Nekhbet

Lexus is a subsidiary company of Toyota, but they are - in the scale of things - as good if not better then a Mercedes Benz. It's not a cheap car.

i'll be blunt - if a trainer cannot train a basic recall you need to find someone else.

yup newfsy me too. My dogue can do agility, he lure coursed catching it at 18 months of age and carries little body fat. He can run, walk for hours and eaily jump onto my dining table without even trying. We forget so many of these dogs had a working purpose and from the moment their legs could hold them as babies they were out and about all day!

If the lump is your main concern, priority and $$ wise I would get a fine needle aspirate done. Get her to take a couple of samples and see what she thinks. If she's on the fence about it then x-ray. Conversely, as I did with my dogue, I just got his lump cut out with huge margins because the aspirate came back pretty nondescript. Saying that even the vet said a FNA is not 100% it's just there to give them an idea but in your case it could show a cyst or an infection especially if he bats the ball around a lot it would hurt a lot! Since he had 3 close relatives die from pretty aggressive cancers that started with a lump I just got it out and off to pathology. It too came to money for me so this was the cheapest and long term safest way to see what was going on.

You need to go back to the rescue and get them to help you. A dog doesnt go from social to extreme aggressor over night. Yes there is some settling in period and adjustment but I think you need to have a look at your whole situation before the habit sticks. If they have no answers get in touch with K9Pro if you're in NSW

saying that with our current medical advances are we really doing some animals a favour keeping them alive? Or in some cases are we just prolonging the inevitable? Too with the big breeds I think a BIG part of HD/ED is the fact so many pups are unfit from the beginning. I have two pups here at the moment, they wrestle, running about, jumping, thumping, climbing, we're playing tug of war, rough housing etc and I dont let them sleep until they're well and truely tuckered out. How many puppy owners have their dogs do that all day? Most pups sit about while their owners are at work. I see many large breed pups that are just dumpy and flacid - they do bits here and there but nothing compared to the amount they did a couple of decades ago, before the days of highly specialised diets, supplements, etc. A growing pup cant hold it's frame with fat - it needs muscle and proper development comes from exercise and play. ETA Erny I have 3 malinois in the house at the moment ... I'm pinging ROFL

do at least a fine needle aspirate first then go from there

dogs spend a lot of time at the vet because now the fashion is to promote 'check ups' every 6 months! What the heck! I can count the total amount of times my dogs have been to a vet on my hand and that is ONLY because it was a big deal (IE massive flap of skin hanging off dogs leg) everything else I do at home. Puncture wounds? Iodine and salt. Sprained yourself? Tough, go in a crate and I let the pain limit the dogs movement. Also vets back then used to have more experience outside the box, if the dog was sick you rang them and they would usually tell you to give it a good dose of what you had handy and it would be right. Now ... OMG MY DOG HAS A SCRATCH! Vets told owners dogs have teeth, give them meat and bones to eat. If they have worms, worm them. If they're sore, tough titties if there's not something deathly wrong they probably would have asked you why you at their clinic too. Most of the time unless the dog WAS deathly ill people had enough brains or experience to fix things themselves. I'm becoming more dissapointed at the new generation of veterinarians too, many just parrot their text books and product guides at their clients which isnt right either. Many know very little about the impact of envrionment and diet, they (like many human doctors) work on the wrong end of the symptoms - mask them not solve the cause. We're the generation that cannot think for ourselves and hence we like handing over everything that requires effort to others to just service for us. Vet - fix the dog. Just service it like a car and we'll be back when something else is wrong because we dont like getting our hands dirty and we just dont want to know, the media tells us ABC and we blindly follow. Christ we're the generation that has made so many artificial, starch and crap based treats and teeth cleaning products for our dogs because its just too much to admit the dog is a carniverous animal that loves chomping away on big meaty bones. The sheer idea of ANY parasite terrorises some people and hence lets pump our pets and environments FULL of pesticides and insecticides. They're part of the life cycle. They're not good but to bombard your animal every single day of its life with chemicals is not healthy - no wonder their immune systems are shot. As for breeding, my personal opinion is that we are breeding weaker animals. Weak both in temperament and in health. We shield away the puppies, we lock up dogs from disease and life and wonder why they're getting weaker. Decades ago a little more natural selection came into play or breeders were more willing to send the sick pups to heaven.

I've been acosted by orb weavers every time I've been up to NSW *shudder* freak huge face swallowing creatures

you lucky lucky bugger! If the pideys weren't so post-apocalyptic I would be there too ROFL

What has your puppy school trainer told you? If you're in melb or geelong or surrounds shoot me an email. I think a one on one to teach you some basics might be the way to go.

your dog did not chase butterflies, it has killed several animals. If someone had reported your dog he could have a dangerous dog label slapped on him. Yes you have a stafford but they do not have to chase, catch and kill all smallies near them, socialisation only works if you deal with it in the manner right for the dog. The first time this happened you should have called in a behaviourist but you seem to know better. No one said your dogs temperament towards children is bad, but you yourself admit he's too much for young kids. To me this is another problem that needs addressing. I said you glossed over the facts, and frankly you did. I also think your assessment of the dog is slightly biased as well, be it intentionally or unintentionally, hence saying an opinion from a 3rd party is an intelligent way to go. I totally agree with PF's post. This is not anything against you, are you traumatised? Yes. But that is no excuse for not calling in someone who deals with dogs like this before rehoming them, and seeing if they are at all rehomable. As has been said before, this comes down to behaviour NOT obedience training. You are not changing the behaviour you are passing the problem onto someone else and probably downplayed. Just because we dont agree with you doesnt mean we're against you. Maybe you should listen to some people advice who DO have experience with handling dogs like this and worst. I have a small feeling there is more to this story then we're hearing as well. I just want to know in 20 years how you have never owned an adult male of the breed you have been breeding?

my dogs must be broken, they dont ever roll in the dirt or mud

squishy sounding ears dont need more water in there they need to be properly cleaned under anaesthetic, check for ear drum/canal damage and the wax put under a microscope to see what exactly is causing the problem before just charging you an arm and a leg

twodoggies I meant instead of canned food, add some pet mince or raw meaty bones even to the dogs diet. I dont see any food from a can as healthy for a dog if there is a meaty alternative. I can tell you getting bulk discounts will be hard, if you have an ABN you may be able to go straight to a wholesaler.

I dont think taking this dogs OK history with small dogs means it's OK. It has fought and killed small animals before. ReadySetGo is right, no matter what the OP tells the family a professional should be dealing with this dog, even a period of boarding and training with someone like Steve Austin in NSW may be the way to go. Expensive, yes. But you want to fix this animal ... a dog like this will spend a lifetime being tossed home to home until someone gets sick of him and sends him to the vet or the council finally nabs him for killing someones pet. ETA stuff the mortal fear of windscreen wipers ... have you discussed with this family about his head count and that they will need the guidence of a professional? Or did you gloss over that point like you did in your first post on here.

pet mince from a good butcher is a heck of a lot cheaper and better for your dog by the way

I found water bottles with full colour French Bulldogs and travel mugs with bull mastiffs on them for $5 each that was the belmont store, they were under random wishing tree items

I think where ever this dog ends up you need a behaviourist to sort out his prey drive. working home or not this dog has a serious problem that needs rectification NOT simply more work. A dog that has killed an animal before wont just benefit from a change of environment.

why dont you send him back to his breeder?

I am a little dissapointed that someone supposedly qualified as a behaviourist has given options like that. None of those are really passable even as management. Management is not locking the dog away and hoping it doesnt get out and cause trouble, but actually managing the behaviour and instilling safety nets. It's because they wont use correction and behavioural redirection that they are limited to such dangerous options.

6th is fine, just me and whoever you pack into the car come over whenever you like I'll PM you my address.

yup mondays are good for me pick a nice day and you guys are welcome here as long as you need to be unfortunately I have children of my own to provide but we can work on a heap of things anyway I can tell you my own working line is not keen on children either but she wouldnt dare hurt them. I had them climb my fence and pelt her with glass bottles so you can see where it comes from. She can now have small children around her when we're out and about and if she fells nervous she has been taught to focus on me and I move her away I dont expect a dog to sit there and take it, but I expect her NEVER to redirect onto a child. Nicole I have ferrets and a rabbit so we can work on her prey drive.

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thats OK pack up the kids and dog into a car and make a day of it ;) saturdays are good and you can stay as long as you need to (and we can fire up the BBQ as well if needs be ) meanwhile if she does suffer anxiety try some calming paste on a daily bases, 2ml per day straight into her mouth. I found the good manners paste to be quite punchy when it comes to making a difference. As for high strung if you see my Malinois I think yours has a kindred spirit If you want to visit robert holmes be prepared to morgage your house. If I do recommend medications, and it is a rare occurance since 99% of the time changing the dogs lifestyle, training technique etc tends to make a difference, I send people to a good vet they trust and knows the dog.