Simply Grand

I'm just curious as to whether dogs show different behaviours when they are humping to try and dominate to when they are trying to mate or have a "sexual" motivation (in whatever form dogs experience that). As in, is it possible to tell what their motivation is by how they act? I started thinking about this after talking to a friend yesterday, her sister has a 7 year old entire male GR and their whole family are convinced that he is gay because apparently he only ever humps male dogs (and the occasional male human) and has never once tried to hump a female. I haven't seen him do it but i suspect that his behaviour is actually about dominance and that he quite possibly has done it to a female at some time in his life and they either haven't noticed or have conveniently forgotten because they'd already decided he was "gay" *eye roll*. I would also be surprised if, in the presence of an in season female, he wasn't interested (I jokingly said to my friend that I'll take Quinn over when she's in full heat and then we'll see if he's gay - of course I won't but their attitude annoys me ). My boy Riley started humping (or trying to) both males and females at around 8 months and continued quite vigorously until he was desexed at 13 months (he's now nearly 18 months and rarely tries to hump anymore) and there seemed to be a difference in the way he did it to males vs females. Hard to explain but with males he did seem more aggressive, appeared to try to hold the other dog still more and would have his nose pointing more forward or down. With females he would be sort of slower and gentler, and tend to tip his head back so his nose was pointing upwards. (If I were to describe it in human terms it would look like he was havin' a good time ;) ) So am I totally anthropomorphising with Riley and friend's family with their GR, or do you think they do behave differently depending on their motivations?

Oh, that is just gorgeous... too many * squee*'s. That is the cutest thing I have heard all day, you are adorable :) You poor sausage. I do feel more men having to tolerate all our "feelings" and stuff. Bahaha dyz, that's probably exactly the kind of girly post he's talking about! I did think "too many *squee*s" was really cute too :D

That is so cute! Love it.

What a responsible breeder *eye roll* I wonder what they were crossed with to make then so much "better" than pb pugs.

Hmm, so sheep appear to come up trumps in the 'well endowed' category!!

Ahh, there you go, thanks Weas. I tend to ignore Daddy long legs, rescue anything huntsman looking (ie big) and relocate them to out the front somewhere, and kill Red Backs or White Tails (kind of regretfully, I don't like to kill things). those are the only names I'm familiar with though so what I'm actually ignoring/saving/killing could be totally wrong - Sydney funnel web anyone??

Oh lord! I'm no arachnophobe but I still don't look at them that closely, you're brave Dx! I thought funnel webs were poisonous to hoomans? Tho I may have been told that in primary school.

Awww, cuddles, so cute :)

I know I already said it, but seriously, get Lesley Nelson's Really Reliable Recall dvd. Or even google, she seems to have Youtube vids. The DVD includes sections on "hard to train recall" breeds (lesley has sighthounds) and I actually think young Aussies are difficult to train in recalls because they can be sooooo enthusiastic about everything. So yes, they keen to please and keen to get treats, but they're also keen to explore and run and sniff and jump, everything is so exciting!

Oh, and as I discovered on Saturday, "look" doesn't work at all when she has realised that the alternative to recalling is stealing people food from the middle of someone else's picnic Lesson there, DON'T let her get close enough to see it.

Yes yes yes! I love this DVD. There are a few different aspects to the training and it's hard to explain it all but the DVD makes it really clear and easy to understand. Well worth the investment. The main points are (very basically) that you condition them to come to a certain call without even thinking about it so they dont decide the alternative is better, and that you do this by using the call and rewarding really well every time they happen to be coming to you anyway, then whenever they do come when called, so that when you really need them to come on command they do. I agree about changing whatever word you've been using, or having a special word that you can teach him to associate with an extra special reward that he will get when he comes. Quinn will usually recall for the normal doggy treats I carry (coz she's a piggy who will eat anything) but the temptation to jump on people, especially kids, is still often too much for her so I've started giving her cheese when she recalls from a particularly tempting alternative. I've been using the word "look" instead of "come" when she's going to get cheese (started by saying "look" then shoving cheese in her mouth to get her to associate the two, like charging a click or bridge word). It's working pretty well, we are getting there! BTW, "look" wasn't a good choice because I've realized I say all the time in other situations so I may have to change the word to something I don't say at other times then it should be more reliable.

Sorry perse, the wrinkly spotty creature is so not cute :p

Unless it was injured or something of course.

Unless you live in an area where cats must be contained or have a curfew I'd leave it alone. Plenty of cats wander and if it let you approach and pick it up it wouldn't be a stray or feral. When I see cats around here (where there are no containment requirements) I say Hi puddy and go on my way.

Hehehe... It looks like an alien.

I agree that a vest or shirt that actually says please don't approach would be more effective. I think even with advertising much of the general public wouldn't absorb what the ribbon meant (people often don't tune in to advertising that they don't think affects them) and then would they even notice a ribbon on a leash? Declared dangerous dogs are meant to wear a yellow and red collar I think. I saw two dogs out and about wearing these once before I knew what they were, and they were quite effective I thought because they looked like a warning, red and yellow often being used as warning colours in general life.

Hahaha, now Im picturing a kid patting her and her toppling over and just lying there still like a toy :)

That sounds like so much fun!! Is it actually a job, as in you get paid? Or volunteering?

Actually your cafe comment just reminded me, last time I visited my sister (she lives in Coogee, Sydney) she was telling me about these 2 giant Dalmatians they often see at the cafes, who reacg about her chest height. I said are you sure they're not Great Danes? She said well they're white with black spots... We happened to see them the next am at breaky, a male and female Dane (white with black spots but clearly Danes) chilling at their owners' feet. They got plenty of attention and were lovely and relaxed :) I did freak out a bit when a lady who clearly didn't know them let her toddler wander over and cuddle the dog around the head! The dog was fine, so chilled, but I did say to my sister, when you have kids don't let them do that!

Ooooh yeah, it would definitely be a far down the track thing! My whole household and doggy lifestyle have had to change just going from 5-7kg/28-35cm dogs to a 23kg/52cm one. I can only imagine adding one twice her size *eeep* I've met 4 or 5 IRL and I can see that they are not easy to manage, and that you do have to be mentally able to control them as you cannot physically control them when they're that size. I have seen that they seem to bond closely to their people tho :) There's no way I'd get one if I had other young dogs and didn't have lots of time for training/bonding. It's funny, when I first got into dogs and found DOL I had such a long list of possible breeds, the more I've learnt and experienced tho the shorter the list has become, just because of my own preferences... So aside from what I already have the only new breed possibilities on my list ATM are Rotties and Danes. Plenty of years ahead tho :)

Double post, stoopid iphone

They're all so gorgeous! I love Dora's little face peering thru in the car shots, what a cutie :) she looks like she adores Zeus. I love your cats too, heehee at smug Cloud :)

Gosh Rolf's gorgeous, and hilarious! I think Danes are now on my list of possible future breeds, they're such lovely dogs.

They're so sweet :) Stan cracks me up, he sounds like such a character! Yes, I too have been accompanied to the toilet by increasing numbers ever since Saxon came home 3 years ago, they're so helpful *eye roll*

It's amazing that the dog had the reasoning skills to understand that the train would get to the point where his owner was and that he needed to move his owner to save him!