Simply Grand

Clever girls :) Why is Daffy wearing boots/socks on her front feet?

Any of the Collie breeds have the big coat drops a couple of times a year too, not bad day to day but hair everywhere when they do shed.

Except if they look like a teddybear they aren't exactly going to put people off :laugh: Get a black one, with a big bark! :D

*ahem (flame suit on)* This seems like the kind of situation for which people may want to develop a med/large, non-shedding breed with a family pet temperament... just saying. Hunbun, I'll send you a private msg :)

True HW, but like you say better than nothing. It's generally a last resort for people who have no other option, no one to take their pets and no money to pay for boarding. I'd much prefer my dogs be safe from harm, secured and fed than left with someone who might hurt them. I hope RSPCA Vic does use the funding for what it's intended and really makes an effort to help people, it's such an important service.

Oooooohhh! Poor Don and poor you! That panicked scream of genuine pain is the worst. Glad you got him out ok and hope the peanut butter toast heals all wounds.

The bunnies ones make me feel sad but the dogs one make me smile. I'm not much of an art person so I'm surprised at the difference in my response

I'd be very careful chucking food around in a group of dogs, you get a resource guarder or god forbid more than one in the group and you could have SERIOUS fights. If you haven't seen a dog switch from sweet and loving to "I will seriously kill you" over food it can be something that doesn't occur to you, but it's really risky. Like everything else, food needs to be CAREFULLY controlled by you.

Thistle, just thought I'd highlight this bit of my long winded post above, in case you don't want to read the whole thing: Now I have done a whole heap of training with my dogs at off leash dog parks and have had great success BUT their issues and temperaments are suitable for it and I've seen the progress. If they weren't progressing or were going backwards I wouldn't have continued. Thistle, I think your plan sounds good and you have your trainer's help and support which is great. My main warning after years of dog parks is err on the side of caution, take it slow and don't go at busy times, as you've already said you will do. You may well find that you come across some regulars with compatible dogs who can help you with your training down the track Or you may not. There aren't a whole lot of places one can go to be around dogs/people/children/whatever stimulus you want to work with so I've used dog parks as a resource for that as well as for exercise. I think we just have to be sensible about it, and always keep our dogs' stress levels and progress or lack thereof in that situation at the front of our minds. Do come back and let us know how you go :)

Dbl post

I'm sorry but I strongly disagree with some of this advice. 1. I would not be putting a dog that does not like strange dogs in a situation where they will encounter strange dogs running up to or approaching them in any way that you cannot control. If I'm in a situation where an off leash dog appears unexpectedly and rushes toward my dog and assuming I'm not in a position to get us safely away, my first step is to ask the owner to call their dog back, then body block the dog so it cannot get to mine until the other owner can retrieve their dog and if the dog slips past me I will do what I can to grab the other dog and physically restrain them from getting to my dog whilst trying to keep my dog behind me. At no time would I pull my dog off of his front paws so that he was not only frightened but feeling even more vulnerable and unable to defend himself, given that I want him to trust me and rely on me to protect him. There is also the risk that your dog will see being pulled off it's paws as punishment and then associate other dogs with being punished, increasing reactivity. 2. I agree that very short greetings with new dogs are best and many follow the three second rule, which is to count out 1, 2 and on 3 you move away. However, I don't think it's necessary for reactive dogs to meet strange dogs that are unknown quantities. It would be much, much better when your dog is ready, to meet new dogs in a controlled setting where the other dog has been vetted beforehand to ensure they are an appropriate dog for your dog to meet and minimise any chance of things going wrong and undoing the progress that has been made with your dog. 4. Food is an incredibly powerful tool for counter conditioning and desensitising dogs to triggers. Out of all the owners of reactive dogs I've spoken to and all the trainers and behaviourists I've spoken to, I've not heard of what you describe happening unless the timing of the treat delivery is wrong. I'm not saying it's not happening with Frosty by any means but I do think it is something that would be such a rarity that it's not a good example of how the majority of dogs respond to the use of food in behaviour modification training and not a reason for people to avoid using food. I agree with you Snook, and I think the problems Mrs RB has raised are all issues of timing and "setting up for success". Putting a reactive dog in a park where there are off leash dogs that can approach you is setting yourself and the dog up for failure. Dogs WILL approach in those areas and it doesn't matter whether the off leash dog has the best recall in the world or none at all, by the time the dog is running towards your dog and the other owner has time to call the damage has been done either way (as you well know Snook). Now I have done a whole heap of training with my dogs at off leash dog parks and have had great success BUT their issues and temperaments are suitable for it and I've seen the progress. If they weren't progressing or were going backwards I wouldn't have continued. Thistle, I think your plan sounds good and you have your trainer's help and support which is great. My main warning after years of dog parks is err on the side of caution, take it slow and don't go at busy times, as you've already said you will do. You may well find that you come across some regulars with compatible dogs who can help you with your training down the track :) Or you may not. Re back chaining, yeah dogs will do it. Quinn picked it up super quickly with me teaching her "stay down" cue, the cue and reward are for keeping four feet on the ground when she greeted people and as soon as she got that she'd be running up to people and deliberately not jumping on them then racing back to me for her treat. It took me longer to realise she was doing it than it did for her to figure out it worked. Even Riley, who is far from clever or a quick learner has figured it out with his "be nice" cue (approach a dog he wants to react to, not react then come back to me for a treat). Because they were offering "desirable" behaviours (sort of) it was easy enough to manage using variable reward schedules and asking unexpected different means of getting the reward sometimes, meaning that the run up/don't do anything/run back to me behaviour stops having the predictable treat outcome they wanted and therefore less worth trying (it's a bit more complicated than that but so hard to explain in writing!) However if your dog is offering an undesirable behaviour as part of the chain you obviously can't let them keep doing it so you need to go back further than the dog has and introduce new desirable behaviours that you can capture. If you let the dog get to the point of lunging and growling then reward them for stopping you are rewarding the wrong thing at the wrong time. You need to keep the dog in situations where it can succeed and get the timing right to reward them for that. It really doesn't matter what the reward actually is, use whatever works, the theory is the same, but if food is what your dog thinks is the best thing in the world they are more likely to respond to it as a reward or a positive association and there's no reason not to use it IF you are getting your timing and management right.

That's awesome! :laugh: I want it.

Roo is only 11.5 weeks old if I'm calculating right, I think he probably just isn't old enough yet to be giving clear signs when he needs to wee. Baby puppies do literally just suddenly go when try need to, they can't fully control it and by the time they realise they need to go they are already going. I haven't done two puppies at once but I have done four puppies in four years and unfortunately wee on the floor is just part of the deal. You just have to try and be as patient as you can and keep up taking them out regularly, making a big fuss whenever you catch them going outside (I used to keep a container of treats in reach of the door so I could reward with them as well as praise) and no fuss, just quietly clean up when they go inside. I stopped with even trying to interrupt and get them outside until they were a bit older and I could see it start to click for them as I found no attention at all for going inside vs lots of great things for going outside seemed to make it clearer to them that it was worth making the effort to go outside.

Re the wardrobe, it's probably just comfy and cozy and familiar. Quinn likes to lie under the bed, even though she can hardly fit under there, she started when she was little and just likes it there.

That's interesting Don. Did she do the same before you got Bon? Does she actively get up and move if you come into a room or does she just always seem to end up somewhere else? I wondering if it's actively wanting to be on her own or whether she has a routine of where she goes when regardless of what you are doing.

Hi Melissa, good on you for doing your research to make sure you are getting a dog from an ethical source :) Re your comment that you are looking at a Jack Russel x Chi because you loved the temperament of your last one, bear in mind that it is highly unlikely another of the same cross will have the same temperament. When it comes to cross breeds it's anyone's guess which traits of each breed the pups will get so you could easily end up with a dog completely the opposite of the one you had before. Even in pure breeds there is lots of variation between individuals, even within the same litter, so your best bet might be to identify what it is that you want in a dog (which you've started to do already re size, exercise levels etc) then either get some recommendations for breeds and a good breeder who can match you with the kind of temperament you are looking for from the puppies in their litter OR talk to rescue groups and shelter staff about an individual dog or puppy that would suit you.

Yes I think they're native, the browny ones you see everywhere. I think WIRES is NSW? I'm just looking up what there is in Qld.

There is a pair of ducks that have apparently decided to take up residence just up the road. The female has a bulge underneath her near her back end so I think she may be about to lay eggs. The trouble is for the last two days they have been wandering around all over the road. They are completely oblivious to cars and often just stop and stand in the road in front of them. I am worried they are going to get hit And I definitely don't want them sticking around with ducklings in tow. What should I do?? Call RSPCA to see if they will come and move them? Try and catch them and take them somewhere?

Yup, that's what she looks like to me.

If she is purebred I'd be expecting pedigree papers with her, otherwise no way I'd believe it. From the way it's written up it sounds like the people who surrendered her gave the breed details so could be true, like that imported Beauceron that ended up in rescue

I suspect it means they are reconsidering small breed dogs in the free range area, but who knows. The "breed" (or mix) I assume you are referring to Td is so common that I doubt they'd stop taking them for business reasons. I'm actually a bit worried about Dave's state of mind, I hope he has some psychological support ETA and he clearly needs to change things if he wants to continue running this business.

Oh god, they are handling this so badly. What are they thinking saying that? So many holes in the story. If they provided a full report of what happened to Wags they would have to know what happened, so one way or the other they are still not being honest.

It looks so cute!! :D

I was thinking along those lines too. The news said the baby was mauled but with a large dog and a tiny baby it could have been a case of the dog going what is this thing and picking it up by the head to investigate it, as dogs do. Curiosity rather than anything else maybe. Of course the dog shouldn't have had access to the baby though

Yep, my Aussie Shep would be fine with that exercise too (it's more than she gets with me ) but as the others have said they need some mental stimulation/training/work too as they are clever and curious so will find their own interesting things to do if you don't do it for them. Shedding agree, fencing agree - mine has never escaped standard 5' timber fencing though she probably could if she wanted, she jumps to look over the top sometimes. Mine doesn't have much of a prey or a herding drive, although she does enjoy a bit of a chase after birds and other animals sometimes - she's not very committed to it tho and I think it comes from her "wants to know what everything is and what it's doing and if it could be her friend" drive :laugh: I suspect I could bring out her drive with training if I wanted to but she suits me as she is for now. She does have a loud bark and will alert bark at unusual or exciting things (visitors approaching etc) but she's mainly set off by my other dogs and is quieter when she's on her own (she's the police for my smaller dogs so if they bark at something they look at her until she checks it out for them and tells me about it). As far as companionship goes, she's brilliant for that and is my little support person in life :)