Mummamia

Thanks Mjosa... I will pm you... Thanks so much... the thing that was concerning is that the add said located in Brisbane... Also meeting the dog first is very important to her and her partner...

I hope its ok to post this here... Admin delete if not... That's o.k. Can anyone advise as to where to find a reputable breeder or generally where to find french bulldogs... My daughter and her partner have been very disappointed in their search so far. The ones they have contacted so far do not seem genuine and someone who said they were in Brisbane then said they would fly the dog from Melbourne for them... So they said no thanks if they couldn't see the pup and meet the people first... Thanks so much for any help...

I ran out of food once and grabbed some supercoat and gave it away. Showed in the shar pei coat very quickly. Not so much in the staffy. Got them back on Black Hawk quick smart. I also include a scoop of mackerel or sardines in breakfast daily and also included a squirt of Natural animal solutions, Omega oils. I've just ran out of Omega oil and am waiting to see if there is a difference.

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. In my response 'Your world' refers to Sandgrubber who shared the experiences of breeding in Florida... Not 'everybodys' world in the dog breeding community... I then simply shared my experience with a dog who didn't look pretty and was passed over repeatedly, but has shown herself to be the best temperament... I also have the pretty version of the breed... Chosen not for looks but for the connection I had with her and the desire to give her the right home to help her become the best she can be... I don't understand your annoyance with my post and also don't understand how you came to the conclusion that I was in any way judging anyone as to how they choose their dogs... Personally, my heart is with the imperfect not the perfect and that's me and many others... 'Every heart beat deserves to be in the right home'... That's all that matters to the dog... :)

Really Sandgrubber Your world never considers temperament above everything? I hope you do what you can to change this attitude... I am so happy to read a post from someone that is starting to consider the important aspects of a dog rather than what it looks like, their ideas of standard. Personally, I don't give a rats about whether they are a purebred... However my latest who I originally fostered and later adopted is a pure breed and she is a goofy looking girl... She kept being past over for looks... I am the winner cause she is the most sensational temperament and most intelligent dog I have ever had... In a particular park I go to has two areas. If someone comes in with a dog who is a bit of a concern, boisterous or pushy... I take my other two ... shy girl and feisty girl into the small section and put goofy girl in with theirs to play... People are so appreciative of this as they find it hard to socialise because of their dogs personality... There's a lady with a very large dog and when she comes in people get their dogs out of the way... The dog is only 7 months old and is missing out because of their perception... Goofy girl has a ball with this dog... He's a great dog... just BIG... I recall a few months back when a little girl, about 6 yrs old pointed at my three as I was walking them and said... 'Look mum two dogs and a pig'... Out of the mouths of children... I do hope you continue to consider what you have learned and get past looks as well cause 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' My goofy girl is beautiful to me and she is beyond beautiful on the inside... :D

You are NOT in the minority Little Gifts. You have just posted it in a place where it wasn't appreciated... I LOVED IT!!! I don't suppose there is much thought here that the only original breed is the wolf and everything after that is a bitsa made by humans to suit their needs good and bad... I may have my facts wrong here but I think it takes 7 generations of a bitsa to become a breed in its own right... This post put a SMILE on my face... Because I LOVE dogs... Thank you for sharing...

I walked into the pet shop at the local shopping centre. A woman was holding a puppy up in front of her face and I heard her say to the shop assistant "Will it bark". I continued walking and replied "No this one is special it meows"... I then went and told the manager who with a very worried expression on her face hurried over to the woman and assistant...

So many of us in the same situation... I've been walking everyday for 14 years and in the past couple of years it has gotten ridiculous... Nothing bad has happened to me personally yet but I no longer walk or go to the dogs parks at the popular times. I've been looking for property for about 6 months now and the motivating reason is for the dogs. Looks like I could offer it the good dog owners to make use of and will be happy to do so... Please follow all the good advice here and find the safest places and times so your dogs don't miss out. It's one of the most important things we do for them. :)

Thanks... I'll definitely have a look :)

I felt much better today when I saw a kelpie 2 metres away steal a woman's meat pie and was able to call Gus back from joining the fun. a) He didn't steal the pie, which in all honesty could have been any dog. Who brings a pie to the park and then tries to wave a dog away WITH the pie? b) He came back rather than sharing the pie with the culprit. It's the little things....haha. Aww, don't feel like that. It sounds like you are doing a great job. Hardly anyone is an optimal trainer. I'm not! FWIW, I gave up doing half the things DOLers say you should do because normal people are confused about it and the awkward discussions that follow are more trouble than they're worth. It's easier to just try to be as considerate as possible. That means you watch other people and adjust your behaviour to suit them. I usually find if I am communicative people are very willing to follow my lead and we make friends, both dog and human. At the end of the day we are sharing a space. If their dog comes over and sticks its head in my treat pouch while I'm training, that's okay, because I DID bring treats into a park and start doing interesting things with them, so I'm prepared for these very scenarios. It's a good training opportunity for us. Most people are apologetic, which I appreciate, but if we couldn't handle being interrupted I shouldn't be training in an environment where interruptions are likely to happen. I like your view of that! And you gotta have a sense of humour about these things, I suppose being too serious gets you, your dog or others nowhere. I've met a load of really lovely people down the park, and more than a few have offered me some pretty good tips and are openly helpful. If Gus is being a brat and not coming back, they will stop and wait rather than take off so I guess we're lucky in that respect, but I don't wanna push it too much! Haha. There was a post on this site recently which asked if we loved all our dogs the same or words to that effect. My response was that I loved them all the same but treated them differently because they all had different personalities and needs... It's the same with training needs they all respond differently. We just have to figure it out. As good dog owners we keep working on it. I've always said that my first dog tried so hard to teach me but because she was so perfect I learnt nothing. The next one made me learn stuff so she could live a happy life and each dog that comes along shows me a different side to responsible dog ownership. One dog is soooo easy and makes you feel like the best dog owner in the world and another can make you feel like a right idiot. :D Off to do more research on the long lead and looking forward to returning to the good park for summer... p.s. Love the sense of humour too...

I think your best option is to keep her on a long line while you're there. She has obviously decided that sometimes running over there is just more rewarding than anything boring old mum can give her! Each time she does it as well it's reinforcing for her how fun it is so you want to prevent her even having to opportunity. I wouldn't risk trying to give her a scare, for two reasons - 1. you don't know what repercussions the scare might have outside that situation. She may find it very traumatic and become fearful in general, she may associate the scare with all sorts of things that aren't the thing you wanted her to associate with (roads, houses, people, a particular person, trees, clouds... who knows, it will depend what her brain makes of it at the time and how much she generalises her reaction). Or 2. her reaction may not be fear anyway, at best could be nothing, but could be aggression, could be loss of trust in you, who knows. I would put her on a long line so she can't decide to go over there, but try to catch her and call her back before the moment she makes the decision to run that way - the long line is a fall back if she doesn't listen to you. Try different things to get her interested in coming back to you, excited noises, run the other way, get down low and open arms for cuddles, play with the other dogs, then a food reward jackpot but also pats, cuddles, praise when she comes back. You need to find what is highest value for her, but you may also need to keep changing things up so she stays interested. Keep practicing recalls from closer distances while you're there as well, when she's not so distracted, so she is in the habit of coming back to you regularly then getting to go off and play again. Thanks for your thoughts and everything you've said makes sense. The long line is the only good option and I will definitely get onto this asap. Just gotta go buy a long line... This one came to me with high anxiety. All her fur was breaking off. Vet check and tests showed no physical reason. She would shake, drool and vomit in the car. All of this is resolved now. Scaring her was a last resort as she does not like any sort of worry or aggression. This makes her great in the park. If there is any trouble she's off the other way as far as she can get. Other than this one issue she is so cool and a delight to take out. I know she knows I don't want her going over to friends house as she knows and responds to more commands than my 8 year old. As you said the reward is just so high to get to go visiting. Off to Bunnings to get that long line...

I'm interested to know how everyone would tackle this problem... My youngest dog... About 15months give or take has almost perfect recall... believing she was 1 year old when I first fostered her (now adopted) I expected a lot and initially, for about the first 2 weeks, took her to fenced dog park to check on recall and as she showed herself to be very smart and perfect recall we headed back to the unfenced park. Whoever had her and gave her up did a great job with basics and lots of other cool stuff too... Spit being one that comes in handy as she tends to eat anything in the garden... Turns out she was not a one year old as she has grown so much and the vet and I now figure she was about 6 months... and is now about 15 months or so... My usual off leash area is huge with a creek running along side separating it from the on leash side... So, all goes great for months then about a month ago she ran down the creek and up the other side and stopped and looked... I called her back and she looked at me and then ran... the other way. You see she noticed that our friends we visit regularly live about 100 metres on the other side of the creek... She ran over to the house.. up and down the fence and then around to the front gate knocking on it... Yes I can see from the other side of the creek... She came back a few minutes later... That was the first time... Since then she has done it a further 6 times. Each time going just a bit further past their house and over the street to visit their dog. This street is a dead end and with walking tracks all around so there's no danger of getting hit by a car but every chance of me getting an off leash fine. I have repeatedly tried to stop this and will have success for days and then off she goes again. The friends GSD's alert their owners and they come out and help get her back... I've tried treat rewards but doesn't work everytime. The only thing I can think of is to have someone on the other give her a damn good scare. My other 2 are missing out on being at the great park as I have had to go back to the leashed park. I am hoping for this to be resolved before summer so they can enjoy swimming in the creek. Otherwise it's going to be permanently on the leash for her if I want to take the other dogs to the creek. I hope that's enough information and would love some more thoughts and ideas as to how to resolve this little issue...

What I find worse than people who don't have effective recall is when you have owners who won't communicate. Dog/Dogs come rushing at you and yours and the very least the owner can do is call out they are sweethearts or something similar. Quite frequently not even watching what their dog is doing. I can live with the ones I know aren't going to be a problem. One of the reasons I now go to dog parks outside the popular times. Dog population around me has gone through the roof and we no longer have the close community we once enjoyed. And yes same thing happens outside the off leash areas. Those few seconds can be really

Thank you all for your thoughts and ideas about my new neighbours dogs and one of mine who starting fence fighting with each other. Thought I would pop in and let people know that the black plastic covering the fence is working a treat. It cost $30.00 for 15 metres and is enough to cover the area. I did have to go and buy it and put it up myself cause the new neighbour was 'ganna' Since going up the little one still yaps frequently which only bothers me because I have yet to see the dogs taken out of the little yard. However... Their staffy and mine are no longer following it up with fence fighting as they cannot see each other and neither of them are trying to get at each other. I am so enjoying the peace and here's hoping this is the end of it...

So sad hankdog... I believe ALL dogs have the 'right' to be in 'right home'. If you think of it please take the time to keep me updated...