stonecutter

I think I'd get a whole lot more people attending my lectures and tutorials!

Are you just popping him outside to go to the toilet, or taking him out on the lead and waiting until he goes? Treats for going in the right spot? We've only had our pup 2.5 months - but she's now good enough to toilet on command (Go pee go poop). We took Ziva out on lead to her toilet spot every 1.5-2 hrs for the first 6 weeks. Then for the next 2 weeks it was off lead. Now after 2.5 months she (most of the time) remembers to take herself out. Even then - I still go outside for a walk every 2 hrs just in case. I followed Dr Ian Dunbar's guide to toilet training.

I'm at UTS - so no vet science practice. I might ask the rules/regulations people to get a clarification. It was a brief 2 hr visit - I couldn't imagine bringing her to work all day. She loves chewing paper and I think my office would turn into a shredding facility! Students asked me if she could come to the final exam so they could have a pat for good luck before they go into the exam room (it might be feasible since exams are held at Wentworth Park, but students sometimes congregate before the exam in an adjacent public park that allows dogs)

Thanks Dxenion! I followed the link onwards to the Education Act - which only covers primary and secondary educational institutions - not tertiary. So still a grey area it seems. I also didn't realise we weren't allowed within 10m of children's parks. We go to our local playground every Friday because the neighbourhood kids want to see Ziva!

I took my 5.5 month old pup along to my work today - a university campus. I've been showing our admin staff pictures each week and they asked me to bring her along to an afternoon tea we were planning (where everyone just brought something along to share). Pup is pretty good at toileting on command, so I had her eliminate on a grassy area before we went onto campus. Her behaviour was excellent - no barking, politely meeting people. Security patrols roam the staff office areas and a security guard came up and told me that dogs weren't allowed on campus. I actually checked all the signage outside the campus before we went in (and earlier during the week) and there is nothing that says "no dogs" (unlike at shopping centres etc where "no dogs" is clearly marked). The guy was ordering me to leave - our admin mgr told asked him under what law or university rule - he said that he didn't need one! His argument was that there were no signs telling people not to urinate in the corridors, so why would he need one that said no dogs. In the end our dept head told the guy to speak to his superior and if he had a problem he could take it up with the boss I've gone back through the University's official rules, regulations and legislation but can't find anything related on animals on campus. Does anyone know if there are overriding laws? (Ziva was really well received - a whole lot of my students who are studying for final exams saw us and came for a chat and a cuddle. They said it was a great break and provided some stress relief! )

Welcome Rachel! Do they have to be in your area? I believe Kimayata are planning a litter - but best to contact them/Kacey. Try contacting the breeders you find here: http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/breeders/japanese-spitz.asp?state=QLD&Submit=Go Also - come visit us on the JS thread! http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/221234-japanese-spitzsamoyed-thread/

Thanks Staranais!! I'll get my vet to teach me how to check her

Hi all - so I've read the Sanborn article on long-term health pros and cons of desexing and am particular interested in the mammary tumour (breast cancer) section. Apparently it is the most common form of cancer for bitches. I'm making the tough decision about whether to desex my JS now (she's 5 months) or wait until she's fully grown and consider it at the 12-18 month mark. I understand that once she's had 3 seasons and then desexed, her cancer risk is the same as any intact bitch. She is on the main register (originally to be kept for breeding by her breeder) and at the moment I'm not showing her - but might in the future (1. I'm a little scared! 2. I've heard showing in my breed is a little on the political side and I don't want to get drawn into it, 3. She hates baths) Desexing before first season reduces the risk of tumours to a very small level, and for entire bitches the rates seem high - but these seem to be based on results of studies that look at a broad range of dogs. Are there any breeds that are more susceptible to mammary tumours? From my reading of the research - some breeds keep popping up - Pomeranian, Doberman, Alsatian. Though, I could see this could be due to a number of reasons - 1. these breeds are more likely to be intact, and therefore tumours are more likely. 2. these breeds might be more popular and therefore as a whole, tumours are also more likely. 3. There's something that predisposes them - genetic makeup? I haven't really found anything that says whether Japanese Spitz's (or Spitz breeds in general) are more susceptible. The sorts of papers I looked at were the lit review in this thesis http://openmed.nic.in/2251/01/Dr._Vitthal_Dhaygude_M.V.Sc._Thesis.pdf Some articles also talk about the increase use of soy and high levels of oestrogen in dog foods as a contributing factor - I noticed Black Hawk is soy-free. So for all those who are breeding/showing - is there anything you do to reduce the risk of your girls developing mammary tumours? Is this something people consider at all or am I being paranoid?

On the treats side - I use mashed pumpkin - won't make her fat but she still loves to eat it

Hehe - my little girl turns her nose up at lettuce - first time she pounced on some, chewed it and then promptly spat it out and gave it a look of disdain!

Does your BC know the "leave it" command?

I'd be keen to bring my dog - she's on the main reg and I haven't decided whether to show her or not (how she got on it is another issue altogether) - but I figured going to a show with her and seeing the competition would help me decide. Of course, that's just me - I would only show her if she had a good chance to do well!

Same - I'm left standing outside!

Newspaper or a puppy pad inside? Our little 20wk old sounds like your lab - I came home to a drowned small white fluffy - she looked really happy (and she has access to the laundry but preferred the rain!)

The only thing I've found that works in that situation is kibble or banana!

Welcome puppybella! If Ziva stops to sniff, we just keep walking - she's walking with you - not the other way around Sometimes that means I pick her up, walk a few steps and then put her down and we keep going. There are a few leash walking threads and YouTube videos that were good. Does she get treats on her walks? As for predicting pooping - Ziva goes about every 4 hours during the day (she's on Black Hawk - she used to poop every 2 hours on Supercoat).

thanks corvus!

Gorgeous!!!

fuzzy82 - hmmm - never thought of that - lots of things to ponder over the weekend

Thanks Joe! Sounds like something we're already trying to do at obedience school - she gets time before/after class to meet other dogs - but if she starts to bark at another dog we'll give a command and treat to keep her focus on us. There's so many owners of poorly behaved dogs out there so we're doing our darnest not to be one of them! Inevitablue - originally we thought she was too big to fit through the pool fencing - and for the first week she showed no inclination of wanting to try and escape. Then she saw people and another dog on the other side (perfect timing!) and it clicked! 60m of garden wire and 550+ cable/zip ties later we puppy-proofed the fence - but discovered then she loved weaving through a particular plant that leaves seed heads all through her coat! We're learning at least

Oh thanks Inevitablue! Unfortunately she's contained in a dog run when we're not at home - but I could certainly try it and see if it transfers from the big yard to her little yard.

Thanks Joe - we'll have to round up a whole heap of our neighbours and get them to help out! She doesn't bark when they're inside the fence at a BBQ or when the kids come over to play. Sometimes I wonder if she's barking because she wants them to come play with her - the barks for strangers do sound different to barks for people she knows. Joe I know you've posted a lot on neutralisation - how exactly do you attempt to neutralise a dog to other stimulus besides you? I've found it hard to get info on how it works/how to do it (but I've seen the debates on DOL about neutralisation vs socialisation)

Thanks corvus! I remember you saying that you treat Erik when he comes across situations that are fearful or stress him out. When I took her out to toilet mid-morning we could see some workers on the golf course - at first she just looked - I praised and gave a treat, kept giving treats, marker word, praise, pats and we stayed out there for a good 2-3 minutes and she only made one woof leopuppy4 - thanks! it's big enough for backyard cricket or functions for my family (immediate family ie aunts, uncles, cousins is about 60ppl) we don't want to plant any trees since we paid top dollar for the view of the golf course from our yard (OH and I both mad keen golfers)

I am considering showing - but it seems really scary! I think if we do decide to have a litter - I'd want her to get her title first to prove her conformation and build her reputation so that we can find great homes for her pups. I'd go back to her breeder for assistance. The biggest consideration is finding homes - our breeder accepts any pups back that can't stay in their forever homes - so we would have to be certain that we could/would do the same to some or even all of her pups so they don't end up in a shelter or in the trading post.

I've trawled and searched through the barking threads in this part of the forum and got some ideas about stopping barking - but this particular scenario hasn't been addressed (or I can't figure out how to transfer the behaviour training) Our backyard is very open and as you can see in the picture below - we have a pool fence, then a public walking path and then on the other side is a golf course I have no idea what happens when we're out at work - I've asked the neighbours and Ziva doesn't seem to bark at people walking on the path when we're not home - though she mostly hangs out in the laundry during the day and possibly she hasn't been outside in the yard to eliminate when someone has been walking by. But when I work from home - her inside puppy pen looks out over the backyard. Every time someone walks along the path - she barks - and not just an attention yap, a bark and low growl. I've read about teaching to bark on command - using the doorbell or some other controllable stimulus - but I've tried doorbells, vacuums, phone ringing, bike bells and she doesn't seem to bark! Only when she sees either (a) a bird land in our backyard or (b) people walking on the path. I'm ok for her to bark at something that is technically on our property - e.g. if someone hopped the fence we would like her to bark. But we're in a new estate and when more houses go up and the golf course opens - there will be plenty of people walking by. I can't screen the fence (she'd see over the top anyway!) - so I've been doing some thinking about how to solve the problem. So far all I've come up with is to get someone we know to walk past on signal and give her treats so she can't bark. Is that correct - dogs can't bark when they're eating? Give a "shush" or "quiet" command while I'm treating while the person walks past a few times. Then move on to shushing before treating, extending the time between shush and treat. I have a clicker to use (and she has had some clicker training) The plan is to start this weekend - any other suggestions? Someone posted in the other barking topics about spraying her in the face with water - so far we've only done positive reinforcement of behaviour and ignoring behaviour we don't want - but ignoring barking doesn't seem to work because she's not doing it to get our attention. Is spraying with water a negative reinforcement? Would it cause any long term harm or make her afraid of water? (She is happy to drink from the bubbler at the park, not very happy with baths) Thanks in advance