RallyValley

Awesome post! (To be filed under the same folder with cute puppy pictures I look at when I am puppy clucky ) Curiosity here - what is the Kyzer-Trixie age gap?

Fingers crossed for good news Emery. ST what a relief! Poor Spart.. he is so naughty though! Glad I am not having him come stay

No way I would like this. There are some judges known to be a bit less gentle that I wouldn't enter babies under and in some breeds that have diffrent type in different countries that would be a deterrent if you were unsure which judge you were getting. PLUS not all judges are trained for all groups. For me this would be a big turn off!

That has just made me feel physically ill. That poor creature.

It dosen't count for me because Toby isn't a real trialling dog, just a practice dog Plus Toby will be staying with my parents when I leave home.

Provided you closely supervised it AND made sure the pup didn't get over faced or tired, yep. The only qualifier I put on socialising at shows is that, unlike some breeders seem to think, its not "socialising" if the pup never leaves the pen. IMO you need to have the pup on its own part of the time and it needs not just to see, but to do things in that environment. Awesome advice Just read that back and can't believe my typos... it is before 7am here! Also for socialization what do people think of taking the puppy to the sport/s it will compete in one day and playing/training at a distance setting the pup up to succeed away from the action? Being crated on the sidelines at these events? (Something I did with the last pup) How many children should a pup meet? Males and females? All ages? How would you find positive socialization expirences with resources you don't have access to? I.e you don't know anyone with a beard or dark skinned?

There is also people socialisation. Where do people draw the line there? Do you have isolation from people to? For me personally as I want dogs for the show ring my dog needs to accept strangers coing up, checking thier teeth, running thier hands all over there body, standing over them. Often these strangers wear funny hats or flappy jackets, some even come from different countries. That takes lots of people expireince. Also how do you diplomatically ask someone if thier dog/child is really the right kind for your pup to socialise with? PF would you say a Royal Show is a good socialization expirence for a confidant show pup? It would defianetly be a chance to meet many, many people

The answer is simple, tell friends you are getting a pet; lion or buffalo or ninja turtle OT but one of the most manly men I know owns a Tibetan Spaniel, he says it makes him more of a man because he is not afraid to have the dog he likes, and the girls love the little dog

Not currently as far as I am aware. PM Tiggy, she always seems to be in the know in regards to Flyball action (or non action) in Perth

I agree, because in my mind socialising a dog is just giving it a new experience and assigning that experience a value. However, one of the biggest mistakes I see people make with their dogs is socialising them to have too high a value for other dogs. I see this in the majority of people who bring their dogs to the obedience club I instruct at. My preference is that my dogs have a low positive to neutral value of other dogs because I don't see the point in having a dog that has a high value for other dogs and I socialise them with that as a goal. Socialising the dog present a risk on the working folk for the value on other dogs is why most of high level sporting dogs are trained and kenneled to prevent the possibility and causing to train around the problem. It dedends on the dog, some have no problems with the socialise and maintaining focus on the handler, some dogs once they find value on another dog is very hard to brakeing the pleasure. Is true the way the socialising is done for the dog to have high value for other dogs like let them having a free for all in the dog park is what causing the high value is not foundation to train handler focus. Joe Yes it is a fine balance - for me dog sports are something I do for fun so the next time I get a dog I would prefer something in the middle ground but if I had to have one problem I would much rather that my dog liked other dogs to much and knew how to react to them appropriately then was aggressive/reacted to aggresively. An aggressive dog is not a dog my family can live with . I fully understand though people with dedicated sports dogs who are not 'all rounders' like I expect who use neutralization. My dog has to live with the family too, who are not so knowledgeable of dog interactions and body language, my mum walks him, my dad takes him on fishing holidays, my brother drops in with his dog. With my comments earlier - my dog Toby was not socialised when young and is socially awkward, he is JUST learning ( he is 3 in June) how to approach another dog correctly (not going straight in to sniff them on the face) and things like play bows. His lack of socialization did not make him aggresive but his demeanour made other dogs react aggresively to him. Also with Toby I found that the more social interaction he has the less interested he is in other dogs.

Had this last year with Lilly not nice. My condolences

I have had a dog that is so interested in other dogs that he wouldn't even make eye contact for 4 or 5 mins (broken leg and inadequate handler knowlegde meant he never met many dogs between 9 weeks and 5 months). He is now coming much better but it's not a battle I want to fight again, nor has it been easy. On the flip side I have had a dog that completely ignored other dogs and focused only on me. I was so important to him to the point he resource guarded me (among other things) and would lash out at dogs nearby. I know this is NOT an example of neturalization but I would never raise a dog again that wasn't social with other dogs as living with a dog that is DA is hell. Toby who used to find other dogs so appealing he couldn't even sit or take food this morning recalled away from playing with 2 SWF's and was able to engage with me and play tug and a little training right away. He also goes to remedial socialization class for older dogs run by a behaviourist and is doing well with the dogs there, some of which are quite extreme in behaviour. I find the more Toby see's and meets other dogs the more he becomes handler focused.

I have the opposite, mason will do anything for food... Toys he will take or leave but he lives for food Toby has been known to refuse chicken breast when he is anxious And if he won't take food he definately won't play But he is improving I think raised differently, without the whole broken leg missed socialization/bad expirence in the home with a resource guarder, he would have been a much drivier dog. However I think he will get there, in time

Interesting viewpoint Ptolomy, Ness and Bedazzled. I think it's a bit of a genetics, the way the pup is raised and lottery My next pup I am hoping to get something like Strauss temp wise, very adaptable and social without being over the top, enjoys food, toys and fetch but leaves you with fingers! The one after I might get a feral Cider type I actually think Toby is quite toy driven BUT anxietys of his make him shut down away from his comfort zones. At home I have much better success training with toys then food, he is quite frantic for the opportunity to fetch! I know Ness's Kenz tug drive helped her overcome her anxiety and to an extent this is true for Toby, except if there is another dog anywhere in the vacinity, then he gets nervous of them and won't take the ball in case the other dog is a resource guarder and attcks him.

Yes I don't know a standard that calls for an unsound dog. Good call *Shelties N Danes*

My 10 cents worth - its much easier to work with a dog that you don't have to motivate or negotiate with. I have had dogs where yes I get a great score with but I come out of the ring exhausted because it required so much effort from me to motivate them. Give me a Cider any day Serious question - how do you find a dog like Strauss with a decent but not OMGOMGOMG level of drive like Cider to work with?

When our girl was PTS last yet it was nothing like this, awfully sad but very very peaceful. The injection went in and she just drifted off to sleep. ETA she was quite a big girl too about 35 kilos.

But also to add that getting an 8 week old especially recommended by a breeder is the best option! ;)

I am in a one dog house at the moment as you all know. On Sunday I am picking up ST's James and he is coming to stay for a while, this will be the best test. However I think the issue I had wasn't really with Toby and he is making big steps forward socialization wise in order to make me feel more confident when the next dog arrives. However I am not getting the next dog for Toby, I am getting a dog for me. I think unless you and your husband want the pup for you, not for Mason, it might not be the right time.. Do you have any dogs nearby you can have over play dates? Or take him to doggy daycare once or twice a week?

Happy 21st Boxagirl! WZ - I know that ballpark it costs between $1800 to $4000+ to get semen in from the USA to Australia from reading past threads on DOL..

I can only comment on UQ and how they handle dead animals (mainly sourced from the abbatoir, we're not up to doing lots with live animals yet) and I promise that ethics is a big big thing and all students are made aware of it. I've just finished a subject where we had to dissect goats and reproductive tracts of cows etc and some students were taking photos of themselves with the bits and posting them on facebook. They were told to remove them due to ethical requirements and if they did not they would fail the course. So, as far as I'm concerned UQ takes the ethics side very seriously. In our cadaver labs at uni being caught with any device that can take an image (phone, camera ect) will see you out of the unit as will disrespectful conduct and jokes. The seriousness of the situation is impressed on us each time we enter the lab and we are reminded how grateful we should be to have this resource. I imagine someone with pictures on thier face book would be likely expelled from uni. I can't believe the idealistic views of some people who object to this - bad things happen - these dogs are going to die anyway, there is a silver lining in that the education of vets can benefit from these dogs.

No we don't but ever wondered where bodies donated to science go I have no problem with it, they have to learn somehow and I am sure dogs are treated humanely and respectfully.

Toby is quite fit (for him ) at the moment! He gets an hour walk every morning where the first 20 mins is offleash running around like a madman after rabbits,kangaroos and even foxes (well once... ). Then every evening he gets about 5-10 mins (has been going for longer as his fitness increases) of sprinting playing fetch. He is not an agility dog though He is training toward obedience competition however ;)

Mas I have had it done... best thing I ever did! After years of recurring infections from ingrown toenails I have not had any trouble since on that toe... I am known to do at home operations on the other toe with scalpels forceps and surgical scissors but if it ever gets really bad will be off to the dogs. My advice if you need it done is ask them to do both sides while the toe is numb

Sad but true Well Toby also goes to remedial socialization so he wouldn't exactly be Mr. Popular either :D I am on semester break in July so we will have to tee it up then.