Roova

Gorgeous photo's everyone. SM, the sunset shot is incredible how beautiful that must have been across the sky. Loving your park, what a great relaxing spot to walk! I agree Teekay, that path with the arches over head looks lovely. I wonder what those plants are and do they flower? It would look spectacular then. Mya looks like some type of etheral wolf in that shot. Is she full husky?

In your original post you said Rather than saying you're disappointed in the replies you've received so far maybe you could thank people for taking the time to offer you help or their opinion? You haven't paid anyone here yet they've still taken the time to think about your problem and offer you help. Its not going to be sunshine and roses answers to fix a big behavioural problem. What you've read is probably not going to be much different to what a Vet Behaviourist would say to you and you were prepared to pay some serious $ to hear it. You're probably best continuing forward with that plan so you have someone on the ground level with you who can help make changes to her environment and her training moving forward? You can then bounce questions off them there and then.

Signs in the park or a notice in the newspaper may have helped closer to the original date. Especially if people in the park were visitors. Can you laminate a simple sign for the park now (short and sweet to get attention)? If someone else witnessed a child in danger I would hope they too would have come forward on the day like you have so well done. Good luck.

Great photos! Especially the pounce and Teddy ones! Do you have a (secret) favourite?

Our walks are for both of us and I try not to be regimented in anything I do with the dog's. I don't think its great for your own mental health either to do things in 'exactly' this way at this time and it can't be great for the dog if something were to suddenly change too. I can't help but think walking on bitumen on a tight leash seems a bit selfish. You could say at least the dog is getting walked and yes, that's great but the quality of walk is also important. Choice is another important factor in mental health and our dogs don't get a lot of it so allowing them to take a moment to look at or sniff something at least gives them a tiny moment of choice in their own life and something to think about when back in their yard. I think sometimes they're treated much like an object for us to control in every single way. I mostly walk my terrier on a horse lunge lead either held in my hand or on a clip which goes around my waist. If someones comes past she is bought to my side and we step aside so they can pass. She knows she can roam (where its safe) and sometimes she'll be ahead of me start sniffing something and leaves it only after I've passed her and the lead gets tight. Throughout the walk we practice heeling, running, fast\slow walking, recall, sitting when I stop, emergency stops if she's ahead and other things I might think of. I especially love the joy when she's released to her run and sniff but she's not too out of control off leash. In the end I guess its each to their own and maybe there's probably a bit of right and wrong in everything we do?

Excuse me, but I find this extremely offensive and rude. She could jump on our old bed with ease - a normal height bed. We now have a bed that is 1m high and is very high for a dog that would jump up multiple times a day and would not be very good for their joints to be doing that over and over again. We are trying to help her and to save her legs in the future as well, knowing she is a labrador and prone to hip/leg problems. We exercise our dog everyday and feed her exactly what the guidelines say and the vet is happy with her weight and she is a very active dog.So if you don't mind you can keep your rude comments to yourself unless you have something helpful to say. I just wanted to say that I too assumed when I read your original comment that your dog couldn't climb in to a new dog bed you had bought. You didn't mention it was a human bed and you wanted to avoid the dog jumping off. Sometimes missed information changes the entire context of a story. :)

What have you done differently since suggestions on last post? For example when walking her what do you do when you spot a person coming towards you, near you, beside you etc? Has your walking route changed? Just out of interest if behaviourists have suggested pts but you disagree, what would she have to do to cross the line for you? Edited to add this is a link to a magazine which focuses on force free animal training (the ABA principle). The article is about dealing with a reactive dog. Control unleashed - The Reactive Dog Im not a behaviourist but I believe if you keep putting her in a situation where she feels she has to react like going for walks with people around, you're just going to be cementing her reactions and you'll be giving yourself a lot more work to get back to an acceptable point. If you don't wish to go down this avenue have you considered she might be a dog best left at home where she is much more stress free and the general public is a little safer? There are sooo many mental enrichment exercises you can do which will be just as tiring as a long walk and fun for both of you. They can be done night or day, inside or out, good weather or bad etc.

Awwwww!!

They look SO happy! I love your garden cart too, it looks collapsible.. .waaah where's our Costco?

Maybe it's the cynical side coming out in me but I wonder how a breeder with 19 years experience could leave four in season bitches behind only a six foot fence? Risky even for entire dogs from outside to access. I would wonder what socialisation all the pups will get. Even the supposed unwanted ones deserve the same efforts as the litter she said she planned. When you said they have great socialisation, what did she tell you happens out of interest? Good luck with your new pup too!

Gorgeous!

Photos please! It would be lovely to see some squishy face cuteness :)

I hope that isn't true but I'm sure it probably is. What a cruel practice in the middle of winter! Like they're already dead and it doesn't matter if they feel pain.

Awww a new bub. Mum is keeping her eye on you lol!

Very clever bed, she looks very comfy!

I don't know which is cuter! They are awesome looking healthy dogs

I think it's more stating the reality of a situation. There are opportunistic thieves out there so leave your dog unattended at your own risk.

Very cute! I don't miss carrying a large dogs poo on the majority of my walk lol

Lovely photos, your Bullmastiffs are just gorgeous! $14K though .... holy moley. It must be very nice to have them home :)

First for me too. What gorgeous shots!!

If there was a like button, I'd be liking like mad. They're all great photos of gorgeous dogs!

Can you work with desensitisation when you don't have to really do anything? Out of crate first.. pick up bag, put it down - treat/praise for calm behaviour. Move to picking up bag, walking a step, treat/praise calm behaviour. This will lead to opening the door and stepping outside etc. Then practice same steps in crate. How many hours are they crated when you go to work?

I was going to keep going but felt my photos were too boring compared to some of the stunning ones on the thread. I felt like a kid taking photos lol. I wish I had kept going anyway even just to have finished what I started, but it's been a few months so a bit late now.

Not sure if this is a help or hindrance but I was reading this recently and its similar to what TSD was saying. It may be relevant for the barking part? It probably depends on why Bunny finds barking reinforcing though. What is she getting out of it? All behaviour has meaning so you need to work out, is she bored, or maybe its attention from you (even negative attention like yelling)? What I was reading was...If a dog barks and we go to them saying be quiet, stop that, the dog learns if they bark we will come. Therefore we have a dog which barks to get the caregiver to come. Instead choose an opposite behaviour which you will make equally reinforcing. If for example you go to the dog only when he is lying quietly on his bed, or sniffing in the yard and you ignore the bark, you then have a dog which learns 'not barking' gets it’s caregiver to come. The bark loses it’s value to get us to come, and the new behaviour which is regularly reinforced increases. It may take many repetitions of ignoring barking whilst waiting for the alternate desired behaviour but that is the challenge in training. Trying to reinforce a dog for simply being quiet does not work as fast because quiet is not a behavior. A dog can be playing with a toy, sniffing, eating and all are “quiet”, so the dog may not understand what it did to cause us to show up when they are all “quiet” activities. It’s also easy for us to forget they are being good when they're quiet and not reinforce those quiet times - it slips our mind. You therefore need a behaviour a dog can DO which will give them the same result as the behaviour you’re are trying to change. In other words dog lies on bed, he gets a visit, dog barks nothing happens. It is very important to remember only behaviour which is reinforced continues, whether that reinforcement comes from you or something the dog is getting out of it. You have to be vigilant in regularly praising and rewarding (in whichever way your dog enjoys the most) the behaviour you want to see continue.

Just checking...when you say "Currently he is fed either the butchers pet mince and the stuff you get from the supermarkets, or chicken or turkey mince if it's on special at the supermarket. However, she knows how good bones are for dogs and needs some advice, plus it will help with the teething stage". Do you mean this is his whole diet? I hope she is aware this isn't balanced and she'll see problems in the future if it remains straight meat and bone only? If she wants to go down straight meat only route she'll need to learn the correct percentages of meat, offal, muscle, sinew and bone for a growing dog. A commercial raw or Vets all Natural may be the best bet if she doesn't want to work these out though. Both these also offer some vegetables in the mix. :)