Alfie02

dancinbcs, im in Newcastle Poodlefan, I totally agree. We walk our dogs at time of the day when others dont walk as much, we never go to places where there are lots of people or dogs, like parks and beaches, as we dont want to risk these things. The dog fight he started was completly my fault as our other dog had a play mate over and we seperated Teddy so he couldnt get to them and placed a muzzle on him, but he still managed to start a fight. There is no excuse, we will have no more play dates at our house. Have contacted K9 pro

Thanks for all the info everyone, so the go seems to be K9 pro, or at least ring and have a talk. I have sent them an email and will ring when they get back to me with a time that is good for them. Poodlefan, we often do leave him at home but we need to take him out sometimes, like to the vets and for a daily walk. He really enjoys being with us so I want to make going places less stressful for him so that he can spend more time with us.

I have only spoken to the All about dog people over email, and have not yet spoken to K9 Pro. But that is a good idea, I will do that

Yes I have heard great things about K9 Pro, except I dont live in Sydney so will have to travel. I just need to be sure that I choose the right trainer as we have had various trainers and they have either given up, or not provided us with adequate training methods. I am at my wits end.....Ted started a fight today amongst two dogs he is friends with ;) . I just want a dog that I can actually take places with me and not have to deal with his horrible behaviour which we have been trying for years to correct but to no avail . Sorry, winge over

Thanks for the relpy Huski . Its really helpful to get educated opinions on the trainers as Im not too sure how to pick out the best one.

Hi everyone ;) Some of you may remember me posting about my maltese cross dog Teddy a while ago after his biting incident. For those who dont know, in short, I have a maltese cross who is 11 years old and human aggressive and dog aggressive. Its taken me a while to actually choose just two trainers I like and now I have saved up enough money to visit one . We have taken him to the vets and had him checked out, he got the all clear, and now we need to find a trainer. I have had many great recomendations from the DOL community, and now I have narrowed it down to two. So I have heard the great stories about K9 Pro which is one of my choices, and know I need to know if anyone has used 'All about the dog' training in Sydney. I am loving this trainer as he has toured with Cesar Millan, which means alot to me as Cesar Millan is one of my idols. So if you have any knowledge of this training facility could you let me know? Thanks!

Thanks heaps for that Will ask at the vets and then if they dont have any I will check out the places mentioned. Thanks again!

Hi all, Im having a lot of trouble fining a plastic basket muzzle small enough for my Maltese cross boy. I have found some online but would rather buy one in person to ensure it fits correctly. Does anyone know of a store that sells these in NSW? Or can anyone tell me how to mesure my dogs nose and mouth correctly so I can get a muzzle online that fits? Thanks!

Chran, he is quite obedient, but stubborn. We have had pack order issues in the past but have worked on that and felt that we had become 'top dog' and he hadnt bitten or challenged us in a long time untill recently. This is why we became very worried, as he had regressed/become worse than before. With us, yes we can tell when he is not happy and will snap at us, but with strangers or other dogs, no, he seems happy, wagging his tail like he does when he plays with our other dog and relaxed, and then he bites! So the update is: We took Ted to the vets yesterday and the vet said she doesnt want to waste our money on blood tests or anything before we have a behavoural assesment done by Dr Robert Stabler (this Dr works with the vet clinic and comes highly recommended). So we are making an appointment with him ASAP, but he is away for two weeks so have to wait for him to get back. We are also having trouble finding a cage type muzzle for a dog as small as Ted, there are only greyhound size ones or material ones everywhere we have been. Where could I get a small enough cage type muzzle? ~*Shell*~ I have read alot about your time with Zero and am sooooo impressed how far he has come and how great you must be at following through with the information given to you by trainers. It makes me smile to know that this type of massive improvement actually happens in the real world . We are going to go with Dr Robert who is local as this is much easier for us than travelling quite a distance to see Steve at K9 Pro. However, if we dont see results with Dr Robert, we will definatley give Steve a call. Thanks so much for the help everyone

Thanks so much Sky, that means alot to me Agreed Kaz, I love all dogs but hate it when an owner doesnt think aggressive behaviours are bad because their dog is little and cute. It just gives other small dog owners a bad name.

Thanks so much for all the support , it really means alot to me that I didnt get flamed for having an agressive SWF, but instead got usefull adivce and recommendations. Im actually a bit excited about this now, I cant wait to try a new behavoralist and help my boy become more comfortable and relaxed

Excellent, thanks Erny I know he wont ever be perfect, but ANY improvement would be better than how he is behaving now. And I would love to take the weight off his shoulders by becoming a better leader for him, and im sure my other dog would benifit from that too Yes I do love him with all my heart and will always love him regardless of his temperament. But it must stress him out being so tense around other people and dogs so improving his behaviour will be great for him. And hopefully he can be a well behaved small white fluffy dog that people dont look at and shake their heads, but a respectable dog who can represent other small white fluffy dogs well. Thanks again for all the help and I will keep you all updated on what I end up doing and Teddy's proggress

Thanks for the info Corvus . I think that after the public holiday has passed, I will contact both Dr Stabler and K9 Pro and see what they say and then go from there. Also from your post on the previous page Erny...do you think it is worthwhile trying to fix Teddy's problems now at his late age? Do you think we will get any improvement? I would really like to be able to trust my dog with people and other dogs, do you think this could be possible?

Sorry, yes Erny, he has shown this behaviour ALL his life, but has never just bitten some poor old lady who is just standing there. I guess im just trying to protect him from seeming like a horrible 'small white fluffy dog' that lots of people dislike by blaming it on his old age....but in reality, he is one of 'those' dogs I guess, and I know its our fault as owners for him being like this....but on Christmas day my family and I decided to get proffessional help again, but this time find a behavouralist who is reccomended by others so we might see some results. I dont mean for this to sound defensive at all, I am so greatful for the information and recommendations I have been given and am so happy to have help and support from others who know about this sort of thing, Thank you

Thanks Staranais, will be considering K9 Pro very seriously and will be contacting them about this situation, thank you for the link Im open to all ideas, so that could be a good one too Ms James, thanks for the suggestion It might very well be something medical setting him off...he will be going to the vets next week for a very thourough check up. And about the trying everything, it does seem to not be working so hopefully by getting a good behavouralist to help us we can pinpoint the right method for him. Fingers crossed

Showdog, very relevant questions. His eye sight is ok, but starting to get worse and we think his hearing might be starting to go....he doesnt hear us come home anymore when he used to be waiting at the door for us........do you think this would be contributing to his change of attitude towards people? He is a pretty relaxed boy when it comes to wearing new things (as he was a family dog when we were kids we would dress him up in all sorts of thigs, lol), but will keep this in mind when getting a muzzle.

Hi Corvus, what sort of techniques did this trainer use? As I work alot during the holidays and will be hard pressed to find time to travel 2 and a half hours away (but will definatley do this if this is the best option). Staranais, havent had a chance to check the training thread yet, will pop in their now and read your post

Thanks for the replies guys. I will be contacting K9 Pro in the next couple of days to ask about my problem.... FruFru, its not Alfie who is the dog in my post, Alfie is my other boy who is a little timid but very loveable and likes to meet new people, one pat and a tummy scratch and he is yours The dog in my post is my 11 year old boy called Teddy (the first boy in my sig), he is a beautiful boy but needs help from a proffesional to fix his problems. Thank you for the good luck and well wishes though Golden girl, my thoughts exactly, we will be getting a soft muzzle as soon as the shops here open again after the holiday. Ooops just read your post Erny, will not go soft muzzle then, will go basket muzzle. He actually has just been to the vets before this incident as he has seemed depressed and off colour. He was given a clean bill of health. But after this bite he is going back as soon as the vets reopen after the holiday and getting checked again as it really is a big shock that he would do this. After 11 years you think you would know your dog hey. So vets are a definate yes. Also, if this is relevant. He is just a different dog at the vets. Anyone can pat him, the vets can do anything to him and he wont flinch, he likes every vet and vet nurse he meets, he also likes to meet other dogs at the vets. When he gets his hair clipped at the mobile dog wash, the lady said to us that he is one of the most well behaved dogs she has ever clipped. So we are stumped as to why he is aggressive at other times???? Ahhh its so hard to work this out

Hi all, So long story short - my family dog since I was a a kid is a backyard bred maltese cross who has always had temperament issues despite adequate socilization. His mother was human aggresive and unfortunatly so is he (we didnt know this untill after we got him). Anyway, ever since he was little, even at puppy school he has been unreliable around people and is dog aggressive aswell. When we began to notice this undesirable behaviour we took him to a behavouralist who told us he is fear aggressive. We worked on him as she told us to and took him back for more visits but nothing was working, if anything he was getting worse. So we went to someone else who came to our house and did what he said, but again to no avail. We accepted him how he was, but continued to work with him everyday and are very careful with who he meets and dogs he meets. In his life he has bitten 3 people, all people who have entered the house or been walking past (I know, horrible that he has done this and we do everything that we can to avoid this, but when we tell people that he is aggressive and will bite them, they usually dont believe us because he is white and cute, silly people.) He will even go to bite us on occasions when he doesnt want to do something. The main reason for this post is that on Christmas day we were walking the dogs and two older ladies stopped to say Merry Christmas, not paying any attention to the dogs or anything, which is great because if the people just ignore our dog he will ignore them too and will not show any aggression. When we were talking, only for like 30 seconds, our dog stepped forwards, wagging his tail and bit the woman on the leg! Now I didnt even have time to stop him, he just did it . The woman only has a tiny scratch,but still, he bit her! This is the first time he has ever done this in a situation like this and I feel so horrible....I dont know what to do, we try so hard to 'fix' his problems but get now where. We are now going to buy a muzzle that he will wear whenever we are out.We are responsible dog owners who love our dogs and dont know what to do. I am devistated . I walked home crying that he could bite an old lady (he loves my grandma and this lady even looks like her, but he still bit her). Can anyone please recommmend a proffesional trainer/behavouralist that specialises in this in the Newcastle NSW area? Thank you. PS. this is cross posted in the training section.

Hi all, So long story short - my family dog since I was a a kid is a backyard bred maltese cross who has always had temperament issues despite adequate socilization. His mother was human aggresive and unfortunatly so is he (we didnt know this untill after we got him). Anyway, ever since he was little, even at puppy school he has been unreliable around people and is dog aggressive aswell. When we began to notice this undesirable behaviour we took him to a behavouralist who told us he is fear aggressive. We worked on him as she told us to and took him back for more visits but nothing was working, if anything he was getting worse. So we went to someone else who came to our house and did what he said, but again to no avail. We accepted him how he was, but continued to work with him everyday and are very careful with who he meets and dogs he meets. In his life he has bitten 3 people, all people who have entered the house or been walking past (I know, horrible that he has done this and we do everything that we can to avoid this, but when we tell people that he is aggressive and will bite them, they usually dont believe us because he is white and cute, silly people.) He will even go to bite us on occasions when he doesnt want to do something. The main reason for this post is that on Christmas day we were walking the dogs and two older ladies stopped to say Merry Christmas, not paying any attention to the dogs or anything, which is great because if the people just ignore our dog he will ignore them too and will not show any aggression. When we were talking, only for like 30 seconds, our dog stepped forwards, wagging his tail and bit the woman on the leg! Now I didnt even have time to stop him, he just did it . The woman only has a tiny scratch,but still, he bit her! This is the first time he has ever done this in a situation like this and I feel so horrible....I dont know what to do, we try so hard to 'fix' his problems but get now where. We are now going to buy a muzzle that he will wear whenever we are out.We are responsible dog owners who love our dogs and dont know what to do. I am devistated . I walked home crying that he could bite an old lady (he loves my grandma and this lady even looks like her, but he still bit her). Can anyone please recommmend a proffesional trainer/behavouralist that specialises in this in the Newcastle NSW area? Thank you. PS. this is cross posted in the general section.

Definatley report to the RSPCA. I reported an extreme over-crowding of mice in a pet shop, along with under weight dogs and puppies to the RSPCA, and two weeks later the pet shop was clean, had less mice and no more under weight dogs and puppies. (Still a pet shop selling live animals though ) So the RSPCA do take it seriously in my experience

Thanks for all the relplies guys He went to the vets a couple of days ago and his lumps and bumps are just the usual warty type things, but he had a skin infection from chewing at them which was making them look very worrying. So he has some aniti biotics and they are already looking much better

Thanks for the relpies guys . Ewww that gross about the younger dog eating the skin lump! , but dogs will be dogs! Im hoping that they are just the usual lumps and bumps like on your oldie Puppy Sniffer...but Im thinking may its what you say GT if its from sun exposure... Whatever they are, Im glad im not the only one with an oldie with various lumps and bumps, and they might not be as sinister as i thought.

Hi all, Just after some advice about my old boy who has little wart type things growing on him. Before I continue, I will say that he has been to the vet and has had two of these removed as he was chewing them and irritating them, but the vet said that unless we send the lumps off we will not know what they are. We didnt have the extra $200 after the operation to spare for the tests so they put them in storage (frozen) for us incase we need them tested later. So now we have noticed two more little wart type lumps. He will be going back to the vets for a check up next week for these but just wanted some advice weather I should be worried or not. So these lumps have the little wart bit on top and then if I grab it between my fingers there is a mass bit underneath it about 0.5 of a centimetre round. I can move this freely, it is not attatched to his muscle or anything (I think this is good?) Now, the reason I worry is because he is a white dog who in his younger days, liked to sneak off and sunbake untill we found him and brought him back inside into the shade....we are now finding these lumps in addition to some rather dark freckles.... Do you think he is just getting old (11 years now) and these are just old dog lumps and bumps? Does your old dog have wart type lumps and bumps? Other than this, he is very healthy and keeps up very well with our 4 year old dog. I will say again, he is going to the vets early next week, so not to worry, he will get a professional opinion Thank you!

Our oldest boy has been attacked five seperate times by different dogs in his 11 years All in public areas where dogs are required to be on leash.....he has been attacked by off leash dogs . He is small and white which makes him a target for prey driven dogs. We have hit, kicked, beaten the other dogs off with sticks and nothing ever works until the dogs owner comes and pulls their dogs jaws off our dog. Once they are in attack mode, thats it. Whenever we see another dog off leash when we are walking, we walk in the oppposite direction as we know we cant stop anything if it happens. It really is sad when you cant walk you dog for fear of being attacked.