Mrs Rusty Bucket

Maybe he saw Red Dog - the movie. And didn't quite pull off the endearing look.

There are two separate incidents. One involves the grandparent's SBT x whic looked quite friendly as it was carried out. The lead ranger was patting it as it was carried by another. And the other incident involves a husky or malamute - and a different family and child. BSL is not going to stop lack of supervision of toddlers, it could just as easily been a pool drowning. Only takes 2 inches of water and few minutes of inattention by the carer.

I'd set him a deadline - how long is unreasonable? It's possible he's unable to find a bitch puppy from other breeders because they feel the same way about him as he does about them. Nobody likes being nitpicked. I think I would do my own research to find a nice breeder, and get on their waiting list. And I wouldn't tell him. As part of my research - I'd investigate what co-owner really means and if he could enforce it. If he could, I'd consider returning my dogs, or getting a bitch from someone else and breeding it with a dog that isn't one of his. Or I'd go to a rescue, get a puppy and take up agility.

The person with the blue SBT puppy ended up sending it back and I think the thread got deleted. She wanted to breed and show too so I'm not sure why she got a blue SBT.

Dog hemmaroids? that can happen too...

"sticky outy bottom" To me that reads like maybe one of these a rectal prolapse - ie when the insides come out (a little bit or lots) - especially when the dog is crapping. A ewe with a prolapsed uterus is a scary thing to see. a hernia. Ie some bit of dog is poking through some other bit of dog where it shouldn't. Humans get these too. The really bad ones are when some bit of the gut pokes through some weakness in the muscle wall. It will be ok until it gets stuck and then it's all manner of hell painful and bits start to die if it's not dealt with immediately - so these kind of things, best to see a doctor / vet as soon as you notice it and get it sorted before it becomes an emergency. prostate - doesn't really match the problem as described ie it shouldn't poke out where you described according to the diagram on this page. But if it is enlarged - it can make both peeing and pooping difficult for the dog. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2109&aid=914

Some dogs mark by pooping. And if they can they poop as high as they can on a bush or fences around cricket ovals. I know a beagle and a kelpie who do this. They also pee on what they can. Both boy dogs. I've not seen a girl dog mark with poo but I suppose some might. My dog likes to have a big scratch after either a pee or a poo. She also likes to save her poo up for when we're out. She doesn't like to go between home and the park on the foot path verges - she doesn't feel entirely safe there, but she goes pretty soon after we get to the park - if I've been keeping a regular morning routine. If I look like I'm packing for a long car ride - she prefers to poo in the back yard. And she won't come until she's done. She wil stop mid crap to chase crows flying over the back yard - go figure. So - how do you stop it? Yes you can stop it... A possible way. 1. you teach your dog a word that means - go crap/pee. At home when you let your dog out for the final deposit of the night before bed - say the word when you see him go and tell him what a good dog he is. Maybe give him a treat. A lab will remember that. 2. If he gets excited about going for a walk - eg when you pick up the lead, pick up the lead, go out the back with him, and tell him the crappy word. Wait until he's crapped, and then clip the lead on for your walk. Don't start your walk until he's gone where you want him to. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/training-dog-walk You may want to make sure you feed only after a walk too. If you wait half an hour to an hour or longer after a good walk to feed - this is also thought to prevent nasty things like "bloat" which can kill a dog (bloat is more likely in larger dogs than small ones). This should have the added bonus of there being less to poo or nothing to push the poo through while you are on your walk. Another way - this is ugly - is any time he starts to sniff or go where you don't want him to - pull his head up and move him on... watch for the nose to go down... and move him on fast. If he gets started somewhere you don't want - interupt him (eg give him a gentle push). This will make it uncomfortable for him to consider going while you're out - so hopefully he will be less likely to do it in future. But it's important - to make sure he goes before you go out and gets fed well after. Desexing - there's lots of different opinions. Rescues and shelters will desex from 8 weeks old. They know all too often, people forget promises to desex and then the rescue just has more work to do. My dog was desexed at 8 weeks at AWL. So far so good. There can be problems with this later though eg bitches can have continence problems. Most vets seem to like about 6 months old. And the agility and sport dog people prefer to wait until the dog is 18 months old - because that allows for full bone and joint development. Dogs desexed early - like mine, can have longer legs, narrower heads, and weaker structure than ones desexed later. http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html As best I can tell - early desexing (at or before 6 months) can prevent some problems and increase the chance of some others. And late desexing - likewise - prevent some problems and increase the chance of others. I haven't really done a big grid comparing the different changes in chance of various health problems based on whether or not the dog is desexed.

There's a delta dog trainer here that incorporates fun stuff into the classes... but that's not Victoria. But there might be one near you. The agility clubs use more fun methods, but ours requires you to graduate grade 5 paddock bashing first. http://www.dpdta.com.au/trainers/browse/7/vic I think Nehkbet and/or Erny (members here) run classes too.

if puppies are not microchipped - you can report to the local council. It may help to sneak out and get a licence plate number or pretend you have a friend who might be interested and get a phone number. Do that before you ask them to take the puppies out because your mum is allergic. I had to ask a bloke to take his cigarette outside the boundary fence of a hockey stadium the other day. They're all sponsored by QUIT so smoking is banned for all Hockey SA games. Sigh. He came in past the big no smoking in here sign. But he did it without arguing. Which is better than most do.

http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/DLG/DLGHome/Documents/Information/CA_FAQ.pdf That's the law in NSW and quite a few other states. I would be asking staff if they really want to promote an illegal activity and that the RSPCA recommends puppies stay with their mums until they're 8 weeks old - and do they really want a socially crippled immuno compromised puppy? It might be cheap now but in the long run, they can cost a lot more than if you got one that had been looked after properly. And I think I would be reporting the incident to the management of the aged care facility. Ie I'm sure they don't want to be associated with promoting illegal activity and puppy mills. And I'd probably chuck a hissy fit about risk of disease, fleas etc from the puppies to my dog. When I get really angry about something - I can get really loud. The usual one is PICK UP AFTER YOUR DOG !!!!

I really haven't figured this one out beyond giving myself permission to fail, really stuff up. It's really important I try to stay upbeat because if I get too anxious or frustrated - my dog picks up on it and goes to pieces too. I find going for a bit of a run before I go in, helps both of us, except on 30'C days, in which case - sponge bath for her and misting sprayer for me helps a bit. I've been playing hockey for 30+ years and still get anxious before every game. I just kind of put that feeling in a thought bubble and ignore it.

Because quite a few trainers that I respect say to avoid it. A couple say you can use it to get the initial behaviour and then you want the dog to figure out for itself what you want it to do, otherwise you don't get a behaviour on command, all you get is the dog following the lure. Which is ok if you have a lure available and not so good when you don't. Ie long term - cheating tends to back fire or not get you want you really wanted. I'm not sure if there is much difference between luring and hand targetting though. I use both to get doggy dancing moves... Hand targetting seems more acceptable for some reason, than using food or toy lures. Maybe this is a separate topic? We also get the problem of is a lead rope a training aid... which could lead to is the handler's hand a training aid... should we hide the leads, and chop the hands off? (ie some vic agility judges seem to have problems with revving dogs up before runs).

Why would a puppy suffer separation anxiety while it's still with its litter mates? I've heard that "you have to take the puppy now cos I'm going on holidays" excuse before. Not good. Ie a responsible breeder plans the mating - knows how long a bitch wil be pregnant - and knows how long the puppies need to stay with their mum. So that means they know how to avoid holidays and puppies clashing. I wouldn't be happy about this - but what would make it right for you? Do you want to return the puppy to the breeder? Or keep it?

I use most of the quadrants... I like to do the reward stuff - maybe a little too much (fat dog - rewarded for crap) I do sometimes withhold reward (ooh negative) And I sometimes apply an aversive. I sometimes set up the environment so stealing re-inforcement by the dog will result in a fairly dramatic (from her point of view) aversive I rarely use "escape training" ie -P because I'm crap at it. But I guess a long spell in the crate or shut out the back without me - which gets me a more focussed and willing dog (for a while) - is a variety of this. And there are shades of grey where everything meets and overlaps in the middle. I just get really pissed at trainers who think reefing on a collar is a good idea. Or never treating is good. Or that screaming at a dog who has no idea what the problem is - will help. And I see these things EVERY DAY. I prefer the trainers who are willing to use all methods available (apart from violence), but starting with rewards... and aiming to phase out or not use baseball bats (extreme +P). One of the training groups I'm with has arguments about whether a non reward marker is a +P. ie aversive. Just me stuffing up and kicking myself when training or competing is enough to discombobulate my dog, same as if I'd scolded her. So I do have to be very careful with the aversives. On "cheating" I tend to think of "luring" as "cheating".

Weasels - I also make sure lead going on means lots of treats - most of the time. Especially if we're out in an off lead space. Lead goes on and off and on ... all the time. There is a bad person at our dog club who yanks her dog around on the choke collar and screams at it when it nicks off instead of doing a recall. It's horrible and embarrassing to watch. She's a club instructor. Our chief instructor knows she's bad and her methods are bad, but does nothing for fear she will lose three or so of her most reliable instructors. If she could lose those - she'd gain about ten instructors who refuse to instruct because of them.

This is like asking - how can we stop car accidents happening, they shouldn't happen. We can do things to reduce the chances but every now and again - someone just isn't with it or doesn't see the other car (in the same way you don't see the black around motion picture film frames). It's also like asking - how can we stop bugs in computer programs... Attacks by dogs allowed to roam the streets unsupervised, those should be prevented. But attacks on teasing children, or people told not to poke their fingers in the crate - they're harder to stop.

As far as the bin goes, I never put anything my dog wants in it. Anything of that nature stays in the fridge or freezer until rubbish collection day, or goes outside to the sulo bin that she has never figured out how to get into. She did cop a bit of a self inflicted aversive when small - the bin bit her. She hasn't tried again. She had a similar problem trying to shove through a too small gap in a doorway and pulled the door shut on herself. Hasn't tried that again either. But that is the perfect way to apply an aversive - it's entirely a consequence of the dog's own thoughts and actions. If she's doing something naughty, I put the lead on her (stop the fun - technically an aversive?) and redirect to something I do want.

I'm having trouble figuring out how something that heavy, even if it was just tanned skin and fur, would get off the ground with tiny propellers in that configuration. Me thinks - publicity stunt with erm - wires.

The ANKC code of ethics and the RSPCA both say the dog is not to be rehomed before 8 weeks old. In the USA - they say 7 weeks is ok but here, that's considered too young in terms of best immunity from mother's milk and social development. I don't know about the worms thing. The separation anxiety does seem extreme.

I don't get how so many professional trainers can avoid the science that's out there. Aversives don't work as well as rewards. They can still work but it usually takes longer. Dogs are not very good at figuring out what you don't want. They're better at figuring out what you do want them to do (especially if you give them a reward for that). So if my dog is doing something I don't want her to, I make a decision about what I do want her to be doing instead and ask for that and reward that. Being careful not to get back chaining ie being naughty to get to do something good and get rewarded... I haven't met many well trained dogs using reward based methods who are also fat. It's the dogs where the owners have completely given up their share of the training and are letting the dog train them, - they have fat dogs. Look in to my big round eyes... feed me... feed me more...

My neighbour got in an adelaide bark busters person in for his dog. I didn't like her methods, and he didn't either. And his dog still barks and he thinks it can't be fixed because of the breed(s) (puppy mill special). He doesn't like my training methods either. Too embarrasing to be cheering a dog on the back lawn for a "shitnapiss"...

It could be worse. It could be critter crap. That's what my dog loves. She's recently discovered horse poo at the beach (where the trotters exercise). And then there is the stuff in copious quantities at my dog club.

yes. When I first got my puppy - I just put her in the crate when I needed to go out, or do something in the kitchen without her, which was traumatic for both of us. Then I got a copy of crate games, and went through the program. I think she got to Yer in Yer out in about 20 minutes or so - some dogs take longer, some are faster... and crate time now is much more fun. And we review it often. Ie I have a crate set up in the lounge room and we play get in the crate, come out the crate, in front of the telly... And I use the crate for her at club training when I'm setting up or taking stuff down or generally need to be doing something else. And she's quite happy to be in there - though last night I had to cover the door up so she couldn't see me. Otherwise she tries to get my attention being naughty or yelling. A cow hoof in there helps too. It just makes the crate a much nicer place to be. She drags me to it at training... And several of her friends like being in there too.

you probably need something alkaline to neutralise the pee. I get yellow spots but I don't worry too much because while the burn is bad the lawn likes the acid and the nitrogen, it grows back really green and thick - the rest of my soil is extremely alkaline clay stuff. So alkalines that might help detergent - eg tipping your washing up water on the or laundry water - my lawn likes the laundry water cos of the phosphorous or something else in it. But long term it's probably not good on alcaline soil but good on dog pee... Don't put vinegar - cos that's acid - it's good for clean up with bicarb not not straight. I'd consider putting bicarb in water on the spots - because that should neutralise the pee and help with the smell. Dry might not have much impact unless it rains a lot. Saving some of what comes out of the washing machine might be the cheapest option. Ash from fires is also alkaline and soap... soap would smell nice. Teaching your dogs to go where you want them to, may also help. Some dogs like to save up till they're not home and others like to only go at home. If your soil is having trouble with all the water and not draining, coring and top dressing with sand and maybe gypsum might help especially if its a bit clay like. Or use clay if it's sandy and acid. Ie make clay slurry with water and water that in. Edit for crap spellin - tho I prolly missed some more

I agree with the others about getting professional help. I think you'd have to train each dog separately - starting with the worst one. And do some variation of desensitization / LAT (look at the cat, treat, look at me, treat - the simple version). If you can get the naughty dog to be calm and eat lots of treats when the cat is around instead of being in chase mode - that will help. And it will take more than one session. But I still wouldn't trust the cat to be safe when they're all home together without you. I've used similar methods - limit opportunity, look at me - treats, etc to stop my dog from chasing things she shouldn't but every now and again - she forgets herself. Or an unexpected opportunity presents (eg my brother doesn't know his cat as well as I know my dog). And it all goes to hell, and that would be all it takes for the cat to be history. My brother's cat was fine, she ran up a tree and I kept evil hound on lead after that - that was my original plan but not my brother's - should never have believed him when he said his cat wouldn't run. He was wrong.