Blackdogs

I researched my Kelpie what I thought was years in advance (even found the breeders I wanted), but my dog at the time died unexpectedly, so it was only a year before I got him. I researched my Schipperke years in advance, but left breeder researching to a few months in advance. The timing again was fairly sudden. I currently have a breeder in mind for my next dog, who I will be years off acquiring. I'm very, very picky when it comes to my dogs. I'm a perfectionist when raising them as well, and I usually end up with exactly the dog I want, so this works for me.

My Kelpie becomes cage reactive towards strangers. He also can get growly with some people if they try to handle him and he doesn't know them. He's been highly socialised and when I'm around is everyone's best friend. God knows what pound people would think about that. My sister's little cross-breed is irrationally petrified of the world - even with people she knows well - was purchased at 8 weeks of age and has had the same upringing as her other little crossbreed who is extremely gregarious. Two out of our five family dogs would make it through the adoption process.

I agree. It seems dog people are less and less tolerant of each other. I usually like to stop and chat with dog people and if I see something I don't like or hear something I disagree with I politely bite my tongue or move on unless it really impacts upon me, then I politely communicate with the person. It seems though, and I'm not sure if it's the culture on this forum or if it's something I've been unaware of until now, that dog people are ever so ready to turn on each other or believe the worst about each other. It really bothers me how over-legislated we are with regards to dogs and dog ownership. You'd think rather than reporting each other we'd band together and be more understanding. It's almost like legislation has taken the place of communication. People don't have to negotiate and discuss because the laws, getting increasingly strict as they are, allow us to report people like petty school children dobbing on a playmate. Of couse I'm not talking about serious incidents, here.

Some people on this forum are pretty report-happy. Dogs bark at fences. The dog has not escaped and attacked you. You cannot possibly predict what the dog will do and the dog is obviously contained. You have nothing to report. Mind your own business and cross the road if you don't like it. ETA: My dogs sound fierce behind a fence, but they're very well socialised and friendly dogs.

What about Toppy and Darcy?

I never quite understood people getting upset over trite but benign comments. It's like getting angry because the check-out person always asks you how you are or your work colleagues always say 'hello' in the morning. I always get 'mini-me!' comments because I have two dogs who look the same only one is big and one is small. I genuinely enjoy any attention my dogs get from strangers. They're my babies and I love talking about them!

This is exactly the type of crap I hope my puppy homes avoid: If dogs bite each other shouldn’t it be natural for us to emulate them to train them? It all depends on your morals and ethics whether inflicting intimidation or pain on an animal is an acceptable behavior. It is part of human behavior in a society to bully, rape and kill each other, but that doesn’t make it moral or give one the right to do it to other people. Because dogs and wolves bully, fight, and kill each other does not make it acceptable for us to emulate their behavior towards our own dog. Dogs play-fight using their mouths, see the photo above left, but that also doesn’t give us a right to use collars or intimidation to manage or train dogs. Jerking a dog on a collar could suppress a behavior from happening, but it can also cause behavioral side effects such as aggression and frustration How do you think and LGD would respond to 'positive only' training?

I see very very few used as intended. With the way Joe public uses chains I think 'choke' is an appropriate name. bahaha yeah like a 'gentle leader' :laugh: Hahaha. I completely agree. They should be renamed 'the abrasive irritator'.

That's true too. He could have redirected onto the owner. It's hard to tell without seeing the incident.

If I was to hazard a guess using only the information provided I'd say the dog probably responded in prey drive to commotion/squeals and became overstimulated.

The more I listen to it the more supernatural it sounds. And I don't even believe in that stuff. What a freaky noise. Whatever it is, I want to kill it for scaring your poor little babies like that. What good little darlings trying to protect their property. I wish they'd all rushed in together and bitten his nose off if it was an intruder.

Have you tried using one of those inflatable collars (the other dogs is wearing one in the first video) on her to try and break the habit? You could give her something to chew on instead. When you take the collar off after some time, you could apply a foul tasting spray to the targeted areas as insurance. Just a thought.

Great. I was just falling asleep before listening to that. I live alone and I'm not easily spooked, but I'm not game to re-listen to that and I'm now wide awake.

Do Lakelands shed? Also, does their hair just keep growing and growing like a poodle's if not trimmed?

The first and last Schipperke I met bit me on the calf muscle I have a scar there for life I needed 8 stitches, All I did was give my friend a hug goodbye and it latched onto me Oh dear. I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with a Schipperke. I have to admit to meeting some undersocialised Schipps. I wish I could introduce you to my little girl, though. She's just pure unadulterated happiness and would never hurt a fly. A very sweet and outgoing little dog.

To be fair to him there is a pathway through the park that many joggers/walkers take and it would take some time to walk around if you couldn't use this path, but I do think his reaction was disproportionate. I'm not sure what I would have done if he actually hit my dog. Fortunately my Schipp doesn't really understand hostile reactions and thinks everyone loves her. :laugh:

He appeared to be Middle-Eastern. I know there are some cultural disparities regarding dogs between Western and Middle Eastern cultures, particularly black dogs, so this may have been the case here. What are your on-leash experiences?

Yes, she is. I have noticed this as well and try to be cautious, but obviously not cautious enough! :laugh:

Today I was out with my little dog enjoying the weather at the local off-leash park. She's a very friendly little Schipperke who tries to approach strangers for pats but is usually intercepted by me calling her back because I understand not all people like dogs. Today, however, I had a bit of a lapse in judgement. As my dog was approaching a stranger from a distance I noticed he turned towards her and stopped and it seemed to me that he wanted to greet her, so I allowed her to approach. When she got close to him however, he tried to kick her so I quickly called her back. As she was returning to me he picked up some rocks and threw them at her (fortunately he was a poor aim). I quickly yelled out that she was friendly and put her on lead, but this man was very angry. He came towards me yelling that I had frightened him and said he thought he was under attack. I explained to him that I had misjudged the situation and apologised for frightening him, but he wouldn't let it go. He continued to approach me yelling about that my dog had rushed him and became increasingly threatening. I apologised again and left the park. I felt bad about this whole thing because clearly it was my fault that I had scared him, but I felt quite shaken by this incident. Has anyone else had unpleasant experiences with other people regarding their dogs and if so, how did you handle it?

Do you have whippets? If so, can they not simulate some kind of faux prey as they do in greyhound racing? I don't know a lot about this, so just asking the question.

So I've been thinking. And excuse my naive thread, as I'm not as well versed in the nuiances of pure breeding as most of you here, but I've been wondering this: Why are purebreds judged on form rather than function? I mean, we have a certain expectation as to how a particular breed of dog will look, that is true, however, when we recommend a breed of dog we always talk about temperament characteristics. Surely the most accurate way to measure this is to test the dog's temperament against some kind of functional standard rather than the way it looks? Does function always follow form? And if so, where is the proof? Do not dogs bred for function generally outperform dogs bred for form? I'm not against showing dogs under the current standards, but I just wonder why function is not considered as a general rule with most breeds. Can anyone enlighten me?

Do these dogs have health issues, I wonder?

How many dogs do you have on your bed of a night time? It used to be socially unacceptable once upon a time, but I notice more and more people are doing it, these days. Every night when I go to bed I'm accompanied by a Kelpie, a Schipperke and a cat. In a queen sized bed, I find this quite manageable most of the time, but I have heard of some people having multiple giant breeds on their bed. All together, I share with about 34kg of animal if you add them all up. Who do you share with and what is the collective weight? Who will win the battle of slumbering bulk? I think we'll need pictorial evidence, for those who have it. ;)

This study sounds very interesting. Have you posted some threads on it that I have missed?

The below list of human emotions is taken from Wikipedia. Which (if any) of these emotions do you believe dogs experience? Negative and forceful Anger Annoyance Contempt Disgust Irritation Negative and not in control Anxiety Embarrassment Fear Helplessness Powerlessness Worry Negative thoughts Doubt Envy Frustration Guilt Shame Negative and passive Boredom Despair Disappointment Hurt Sadness Agitation Stress Shock Tension Positive and lively Amusement Delight Elation Excitement Happiness Joy Pleasure Caring Affection Empathy Friendliness Love Positive thoughts Courage Hope Pride Satisfaction Trust Quiet positive Calm Content Relaxed Relieved Serene Reactive Interest Politeness Surprised If you have time to explain your answer I would be appreciative. Warning: I may play devil's advocate.