Skitch

Sounds like you'd be a perfect candidate for either a whippet, greyhound or even an italian greyhound! They really all fit the bill of your description perfectly. I've owned all three.. but iggies are my definite fave! Never have I owned a dog so people orientated and cuddly.. I dont think I'll ever own another breed, they're just so beautiful! Nothing beats the personality of a big greyhound though.. such clowns, very lovable. You should check out Vic GAP: http://gap.grv.org.au/ Looks like they've got some lovely hounds available . There is also iggy rescue www.iggyrescue.com.au .. they seem to have a whippet X listed too!

Oh my goodness.. I am so sorry, I hope your poor little daughter is okay! Must have been very rough on her .

There's a nice little whippet on the SA dog rescue page on facebook looking for a home... http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/ph...mp;id=686077421 . Just thought I'd let you know since you dont often see whippets in rescue down here!

I've recently crate trained my 11 year old cattle dog mutt with no problems at all! She is only crated while we're out due to the fact that she has become a bit incontinent but she took to it very well. Up until this point she had always had free range of the house so I was worried about how she'd take to it but she got the concept fine and we've not had any troubles! I tend to agree with Aussielover though.. if she's a generally good dog who doesn't destroy the house perhaps you dont need a crate! It's not as though crate training is only for naughty dogs but are you planning to actually lock her up? It's definitely a useful thing to have them trained for though.. makes things like long car trips and entertaining much easier .

Really makes me feel for the old folk who aren't allowed ANY animal companionship at all.. in most cases I'm sure it would do the individuals a world of good to have a pet. I hope I never get old enough to end up somewhere like that.. I'd rather be dead! What a lovely thing to have done.. maybe you and Zedley should look into becoming some sort of pet therapy service! I'd love to do something like that, would be very rewarding I'm sure .

Cripes.. this wasn't something my parents or myself considered when we decided to get another female dog 7 years back (granted, I was only a kid but still LOL). I will definitely be more careful in the future.. We never had any problems.. the two dogs still and always will (I hope!) live happily together! Maybe we just got lucky.. but I wonder if perhaps the size difference had something to do with it. One of the dogs is rather large and the other one is a little white fluffy.. the little white fluffy is younger than the big dog and she was the new addition.. it was as though the pecking order was already sorted and they've never had a serious spat!

I vote for a grey too! Most people assume that they are active dogs that need a walk everyday.. but really they're more than content to just lounge around and amuse themselves and a walk every few days is plenty enough exercise - very placid and lovely, cant wait 'til I can have another GAP dog . It's amazing how much they vary in size, too.. the females are typically smaller of course but there really is quite a variance in size! I'm sure if you spoke to GAP and said you were looking for a smaller sized greyhound they could help you out .

I understand that but reading this line I managed to get between Max and the attacking dog but unfortunately the damage was all ready done. makes me feel that the dog wasn't focusing on the human it was to the other dog so don't know that you could call it Human Aggressive or that you could say it would attack a child ETA That I think the attacking dog should not allowed to be off leash or without a muzzle while at the training club, lets hope the committee on that club do the right thing by Cuchulain and Max Where in her original post did Cuchulain say the dog was Human Aggressive? I cant seem to find it. She simply said "What if the dog had attacked a child?" Which I think is a very valid response considering what happened.. what if a child or smaller person had been holding a dog that this anatolian decided to attack? Would they have not done the same thing (stand between their dog and the attacking dog) could have been very messy.. and while I agree an obedience class is no place for a child by the sounds of it this dog could pose a threat to other dogs wherever it goes.

Hahaha I think most animals eat their own poo at some point! It's called coprophagia and for some animals such as rabbits it's a normal, important part of their digestion but for others it often indicates a deficiency in their diet somewhere.. I've never seen a pet rat do it but I wouldn't say.. a quick google search tells me it's pretty normal for them to do so!

does it really matter? I am sure people get what the dog is by the so called stupid name so where is the problem? Here is the excerpt from the rules that mentions this.. "This site was created for pure bred dog discussion The primary purpose of this forum is to promote and discuss pure bred dogs (as recognised by the ANKC) so we ask you respect our aim when visiting here. If you own a cross breed dog, you are also welcome here, but we ask that you refer to it by it's proper name (eg a pug-x or cavalier-x instead of the designer term 'pugalier'). Please do not start threads asking what breeds people think make up your cross-bred dog or to express your outrage at the latest designer dog you saw. We prefer to concentrate our discussion on the pure bred dog (ANKC recognised)."

Just to let you know.. in the rules of this forum it states that if you have a crossbreed dog you have to refer to it by its proper name, not the designer breed name for it. Some people can be a bit nasty about this so I just thought I'd let you know! Being that your puppy is fed on raw, maybe he's a bit of a messy eater and is getting it all over his face and muzzle? Perhaps wiping him down with a damp towel after meals would help. :D

It's pretty cute really! I was sure I was going to click the link to that video and see a dog playing too rough and a cat not liking it.. but it honestly looks like they're both bad as each other lol. As for stopping them.. I dont have any real insightful advice but if it were me I'd just separate them to different rooms everytime I busted them doing it if it really bothers you. Perhaps 'breaking it up' in a kind of dramatic way with clapping and a "NO!" would make them realize it's undesirable behavior too?

Yep.. this has been bought up before.. luckily we dont have it here ! :D

Thankyou so much for the very helpful replies! I feel a bit silly that I missed the agilitySA site in my googling adventures, lol. I think we're going to enquire about Gawler . Thought about Whyalla.. but Piper you're right when you say it's pretty much the same distance lol. The boyfriend has had a look at the equipment guidelines and is already on the hunt for some appropriate materials.. yay .

*scratches head* Not only am I bit stupid but I'm not much of a trainer either so I dont know exactly what you mean by opportunism in regards to training.. but I have lots of rats and can tell you that they can be very easily taught to do a variety of tricks with positive reinforcement in a similar fashion to dog training. Basically all you need to do is get them to exhibit the desired behavior and then reward the second that they do it! Most rats can pick up simple tricks like spin, 'up' or jump over a small hurdle on command relatively quickly.

I cant believe some parents allow their children to get away with such poor behavior.. ! I've had this happen a few times with my old dog who isn't even that cute (she is to me though!) and definitely doesn't look like the most approachable dog in the world. Luckily for the kids she is generally good natured.. really scares me to think what could have happened if she wasn't. We have an Italian greyhound pup and he attracts kids like moths to the flame! I wouldn't mind AT ALL if the children approached me and asked if they could pat him (which has happened quite a few times, dont get me wrong.. not all kids are bad) but it's when they come running out of nowhere and scare the beejezus out of him so that he ducks sideways and tries to hide behind me that I get a little cranky.. I always worry it will make him not like kids. For this reason we only walk in the evening and steer well clear of parks, playgrounds, etc! I'm wondering if it's perhaps some kind of generational thing.. I'm only 21 but when I was little my friends and I always knew not to approach strange dogs and to ask the owner if we wanted to pat their dog... my parents would have choked me if they saw me running up to a dog I dont know and patting it without asking!

Wow.. having rad your entire post I have to say I completely understand your outrage! What a horrible experience for both you and Max.. I'm very sorry . I cant believe more isn't being done to reprimand the owner of the anatolian and that they were even allowed to continue with the class after attacking your dog so badly! What a terrible example for the club to have set.

dogmad wrote a great piece on toilet training. Its on the iggy rescue website :D Oscar now taps the door when he wants to go out He just learned that by himself. Cant help but think we're doing something wrong.. I've toilet trained literally dozens of dogs and have never had one so stubborn about it Lol! I will definitely have a look at that article, thanks forl etting me know :D.

It's a tough one really.. I'm not sure if teaching a dog to bark and encouraging it to do so through positive reinforcement is a good idea in a pet situation.. you'd basically have to encourage aggression which I think is very wrong. I think some dogs are natural born guarders are some just aren't.. is it really something you can teach if the initial 'spark' isn't there? He might pick it up as he gets older.. I have a cattle dog - bully breed mix who is a very good guard dog despite the fact that we never trained her to be. She's very protective of both our property and of us regardless of where we are but is also very easily 'called off'. How old is your boy? I dont know much about ridgebacks but maybe he will get that protective drive a bit later in life..

I googled it and got nothing...? curiousity likked the cat but now I am curious...heheheheh .... same. Lol!

Wish I had your luck with toilet training, CBL.. . Boomer is pretty good now.. although he still wont ask to go out.. if the door isn't open he'll just find a quiet corner and go . We'll have to keep trying!

I second the fact that iggies are generally quiet . I have a young iggy boy who doesn't make much noise at all and when he does it's only imitating our older bigger dog lol. They have a pretty pathetic bark.. I guess they're not too proud of it . They're great little dogs in general.. I'd love to have a whole tribe of them! The only thing I can fault them on is toilet training.. they can be a bit stubborn about it.. not to say they are impossible to train, just notoriously difficult! Mine is almost there.. he's slowly getting better lol.

Hello I have an Italian Greyhound called Boomer who I'd like to try a bit of agility with! We've been practicing a bit with make shift hurdles, tunnels and hoops and he seems very good at it and enjoys the stimulation and exercise . I know iggies aren't always the most responsive sort of dogs in regards to training but he seems to have picked it up very well and is quite attentive to my commands.. so I'd love to take him along to an agility class just for fun! I dont think I quite have the dedication or know how to compete.. but a class would be fun for both of us I'm sure . Questions.. 1. Where are the agility classes in Adelaide? We live in Port Pirie but are in Adelaide all the time.. alternatively, does anyone know if there is an agility class up here anywhere? 2. How do I go about getting the standards and measurements for agility equipment? My boyfriend is a handy sort of bloke and is keen to build us some replica equipment to practice on. From what I can gather Boomer would be in the 'toy' class so I figure it would be best if we could have equipment that measures the same . Here are some pictures so there's something to look at

We put our dog in the Animal Welfare league boarding kennels a few years back for 3 weeks when we had to take an emergency trip. The staff there were very kind and very keen to show us the facilities.. everything looked clean and nice and our dog was returned to us looking very happy and not a tiny bit worse for wear! I suppose this info is a bit outdated because it was a while ago.. but hopefully things haven't changed.

Our elderly cattle dog mix is terrified by balloons. She's fine if they're tied up or something but if one comes floating towards her she flips out and starts barking at it and whining! She's also scared of farting noises.. kind of hilarious and very strange!