oh, look, fat skull-must be a killer! i guess i hope that phrenology, now associated with the nazi's, will scare them into seeing what they're doing...??

thanks erny! sent emails to the whole lot of them, using partially your template and my own surmisings as well. lets keep on going so we continue to have an effect!

soo-good thing they are actually going to debate it! i was feeling a bit dismal abuot that for a while... i only wrote emails to 2 MP's before, erny do you have a template that i can use to send emails to everyone? i'm sure there was one back in this thread somewhere but i can't seem to find it. and i'm going to attach the lawyers for animals thing as a suggested alternative. we should as keep sending our complaints just as a reminder to keep it on their radar!

hey erny. i wrote in a few days ago to Brumby and my local member- the leader for the opposition! i also sent another email last night just to remind them. i was perhaps a little passionate in the second email, saying that it would turn into a doggy version of phrenology-see a dog with a big skull or certain coat or markings and condemn it right there... perhaps a little melodramatci but i wanted to get the message across also, with the q and a show- you can sms a question for next week (when they will be talking about animal rights, monday on ABC1 at 9:30-10:30pm) or leave a question on the site- i don't think you have to call in physically. and i should be studying so i haven't clicked on the link- i just came on here for an update if there was one...

next week on q and a (national abc weekly debate program) they are having discussion about animal rights and human rights. perhaps we should ask lots of questions about these new laws and BSL in general to get the panel talking about it? http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/ i think that is the url...? i've already submitted a question

mini schnauzer! they are smart, love jumping, tunnelling etc, pretty agile and can go pretty darn fast! they have some spunk but are pretty easy to train. and aren't too hard to take care of coat-wise. mine gets brushed/combed thoroughly once a week and clipped every few months. i guess they have some mild terrier aspects to their personalities but they are much milder and pretty easy to get along with. get one from a good breeder and they should be fab around other dogs-some can be a bit gruff but it think that is mainly byb's and training, cos all the ones i've seen around, and my own boy, are pretty sociable if their handler is.

did you check to make sure they hadn't taken anything a second time-jewellery? even if it sin't cartier-they might not know the difference! however, it is weird and disconcerting nonetheless!

i've never rented so i might be way off, but could it have been one of the meter dudes? you know, the guys that come on your property for a minute and check the gass or electricity meter to see how much you've used? they always scare the crap out of me if i'm at home. the dog has never even noticed them (who said schnauzer's were guardy?!) but i did one time get a notice in the mail giving me an estimated bill because the guy saw my dog's shoe (one we found when renovating that he likes chewing and hiding bones in) and decided that only a large dog would eat a shoe and didn't want to enter the proerty. my dog is a mini schnauzer! but yeah, i'd get a nice fat padlock on the inside of the gate if possible-even if just for my own peace of mind. after all, oberon is too beautiful and beloved to have something awful happen to him. meanwhile-nice to hear a good neighbour story!

the reason i got my mini schanuzer is because: i wanted something very different from my rough collie previously -as in personality because i was still heartbroken about saying goodbye 2 years previous i wanted something that was non-shedding and smaller i wanted something with less drive but still has a bit of spunk something that could take as much exercise as i could give it (usually 2x's daily) but if it was cold would be happy to snuggle in front of the fire instead something easy to train and would fit in with my older, inherited cats i couldn't go past the mini schnauzer. i love other breeds but my boy is perfect for what i need right now and my lifestyle. i'm not sure i'll always own a schnauzer but i love their style and spunk so it is pretty likely that i will!

my cats and dog are fed on nutrience, senior for the cats and original or holistic for the dog (original only if i can't find the holistic) becasue he has a sensitive tummy. works brilliantly for him. about $90-100 for a 15kg bag of dog food...

another two good suggestions... thank you! so we'll keep on with the long line and a bit of extra obedience and see how we go. i'll give a progress update in a few weeks. again, thank you!

ok. so i've had two goes doing some extra obedience work at the park and using the 10metre long lead... the obedience was fine, but the only way i can seem to reward him well is by using excitement and that isn't helping, he was even more hyper and even though i was doing sit stays etc he was about ready to burst out of his skin every time i released him. and i did try getting him to focus on me and used some food and although he would look at me and eat the food, when he noticed another dog not so afr away i couldn't really keep his attention so well. however the long lead seemed to work pretty ok. i just allowed him to do what he normally does and when he started to focus on another dog in a way that i thought looks like he is starting to fixate and tense up (signalls to me that he is going to bullrush them) i would check him with a relatively high degree of intensity, breaking his focus. he coulld then go up and say helloo, just wasn't allowed to rush up to the other dog. i did try a few times putting a 'come' at the end of the check and he would sort of wait and look between me and the other dog. often he wouldn't move in either direction. so i get that he really wanst to meet the dog but he kinda wants to come back to me and get the reward, or at least not get in trouble. so what do we think i should persist with? the long lead and try and get a bit more obedience in with that on too? at least i can control his excitement then but he still gets rewards for focussing on me and the commands?

come on jed, keep on fighting. thinking postive thoughts thoughts for you...

what a nightmare... my thoughts are with you jed, no one should ever have to go through this

i have two cars. i have a VW golf where the dog goes in the boot (with the panel thingy down) and the Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel is for the horse float or when we are going long distance or have luggage and dog... oh and vet visits is the jeep too. i love both of my cars but if i could only have one it would be the jeep. power, decent size, hasn't broken down much/at all (is 2003/4) and has heaps of goodies in it that were in the pretty basic pack - heated bum seats are somethign i could not do without now in winter! my mum has a merc B-class 2litre turbo which she loves, plenty of room in the boot, a little higher than the golf but not a big or truck-like as the jeep. nice medium car. i've driven it and it has such a nice balance and gravity on the road, much better than the jeep in that regard...

soft coated wheaten terrier great dane greyhound french bulldog whippet irish terrier collie (rough) (already owned one but would adore another) aussie standard schnauzer mini poodle (and some others that i also want...) lagotto mastiff dogue field spaniel ...i think the list is getting longer not shorter the more i think about it!

ok. so i didn't got to the dog park this arvo but wanted to respond to later posts... he does get a brisque 30min walk before my brekky so he has already been walked that day before the park. and if i have to give him a full on-lead walk in order to get him to a place where he won't rush other dogs then i'm not sure i'll bother going to the park at all-it seems to defeat the purpose for me and him then... but i will do a little of what corvus said, rewarding him when he is around (but trying not to be too excited either) and a bit of training before he really gets to go off and be doggy. however i have always had problems with his lack of food motivation. he only gets fed at night, 6pm-and i am always back from the dog park by then. he gets Nutrience kibble and either butcher meat or sardines. he loves the sardines but i can't take them to the park, cos that is impractical and i'm sure i'd get mobbed by the big labradors and whatnot! however if it is hot he won't eat dinner/anything, only drink water. if it is too wet he won't go outside to eat (hates water as he fell in the pool as a puppy, we didn't realise he could fit through the bars cos he was all fluff). and if there are better things on offer, well he'd just rather have them than food-when i have a bit of a party he doesn't bother with his dinner, just meeting ppl is more fun. he likes food but if i forgot to feed him, he would not beg or hound me for his dinner (the cats are another story!). so i'm not sure that food treats are the best, hence my concern that using food as reward at the park wouldn't work. when initially training him i used myself and play as the motivator-but that hypes him up, something that does not help the rushing situation. if he was a labrador and food-crazy then i'm sure i could have a few treats on hand and disperse them randomly and get good results. ok. so plan of attack is to use my 10metre lead for the first few minutes, and do some training when we get there with some food and see how that works for the moment... (although i aught to add that he does sit and drop before i unclip him and he must wait until i allow him to break his possie before he can go off anyway, but testing it a bit more and a bit of heeling should be added here) thanks for the replies and keep them coming!

thanks for the responses guys... corvus: he tends to rush smaller dogs that he doesn't know, occasionally bigger dogs but this is rare. not dogs he meets regularly and not one or two dogs in particular. i had though about getting him to sit before greeting, and in fact tried that one day on leash in the park and it seemed to make the behaviour worse but over a shorter distance, with a little play grow/gruff that he usually omits when wrestling with a playmate (as opposed to a lower pitch actual growl). and yes, i am worried about how it makes other dogs feel, i personally wouldn't like it, and some of them seem to be concerned, showing an inclination to move away from him and he comes charging towards them-quite rightly too! i think that because i never really found his 'motivator' the training in the park was always slightly torturous for him. he'd rather be playing and meeting dogs than doing things for food. his only toy that he responds to is his duck and he can be protective over that so i wouldn't take it to a public sphere (not guardy just hiding it-it is Ducky Mark 11 because one of his playmates played with it and pulled it apart, something that he didn't take too well!) BUT if i can put a bit more effort into finding a game that he really enjoys then the playing for the first ten minutes might be the job. or maybe i should use a REALLY good food source that smells awesome to him... i think next time i might walk him once around on his 10metre lead before letting him off lead. he can sniff and i can see if the letting off of steam gradually will improve the behaviour. i think maybe i need to be a bit more 'fun' for him too. its usually when i'm walking that i start thinking through the day, what i have on, my thesis, work etc- a good way for me to process but not much fun for him at the park, though on lead it seems to work well as we both go in the zone

spurred on by what i read in the small tiff at the dog park thread (in general) on rude dogs, i now have to admit that i own one of those rude dogs. in the past 6-8mnths my mini schnauzer has started to rush up to other dogs at the park (i don't want park bashing here, just help please!). he is 3 years old and has done a basic but pretty good level of obedience. his recalls are usually pretty solid, as is his heeling however when we get to the dog park, this can change. on lead he is fine, will greet other dogs politely and ignore them if i don't want to stop. at the park (we go a few times a week, so it isn't his only exercise, he gets an on-lead walk for 30mins every morning) i tend to walk around pretty quick and he follows, sniffs and then catches up with me. but if he sees another dog (and this doesn't always happen) he will crouch and then run up to it, usually skirting around the dog to sniff it. in effect he is bullrushing other dogs, something which is relatively new for him and has been becoming more common. what happened once. then twice is now happening most every time we go to the park. usually only the first dog or two he meets, unless they are dogs he already knows well. if i catch him starting to focus on the dog before he really zones in then i can get his focus away and he'll just politely trot up and say hi, but if i'm more than a few staps away i find it hard to get there and break his concentration in time. now i think i obviously need to do some more recall and obedience work, and will do so, but what else should i do to change this behaviour? it is obviously escalating and as well as being rude and undesireable, it can get him hurt. it does seem to be when he is at his most energetic-so only the first ten minutes of the dog park, but having excess energy should not be an excuse! also, he has always been a very dog-loving dog, he is always keen to meet and play with other dogs. he is not very food driven, loves a play from me, but he is very dog-driven. he prefers dogs to most people. in the home he is third in line after the cats, eats last and must wait for his dinner. he is polite and respectful on lead and in the house and for 80% of the dog park, it is that first 20% where is being rude and rushing. shoudl i take my 10metre lead and keep him on that? i'm worried that he will not get to run then as he runs a lot at the park and it really seems to blow the cobwebs out from a few days of not running in walks-he is quite fit. ok, so i've given all the info i can, advice please? -mackie