moosmum

Hi Kailam, In the meantime,it would be best if you do not allow your puppy to play with your cat.If they are to get on,its important that he does not see the cat as a toy and if your cat will not put him right NOW,thats what will happen. Let them interact,but as soon as pup tries to play with the cat,put a stop to it and give him some thing else.i would keep them separated when you can't do do that.

JulesP, While I can see where you are coming from,I think you have missed an important point. This bloke hasn't brought home unwanted dog,He has taken away the womans choice and given her responsibility for HIS choice! I agree with others comments,but I would try to get her to at least point out to this bloke that these dogs are not what she wanted. They are what he wants. Its HER birthday and if she is going to take responbility for a dog,its got to be her choice or it will be unlikely to work out.

O.H is a mechanic. We use old car seats for our very big dogs and find they don't get chewed like plain foam since the covers are streched tight. They are cheap to replace when they get old and smelly.

Mars, I have a Dobe. Girl who is 12 and still going strong and we expect ours to live to 14 on past experience. My 1st dog,a collie cross lived to 18 years.He saw me through my childhood and the birth of my children.Very sadly missed to this day.

A friend has just asked if I have any ideas how to stop her 3-4 month old female puppy Weeing on her bedding every time she is given a fresh mattress or rug to lie on. She has otherwise been house trained from 8 weeks old and her owner says it seems like she is marking it. I have not seen this before. Any ideas?

Absolutely agree! The first looks untidy to me and as though he's hit the roids, the second looks very clean and sexy. All Dobes should look sexy IMO, they're a classy dog. Got to agree,I prefer the less extreme older types myself. (Steroids were my thought too)

When I was looking for a very specific type of dog I had no idea where to start,and was unable to find what I wanted for years,literaly.When I found it,it was a cross bred. Your average member of the public has never heard of DOL,does not subscribe to dog magazines. They are unaware of the resources. Searching breeders on the net can be very time consuming and may be of little help if litters are unavailable. my search brought me into contact with a lot of shonky establishments. It would have been nice to be able to find reputable places as easily. I think its about accessability and can't understand why that would not be a good thing.

Well i hope it works for poor Mason quickly,its awful seeing them so uncomfortable with this. Good luck with the treatments. If he has allegies already I think the water may well have set this one off.Poor boy.

I don't drink beer (or any alcohol) much. And she knows better then to get between me and caffeine. There is risk taking, then there is plain foolishness ...but the serious answer is no, I'm careful not to let that happen. But she would if she could. The one I had as a kid used to pick th poppies mum had growing,pluck all the petals and eat the centres.Yep,a druggie!

The girl we have now was just raised as part of the family,with the kids.No formal training, she never needed it! The one I had as kid tho' got lots of training.Could be very stuborn with a kid as leader but learned so easily!Back then I used to challenge that I could train him to do anything with in 5 minutes,just say what.(stupid kid,smart dog) Enormous self confidence in both these dogs too.

Interesting! We have to take the phone off the hook if we leave our girl because if it rings and we aren't her to answer she will try to get it off the hook.Also great at alerting us to things that are as they should not be,like horses in the yard or another critter in trouble.She often tries imitating our behaviour and has a great sense of the ridiculous.She even has a "silly walk" where she lifts her feet out and to the sides in an exagerated manner while tossing her head side to side. I had another like this as a kid and they have both been very cluey dogs as far as people go,with a very human like type of intelligence. The other was more easily bored,being a town dog and would wander to look for amusement.(in the years when this sort of thing was common and taken for granted!)Both try new things and "helping". ie: see you watering the garden so come up nudging your hand till you give them the hose to have a go themselves.

Yeah, I didn't think your dog was allergic, just chucked that out there more for Mason's mum Weird that the vet didn't say what it was... did they offer a treatment at all? Can you ask them? The vet offered no ideas at all! I was prety disapointed,but 2 of my kids get a allegies and their skin reacts to the dam water too,so I have assumed its a bacterial problem and just avoid the dam,but when she does get in there it flares up overnight and I just resume the wound spray while its working.

Did your vet say what is was? I would suspect bacterial or fungal cause if related to the dam... Mason's Mum: An allergic dog may be more prone to picking up fungal or bacterial things from the dam / river as well, as their skin barrier function may be compromised, so getting that functioning better may help in the long run... Nope. Vet had her there under anesthetic for speying,so a good chance to look and explore.She has no other alegies and 12 yrs. Wound spray takes a few days,but does clear it till next time she gets her feet in the water.

I will be interested to hear what your vet says,because my girl gets the same and the vet was no help at all! I tried bathing in salt water,antiseptics and antibiotics. What does work is the enzyme wound sprays. It seems to come after a dip in the dam water so i try to keep her out. Would be nice for a better solution though.

Yep,I've got one too. She is not particularly drivey or excitable,never been easily bored but thats likely her environment too....Lots of mental stimulation She can be an emarrassment tho'. She will poke and prode at things,like the girl sitting on the curb with her back to us.As we walked past Lou gave her a sharp prod on the back of her neck to test out the neat little bun sitting there! Just a big sticky beak,always checking out anything new and not shy about it.

How about a Doco. on dogs changed role in society? Increasing time demands on families, legislation and lack of education is leading to fewer dogs seen in society...which leads to lack of education,more complaints,more legislation and fewer dogs in society. I think the need for education on dogs in school cirriculum(safety and behaviour around dogs,legislation, empathy/behaviour and welfare)is imperative to avoid the problems escalating to more of th same. Should be some great footage from the not so long ago when dogs were taken for granted in large numbers sharing kids fun times.

Dobes can't herd?!! Some one forgot to tell my old boy.He used to bring the goats back for us when ever they got onto the railway track! As for similarities between Rotties,Dobes and Ridgies,I believe it! We had pure dobes for years untill we were given a 3 way cross of those breeds. She is fantastic,the sweetest,most placid and affectionate dog you could ask for.Loves kids and other animals.BUT if she thinks we are threatened she will react fast and decisively.We might not need protecting.It might because someone has jumped towards us suddenly,or not hearing us say "NO" to what they are doing or a visitor yelling at their kids. The good thing is she has ALWAYS responded instantly to her name even if starting to chase a 'roo and has never been in the least agressive otherwise. The dobes are my choice.

Dogs started their development alside man and have been left behind with modern advaces that make them mostly superfluous. They are not a kown quantity taken for granted as part of our lives any more. Too many have very little understanding of dogs as a species and have become intolerant and ignorant. I believe education in starting in Primary school as part of school cirriculum is needed. Educate kids from the start on dogs- How to safely behave around them,their needs,why breed characteristics are important to consider,care and welfare. Where to go for help with problems and training,why socialisation and responsibility is needed. get kids interacting with dogs,seeing their abilities and what they have still to offer us if done responsibly....Then take the kids to the shelter to see the other side of the coin! And rather than legislate against dogs,educate society and enforce the laws we have,which should be edquate. Many nasty attacks could be avoided if people had a better understanding and empathy with the species we grew with. We have all these movies about meeting and interacting with alien species and cant even manage the ones we evolved with! Its not complicated,its not hard,it benefits every one from the dogs to their owners and non-owners.It just needs people to start demading -No more legislation with 1st education.

Hi Tups, I know of one that may well suit you,if Sydney is not too far? but don't know how to pm! edited for spelling of Tups!?

Just as well I knew what you meant! Just a quick update...good days, bad nights. He is if anything even stiffer than a few days ago, but is still happy so far. During the daytime, when it's a bit warmer, he is a bit less stiff. In the evenings and at night, he seems to be getting progressively worse. My ex came over this evening and even though he saw Kuges trip over his own feet and nearly face plant it, ex said he still seems happy so it's not quite time yet. I can only presume he may be stiff but is not in too much pain or he wouldn't seem so happy. I guess if it becomes too painful, I'll see the signs, but I'm guessing I wasn't too far off after all. I'm thinking it's a matter of weeks at the most. I've thought for years that it couldn't be more than 6 months off, I never imagined the heart meds would buy 4 more years! he's had a couple of incidents that I thought might be it in the last couple of years - the IVS scared the crap out of me but he recovered...mostly (hence the occasional loss of balance and falling over) and he reacted badly to a bee sting over the christmas break and I thought his heart would give up (his first bee sting in his life had to be when he was old and vulnerable - up until then I'd just presumed he didn't react, but somehow he'd managed to avoid being stung almost his entire life, go figure!) In January he had a really flat day where he didn't move and didn't wag his tail and I was in tears thinking that was it but he bounced back the next day as if nothing had happened... Wheew! I'm glad you knew what I meant Glad I made you laugh anyway! You have likely tried it already,but just in case.... I have terrific and fast results for Lou with the green mussel stuff.

Hi there Horty! I was hoping this would happen!! So pleased for you! I guess its like a practice run tho',now you will be better prepared with the details when the time does come and we all want that to be a good ways off yet. I agree with your vets though,as long as he is aware,eating and happy,slow as is o.k! I've gone through the same many times now and they have had some realy bad days that would pass just from simple things like an upset tummy. Hope Kuges is feeling better again today and its just been one of those little things that makes the oldies feel "today is just a lot more work."

With so few dogs/owners left,they would be a rare and novel species. None could be taken out in public with out being in danger of peoples reaction to them causing more trouble again. Little kids either running away screaming or treating them like fluffy toys,adults grabbing their kids away,abuse and threats from people no longer able to see a companion,only a "dirty animal"in public. I think serious education as part of school ciriculum is the only way,and should be started asap.

What about "learnt dominance" or "relational dominance" or "learnt relational dominance" ? :p ETA: I have known a good number of dogs that I would not regard as dominant no matter which way you look at it, yet could be described with the words you have used above. Yeah,I left out the dominince bit:rofl:

Adaptive relational dominance?

Well I agree I have been misusing the word "dominance". A better description for what I've been calling a dominant dog might be a highly intelligent,decisive dog.An intitiator able to make quick judgments and act independently.Or some thing along those lines But thats a lot of words and I sure can't think of another to say all those things. Thats, about the only way around it. Dominance is often the way those qualities are expressed for results. Acts of Domince should not form the whole basis of the description.Its an act,not the dog. So it seems a new descriptive word is needed here. If enough people can ever agree we are describing the same thing.