Weasels

Not directly that I could see, but they had limited data on whether it was the same wolves free-loading each time (although the data they had suggested it was). They did note that the performance of breeding individuals declined more slowly as group size increased, so perhaps individual performance will fluctuate over time depending on whether they have pups to feed. Or maybe they are just being kind to their no-good siblings. I know that coyotes and dingoes are far more flexible in their pack affliation depending what type and how much prey is available, but they generally live in more marginal habitat. Perhaps the wolves' range covers habitat with enough resources that they don't have to fret over every morsel, so the costs of having freeloaders are low. I'm just speculating tho. There is much more research to be done! Get busy behavioural ecologists!

The website in the original link does a lot of science reporting and is pretty nerdy, so i feel confident when they say 'science proves' it was with tongue in cheek. The paper they refer to was in a good journal and one of the coauthors was David Mech, so the science was probably pretty good too (although it's not my field so i can't judge). Even good science can provide some laffs tho

I use verbal cues in teaching a behaviour but often fade them in favour of gestures, then sometimes re-use the verbal cues for other things For touching with a certain paw i used 'left' and 'right' (my left and right) and would hold out the equivalent hand. Now I use left and right for running in a certain direction and the dog's know that whichever hand I hold out I want their paw on the same side. For us 'paw' means lift up the leg I'm touching for putting on a harness. To get them on one side or the other I use 'heel' and expect them to go where I am pointing (thank you agility!). I use 'through' for going through my legs, but haven't done the pivoting one One fun thing you can do once they understand raising their left and right paw is to introduce raising your left and right knee as you say the command, then fading out the command so that the dog will march in time with you. This was easy to teach but it's super cute and impresses people ;) I like gestures over voice for a few reasons, I can subtly train/command my dogs without interuppting a conversation, and when kids are trying to command my dogs I can give sly gesture commands and the kid thinks they are training the dog ETA: or the short version: what Corvus said Just make up commands that you can remember. I am the only one at agility that uses 'jump!' instead of 'over!' but the end result is the same

We had a nice turnout at our park this morning: baby lab, GSD, 2 kelpies (of course ;)) 2 irish setters, teenage newfie, standard poodle and a golden all happily doing a lap around the park together and chasing two balls. There were some more labs and a boxer on the other side of the park that we didn't catch up with but have interacted with happily in the past (the st. poodle was a temporary visitor from that group who wanted to see if our crew was having more fun). The newfie also went off to say a gentle hello to a dog so tiny that I couldn't even see what breed it was Finding a GOOD dog park is great for the soul I think, I love starting the day surrounded by happy dogs and friendly owners :D

Yes, unfortunately. I get the Eagle Pack because it is a compromise between quality and availability - it is the best quality food that I can get within a close travelling distance and with a consistent supply. Personally I'm not so fussed about beet pulp, but I draw the line at corn. I know others feel differently I started out providing home-prepared meals for the dogs, but now that my time is more limited I think it's better spent playing/training/exercising them and just providing a diet that they do well on without obsessing about it

http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/09/29/beheco.arr159.abstract It says the freeloading is unrelated to age, experience or size, but it didn't mention sex. It's a subscription article so I cant look at the whole thing until I get to work. I mostly posted it because my dog had just woken me up at midnight by chewing a bone on the wood floor in my room, so anyhing that called canids 'jerks' had a special appeal

http://io9.com/5845967/science-proves-that-most-wolves-are-lazy-jerks Although scientists may want to write up their work this way, only journalists are allowed to

I have 2 very active dogs, i give them EP holistic select for breakfast and they do great on it. I think the regular Eagle Pack is a bit too grainy from memory, or maybe it had corn (?), but for some reason I wasn't too keen on it. My girl was tending towards too skinny on science diet (i know, i was young and naive), but she looks just right these days. I alternate between the duck one and the fishy one since they get lamb or chicken for dinner. ETA: I just checked and corn is the third ingredient listed on the eagle pack lamb & rice formula. Personally I avoid corn because it can inhibit serotonin uptake and contribute to hyperactivity (mine don't need and help with that!), which is why I go with the holistic select range. It is an extra $25 for a 13.6 kg bag tho, going by pet deli prices. The holistic stuff does have beet pulp in it however, which some people dislike

Perhaps she has had problems with similar situations in the past? One of my dogs was previously adopted and returned by a family with an autistic child. On the return report it said the dog had bitten the child twice. Now this dog has his faults, but he is one of the least aggressive fellas i've ever met. Either it was mouthing in play that was misinterpreted, or the kid just couldn't read the signs and pushed the dog past his limit. Either way this dog ended up back in a shelter. You seem to be very concientous and feel confident in your son's interactionns, so I'm not trying to liken this to your situation. I'm just suggesting perhaps this lady has heard/been involved in similar situations which have affected her view. Of course since she didn't explain her position we may never know

I tried Riley with one once before and he just sat there and looked at it. It was like he thought it was automatic and at any minute a piece would fly off and give him access to a treat I love that mental image! My girl did something similar the first time I gave her a frozen kong!

I was just discussing a similar thing this morning with my workmate I was complaining about my sore shins from jogging with the dogs on pavement, and we thought there'd be a market for human-dog gyms, with altenating treadmills and other equipment so the dogs could jog while the humans do crosstraining or steppers or whatever. Plus a big turfed undercover area for fetch when it's raining, and either a human-dog shared pool or side-by-side dog and human pools (although supervision might be an issue in the latter set-up). The liability insurance would probably be astronomical though Oh well, a girl can dream.

Fortunately The Fox is 17kg dripping wet, so she isn't going to be pushing aside furniture anytime soon! She just whines until we get it for her if she's really stuck :rolleyes: I like your idea about the foot tho, I'll give it a try next time Gotta thwart those cheating kelpies!

Good thoughts and best of luck!

I love how in all the pictures the dogs look so satisfied from a job well done! And grumpette's toy box looks like the most fun ever :D I have a wooden one of these, the ones where they had to slide the panel across they sussed straight away, but there are other panels that require sliding a separate wheel to open them up. Those panels had them stumped...... until they decided to just turn the whole toy upside down :rolleyes: I think the best puzzle for my girl at the moment is trying to work out how to retrieve the balls she has lost under the couches.

I guess we just have to enjoy the look of glee and pride on the dogs' faces when they 'defeat' a toy and try not to think about the sunk cost! I think there's a market for 'working-dog grade' puzzle toys tho. I feel a bit sorry for my girl sometimes too since the weasel destroys every new toy we get, but then she goes over and just steals whatever toy she wants from him, so I suppose she's OK

Thank you all for making me feel less alone! I usually give them newspapers, drink bottles/cartons and boxes for their destructa-thons, but every now and again I get suckered by the bright colours and sleek packaging of 'real' toys. One of the small toys was a squirrel, it had a perfect incision down its belly just big enough for the squeaker to get out, like he used the most efficient method of removal because he still had to get to all the other toys!

Aw dammit I at least managed to salvage some extra play time by re-stuffing one of the balls for him to destroy a second time

While I was buying some dog supplies online I picked up a couple of IQube -type toys at $30 each, thinking they would keep the dogs entertained for a little while. Within 90 seconds they had removed all of the internal toys, despite the box proclaiming extended periods of boredom-reducing doggy concentration. It has now been an hour since I got home and gave them the toys, and the Weasel has removed the squeaker from all bar one of the little toys (that's 6 squeakers total, or one every 10 mins). My girl dog has gone back to playing with half an old ball. Please tell me I'm not the only person that keeps stupidly buying plush dog toys despite the voice in the back of my head telling me that this is exactly what will happen!

*heart melts* There's nothing quite like a loyal dog! Weasels could hear OH was about to emerge this morning, so he stood with his nose in the edge of the door wagging his tail. The Fox was lying in her sphinx position pointed at the door too, but just as I got up to get the camera, OH opened the door and ruined my shot On the plus side, they'll probably do it again next weekend...

He definitely did this as an avoidance thing when we first started, I had to herd HIM onto to the sheep many times. Now it's mostly when we're doing fenceline drives and the sheep are following nicely. I say boredom but it's probably more that his instincts are telling him to work the sheep but there isn't really anything that needs to be done -> frustration -> poop eating. But he comes back at the slightest signal so it's a pretty minor problem at the moment.

I just had a look around the internet, and can't find any worthwhile information about smoked and dried bones vs. raw bones. Plenty of opinions of course, from "no bones ever!" to "raw is full of bacteria!", "smoked bones still splinter" and "raw, smoked or dried bones are all good for dogs' teeth and boredom". I haven't had any problems personally, but I haven't been able to find out if smoking necessarily causes dangerous bones. Maybe someone with better google-fu or some inside knowledge? ETA: it seems that slow smoking is fine, but it's more a matter of whether you trust your pet shop to smoke properly rather than at high temps then add artificial smoke smell/taste

Twice now I've had men with their wives/GFs and little dogs mumble in my direction "look honey, some real dogs" while I walked my kelpies past. I laughed awkwardly both times, but it always seems odd to me, like they think I am judging them based on their dogs? I'm not (i'm a sucker for all dogs), but even if I was, why would they care? Is it just a testosterone thing? I say get the dog that fits your lifestyle and your preferences, if that means small just enjoy the benefits that come with having small dogs!

I have one of those! :D it's still on a bookshelf at my parents place, and I'm just shy of 30

This is how I read it too. He may have genuinely not understood how registered breeders feel about crosses and thought 'well everyone in the pug world must know each other, I'll start with someone that is trustworthy and see if they know someone with good pugs that teamed up with a good beagle breeder' maybe??? There are plenty of people out there that can't see any problem with DD's, even believe they are healthier, otherwise they wouldn't exist.

I would never feed cooked bones of course, since it changes the digestibility as well as chance of splintering, but I've feed smoked and dehydrated bones without incident. I have a friend that is so paranoid about what they feed their dogs they started their own dog food business, and they still sell dehydrated bones (not smoked tho I believe). Dogs can even choke on kibble. It all depends on how cautious you want to be