becw

This is so awful. ;) My OH and I often discuss the need for a minimum level of education on dog behaviour and management for potential pet owners. In our opinion, it should be a non-negotiable certificate required to purchase any pet.

Both Jeff and Arnie get "Stink Bottom". It's a collective term of endearment.

Oh!! I get that all the time with Jeff - people ask me if he's Kelpie x Lab because he's lean and can run like a demon!! I say no, he's pure lab - he's just fed the right amount and exercised regularly like all dogs should be! :p

Perhaps you're not as outraged as me - but I'd name and shame them. Horrible way they've treated you, and they deserve bad publicity.

Well I'm the type of weirdo that thinks if I ask Jeff a question he may actually reply to me in English as if he could speak all this time and I just needed to ask the RIGHT question - and if that happened I'd be much much too freaked out to do anything for a few weeks - so I try not to think about stuff like this!! Have an AWESOME weekend everyone - I will!! I am having a boozy lunch at the Newport Doggy Beach to celebrate my birthday - can't be done without my fuzzy boys! (But yes, Daddy will be designated driver to get the pups home safely. Mummy may have boozed on and sent the kids home...)

Bahaha!! What a great topic!! I have dogs called Jeff (Jeff Marmaduke Goldblum in full!) and Arnie. I walk a little chihuahua called Johnny, who has two kitty housemates called Paul and Lena. When I first got Jeff my Dad refused to call him by his name for about 3 months. He didn't believe it was the right name for a dog, and he was worried I may one day want to date a man named Jeff!! But now everyone accepts that Jeff suits him perfectly.

OMG, I absolutely love this thread!! These photos are awesome!! I wish my boys would let me photograph them in funny poses - but Jeff just always looks cross with me, and Arnie looks like he's run 3 marathons and can do nothing but sleep.

Dogs may wear muzzles for a variety of reasons. To make a blanket rule without looking at the dog as an individual is very disrespectfully declining business. Especially since you admit to having no experience with muzzling. A muzzle prevents biting, so your attitude to muzzling makes it much more likely that your dogs will cause injury than a muzzled dog could. LOL. Many people are scared of a muzzle. It is shame that some so-called professionals are as well. If a muzzle is worn as you say it is, to prevent biting - well I'm pretty sure I don't want to be in charge of Bitey McBite if he's not my dog! Again, I'll re-iterate - muzzles have their place, and I'm not saying otherwise. I am saying as a dog walker, if you know that a dog has a biting habit and needs to be muzzled to prevent it, why would you take the risk that they may bite while under your care? The job is risky enough - people often claim their dog is better trained than is the actual case etc. Why would I want to take on something I KNOW is an issue waiting to happen when I can focus my efforts on dogs that don't require muzzling to prevent them biting? There are plenty of them out there in my experience!! N.B I know that each and every dog has the capacity to bite of course. My point is if it's been such an issue in the past that a muzzle has been purchased to prevent the biting - it's not an area I want to play in. In all the dogs I've walked, I've not had one incident where there has been a serious bite. Rough/mouthy play has been the worst it's got - and I've no issue with rough play, being the owner of two adolescent male dogs! Perhaps I've just been lucky and I'll change my tune - who knows.

I do wonder though - if they survive in the wild on mainly bones, meat and whatever they forage...surely this diet would be ok for them? Not sure about very young pups though!

I don't have anything useful to say here, but I'd love to see what others say! Both my boys tend to be a little sensitive. We've finally settled on IAMS Large breed, but they tend to develop sensitivities so we could be looking again in a few months. I did feed them roo mince etc for a while, but I worried about the same things as you - that they weren't getting everything they needed, so we gradually moved back to Large Breed pup food.

Bahahahaha!! Little Jeff did this when he was just a pup - anything I left on the bed was promptly inspected on his rounds in the house and if there was a bra there he'd carry it round till he settled on his bed. He only stopped doing it when we moved about 6 months ago. They never used to be this bad - I could leave a load on the line all day and come back with it intact. Since I started working from home, they've started ripping it off. I'm wondering (and this has just clicked...) if maybe they don't like being outside now that they're inside a lot more than they used to be? Does this make sense? I used to work full time so they'd be out all day till I got home, but now they might spend 30-40% of the day inside during the day, plus the evening...

Ummm...actually, I think each dog is an individual - there are high energy dogs of every breed and low energy dogs of every breed. Perhaps Labs in general are not low energy - but mine is. He is very relaxed and it is very clear in the way he engages with other dogs he meets and his behaviour overall. Sorry - I should have been more specific. They get their two 45 minute walks, plus I interact with them through the day including 15-20 minute obedience session per day where we do some basic stuff (mainly what we learnt at puppy pre-schoool). Perhaps we need to move onto more advanced stuff? We also play lots of fetch, and do some scatter feeding and generally cruise around our yard like 3 crazy loons during my down times with work - a few hours a day probably in total. But yes, perhaps it is just a case of removing the temptation - I worry that I'll literally never be able to hang washing out again and have the dogs in the yard! They are well worth it though. Sweetest boys in the world.

You guessed right, they are both such water-hounds!! I've tried crating them when I hang it out but it just makes us all miserable - it's too hot but there's no space inside the house for their crate so it's got to be outside when I'm not home (all our rooms are tiny, and the crate has to be huge to fit both of them!). But with them in the crate, I just worry the whole time they are out of water etc (even though they're in the shade) and I end up rushing home to rescue them, to find that my Mastiff has been off his nut the whole time and has not stopped barking!!

Hi everyone! I have two gorgeous pups, 14 and 15 months old now - but still carrying on as if they were 14 and 15 weeks!! Most dog behavioural type stuff I'm pretty ok with - we've got clear rules and boundaries and if they go outside of these they know there are consequences. Generally they are very well behaved boys. We have a massive issue though - they are the worst for not only tearing washing off the line, but also proceeding to shred it into tiny little pieces! My boyfriend has lost many a business shirt and we've sacrificed a few beach towels to this crazy fate!! They are exercised no less than 90 minutes a day - nice cool early morning walk and late evening before dinner time. So I can't imagine that they are anxious about being under exercised. They also get a few trips to the off leash park every week and a swim in the lake thrown in here and there in hot weather. I'm also home a lot in between times - so they get a lot of attention through the day most of the time. They really aren't left to their own devices more than about 3 hours through the day, and then overnight. I'm reaching my wits end with this issue. I completely understand that my Mastiff, Arnie, is a medium energy dog and needs to be entertained and kept challenged. We work really hard to make sure he gets what he needs in this regard! Our Lab, Jeff, is low energy but by default gets the same engagement as Arnie - so neither should be acting out like this. What can we do to control/understand the behaviour better? Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

I run a small dog walking/pet care business in Western Sydney. I gotta say, I'm disgusted that people are out there giving us such a bad name with their behaviour! I agree that it is impossible to control several dogs all at once, especially if they are all from different families. What works for one pack may not work for another. I only take dogs from the same family out at the same time - and if they are a new or even new-ish client, we do not go to off-leash areas until I have an excellent idea of their level of training, their temperament and reactions in certain situations and any other relevant information. You can't get this stuff off an owner - it's only by watching the pooch in certain situations that you can full understand their position on various things like larger dogs approaching etc. I also think it's terrible not to even attempt to control dogs under your care when they are all over someone. I think we've all been there - moments when our animals just won't do what they'e been asked, even though we know they know what is expected! But to not even attempt to stop them from jumping all over a lady with a child - asking for trouble in my opinion. In terms of the muzzling - it's not something I have experience with since if an owner told me they take their dog to an off leash park but they must be muzzled, I would respectfully decline their business. Each to his own - I can see that muzzles have their place - but for me and my business, it's an area I'd rather stay away from since I am not the dog's owner and I would never forgive myself if I was in charge and something happened that led to people or animals being injured.