Scully

NO! But would love to know where in Oz one can get one? I know this is a late reply but this is an Australian website that stocks the Manners Minder www.petsneedalifetoo.com

Firstly I would like to relay my recent experince. We were walking our two Rotties quietly two evenings ago along a new development high density residential area on a river front. This particular local council leash laws seem to just be "effective control" as from what I can work out they have not provided real off leash dog parks persay!. in this residential area many people seem to have their dogs off leash, but do seem vigilent although some just let their dog(s) roam unsupervised and don't bother cleaning up after them! as we walked past a particlar villa a big dog exploded from the top front step, charged across the pavement and reared itself up and onto our younger dog (who is a sweet but insecure soul). My partner was forced to kick at the dog to defend ours, making the dog yelp, and at the same time our boy (desexed) tried to defend himself too purely by jumping on the dog that had now fallen on his side on the ground. Finally, because his dog was yelping, the owner rushes over to get his dog muttering abuse at us for having a "viscous" dog, of course this all happened in a manner of 30 seconds or less. We tried to explain to the other dog owner that his dog had just attacked ours, to which he was very dismissive. I then said I know about dog behaviour, it's what I do, and reaffirmed his dog was indeed the aggressor in this instance. Again he was dismissive. I can only assume three things A) he did not see what his dog did (not likely as it was right in front of him), B) he felt his dog was "just being friendly" (my experience with K9 body language told me there was nothing friendly about the charge), and C) since his dog is a Labrador the owner has just jumped to judge my dog purely because he's a Rotty. Now I would like to answer the question about what to do. Firstly no matter how much people like to say"It's alright he is just being friendly" and it genuinally may well be - in doggie language a charging dog is at the very least being very rude and obnoxious. Dogs that are well versed in their own language know the correct approach is in an arch and allow time for the other dog to acknowledge and accept or ignore the contact requested. People need to look at it from this point of view - how would they like it if a perfect stranger came running over to them, flinging their arms up at them. With no means of escape (the leash) you would feel very intimidated, insecure and frightened. most people would wish to defend themselves against a percieved attack they felt was coming. And we are capable of rational thought our dogs are not - yet many people seem to expect that of them. If you have a big dog, a useful thing to do is to get your dog to sit. this actually changes your dogs posture and sends a signal to an oncoming dog it wishes no harm. Generally, as a rule, most dogs will see this change in posture, suddenly stop in their tracts and very often start sniffing something they have suddenly discovered on the ground. The sitting manages to avert the confrontation, the sniffing from the other dog is an acknowledgement of the "message" sent. I have applied this technique many times and it works very well by utilising the canine body language code of ettique. (I wasn't walking the dog who got attacked the other night, my partner was, who is not versed in doggie ettique as I am - actually he is not really a doggie person but loves his dog and is very sensitive about him) I understand there is an Ultra sonic gadget available from some electronics stores that omits an inaudible (to us anyway) ultra sonic noise that dogs can hear. I have seen it demonstrated - it may be useful to keep in your pocket for just such occassions. Sometimes when a dog is in that "prey" mode our yelling at them does not get through to their brain but this Ultra sonic thing gets through on a frequency they can and do acknowledge, enough at least to slow things down and you can then manage the situation. I have had many requests to write an introductory guide on this topic and am currently in the process of writing a book aimed at the everyday dog owner regarding canine body language - I am a veterinary nurse for over 18 years and have a special interest in this topic, as well as environemental enrichment. I write for our clinic newsletter and have a book published on environmental enrichment.