Molly:)

No she is same age. On the previous visit he approached her cautiously but with tail wagging. She gave him quick pat and he was fine. However when he sniffed her she squealed and flinched with jerking arm movements. That's when he made his retreat a few meters and barked at her. She has only been around toy size dogs apart from him.

Hi Thanks for the reply. Ill travel to the Shire or Sydney if necessary. He has always been a bit scared of my friends daughter (the only kid he has been wary of) when she visits. He keeps his distance and barks when she squeals. Therefore I put him outside when she visits. He is fine with my partners nieces and nephews and friendly with kids when out on walks. I want to add he is never unsupervised with children, with me always close by during interactions. On last visit however my partner didn't put him outside in time and he ran up to her and barked at her. I am now really worried about this behavior and keen to get him assessed.

Hi I was wondering if anyone could recommend a behaviorist to me? I live in the Illawarra Region. Thanks

Hi everyone, I am currently looking to get a dog, which will live in a townhouse with a Maltese Terrier,and after some suggestions that a Finnish Lapphund would be suitable I have looked at the breed pages, photos on this forum etc and see they are so cute!! By the sounds of things they seem to have a lovely temperament similar to what I'm looking for. Would they be suitable for townhouse living? The dog I will get will be walked daily, sleep inside and have a fairly large (partly grassed) yard for a townhouse to run around in.

Thanks everyone for your input. To answers some of your questions: The maltese lived most of it's life with two other maltese's. She has been around other dogs including my BC that I had and they got along fine. My dads 21 month old male BC comes round for visits, they get along fine and if she doesn't feel like playing she is confident enough to tell him so. After posting my initial post I looked through the Spitz forum and found both the Keeshond and Finnish Lapphund to be quite cute, however I am not familiar with these breeds. Can anyone tell me what their temperament/personality is like?

Hi fellow dog lovers, My partner and I own our own townhouse and I would love to get another dog, as a playmate to my partners 7 year old Maltese Terrier. I grew up with Border Collies and LOVE them to bits!! However I realise that a Border Collie may not be appropriate for my current living arrangements and would like some advice in choosing another breed of dog. My townhouse is large in size, at the back of the complex, with approximately 120 sqms of backyard. It has a grassed area. They will sleep inside, and be outside while we are both at work, with access to our double garage as well. We both leave for work at 8am and home by 5pm. My partner regularly comes home from work for lunch where he can play with them. The dog will be walked daily, and sometimes taken jogging. We live near a park and a 15 min walk to an off-leash beach where I want to take them regularly. I however don't really like small breed dogs, favoring something a little larger, preferably with a long coat. I realise that all dogs are prone to barking if not mentally stimulated but I would like a dog that isn't known to be a "barker", so I don't annoy the neighbours. The type of dogs I love are Border Collies, Rough Collies, Golden Retrievers, English Cocker Spaniels, Samoyed's, Old English Sheepdogs and Shetland Sheepdogs. I recently met a beautiful Scottish Terrier that has made me consider them also. Are any of these breeds appropriate to my lifestyle or has anyone got any other suggestions?