Sharna3

Just to clarify, while it was a public road, it was a dirt road that runs through a pine plantation. Not farm land or private property. People commonly go to these plantations to ride motorbikes, walk dogs etc. because there's not any through traffic. From what I understand, the pup was let out of the car and the owners intended to follow it but the woman had to stop to get her son out of the car and put his gumboots on (no idea what the husband was doing). The 'shooter' was not a farmer but rather an individual who went hunting for feral animals. I absolutely agree that the owners made a mistake in letting Peppa vanish out of site over the crest, but I think a lot of assumptions are being made about the situation that aren't true and these people are being judged pretty harshly.

I had a friend who loved me unconditionally. The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up, his happiness shone from his entire being and his focus was solely on me. Always comfortable in each other’s presence – never an awkward moment. Our differences complimented each other and we found ways to combine our interests. When I was happy, he was happy with me. When I was sad, he was my greatest comforter – nothing could soothe me like his presence. When I was angry, his calm gaze and total lack of judgement was exactly what I needed to let the anger go. We loved to go for long walks and then just relax at home and watch tv or snooze. I knew his favourite things and tried to get them for him as much as I could. I gave him love, affection and trust as often as possible because it was all I could offer to attempt to repay everything he gave me. I lost my friend three years ago – today is his birthday. Time has helped me to deal with the loss but nothing will ever heal the hole that is left in my heart. I wouldn’t trade anything for the time I had with him, but I would trade everything to have him back with me. I miss him every day but I am so grateful I had him in my life. I will never forget him, never stop missing him and never, ever stop loving him. Happy birthday Bastian, my beautiful babyman x

SO TRUE! The media would scream "pit bull" if this was a negative story, but there is NO mention of breed because its a positive story. Pathetic.

One of my dogs is a "Velcro" dog. I move...he moves. Not 100% of the time, but if he isn't soundly sleeping, he will follow me from room to room, even to the bathroom. I'd like to understand better the motivation for this behaviour as well as t&t methods for changing it? I feel it's a security thing and would like to increase his confidence to negate it, but would love some fresh thoughts :)

Well, Harley has two solidly brown eyes. So it's not that. I realise green and red reflections are common. Just not sure about green and blue?

Hi, This may be totally normal... but thought I'd ask. Whenever I take a pic of one my dogs with a flash, one eye reflects the normal green colour and the other eye is bright blue. Anyone ever seen this?? Am I worrying about nothing? Will try to post a pic but on an ipad so not easy.

I would say, if you aren't breeding, neuter. I had an entire male rotti, and having him sterilized at 8yo due to prostrate issues was horrible. Meanwhile his persona changed not one iota afterwards, I just wished I'd done it sooner. In respect to growth and protectiveness, I now have a 2 yr old english mastiff x bullmastiff, had him neutered at 14 mths, he is a great size and build and is still displaying the guard behaviour specific to the breed beautifully. Hope this helps :)

Thanks guys :) this morning he seems to have stopped the dripping, just back to his normal drooling. But will keep an eye on it! My other thought was could it have been an insect bite?

Hi all, My 2 yr old mastiff x started salivating this afternoon, he always drools a bit (yay mastiffs), but this is different, more and thinner, just a constant drip from his mouth. He ate his dinner as per normal, is drinking fine, behaviour seems normal, but the dripping is not. I checked his mouth for anything stuck - nothing. He does have a broken tooth, but I'm not 100% sure when that happened. Any ideas???

I want to give the collars a go first, see if they help. Try one thing at a time so that if I get a positive result, I can be sure what I got it from!

Latest update; Dogs have been doing very well - we are still keeping them separated but have allowed very closely monitored contact. Took the dogs to the beach on Saturday - we are driving home for Christmas and trying to work out the best way to have them both in the ute (it has a canopy) together. We put Jazz in the car first and then Harley (with his lead firmly attached.) The dogs were so happy to be with each other - lots of tail wagging and face licking and then they just looked at us as if to say "What?" We have tie points in the back so that we can if necessary tether them at opposite ends, but they seemed totally at ease with each other. So we left them untethered and drove to the beach with me watching them the whole time like a hawk (but trying to be inconspicuous). At the beach they were again just their old selves. Harley was totally interested in his ball and Jazz just had a ball. At one point she crash tackled him which is something they always used to do; Harley did not react negatively at all. He just shook it off (Jazz had kept running, swinging around for another pass!) and kept chasing his ball. Back in the car for the trip home, the dogs again were totally at ease and layed down together. Once we got home - Harley was fine but Jazz would not just follow Harley and I into the back yard. She started to then froze and sat down. Once I moved Harley so I was between them, she came in quite happily. But it was so odd, the change in her demeanor was instant and dramatic. At the park etc. they are fine and walk side by side quite happily when husband and I walk them together. Still the tension in the house / yard though. DAP collars finally arrived today and are fitted. Lets see how they go, they may help with the anxiety Jazz displays here; for now we will just keep them physically separated and keep working on building their trust up in each other I guess!

Quick update: We are using dog crates and baby gates to keep physical barriers between the dogs and they ate doing fine with that. Jazz is being more relaxed around Harley and he seems back to normal towards her. Which is good but I'm not trusting it yet! Another positive is that on Harley's walk this morning, a little off-lead terrier came to say hello and have a sniff, and Harley was fine with her, they sniffed and then wanted to play. So I was happy to see that. Hopefully our DAP collars arrive today and we see further improvement

This is fantastic! Thank you!

Wow. 2 yr good behavior bond.. No conviction. What a great deterrent. Because there is no ATTRACTION in becoming a puppy mill, so this pathetic excuse for a consequence will be effective. Shame on the magistrate!

Thinking of you x

I can't find her :-( Will keep looking though. Sooo pricey, especially considering in the UK the collars are about 20 pounds - $AUD30 and the diffuser about $AUD40!! such a rip off. Thank god for ebay. If you ever need more, just look there

I really feel for you... What a sad situation.

Hey Christine, We have two collars on order, supposed to arrive today but didn't, hopefully tomorrow. We had them both wearing dap collars when we moved, plus a diffuser, but they "ran out", and fights started soon after. So we are getting new ones. Hopefully it helps! And yep, got them online for $47, as opposed to the vets $90!!

I would assume we could expect different behaviour from two sterilized dogs though? (obviously, you'd hope not this behaviour, but what I mean is I wouldn't compare the two eg entire vs sterilized?)

I do accept that its a big problem for sure. And I definitely put up the OP because I value the DOL community and have often gotten good advice and even just gems of information. I would not rehome the Mastiff because of a variety of reasons (breed, size, allergies) aside from any behavioural issues. The Siberian, though older, is much more likely to be successfully rehomed if that was the absolute last resort - because I too do not want her to live her days constantly on guard. But we will try everything else first. I can appreciate that I will hear things that are not "what I want to hear", it just seemed that that comment was quite uninformed and harsh; but I hear what you're saying.

Hey - I got a 48" crate from Pet Services in Melb. Its the size we used for flying him, so I've seen him in it and it leaves enough room for water or a toy - thank you :-)

Thank you - that's the outcome I am 'visualising', and hope it happens - very good to hear your POV because it gives me more hope! Thanks Pheebs Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it? ? ? Appreciate the positivity!

Do you know if they post to Australia? I am willing to give it a go if I can get one - thanks!

Hi - both dogs are crate trained, yes. This was a great suggestion, thank you. We've crated them for various reasons previously but it hadn't been a thought to use this as a management method. We are just looking now for a crate big enough for the dog - as we live in a remote area we will have to buy online. Know anywhere good? Thanks again

I absolutely won't be getting him PTS. I have seen many issues between dogs and bitches. Its a little harsh for you to say he has 'major issues' when you have never met him , I do agree with you that him coming to us at 6 weeks was not a good thing but it was unavoidable and we have done the best we can in terms of socialising him, etc. He is a lovely dog 90% of the time, very relaxed, extremely obedient and we've never had an issue with him with other dogs. The bitch in this case is more of a resource guarder than the dog so on that basis, should I have her PTS?!