sconski

I say ban stupid people from owning dogs! So many idiots own dogs they dont excerise or discipline. They give them no boundaries or any affection, they stick them in the backyard like a garden ornament then bitch and moan when the dog gets unruley or distructive. Unfortunately there is an element of society who are drawn to these powerful breeds such as the APBT, they arent drawn to the hand knitted yappy dogs and unfortunately for the APBT they dont do the work required to have a well balanced loving APBT. Heck there are plenty of people out there who dont do the work to have well balanced dog of any breed of dog, but it seems most other breeds dont attack to KILL like these type of dogs seems to do. So until we as a society stop tolerating those around us who dont adequately care for the dogs, no matter what the breed (and I mean those who dont walk their dogs, socialise their dogs, discipline and love their dogs as family members not just garden ornaments) then I'm afraid I think that to protect the community in city areas then APBT, their crosses and perhaps even breeds of that type should be banned. What I dont understand though, is how are they getting these dogs? In Victoria as of 2 Nov 2005 it is an offence to acquire a restricted breed dog, it is an offence to import a Pit Bull, they must be desexed, and you cant sell your dog to another Victorian. So clearly there are plenty of people out there committing an offence by obtaining these dogs in the first place!

We have an 18wo Standard Snauzer who just doesnt seem to be getting the toilet training!! Here's a run down. When inside we have to watch his EVERY move, every SECOND. If we take our eyes off him for an instant it seems he will pee. sometimes they are puddles, sometimes he just walks along peeing. He doesnt sniff around, or even get agitated like he's about to pee. He just pees. Sometimes he does it when he's just sitting there looking at me. He's done it on his bed a couple of times too. Not even gotten up!! He sleeps locked in a crate overnight, he goes out to the toilet just before we go to bed around 10:30pm - 11:00pm and is in there until at least 6:30am. He has had only 3 accidents in his crate since we got him. One was the other night when I thought my husband had taken him out to pee before locking him in the crate and he thought I had, so I put that down to our fault! That said, he didnt fuss or make a noise during the night to indicate we needed to let him out to pee. He is in our bedroom with us, so we would have heard him and let him out. He doesnt pee in a particular spot. It's random, it's without any real purpose other than just to pee!! He doesnt even necessarily go onto the lawn when he's outside. Will often pee by the backdoor, or like inside, while he's walking along wherever he is. He doesnt pee when he is excited. He doesnt get yelled at and is a confident dog, he is not "frightened" or anxious peeing. Here is what we are doing: 1. If we cant watch him constantly inside, he is put in his crate. 2. When we find pee on the floor, we just go about cleaning it up. We clean it up first with water, then I use a "urine off" spray in the location he had just peed. 3. We have never yelled at him after the event, rubbed his nose in it or any other form of discipline as we dont see the point as we dont know when he did it anyway! 4. If we catch him peeing inside, we hurray him outside, where he rarely goes back to finishing his pee. We could stand out there with him for 20 minutes and he wont pee!! 5. We have recently started setting a timer for 30 minutes when he's inside and taking him out for a pee on the lead, with treats in hand. This works sometimes, but often he pee's just before we go to take him out, so we are now setting the timer to 20 minutes, but honestly I dont have time to go out with him every 20 minutes and stand around for 10 minutes waiting for him to pee. 6. when he does pee outside, we fuss over him, give him treats and play with him. I have been to the vet and had him checked for any medical problems. Aside from being "sexually imature" for his age (ie very small testicles) the vet could not find anything medically wrong with him. I asked his breeder and she had no suggestions at all. She indicated she was having similar problems with his sister and her technics included nose rubbing and I dont believe in that type of consequence for accidents, so I would rather find an alternative solution if there is one. I dont really want an outside dog. I want him to live with us when we are home, not be banished to the backyard, but this peeing everywhere is doing my head in. Is it entirely possible that he just doesnt get it yet? That he just hasnt figured out what is going on and learnt to hold on? Is it likely oneday he will get it and stop this nonsense?? In everything else he is very good. He walks well on lead (considering he's a puppy). He sits on command, can drop on command. He knows he has to go on his bed when inside and apart from puppy distractions will stay there. If only he wouldnt pee so much!!!

Thank you for your replies. A couple of weeks in we are doing well with our little fellow. We ended up adopting the approach of "stuff him in, close the door and let him figure it out". He's not at the point yet where he will go to bed by himself, but he doesnt fuss at all anymore. Settles right down and sleeps through the night. Am very happy with our little boy!!

We have a 9 wo beautiful little schnauzer boy and we want to crate train him. We have only had him since Friday 11 June, so it's very early days for us. I've been reading Ceasar Milan's Raise the perfect Puppy and it all sounds good in theory, but am having trouble putting some into practice. My biggest issue is Crate Training. I really want my puppy to be Crate trained for many reasons, specifically due to the amount of travelling we do and also so that he will have a safe haven which we are teaching is off limits to our 19mo son. Ceasar says to have the puppy go into the crate himself and settle before you close the door. I try to make sure he is tired when we attempt to get him into the crate. He will stick his head in and get his toy or a treat out, but then backs straight out. He will then roam around for ages doing everything he can to not go into the crate. How am I supposed to wait for him to settle before shutting the door if I cant get him to stay in it? Do I hold him in there until he settles? On the odd occassion that we have run out of patience (after about 30 minutes of trying) we have just put him in and closed the door. He fusses for around 2 - 5 minutes, then settles and goes to sleep. I can live with the fussing, am even much better at ignoring it than I thought I would be. I am just concerned that our "forcing"him in there is the reason why he's not all that keen on going in there. Or is it just that it's still new and he's still learning? How do you crate train your puppy?? Sonja