fuzzy82

My dogs are both velcro dogs, but the JRT x more so than the poodle x. I don't see it as an issue though. He doesn't have SA, he's fine being left outside for a little while without trying to break through the door or make noise, he waits quietly outside the bathroom door, he will wait wherever I tell him to, etc. Velcro dogs are awesome, you just need a few basic rules regarding personal space :)

If there's no proof that it's bad and it's all just your personal opinion, then I see no reason to change it (nothing wrong with your personal opinion, it's just not scientific and proven). My dog's bodies aren't under "a lot of stress already". I probably put more chemicals on my own body than theirs, in the form of shampoo/conditioner, moisturisers, skin scubs, sunscreen, makeup, over the counter painkillers, antihistamines etc. The dogs get one dose per month, and maybe a bath per month. Their bodies aren't stressed as far as I can tell. I don't quite understand why their bodies would be stressed?

I thought it would be bad too, because the pet store person told me you can't double up. So I specifically asked the vet, and she said it was fine. Other than slightly more chemicals than necessary, I don't see how it would be bad? (Not saying it's not, if someone could explain it that would be great). They wouldn't have heartworms, because they've had the injection, so there will be no dead heartworms floating around causing clots....

I use Advocate or Revolution. Both of mine have had the heartworm injection, but the vet said it was ok to double up on heartworm treatment, and I worked out that it would cost the same to buy flea treatment and wormer separately, so I use the spot ons because they're easier. I treat both dogs and all 5 cats monthly now. I used to only do it when I saw fleas, but one of my dogs is allergic to fleas now, so if so much as one flea bites him (even if I haven't actually seen any fleas on any of them) he will scratch and scratch and scratch for 2-3 weeks. I used to use Frontline every 2 weeks for ticks, but stopped doing that over winter. Last year my vet told me they were expecting a really bad tick year, but I've never seen ticks in the nearly 6 years we've lived here.

I know a couple of boarding kennels around here who accept titre testing instead of vaccines. So they are out there. Our training club also allows it, but I know of some that don't too.

My dog is dog aggressive, but only if another dog comes up and tries to interact with him, i.e. gets in his face. He's brilliant off leash, he's fine being around other dogs as long as they don't interact and I can call him back from just about anything, and he's not motion reactive and will hold a sit/stay right next to a dog doing jumps and tunnels without any issues. Because of his little issue he's on leash when he's not working. But the amount of people at my club who will let their dogs wander up to him, or work their dogs off leash when they have very limited recalls amazes me. They're working off leash when they don't need to be (e.g. for flatwork) and the dog is repeatedly leaving them to go say hello to other dogs and not coming when called, and yet they don't put a leash on it. Ridiculous. I don't have a problem with aggressive dogs training at the club, but I expect them to be properly managed. Motion reactive dogs need to be on leash or a longline at all times. There was an incident at our club a few weeks ago where an aggressive dog chased a dog who was already quite anxious and fearful, which just about broke the fearful dog even though there were no injuries. The guy who owned the reactive dog told everyone very clearly to not approach his dog because he needed space, but then he went and let his dog off leash and it ended up chasing the fearful dog because it was chasing a toy. If I was running a training club, I would not be allowing things like this to go on. How much would it suck to have put all that effort into training your fearful dog, and then have the dog fall apart because some idiot let his reactive dog chase it.

How close did you pass the other dog though? Was it less than 2 metres from the dog? If so, your dog would have been attacked even if the other dog was on leash. The dog being off leash sort of implies that she has good control over the dog, as long as everyone else gives them reasonable space. Passing within 2 metres of another dog at training is rude, IMO. Even if the dog is perfectly friendly, it's a disturbance to have other dogs walk past really close, and the passing dog may be sniffing or staring at the working dog, which isn't fair on the working dog. I've noticed at my club, some of the newbies let their dogs walk right up to my dog and then giggle as if it's funny. I know for a fact that they're all told to ask before approaching other dogs at orientation night, yet I still have to tell them to give my dog space, and move out of the way of people who would walk right up to us to get through the gate. So it works both ways. Her aggressive dog should definitely be on leash when not working, but other people should also be giving her and everyone else enough space to not disturb their dogs (i.e. not be within leash reach).

She was clearly at fault, not keeping her aggressive dog on leash, and/or telling you to give him space as you walked past. My dog has some issues with other dogs, which is why I always have him on leash at training unless we're doing a course, and I always ask the newbies to give him space. I don't really like the idea of having some system to show which dogs are reactive/aggressive, because that means if the dog isn't wearing a yellow ribbon/orange leash it's ok to approach without asking...? The default should be to keep your dog on leash, give all other dogs space, and always ask before approaching any other dog. You shouldn't need a ribbon on your dog for others to show basic manners.

Where would one get foam like that?

We have both these types of beds throughout the house and both dogs love them. Whenever the stuffing gets flat, I just go and get a cheapie fill in from Go Low or similar shop and use that to 'puff up' the bed. Works great. Oh, so the stuffing in the snooza beds does go flat? I want a bed that doesn't go flat, or at least takes a very long time to go flat. My goal is to not have to replace anything for a while. With the cheap beds I'm replacing them every few months.

Thanks everyone, seems like snooza is the way to go :) Molly Mutt looks great, but I don't like the DIY aspect, and for the one I would want it doesn't seem much cheaper than the snooza. Still open to suggestions :)

I've bought various beds for the dogs, and the stuffing in all of them moves around or compresses, so after a while the bed is flat and hard and horrible. When it's on the floor and I put my hand on it, all I feel is the hardness of the floor, so no wonder the dogs won't sleep on them most of the time. Rather than keep buying cheap ones that will need to be replaced, I wanna buy a good quality one that will last a long time. So just wondering about people's experiences with various brands and where to get them etc? I'd like the mattress style, but suggestions for the doughnut style is fine too. It's for a small dog.

I went, in fact just got back a couple of hours ago. The seminar was great, Grisha was great and the seminar was very well organised. Yep, there were live demos, and lots of videos.

Nice, very easy and informative :) Just curious though, the first bit where you create a new layer, clone and then reduce the opacity, isn't that what the heal tool does? I don't do much photo editing, I mostly use photoshop for design stuff, so I don't know all that much about fixing photos. The most I've done is a bit of cloning for obvious pimples and fixing demonic cat eyes.

I was in the same situation a couple of years ago, I booked well in advance but then had to cancel 2 weeks before Christmas because it turned out their "bonus features" were actually things you'd pay a small fortune for and I wouldn't have it. I rang around to every boarding kennel I could find on google (no other way to know if they have available spots), and eventually found one out at Ipswich. It's a long drive from here, but it was the only one I could find, other than one that sounded really terrible where they would sit in the kennel all day every day and the guy said they wouldn't need toys because they would spend all day barking with all the stuff that would be going on around them. Anyway, the place I found is called Imparra pet motel. The staff was great, so friendly and welcoming. They upgraded the dogs to better kennels at no extra charge while they were there just because they had room (they have 3 different options), the dogs seemed really happy to see the staff member who went and got them when we went to pick them up, and their demeanour when we got them was great. They have a play area with a pool which you pay extra for, but they are let out onto a grassy area twice a day anyway, and I thought the price was very reasonable. I would definitely use them again, the only reason we haven't is because it's over an hours drive from us. http://www.imparra.com.au/index.html

OT, but my JRT x loves cats and treats them all like friends.

+ 1 I get comments on the condition of my pugs, especially on their muscle tone and their coats. On the same token people always commented on Alvin's coat etc when he was fed a commercial diet, same with my Stafford. I was always asked what I fed due to their muscle tone and glossy coats. I switched to raw a month or so ago and see no external differences as they already looked awesome before. Im not bagging raw as I do believe it is better for dogs and they prefer it, just that I see dogs in peak condition fed commercial food. Same here, I switched to raw in March this year. They were eating Canidae before. No changes in condition that I've noticed, but they do enjoy their food more, which is why I decided to make the switch despite the studies I found saying there was no difference between high quality dry and raw. One thing I have noticed though, is that Obi is much less reactive on raw. But that's inconclusive because he was also at that age where he would start to mellow a bit, AND we did a lot of impulse control training, so it could be a combination of things that made him less reactive. Pixie was plagued with ear infections, and still is now that she's eating raw food.

I did some research before I switched to raw, and found that there are studies that find no health benefits with feeding raw vs feeding a high quality dry food.

They are actually, fear of losing standing in the pack, and fear of what intruders will do once they are on your territory. I'd say 99% of aggression is fear based, and many experts agree with me.

There's a Scandinavian study which suggests desexing will make any aggression issues worse, as aggression is based in fear, and higher testosterone levels reduces fear. Desexing for a resource guarding issue? Really? Who suggested that? Not against desexing at all, but to suggest it as a fix for behavioural issues seems.... misguided.

For dry, non-slimy stuff, I use Purina trick sticks or love'em puppy treats from Big W. I like them because they're small or easy to break apart into tiny pieces. I have small dogs, so I always have trouble finding small enough treats. Cat treats from the pet store are also popular. For walks when I need something smellier I use the sliced stuff from the supermarket deli, like roast beef, turkey breast, chicken, pepperoni etc, or I cut up kabanas. Sometimes I buy a roast chicken and cut it up and use that, but that's more work than I bother with most of the time.

I don't quite see the problem. Why not give dog haters a place to live where they don't have to be around dogs if they don't want to? People who want to own dogs will obviously choose to live somewhere else.

None here. We used to sleep with 3 or 4 cats on the bed at night, every night, so over time I got fed up with not being able to move and I'm now completely intolerant when it comes to animals on the bed. The cats have been banished, and the dogs aren't allowed up on the bed except for morning cuddles when I'm already awake. The only exception is my 11 year old cat, because she only sleeps inside when it's chilly outside, and she stays at the foot end of the bed and doesn't move all night. She also holds it until I let her out in the morning, she doesn't go and pee in the bathroom like some of the other cats.

I think only dogs who are used to getting free treats will beg and plead for food and treats. Both of mine are desexed and neither are fat. They don't beg and plead for food either, despite one of them being highly food motivated. If we're eating he will hang around hoping for a treat, and he will usually get a little something, but he's not annoying about it. If he doesn't get anything he's fine. They're on a schedule where they're fed 2% of their body weight at a set time every day, and other than that and training treats they don't eat. They don't look pitiful and beg for food, they're perfectly fine. When I visited my dad recently I noticed his fat dog would constantly beg for food by going to her bowl, licking it, moving it around etc and staring at people while they ate and cooked. She isn't on a feeding schedule, they just feed her when she looks hungry, which is of course why she keeps begging and being a nuisance about it. My dad and stepmum think that if she acts hungry she must be hungry and so she must be fed. Fat dogs are fat because they eat too much. Just like fat people are fat because they eat too much. Of course people don't like to admit that, and of course there are cases where obesity is caused by medical conditions, but the great majority of people and dogs simply eat too much.

I have two dogs, one is a JRT x and fairly high drive. As a puppy he was crated quite a bit, but as he's grown up and stopped being crazy he's now only crated at night, and only because he loves his crate. We did try to get him to sleep on a dog bed, but he prefers his crate. I work from home, I walk the dogs in the morning, then they spend most of the day asleep. My JRT x sleeps in his open crate. He only comes out if I get up and he thinks I'm about to do something fun, otherwise he will sleep in there for hours, and only come out for a stretch and to go outside and lie in the sun, then back in his crate. Then we do some training, then he sleeps some more, then he has dinner, then he might wander around the house, check on all the cats, watch tv with us, then out for the evening walk, then back to sleep. If he was crated all day, his days would hardly be any different to what they are now, and when he was younger I did occasionally crate him all day because we were out, he couldn't be left unsupervised in the house and he would stress if left outside. Of course there is the potential to use crates as a quick fix for everything and overuse etc, but that's true for lots of things. So what? Does that mean crates should be banned? What's the point of the OP?