BlaznHotAussies

I'm always chattering to mine. My FIL says that if you talk to dogs all the time they switch off and don't listen when you give them actual commands. I can't say I agree though, Tundra can tell when I'm asking him to do something (or "Getoutofthewaydammitdog!") or when I'm just waffling. And oh my, I'm so impressed at how many commands he's got! Today I had some chunks of cheese and he knows in (crate), out (crate), lay down (and that's a proper lay down without sitting first), shake hands and he's pretty good at "stop there" when I step away to throw a toy for him to catch. Hm. That doesn't seem like many commands when it's written down but he's so willing, I loves him. Today I did some crate training with Cilla (she's probably been crated before but I'm taking it slow with her) and she was great, then after our little training sessions when we were hanging out in the lounge room she chose to go lay in the crate of her own accord Oops, sorry, got off track But yes I talk to them a lot, still doesn't affect their listening to commands. They're smarter than that.

I saw someone suggest Powderpuff Chinese Crested above they are awesome!!! My SIL has two, one is a puppy and it is the coolest little ratbag. It plays with her 10 week old Nubian goats in the backyard and it's SO adorable - had us cracking up for ages. They're really spunky, awesome little dogs. Also Min Pins. They're very groovy little dogs, I've met a couple at a breeders and they are so charismatic and cheerful.

Oh for goodness sake, is nothing allowed to be adults only?? Why shouldn't a five-year-old go on here? Because a child shouldn't even be on the internet in the first place, unless it's on a kiddie website for educational purposes. Take the kid outside, teach it manners, show it butterflies, I dunno - whatever you're supposed to do with them. I'm pretty sure I couldn't even read when I was 5. Well maybe I'd started letters and my name? But seriously, can we not just assume that some things aren't for children? Why does everything have to be child-friendly?

I have a Blackhawk bin for mine which is great, if not a bit flimsy for my liking (wouldn't want to keep it outside because it would probably get cracked easily) but I was lucky to get it because it was the last bin available at the store!! :D My ideal set up would be a little bar fridge for the raw meat & bones so I can defrost it in there. Then an old chest freezer for kibble I use when I run out of meat

Old chest freezer or fridge/freezer on its back? Nice and airtight & a heavy lid so harder for rascals to open

I'd definitely go for an easier dog as a second dog... Why not look up a mature dog from a breeder? From my observations they're usually ex-show dogs or breeding dogs and well socialised & already toilet trained, know how to live in a house, get along with other dogs, etc. Definitely what I'd choose over a dog with baggage. Not saying all ex-show dogs or ex-breeding dogs are perfect, but at least you normally know their history. I've personally seen plenty of mature dogs go to pet homes where they're almost instantly a very special, loved member of the family. just a thought.

Wow never thought it would be possible for a dog to live to 30! To only be deaf, too, impressive! she's older than me!

I wondered the same thing. If you don't even refer to them by the correct name. I did wonder that too...but wasn't sure what the correct name was.

Milking him for sperm? pretty sure that's not how dog breeding works (unless they're doing AI but if he's around the bitch full time it doesn't seem like that's the case)?? These threads are getting ridiculous. Do you not even care about a breeders' needs? You should be happy that a breeder has entrusted you to look after a future stud dog until it's ready to breed. But anyway, were you not told this would be part of it, even though there's no contract?

Perfectly said!! I've heard more success stories of e-collars than disaster stories. And I'd much rather still have a dog if there's been a snake around. Maybe it's different when you live in the country and there are lots of snakes around

silly me

Oh great, it's already been ruined for us I personally really like the idea of allowing dogs in Bunnings. If we're in Perth with the dog/s & need to grab things, it's much better than someone having to stay in the car with the dog to make sure it's ok. It's a bit different to country towns where you just leave the car running while you dash into the shop! There are some dogs out there who would absolutely love it - I know Tundra LOVES going out places, at Horseland & Petbarn/Better Pets, home football games he makes lots of friends (we do need to work on his excitement but haven't taken him since he was a puppy and he's calmed down a fair bit in general). And really if you've got one person holding the dog & the other person pushing the trolley it's not that hard to keep a dog under control. All they need to do is let dogs into Target and I wouldn't have to leave the dogs at home when we go to Perth. (jk, I can barely handle shopping centres, can hardly expect the dogs to)

10 puppies for $3k each?

No unfortunately I've got so many horse memberships this year (hopefully I'll be able to sell my pony soon & this year will be my last year of paying 3 memberships) that extra dog memberships would be too much Once I've just got my paint mare who has the ONE sensible registration, I'll be able to look at more dog stuff :)

I wouldn't feel too bad, she is a Greyhound :)

Yes they have for close to 2 months now! I was sad that its now been publicly announced because all the idiots with their dogs are going to come in and ruin it for the good people Yeah very true. I guess all we can do is always take our well-trained dogs & hope that they're not the minority!! I've taken dogs into Horseland & obviously places like Better pets & Petbarn. It's so handy when you've got your dog in Perth for any reason and need to do some shopping (fun shopping, not food shopping). I'm also glad the picture was true & it actually is allowed (was a little bit worried it was a trick).

Wow that's so cool!! That would be a fun trip to Bunnings (On the Bunnings note...I saw a pic on FB that Bunnings is letting dogs on a leash in their stores now? How cool!)

Yep, just doing what their instinct tells them. Not sure of your point? I got the impression higher up that there was concern about the fact that cats kill wildlife too. They kill a lot more than dogs, especially because a dog (if contained properly) will generally get whatever is in their yard and I know personally that nothing ever comes in my yard except bobtails and the dogs just bark and carry on about it. Cats, on the other hand, will take off to hunt and it's much harder to contain a cat because they're better at climbing and jumping than dogs (that's besides the freak of nature dogs that can clear 7' fences). I forgot to say higher up - that's awesome about his recall, it's always good to have little 'tests' like that to let you know how your training is going

I'd think a dog catching rabbits and the odd bird (which I really think they'd struggle to do because even a terrier will struggle to sneak up on a bird - pretty sure most terriers were used for chasing things like rabbits & weasels?) is a lot different from what a feral or roaming cat will manage to pick up. Considering a cat can kill up to 30 creatures in a night (AWC stats). And a cat will drag out a death, whereas dogs usually grab, shake, eat. Or if they're like my little cross mutt when I was a kid, they'll chase the rabbit but never catch them I personally don't care about feral rabbits. They put their burrows everywhere, eat crops and spread disease - fleas, lice, etc. They're an introduced species and are a real pest so I have very little sympathy for them.

He's a dog Robo once caught a Myna, he ran out of the stables, it took flight & on reflex he jumped and grabbed it. He had it in his mouth for a split second, dropped it (he probably didn't expect to catch it) & when it went to fly again he grabbed it. I think he ended up letting it go... He wasn't a hunting dog. If his toy squeaked he'd lick it better. My parents' dog Beau (Robo's brother), on the other hand, will have a ball running around the farm, kills rabbits, chases birds...

The modern collars are much milder - but as someone who studies stress and behaviour in livestock and companion animals, aversion learning only works when the animal can identify, control and modify its behaviour to avoid the consequence. Otherwise you just get learned helplessness and/or a chronic stress response. It's not dependent on the punisher per se but on the animal's ability to control the environment. I see it often enough unfortunately. Ok, interesting. Is that kind of like letting the dog make a move towards said object, get a shock & then move away, learning that moving away from the snake/object makes the shock stop?

On the farm, they bought an electric collar (as an aid to teach the dogs not to chase sheep I think?) and my husband decided to give it a shot on himself first (because his dad said nobody was to use it unless they tried it out). So he put it up to the highest setting and says it's more of a longer/stronger vibration than an electric shock. Mildly uncomfortable. So with that in mind and the fact that I'd rather HAVE a dog than lose a dog due to not wanting to cause it any discomfort ever... I'm ALL FOR using an electric shock collar to teach them that snake = scary things & to avoid. Have heard plenty of success stories for dogs learning an aversion to chasing sheep/cattle/horses, bobtails, chooks, etc.

That is just too adorable

A friend's dog had an abscess just below her jaw on one side & it was quite big. She was on antibiotics to make it go down a bit then my friend lanced it and a piece of bone came out she put it down to feeding the dogs the leg bones of some sheep we'd cut up. On the other hand, I brought home two beef forelegs (chopped off at the knee - still had skin, tendons, hooves, everything) for my dog and he still hasn't got through the bone (it's been a couple of months & they've got the hooves off) so we haven't had any issues. Other than that I've been giving my dogs things like shoulder blades, a pelvis (woohoo they loved that!) ribs, spine, brisket... So far so good They can't see through the front door, but if they hear me walk to the chest freezer and rustle plastic bags they get SO excited love it.

Yeah both mine wiggle their butts. Robo used to wiggle his at me and look around at me like you're describing :) I don't think the other ones do it so much like that? Tundra just wiggles and rubs on me like a cat, Cilla wiggles & smiles :p