lanabanana

Registered Reputable breeders are above board as people AND breeders and HEALTH test all their dogs and CAN supply CERTIFICATES for all tests completed upon request! As stated in ANKC ethics they provide LIFETIME service and advice with their puppies they sell. I suggest you FURBALL have a look at the ANKC website. there is a lot of great information there1 Good luck in your search (if in fact you are looking for a new family member) Breeders who have nothing to hide will in fact provide people who have had past puppies and are happy for you to make contact with them ( all parties agreeable) I in fact have contracts for all my dogs that are rehomed. What kind of things do you include in the contracts? Do health certs go with purebred? My friend got a purebred JRT and she got a resume type thing. It included the pups pedigree, pictures of parents and health details, pups health checks, grandparents info, info on previous litters, contact details etc. Is this a common ting for breeders to do?

Advice, opinions etc. I think information would be fantastic for those who are new to breeding or would like to breed for future reference. Obviously you cannot guarantee a perfect home 100% but what are some of the questions you ask of potential owners or things you look for to ensure your babies are going to the best possible home? Do you follow up to with the new home to check how things are going? After we moved to Oz, we left our two dogs and cats behind to be shipped later. The dogs came but we decided it was int he best interests for my girls (cats) to be rehomed. Unfortunately I was not there to do it personally and the friend with the cats did it for me. I spoke to the potential owners on the phone and via email but as you can imagine very hard to gauge. Luckily, 6 months after they went to their new home, I went to NZ and was able to visit. The new owner keeps in contact and regularly sends me emails and photos of which I am grateful for as I did not want to rehome them (long story but was best for them). Luckily, they have ended up in a perfect forever home even better than the home I was able to provide but it would have been good, particulary for my friend, to have known what to look out for etc.

My dogs sleep on a cut up old foam matress inside....and in their travel crate (which they sleep in together) for outside, they actually just have an old sleeping back - which currently needs replacing as someone (not looking at the midget at all) has shredded it. However, I ave cut a piece of the foam to go in there as well but I need some hardwearign material to put it in and their inside bed they managed to chew through the cover and start shredding the foam (again - not looking at the midget LOL)

Black Dog sell a double ended lead, it's just a lead with a clip on each end basically. You're not a thicko, I guess there's no reason why you couldn't do that and tie them together so you're not fumbling with so many leads Great thanks - do they also sell front attaching harnesses do you know? In fact, for those who would recommend a front attach harness (I know there are some who don't and I feel a bit bad for maybe not deciding to go with their feedback), is there a particular brand that works better than others, particularly for big stong dogs?

Agreed and agreed Lanabanana- There's been some great info in this thread and lots of differing opinions, but tempting as it is don't go off and try them all. Find a good trainer (perhaps a couple of private lessons), find a tool and method that works for your dog and stick to it. As with anything consistancy is the key If you plan to try the clicker you are going to need to build up a strong foundation with it first which is fairly simple but may take some time. Another thing to keep in mind is that a large excited dog, a clicker and a pouch full of treats is not the easiest of things to juggle. One thing you could consider is to use a marker word as opposed to a clicker. There are downfalls (you have to be careful to use the same word and the same tone of voice where-as a clicker is a consistant and distinct sound) but if you can manage then it's one less thing to juggle and may help with your timing. Just a thought. Thanks - great advice. At the current time, we will be goign with the harness so he can get his walks without it being too stressful for us both while we work on things togethern (for the walks). As well as starting training from basics everyday to reinforce the actions we expect on which command. However, I will deifnitely look into clickers as the noise may be something helpful...he is a very auditory (is that the right word) dog and reacts to sound and tone etc and this may be something we can introduce into our back to basics training. I probably won't get a trainer in just yet as Id like to work it out myself. But it is something we will definitely look at if I don't seem to be having any luck. Now, I just need to purchase the harness.

Clicker is just a reward marker, always follow a click with a reward. You can click and treat less often when he gets really good at things but never stop following up the click with a reward. In answer to your earlier question, high-5 can be used as a reward but what you are looking for is an increase in the behaviour you rewarded. Then you will know if he sees it as a rewarding consequence or not. Well all end up using food quite a lot. Your dog is a good candidate for a front attaching harness. It will immediately end the stress while you deal with the real problem. If you also invest in a double ended leash it will be easy to transition from harness to flat collar. Thanks - yea we are deifnitely going to go for the front attach harness. What do you mean by double ended lead - one lead attached to harness and collar? LOL here I wa sjust goign to use two leads, one attached to each what a thicko!

Italian Spinone, I won't tell the queen vizsla you said that either Roisin was only a baby then. Hijack, sorry, but Spinoni are so cuuuuute Just gorgeous!!! No offence meant to Queen Vizsla...my friend owns to Viz (Zoey and Lani) and they ar eboth gorgeous girls but not as stunning as your spinoni...I think I am in love. My partner might have to forgo the bulldog

That was me. Erik already had a long history with the clicker when I started using it in this fashion, although it didn't take long at all to get him keen on it at the start. This particular use of it came out of the book Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. That is a great book for owners of dogs that easily get aroused or distracted. When I started using it Erik was back when he was in this nutty phase where he would react to lots of things and had a ridiculously short attention span and complete inability to focus. He's also a small dog, only around 10kg, so it's not like he can pull me over or anything. I found that it generally worked quite reliably. It only took about 2 or 3 repetitions to get him looking over for a click in the presence of another dog without any prompting, and once I'd got that far I could start asking for heels and releasing after two steps so he could look at the dog again, then back, click, heel for three steps, click, release and so on. He's a very quick learner, though, and he'd also had a little self-control training that may or may not have helped. The trick is to keep them under threshold, which means they have to be able to notice the clicker and respond to it. Not sure where your boy is on that front. I found that even with Erik at his absolute worst it was rare for him to be so gone that he didn't hear a click. And I use a pretty quiet one. But Erik is a very aware dog and can be surprisingly switched on to his surroundings at very high levels of arousal. My other dog is harder despite being much more laid back. He has his Aidan knows a lot more about using clickers to teach loose leash walking than I do. I've only used it to deal with distractions when the dogs are on leash. Aidan, aren't you based in Hobart yourself? If he already knows heel, though, it sounds like you've got something good to work with. Having foundation behaviours like that made it a lot easier with my dogs. It's much easier to strengthen a known behaviour than teach one from scratch IME. I think my next dog will be taught LLW with a clicker. Aidan teaches the dog that tension on the leash is a cue to return to the handler for a treat. I don't find it hard to handle a dog on leash, treats, and a clicker all at once. The treats live in the treat pouce, the leash is in one hand, and the clicker around my wrist. I have one with a nice raised button, which makes it easy to click it even if I'm holding something else in the same hand as the clicker. Ok thanks. I think I will read up and see how that fits in. I am going to start from basics regarding all obediance for reinforcement of expectations so it might be an idea to introduce a clicker with that do youthink? Click and treat is that right? And then eventually the clicker is the reward - is that how it works??

Great - thank you. Yes, leash is often got out and set on the table and not touched until he has calmed down. Then it will be attached to his collar and if he gets all excited, I will often go and make myself comfy on the couch until he settles. He deifnitely has some foundational training there. I think we will definitely be trying a front attach harness initially as by reading this thread I am guessing that this will be the easiest way for me to "control" the pulling as he won't really be able to do it. Hopefully, because he won't be able to pull we should be able to practise some good behaviours. I do have to admit though, we he is being a pain in the butt, I can go from being nice and relaxed to blood boiling in the space of about 3 seconds LOL. My OH for this matter will nto go on family walks with both dogs and our daughter as his stress levels rise the minute the dog gets to the end of the driveway LOL. Ideally I am hoping once I have got my boy walking nicely on lead, we can hopefully work on other behaviours like his reaction to other dogs when he sees them. He does have some handy commands whch will be useful for this. I.e. he knows "look", which means obviously to look at me so I am hoping I can teach him to look when another dog appears - I don't have it all figured out yet. But that's also why I am going to go right back to basics, he is pretty good with commands but not what I woud call th emost reliable. And I know what you mean by "offering a behaviour" as he will offer things if he thinks that may get him what he wants - usually food. Another query I have is, can yiou use an action they like to do to reward? For example, he loves giving high fives. He was a very "pawy" pup and would constantly be pawing you in the face or chest so my partner directed that natural behaviour into giving high fives and now the only time he paws is when asked for a "fives" and he paws your hand. He loves it, if asked for a fives he gets really happy and pleased with himself so is it possible to use this as a reward for good behaviour? Questions may be silly...I am still trying to work out how to fit everything all together to work with him.' I think he has awesome potential and so did the dog trainer/behaviour guy at the SPCA we got him from when he saw him last at 18 months but as I am clearly not working with him the right way he is not realising this...my fault.

at those books. I am by no means an expert but those are hilarious,....you should have put them in fiction section

Wish they would do that here in Australia. But hard to monitor I guess. Good point - I am not sure how they monitor it in NZ too...but the idea is there lol

I too have experience with the OH issue. My partner keeps telling me "no more dogs, I want to live without pets for a while", but we have two and will always have two whether he likes it or not (however, he has always been present when a new dog is chosen and doesn't protest while we are bringing a gorgeous new pup home). He doesn't mind dogs but would prefer to have no pets at all. I love dogs to bits and can't imagine not having any. My partner will snuggle with both our dogs and give them treats and occasionally teach them a trick or take them for a walk but otherwise, all dog ownership responsibilities fall to me. That is fine, they are my dogs and he would prefer not to have any so I acept that they are mine to care for. Our daughter does not contribute at all, though I have recently made it her responsibility to feed them (with supervision) and she will walk the little one if I have the big one. My partner also looks after the dogs if I go away and a few weeks ago, the back fence collapsed and they escaped and he was in the car to look for them quicker than I was (yet apparently he would prefer life without them). I think if your OH is open to having a dog - then everything will work out great! Yes puppies, and even older dogs, can be annoying and destructive etc etc but they are just so rewarding it is worth every little (or big) hassle.

Don't 1. Buy a puppy over the internet, newspaper advertisement or from a pet shop 2. Buy a puppy without first meeting the breeder and visiting its place of birth 3. Impulse buy - owning a dog is a huge responsibility and should be the result of careful planning and consideration 4. Discriminate against crossbreeds or mixed breed dogs - they also make great pets and can be bred responsibly Take note of point 4 of there site on how to buy a dog ,so how do they plan to promote this yet say that . yet another money makker for those who have no idea of the two faced side Whilst I realise that the RSCPA are trying to get homes for the many animals in their care and I agree that crossbreds can make great pets, it is disappointing that they have said that crossbreds can be bred responsibly which I believe in most cases is untrue. The exception is with working dogs, but these animals are not intended for general pet ownership anyway I somewhat agree crosses can be bred responsibly - depends on the breeder but I certainly dont think the RSPCA should be condoning breeding like that. Dogs who have been rescued (CROSS OR PURE= oops caps was accident) should be automatically desexed before rehoming. Encouraging breeding (to anyone) by the RSPCA is just irresponsible imo

Some people don't know you shouldn't get a pup that young...and some breeders probably don't know either - especially ones who are just trying to make a quick buck. My first ever dog I got after I left home was when I was 17 (not counting the ones I grew up with) and she was 5 weeks old. I had no idea they shouldn't go before then. We did have a couple of issues, especially with her bite inhibition - or lack of it but otherwise she was my special girl for 12 years until last year. Just to make it clear, I don't think pups should go before 8 weeks now (not sure what the proper age is - I know some people prefer 10 weeks) but back then, I had no idea that was recommended or good for them. In NZ they made it illegal I think year before last to remove a pup under 8 weeks from its mother (and kits too)

My boy has never been alone. When we got him I was studying and only attended the odd class but there was always someone home with him, plus another dog, Our wee girl we got in August last year and all are out during the day at work and school. We try to ensure we get puppies at least right before a weekend and preferably when someone is off. She wasnt big enough to go out with the big dog so spent a few months inside duringt he day by herself. She had the spare room to herself. A warm bed, some water, a bit of munchies and toys on a rotation - usually 4 or 5 toys in the room with her. I also used to put boxes in there because she enjoyed chewing them. She was paper trained initially for during the day. She slept alot, and still does even now but she did have toys to keeo her occupied and very quickly developed a fave toy - which she still loves to this day even though it is really just a scrap of cloth now. She also goes out with the big dog now whil we are at work.

Lots of fantastic information in here as well as conflicting opinions. Thanks everyone - I am learning heaps. I don't know as much as anyone in here but I did make note of the "cut off air supply" comments. And have to say, when my dog goes nuts for whatever reason, choking off his air supply does absolutely nothing. Not that I make ahabit of it but I have done it a couple of times and he will just continue with whatever he is doing regardless of whether he can breathe or not. Now, I can't remember the posters name but they have a dog called Erik, you said about arousal etc etc. Yea, I totally think it is that, he is just so excited to be out there (you can get him home and go out again 5 minutes later and he will still be just as excited about it) which means he wants to go go go. How will a clicker help in this situation and do I get him used to it for other stuff first? (I have read a bit about clickers but I am cincerned it may be hard to use and control dog at same time???

Will do - it's not worth it... eta: I am not anti crossbreeds - have owned more than my share, many friends have them and being a groomer most are crosses. If you are not anti-crossbreed what is the problem? There has been no promotion blah blah rules stuff Have you read the rules? * This site is 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') 4. No promotion of cross breeds / designer dogs This site has nothing against cross breeds (most of us have had one at some stage in our life), however we are against the promotion of them as being superior to the purebred dog and people cashing in on the 'designer dog' craze. We also ask that you refrain from unnecessary designer dog discussion. (ie discussion that has no real purpose other than to express dismay at the latest 'cross breed' you saw (or read about)). Sure, we all know they are out there, but we prefer to concentrate on discussing the pure bred dog (ANKC recognised breeds). 5. No denigration of pure bred dogs Speaks for itself. If you don't think pure bred dogs make the perfect pets, then maybe this forum is not for you. 6. No denigration of responsible, registered breeders and breeding practices Our site has a lot of breeders with a lot of knowledge to share. We will not tolerate members who denigrate (however subtle) responsible breeders and breeding practices. ETA Chewy this isn't directed at you read them a number fo times and again state that: I have not seen any promotion of cross breeds, no denigration of purebreds, no reference to crossbreeds by "designer" names and no denigration of responsible breeders or practices. That covers all those rules....it doesnt say crossbreds cannot be discussed but that purebred discussion is the PRIMARY focus, not ONLY. Unless there is something typed invisibly I cannt read

What a fantastic thread! Personally, I prefer cold, firm stools. The warm ones - like steaming hot directly fromt he dogs butt almost make me feel like I may as well have stuck my hand up there. It's just a little too fresh for my liking. I agree with the rain ones too. I was a bit naughty last week and I didn't go out at all in the rain and pick them up so I had a right mission when I did it - they had turned into piles of mush and I had to go round with the hose cleaning all the poo stains.

I have found in some threads you are and in others you are not LOL I too own two crossbreeds, one from the SPCA and one of the "cutesy" ones.

Will do - it's not worth it... eta: I am not anti crossbreeds - have owned more than my share, many friends have them and being a groomer most are crosses. If you are not anti-crossbreed what is the problem? There has been no promotion blah blah rules stuff

Wow - loads of advice and different opinions. Ok let me see if I can remember some of the queries and points and respond to them. 1. He goes nuts if he sees another dog while on lead. First he starts by barking really excited and if I don't get away from the situation he will escalate to growling and turning into a savage wee beasty. I am not sure where this stems from whether it is fear, aggression or anxiety or whether he is just super super excited. When introduced to other dogs at home, he will get his hackles up and whinge and then he is right in for the play - it is almost like he is a puppy. 2. Static heel - he will walk sometimes heeling for a decent period of time but he will never stay there for the whole walk. 3. am really jealous of all other owners in this area as none of them use leads at all and the dogs just follow along behind. I can't do this as admitedly, his recall is terrible, particularly if another dog is around 4. I would never PTS for any reason like this. He is my buddy, I love him to pieces. 5. He used to walk nicely on the lead up until I think about 18 months of age. 6. If I put his lead on and walk him round th eback yard, he walks like an angel usually. But as soon as you are out the front door - bam! I can't remember anything else I wanted to say lol I have decided that for now, we are going right back to basics. We are going to have a 15 minute training session with each dog per day to reinforce basic obediance and recall. We will probably also introduce a front attaching harness so we are at least able to walk him without too much issue (I usually do this at night so lkess likely to encounter other dogs and have a hard to control rection) with a back up of a second lead attached to his flat collar so that as he improves I can start switching reliance to the flat collar. I am prepared to put whatever effort is necessary to help us and him become the owners and the dog I know we can both be (gag - soppy), and this goes for the midget too). If our attempts above don't seem to be working, I will definitely bring in a trainer. He is pretty smart so he does cotton on quickly and I did at one stage after 3 weeks of trial and error have him walking reasonably well on the lead but he wen for a walk with his dad and the next night was a mess on lead so its probably safe to say Dad shouldnt be walking him in future. Granted, it is my fault as his owner that he is not a nice walker, but we have tried a lot of different methods to get him there and some have worked temporarily but never permanently. I cant think of anything else - it's late. LOL

Whoops didnt realise there were so many posts - thought i was still on like page 2. Will have to go back and read other advice now lol

Unfortunately, from what I can see, there is no trigger. It is like he just prefers to walk at the end of the lead right where it feels like my arm is going to come popping out of my socket. I am not sure if I mentioned but all other previously owned dogs have been excellent on leads with flat collars - no tools necessary, so it's not like I don't know how to teach them to walk nicely but I just obviously haven't found the right way for this particular dog. It can be quite frustrating. However, bearing in mind triggers, I will be extra alert on the next walk to see if there is anything that gets him pulling - it's definitely not a "nose to the ground" type of thing though.

Awesome advice Monah: The dog in your second picture is just stunning! Can I ask what he/she is?

Awesome - thank you for posting that. I think I shall drag the man and child along to satisfy my need to see.