Salukifan

Mine also... after Nigel or maybe Graham.

I suppose "Nigel" is out of the question?

I don't think I was being complacent? I advised OP to seek the help of a professional first and foremost, they would probably be able to assess the situation a lot better than a bunch of people on a forum. Also any breed is capable of food aggression so I don't see how that's relevant. When I was talking about complacence, I was referring to the idea that training can make a food guarding dog "safe" around food. The example I gave involved a novel situation with a hell of a lot of food available - result - resource guarding. From any dog's perspective, that picnic table was the mother lode. Any sensible professional will discuss desensitisation or avoidance as methods of dealing with any kind of aggression. No professional I can think of would tell you desensitisation will guarantee non-aggression in novel or escalated situations like the picnic table and a bunch of strange dogs. Avoidance is the only guaranteed method of preventing aggression from a resource guarder.. read that as feeding behind a barrier like a crate.

Dogs are situational learners. Ever seen a dog that walks like a dream for one person and hauls others around on the lead? As I said, if you think the fact that you, as the dog's owner can touch its food means the dog won't guard, you are sadly mistaken. Indeed, take your dog out of its normal feeding routine, try to take a really treasured piece of food (like a chop bone) from it and risk the consequences. In my friend's case that meant a trip to the hospital and 20 stitches caused by her own dog. So much for conditioning your own dog not to guard. Crating is safer. Hankodie, one of the biggest dog fights I've ever seen was between a bunch of Golden Retrievers a pet owner's picnic at a river near here. Bunch of strange dogs, lots of food on a table... owners oblivious to the dog's body language and it was on... It does NOT pay to be complacent around dogs and food.

You know what? You can condition your dog to accept YOU interfering with its food and what happens if one day someone else (eg. a child) reaches for the dogs food? Chances are they could be bitten if they ignore the dog's warnings. The best way to deal with a resource guarder is to never ever allow the dog's food to be interfered with and not to allow the dog to be around people with food. End of story. A physical barrier like a crate is the best method. No one interferes with my dogs when they are eating and that includes each other. Given that most of my friends are dog savvy, I'm not sure it would even occur to them.

On the news now. It's a "rescue" and the owners "can't believe it would be aggressive". Well folks, now you know. Deal with it. DAS are considering seizure.

No training book I would recommend would suggest constant interference with a dog's food. Fastest method I can think of to heighten anxiety about food and hence trigger any tendency to resource guard. Want my honest recommendation? Ditch those training books, employ a decent trainer (ask for a recommendation here) and buy a crate. Feed the dog in the crate for the rest of her life and leave her alone until she's done. You've got a dog with a tendency to resource guard and the safest way to ensure she never creates an issue is to secure her while she eats. I would also secure her while any food is consumed in your house. Anyone who tells you this is a leadership or dominance issue is talking out of their armpit. Even the lowest dogs in a pack will resource guard - its a perfectly natural response to competition for food. Sadly for us, its an undesirable one too.

Follow up report:

"Goldie" not cutting it? How abot "Auric" as in "Goldfinger" :) Then we can all channel our best Shirley Bassey voices. :cool:

From the Canberra Times: Personally, I think a one way trip to the vet sounds justified.

God love the oldies.. I can't speak too highly of Bowen Therapy for the senior dogs - can make a huge difference to their mobility.

Where is Bribbaree??

Pigs ears are VERY fatty. I think you need to restrict all treats until he's lost the weight you want him to. Make sure you warn any vet you take him to that he will snap. That way he can be muzzled and you can all relax.

I know of two. Both were Cocker Spaniels.

I call that a fair response from the dog.

I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible - there are quite a few explanations for scars and a missing tail tip and abuse or dog attacks are only some of them. Sounds to me like you're on the path of attempting to justify Rocky's fence aggression. It won't help you or him at all. Ditto. You're talking about resource aggression and in many dogs it comes hard wired. I've actually heard a US dog rescue guru say she saw less food aggression in starved dogs than in fat ones. You're inventing a history of abuse here and it again won't help your dog. Sounds to me like you've got a pretty shabbily put together colourbond fence (not uncommon) that will not withstand any kind of force. You need to keep your dog off the fence. I expect you might now know why he spent time on a chain. Invest in a good fenced run. They are portable and IMO the only guaranteed method of keeping your dog safe in your yard when you aren't around. If he gets out and scares the wrong dog owner, you'll see him declared dangerous and that's an outcome you need to avoid at all costs. The worst case scenario is that he attacks a dog or a person and that will bring the police to your door. You need to stop feeling sorry for this dog and DEAL with his potentially dangerous behaviour. Inventing a sad past won't help you or him if it leads to council and/or police involvement.. If your dog came through the fence at me when I was walking my dogs, I'd be calling the rangers pronto. The fact that he isn't registered will see you cop fines for a start. You might also wish to consider that you've bitten off more than you can chew with this dog. It doesn't sound like the place you got him from had your best interests in mind. He sounds like quite a handful. Is he desexed?

Yep, I'm a fan of giving them cardboard boxes. None of my dogs have ever eaten it either.

I'd not be banking on that DNA test to confirm anything breed wise - its not an exact science and members here have had some pretty iffy results. A frightened dog will do a lot of things you might not expect. I would recommend you go to dog training - in addition to teaching you some skills, its a great way to bond with your dog. Getting weight off him should see him become more lively.

Your pup shouldn't be left that long without food either. Definitely go for a play pen. Prepare for neighbour complaints. I'd be expecting a fair bit of noise from a pup left alone for that long. Can someone pop back at lunchtime to feed the pup and give it a bit of company? Unless a dog door is something you are planning on installing, you are going to need some decent outside shelter for the pup. If it rains or is hot or cold, a crate won't cut it.

MUP you don't have to wade through the legislation to get the basics of the laws of dog ownership. In NSW, the DLG had laid most of them out here (and for cat ownership too) Some Councils have websites and/or pamphlets that they hand out when you register a dog. A very simple thing you could do when you place a dog in a new home would be to give a print out of this stuff. I agree that not a lot dog owners probably have a good grasp of this stuff.

Someone has to teach the Lawyers. The list of the greatest thinkers who ever lived is predominately made up of teachers. Well since you are a high school teacher and not a law lecturer I think my point still stands It might if your lawyer friends have a Masters in Law. My brother is a civil engineer. That doesn't make me an expert in bridge building.

Gold Giving a lawyer a lesson in law was really quite funny! Tralee may like to convey the impression he has legal qualifications but to the best of my knowledge that's not the case. Anyone can represent themselves in court.

The Electoral Act specifies pencil. But you can use your own pen if you want to. The level of scruitineering is meant to prevent changes to ballot papers. Apparently the rationale for pencil is that they can be sharpened whereas pens just run out. Or so the AEC says.

I know but it is prescriptive not proscriptive. I've worked in NSW schools all my life, and I would confidently take my dogs on to school premises (out of hours) which are not fenced with locked gates. As a corollary, Agricultural High Schools have fenced areas for this very reason. No Tralee, it isn't. Your experience and confidence in breaking a law doesn't make what you do legal.

No Tralee, WE DON'T KNOW. And you donning the cape of self-appointed social justice defender doesn't alter the fact that you have no idea what really happened in this incident. Your negative experience with police and your own dogs doesn't mean that every case is the same as yours. You instruct "counsel" by the way not "council". All of this over an incident that a closed door or a hand in a collar might have prevented. I agree that feeding, housing, exercising and caring for a dog's needs is not enough. You have to keep them safe. An ounce of prevention.... An automatic assumption that the police were wrong and a whole bunch of rhetoric about rights won't save other dogs whose owners allow them access to the front yard and to "bark and growl and that". How hard is it to lock your front gate or keep your dog away from access to the front door? You don't get police having to deal with aggressive dogs if the dogs' owners don't put them in these situations. I call that win/win. Education is a far more powerful tool than litigation. You should know that better than most. Want to be a defender of dog owner's rights? Then educate them on their responsibilities. That includes telling them what the law is as it pertains to their dogs and their property.