Salukifan

And strangely, that's what the Labrador breed standard emphasises, does it not? CHARACTERISTICS Good-tempered, very agile (which precludes excessive body weight or substance). Excellent nose, soft mouth; keen love of water. Adaptable, devoted companion. The true Labrador temperament is perhaps the Labrador's greatest asset, and is as important as his three most distinguishing physical features. His disposition is friendly to man and dog, kindly, out going, biddable and intelligent, and with an exceptional willingness to please and a highly developed retrieving instinct. When judging it must always be remembered that any aggressive behaviour towards humans or animals, or shyness in adult dogs should be severely penalised, as this behaviour is not typical of the breed.

Breathe deep. It will pass.

Well the need to "educate" Lasariena has passed on this issue. Who is Fiona Scott

This is NOT revolutionary thinking - LOTS of purebred dog breeders select and reject dogs based on temperament. Wendy Volhard's Puppy Attitude Test for litters was first filmed in 1981 and is well known. Sorry, but how a dog looks in terms of structure and its compliance to a breed standard IS important to some of us. You don't have to make a choice between looks and temperament - its possible to get the whole package. I happen to like beautiful (to my eyes) dogs with sound temperament and I'm certainly not ashamed of that.

Give it a rest peeps. Lasareina's bitch is desexed. That ship has sailed. No need to flagellate a deceased equine.

People also lie their heads off - until they realise the incident was recorded.

Thanks I am going to try these guys to see how big the bully sticks are as they can vary a lot but hopefully they are a decent size, thanks for the reply Check the "beef treats" drop down - they have even larger ones for sale. :)

All I can say is you clearly move in very different circles to me. Temperament has always been top of my list of desired characteristics in a dog. I did my first temperament tests on a friend's ltter years ago. Did a DOLers too. Maybe its coming to purebred dogs through dog sports that made a difference. Desireable temperament is going to vary between breeds - so there is no one size fits all "best" temperament in a dog. However the first thing I always like to find is resilience.

Excuse me? I have not read ONE WORD in this thread that suggests that the owner of the dog should be condemned for her distress. Not one. No one has taken the piss out of her, or suggested that she should simply suck it up. Please resist the urge to make this all about you. Any of us would be gutted if our dog got shot. Some of us would blame ourselves for allowing it to happen, rather than sheeting the whole thing home to being someone else's fault. That's the difference I suppose. To me responsible dog owners are those who accept responsibility for what happens to their dogs. They don't necessarily have to be happy about it.. Got to love all the ballistics experts this thread has revealed. Plenty of judging going on in that regard.

I don't know if this is cheap but Australian Pet Treat Company have them

And all the more reason for more police to wear shoulder mounted cameras when on duty. Puts what happens in such incidents beyond doubt.

I'm so sorry.

Well, I will say that its not a place for shrinking violets and we all have weekends where you come home and hide all the sharp objects :laugh: Losing is not fun and competition doesn't make some folk play nice. No different to any sort of competition though. BUT, there is no greater joy for a lot of dog owners and breed fanciers than spending time with fellow dog tragics. Seeing great dogs, talking dogs, learning about dogs, and making life long friends. And if you are passionate about a breed, it can be a hell of a lot of fun, along with the disappointments. People will also tell you that breeding can bring you the greatest of happiness and the worst of tragedy. Consider showing a taste of that. Are you in Brisbane? You just missed the Ekka but I'm sure a Brisbanite can tell you when the next shows are on!

"You people shouldn't be breeding dogs while dogs die in pounds". Drives me insane. It's right up there with "purebred dog fanciers think like Nazi's". Riiiight.

Lasaeina, I kid you not, breeders do their homework on buyers just like they do on matings. Five years from now, every post you've made will be here for the reading and believe me when I say that some breeders will probably read the lot. I wish I had thought about getting into dogs when I was far far younger. Not so far into the future, you may consider adding your first ANKC registered Stafford into your family and venturing into the show ring. For most people, that's years in advance of any breeding and you'll serve an "apprenticeship" with that dog that may give you access to even better ones. I doubt you'll breed with that first dog - a lot of people don't. It's the "gateway" dog into the world of your chosen breed and quite a few folk soon realise they need a better quality dog to be the foundation of their kennel. You are in such a great position to soak up information, learn from experienced breeders and learn about the type of Stafford you want to breed. You can start that process now. You don't have to be rich to be in the purebred dog world. All you have to be is interested... a lot of folk start small. It's a hobby for most of us. I would seriously suggest you think about attending the next breed specialty in your area... never too early to start. The biggest difference between the dogs you have now and a dog you could show would have been its purchase price. All pets cost the same to care for. And most show dogs are pets, first and foremost

Yep, it does to me and it was one of the reasons why I suggested the question be included in the standard sets in the Dogs 101 thread. If the usual asking price is going to mean you'll need oxygen then the sooner you know the better.

And it is. But I'm trying to explain why price alone is no way to determine what pup you buy and why suggesting that pedigreed dogs are overpriced isn't going to win friends and influence people here. You have the percentage about right by the way. People don't necessarily buy the "bargain" car that's a rebirthed car pieced together with bits of other cars and that comes with no warranty do they? Do they consider that's a better deal than one that comes with a REVS check and a warranty? Or do they value provenance and reliability when it comes to motor vehicles. To be quite frank a lot of people think a dog is a dog and they don't understand issues like health checks, breed standards and temperament. They probably do more research on what brand of TV to buy. But it doesn't make it right. in the old days when the bitch down the street had pups to the dog from the next street and the pups were given away, people knew what they were getting. Now a lot of people are mating any old dog to any old bitch and selling the pupsfor money to the first person who pays and its the pups and the buyers that pay the price for that kind of breeding. You cut corners withe the breeding stock, the health testing an the litter raising and of course you can sell the pups cheaper and make more money. But from where I sit, that doesn't make it right. I do judge people by their actions and I see you mean well. But if your end aim is to become a responsible registered breeder then that process starts now. Your first challenge will be to convince existing registered breeders to sell you a Main Register pup. Your OH refusing point blank to pay the asking price for such a pup or attempting to haggle won't endear you to such breeders.

If you decide down the track that you want to breed pedigreed SBTs, my guess is that your thoughts will change. You'll see spending that money as an investment in a dog that's a good representative of the breed standard and you'll pay it to get a pup from health tested parents that's been whelped and raised to the best of the breeder's ability. You'll look at pups tht most people think are cuteness overload with eyes that see conformation faults that may lead to ongoing soundness problems and you'll want none of that. And when the time comes for you to sell your thoughtfully bred pups, you'll put a price on them that reflects the time and effort you went into selecting your breeding stock, whelping the litter and raising it with optimum care. Sometimes, just sometimes with dogs you do get what you paid for - or didn't in the case of dogs with completely preventable health issues. Good breeders don't need to hold a gun to anyone's head to get the prices they charge. I don't see anyone suggesting that those who don't want to pay that sort of money should have to either. But consider for a moment what's paying for the forum so many people turn to for advice on raising their pups. Seems to me that some people aren't fully aware of how much registered dog breeders contribute to providing the informaton so many people gain here. "I'd never pay that for a pup" you say. But here you are, benefiting from those who do. Extolling the benefits of bargain hunting doesn't sit so well with me in that regard. I'm not suggesting that all dog owners shouldn't be here and share in the wealth of knowledge this forum provides. But perhaps a little more respect for the aims of this forum and what it seeks to promote is called for. If your view is that there's no way in future you'd buy an ANKC registered pup (or a rescue), don't expect that to sit well with everyone. For some of us, cost is not the issue that drives what we buy and IMO the more you learn about dogs, the more you'll value what a responsibly bred pedigreed pup means. FYI, I've never paid more than $800 for a pedigreed pup. The last one was free. :)

And I imagine some of those bites were from dogs.

Perhaps you don't realise how fast cops are taught to draw and fire? Standard drill is draw and fire three shots in two seconds... Things can go pear shaped very, very quickly for police. They are trained accordingly. Because Australian general duties police are always armed. Unless you think they should leave the firearms in the car until they're needed?

So, while chasing a wanted person if a police officer jumps into your fully fenced backyard and your dog barks and runs up, would they have the right to shoot your dog? Or is that only applicable if it is front yard? In self defence? If they believe they are about to be attacked? Absolutely. Who in their right minds is going to let a dog attack them? Seriously, its not so much a "right" as a defensible course of action. On the other hand, if your dog took a piece out of a police officer in your back yard behind locked and sign posted gates, you couldn't be charged for it and your dog would probably escape a DD declaration. Of course, hopefully the dog is occupied with the wanted person. :)

Just curious, what would people suggest the police officer should have done? Let the dog bite him?

Why, when dogs are left unclaimed, fail temperament tests for rehoming and have been impounded before, is it the pound staff's fault when they are PTS??

There's a concept that doesn't translate to the burbs.

Yep, you are. Keep the positive socialisation experiences coming. And note (but don't freak out about) the fact that there is a second fear period later on in puppyhood.