Mrs Rusty Bucket

I wondered if Frosty could be heeler x coolie but maybe not. Coolie worked out the way to ditch Romeo was to walk under a chair - quite effective. I don't think he even tried it on Frosty - she's quite good at throwing the boys off too and not many of them can make the missionary position work for them. Hard to hump a dog that is upside down.

she is so cute when she does that Yeah, getting it on command might be tricky - cos she only does it for other people. I noticed at least one other dog thought anybody else's treats are better than the ones they get from their owner. Possibly because they come with fewer strings attached. I did notice Frosty adding a "drop" to her treat cadging repetoire today. Dance, dance, drop, sit, drop, sit, dance...

Hi all Frosty the snowgirl and I had fun too. I saw a few cameras around and tried to pretend I didn't notice. Especially the one with the huge pimple enhancing lens. Can you photoshop mine out before you web the pix? I liked the idea of chopping heads off people too. I'm sure I'll cope which ever way, there's already pix of me out there. Thanks to those who brought munchies, Pele is not the only porker - I like food too. And my next trick for Frosty is to get her to do the treat cadging dance on command...

lanabanana When you walk dogs at night, in the dark, you are more likely to meet aggressive dogs. Unfortunately that's usually when they get walked because there are fewer dogs around and the owners are less likely to run into trouble and more likely to escape if things go wrong. It may be that your dog picks up on aggressive "vibes" from these other dogs and that contributes to his reaction. It would be bad if he learns that is an appropriate way for a dog to behave. Blocking is good. Even if he's already spotted the other dog, try it anyway. If you do decide to get a trainer / behaviourist, make sure they train you as well as the dog. Don't send the dog away to be trained without you, by people who won't let you watch or learn their methods. K9 Pro has some good articles about how to pick a good trainer and hopefully avoid the bad ones. http://www.k9pro.com.au/pages.php?pageid=81 Glad the harness is helping. Just one note - don't leave it on him unattended - it can be chewed off, it's only for walking / training. kamuzz - you're probably right about different interpretations of the same words. There are some tools out there that I would not try without supervision from an experienced trainer until I gained understanding and co-ordination in correct / effective use. Note - unlike some of these other people - I am not a professional dog trainer. I do have experience with various chronic pulling dogs.

K9 Pro I would say that I get good results with the front attach harness whether I'm using the technique (like changing directions, calling or warning the dog etc) or not. That's why I like it. The act of her pulling undoes her or corrects her of itself. I don't have to work at making her pay attention, the harness does this for me. I can work the technique if I want to but it isn't important like it would be if I was using a collar that "corrects". I have met one dog whose owner tried a correctly fitted harness and it didn't work. That was a great dane - and the problem was related to the size of the dog, the height - ie upwards pressure on the harness gives ultimate control and it's a bit hard with a GD - and the shape of it's chest - being very deep - the harness wouldn't stay where it needed to be to work properly. That owner ended up using a prong collar with good technique, it was working for her. She had problems with the GD and fear aggression after it was attacked by an SWF. My grovel dog didn't provoke the fear reaction - being upside down for our greeting. I think a prong collar would be over the top for my dog. She does tend to freak out at fairly gentle corrections.

I've got no behaviour problems with my dog on nutro natural choice - which according to the dogfood project or dogfood analysis sites - is pretty crap. I wouldn't feed innova evo - because in Australia - it's exclusively sold by a company that supports puppy mills. http://www.bowhouse.com.au/g/30468/dogs-dry-food.html Glad a change of diet sorted your dog. It does make me wonder if the dog is some how restricted in activity by lack of nutrients in the so called crap dog food, ie the ones full of stuff like corn meal. Ie it's now not got enough energy to be bothered being aggressive. My dog frequently got the runs on food like this. I changed food and no more runny poo. It is important to follow the recommended serving size on the pack - which usually means weighing your dog and the food. You can also reduce the amount of food by 1/3 if the dog is desexed. And more if the dog doesn't get a lot of walking or has other sources of food like treats or bones. And changing the food over too quickly can cause stomach upsets, and the pain of that might cause aggression. Plenty of animals and humans lash out when they're in pain. There might also be something in the food that your dog is allergic to. This would probably need the help of a vet to diagnose. Some dogs do seem to be allergic to meat protein and there would be a lot more of this in the premium brand dog food than the cheap brands.

lanabanana I'm not sure what the ring is for at the back, if you click on the link for info / buy - it has some more information. I get the impression - you clip onto both rings with the double ended lead and that helps - but you'd have to send them an email for more info. I don't use it so I can't help you with that. And I'm a bit puzzled about Steve's (K9 pro) answer about no tool is going to help. Cos tools - that I don't have and aren't that thrilled about using - along with technique is what he recommended me. But again - I don't have an aggressive dog. I'm glad he's checking out the front attach harnesses because I get good results with that. Changing directions often - just gets me a dog that sits every time I stop or turn. She's getting better. I find it's all about what I let her get away with. If she's moving forward and pulling - then she's getting what she wants (sort of). No incentive not to do it. The front attach harness - gives incentive - because she has to stop pulling to move forward - and I don't have to be paying attention for the entire time - it's automatic.

Black dog do sell a front attach harness. http://www.blackdog.net.au/index.php?page=...t&Itemid=5# I think they're currently calling it a "balance harness". Just don't get the tracking harness (rear clip). The most important thing with it (any front attach harness) is the right fit. When I first started using the sensible harness - I clipped it to the flat collar. It makes sneaking out of it more difficult, but the dog can pull more in that configuration. Note - my dog is not the least bit aggressive. But she does like to make friends with everybody. She doesn't like being on lead or going for walks on the footpaths at all. She actually hides or runs away when I'm getting ready to walk the dog. Still haven't figured out why. She's definitely scared of traffic but where I live, traffic is fairly easy to avoid. She used to bolt/pull forwards in any direction but doesn't do that any more (no gain for her). She used to do that from day one. Walk nicely on lead in back yard or at dog school and do the pull-crawl on the footpath, from the first step out the gate. I encouraged the grovelly greeting she's fond of but not the pulling.

I'm currently reading "a modern dog's life" by Paul McGreevy. Dunno if it is in Borders, given the guy works at some uni in NSW not some TV studio in the USA. Has some good stuff about how dogs operate and why, and how to train (using positive methods) and why he hates check/choke chains. And he's got three cattle dogs (or variations on that theme) so I'm already biased. Also like this site. http://www.dogstardaily.com Especially the digital dog training book

lanabanana I watched a whole bunch of dogs today that I know have titles in obedience competition on and off lead, and they were all happily pulling away on lead from A to B. So training may mean nothing, context is everything. Ie these dogs know not to pull in the competition arena when they are getting a certain set up, and signals from the boss, but in the absence of this, and with a permissive boss - they do their own thing, which is lunge in whichever direction they want to go. So my dog is very good at loose lead walking in a flat collar but only so long as I'm paying attention and keeping the treats on tap. But after getting her a harness - she actually got better in the flat collar as well. It wears off after a while and I put the harness back on to remind her. As far as the uber excitement goes, you just need to have the patience to wait it out and then get the dog to do what you want. Eg when I arrive at park or beach, my dog is usually very excited, but she knows she's not getting a run or meet and greet until she does what I tell her, eg usually a come here and a sit. She's actually started backing up to me and sitting in the "correct position" to encourage me to let her off the lead. That's called "offering a behaviour" in hopes of getting a reward (eg release or treat). I hope you find a front attach (clip) harness that works for you, or some system that gives you power and control and the patience to use your dog's excitement and desire to your advantage. So - before dog gets on lead - he must show some self control, like a nice sit. Before you open the front door (or side gate) to go out, nice calm sit. Before he gets off lead - same. And practice heaps of recall on lead ie if he gets close to the end of the lead, tell him to "come" and reel him in if necessary and treat on arrival - repeat lots. There's some great stuff on the Ian Dunbar site DogstarDaily or search youtube for Ian Dunbar. http://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/training/155

I googled aggressive Maremma dog Looks like the cattle prod would be a very bad idea. It is slightly possible that the maremma was trying to play with you, according to the articles I found, they can be a bit rough. This article suggested they are more alert and aggressive at night when threats are usually worse. So I wondered - are you visiting after dark? Maybe changing to day time visit or morning visit might help. http://www.kelownaalpaca.com/LGD%20Maremma.htm

Given that you're checking your friend's place while they're away, it could be that some strangers have come around and stirred up the dog for some reason. Maybe that's why it's not fine anymore. It might need to re-learn that you're ok while other strange humans may not be. If you're really afraid - get the owner to come with you while you do your check. The dog may be better behaved and re-assured that you're ok, if the owner comes too for a few visits. If it's not, the owner gets a first hand view of the change in the dog. Welding gloves are good at reducing the impact of a dog grab. Better than a hat anyway. But the cattle prod might be a good back up. However - dogs tend to match violence with violence ie if you're gentle and calm, it is easier for them to be gentle and calm too, but if you hurt the dog, it is more likely to hurt you back. and there are the basic calm the dog signals, no direct eye contact, licking lips, sideways, oblique approach not front on. I wouldnt recommend sniffing the ground or rolling over (what my dog does in addition, for non-threatening greeting) tho.

If I make chocolate slice again will anyone else help me eat it or should I make the healthy stuff instead?

Michelleva They do it because it feels good. Sometimes they do it because it feels good and they're bored. My desexed dog doesn't because I don't think she's ever figured out that it feels good. It depends how you feel about it whether you try to stop it. I think, if it were my dog, she can hump her bed as much as she likes but there is no way I'm going to let her hump me or my guests and friends so I'd stop her and give her something else to do if she tried it on something unacceptable.

I vote for red heeler x beagle - though the black saddle is missing. Got beagle eyes tho

Most farmers on rural properties threaten to shoot dogs that wander onto the wrong property. I think I'd talk to the owner first tho. The Maremma needs to know you are no threat - unlike a fox. So what I used to do with a friend's dog was move slowly and stop if he seemed aggressive or overly interested in me and just wait for him to calm down. He never charged or touched me though. After a week of visiting he did let me give him tail rub.

Consider getting a compost bin (secure from dog digging) for those "other people" who want to feed her random food or left overs. That way the food is not being "wasted" or thrown out. I like to feed my dog the occasional carrot for munching crunching value. Nutritional value, not a lot.

When my dog digs where I don't want, I bury a bit of her dog poo in the hole. Won't work on dogs that like to eat their own dog poo. If I catch her in the act of being naughty, I don't yell at her, well I might tell her "bah" in a fairly neutral tone, but for barking - yelling is useless so I get out the pump action water pistol. She likes playing with water but she knows the pistol means stop what you're doing and do something else. I'm thinking you might want to get some electric fence like for temporary horse fencing, and wrap some irrigation pipe in that. Will teach dog not to chew it. Even if you don't switch it on, the metal in the tape will react weirdly with dog's teeth, like when we chew on tin foil. But ideally you stop the dog from going near the irrigation pipe at all. That's how I stopped mine from pulling washing off the line (touch wood), when she looked at the clothes line like it was fun - I stopped her. And she thinks "leave it" means come get a treat - so it works very well.

I use a wheat bag for me and a separate one for dog. I put the dog one in a pillow slip and under her bedding. So far no chew. They're about $30 from chemist but probably can get cheaper or make your own.

I feed the raw carrot. Sometimes I do frozen kibble in yogurt. and for very special treat - the beef chip - which is a bit of rawhide. I can't do whole rawhide bones because pesky puppy - from taking several days to eat one, now takes less than 20 minutes and it does comes out badly (runny poo). Similar problem with beef marrow bones, fine if I supervise and take them away when she starts chomping them into splinters. The problem being when she swallows the splinters and it comes out badly at about 3am usually. Not fun to clean up and I worry about internal punctures. So no chomping raw (or cooked bones) for my dog. Chicken wings - have also returned to haunt us. Better out than in.

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=174316 front attach harness there is "sensible" or a "easy walk" same people that make "gentle leader" nose band thing, or black dog make a front attach training harness. The front attach point gives you rotational leverage on the dog, in a similar way to a wheel barrow pivot gives you more lift power. So when he pulls, he effectively will end up unbalanced or facing back towards you, either way, not rewarding for him. I don't like the nose band type anti pull systems - they work but the dog's neck is still in danger.

Current forecast is mainly fine, partly cloudy... http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/adelaide.shtml I haven't decided if I want to come or not. The meet place seems very small for a farm dog bitza. She's extremely friendly though. If it's bucketing down with rain - I won't be there, that's for sure.

You don't know someone else with the key - landlord perhaps? Or previous occupants? Is very creepy that this could happen. Have you looked around under door mats or flower pots or rocks, whatever, for key hiding places? I'm thinking if I was thieves - I might have stashed the key some where new at your place so it can't be used as evidence against them if they're caught/searched. I'd be securing the door from the inside and going out some other way until the locks are changed. And I always change the locks when I get a new place. Is even easy to do with a bit of hardware from the local shop. One bolt lock on the inside with no key would make it hard for them to use the door key to get in.

I think it would be normal to be sore after an operation for about 10 days at least - because of the bruising alone, and maybe longer if there are cuts and things to heal up. So give him another week on soft food and try again. All a different vet will find is bruising and cuts from the op. If it's still all wrong then or soft food gets painful or head shaking - then go back incase the wound is infected and he needs (more) antibiotics.

So are you changing the locks to "bump proof" ones? How did they take the keys with them? Did they use a key to get in? A long time before I got my dog, I got burgled, they got an ancient lap top. I keep meaning to leave out an even more ancient one for bait for next time but so far there hasn't been a next time. I couldn't figure out how the burglars got in. The police just gave me a number for my insurance claim and wouldn't come out. I was freaked for months. I feel better knowing there is a good chance my dog will bark her head off at any strangers that show up when I'm home. Especially if they happen to be wearing a cat bell or two.