Weasels

Pers ya gotta do what you gotta do - personally I figure it's better than insisting that I check whether every dog has testicles or not before I let my boy approach PME I just want to say I think it's fantastic how dedicated you are to Kenzie, I suspect with a less patient and understanding owner she would be floundering but it sounds like she is doing great

Handler-focussed Intellegent Active - keen for running, dog sports, whatever Biddable Able to 'switch off' and relax My kelpies have the first 4, we are still working on the last one when we are out and about (they've got the couch-potato thing down pat at home ;)). But they are only teenagers and I think we will get there with time and training. All the Aussie Sheps I have seen have all thses qualities, but I must say I'm partial to a more easy-care coat :D

For me, I watch their body language very closely when they meet a new dog and have a strong 'walk on' command. At the first sign of tensing, we move away. Like I said this has only happened twice with my boy, but my girl dislikes most dogs (just growls if they get up in her face) so I am very used to the procedure. It depends on the distance at which the OP's dog wants to lunge though - Weez will only get riled if the dog is right in front of him, get about 2m away and he's fine. Our vet waiting room is divided by a row of seats, if I moved around the other side there wouldn't be a problem. YMMV of course Couldn't agree more. I am very mindful that kelpies too are bred to make snap decisions independently and set my level of vigilance and training priorities with this in mind.

Hi jossfarmer Do you know if the Staffy x was entire? My boy (also Diesel ) is as sweet as they come with 99% of dogs, but the only 2 he's ever snarled at were adult entire males. If there is a common factor in the dogs he dislikes (and you can work out what it is) it may just be a matter of keeping Diesel away from certain dogs.

Huh, that was random. Anyhoo, Fuzzy is it possible she was just trying to make conversation, or trying to be cute? There are pros and cons to having either small and large dogs, perhaps you should just chalk this up as one of the cons like Aussie3 said, if a bigger dog was acting the same way she may have called him aggressive and suggested you were endagering the public by having him out So all in all it could be worse -- Wagsalot that's not cool

I've been thinking about this a bit lately, and all the weird, stimulating and confusing things (from a dog perspective) that they are confronted with daily in the 'burbs. I think my conclusion is that I shouldn't be surprised that my boy is reactive, but I should be surprised that my girl isn't!

Normal shmormal. My two are both batsh*t crazy-pants in their own way, but it also means they're full of personality and up for anything. And it's such a great feeling to help them overcome their issues and fears, and watch their confidence grow by the week And besides, if I had sedate, predictable dogs I wouldn't learn half as much about training and behaviour :p

Yay Mangey! And i hope princess goes ok with your dogs, they looked like great dogs the video

I've shared their video on Facebook since most of my FB friends are in SA. If anyone else wishes to do the same the Adelaide All Breed Dog Rescue Facebook page is here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adelaide-All-Breed-Dog-Rescue/224826754237905?ref=ts

Bartok I think a lot depends on the culture of your local dog park. For me dogs approaching us is an everyday occurence, but the vast majority of people/dogs we encounter are known to at least one person in the park, so word of an aggressive dog or encounter spreads very quickly. Therefore I feel pretty safe in my local haunts. Other people clearly have a different experience. I think it's more important to understand how your local dog people feel about certain behaviours, rather than extrapolating the experience that people may have had in completely different environments with different dogs. If unsure, probably best to err on the side of caution and keep your dogs close tho

Whilst being pretty non-confrontational myself, I can think of several people i've met who wouldn't hesitate to punch you in the face for kicking their dog/s.

Again I must be lucky, in my experience the owner generally appears after a minute or so to collect their dog. Otherwise I havea 'go' command and my dogs can outrun most others I live in a fairly small community tho and I fully realise it's different when you have new ppl coming and going or if you own dogs with a different temperament But I do still try to look for the positives in experiences 'out in the world' and try to turn them into training opportunities as much as I can. Dogs in the 'burbs have to deal with a lot of random stuff, I try to proof them against as much of it as i can.

Maybe it's just me but I consider this scenario a great training opportunity. I love when another dog is pawing at Weez to play and he's focussed 100% on me makes me so proud. Then i'll generally release him to greet anyway. Daninbcs it sounds like you're in a bad area that hasn't been my experience of walking dogs at all.

When Weez was younger he'd sometimes race off up the beach when he saw some ppl w/dogs, but he'd stop dead about 10m away (sniffing distance I guess) and unless it was someone he knew, turn around and race straight back again. I see plenty of dogs that race up and then slam themselves into a 'down' position to wait and see how the other dog reacts. It's actually quite cute. I don't ask people if we can approach either, but I just watch them cafefully and if they make any move at all to get their dog away i call mine back. If the dog is on a lead i initially assume they don't want to socialise unless they say otherwise. I'm lucky tho that my dogs aren't hugely fussed about greeting other dogs in the first place, I've seen others struggle with recall away from other dogs because nothing the person could offer them is of higher value than socialsing

Yay i hope you have a great time! No need to be nervous, Kenzie'll be doing all the work ;)

We bought a mincer :D Problem solved. I only bought pet mince once, but the consistency of it was so gluggy and horrible, once was enough. My boy threw up after as well.

If they did it 6 times and the lab didn't obey, how can they say it is working? I'm with Persephone, I'd not only be avoiding the place but looking for somewhere to report them too. I don't have a problem with precise correction either but from description it sounds closer to abuse. And not even getting results from it anyway. I'd be keen to give them a few 'corrections' to see if it stops them being idiots :

Mavericks he is absolutely gorgeous

Power's been out for about 2 hours down rockingham way Lighning, wind, heavy rain, the whole works. No agility for us tonight!

Great photos I was really never a beach person at all until I got dogs. But seeing how much the rogs enjoy the smells, the free-running and cooling off in the water I now find going to the beach quite addictive :D

Last weekend I was leaving our local beach up the path to the car park. About 1/3rd of the way up the path I gave Weez a treat for walking at my side, then went to pat another dog. Once I'd finished patting the other dog I looked up and couldn't see Weez. I turned around and somehow he'd managed to materialise back down on the beach, sitting at full attention in front of a woman who had got out some treats for her own dog I have no idea how he sussed on to the treats from that far away, and luckily we'd practised recall away from someone else with treats at obedience, but I was almost laughing too hard to call him back. He was just being so good (sitting nicely) whilst being so cheeky (trying to score some other dog's treats) :p Edit: Weez also has what I call 'chicken radar' where he appears as soon as I take any kind of meat out of the fridge, whereas Fox has to be called over to get her share of offcuts

Thanks for the invite Hortfullball Unfortunately i have plans for that weekend, but I hope you all have a great time! Maybe next time, especially since all my 'normal' (non-dognerd) friends are sick of hearing about dogs, it would be great to catch up with some DOLers :p

This one's actually from last summer, and wasn't taken by me, but it's my favourite photo of Weez (and also my FB profile pic )

Both Cash and the sheep seemed so settled! Great vid The outrun looked about a third of the length we use i'm not sure which i'd prefer though.

Agree and agree. Dogs don't pop out fully trained, and sometimes a behaviour you've never seen before will just appear and catch you off guard. I imagine it's a rare dog owner indeed whose dogs have never annoyed or frightened anyone else. There are only 2 dogs in the park that I am concerned about: mine. If a dog tries to hump Weez I either call him away and put me between him and the dog, or send Weez out of harm's way with a 'go' command. If the owner wants to discuss the problem I am happy to recommend training resources for them. If they couldn't care less I remember who they are and avoid them in future. And likewise I certainly appreciate any understanding shown to me if my dogs do something I wasn't expecting that someone else find rude. (edited for rogue apostrophe)