Simply Grand

Oh your poor mum I can't imagine the emptiness. What an amazing legacy Micha has left, setting you on your path. He will never be forgotten.

Not always TSD, with Quinn she often goes on the lead in this circumstances, sometimes we then approach the child, other times I can't be bothered training so we just walk away. I shall read about Premack though.

This thought floats around in my head quite regularly. So I understand the concept that they learn that a certain behaviour means they get something rewarding so they are willing to repeat the behaviour. But there's no way that the half a Goodo Quinn gets (sometimes, not every time but fairly often) as a reward for recalling actually brings her more enjoyment than racing over to the kid she's spotted and smothering them with kisses would. Ad yet she'll still come to me when I call in that situation. Saxon will stand on his hind legs and spin in a circle 10 times in a row when a little kid figures out that they can get him to and then inevitably doesn't actually give him a treat reward :laugh: I know he expects the reward eventually but even with no sign of it if they keep cuing him he'll keep spinning. Today all three of mine were working their butts off trying to earn "treats" from a lady we know at the park. The treats in question? The same dry kibble they get for their meals every day. I'm sure we could all give a million examples of this so how does it work? I guess there is some combination of a drive to work with us as part of their "pack" (but why do they respond to people who aren't in their pack?) and conditioning plus they get attention I guess but I wonder if they actually get something intrinsically rewarding from doing the things we ask of them. It has to be more than just "maybe this time I'll get a tiny piece of something yummyish". Any thoughts?

Hahahaha! Seems logical to me :p

Oh no, so very sorry huski

I don't think SL (or I) is saying that because Zig is good with other dogs people don't need to worry about other SBTs, Amstaffs or mixes being a problem, just that some of them are good with other dogs. From what I've seen of Zig he is a good dog communicator. I don't think he's a pushover and I'm sure SL wouldn't be shocked if he defended himself if another dog was aggressive towards him but both he and SL work to avoid him having to. So it is possible, and Zig isn't the only one out there like that. But definitely I agree with everyone saying these type of dogs can cause problems with other dogs, particularly if they are not well bred, properly socialised and trained and managed appropriately. I think it's really unfortunate that they are so readily available to people who don't know what they are getting or what they need to do once they have the dog. I met a 16 week old SBT at the park this evening belonging to a young couple who had no clue what they were doing. He was a confident puppy, full on play style, running up and jumping and pawing at Quinn and the another adult SBT there, who were both happy to play in that rough and tumble style but you could see this puppy as an adult entire male wouldn't take kindly to being told to piss off by another dog he was annoying then. The owners were embarrassed when he sniffed other doggy butts, annoyed at his attempts to hump, had no idea what play bowing was and when he wouldn't come when called got increasingly frustrated and angry at him. I can see them getting increasingly frustrated as he grows and does things they don't want and giving up trying to train him and letting him do what he wants. And of course, continuing to bring him to the off leash dog park. There are plenty of these types of staffies around, I know. And I also move my dogs away when a staffy type I don't know shows up, but I also do that with Cattle Dogs, German Shepherds, Huskies, Rotties, actually pretty much any dog I don't know until I see how they interact with other dogs. I'm certainly not saying that the OP, or anyone, should get an SBT or Amstaff without a lot of thought, and they're not a dog I'd particularly want myself but if you follow the advice of someone like WreckitWhippet, find a breeder that carefully considers temperament and be sensible with socialising, training and what is suitable to do with your dog as it shows its individual personality you can still have a nice dog. A Cairn Terrier isn't teeny tiny and SBTs aren't huge so as long as they weren't having issues I don't see why they couldn't be left together as adults (bearing in mind with any dog you add to a household you could have a problem with fighting).

Pfft, yeah Zig's about to turn at any moment and start "attacking" other dogs, be scared SL!!

My Aussie Shepherd girl is completely fine socialising with other females :) I don't notice any difference between how she interacts with males and females. I'd be slightly more concerned about it at home but that's more because of her temperament, she's quite assertive and is the boss of the other dogs so she'd be fine with a softer natured girl but I'd worry about her with another female with a similar nature to hers, neither would want to back down if there was ever a conflict! She did live a female foster puppy I had from 8 weeks to 6 months and was completely fine with her so it can be fine. Out and about though, no issues.

No I didn't start handling her until she was 8 months. But I did help Steve temp test her litter so have known her since she was a baby. :) Oh you'll enjoy the puppy breath then!!

My Aussie Shepherd loves wrestley, bitey face type play, as well as chasing but the chase will generally end in a shoulder barge if she has her way :laugh: She holds her own well with dogs bigger than her but adjusts her style to play much more gently/carefully with my Sheltie (he is 7kg vs her 20kg). They still play "rough" but she is much more careful where she puts her feet and lands etc with him. She doesn't really play with my 6kg poodle x malt although she likes to chase and pounce on him (he doesn't love it tho)

She is gorgeous :) She has a wise look about her in those pics (pun not intended!) Did you not have Wiz from a baby huski?

Sharing with his Daddy Don! Good boy :) No carrot sharing in this house, it's grab one and run to spot to crunch away, Riley's favourite spot is my bed so I have to make sure the bedroom door is shut so I don't get carrot juice all through it,

I was grinning through that whole thing. Awesome!! Jumpy looks so happy :D

Almost all the comments on the story on the paper's website are supportive and saying its a good thing, hopefully that's reflective of the general public not buying into the crap the pet shop and puppy farm people are spouting I don't really understand the argument that not having puppies and kittens for sale in pet shops will drive things underground Buying from a pet shop already seems like the least transparent method possible, the consumer has absolutely no idea where the puppy came from and most likely the staff you talk to don't either. Even if you buy sight unseen over the Internet you still have SOME sort of contact with someone who either bred the puppy or knows who did. Still far from ideal but hardly less "underground" than a pet shop. And there are already plenty of random BYBers breeding "underground" without following any regulations, that's not going to be something new from banning pet shop sales. Re. Puppy farms I don't see how it makes a difference to them being monitored whether they sell to pet shops or not. The same requirements are still in place for the breeding establishments whether they sell to pet shops or directly via the internet or whatever. Whether they actually are inspected and held to the standards doesn't depend on where they sell their puppies. And having to make a bit more effort to bring their money in rather than just shipping off bulk lots to pet shops might make some places decide it's not worth their while anymore.

I want Didi smooshed up to me!!!

Wow!! That's fantastic.

Hot pink

Oh my god! I just discovered a massive hole chewed right across the back of my pants, right where my thing joins my bum!!! I WAS WEARING THOSE PANTS ALL AFTERNOON! I walked around the dog park and talked to people, I went to the DIY dog wash and stood there for ages while I washed the 3 dogs then I went to the shops!! Riiiiiilllley! ETA - I have just noticed my typo, I meant to write where my THIGH meets my bum, not my thing! I hope people realised that

Thanks mel :) it really wasn't that bad of an incident to me, Saxon was fine, I got a graze, meh. It was a thing that happened. I saw it as a dog with a high prey/herding drive that probably didn't have sufficient training and responsiveness with its owners to be in that situation. However Saxon and I do have the training and relationship to have dealt with it how we did. The problem would arise with a small fluffy dog and owner who don't, but I still don't really think the kelpie did anything other than be a dog. Re. picking up small dogs, that's an interesting thing. I occasionally pick up Saxon and regularly pick up Riley, part of Riley's training when he's looking like reacting is to jump into my arms on cue and be held. Many a dog will jump up and sniff him, yip, bounce around, which is fine with me and Riley, but very very few actually bite or snap, so I think it's normal for them to be curious and investigate but actually biting at either dog or human is a different thing. Having said that, in the heat of a chase like the kelpie was, I doubt it saw me, it just followed its prey. I don't think that makes a bad dog, just one that needs more management if it's going to be around other dogs.

Mel, what you said just reminded me of something. I was at a dog park once and there was a kelpie doing the kelpie stalking chase thing towards my 6kg poodle x Saxon. Saxon's pretty good at reading dogs and he was worried about this dog, as was I, Saxon ran to me with the kelpie chasing. I picked Saxon up and held him in my arms, the kelpie jumped and got my thumb with its teeth, caused probably a 1.5 x .5 cm flap of skin to lift. It bled quite a lot but no harm real harm done. What would have happened if it had grabbed Saxon instead? I don't know. To me this incident could be explained as a dog was trying to attack my dog, I intervened and was bitten to the point of drawing blood. Should the kelpie be PTS? Like you say, it's not black and white in these incidents but it's so hard to know the actual facts.

Wow, what a piece of work that guy sounds like. He was raided by police looking for drugs because "people didn't believe he could make the kind of money he does from dogs." He says "I'm not a drug dealer, I'm a dog dealer". If he's making the kind of money from breeding dogs that people make from dealing drugs something is very amiss

Swazzie, it could also be that there is something in or on the roof sometimes that she hears or smells, a weird noise that she notices but humans don't, a smell... As you said, she's a perceptive, sensitive dog so she could pick up on all sorts of things that worry her coz they're out of the ordinary. Also my "special" middle dog will sometimes randomly become alarmed by something normal that usually doesn't bother him, like a blind he just watched someone pull down "suddenly" being in a different position. Last night it was a top hanging to dry on the curtain rod that had been there for hours, he suddenly spotted it amd froze. Who knows what goes through their minds sometimes.

My attitude to ghosts is if they are there they're there, whether I believe/know/worry about them or not so I may as well just get on with things and leave them be. Hopefully if I don't bother them, they won't bother me :)

My immediate thought was ghosts...

Hahaha, I can just picture Jake being excited - monotone, eyebrow up, standing there staring: "I am Jake, I am excited. The end"