Blackdogs

My Schip paws at the keyboard keys because it never fails to garner some kind of response. :D

Out of general interest: What breed do you have and what do you think they would do if a stranger entered your yard/house unnanounced while you were out? Would their behaviour be different if they were alone and not with your other dogs? How do you think your dog/s would behave if an unwelcome visitor entered your home while you were home? How do you think they would behave if this person became physically confrontational with you? Of course, we can only guess unless the situation has arisen in the past, but I would be interested to know how people think their chosen breed would behave.

I was refused adoption on the grounds that I had an undesexed show dog. This was at a popular shelter. I found it incredible.

I have an almost seven year old entire male dog who has never had any health issues related to being entire. He has never attempted to escape the property to procreate and he has never mated. He is happy, well adjusted and healthy. I believe that population control has more to do with education than anything else.

I think I'd be wishing that I'd not ingrained the motto 'do not hurt little creatures' so deeply into their psyches. The Schipperke would alert to danger, the Kelpie would take down the threat. Oh an the Schipp can find food miles away, so if there was any typoe of fruit or carrion she'd find it. She may also chase small creatures to exhaustion so I could catch them. Both would keep me warm at night. I'd add a JRT to the mix so they could catch prey for me. They're small so they don't cost much in fuel.

Hot during the day, freezing at night.

You're stranded, unprepared, on an island for an indefinite period of time and all you have with you are your dog/s. What breed of dog/s do you have and how do you think they would they help you surive? If you could choose another breed to bring with you as well what would it be and why?

Sad isn't it. Rife in the dog world, same as in any other profession. And to show you my bias - LOL - any trainer who used the word "alpha" wouldn't get my business. :) Each to his own, Danny's Darling. Just as well we have choices in this world. I've only been on this site a very short period of time, and I'm really interested in people's experiences and views on dog training - that's the reason I joined, and to express my own views, not to bag anyone else's views simply because I don't agree with them or don't wish to use that training method myself. My needs at this stage, and desired training levels are obviously different to other peoples', and I find the "Alpha" training method suits me and the situation I found myself in with a new 18-month, out-of-control dog. I'm not a professional dog trainer, I'm just an average Jo Blo learner, but I do find it disappointing when people become aggressive and challenged by other trainers' views, rather than trying to encourage people with their dog training where they feel they are succeeding. My motto as a trainer: If it works best for you and your dog - do it. ETA - As a dog trainer, I am also very careful not to criticise other trainers, including high profile trainers as I feel this lets the profession down.

The main thing I don't like in trainers is closed-mindedness and arrogance. Unfortunately more trainers sit around bagging each other's methods behind each other's backs than getting together and productively discussing merits and ideas. The profession would be better off if people learned from each other rather than smugly trying to outdo each other.

How many entire dogs have you housed/managed? With all the entire dogs I have had through care, I have never once had a dog do 'anything at all' to get to a bitch in heat. But, I admit, that's only about 10 dogs or so. Maybe you've had more entire male dogs in your care and have witnessed more of this desperate behaviour than I? I agree with this. I've never had a problem with my entire male. There was a bitch on heat at the park the other day and he was certainly interested until I called him off and distracted him. You can still have control over entire dogs.

Well said!

And it's so rare that it made the news. It's not the only one that's made the news recently but think of how often it might happen where it doesn't make the news. People, do what you like, but please don't bitch about those of us who won't leave our dogs to chance outside a shop. I hope that second line isn't directed at me, because nowhere did I bitch about people not doing it. In fact, my main remark was that people should 'mind their own business', so effectively I've been asking of you what you seem to be asking of me. The dog world is so incredibly full of judgement - we really should just learn to live and let live. I think if your dog was hurt outside a shop or had it's lead taken off, you'd be pretty judgemental about those who did it, no? In the same way that I would be judgemental a rapist attacking someone wearing a short skirt, a mugger attacking people walking out at night, a speeding car hitting someone crossing a busy road. It's never the victim's fault if someone else breaks the law. It is not illegal to tie out your dogs, so stop with the judgement.

And it's so rare that it made the news. It's not the only one that's made the news recently but think of how often it might happen where it doesn't make the news. People, do what you like, but please don't bitch about those of us who won't leave our dogs to chance outside a shop. I hope that second line isn't directed at me, because nowhere did I bitch about people not doing it. In fact, my main remark was that people should 'mind their own business', so effectively I've been asking of you what you seem to be asking of me. The dog world is so incredibly full of judgement - we really should just learn to live and let live.

And it's so rare that it made the news.

First of all, this lady was an acquaintance, so I assumed she knew the dogs. Secondly, she was restraining her dogs. Where in the post does it indicate these dogs were mobbing her or her dog? I don't agree with your first statement. If you know dog body language, you have assurances that the dogs are friendly and your dog is outgoing/not easily intimidated this can be a fine scenario. Of course there are never any guarantees, but I'm not a fan of cotton wool.

I'm confused. You said: "You should always have your dog on lead in a public park!" but nowhere do you state that the park is on lead only. I would modify that statement to "You should always have your dog on lead in a public park THAT HAS ON LEAD ONLY RESTRICTIONS!" If it doesn't have restrictions then it's her right to walk her dogs off lead. She sounds like a sensible and lovely person. She held her dogs back and warned you that she had her dogs off-lead, but that they were friendly, so that you could make the decision as to whether you wanted to let your dog mingle with hers. When you acted irrationally, she went out of her way to smooth things over and you were extremely rude to her. Is there a reason you don't want you dog mingling with known friendly dogs? It could be a good opportunity for socialisation. I would be embarassed too, if I had acted that way and I would definitely be giving her a call and apologising.

I'm not sure things have changed. I think we're just a more fearful society and cultural changes have resulted from this fact (unless of course there are statistics indicating more dogs are being stolen from outside shops). Personally I see nothing wrong with it. I think a lot of people walk to the shops and want to take their dogs for a walk on the way. I tend to leave my dogs outside shops with frequency. They love getting out and watching the world go by. I really think people should mind their own business when it comes to things like this.

Mine were up at 6 weeks.

Yes, this is very important.

I was going with this too. Looks like a puppy to me. Have you checked his teeth tp determine age?

I would definitely leave early with the pets. The two dogs are always with me, so it would take seconds to get them in the car. The cat would be a different story as he tends to wander and I'm not sure how long it would take to find him. I'd look for a reasonable period of time and leave him, hoping for the best if I couldn't find him. The guinea pig has his own fairly roomy carrier.

What do you do to prolong your dog's life? I have a Kelpie and he's always been incredibly active, so I worry about joints. Prior to him I only had small dogs with a greater life expectancy, so I'm a bit paranoid. His ancestors have only made it to between 12 and 13. He's 6.5 years old and I have him on Synflex and/or PAW Osteocrare Supplements, he has a premium diet with dental diet thrown in, he swims a lot, sleeps on a soft surface and gets plenty of mental stimulation. I've kept him fairly lean. I've even given him a course of cartrophen as a preventative. I'm not sure what else I can do. What do you do to prolong your dog's life? Which breed/s do you have and at what age do you start taking measures? What would you consider to be essential for a dog to live a long and happy life? Are there some areas that are breed specific that require more attention?

Meh. Probably not the most effective training tool, but not a huge deal unless you have a very soft dog. No different to correcting a dog with a check chain or a head halter, really. If I flicked my dogs with a lead they'd probably not even notice. <<Flame suit on>>>

... and a piece of carrot each.

Hah. My dogs' diets are relatively boring. For brekky they had Eukanuba kibble with fish oil. In between they were thrown bits of left over roast chicken and half a tub of yoghurt. For dinner they had Hills Sensitive Wet (it was free/just out of date) with Hills T/D Dry, fish oil, Nutrigel and the older one had Synflex added. Do you all feed left overs to our dogs? I'm a big left over feeder - I figure fruits and vegetables etc add something to the diet.