Verdant Amphibian

What a terrible tragedy. I haven't been on DOL that long but I have always greatly respected her opinions and the way she offers wonderful advice without judging. My thoughts are with her and her family during this horrible time and I'll go make a donation now.

It's easy to develop phobias to certain things. A possible explanation is that it's an evolutionary thing - someone who is scared of snakes is more likely to avoid them, live longer and procreate etc It's easy for some people to develop a fear of dogs - one frightening experience, if it's not over whelmed by lots of positive ones, could do it. Even something scary on TV could have been enough. So I wouldn't be freaking out that your daughter has a phobia it's not nice but it's probably nothing to worry about. I would definitely get a trainer in for the dog. Your daughter needs lots of calm pleasant, non-frightening experiences around dogs, if a trainer can get your dog to the point where he can be calm around your little girl that's great if not then maybe you should look at a smaller calmer dog. Until he's at the point where he's calm around her I would keep them separated as much as possible. Every time he jumps on her he's likely reinforcing her fear. Make sure she can watch the training, but don't push interaction. Once he's settled and you don't have to separate them then everytime she sees him sleeping in his bed or sitting for treats it'll make her more comfortable.

Well he's not on the council website anymore so i guess he got collected. Hope they contain him properly this time.

Well called the council. Still no idea what's happening with the little guy, I got to talk to a lady in their call centre who left a message for the rangers to add my name as an expression of interest for the little guy. I just hope he doesn't have to spend too long in the pound and that if his owners pick him up they keep him more secure so he doesn't end up on the road again.

Cordelia - I'm going to call as soon as the pound opens this morning. You can't contact them on weekends here which sucks. You're right there might be a reasonable explanation and I hope there is and that his family is great and will pick him up and take him home today. I just think it's odd that he got impounded again on the day he got out and I hate the idea that he's been in there for over two weeks all up now. That and he's lucky to be alive since he was found on my road both times which is a quite busy road. BM - If his owners don't come forward I'll definitely adopt him, he's just the most beautiful little boy. That is if someone else hasn't put an expression on interest on him already. I did it the first time he was impounded but I guess that would reset and he's been in another week so... I'll let everyone know what they say.

Thanks for the tips guys and the links, I hadn't seen the Ian Dunbar one I've now read it start to finish.

On the 23rd of last month a sweet little aussie terrier boy showed up on my door lost. He was a darling little thing, friendly and calm looked well looked after, he had a collar and a registration tag. Only thing was he was registered in Huon Valley Tasmania. I called the Huon Valley council first thinking his owners will have moved and not gotten him re-registered yet, I hoped they'd have a mobile listed so I could save the little man a trip to the pound. No such luck, the ranger said he would drop round to their house (which astounded me as it would never happen in this shire). Called my local council so they could pick him up and scan him for a microchip. Waited. In the mean time the Tassie Ranger called again said the neighbours said they hadn't moved but thought the wife was on holidays in victoria. My local ranger arrives and take the little guy away. I asked her to put my name down if his owners didn't come forward. Exactly a week later on the 30th I get a call from the council saying they got hold of his owners and he was being picked up. I was happy for the little guy and didn't think of it again. Until I looked on the council website today. He's up on it again! Apparently he was inpounded again the same day (the 30th) it's not a mistake since there's a new photo and it's definitely him since it has the huon valley rego up. Where the hell are his owners? They obviously know the hows and wherefores of the local pound now why on earth has he been in there another week. I'll give them a ring in the morning. Wish I could find his parents though and give them a kick up the...

When I was about 8 a nice young guy with a blue heeler bitch, Chloe, moved in next door. The gate to the driveway was just metal bars so some boys used to throw rocks at her when they walked to school. One evening he had the gate open I didnt realize and went to get the mail for mum. I wasn't nervous of dogs but the way she ran at me frightened me so I ran, chloe of course chased and bit me on the calf muscle. It wasn't a little nip I had a scars for years. You need to protect your dog and the kids.

There seems to be a large number of things that people should, ideally, start on day one with their puppy or soon thereafter - before problems develop. Some like toilet training are relatively obvious, others like getting a long coated breed used to a comb (and how) or whether to crate train are less so. I just thought it would be great if people could offer suggestions, funny stories, links to relevant sites about what things people should consider before they bring that furry bundle of mischievous joy home?

That horrible woman is an oxygen thief - I hope the council catches her. Good pet owners shouldn't have to be frightened to walk their dogs. I hope Max and Zach recover quickly.

I know where I live lots of the butchers have a huge problem with people buying their meat at safeway then coming to the butchers to buy bones for their dogs. They hate it, they make practically no money out of the dog products it's a draw for their regulars - a few even have signs now asking you not to buy bones there if you buy your meat at safeway. You might find if you brought your human meat at the same time as you buy your bones you wont have a problem - I know you said your OH buys your meat from there but perhaps the butcher doesn't connect it or it still grates because he has too many people that just buy bones? I only bring it up because if you change butchers your new butcher might be just as rude, or just grumble behind your back, if they don't make the connection between your OH buying meat and you buying bones.

Thanks for all the great information - there are so many wonderful breeds I wish I could own them all. I gave my OH a long list of the dogs I liked that looked suitable and he looked them up and had a bit of a think. His line of thought was that since I'd be doing most of the work with the dog/s and spending the most time with them my opinion is more important, I told him that didn't help me narrow it down at all. The two breeds that most interested him though were Finnish Lapphunds and Miniature Poodles - the same as me! So I think we're going to have to meet some breeders (though what we do will depend on the little Aussie boy).

I have a feeling I might end up with an Aussie Terrier. On friday literally an hour after I made up my mind I couldn't keep Hank a little aussie showed up at my door (we have a big glass door and I had my mums group over and he saw all the kids playing) which is lucky because I live on a main road. He was a lovely friendly little thing with a collar and rego tag but he was registered in tassie! So I called the Huon Valley council in case they had a mobile number - I assumed they'd just moved and hadn't updated. No such luck only landline, the ranger was great though and called me back an hour later having gone around to the house he was registered to and chatted to the neighbours. They thought the wife was on holidays visiting family in vic but the husband should be home after work so the ranger left a message for him and was going to keep trying. So I called the local council to come pick him up, hoping he had a microchip. I expected he would have been picked up by now but the poor little boy is still in the pound It's been six days.

I guess when I think of aloof I think of my parents beagle Pippa. They adopted her when she was 4 or 5, she'd been a hunting dog and had very little human interaction, but lots of dog interaction. She likes people but she can take or leave them and it makes her almost impossible to love. Everyone likes her a lot but there isn't any devotion on either side. I hate the idea of this. I like dogs that just want to be near you, it works well for me because I just want to be near them. That said I'm wary of one person breeds, the children would hate it but most importantly what if the dog bonded with my OH and not me!?! Eventually we will have two dogs, so having one velcro dog and one more social dog would likely suit us well.

I think I do. I never realised how many wonderful spitz's there were around. I don't know how I missed them. Can Aussies and Coolies cope if something comes up and they can only get a little exercise for the day? The same question for smaller retrievers. The OH got home late and then had to go to his course so he didn't have time to look at all the breeds for me last night. He's going to look at work this morning though. If you're going to get dogs of two different breeds a couple of years apart is it considered better to get the bigger one first or second?

If the Dad had a healthcare card then the initial ambulance should have been covered. The concept is ridiculous, there are so many things that can injure someone. Should someone who has a tiled floor get insurance because if a kid spilled juice on it they could slip, smack their head on the window sill and break their eye socket? It's this kind of thing that would lead to people needing to get personal indemnity insurance. It also would unfairly target people with large dogs and people on small incomes. Plus who would determine what makes a dangerous dog? Besides in the end plenty of the nastier dog attacks are made made unregistered dogs belonging to idiots, they don't register their dogs, there is no way they would insure them. So someone would still need to sue to try to get the money that the owner probably didn't have anyway. It's a silly, silly idea.

I must confess I get a little confused with the difference between the american and english cocker spaniel. I never know which ones people means, or does it not matter? Sorry if this is a silly query.

Okay my list now stands thus. My OH, I hope, will shorten it further. There have been so many wonderful dogs mentioned that would be great, some have been pruned from the list because there are other wonderful dogs that have higher obedience intelligence others for no reason other than I don’t like them quite as much as another breed (not always for a discernible reason) Sheltie Miniature Poodle Finish Lapphund Schipperke Keeshond Japanese Spitz

Damn now I'll have to put them back on the list Stupid wikipedia Keeshonds are still on the long list that I'll show the OH. But I saw the Finnish Lapphunds and just thought they sounded wonderful

lol I'll get the OH to look at a few of the breeds tonight then put up the ones we're most interested in - for interests sake. Then we'll have to go and meet a couple of the different breeds to really make up our minds.

Now I'm confused having asthma doesn't necessarily mean it will be triggered by pet hair. My OH had asthma as a child it was triggered by lactose, some preservatives and certain pollens. But they had both cats and dogs without a problem. I'm sorry it must have been heartbreaking. I hope you're able to find a dog that doesn't trigger your sons asthma

You silly duffer... lol this is true. I just know it would be a constant irritation. How old are your kids? A Toy Poodle wouldnt cope with my 18 month old daughters "love fatctor" and I would worry since we have lots of kids here about it getting hurt. My Miniature Poodles are great - good size, go mad for a game of ball down the park but require grooming. I (with lots of help from here) learnt myself and they are a wonderful dog that I would recommend to anyone will to do/pay for the grooming I have a 2.5yo and an 11mo. I'm not interested in a toy poodle only in a miniature. I only brought them up because I know a couple of toy poodles where I have only met miniature poodles in passing. Corvus - thanks for the info on the Lappies. I'll have to show the Swedish Vallhund to my OH, I'm not sure if his issues with corgi's is the body shape or the fact that the queen owns one ;)

That is ridiculously cute. I'm probably unfairly dismissing GR. A mature adult would likely be wonderful and a puppy would probably be fine (I just worry about the bouncy adolescent period but that would probably be fine if they'd been with the girls from the start). In part I think I'm rebelling against the notion that a golden retriever or lab is the only dog for someone with children. I am in no way talking about the DOL community but my rl peers. I know too many people that as soon as you mention you have kids immediately insist you should get a golden retriever. These are people who don't have dogs, have done no research, have no concept of how much exercise they might need or health testing and most of them as soon as their kids get to a certain age will buy some poor golden retriever or lab from the classifieds (because every kid should have a dog that lives outside in a kennel) then wonder why it digs up the garden. It's silly but I feel like if I get one, put all the hard work in and end up with a wonderful dog, I would just be furthering the misconception that GR and labs are automatically perfect for all families. I agree that this could well be described as cutting off my nose to spite my face. Yeah I'm too worried about possible dog aggressiveness with a SBT. It would be a shame to get a dog that couldn't enjoy the family trips. We had a rescue JRT named Midget when I was growing up and also a GRTxMiniature Foxie both where a bit nutty. Which has probably put me off them a little since every JRT or mini-foxie I've met has been that was but realistically they would have been from byb. I don't think I've ever really met a JRT from a good breeder. But our parson who was from a good breeder was wonderful, she wasn't nervous and she didn't have any weird OCD type behaviors, she was too good a hunter though we had to keep her inside when the baby birds were learning to fly every year.

Thanks for all the input There are far too many wonderful breeds. Problem is I love all dogs so it makes it hard to cross dogs off a list. Border Collies are lovely but I would be worried that if something happened and the girls were sick I wouldn't be able to keep up with the exercise requirements because our yard is so small. That and unfortunately my parents are some of those annoying people who think ACD, kelpies and border collies should only be used for work so if I had any trouble I doubt I could stand the "I told you so's". GR are beautiful but I don't want a big dog yet, it would probably be fine but I worry now. Better to wait a few years I think. Cav's are gorgeous but I didn't think they were as good at obedience as paps and poodles? Japanese Spitz and Schipperke might be a little too independent for me. Finnish Lapphund I'd never even thought of them, I have to meet one they sound amazing and tummy-does-a-little-flipflop type beautiful. Of the terriers I like Aussies the most, although I have a soft spot for parson russell terriers since we had one growing up and she decided she was mine (course she was horrible with other dogs and suffered from selective deafness but I loved her). So at the moment the list of breeds I must meet looks like this. There are others that tick all the boxes but I think these are the breeds that most interest me. We'll have to go to some shows. Shetland Sheepdogs Miniature Poodles (There's a gorgeous one I meet and pet nearly every time I go to the farmers market, very friendly and Ava gets to pet it too) Finnish Lapphund Aussie Terriers (I know some of these though so don't need to meet them)

What are Tibetan Terriers like to train? They're not that high on coren's intelligence scale. I know that's only obedience intelligence but I would like to do obedience. Is it hard to find miniature poodle breeders that aim more towards energetic family dog than lapdog? Also are they dominant? Most of the toy poodles I know have been (but I think they were from a byb) and none of them were treated like dogs. The same family vs lapdog question applies in regards to papillons as their seems to be a huge range in the size of papillons. Your shelties sound wonderful. There are so many lovely breeds, how do you pick when multiple ones tick all the boxes?