dididog

I get what you mean Spencinator about family not managing them consistently. I've been working on Didi's behaviour with visitors, as soon as there's a knock she's allowed a bark or two to let me know and then goes into my bedroom with the door shut and is only let out if completely calm (and in this period I have enough time to tell visitor how to treat her) and all goes smoothly when she is let out and for the rest of the visit. My mum however likes having the big barking doggy right behind her when she opens the door to strangers, getting Didi super aroused at the stranger on the otherside of the screendoor and then letting the visitor in without being able to talk to them first and the first thing they do is try and pat Didi as they come through the door which she doesn't take well as she's too aroused and feels trapped in the tiny hallway I have finished uni now for the year so hopefully will be home enough to intervene, we don't have too many visitors who Didi doesn't know and like fortunately. She's starting to get way better at it and stops barking much quicker than she used to when put in the bedroom. Taking the stress of decision making when it comes to who enters our house takes a load off her shoulders as I worked out she was actually okay with strangers in the house but the stress and arousal created in the initial door opening procedure meant she was on edge and distrustful of the visitor and would not calm down fully around them. Now she has no choice and can't discourage visitors from coming in through barks and intimidating them and the bedroom gives her time to reconcile with the fact there is a visitor in the house who isn't an axe murderer and then she's way more confident and calm once she is allowed out and acts like the visitor is her best friend rather than potential threat.

Be Bop is such an awesome name!

My 1 year old still spends about 20 hours of the day asleep (which is how I like it :laugh: )

Happy Birthday Ronin! You can tell by the way you talk about him in your posts that he is a very loved and special boy :)

just wondering for the more tight fitting cool coats that are used wet like the Hurtta one, do they cause chafing on short coated dogs? I like the look of the techkewl ones (and that they have room for velcro patches) but probably a bit expensive for the amount I'd use it.

I was thinking of making a thread similar, Didi is completely black and after a minute in the sun she is cooking adding in the fact she has such a large surface area, we pretty much only take her out morning and night now so I think one of these will be a good investment!

I'm starting to look around and contemplate what breed I'd like for my next dog (when Didi is much older and less crazy!) and I've found it really weird how I've become really drawn to some breeds but others really similar either in appearance or temperament just don't do it for me. For example the pointer is at the top of my list atm if I wanted another large dog yet the GSP doesn't do much for me despite their similarities and the fact that one of the loveliest dogs I know is a GSP. On the smaller side I am really keen on cockers, fieldies and WSS but for some reason the ESS doesn't appeal anywhere near as much as the other spaniels. Also slightly related, while I love Didi and she suits me perfectly and I know a lot of lovely Bull Arabs I have absolutely 0 desire to own another bull arab type.

We're in :) Am on house arrest until all my assignments are done and I finish exams so having a fun day away from the books will be good! And Didi will be glad to have some boofas to play with. List of dogs Snout Girl- Bert, Sally, Bruce and Poppy (and an OH) deadsheep and OH - Bronson, Cassie, Kane Panzer and friend - Scooter, Myf, Tucker & Arrow Terri - Didi List of food Snout Girl- Something vego, meatballs, tomato sauce deadsheep - soft drink, chicken skewers Panzer - salad + cake Terri- Bread rolls + fruit

Could it be maybe she's picking up on your nervousness/anticipation of her reacting when you go on a walk where you think she'll react versus when you're at obedience or similar where you know she's fine? I've come to find nothing influences the way Didi approaches a situation more than my state of mind going into it. It sounds like you have made really good progress though, hopefully the classes will help, even if she is not being reactive in the class I'm sure it will still be useful! When our behaviourist came, Didi was pretty calm that day and wasn't scared of the behaviourist when she pretended to be a stranger walking down the street on our first meeting but we still managed to practice management techniques and found it extremely helpful. We had an interesting experience last night, Didi came with me and my brother and Dad to pick up some takeaway up the road. On our way there some idiot kids came running out of the corner shop right past us and when the owner came out chasing them and yelling at them I realised they'd shoplifted something. Didi was initially a bit confused but otherwise seemed more intent on catching up with my brother and dad who'd kept walking ahead than being scared of all the running and yelling while normally she'd be trying to run away or start barking. She then proceeded to munch on the Doritos from the bag the kids had dropped trying to run away from the shop owner

I promise Didi actually really likes the water, she just has problems expressing it...

My problem is that I want to avoid people trying to approach or stop us in the first place! Even that can freak Didi out a bit because she anticipates what comes next (which hopefully I will change overtime). Interesting about your friend, I have heard the same thing from other people but her old harness I used before she outgrew it had 'no pats' and 'nervous' on it and we were given plenty of space. Maybe it's different depending on the dog? People are less likely to approach a large dog with issues than a smaller/more approachable breed? I think the thing that helps the most is to just not stop moving. As soon as you are stopped you becoming easier to approach and less able to escape.

Yeah definitely considering a muzzle... especially as it will get busier in summer around here and I can only have so many eyes in the back of my head and would rather people just stay away instead of me constantly actively avoiding them. I just worry that if she does anything like barks at someone or lunges at a bird or something while we're walking past someone and is wearing a muzzle that people will think she's dangerous and report us. I have worked out her main triggers which helps a lot. Old men and women, especially with canes, kids under the age of like 5/6 who run and scream and men who are yelling/making threatening gestures and little wheels like a scooter/skateboard, everyone else is fine and the few times people not in those trigger categories have trapped us and tried to pat her they have received a much milder response. The girl that patted Didi didn't worry me too much as I'd seen her interacting nicely with the other dogs and was nice and quiet and Didi was not uncomfortable around her but I just didn't like the fact the woman didn't listen to me so couldn't be trusted. Our saving grace is that she is unaffected offlead so can still get exercised and our offlead areas are big enough to avoid people. Definitely going to look into a new harness to tell people not to touch and a muzzle if that doesn't make a difference.

Awh he's going cross eyed! Didi now at age 1. Her back leg doesn't usually turn out like that though, she must've been standing funny.

Haven't really been in this thread much recently...we had a 'bad' incident which rattled my confidence a bit. My Dad and I were having ice cream, sitting on a side street with Didi quite content to sit next to us while a few people walked past, we kept her close and she was fully focused on the ice cream. An old man(her worst demographic) all of a sudden saw us and made a beeline for Didi talking very loudly and kept coming despite me saying several times she does not like strangers, please stay away. I was in a bit of an awkward position and tried to get up but before I could the man reached us and she snarled at him. I immediately got up and removed her from the situation as a group of drunks happened to walk past at that moment and started yelling and hurling abuse at me as I left because my 'vicious' dog had attacked the poor old man (despite the fact she didn't try to touch him and was backing away) while the old man complained that he only wanted to say hello. My main priority was getting out of there and the old man moved on quickly, not that I really felt like apologising since I had asked him several times not to approach (we were out of the way, he had to purposely approach to get near us). I was a bit mad at myself for not moving away earlier but I gave us a bit of a break from on lead walks and made her only experience with strangers good and now we are taking things very back to basics, one small step at a time. I think we lost any progress we had made but she was starting to pick it up so I think we can get back to where we were. I was at the offlead park today with a friend and a lady approached with her GSP and 8 year old daughter. The mother asked me about Didi and was patting her as Didi likes women and I could see her kid walking toward us so I told the mother Didi isn't good with kids and give her space. She said oh okay, sure and smiled at me. 5 seconds later her daughter reaches out and starts patting Didi. Luckily Didi didn't really realise it wasn't the woman patting her and that the daughter patted nicely but I called Didi away before she could notice and walked away from them. I just don't get it. She's a big dog who doesn't always like strangers, why would you touch her when I've made it quite clear not to? Why would you let your child touch her? I guess maybe because Didi was so lovey and affectionate with the mother that she just assumed that I was worried Didi might get too excited and knock her daughter over rather than be fearful of her daughter. Just cannot rely on other people doing what you ask, which is why I have to criss cross the street several times in a few minutes to avoid people. We got stuck today and it was awful. We walked past a house with a really low fence and this huge wolfy cross bounded up, I've met this dog at the park a few times and it's really rude and boisterous. Didi was not keen and wanted to walk past as quickly as possible but then a few houses down a woman parked her car and her children jumped out and were running around in their front yard screaming, so I went to cross the road only to see a man pacing up and down the street having an argument over the phone. There were so many triggers and Didi was getting really worked up so I just had to walk on the middle of the road and power through till we were in the clear. In other news Didi held a sit stay while an offlead JR (in a not offlead area) rushed over and tried to entice her to play. She didn't even look at it until it started barking and stood on her tail. The man rushed over and apologised for distracting us and said Didi was very good and that his dog needed some training and he had previously walked past with his dog on lead and only let it off when they got to the off lead bit (the JR just ran back striaght away to say hi) so I didn't really mind. But another woman walked through this area, saw me training Didi onlead and let her beagle off which would've been fine if she kept it away from us but it approached us and wouldn't leave until the woman walked past us and told her dog to stop teasing my dog, it was onlead and he wasn't being fair and smiled at me. Yeah it's not fair (which was my reply) SO WHY WOULD YOU DELIBERATELY LET YOUR DOG OFFLEAD AND LET IT APPROACH MINE!? Glad I don't have to worry about DIdi with dogs too as we would barely be able to leave the house! That was a bit of a long rant sorry but I haven't vented for a few weeks!

It's at Kepala which is a boarding facility/doggy daycare and yes the slope is very handy for the dogs, especially if they can't swim/scared of not being able to touch the bottom. I know it seems like yesterday that she was a tiny baby, now she's just a big baby :laugh: Yeah I don't think I've ever come across a Dane that likes water that much, Didi wanted to be in the pool the whole day and runs straight into the water at the beach though, probably the gundog she has lurking about is responsible for that!

Didi thanks you for the birthday wishes! She is in my bad books at the moment as she ate the outside of the house this morning instead of her chicken carcass and we have a rental inspection tomorrow... At least she's cute!

Twins (almost) Didi was yesterday! Happy birthday big boy :)

Didi is 1 year old today which also marks the last 'puppy' update. She's 43kg and yet to fill out fully, still mostly legs! I am so happy we stumbled upon her and she is very much loved by all of us :) Taken today. Last Weekend The last month and some sillies...

Today's dog spoiling saw us trek out to Kepala and her finally go in the deep end of the pool and she just wanted to keep going back in. And then we came home and she had some watermelon Then there's the rotating human bed schedule she has going on, more toys than 1 dog could need and she may own a bandana or two...

Unless she jumps off the couch Didi has to make a slow descent due to her long legs and normally ends up stuck like this for a bit. The moment when Didi decides she wants to lie on her back AND under the covers also makes for an amusing sight.

She's a mutt, mainly of Great Dane/Mastiff origins with a splash of pointer or lab. I was very unsure once I found out how large she'd get about bringing her home but I got to meet her mum (she was dumped at the pound pregnant and was in foster care with her puppies) and she was such a gentle and laid back girl, a real couch potato and her and the other puppies definitely inherited it. While she'd suit your living situation, there is a lot of dog to handle, especially in an inner city context as you really need them to be totally solid and bombproof temperament and training wise otherwise there's a lot more potential for things to go wrong than a smaller dog so I'd advise against it if you're really not confident in managing a large dog. Also while she is happy to lie at my feet for coffee or lunch I've found a lot of places in Melbourne are way too cramped for her to be there and not be in anybody's way due to her size and need to spread out. Melbourne is pretty dog friendly though, so leading that sort of life where you're dog comes with you is definitely easy and enjoyable to do.

My large breed puppy (nearing 45kg) has been fine with a tiny yard with only a small patch of grass. She only goes outside to do her business or have a bone and sometimes to sunbathe when the weather's nice. She is a low maintenance dog who gets a 45 min romp at an offlead reserve which has her worn out until the evening which then I'll either take her for a quick spin around the block or do some training or play tug. She can be left inside while I'm at uni, the bigger the dog the bigger the bladder but if I am going for a full day and the weather's nice I prefer to leave her outside so I know she won't be in discomfort (she refuses to go inside even if she has diarrhea). I don't know if I would be willing to downgrade to no yard at all just because I know Didi likes lying out in the sun and playing with her toys and that it'd be a lot more work and hassle for me but I'm sure if I'd started off with Didi in your situation that we wouldn't have known any different and would've made it work, especially since she's the type of dog who can do fine without a huge yard. There are times when I think it'd be nice to step outside and run around and play with her and throw the ball or let her do zoomies without worrying she'll wipe herself out and get hurt in our tiny yard but it has not significantly impacted owning her. Your situation sounds doable and you sound very aware that your situation comes with some limitations and that you're willing to cater for them :) Just really think it through, thoroughly research different breeds you like, talk to some breeders as they will know if they think their breed or particular dogs could work. The idea of fostering for a bit or dogsitting sounds like a good as it will show you if it's something you can handle doing in the long term or whether it might be too hard. Also I know you can't fence off an area but if you wanted your dog to safely wander around the yard a bit to stretch its legs and get some fresh air you could always sit outside with a book or a cup of tea and have the dog on a long lead so the dog is afforded a bit more freedom than a normal lead but still adequately restrained and supervised.

It was the poor transgender woman who was killed who was breeding dogs, not the the awful man who murdered her. The quote was from the girl's mother who still refers to her as a son. But even if it was the murderer who was breeding the dogs I hardly see how that is at all relevant to BYB and puppy farmers needing tougher regulation nor in anyway a sufficient argument to 'rest your case'. How can a prostitute that travels the world as a hooker, who just moved to Brisbane from Melbourne. Who was living in a high-rise apartment equal an ethical dog breeder? This is just one of hundreds of examples I could pull. Sex work is a legitimate occupation, your moral objections to it does not necessarily equate to somebody being incapable of caring for animals. I don't really think there's enough information on this poor woman's breeding practices for you to use her as an example and I think she's suffered enough without needing to be further vilified, perhaps use one of your other hundreds of other examples instead. Also I don't think high-rise apartments rule people out of being ethical breeders if they only have one male and female that are toy breeds. Also as for rescue pups and kittens in petshops... the pet shops don't really profit from them, they are merely used as a platform by rescues and shelters to find homes. Anyone wanting to purchase one would still need to undergo the same checks as if they were getting the dog directly from the shelter or rescue as they don't belong to the petshop. I don't think it's in anyway comparable to pet shop puppies and does not harbor the same negative elements that puppies born in horrible conditions, shipped all across the country and sold for ridiculous prices to anyone willing to buy them does.

It was the poor transgender woman who was killed who was breeding dogs, not the the awful man who murdered her. The quote was from the girl's mother who still refers to her as a son. But even if it was the murderer who was breeding the dogs I hardly see how that is at all relevant to BYB and puppy farmers needing tougher regulation nor in anyway a sufficient argument to 'rest your case'.

I'd love to meet your dogs too (I have a soft spot for cocker spaniels :) ) Now that I've had the chance to take her out a bit and see how she is I feel a lot better about it. She doesn't seem too affected by the weekend and I think the fact that she has a positive association with Kepala and feels safe there that she should be fine. I'll still have to keep an eye on her but I'm sure she'll quickly warm up to everyone going since (unlike the general public) they'll interact with her nicely. She'll probably be too busy making doggy friends to bother with the humans anyway :laugh: I do still need to make sure I can definitely get a lift but if that doesn't work out I am still happy to cover the cost of the 10th dog if Steph also can't make it.