t a i l s.

I'd be suspicious the dog has an issue with the the metal from the prongs of the e-collar rather than a burn. Similar with prong collars, some dogs appear to be allergic to the metals, hence the reason you can now buy different varieties and obtain different plugs for the higher quality remote collars.

You've never used a prong collar have you? I find them to be fantastic, just like other tools, some dogs benefit, and some don't. I have a dog that does, no big deal.

Oooh! Cool! haha, so it would appear it's worth the money. I forgot about the K locus haha, whoops. Explains that simply though :P So I presume that at least his parents are carriers of one 'at' on a locus. I only ask because I have a black and tan dog, of a breed that it doesn't occur in very often, in fact only one other in the country and my dogs heritage doesn't have any visual at representatives in it for as long as the pedigree is traced back.

Hey TTD, I see that Thyme tested at/at on his A locus, I don't see any actual points on him though, did you happen to ask Embark about this at all? I know there are some breeds that the Agouti locus is not reliably tested. Did he have any tricolour/tan point siblings in his litter at all, or parents pointed?

My employer recently attended a seminar held by her, she was very... adamant that ANKC breeders were to blame for inherited psychological issues in puppies. Her whole seminar was about dogs with, apparently, OCD and anxiety, and I'm told the session ended with a business plug, left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth is all. I'm still on the fence about how I feel about her work personally, but if it's given you a direction to work with for your dog and his/her, issues I think that is good I apologise that I don't have any personal experience to offer with regards to OCD and anxiety in dogs - I have a dog currently that eats innapropriate objects but that's about it haha

Is the vet behaviourist Jacqui Ley by chance?

I'm confused as to what a refund on a deposit has to do with you not showing your dogs... Perhaps you posted this in the wrong thread? lol

Does this include import registrations as well? I can't find that information anywhere.

LGD are hard work. Finding puppies that come out of the uterus ready to protect their charges, I haven't found to be that common... especially poultry and birds. My Anatolian is 16 months old now, still not ready to be unsupervised with the chickens, AND by way of encouraging appropriate behaviour with our poultry he now tends to ignore most wild birds, apart from the really big birds, everything else seems to get a pass now. From day one I have encouraged appropriate barking, we live on a few acres, but in the suburbs, so Gunner is allowed a few barks here or there before he's asked to stop, if he doesn't stop he is confined - which he hates and completely understands is a punishment - I can absolutely tell the difference between his annoying barks, that are more about nothing really compared with his actual alerts, and when he alerts, he means business and I know to head out and see what he needs. You mentioned you have 4.5ft fences, these are probably not enough for a LGD. Gunner doesn't test fences, but we have been very lucky, and I don't put him in a position where he gets the opportunity to test our fences as I know he can clear that height at a stand still. If you get a dog that likes to roam, it will be hell; by their nature, LGD like to expand their territory where possible, have completely useless recall and can be dog and/or people aggressive (generally the aggression should be shown within their territory, not out). So if you do want to get yourself a LGD, my recommendation is to find an already started adolescent and join some of the LGD groups on facebook as they can talk you through introductions, housing, training and living with a LGD.

Similar to these guys is 'Pug and Cat', A pug and Scottish Fold trekked with their owners across Spain (I believe). I follow their adventures on facebook Some cute videos and photos on their page.

I guess that means that any dog that carries the a^y allele, in association with any other allele, will be ginger. In the absence of Inbreeding or selective breeding for colour, a lot of dogs would be a^y/a^? Well all alleles are "connected" to each other, so depending on what else the dog may carry will determine what colour it presents as. Taken from one of my favourite websites - "Broadly speaking, the agouti series controls which cells produce eumelanin (black pigment, or liver/isabella/blue when modified) and, in the case of the agouti gene itself, when." But yeah, I would say a large portion of dogs will be a^y or a^w. a^t is traditional tan points and 'a' is recessive black, so usually found by selective breeding and are one of those things that can "pop" up occasionally without there being 'black and tan' for many generations. Our dingoes have occurred in all the agouti series ('a' allele) as well as with brindle markings and 'irish white' a type of white spotting, don't think i've ever seen a piebald though.

It doesn't take very long for phenotype to change over generations, something like only 3 or 4 maybe until you start to breed a standard kind of "type". There's an interesting article I've seen recently about out-crossing for breed betterment and it only took a few generations for the dogs to return to standard. With regards to colour, fawn, sable or ginger as you've called it is the most common and dominant allele in the agouti series, a^y as it is referred to when talking about genes. The wild type like wolves have is generally a^w. I find feral/wild dogs very interesting and would love to study them one day, learn about how long it takes for dogs to become wild, the movement habits and hunting habits, all those sorts of exciting things :D

I can only speak from my experience, and my experience has been with livestock guardians, but using a "thank you, back to bed" approach and showing the dog that you're taking their alert seriously helps to ease insecurities. Which as a teenager, they are full of. Unfortunately it's SUPER time consuming and highly frustrating, but when my dog is barking and acting like a full blown spaz, I thank him, go and look at what he's alerting to and then ask him to go back to bed. He's now reaching 12 months old as well, and is starting to become much more intense with his guarding duties, which is fine, but the lack of maturity also has him over reactive to minimal stimuli, eventually he will learn what is and is not a threat, until this time I have him on a three strike rule, if he acts like a pork chop for a fourth time he's forced inside - Gunner hates sleeping inside, so this works as a.. round about form of punishment I suppose, clearly this doesn't work for every dog. Stepping in chicken poop at night is quite infuriating, especially in the freezing cold winter nights so trying to remain calm and not strangle him at 1am has been another fun learning curve, haha. During the day I repeat similar steps, walking right up to what he's alerting to and asking him what the problem is seems to honestly be quite helpful.

Can you explain how it is cruel? The tape doesn't hinder the dogs ability to act or behave in a normal way, it does not hinder eating or drinking, playing or sleeping. I also question how you came to the conclusion the dog is not likely to be pure, given that incorrect ear sets are not breed specific and not pedigree specific, but anyway... Also, the OP asked for advice, not personal opinion. I taped my dogs triangle drop ears for 5 months straight, his ear now sits correctly 99% of the time and I didn't start taping until he was 4 months old. I have been told that people have had to tape for up to 12 months and had results at the end, but this is not every dog, every time. It would appear it's luck of the draw. Best of luck!

I second Maremma, there is also Anatolian Shepherd Dog. Both bred to guard livestock and will do a good job guarding against fox, dingo and feral dogs. You do want to find a good breeder of either, some Maremma can have a slightly "watered down" temperament when it comes to managing actual predators, they certainly make good guards but I am not sure if they would actively engage with a predator of similar size. Only a personal observation If I were in your situation, I would get the goats, allow them to settle and then introduce and already started working dog. Not a puppy puppy. They are a slow maturing kind of dog, and it does often take some years for the dogs to be completely trustworthy with the stock, puppies are still puppies and if left to their own devices can engage in play with stock - which may not be reciprocated and then you will end up with injuries. There are people who will know more than I though - but as an owner of an 8 month old Anatolian, trying to train to poultry, get a started dog haha