aussielover

Am there now and there is a 6 week old choc lab puppy in the "petting zoo" :D

Personally I would NEVER buy from a pet shop. I don't even buy supplies from ones that sell live animals. I have to say though, that there are some that are way worse than others. There is a new one in sydney that has glass cubes, it literally looks like an aquarium or something and the puppies are all separated into one cube each. The cubes are tiny and the poor puppies don't even have each other for company :D They were also selling purebred "labradors" which were clearly crossbreds. The funny thing was that the spoodles were even more expensive than the "purebreds". when i pointed this out, my friend who was with me said in a really loud voice "who the hell would pay 1500 for a mutt" and was asked to leave LOL.

I'm not sure wthat would happen to my poor dog if I tried that on her, but I sure as hell don't want to find out. BTW a pack leader- and by this i assume you mean like the alpha in a wolf pack, would not start a full on agressive confrontation to discipline a pack member. For a dog in the highest social position all that would be needed would be a look or possibly a warning growl.

How horrible for you. They have no right to charge you another year, especially seeing as the dog in question has passed away

This is effing hilarious! I'm the biggest dog training novice out but even I know that this CANNOT be right! Watch Cesar Milan much? I think your taking it too seriously! I don't think it hilarious. I think it is quite dangerous. How do you know the dog won't get a fright and act aggressively or totally freak out? A number of people have already said that they don't think their dogs would have coped if they attempted this. I don't think a responsible and professional trainer or behaviourist would recommend this type of technique without having assessed the dog first in person. Surely if you think it is a leadership issue (and i don't think it is), then a firm NO would be all that was needed. I can't imagine why you would have to resort to yelling at the dog and throwing it to the floor, in fact I can't really imagine a situation where you would ever need to resort to this sort of behaviour.

yep greencross vets own 100's of clinics all over australia. Very profit orientated from what i've heard

I don't think scruffing a cat or tapping a dog on the head to distract it is cruel. Of course unnecessarily harming an animal is unacceptable but many things that go on in a vet practice may appear "cruel" to the average person but actually wrapping a small dog or cat in a towel or scruffing them can actually cause them to feel more secure. Tapping on the head is better than having an animal thrash around and causes no serious harm. Also, did she tell the vet she wasn't comfortable performing certain procedures? taking blood and inserting/removing catheters is pretty routine stuff for vet nurses, many of whom are better than actual vets at performing these procedures.

Why would the dog get kicked off the bed even if there were kids? Its not like kids sleep in the same bed as their parents. I certainly think it would be worse for a baby to sleep in the same bed as the parents! And I'm guessing people who let the dog sleep in their own bed wouldn't have probs with letting the dog sleep with the kids.

that is horrible- isn't that illegal????

Mindy is quite good. She prefers to be chased rather than do the chasing though. The only time she won't listen is if she is playing her special chasey game where she gets a stick and waves it in the other dogs face and gets them to chase her to get the stick. The SWF owner had to pick the poor dog up because the other owner was making no attempt to get her dog away apart from lamely calling it. It stopped squealing when she picked it up so the other dog lost interest luckily.

I think its personal choice. Why would the dog get kicked out if the OP had kids? I don't agree with dogs being kept outside 100% of the time if they are kept as pets (working dogs different story) and I would never personally keep a pet dog of mine outside all the time. However, I respect people's decision to have their dogs be outside only if they wish as long as their basic needs are met. Just different opinions which we should at least accept, not necessarily agree with...

This happens regularly to us as well. Smaller dogs come and jump on my dogs faces, run away, then when they get chased they squeal and just keep running and running. Sometimes I grab my dogs (who love chasing games) but the other dogs jump on their faces while they're in a stay or while I'm holding their collars!! IMO both owners have some responsibility. If you have a small dog that runs away and squeals, it might not be the best idea to bring them to the park when big dogs are around. Likewise, if you have a big dog that likes to chase, it might not be the best idea to bring them into the park when certain dogs are there that you know set them off. I think some people expect dogs to be perfect, and they are not, we can only do our best to minimise the risks and be aware of our own dog's behaviour. well thats just playful playing. This particular incidient was not playful at all, the smaller dog did not return to play with the other dog. However, personally i find it unacceptable for my dog not come when called. I wouldn't call her away if it was all just play but if the dog or owner becomes upset, i expect she will come back to me 99% of the time, otherwise she would be on a long lead. I think small dogs have a right to walk in the park, even if there are big dogs around. My puppy is usually not interested in them anyway apart from saying a quick hello and sniff. anyway it is not my intention forn this to degenerate into a small vs big dog thread Merely asking whether regular dog owners (not professional trainers) would give advice to other dog owners or tell them to get professional help (and have a bit of a rant lol)

Well i think it is defferent if the small dog actually wants to be chased. I don't think they would be aquealing in fright if that was the case.

I have started weaning Mindy (also a lab) off the treats now, but only for known commands. When teaching something new, i would always use treats as i find it easier. For known commands, I change the reward around from praise and cuddles, to a squeaky toy and occaisonally i will treat her again but she never knows what it will be. I have found training to be very effective when i work her up with a toy. she will work just as well for a toy as for a treat so i suppose i could use a toy to teach her new stuff, i just find the timing better with treats.

haha yep thats happended to me before. Left the bone in Mindy's crate assuming she would lunge in and be desperate to get it. Walked away to make a coffee and came back to find the dog sitting outside the crate with blobs of drool hanging from mouth and covering floor (lucky i have tiles!) It is funny because she will only do this (wait) if the food is placed by me, directly in front of her and she know it is "for her" she will pick things up off the floor- crumbs etc, but if she knows it is actually for her she will always wait??? A healthy dog won't starve itself though.

What happens to puppies that don't get sold? I've never seen a puppy over 4 months old in a pet shop and they can't possibly sell all the puppies in under 2 months (if they get them when they are 8 weeks) especially the shops that have like 20 puppies for sale at one time. do they go to rainbow bridge ?

Have heard dogs can dig up artifcial grass as well. It is very expensive to lay as well, so very bad if the dog does decide to dig it up. Can you fence an area of the yard off or put in a dog run where she could dig etc? That would leave the rest of the yard looking nice. Next time you lay turf you could put some mesh under- I have heard that helps stop digging.

Oh my goodness how awful! This labrador is headed for trouble i think, which is a shame, could be a nice dog with some training. The problem is the owner won't accept responsibility, it is always the other persons fault- "your dog was squealing and ran away which excited my dog" rather than "my dog has terrible recall and won't listen to me" The dog also has a major jumping probalem, it has knocked a few people over including myself. she actually said "you shouldn't have bent down like that (i was bending down giving mindy a pat) while there are dogs running around, it excites my dog..." How else i am i meant to pat my puppy? I have read your article, perhaps i should print a few copies out and hand them out at the park

Do people ask you for advice on how to train their dog? I often get asked at the park about how to solve issues with other peoples advice. I'm not quite sure why and I don't really feel qualified to give a proper answer. Yesterday there was a nasty incident where a lab chased a SWF which was squealing for quite some time, the owners were unable to catch either dog. The lab owner is quite annoying and told the SWF owner (when they eventually got the dogs) that "first rule of the dog park is never to pick up your small dog" WTF??? I would have picked up my dog if it was being chased by a crazy labrador! Shw then asked me for advice on how to stop her dog from doing that! I told her she needed professional help and she should keep her dog on the leash for the moment. She got really shitty and said the dog needed to exercise and wasn't aggressive just trying to play. Who cares, it scared the s*** out of the other dog imo, it was in prey drive and could have gotten quite aggressive, a pack of other dogs started joining in as well, so quite a dangerous situation. Just a brag but as soon as I saw this happening I called Mindy back to me (she was thinking about chasing too) and put her in a sit stay. Then went over to try to help separate the dogs and Mindy stayed where I told her!!! good Mindy! (she didn't remain sitting though, she laid down- lazy LOL) Anyway i know this owner won't listen to me, I also told her she needed to work on the dogs recall, she seemed unsure of how to do that she actually said "should i just bring a biscuit to the park?" not really sure what that meant? Even though I know what I would do if that was my dog, i don't really feel comfortable advising someone else on what to do anway I guess all i could do was tell her to get help from someone who does know what they are doing.

How could those two cuties do anything naughy??? Surely you must be confused....

Is that something designed to get you to fall in love with the puppy and buy it the next day??? Who could give a puppy back after a day?

PTS = Put to Sleep. You need to call around Behaviourists and make sure they are experienced in Aggression, there's nothing worse than spending money on a person whose not experienced in the area you need them to be, they range in price quite a bit. I've always paid under $200 for a session regardless of how long that session was and that is in Australia's most expensive City. In regards to rehoming: I say a big fat NO. Aggressive dogs should not be rehomed i.m.o. I absolutely agree with you SAS, the behaviourist should be experienced with aggressive dogs. With rehoming I also agree rehoming a human aggressive dog is a big no-no and generally a Dog aggressive dog is a no-no. However, i know a few cases where DA dogs have been rehomed to experienced, responsible people who don't have any other pets or kids and are willing to work with a trainer or keep the dog on their property only. But these sort of people are very rare. To be totally honest, i wouldn't be comfortable keeping the younger GSD in a house with kids. She sounds like she has a number of issues that need to be professionally assessed. Obviously no one can make a diagnosis or tell whats really happening over the internet without seeing the dogs in person, so please, please, get the dogs assessed ASAP!!!

Agree with SAS. PTS- means put to sleep ie. euthanize. Another possibility is to rehome one of the dogs but considering they are aggressive, probably not an option. Please don't use the e collar without instruction from a professional, they can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Muzzle the dogs when they are together. The current situation of the dogs is quite dangerous imo, I would keep them separated, especially as you have kids. It sounds like they could break into a serious fight anytime now. Charlie is desperately in need of help from a behaviourist. Please consider seeking help from one, I hope someone here can recommend you a reasonably priced one. Have you enquired at all about trainers and behaviourits? you may find they are a more reasonable price than you would expect.