BlackJaq

I'm not justifying anything, sorry if you didn't get that from my posts. I'm saying life out there is dangerous for cats and dogs, confine them to your property or keep them on leash when they are out and about to avoid serious injury and death. Not sure what is so hard to get about that.

Yes, I have contemplated discontinuing my attendance but it is difficult to find anything at all in my (very rural) area unfortunately Although by this point I think I may have learnt as much as I'm going to learn here, they definitely won't be taking us to competition level :p

Here is the second lesson with a duck lol

Ok thank You guys! I will try and work on each of these things in turn lol We have been working on land (a lot) but since the last few days have just been so hot we decided to tackle some water! I will remember to use the soccer fields in town for some plain view practice (since flat, clear land is kinda in short supply at home ) and will try to build more drive/excitement. I definitely know she has it in her since she turns into a little torpedo (or rocket, on land) when retrieving under the gun lol Interest in dummies has waned (a lot) since introduction to real game haha

So I've finally recommenced working on our retrieving and there is now some video! Could somebody (perhapps TSD :D ) have a look and give us some hints on how to improve this? This is our third or fourth time working in the water and to be honest, Foxy took a long time to get over her reluctance to swim on her own without another dog to "hold her hand".... We have also recently started working with ducks and I was hoping to attach some wings to one of the dummies shortly and perhaps be ready for actual freshly shot ducks at the end of the year... Work on land is also progressing and we have begun working with rabbits (the cold variety atm). Anyway, here are two water videos, first one is the first exercises that day, all a bit slow and sluggish, then I took a break for play time, then a little later, dog still a little more revved up, I made the second video and then finished. I realize it was a bit of a long sesh but I wanted to video all of it to help get some feedback, normally I would stop about three quarters into the first video (so about 5 mins or so, less if the dog works exceptionally well) Edit: Arghhhh how do I embed a video on this forum?? hmm here are the links until I can figure that out anyway:

Was it a pit cat? Coz if that is not what it was then we can't beat it up as a vicious mauling and nobody will care No but seriously, I hope your rabbit is ok

Yes, my dogs are all kept on lead when off their our property. They also listen when told no. And no, as I have already said, it was not ok for the dog to attack the cat. But getting back to my car comparison, when did you see the last article about pets getting run over by cars in the news? I'm sure the owner cares when fluffy gets pancaked in front of their house, but if they really cared, surely they could have taken some measures to avoid that happening in the first place. I just hope this owner learnt from this experience and I would like to see some legislation requiring cats to be confined to their own property. There is no good reason not to and many good reasons for it.

Thank You guys :) Yes, as I said, my dog does not have "issues" with any other dogs. She simply has no interest in being a puppy chew toy. She would not raise an eyebrow at puppies walking past, being noisy next to her or whatever, but surely she does not need to accept physical punishment from them without complaint? That was my reasoning, anyway. I know a lot of people believe in the "puppy licence" or would like to, at least, but I think some dogs are simply more tolerant of babies than others. And some simply have no interest. I'm not quite sure why I should not have had my dog, who was perfectly under control, in line with me? She was not bothering anyone and she has no "issues" with dogs or puppies, she just doesn't accept inappropriate interactions from young dogs (she is more tolerant of adults). Foxy knows about "no" in a "stop that" sort of way so I guess if I was giving the "no" cue she might have had an inkling what I wanted, but if I needed to diffuse the situation I probably would have moved her away and done training to take her mind of things as suggested earlier but since she stayed perfectly calm and did not go over the top in her correction I felt no need to do this and she was fine with the puppy immediately after (as in, walking past and sitting next to)

Of course, but that is like saying people shouldn't run over cats and dogs in their cars. It happens (a lot!) so an owner needs to take steps to keep their pets safe, since we can't keep every idiot from driving a car or owning a dog.

Excellent, I am happy that I have reacted well then. There was no problem that I could detect until the puppy initiated the "greeting" sequence. She was quite relaxed and had a look at which dogs were there as we have been to a few classes now and so she knows the regulars and some of them she is now friends with and therefore likes to look for them. There was no tension or issue afterwards and we passed the puppy several times with no incident. As I said, she generally ignores stuff when on lead, unless it actively seeks to interact with her. So far I given her relatively free rein since her reactions are appropriate (that is, she does not react badly to other dogs so I do not immediately move her away when another dog approaches, unless I feel that owner and dog would be a problem). When a dog comes charging at us then I obviously step in and make sure she feels secure in my ability to handle the situation. I have to admit that I saw this owner + puppy were behind us but the owner looked to be in control, I did not expect them to give the puppy enough leash to take a small run up and nearly reach my dog and then yank the puppy back.. I don't quite understand why they did this but I assume they were either not paying attention or they did not think they should inform me that they were planning an interaction between our dogs. Just to clarify, Foxy is not reactive to puppies or other dogs, she simply chooses not to interact and play with puppies under a certain age if she has a choice. I have not found this to be a problem so far, as long as all interactions are appropriate (i.e. giving warning for puppy to back off etc without immediately tearing puppy's head off) I was honestly a little iffed at the instructor but have not been to enough classes to know if this was normal and generally accepted behavior or what... I imagine that sort of thing might end badly if the dog being "corrected" took it badly (coming for a strange man and all that..)

I just wanted to ask the brain trust on DOL for their opinion on a non event at obedience yesterday :) My dog, an adult 3 year old Weimaraner, does not particularly like puppies and will generally ignore. In line to sign in for the class she was sitting beside me when a puppy (maybe around 5-6 months old) very rudely approached and went to jump on her. Puppy did not actually make much contact as far as I could see (I only saw from the corner of my eye), since the owner yanked back on the leash, but my girl responded with a snarl and a warning snap (by this time I was definitely looking and everybody agreed no contact has been made). I chose not to correct my dog as I felt she behaved appropriately by warning the pup to back off but not actually hurting it. One of the instructors then came over and decided to stand over her and just kind of firmly tell her "NO" several times. I doubt by this point she knew what she was being "corrected" for and either way, I also doubt she would recognize this kind of interaction from a stranger as a correction, especially when I am holding the leash, i.e. clearly I am in control. She was obviously a bit uncomfortable with the instructor and gave calming signals (squatted a bit with ears back and moved closer to me, then ignored him like the deal was over for her). Anyway, since the guy was an instructor I did not want to make a scene, but I definitely want to know if I should have corrected in these circumstances? Do you allow normal dog interactions like this or do you insist your dog stays neutral to interactions from other dogs when he or she is on leash? I thought this was a great opportunity for me to learn something, either way :)

Aw how beautiful! But OMG unbelievable! Did that guy really think you would part with the dog after he told you what he was going to do with him? He must not have thought anything wrong with that kind of treatment if he was so upfront about it! And chopping the tail off a 5 month old dog :eek: It certainly makes me concerned for the future of the breed if breeders have to deal with this kind of garbage. Nobody would have the heart for it for long after finding out what might happen to their puppies if they are ever sold on or otherwise end up in the wrong hands :( Some people would be a lot more sneaky about acquiring them than this guy you are talking about

I am also wondering at the sense of hysteria regarding dog on cat attacks... ? Does not every dog comic ever written include an arch enemy cat? From the beginning of time people have known that some dogs don't like cats. Some dogs will kill cats. I can only wonder if the dog was maybe not serious in its attempt to kill the cat since my dog would go for the neck to throttle the life out of it in about 10 seconds flat, rather than extensively mauling it... If this was a Border Collie or a Jack Russel nobody would give a toss, it's only "news" because it was allegedly a "pitbull" Yes, the cat may have been on its own front lawn. Or it may not. Yes the dog owner was wrong in allowing the dog to attack the cat. But there is no mention whether this happened on private property or not so it is easy to assume it did not and either way, I agree that cats should be confined to their property. If there is no front fence then how is the cat confined

Gorgeous photos! But I was curious, why will you not be breeding (or even keeping?) Rotts anymore? Are you just specializing in the one breed or are there other reasons? Sorry if this is a personal question, please disregard it in that case. As I said, just curious :) No, that's fine. I just can't do what I want with the Rottweilers any more and feel it's not fair on them. I have injuries (back and shoulder are my worst) from when I was younger, now at almost 48 I am not up to the exercise they deserve. If I do have another one later on I would be after an ex show or breeding dog who would be happy for a more sedate life style. I was also put off the breeding side due to some very horrible puppy enquiries - I would rather not have another litter than have to deal with those types of people again. Also I find it easier and better for me to stick with the smaller breeds and Pugs stole my heart when I was just a kid. I grew up with and have always had large dogs so it's always possible I will have another Rottweiler down the track but he/she would need to be suitable for us. My current Rottweilers are now 9 and 5 yrs old. This was taken earlier this year. Oh no, how disappointing for you I have a funky knee that likes to randomly dislocate so I have a bit if an idea what it's like when your body won't do what you want, and I'm only 23! I thought I'd read you say something about bad puppy inquiries before as well How terrible for them as a breed, too, to still have that stigma attached to them where losers want them for the wrong reasons I do hope they will eventually be able to get past this and become known for the great, versatile dogs they are, including family dogs! I always wanted one but since I have now found my heart breed (Weimaraners) I don't know if I will ever want another breed (apart from necessary farm working dogs, LGDs etc). I'm sure we'd all love more puppy pictures (especially some more Rottweilers? ;) ).. It's not that I don't like pugs.. I just like Rottweilers better :laugh:

Gorgeous photos! But I was curious, why will you not be breeding (or even keeping?) Rotts anymore? Are you just specializing in the one breed or are there other reasons? Sorry if this is a personal question, please disregard it in that case. As I said, just curious :)

Maybe everyone could stop inventing bizarre scenarios now....... You don't have to agree or disagree with this decision but inventing things like this is a bit out there, don't you think? Not sure I would return to this thread after all that has been said.... Especially without knowing any details?

Oh no, how terrible for you two! (And anyone else in the household!) Keeping everything crossed here that she will make a speedy recovery!

That sounds like it would be good food for dogs (minus the hooves of course) Yea I agree, I feed a lot of that stuff myself actually, including fur and guts and my dogs love it. They chew on hooves, too, why are hooves not good for them? ETA: Do your dogs only get muscle meat zeebie?

Great first post. Welcome to the forum and hope to hear more from you. Agree, great to have somebody so knowledgeable contribute to the discussion!

Nice! But I think the OP has received her Ruthless collar and lead now, pretty sure I saw the photo on ruthless' fb

Is there anything that he will produce any kind of sound at? Going through this with OH's dog atm... Short of firing a gun I cannot seem to make him produce any noise at all (he is gun shy and will bark at this but I do not want to encourage this in any way, shape or form as he drives me totally bananas when I am shooting within hearing of the house as he will not stop unless someone is there to interrupt the behavior and he drives away all the game! ) I will be trying to let him watch the other dogs do it and get rewarded and hopefully he will either catch on or get frustrated enough to give me something to work with :p

I think if a certain behavior consistently gets a negative response from other dogs (a variety of breeds and ages would give the best clues) then that behavior will probably get your dog into trouble eventually and should be stopped/changed, regardless of whether it is normal or not for that individual dog..... I definitely think that different breeds have different "normal" behaviors for them! I find a lot of sheep dogs can be noisy players and a lot of gun dogs (the HPR kind) tend to like grabbing other dogs by the neck and ears and even attempt to throw them down (if no owner intervenes). I have heard some sight hound breeds who were intended to hunt large predators in packs will also do this (grab other dogs by ears and pull them down). Some breeds are more inclined to play wrestle games and some prefer running/chasey. Some will stare and stalk (sheep dogs come to mind) and others of the same breed will find this style of play great, while other breeds will get intimidated or aggressive at this behavior. I most definitely think that "normal" for my dog is not necessarily "normal" for all dogs and regardless of normal or not, the response is generally what is important (i.e. positive or negative reaction from dogs on the receiving end of the behavior) I hope that kind of makes sense

sorry but that sounds like a car to me. A cheapo one, too. Possibly cheaper than what you'd get the dog for lol

I can't even figure out how they decide which of the thousands of bullies they see each year is a pit anyway.. They all look different, different shapes and sizes, some that have been declared have been ridiculously large, some had skinny snouts, many have a "red" nose.... I'm actually wondering if they just pick people who annoy them (i.e. personal vendetta) or if there have been complaints by neighbors, or if they pick people who don't appear to have money to contest the verdict in court. Otherwise, why are they not walking around with machine guns destroying every bully in sight? There is no way of making a reliable breed id without seeing pedigree paperwork for the dog.

Foxy grunts and moans when I rub her tummy so that is what I started with. Eventually it worked up to a bark. Which was a bummer, because I was actually trying to get her to "sing" i.e. make that groanie noise haha