Mas1981

Once they are desexed it doesnt happen. I love my male dogs!

I dont think this has ever happened with Mason but i did desex him pretty early :rolleyes:

When I got mine de-sexed he woke up the next day as if nothing had happened to him at all, same thing with my friends female.

I know for labradors when they show them some of them carry more weight than active pet dogs. I want my lab to do agility one day so I watch his weight very carefully, someone commented on my 'skinny' dog at the beach last weekend.

Does he have a specific spot or bed where he sleeps inside?? What i did with my lab when he was a puppy is I taught him a command to go to his 'mat' or his 'bed' and when he started trying to zoom around the house or play with me while I was cleaning I gave him his command and clicked and treated when he was doing the right thing. It worked for us, with an older dog, not sure how successful it would be.

Happy birthday ValleyCBR!!!

If you have some spare let me know because I may be interested in a buying 2 more

Why? A whole host of reasons. 1. Because its good for them..... When they know how to play watch the fun they have. 2. Because they need to develop skills to deal with OUR world...... Wild dogs would naturally be suspicious of strangers especially on their territory (humans and dogs). Learning proper social skills teaches dogs how to compromise. 3. Because its good for their health..... Im sure that future studies (once they get going) will prove that dogs who can play well are fitter and healthier both mentally and physically. Prior to any scientific studies we only have the actual case history of experienced dog handlers and trainers to go by. 4. Because its good for their owners..... Let the owners learn how to socialise their dogs properly and the dogs and humans will have a better relationship together and the owners will spend more good times with their pooches. 5. Because you can use play to develop better focus..... learn how to incorporate play into your training and your dog's focus will shift to you as the major player in his games. Like with kids in a playground they all want to hang out with the cool guy. So you learn to be the cool guy. 6. Because it releases stress..... dogs who have "emotional" issues tend to have them because humans tend to pander to them. If a dog has a bad experience he needs the chance to work thru it and come out the other side more confident. I have had many dogs (of varied ages) learn to be more relaxed by developing their play skills. I don't mean to go on. However this is my specialist subject and I am passionate about it. Most of the time you take dogs out and about (yes even to dog parks) and they have a great time. Yes, sometimes they can have a bad experience but this is something the owner needs to develop skills to deal with or even prevent. Sometimes people feel that two dogs having rough play is aggression.... and step in and panic creating more stress to what could be a normal situation for the dog. Often in fact dogs have a tendancy in a group to exhibit "social conflict" which is a normal dog behaviour of teaching each other when the boundaries have been pushed to far. The trick is that the owners need the skills to interpret when to step in and when to count to three and let it play out. More social classes needed that are geared to the owners learning. Great post!! You seem to be focusing on 'dog parks', you had a bad experience there so you have cut them out of your life (and your dog's) forever? Do you never go anywhere else where there are strange dogs off lead? Eg a dog beach? I had my little Norwich Terrier attacked by a big dog the minute we got out of the car at the river. I didn't even see the big dog coming. She wasn't hurt thankfully, but my approach was not to avoid the river forever and always, but rather immediately find some friendlier dogs down there for my little one to have a positive interaction and experience with. She was nervous to start with but came round quickly and appeared to forget all about the unfortunate incident with the big dog. This part of the river is an off leash area for dogs, it's always busy in summer and few dogs are really under control but there are very few incidences of dog aggression. In fact I have never seen it, have only heard of it from other users. It doesn't stop anyone from returning to the river with their dog either, I see many different regulars there on different days and always new people as well. Same goes for the dog beach - which is actually busier and dogs running amok. Never any incidences of dog aggression. I'm sure it must happen occasionally but the owner of the aggressor would be loath to return, such would be the wrath of all the other dogowners I do think owners are sometimes more anxious about certain things than their dogs are, or the anxiety is transferred to the dogs. I agree with you GR, Mason was attacked at our off lead dog park in our area, I was a bit nervous to go back but 2 days later I took him back, he wasnt at all nervous or worried etc and went in quite happily, I think I was more nervous than he was!! I dont think his bad experience has had a lasting impact on him at all because I kept socialising him with other dogs ( granted they were dogs I knew) and I dont mind him playing with strange dogs now but it depends on the breed. For example I feel much happier letting him play with spaniels, retrievers and terriers than I do about letting him play with huskys any of the bull breeds or staffys.

My pup suffered from a blocked tear duct as a younger pup, he had them flushed with antibiotics by the opthamologist many times in a row and it eventually sorted it out. She was wonderful with him, He didnt have surgery though. I am ultra careful with his eyes now, if he goes somewhere with a lot of sand i rinse his eyes out when we get home to stop grains of sand etc getting stuck.

Would love to see the video. Was he always more interested in toys as a reward rather than food?? My lab also loves squeak toys but he loves food just as much and when we get to an area with lots of dogs he tends to ignore toys, I would rather use a toy than food as a reward though.

They bounce back so quickly after de-sexing its unbelievable.

I often trip over my dog while walking as he walks like a drunken spider, I could never imagine walking 3 of him Dont feel bad we all have those moments. I got mad with my dog at the beach last weekend and screamed at him in front of everybody and I also felt so embarrassed but after all we are only human

I only watched these this morning, Mason came running in to the bedroom and was staring at the PC doing that head tilting thing

he is getting his roo meat and kibble daily at this stage so I am not worried about him not getting enough fats. He usually pukes or gets the runs from bones, havent tried minced bone but I can bet I will have a problem finding a butcher near here to do it for me, I stay quite far from everything.

Thats a great idea, my dog loves tugging but dont know how interested he will be when there are other dogs around, would love to get one to try though.

I am probably asking a really dumb question but is it just a lead that the dog can also use as a tug toy?? Sorry if the question seems odd but we dont go to agility classes at our club yet as my boy is too young but I am keen to try it out with him so I dont know a lot of the equipment etc.

MM - I don't have all the answers for everyone (LOL .... I don't even necessarily have all the answers for my self and my own dog's situation) - without studying into your situation, I couldn't make suggestions specific to your dog's ailment - sorry as I am that you are experiencing this. My genuine question to Sas is exactly that - a genuine question regarding schools of thoughts I have been entertaining regarding a dog's dysfunctional immune system. I guess for you, gamey meats such as Roo Mince; Rabbit; along with whatever available additives there are which provide the balanced nutrients required and that don't have wheat, yeast or gluten included might be a way to go. ??? And of course you'd need to make up for the fact that chewing bones to clean teeth is not an option, by cleaning his teeth for him. My sister uses the Colloidal Silver on a doggy 'finger' tooth brush and has had excellent results from that. I'm not an expert into nutrition and the ailments which affect absorption of nutrients, or even the immune system. But I do have a young boy (dog) with his own set of ailments and I am working very hard (and learning tonnes along the way) to try to set it to rights with the hope that he will be able to live the rest of his life at least for the most part, carefree of ailment which causes the symptoms I'm working on at the moment. I am trying my best at the moment to try and provide everything he needs, he is doing well on Holistic Select with a bit of roo mince but its not ideal. I also use colloidal silver on him, especially his ears and he drinks a bit which does seem to help with overall health. I have just noticed though dry flakes in is coat so I am going to have to go back to the drawing board....

i wouldnt say that my lab is like my husband or I, he is trusting and overly friendly with every dog he meets.

Skin allergies are because of an over-active immune system so you don't want to 'boost' the immune system. Although what you probably want to do is go more natural and remove presavtives and fillers from the dogs diet, therefore going natural would be a good idea. I'm in two minds on this Sas. I get the "over-active immune" line of thought with the conventional methods being designed to dumb it down a bit (ie suppress the immune system). But I also think along the lines of "the immune system not functioning as it should" (whether that be over-active OR under-active) and therefore think that if the immune system can be nourished (ie supported) by natural means (eg. Aloe Vera Juice) could it not result in the immune system finding its proper functioning level? What would you feed a dog who cannot tolerate bones or a lot of fat and who is kept off wheat, yeast and gluten??

I think that's arguable anyway. I always find this topic makes interesting discussion, ever since I read this thread here: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...t=0&start=0 I think a lot of people allow their dogs to develop a higher value for other dogs than the dogs have for them, the owners. I don't think you need to deny your dog the company of other dogs, for them to see spending time with you as more valuable and exciting. I'm not interested in having a dog who falls over itself to play with other dogs. Daisy tends to have a relatively neutral value for other dogs, even when off leash with them she doesn't often have much interest in playing with them. She does play with Micha every day and I don't mind that at all. That's not to say that she can't cope with other dogs, any DOLers who have met her can attest that she is so easy going around other dogs and can be totally nonplussed dogs getting in her face. I like having a dog that would rather train or play with me than play with other dogs. For any future dogs I have, I will always socialise them with other dogs from puppy hood BUT I will do so in a way that encourages them not to seek other dogs out as The Best Thing Ever. I do believe we can shape our dogs values for things like other dogs depending on how we socialise them in their critical development phase. I think weather or not your dog prefers human contact or to play with other dogs is somewhat determined by what breed they are. I had ridgebacks before and they preferred attention from people to other dogs but now my lab is just nuts about other dogs. IMO dogs who are from a 1 dog household will usually be more interested in other dogs but like i said thats just my opinion. I have tried numerous things to get my dog to want to be with me more than another dog but so far I have failed sadly...

Sounds interesting, I have never seen one

My dog vomits if he has chicken necks, they just dont agree with him, in fact he will vomit after any bones. I have just accepted that he cant tolerate them. Cant offer you any advice, just thought I would mention it happens to my dog too and he is only 11 months old.

I guess this is where my head is at. I don't agree with that reasoning. Guide dogs are expected to work and not go off and play when they want. They are still supposed to have free time and be allowed to play with other dogs if they wish. Training teaches a dog when it is work time and when they can do what they want. I don't get the rational of not allowing a dog who wants to play, to not be allowed to play, just incase he finds that more interesting then 'work' Yes I totally agree, look how focused Guide Dogs are, they have a rest day on a sunday and come down to play in a big group to the park i sometimes take my dog to, their trainers obviously feel it does them good to play with other dogs.

Gorgeous, love her colour!!

Yes, that photo was taken in 2008, I will upload a recent one, looking way way older now, he is probably anywhere from 25 to 27 i got him from the RSPCA in south africa and he is still there retired on a friends farm, she looks after him for me.