Simply Grand

I'm finding it hard to word this without using terms I don't really want to use, so forgive me if its a bit clumsy! Quinn is my nearly 4 year old entire Australian Shepherd bitch. She is, and has always been, a confident and assertive dog, although she is very responsive to me and to other humans. Overall she is great with other dogs, she will play with some and is not overly interested in others (and with a select few will flirt her butt off) and she communicates well and I think very clearly with them in "dog language", including moving away and/or giving lots of warning if she is annoyed by something. However she is what would be called in old school language quite a 'dominant' dog. She tolerates rude or silly behaviour from other dogs but if another dog shows actual aggression towards her she will fight back. Now this really doesn't come up that often! Only a handful of times in her life and she has never injured another dog or been injured, or even had what I would call an actual fight, but there have been a couple of times when another dog has snapped at and made contact with her and I see her take pause for a second then go "that's not cool" and go back at them with lots of noise and carry on. It happened today with a regular dog we see at the park (a cattle dog for ease of reference), not one that plays with mine but they've been around each other and been fine. I noticed the other day that the cattle dog was quite seriously resource guarding a stick she had, from both other dogs and people, and noted then that I needed to keep my dogs away when she had a treasure. Today however I was playing with a ball I brought with Riley and another friend's dog, Quinn joining in now and then but she's not that interested in fetch, when this other dog and her owner came around the walking track. All fine for a while then the ball had come to a stop between my friend's feet, the cattle dog came in and grabbed it and lay down between my friend's feet to chew it, Quinn happened to be standing there behind my friend, the cattle dog guarded the ball from Quinn with a growl and snap and Quinn went back at her. I'm sure it wasn't that Quinn wanted the ball, she hadn't been interested in it, it was that she didn't like the cattle dog showing that guarding aggression towards her. So they scuffled briefly then the cattle dog backed down and ran, Quinn followed around in an arc then they came back within reaching distance and we each grabbed our dogs. Both dogs were physically fine, the poor cattle dog was quite stressed although ok, and Quinn was relaxed again as soon as I had hold of her. After a minute or less, with the ball obviously put away, they were fine around each other again. The other couple of incidents have been under similar circumstances. I am inclined to think it is not a behaviour problem, and is actually not a negative trait for a shepherd breed dog, which were bred not just to herd but also to protect their flocks. Obviously it is alarming for everyone when it happens though, and I do work very hard to keep Quinn out of those situations and will continue to do so. I know there will be mixed opinions on this, and I know the dog park issue will inevitably come up, and as I always say on that topic dog parks are not for all dogs or all people but I continue to find more benefit than risk in them and so will continue to attend. I am interested in people's thoughts though as I try and clarify my own opinion. Do you think this is a behaviour problem I should be trying to modify? Do I have an aggressive dog? Or is this an appropriate trait in a dog with an assertive temperament?

Hahaha, such a good thing about dogs, the more you tell them how happy they make you and how brilliant they are for just being them the happier they are :) Even though they probably constantly think how very weird us humans are

Oh Snook you must be so thrilled! Even I have little tears in my eyes thinking about it :D thank goodness you and the vet realised it could be the medication, not just him getting worse.

Lola is looking slightly less...um...focused than the other two :laugh:

Sending lots of positive thoughts for Pudding!! So glad to hear the others are going well now :)

Hahaha I like the sound of it! Doggy noses and paws work on iPhone/iPad screens too so they could even do their own swiping :D

Saxon reacts to the daddy ad too! He makes worried loud whiney noises. He first did it with the Allianz insurance ad where the people yell "aaaaahhh", I assume it's the pitch of the voices that sets him off. It sounds as though he's quite concerned about the people :laugh: Riley is hilarious about it, the second one of the ads start he leaps up and looks from Saxon to the tv and back like he's saying "come on, it's that ad!"

RP, to be fair I call Quinn Boofhead or Boofy all the time and it comes from a place of love, based on the way she barges through life with great enthusiasm :D To the OP, if you have a whole list of names and none are jumping out at you then I agree that you may need to get to know puppy first. With my oldest dog Saxon I had lists before I met him, then met him, had a dream he was called Saxon and knew that was meant to be his name :) Quinn was Quinn before she was born, that was always going to be my name for a blue Merle Australian Shepherd girl but it totally suits her so I just think she was meant to be my Quinny.

Yes and yes :)

Oh Ronin! :laugh:

I wondered what was actually going on! Off to google epiphora.

Yay Stan, happy Gotcha day :D PS Quinn says to tell you she just discovered that the child lock on the fridge is broken here so she can once again open the fridge, so keep trying yours, you never know your luck

OMG Quinn needs 'I'm why we can't have nice things' Oh and Riley needs 'I'm not crazy I'm special'. I'm always telling people he's a bit speshul :laugh: And Saxon would like 'Put treats in my mouf'

Quinn my Aussie Shepherd was all over the place at first, 1st season at 14 months, 2nd 11 months later, 3rd 5 months after that and now seems to have settled into 6 monthly.

I'd be quite surprised if a Justice could fake that much of a reaction Snook. I know dogs can manipulate and be pretty quick to make associations and "train" us but I think it might be too complex for a dog's brain to fake the whole thing including the shaking. It would also mean he'd have to have been aware enough during his genuine panics to register the different aspects of what he was doing in order to be able to fake them, which seems unlikely to me. It will be interesting to hear what the VB says. PS Lucky he's so gorgeous, with all he puts you through :)

That is so cute mita :D

They sound like they are doing really well! And their little personalities seem to be coming out more :D

Oh definitely, they don't actually need bathing frequently but doing it frequently when they are little and you are teaching them to handle it is about the experience, not the necessity. I hardly ever bath mine now they are adults, only when they are actually dirty, but I can do it when I need to without drama because they are used to the experience. Of course some dogs take to it just fine having a first bath at 1 or 2 or whenever, but I like to take advantage of the baby stage where they just accept things to subject them to as many things they might need in future as I can :laugh: I meant to say as well Sheridan, don't forget nail clipping. I really recommend doing clipping weekly as puppies, or at least going through the motions, again not because fhey need it but because trying to start clipping nails once they are grown and actually need it is even harder then struggling with puppy tantrums if they don't like it.

This is exactly what I would suggest :) At least once a week, progressing fairly quickly to normal full bath, and cuddles and something yummy afterwards. This way you are doing the no nonsense, this is happening thing but also not giving them the chance to get really worked up before it's all over again, meaning you don't have such a struggle and you can catch a moment when they aren't being psycho to end on so they don't learn that being psycho gets them out of it. I didn't actually do it in steps with mine for baths and drying, it was just 'this is what's happening, you're fine' then good things at the end BUT being toy and herding breeds I suspect mine a more obliging and less determined than yours so with yours I think building up to it could work better. With Saxon's (poodle x ) grooming I did use treats throughout, it was on the table, brush, have some cheese, clip a bit, have some cheese, clip a bit, cheese, have a break. Back on the table, clip a bit, cheese, etc etc. That's worked pretty well, he tolerates grooming fine now, no treats needed.

My Sheltie Riley is a barker. Hysterically, at everything and nothing. He is 4, he has not and will not now grow out of it. His automatic reaction to any stimulation is bark first, think later. I feel you, it drives me absolutely nuts! So I don't want to disheartening you but it may be an ongoing Bunny quirk. Or maybe you'll be lucky and it's a puppy thing she will grow out of In the meantime, other dogs, particularly my other dogs, set Riley off more than anything, so when I come home thy all jump around and get excited but only Riley barks (yells, I call it). His noise then sets off Quinn with barking, although she isn't compulsive like he is. If you really want it to stop I'd suggest they need to be separate whenever you aren't totally able to be on top of their behaviour, so that you can come home, greet Roo and totally ignore Bunny in another room until she shuts up. I also did 'any noise and I turned around and walked away' from Riley when he was a puppy, it didn't really work though. I mean he doesn't bark at me to demand things as that never worked for him but he still does the hysterical bark first think later thing. But maybe Bunny has a bit more self control than Riley...hopefully. Sorry, that's so not helpful, I'll see of I can think of some more useful advice when I'm less tired but I do absolutely understand your frustration ETA I love Riley despite his quirks, he's my "special middle child" and even though I often wish he'd just shut up I'd still never change having him, you get used to dealing with their annoying-ness :)

Oh yay! So glad to hear :)

(Apologies in advance, hate writing long posts on the phone and this has turned out long so it may not make sense!!) Again I'm not super knowledgable about Berners (ie never had or worked with one but have met a few), I think they are in the group that shed a little bit day to day then have big coat drops. There are some owners on here who can hopefully tell you more about actually living with them! With the Giant Schnauzers and the other "tougher" breeds that you mentioned in your OP, and I think even to some extent the Standard Poodle, exercise wise you would probably be fine with two half hour/one one hour walk a day or thereabouts once fully grown and probably fine to miss one here and there. Work wise, a couple of 15 min training sessions and/or brain games, and maybe food from puzzle toys etc would probably be fine too. The issue I see is more with having a super consistent approach and firm rules. Strong willed dogs NEED that for you to remain in control of them, especially if they are large as you will not be able to physically control them if you end up having to (not you personally, people in general). The trouble with that with kids in a household is that it's really difficult for you to maintain that consistency. Kids (and plenty of adults) are just not always capable of sticking to the limits like stone and clever, determined dogs figure out that inconsistency quickly and take advantage of it. The risk then is that you get a dog that thinks it is allowed to make its own decisions in unclear situations, such as kids new friend coming over, unexpected action from someone in the street, or even just the fridge they can open or dish they can reach and decide to open/break (constantly, yes from experience!) From what you've said I think you'd probably be fine with a Standard Schnauzer if it was just you OR if you can find a suitable adult that is good with kids and trained and settled in a household. But I'd be wary about taking on a puppy, young dog or dog that has been given up because previous owners couldn't deal with it, only because of the worry of adding stress your life rather than just the pleasure of a dog. Of course any dog is going to need that same training and consistency to some extent but the less determined, more biddable, eager to please ones are a little more forgiving of inconsistency and kids forgetting the rules than the strong willed, determined ones.

Where in Qld are you Hunbun? I'm on my phone so can't see if it's in your profile. If you're on the Gold Coast you're welcome to snuggle with my Aussie Shepherd and see how you go with her fluffy coat :) I'm not super knowledgeable about Newfies but in my experience they can be a little stubborn when they want to, in that if they decide they don't want to do something they plant their butt and, well, good luck shifting them! I'm not sure how biddable they'd be for obedience type training either. Great as far as loyalty towards "their" people though, especially kids. Love Berners :) if you can deal with the hair they might work.

I thought it must be something like that. How cool :D

Hunbun, I think your most important thing to figure out initially is the shedding issue then. If you only have issues with the short, spiky haired constant shedders but handle a double coat or coat drops ok your choices are much wider than if you really need non-shedding! Trouble is you'd need to spend a bit of time with a coat dropper dropping coat to see what it's like, when my two collie breeds drop their coats there really is A LOT of hair, it comes off my Aussie Shepherd in handfuls without even pulling and lasts for weeks on end twice a year, sigh. Definitely a great idea to get out and meet the breeds you're interested in, spend some time with them see what kind of personalities you like :)