Snout Girl

X2 Call the police, you have been threatened with a weapon. Personally I would have drop kicked the mad woman and her dogs into the creek, but that of course would have made it worse (assault) Thanks Sandra, I did call the police at the time adn they took note of the incident but said without an address it would be difficult to pursue. they said they would send the first avaiable car out to do a bit of a drive around to see if there was anyone matching her description but didnt know when that would be. they were very nice but as i wasnt actually assaulted, i think they had more pressing matters to see to first.

thanks everyone, sally is none the worse for wear i think i'm the one most affected by it. pf, i thought i was doing the right thing by making her sit when others went by, teaching her manners and to stay calm etc. of course i know differently now! pawprints: i was in an area with no one else around to help and was a woman alone. there was no way i was taking this lady on. my thoughts were only for the safety of sally, not for how much i wanted to smack her in the face with her plank of wood. of course i wanted to smack her, its instinct, but the need to protect sally by getting her out of the situation was higher thanks for everyones support, will let you know how i go with council when i call in my break

Last night I was walking Sally along a creek path that is near my house. We were loose lead walking training (going very slowly, but another story). The creek area is an onleash area and Sally was on her leash. We came to a blind corner and suddenly an older lady (around 50-60 I guess) came round with her two off leash small dogs (a chi and a jack russell x I think). I have been trying to train Sally to sit when other people/dogs are walking past as she tends to get a bit over excited. so far this walk we had done this 3 or 4 times and she had been doing pretty well for an over excited 10 month old border collie! anyway i move off the path and get her to sit (which she did). then the chi started moving towards her and barking and then jumped at her. of course sally went skitz, not in an aggressive way just jumping around and whining and getting worked up. I immediately pulled her away further off the path and told her no! And to sit. She calmed down a little but then the chi got in her face and started barking with teeth shown. Sally didn’t move towards the dog (i had her on a VERY short leash at this stage) but barked back. The woman, who had been half heartedly calling her dog back, suddenly flipped her lid. She started screaming at me in a foreign language with some broken English thrown in, I didn’t understand a lot of what she was saying but I did manage to catch ‘Your dog vicious!’ How she came to this conclusion is beyond me, the only thing I can think of is that Sally is a bigger dog that both of hers and has a deeper bark. Sally certainly didn’t act aggressively, just barked back at the little shi@ in her face. I hadn’t noticed before, as i had been focusing on my dog and keeping her under control, but this woman was carrying a large plank of wood. Whilst screaming, she stepped towards us brandishing the plank of wood. By this stage I am almost in the creek I have moved back that far, Sally is losing the plot with all the yelling and ‘excitement’. I quickly step around her to run away and as I move past she swings the wood at Sally! I was terrified! I didn’t stop to yell back or argue with her, I just wanted to get my dog out of there before she seriously hurt her. The woman was that worked up I truly feared for my dog’s safety. Luckily I had age on my side and could run faster than her so I took off up the path with her screams echoing behind. One of her dogs followed us for a bit barking at our heels before finally giving up and heading back to its owner. I ran for a fair distance before stopping as I was terrified she was behind us. When I did stop I immediately checked sally to make sure she was ok and discovered she had peed all over herself. Other than that, thankfully she was uninjured. I was shaking pretty bad but got the mobile out and called my partner, who didn’t answer. I then called the local police, who were very nice and took note of the incident but said without an address it would be difficult to proceed, but someone would come out “soon” and do a drive around the area to see if there was anyone matching her description. I didn’t get my hopes up, thought she would be long gone. Decided the safest thing to do would be head home, so off we went. Poor sally looked like her best friend had died, she had lost her eager ‘i’m out walking’ swagger and i was still shaking. We were almost home when lo and behold, who should i see around the corner about 200m away? Psycho wood lady with her 2 dogs. I started running hoping she wouldn’t see us, but she did. Immediately she started screaming at me again and raised the wood above her head. I couldn’t help it i burst into tears but managed to keep running until we got home. OH wanted to go out driving to find her but i just wanted a good cry and to calm sally down. It was the most frightening experience i have ever had walking either of my dogs, has really opened my eyes to the sorts of people we might encounter and has made me fearful to venture out again. If the lady had of hit sally in the head with that wood, it would of knocked her unconscious. That thought kept playing back in my mind, what could I have done differently etc. It all happened so quickly (all over in a matter of 10-15 seconds). Will be calling council when they open. Feel better after talking about it, but will not be out walking in out area for a while, will take the dogs next suburb over. What horrible, irrational, violent people reside around us. It makes me feel sick.

I may be getting somewhere! We have been looking at lagotto's on the net and my workmate seems interested. can anyone tell me approx how much a lagotto from a registered, reputable breeder would be?

oh that makes me sick think i need to have a cry now, poor puppies

now that just creeps me out!

If I had a dollar for every time someone looked at sally and asked: "is it an aussie shepherd or a german coolie"? i would be able to retired at 27

I think this is a great idea A big to all doing their best to walk their pooches! my 2 got spoilt this weekend- OH and I are fans of the beach ourselves, so friday and saturday evenings we took them to the beach for a couple of hours, they had a ball running around in the surf. pain having to wash the sand off at the end tho! tonight we waited until 8pm and then went to an offleash dog park for an hour. so we have 2 pooped pooches here!

I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to my post I have to say, I think alll the pictures of poodles are gorgeous and not fru fruy at all. i will definently be showing some to my workmate on monday. i think i finnish laphunds (sp?) and lagottos. what beautiful creatures. until today i had never even heard of a lagotto and now i have added a bread to my very long list of dogs i wish to own one day! i have no idea what attracts her to the cocker x poodle. all she has said is 'its so cute' will talk to her monday a bit more about what has attracted her to this mix, and see if it matches up with breeds like the finnish laphund and lagotto. one thing high on my list to ask is what amount of grooming/maintenance she is prepared to do. this could have a huge effect on what breed is right for her. thanks again everyone, I'm trying to win a tough battle here and its great to know there are others in your corner :D

You also have lovely dogs You could possibly be right and I might be flogging a dead horse, but I figure until she actually buys the puppy i am still in with a chance. i am a leo, what can i say i am stubborn i'm probably having a blonde moment, but deshonko kennels? ;) i figure its a joke but i havent heard of it before

Not always the breeders fault, though, the "continental" clip is the common show coat - I would LOVE to see poodles shown in "sporting" or "lamb" clip - they look like REAL dogs. THIS is not a "fooffy" poodle thanks for the photos, you have some beautfiul dogs there will show her those pics when she is back at work on monday, they are very different from the ones she has been viewing herself

hi that is a good idea, definently somethign to look into. unfortunately we are not anywhere near the outer east, we are in the northern suburbs, but thanks for your kind offer. have googled lagottos, i think we may be onto something sounds like what she is after, and they even look similar. i knew there had to be people on here that knew a wider variety of breeds than me ;)

hmmm a lagotto. never heard of them. am off to google now to get some more info. thanks!

Hi pf the problem lies in the websites she has been looking at of "breeders" that produce these crosses. they have all sorts of claims including pictures of the 'standard' and "pedigree" lines and claims of health tests they do (which is really just a check up at the vet). to the average joe, which she is, it all appears legit. when i try and explain about puppy farms etc she closes her ears and says no no, this place isnt like that, they welcome inspections etc. sigh. you and i both know she's playing russian roulette of what the cross will look like, unfortunately these stupid websites claim they have a standard. if only someone had the power to shut down the websites of these bybs, tho that would be against freedom of information i guess

Hi all A workmate (and friend) of mine is looking in to purchasing another dog. For the past 2 months I have been scouring books and the internet trying to find the right breed for her as she is leaning towards purchasing a cocker spaniel x poodle (from a 'breeder'). at first she was really interested in a bichon frise (sp?) and we even looked up breeders, but then she got this damn DD book (grrrrrr ) and now she has her heart set on a cocker spaniel x poodle. a little info about her she lives with her partner and adult son. there are no small children in the house. she has a large suburban block of around 800m2 which has high fences and a large backyard. she and her partner both work full time, but different shifts so usually there is someone at home the majority of the time. they already have a dog, a 10 year oldish sibe who is socialised and fine with other dogs. they are very active and fit people, and walk their dog at least once a day for over an hour. what she wants: a small/medium sized breed something that doesnt shed a great deal a dog that can be active she doesnt like terriers, as i have suggested west highland white terrier and she said 'no terriers' she doesnt want a purebred poodle as she thinks they look 'too foofy' (her words, not mine). have suggested a labrador retriever, she thinks they destroy things. can anyone suggest a breed i could suggest to her? i am doing my damndest to talk her out of a cocker spaniel x poodle but my job has been made difficult with all the DD books out their making it seem they are legimate breeds as well as websites of people who sell these crossbreds spouting about how they are members of this and that organisation, making them seem like legit breeders anyone got any suggestions? ;)

I'm relieved to know that my two arent the only ones who have turned into rotters seemingly overnight bert suddenly doesnt know his name and has no idea what a recall is sally has started mouthing again in a challenge to our leadership. at times it can get trying, thats when i grab a few moments on my own and regroup myself. then its back to square one, practicing leadership/training etc. it has given me comfort knowing i am not the only one

I've been reading this topic with interest, as I love staffordshire bull terriers and would like to own one day. also, we own a blue merle bc. we had to pay $250 extra as she was blue merle. we thought that was normal practice at the time. our pug also came with main register papers, as did the whole litter. at the time we didnt realise the significance but after being educated we do now. and the breeder knew we only wanted a pet, not a dog for showing or breeding. strange.

Hi there As the owner of 2 puppies that both went through the biting stage- they are now 9 and 7 months- including a border collie that was VERY persistent to the point of i couldnt move without her trying to bite my clothes, hands, feet anthing. we tried a plethora of methods recommended by our obedience school. The most effective method we found was using dencorub. dogs hate the smell/taste. within a few hours of putting it on my hands, sally had stopped biting almost completely. its also useful when she decides to chew on thigns like door frames etc. we tried redirecting her behaviour with a toy, ignroing her, yelping etc and the only thing that worked was the dencorub. and she was a persistent little madam, thought i was going to lose my mind! (hang on, i still feel like that lol)

Sally is quite content to sleep in her bed in the laundry. We leave the door open so if she gets hold/cold she can sleep elsewhere but that's where she likes to be. have even tried moving the bed but she still goes back and lies on the floor in the laundry! bert sleeps with us in our bed. i know most dog books dont recommend it but I believe every situation is different and if it works for you, then great bert know if he doesnt follow the 'bed rules' (i.e: no digging to china, no playing on the bed, no biting of hair or feet) he is off immediately.

Just one more quick thing if I could: I have read a few posts about a chicken shop (not lenards) in airport west that has very good quality pet mince. does anyone know the name of it? i live quite near there

Thanks for your reply We stuck to the breeders diet sheet for both pups for the first 8 weeks, slowly changing the wet food over to the supermarket brand. We have continued to feed them the breakfast that both breeders recommended, as well as mixing in some high quality mince with their dinner. One of the breeders recommended supercoat but said any puppy food should be fine. I am just overwhelmed with the variety and am unsure which is the most nutritious

Hello everyone I apologise if this question has already been asked. I have looked through old posts but could not find the answer I am after. I am looking for recommendations for a good quality puppy food to feed my pups. We have a 6 month old border collie and a 4 month old pug. At the moment we have been feeding them puppy food from the supermarket but it seems to upset their tummies a bit. I want to make sure I am feeding them the most nutritious food possible, without having to mortgage my house to buy it! lol We are looking at feeding them a combination of wet/dry food Any suggestions would be most appreciated Thankyou

Thanks for everyone's replies In answer to the questions posed, we walk her for 45mins-1hr a day. the breeder advised at such a young age 2 walks a day could damage her bone and muscle development so we are waiting until she is a bit older before we start her on 2 walks a day. she also gets 45min-1hour of ball time. we are teaching her loose lead walking but it is coming along slowly. she still tends to pull a lot but it is slowly getting better with practise. when she is attacking us/our clothes she typically growls what we know as the 'play growl' and her front is low to the ground whilst her hind is in the air. when we squirt her with the bottle we make a very loud 'arh' noise or say 'no'. the water bottle works quite well when we need to break the two up. we are well aware that half or more of the time the pug is the antagoniser so all reprimands are dished out equally. he cops a spray fairly regurlarly as well. the difference is when we grab him by the collar and tell him no he tends to calm down whilst she starts the biting and attacking of our clothes. we believe we are consistent and have made a concerted effort to focus on leadership since the trainer visited. she gave us lots of tips which we are using every day. i hope this information helps any advice people can give

Hello everyone I am new to this site and have a lovely time browsing the forum looking at everyone's beautiful dogs. i would appreciate some advice if anyone can give any. my partner and I have a 6 month old border collie and a 13 week old pug. we love them both dearly and they are both attending obedience class weekly. when our border collie was younger she would jump up and bite my clothes regularly. she appeared to grow out of this at about 4 months and we believed the behaviour had disappeared. the last week, however, has been a bit of a nightmare. she has reverted to her old ways. the play fighting with her 'brother' pug can get a bit out of hand. we had a dog trainer come to our house and she advised us that when it gets out of control, to grab the border collie by the collar whilst firmly saying 'no' and hold on until she calms down. we have been trying this but it seems to be making the problem worse. she then starts attacking us, biting and tearing at our clothes. we have tried spraying her with water. is this just over excitement and will the methods work with time? is there anything else we should be doing? other than this she is a very lovely dog. we make sure she gets a good walk and ball time everyday and she gets lots of love from her owners. any advice?