dee136

That would be great except I have 1 very reactive dog that doesn't like being approached by other dogs at all. Makes it very hard to find a beach where they are allowed, but only on lead. We often go to the Brighton dog beach at 1 or 2 in the morning just to avoid other dogs.

Most council websites state they can't be on the beach between 10am & 7.30pm. I work nights & afternoons so was hoping to take the dogs for an hr or 2 on lead walk on the beach during the day. Any other beaches outside this area that are less than an hr's drive from Mentone would be ok too.

Does anyone know of a beach between Mentone & Frankston that permits dogs during the day at this time of year?

Thanks, very interesting post. Makes sense to distract prior to his reaction, I never even considered that. I'ld been trying to combat it once it happened. I'm going to go for a walk alone & take note of all the houses we have trouble with then take him with me, be on the opposite side of the road (which usually causes a lesser reaction from him) & try the food again. I can quite easily pick the moments before he reacts, he usually is very relaxed on walks & not very observant so as soon as I notice he is focused on something I will distract then in the moments before his behavior occurs. He is quite easily to train as he loves to please me & I'm usually his only concern/focus so hopefully it works. Still willing to call in the professionals if I can't sort it out but would like to try other options first, as I said he is usually easy to train so if I can find out what I should be doing it may just work.

I have tried food distraction which hasn't worked even though he is very food driven usually. As he pays no attention to me when this is happening there is no way I could get him to drop short of forcing him to the ground which I don't think is a good idea. As this is a new behavior & he is nearly 4 I don't think it is something he will grow out of, I feel it is more likely to get worse. Anyone know a good trainer in melb south eastern suburbs I can try?

It didn't start as soon as we moved, maybe a couple of months later. My partner surfs so we often go to the beach, now when other dogs approach I have to remove him, either by walking further away from other dogs, or if they are off lead by taking him into the water where he can't get any footing and is easier to control. We have also been back to the river since moving with horrible results, had to leave within 10mins of being there. What kind of professional do I need to be looking for?

Sorry in advance for the long post, trying to give as much info as poss. Prior to April I lived in an inner city suburb with a very popular walking track along a river, it took 10mins to walk to this track. On a usual hr long walk we would encounter at least 15 other people walking dogs as well numerous bike riders, joggers and people kayaking. We would do this walk once or twice a day, my dog would look around a bit but his main focus was on me & just sniffing the air & trees. Once or twice a week we also did a 30min walk around residential streets, again with no issues. In April we moved further out to a lower class suburb where the usual daily walk now involves only residential streets with a few main roads. I have a problem with 1 of my dogs who now pays little attention to me & has become very reaction to other people/dogs. We now only encounter a handful of people on our walks, when other people walk nearby he gets very excited, wagging his tail & pulling on lead but the main problem is his reaction to other dogs. If someone has a dog with them he will begin to snort, the pulling becomes more intense, he still wags his tail but will also have a few awkward sounding growls. It seems that in this area there is a large number of dogs in yards who will bark, growl and/or charge fences when we are still a few houses away which causes my dogs reaction to be worse, he will not bark, but pull trying to get to them, snort & have a few growls, usually with tail wagging. As we have now lived in this area for awhile he knows where noisy or aggressive dogs live and has begun to exhibit this behavior when we are a couple of houses away even when it appears the dog is not there (ie no usual noise or fence charging) if nothing runs at the fence & he doesn't hear the usual dog the behavior will stop after a few mins. One house we go past has very secure colourbond fencing & the dog that lives behind it only ever has one small bark & does not charge the fence, out of curiosity towards my dogs behavior I let him get a bit closer to this fence, he sniffed it for a few seconds, his behavior stopped & we continued on our way. Obviously I can't let his go up to every fence & I also don't think I should be dropping notes in the letterboxes of all the houses with aggressive fence charging dogs but I need a solution, our walks are no longer relaxing & enjoyable, they are stressful for me, my partner & our 2 dogs. I have tried avoiding houses where I know there are noisy or aggressive dogs, only to find new dogs at other houses. Have tried using distraction, ie using my voice & running & clapping prior to reaching a certain house to try to hold my dog attention. Have tried using food to distract & crossing the street only to have my dog walk backwards across the road, all attention still on the dog in question. I'm pretty sure his behavior is a mixture of excitement & aggression. The dogs that are grabbing his attention are anything from snarling snapping swf to growling rotties throwing their bodies up against gates. If a dog simply has a short bark my dogs behavior isn't as unmanageable as normal & I can usually get his attention back. Bit of background: My dog is a very strong nearly 4yr old malamute who weighs 39kgs so his pulling & snorting is a big problem. I realise mals are often DA, moving away from the river with all the stimuli while he was still young couldn't be avoided. He is extremely food driven, a sook; aside from these incidents he watches me constantly & loves to be around me. He is not very aware of his size & is a bit clumsy,He has always had a short attention span & is a bit dopey, very excitable & loves to please me. He reminds me a fair bit of a friends male lab. He has quite a few dog friends who he gets along fine with, little grumpy if he's laying down & gets stepped on or has to share toys, otherwise no issues. Although when meeting new doggy friends his initial reaction is the snorting, growling etc, that settles after a few mins & the dogs are carefully introduced with no further issues. Once he has met a friends dog he is more than happy to roll over, show off his tummy & have a play. I also have a 3yr old sibe who pays no attention to any of this & have coped with the move just fine. Any explanations or advice please?!?!

That my mal is an overweight sibe. Or that he is my sibe's mother.

I went from a loyal very obedient gsd to a sibe. BIG DIFFERENCE! The gsd was a family dog and the sibe was mine. I was in charge of everything, including training. Not the best first dog for a 15yr old girl, lots of teething problems which didn't settle down till he was about 4yrs old. I now have another sibe & a mal. Will always own a spitz but would love to have another gsd one day.

The mal & sibe's coat are quite different. I have used the slicker previously on the sibe before getting the furminator & had no problem with but the furminator works much better. I think the problem is the longer thicker coat of the mal, no matter how much parting of the coat I do it doesn't make a difference. I do get hair off him but it takes me hours for next to no result.

While we're on this topic... Walking my 2 on lead on the beach the other night, both no good off lead. 1 has the initial reaction of growling when first approached by other dogs. I take them to the beach to run, swim & play with each other, all on lead & I make a point of staying right away from other people & dogs. What is the general opinion then when I am approached by random dogs whose owners are paying no attention. I always call my dogs right in next to me on their long leads when another dog is approaching. I have previously called out to an owner only to be ignored, then yelled at the owner quite rudely, only to realise they weren't his dogs, they had just been following him. I realise the beach has hours when it is off lead, but I don't feel I should have to avoid a 4 suburb stretch of beach because people do believe it's a free-for-all.

double post

I use a furminator on my sibe & love it!! Any ideas on what will work as well on my mal? I find the furminator only really helps on parts where he has shorter hair eg front legs. The slicker makes him look slightly better but it only lasts a day & doesn't remove much dead hair at all. Need help, he is starting to look terrible & hair on back legs is starting to matt.

I use a furminator on my sibe & love it!! Any ideas on what will work as well on my mal? I find the furminator only really helps on parts where he has shorter hair eg front legs. The slicker makes him look slightly better but it only lasts a day & doesn't remove much dead hair at all. Need help, he is starting to look terrible & hair on back legs is starting to matt.

One of mine ate something questionable while out on a walk. That night I woke to the sound of a ripping tent and the sight of the back half of my mal disappearing through the tent. Turned out he wasn't feeling too good and really needed the loo.

Does the best friends pet warehouse you go to not sell pets? The one in the northern suburbs near highpoint shopping centre does.

I have 2 spitz and I don't think an akita would be a good match. I don't know that much about them but the children will have the dog off the lead a lot so need a very reliable recall. They are planning on training the dog themselves so I wonder about the independent streak spitz have as far as obedience goes. I have also heard that akita's need to be very well socialised with other dogs as they can be dog aggressive, which would be an issue with the amount of off lead dogs they would come across on all the river tracks etc. Can akita's get destructive if left alone? I'm only going by my own experience with my 2, but they tend to be more destructive than friends dogs if they miss there walk.

I left my 2 inside the house while quickly ducked out to buy milk in my dressing gown. I got home and realised I didn't have a house key. I had taken it off my keys the night before when I took them for a walk so I could pop it in my pocket. The house had a very steep driveway and I ended up having to put a wheely bin under the lounge window and break in through there. Only problem was there was a couch under the window and my 2 got so excited watching me try to get in that they were both on the couch trying to lick me through the window. I ended up falling through the window onto the dogs on the couch but not before my neighbours got a great view of my bum.

The difficulty with young children is that they tend to generalise what they can do with an individual dog and apply it to all dogs. What happens if the Mal gets the same treatment the Husky enjoys? This is going off topic and is not what I wanted advice on. As I said it is a decision I have made that I am happy with and works for me. I explain and instruct the children on how to handle and interact with each of my dogs. I pull up the kids or dogs on inappropriate behavior. They know that the mal doesn't like certain things and that they can't do as much with him as with the sibe. Even the 3yr old knows to ask when approaching dogs and his mother makes sure the usual interaction is a pat, not a hug. They are taught that different dogs like different things. But as I said, my choice and this is going off topic.

I would never recommend that a family with young children adopt a dog directly from a pound or shelter. A responsible, knowledgeable foster carer from a rescue that does extensive temperament testing is the way to go. A child's safety needs to be guarded by obtaining as much information about a dog BEFORE it enters the family. That can only be done by adopting a dog that has been observed for some time in, and in a home environment if possible. This is true. Also, it seems that these people have a pretty free and easy approach to training and supervision of the dog with the kids. There would be some great dogs in care that would fit right in. But to take a random dog and expect it to be the stereotypical 'child's playmate on the farm' and they could end up with no end of trouble. There is no breed of dog where every individual will suit being owned by children. If they are suitable to own a dog, the right dog can be obtained by either going to a responsible breeder that carefully matches pups with owners, or by getting an adult dog that has been in foster care with a reliable organisation. Dee136, I would probably be discouraging hugs between a three year old and an adult dog of any size. It isn't about being gentle, it is about how a dog would interpret and possibly react to a hug from such a small person, combined with the close proximity of the toddler's face. I understand where you're coming from with discouraging hugs but I strongly disagree with you. The husky is 2yrs old, small for his breed and is very gentle and AMAZING with the children. He LOVES cuddles, leans into them and wags his tail. Not to mention that he is MY dog who I know all these things about. Knowledge of the dog, showing the child the appropriate way to do it and supervision are what I view as being most important. My idea of supervising this kind of interaction is not standing nearby. I kneel right next to the dog so I would have the best opportunity to stop anything unexpected happening. Children and dogs can have these kind of interactions which can be beautiful provided they both enjoy it. I would NEVER let any of the children hug my mal however because he is still unsure of the 2 smallest kids, which is why he is always on a lead when the kids come outside. Children and dogs are going to interact, it is about making decisions based on each individual child and dog and managing risk. I feel it's not about stopping what they are likely to try while I'm standing a bit further back and not in the best position to manage the risks. ETA: I know how my dog reacts to hugs from children which is why I allow it under my conditions and rules.

Most people have said everything that can be said explaining why it was such a mistake. I would like to see some sort of petition with the points mentioned in the posts which people can add their name to. That way chan 10 and chris can read the one explanation and see how many people they have disappointed and disgusted.

Thanks for all the replies. They will not be getting a dog for a while as due to separation my SIL is renting atm and wants to wait until she buys to get a dog. I will post when they eventually decide what they are after. Also, thought I would add that the youngest boy(3yr old) is gaining confidence around dogs bigger than grans jr, he is now giving very gentle hugs to my husky. So size is possibly not such an issue now, especially if they end up with a pup that will grow as the younger 2 boys do.

I can quite easily see them with a cross breed but I think size would be an issue when it comes to pig dogs. Also, not writing all country people off as people who wouldn't go to breeders, I'm writing my sister in law off. Very generalised comment here, but having lived in the country I have noticed Of the people I know, a lot have taken the time selecting breeders and lines and spent the money for working dogs but I have noticed in GENERAL, pets, particularly children's pets, are sometimes likely to be from the bloke down the road whose mongrel bitch had pups, or from the uneducated bloke who breeds a few litters a year. Often these people take excellent care of the animals so people don't see buying from them as being a bad thing, they are not quite in the league of puppy farmers. ETA: To some people dogs are another tool on the farm and pets are not valued as anything other than another mouth to feed. Papered dogs cost a lot compared to a free pup from a friend. Paying that much for a pet is often not viable financially, or may seem ridiculous.

I agree that parents are like dog owners and drivers in that there are good and bad. People complain about bad drivers and bad dog owners due to particular drivers/owners actions. Why can't the same be done with parents? I have no problem with the good drivers/dog owners/parents but I will vent about a bad experience I have had with any of these people. Saying I often get cut off by idiots in cars does not mean I'm anti-driver it means I'm anti-idiot-driver.

Just been looking at rescue sites to see what's out there and found a dog that belonged to someone I used to know. Very sad but I'm surprised he lasted with them so long, the dog is now 10yrs old. I knew her up until 6yrs ago and the dog was always locked outside, jumped all over me and on one occasion ripped a jacket I was wearing. Hope he finds a good home but not what I'm looking for for the young kids. Rescue sites are so sad there is just so many homeless animals out there. Seems its always responsible people adopting from shelters that are left to clean up the mess of the people who want cute pet shop pups. If we all go to a pound the boys are going to want one each!