aussielover

This is how to destroy trees:

Are you serious... In terms of disease risk, I agree with RSG. I suppose it would depend on if it was a dog beach or not. Personally I find beaches quite dangerous- you get all sorts of idiots who just let their dogs run wild becuase its a beach... not a good place for socializing a puppy.

Are you serious...

I have no problems in letting an older dog correct a puppy (within reason, so long as the pup isn't actually harmed)), although I would hope to intervene before the older dog felt it was necessary to do this. Not sure how I would feel in this situation though- I think I would have to meet the dog and the owner before I made a judgement. Personally I think its better for puppies to be socialised with adult dogs who are placid but will ignore the puppy. True alpha dogs have very little need to physically correct other dogs, usually a look or movement is enough.

1.5 cups is probably too much for such a small dog. My labrador puppy was on that at 8 weeks. Ditch the milk, its absolutely not necessary and also probably contributing to her feeling full. If you want her to toilet outside eventually- when you are home, take her out there frequently- reward like crazy when she goes the the right spot, maybe even play an exciting game. It can really help to have a dedicated "toilet area" (not to mention make tidying up a lot easier!) and also to use a command such as "hurry up" or "wee wee" etc. I use "quick quick" and its very useful especially for travelling and training and competition. Basically you initially just say the command word/phrase when the puppy is in the act- as you get to know you're puppy better and are more able to read the signs of imminent toileting (often sniffing the ground, circling etc) you can say the phrase just before they go. I would personally leave puppy pads or newspaper down for when you aren't home. when she starts to get the idea of going outside, you can start leaving some turf down in the litter tray inside, as this will be her preferred surface. In fact for most puppies its natural for them to want to toilet on grass. PS very few people get it right from day one ;) I'm sure she'll be fine, puppies are very adaptable and clever!

Where is the second video?- the only other one I saw was of a rottie resource guarding a rope- equally as idiotic and dangerous as the first video. Irrespective of whether the dog has been trained to do this or not- it is unacceptable and dangerous to teach a dog to guard a baby from its own family!!

Glad you're ok K_L! There is no way you're at fault- what else could you have done? You had your dog on lead and under control. I have to say the way that some small dogs run up to larger dogs and have a go at them is very irritating and stupid and it s***s me that some owners find it funny. My dog is submissive and the owners think its hilarious to see their little fluff ball "beat up" the big dog. When i told one they were lucky my dog is placid and that she didn't attack theirs they simply said they would have reported my dog if it had attacked! Umm hello, who started it??? But I guess it does raise a good point- it would literally be my word against theirs. Luckily these sorts of dogs are well known in our area and I'm sure others would vouch for us. At least the owner seemed apologetic and realised she was in the wrong. I had an embarrasing situation last night at training where my dog had gotten out of her crate without me realising and wandered over to say hello to a DA dog. I was so embarassed and apologised to the owner (the dog luckily didn't react and my dog hadn't gone right up into its face but was within a metre of them) but I think they were still annoyed and they had every right to be, I was totally in the wrong.

Thats a good idea! I think a basic assessment before starting agility is a good idea. Just to make sure the dogs are under control etc. Our club has no assessment or standard you have to achieve before starting and some people really do struggle keeping their dogs focussed on them and not running away. Thanks for the weaving ideas guys, I think I'll go back to basics with this!

Why only 10 dogs? I would suggest making sure your dog has an excellent recall, works well under distraction, a good wait (although this isn't overly important to start with), works well on both sides, you have a strong reinforcement history and a reward your dog goes crazy for (or works really well for). These things are the minimum I would suggest so your dog can get maximum benefit from training. Additionally a No Reward Marker can be useful as well as teaching your dog to target. Do you know what the assessment is and what they are after? Honestly I think if you just want to do agility for fun then all you need to have is a good recall, good reward and a dog that wants to work with you. Its no fun if you're dog is constantly trying to run off and agility training really needs to be done off lead.

Hi Hoover, Mindy here, if my humans did that to me I would be sure to get revenge on them by ripping down their trees and bushes and digging up their yard. Apparently humans don't appreciate having craters that extend to china in ther yards can you believe? And they actually like having the branches hanging on the trees- personally I think they're are way more exciting when I'm dangling off them or burying them in the yard. Humans are really very easy to train, you just do the above a few times and instead of being left alone All By Yourself, you get to go with a dog walker and play wioth lots of nice friends or get a really big juicy bone to keep you happy for hours. Anyway you're lucky you don't have to go to agility, its really very tedious, the humans insist you have to do all these jumps and then run over some stuff and thru tunnels and the like. At least you get given lots of treats and get to play tug games. Here I am looking veyr innocent (its so easy to fool the humans!)

This is our problem too! Though even if I walk her into the entry she still seems unsure of what to do and will pop out. Maybe it is the colour then?

No they're not like the ones in the link. They have the same base as the metal ones except plastic. I'm not sure about the spacing, it looks fairly similar to me, but could be a bit different. If anything, I think the spacing at home is shorter than regulation? I agree with you about the metal based poles having less give. Any suggestions on how to fix this problem? do you think maybe going back to basics and changing methods (like 2x2) may help?

Hi Kavik, thanks for responding, our weaves at home have plastic bases. At training we use ones with solid metal bases as well as stick in the ground ones. Yes we are doing them in a straight line at home. She can do the offset weaves at training fine but really struggles on the upright, full set (as in just stares at them or misses poles or only goes thru 1 or 2 poles and the runs out)

Having a bit of trouble with weaving... Mindy can do it fine at home, but seems to struggle at training. Not sure if its because they use white poles at training where as the ones i have at home are yellow and blue. Also they have 12 poles at training and we only have 6 at home, but she seems to struggle from the start (ie not after the first 6). I've been teaching her the "tunnel" method of gradually closing the poles together but thinking about starting again maybe using 2x2? Can anyone advise me please :D

I wanted my next dog to be competitive in agility and was thinking along the lines of kelpie/BC/Koolie. Somehow ended up with a labrador. Even though she's probably not going to be suited to the highest levels of agility (although it still remains to be seen ;)) , there is no way I would rehome or dump her for that reason. Honest question- how many people do end up rehoming unsuitable dog sport prospects? Is it commonplace in the dog sport world to just rehome an unsuitable dog and move on to a better prospect?

In terms of physical suitability I recommend you get a copy of Pat Hastings book: Structure in action. I really don't see the problem in asking for suggestions about which breeds may be more suitable and successful in agility. Do you honestly think the OP is just going to rehome or dump a dog if its not suitable? Would you get a labrador if you wanted to do herding trials? I am sure they could be taught to do it, but it would be an uphill battle compared to dogs bred for this purpose. Why would you get a breed that may srtuggle or not enjoy agility, especially if you want to do the higher levels? Many breeds just aren't built for lots of jumping and tight turning and you may be risking their health competing them frequently at te highest levels. The best recommendation is to go to agility trials and training, see which dogs you like both on and off course and enquire about their breeding.

They don't accept some breeds? Not good IMO Also if the outdoor area is grassed it would be hard to disinfect which is why most puppy schools are held indoors

I can't really answer as the poll is asking how many litters breeders should be allowed to have not how many litter I personally think they should have ;) I think it is up to the breeder and what they think they can handle. Also it really depends on what you're looking for in a dog- working/performance/show/pet. If I was after a working or performance or dog I would go to a breeder with dogs proven to be successful in that discipline. The same would apply if I was after a pet- therefore I would most likely want a puppy raised in a loving home always possible that litters raised in kennel environments can make greta family pets; so I keep an open mind, I just think it would possibly be better to get a pup from dogs whose parents already excel at your chosen activity whether that be a pet or show dog or working dog.

I don't understand why ppl think that a sbt couldn't live on an apartment? With adequate exercise and mental stimulation, I think they , like most dogs would do just fine. I've had a working breed in a townhouse before and my current Labrador only has a small yard. My dogs get plenty of exercise and my current dog goes to agility twice a week and obedience once a week as well as getting lots of home training. I think this sbt pup sounds like it will have a pretty good life going to work with the owners. It may be a good idea to look at some dog daycare groups or dog walkers if u need to leave the pup for a long time as you shouldn't really crate a dog during the day for more than 3-4 hours at a time (just my opinion). As for toileting- I don't really think you have to get up every 2-3 hrs. I'm sure that works for some people but I did not do that, I was instructed to ignore crying etc. Initially pup was in the laundry- I left her crate door open and left some puppy pads down. She cried a lot though and eventually i moved her to my room where she never cried or had an accident at night again!!! Next time I will be keeping pup in my room from the first night and toileting it when it cries in the crate. Good luck with it and try to enjoy the puppy stage, it goes so quickly:(

He looks very happy Dusty looks gorgeous as always as well

Joining a training club is a great way to bond with your dog

I didnt vote becuase I felt none of the options fitted. I support the responsible use of prong collars. In theory I would support restriction of quite a few training tools- only allowed to use through and accredited trainer etc, but in reality I feel a lot of people wouldn't bother seeing a behaviourist and the dogs would suffer by being left in the backyard, dumped or euthanized. I haven't tested a prong collar on myself but I have seen a number of dogs in them and had a session with a trainer where one was used on my dog. I did not feel it affected my dog or our relationship. In all, it was a much more pleasant experience than the many dogs I have seen wearing haltis.

Atopic dogs are predisposed to secondary infections. My dog also frequently gets infections. Thanks for your explanation Smoothiegirl- so the diagnosis was made on the basis of negative food allergy and skin testing? Atopica (cyclosporine) is pretty expensive isn't it? They also recommend it instead of corticosteroids for atopic dogs but it is really cost prohibitive for alot of owners, especially in large breeds MEH- the list of predisposed breeds was given to me by our veterinary dermatologist. I can PM you the details if you wish to know more detail.

You might change your mind if you had a high drive dog or a dog with a behavioural problem ;) Are you saying if you had a dog you couldn't train to walk on a flat collar, you just wouldn't take it out? I would use a front leading harness over a halti (if you are not willing to use any other correctional tool). I've seen too many halti injuries and the way many people use them is not at all gentle.

I was vetting there today. All the dogs passed , one dog went home before the start due to being in season.