aussielover

Last time I went lots of people were letting their dogs go up to other dogs without asking first. I also worry about DA dogs being there when they should not be. I don't think there is a place for DA dogs during crowded events like this.

Absolutely agree Where's my face

Can we have some recent pics please He was quite lean when I saw him last. Mine appeared to stop growing at 8 months but I think she has been really slowly growing over the last few months (she is 1 year) as she has oncreased in weight, but actually looks thinner.

I have a cupboard and a draw for my current dogs stuff, but even so there seems to be dog stuff everywhere! we have a cupboard in the garage with our old dogs stuff which we haven't really used with our new dog because its too sad. The draw and the cupboard are also messy and have no real order. I leave important things like medications, flea, tick and worming stuff in a special tupperware box though. We have too much dog stuff!!

Oh, sad :D Is that because black is a dominant colour or something? When I get my acreage I will adopt some black Greys

I saw some being advertised as pig dogs in tamworth when I was up there and I think they would be quite well suited to that purpose given their history. From what I understand, I think they have a strong hunting instinct and are rather full on in this aspect. I think they would probably make a good working dog in the right hands but could potentially be dangerous in the wrong hands. Not something I would choose for a pet dog. I think they are interesting looking though (kinda remind me of a merle lab) and the puppy is certainly very cute. Unfortunately I can see them being prime pet shops dogs with their interesting colours, if they ever became popular in Aus. And i don't think these dogs are suitable for novice owners.

Does she want the dog as a companion for the BC ie do they have to be able to play together? If not, then a greyhound would be fit. Most are very laid back, lovely dogs but not really suited for a really active lifestyle. Spaniels can be very full on, particularly springers and some lines of cockers. Flatties and curly coats are probably about as active as a labrador (very active and full on generally!) maybe a bit less? I would have thought most gundogs would need a good hour of exercise a day, probably almost as much as a herding breed. A Cav would be a good option if the dog is to be allowed indoors. Also, Bichons are sweet little dogs that don't need heaps of exercise. If they do go with another herding breed I have heard Lappies are fairly laid back (for a herding dog).

I don't know what it is about black, but people seem to be more scared of black dogs. It is harder to see their faces I guess, they are often not as photogenic as lighter coloured dogs because its hard to get any contrast, especially with a crappy camera!!! Although my black lab is a sook, she can appear very intimidating when she goes into watchdog mode- hackles up, very aggressive sounding bark! I can see she would look quite vicious! Also, apparently it is harder for guide dogs to get black puppies fostered as everyone wants yellow ones. Mindy was the last one left in her litter because no one wanted a black pup at that time. we had a preference for black luckily (less visible dirtiness lol) I have also heard that some lab breeders have more difficulty selling black labs. I actually love the look of black WL GSDs

Isn't that cheating? (I mean calling out another dogs name so they break gait). Surely the judge would see this? I taught my guide dog puppy the command "forward" which meant she had to look straight ahead and not become distracted. Are you allowed to give commands to your dog in the show ring? It was similar to teaching heel except only rewarding her (with food) when her head was looking forward. Then you can get people to add in other distractions and give the command. In some cases we also used leash corrections (eg sniffing on the ground, attempting to chase something) but I am not sure you would want to do that for responding to its name!!!

How to you know you're passing on the correct information? In terms of dog training= Results If what you do seems to be working in all your cases, you must be doing something right! I personally think experience and achieving good results outweigh formal qualifications. I would much rather pay someone who has loads of people recommending them because they were happy with the results than someone with a lot of qualifications but limited personal recommendations.

well when my dog becomes fixated on a scent she will not hear me or pay any attention to me even if I shove treats into her face. I'm thinking of getting into tracking as a way of harnessing her love for sniffing but in a more productive way! But maybe it doesn't work that way...

Attacking a baby wallaby is quite different to attacking people. Its basically the same as a dog that kills a rabbit. Which is sad and unfortunate, but doesn't necessarily make the dog a potential people killer. Though i absolutely agree the dog should be contained as is required by the law.

I am not surprised this happened. The dingoes are not truly wild- they have regular close contact with people so are not afraid of them. The parents should have been watching their kid more closely. I think it is unfair to punish the dingoes for acting naturally- attempting to prey on a weaker member of a pack. People who go to Fraser Island should do so at their own risk- I agree with the suggestions it should be treated like an African wildlife reserve.

Who cares what breed they are! What they did was horrific.

Happy birthday max! Echo is very beautiful Elbie and Hoover are soo cute together. I am taking Mindy to a special dog swimming pool tomorrow. It is indoor and heated!!!! Spoilt puppy. She is sulking today because she only got 3 walks. She loves the cold, rainy weather but I can't say i enjoy it a lot, so instead of taking her for her 4th walk I was in bed snuggled with a hot chocolate and book! She liked the hot chocolate part though and consented to snuggle on the bed with me.

Does anyone know where you could do tracking in the sydney area? what are good qualities in a tracking dog? also, is the love of sniffing stuff an advantage or disadvantage for this sport? - I can see how it could be both, you want the dog to do something it enjoys, but at the same time if its too focussed on sniffing whatever takes its fancy then it can't concentrate on the real work lol!

Hey Alouk, Stella is absolutely adorable and obviously very clever to be toileting outside on her own already! Well done to you guys and also to the breeder What is the weather like down is Tas? i assume its pretty cold lol? Its pretty cold here in sydney actually. Do you have a nice warm kennel for her? I would be tempted to leave her outside while you're away if the weather isn't too bad. A working BC puppy would be expected to be outside at 8 weeks, but then again, she may not be used being outside regularly if she is not from a working home? She sounds very clever so I'm sure whatever you decide to do, she will adapt just fine. If you do decide to keep her inside and use the newspaper- you would probably have to teach her to go on it. You can buy special puppy pads that encourage pups to toilet on the pad. But the principle is the same- reward like crazy for toileting in the desired spot!!!

Genes can be influenced by environment to some degree, so in saying that a dog will only grow as big as its genes is not strictly accurate. No one here is saying EVERY early desexed dog will become tall and lanky but there is evidence to support that early desexing may delay closure of the growth plates. And early removal of testosterone (ie while a dog is still growing) may affect muscle development and growth. Since everyone is talking about their individual dogs- I had my aussie girl desexed at 6 months, she grew to be fairly typical of the breed, if anything she was slightly stockier/heavier than a typical aussie. Mindy was desexed at 5 months and is quite lanky and lean and delicate in body type compared to most labs. Her mother is much stockier than she is and so is her father. So it would appear that based on my sample size of 2 lol, that 50% of dogs are not affected by early desexing and 50% become more leggy and lanky.

I have also seen plenty of ear infections in prick eared dogs and folded ear dogs. My Aussie had floppy ears which I never cleaned and she never had any infections or ear problems in 13 years. I do not clean my labs ears either (I don't believe in putting liquids down a healthy dog's ear for the purpose of preventative cleaning) and so far she has not had any ear problems, despite having quite bad skin allergies. Floppy ears can help prevent the entry of foreign bodies and other nasties entering. A number of vets I have talked to have thought that ear problems have more to do with the actual shape of the ear canal rather than the shape of the pinnae. I am not sure if there are any scientific studies on the shape of ears and hearing ability, but what would it matter in a pet dog? If you were doing search and rescue etc then maybe you could look into it more.... As for early desexing- I agree that it may delay closure of the growth plates and the lack of some hormones may cause decreased muscular development. There are a number of papers which support this.

My dog would still go inside if she had diarrhoea when she was 7 months. I didn't feel she was fully toilet trained to a 100% reliable level until she was around 10 months. Before that we had very few accidents due to being very vigilant and taking her out every 2 hours. Can you crate your dog at night next to your bed? Hopefully he should whinge when he needs to go and you can take him out/to the proper toilet spot.

Do you mean aussie shep or aussie terrier? All the aussie terrirers i've met are dog aggressive but then again ive only ever met 3. Aussie sheps are generally not DA but I suppose if they have a bad experience they could become aggressive. Mine became reactive towards other dogs if they got in her face, though it wasn't really what I would call full on aggression, though still stressful as the majority of dog owners expect all dogs to be tolerant and think its ok to let their dog get right up in another dogs face. She was later diagnosed with a neurological condition which may have contributed to the problem because before that she was very friendly and tolerant with other dogs. I recommend you see a professional. I would not hesitate to see a professional if my dog showed even the slightest tendency toward any sort of aggression.

I would not use cortavance spray on open wounds- it has alcohol in it and really stings! You could try antihistamines, but it often takes many trials of different brands to find one that works. I do not find them very helpful for severe itchiness, but they are a reasonable management tool for an allergy dog. I think in this case, steroids may be needed to take the edge off the itch initially. The dog may also have a secondary infection, which are in themselves extremely itchy. I would advise you to see a vet asap. In the meantime, cool water or an oatmeal/soothing shampoo can help relieve the itchiness for a short period. eta= capstar or comfortis to kill the fleas. All get your house treated for fleas- flea bombs are not enough because the flea eggs are often under furniture etc where the bomb does not penetrate. The sprays such as mortein that have insect growth regulators are quite good for these inaccessible areas.

Yes i agree with this advice. My black girl suffers quite badly in the heat and has to spend all day submerged in water like a hippo lol.

I am sure that some dogs know what "naughty" behaviour is and choose to do it anyway- not to spite their owners, but because the naughty behaviour leads to something even more rewarding than the potential punishment. A labrador I met once jumped up and grabbed a muffin out of a strangers hand. The dog knew that it was wrong to do this as it had been reprimanded before (obviously not strongly enough lol) but chose to do it anyway- it did not look one bit guilty upon receiving a smack and reprimand for this behaviour. If anything the dog looked positively gleeful- wagging tail, happy face etc it was clearly enjoying its prize! With regard to the guinea pigs- Very sad, but not really the dogs fault at all. If the dog had not been properly introduced and taught to to interact with or touch the guinea pigs then how was he to know what to do? Also, I would never leave the dog and the guinea pigs unsupervised together, which I guess the OP has learnt I think some people have forgotten that dogs are dogs and are extremely capable of killing small (and larger!) animals.

What did your obedience club recommend? Personally I'd keep the puppy on a flat collar. I'd ask the instructor if I could stand further away from other dogs at a distance where my puppy wasn't too excited by the others. Gradually you can move closer as you are better able to gain your pups attention. I found in between exercises the hardest to keep the puppy calm, so I would ask if I could bring a toy or give food rewards to the pup for keeping her attention on me.