hankdog

Without entering into the argument but if a dog is reactive it is often better for the owner to be calming and "molly coddling" it. I cop a fair bit of flack for rewarding my reactive dog which in actual fact is distracting him and not letting the situation escalate. One of the paradoxes of a reactive dog.

I love seeing pictures of your two one after the other Gertrude, I totally believe the eye swap story!

Lovely and athletic looking.

How much per hour for such cuteness?

My condolences to you, without words it's hard to explain to our best friends what's needed. It does sound like you have lovely memories and he lived a good life.

A foster you say..... looking very at home to me. He's lovely.

Well he sounds adorable anyway. Is there anything that's a low value treat, just his kibble? Although be warned when I tried that with Mr. Food obsessed bulldog he got me back by peeing in my bed.

It's a vet, there's pretty much going to be dog hair everywhere so I can't see the issue. I would have thought anything that kept the dog calm and under the owners control was a good thing.

I soak Jakes cooling coat and put it in the crate. It stays surprisingly cool.

Its the one game Jake plays. When I go get dressed before walk time he jumps on the bed and we play "bitey pillow" I think it must be quite a sign of trust between dogs.

Well its good you got the 4 seconds he looks pretty happy. I tried some action shots this week Love the focus in yout giant ferret picture Gertrude, I seem to be pretty hit and miss with action stuff. Impatiens Harvey definitely makes a good silhouette.

I've walked both my dogs in the bush everyday and never had a tick. Hank was covered with a collar and advantix, Jake only with frontline as he is allergic. I live on the upper north shore and I've known people who never walk their dogs get ticks so I think prevention and diligent searching are your best bet. That being said areas around Avalon and the coast have a reputation for being tick problem areas. I've not heard anything either way about the areas you mention.

Im booking you in for when I'm that age. She looks so rapt. Such a wonderful thing you do.

Jake had a good training session today. We have been working on going through sit, down and stand at a distance and have even taken this on the road, always on a long leash. He was able to do a bit in front of the dogs this morning although he took the opportunity to shuffle a bit closer to me on each position change and couldn't do a stand. We managed to work about a meter and a half away from the fence with the dogs right up against it. He was focused and ignoring them but he breaks when he has to turn and walk away, he seems to need to give them a "don't follow me" yell. It's also obvious he has no curiosity or desire to interact, as soon as I released him he turned and wanted to get away from them. I had always hoped that once he was calm around dogs he might show some interest in them but it would seem not. I do think he is enjoying his training though and he particularly enjoys going for cake after.

Thinking hard..... does eating all the peanut butter in the house count as diet enabler.

I had a neighbour actually cut down trees that should have been protected by council. I reported them to council but they wouldn't get involved. Imagine if I had cut them then I'm sure I would have got into trouble. My particular council run if they hear neighbour disputes. It just takes so much energy to deal with people like this and yet they seem to thrive on it. I guess they have personalities that thrive on conflict and they just don't play by the same rules. I've heard some horrific stories of disputes that get out of control.

Love the photo bomb. Happy days Tempeh.

It's amazing how much happiness it can bring, isn't it. You've put so much work in enjoy every good monent????.

Yep Jenseeya, I used to freeze too. I even had to practice stepping in front and yelling no to pretend dogs at home. It's now just second nature to constantly scan, interrupt conversations mid-sentence to dive behind a bush for cover and just always assume other dog owners have no clue. They don't, they have normal dogs and I did once too. We had a wild training session last week with a newly qualified trainer and mid way through she said "you don't take him for walks, do you?" Yep, everyday. It's character building but some days I feel like I have enough character.

Shame is a very dangerous emotion. Shamed people act recklessly and lash out at those shaming them. You may get ten minutes of satisfaction but you're going to go home and have to live next door to them. The kind of people that throw glass into a neighbors garden do not stop because of a court order, they merely get more sneaky and nasty. They bring their nasty friends in, it escalates. As hard as it is walk away before it gets worse, plant a giant hedge, make no eye contact and try to not further fuel the situation.

Retrieve on the beach, just that is so amazing. Good on you Stella for being such a good girl.

Games of chasey at your house must sound like clash of the titans. He's gorgeous and I think your Anotolian is lovely, I do like that coloring.

It's hard to know without seeing your dog just at what level of reactive he is. For myself I believe that as the owner of a reactive dog it's my job to keep both him and others safe. I would always be assessing a situation and avoid taking risks. There is the obvious risk of a bite to another dog or person should there be a fight that needs separating. There is also the risk of an incident being reported and your dog being subjected to a temperament test with all the drama that comes with that. For my boy I would avoid a crowd of this type, not only because of off leash dogs being present but there's also the likelihood of dogs being attached to young children. Even if nothing happens someone could take it upon themselves to report my dog as menacing etc. In this situation I would have used my emergency u turn to get distance and once at a suitable distance I would have parked him and done some LAT so that we ended the incident well. Throwing in some explanation to onlookers and making sure they saw me leave calm and under control so the lasting impression is of a difficult dog being managed rather than an aggressive dog out of control would be a good way to end as well. I'm mindful of getting as much goodwill for my dog as possible.

She oozes gentle, what a sweetie!

The little fawn pug says, "Why you do this to me?" Because you are too adorable.