Ryami

Look up Grant Teeboon (The Paw Man). He was a Military Dog handler for 20+ years and while not detection military dogs, he would know all the people to contact.

I think the bull breeds "muscle dog" type breeds are mostly DA because yobbo idiot type owners are attracted to those breeds, and those are the owners who don't socialise their dogs or train them etc. I had a Staffy who was the most loving gentle rag doll type dog you would ever see, he never showed one glimpse of being DA.

I have watched my husband on the receiving end of the Military Working Dogs (in full padded suit of course) and these are not dogs you would want as a family pet. Their prey drive is insane, and they are trained to take down fully grown men. Watching one run down your loved one is truly terrifying!! The Army bomb detection dogs are rehomed at the end of their careers (and when they don't cut the mustard during training).

I think the more they charge, the more people assume it's a quality dog. It's like horses, a horse breeder told me once that if she tried to sell a horse with poor conformation for $2k she didn't get any enquiries because people assumed it wasn't any good. Put a $10k price tag on the same horse and people are queuing up to buy it.

Oh I so hope he turns up soon. I live in Darwin and have to contend with Cracker Night every year, and of course all the idiots set them off for weeks afterwards. There is nothing quite like a bunch of drunks setting off fireworks in suburbia! We even had some goose letting them off in our street last night. My little Silky x is terrified of them. Sounds like you've done everything you can and I'm sure he will be home safe and sound very soon.

I had the same experience with my Silky Terrier x many years ago! First class and barked the whole time. The instructor kept telling me to make him be quiet, but I didn't have a clue how to do that! He quickly improved over time though, I think it was just the excitement of the first class. It was the first time he had been in a big group of dogs. My fault as I didn't socialise him properly as a pup, I didn't know then what I know now! Persevere with class, it gets better.

I'm half way through The Focused Puppy, I'm finding it a really good read

Maybe you could try telling her that a V of all breeds needs constant human companionship, and if they don't get it they can be quite neurotic. Ask her if she is prepared to give up her social life for the dog to stop it from destroying everything in her house? I bet the answer is no. There is a blog about a V living in an apartment, I think its called 'An Urban Dog Blog' which might be of some use regarding living in an apartment. Vizsla's arn't called the velcro dog for nothing, they neeeeeeeeed their humans!

I feel the same walking the street with my human children! I often wonder what I would do if a dog attacked my child, I know it sounds awful but sometimes think I should carry a knife in case I needed to protect them! I agree with the others walk your dogs at ungodly hour in the mornings, the twats of this world are usually still at home sleeping at this hour :)

I'm so sorry about your dog, that is terrible practice by the vets and I would be putting in a complaint. My staffy had a MCT and the vets wanted to operate within days, so I desperately hope the time lapse hasn't had too much effect. My boy went on to be happy and healthy for a number of years before lymphoma took him before his time. Sending positive vibes.

Could you try putting a sprinkler on at the fence to deter them until the dogs next door settle down? Maybe one of those long hoses with the holes that you could run along the length of the fence. Might flood the yard a bit, but worth a try! I know my little fluff ball tends to bark for a few weeks after we move into a new place, then once he gets to know all the sights and sounds of the area he shuts up again. I'm so glad your neighbour is amacable, should mean you can figure something out :)

To me it's a no-brainer. If the bill is $4000 I'm going to pay it whether I have pet insurance or not. So better off having the insurance and whack the bill on my credit card, then get the money back a few weeks later.

I know in America they do snake aversion training with electric pulse collars to keep dogs away from Rattlesnakes. I am totally against their use in general training, but I guess a few pulses in snake aversion training is preferable to death by snake bite?? The dogs think the shock is coming from the snake and hence learn to give them a wide berth. I've not personally known anyone who has tried this, someone else may have a better idea if it actually works?? You obviously need to have access to non-venomous snakes to use in training, so I'm not sure how you go about that......

It puts alarm bells in my head that a child has been "attacked" multiple times. As a mother of two children, I am wondering what are the parents doing that puts the child in such risky situations??

I just had a look and it's a 39 page document, not sure if I can paste that much into a post?