Nekhbet

frankly if that was my dad I would tell him to stick it. Jeezus who is he to tell you to sell your dog. She sounds like a good shepherd to me, just needs some consistancy and training. Remember shepherds were created as working dogs so they have a need for a lot of stimulation. I would start teaching her some basic obedience at home. This website is good to look at for some pointers http://www.leerburg.com/articles.htm I raised my Belgian Shepherd (I have always had German Sheps before) with some of his methods and she turned out fine ... well as fine as a nutty working Belgian can be ;) Its just time and effort. Remember this is the time where the adolecence starts kicking in too so she will be more naughty and challenging. Work through it, keep calm at all times (even though its tempiting to tear your hair out and yell at them) and keep trying. You will eventually get though to her ;) Just like toddlers, you have to keep everything out of their reach! she's a BOOOOOOOOTIFUL little girl!!!! I'd pinch her for sure!

unless you have an understanding of dog training not really. Your dog is too old for puppy school it needs dog obedience lessons. Sounds like it also needs something to do. Grab some big meaty bones for her to chew on during the day, build a sand pit, get some better toys like the ones from Aussie Dog. Unless you catch her chewing it there is no point in punishing her she wont understand. If you dont want things chewed either 1)remove and lock them away or 2) spray with a bittering agent. Either way provide strong alternatives for her that she cant choke on. She sits on your feet because she loves you. She jumps on teh screen for the same reason, she's a pup and you are the apple of her eye. She's desperate to be with you and if you chastise her for that you create nothing but a broken heart. A dog will never understand why it is being punished for loving you. Ignore her until she stops banging at the door, dont yell or make a fuss. Feeding time sounds awefully complicated. How many times do you end up saying sit? Bring out a bowl of food, make her sit, put it down in front of her then give her the eat command. Easy. You're teaching her impatience is still rewarded, and so is everyone else. Are you feeding once or twice a day by the way? With my two I fill the bowls in the house then take it outside. They follow me to the door of the pen, sit, I put the bowls down inside then I make one dog focus, she is released to eat, make the other dog focus, he is released to eat. Nice and easy.

with the crates, dont lock them up too close to meal times and limit water (unless its really hot) a pup at that age should be able to hang on for about 6hrs. Give them one last chance before lock up and leave them in there. If you have been letting them dig the lawn they cant differentiate between good patch of dirt and digging under the fence. To dogs its all the same, they dont think as complicated as we do. Put something like sand in the clam shell so they definately know its a good place, it will feel and smell different. Kongs are great, one each shoudl keep them excited. Keep up with the bones, the pups are nearly old enough to start going on longer walks. Remember give her an incentive to look for the kong. Cram with kibble and some mince then give her a half breakfast. Spread some kibble around the hidden kong so she has to look for it and then spend time extracting the rest of her food. If she's eaten a big meal she'll just want to lie down then zoomie about for a while ;) I bought my two some big rope toys too, they can play tug of war with each other. I also tied one tug toy to the roof of their pen so it swings about. I know Aussie Dog has a ball with a little metal ball inside so it rattles but its really indestructable.

this pup is not even 6 weeks old. It should be nowhere near you or away from its mother, it probably hasnt been vaccinated. What on earth POSESSED YOU to buy this dog. Of course the breeder wants you to take the dog its $$ ;) Get to a vet NOW. Doesnt matter how much it costs you chose to take this precious little life you damn well go get professional help. It could be poisoning, it could be parvo, it could be anything. No pup should be drinking that much water, falling over and vomiting. Its cruel to keep hanging on. When my dog gashed her leg I went to 3 vets and drove around literally all night to make sure she received surgery and the best possible chance of walking properly again. You choose a baby you take care of it like it deserves.

sounds like not enough leadership and just a shepherd being a shepherd. They do become attached to one owner but EVERYONE needs to be consistant in how they behave with her. If you have not started obedience, you should have already. She nips you because she doesnt take you seriously. You shouldnt be scooping food in front of her. Put it in the bowl, then make her sit and look at you. Give her one chance to sit, if she runs round go back inside and no food till she settles. Get harder on her because you have the opportunity to control a fairly small animal.

maybe crate train them so they can sleep inside at night. Safer then tethering, I would NEVER tether a pup where you cant see it. You will wake up to a strangled animal. Play with them more, give them a good work out. A tired dog is a quiet dog :rolleyes: Definately get them more toys, a sand pit with food buried in it, big bones to chew on and dont give them breakfast. They are a breed made to work adn if you dont give them something to do they will make thier own fun. Maybe a strip of electric fence near the bottom of your fence will deter them from digging, but start putting poo in their holes and around where they dig. Few dogs will dig through their own waste.

Ruffles here in Vic DONT SAY ANYTHING TO ANYONE about it. You do bitework and the coucil declares your dog dangerous with all the bells and whistles attached. If your dog steps out of line get ready for the law to come down on you. My dogs are lovely family pets. End of story. Microchipped, vaccinated and well controlled in public. No one has actually seen my dogs do any work and I intend to keep it that way.

mitochondrial and cellular DNA are two separate things. Mitochondria are like the little power factories in the cell. The DNA in there is what is left over from the mother. When a sperm or egg is created, only half of the DNA in the cell goes in there. So either of the two different chromosomes go into that cell. Then one of those combinations is fertalised. Mitochondrial DNA does not come into any of this process hence can not be changed (discounting spontaneous mutations) so of course for thousands of years be the same. This does not mean we are in bred, as the genetic variation and number of different versions of genes is huge! If they used a foundation female, then put a male over her all the pups would have the same mitochondrial DNA. The bitches from that litter would then go on to pass on the same mitochondrial DNA to the pups. Since the females are the ones that matter (produce the pups) you will always see that same mitochondrial DNA turn up. inbreeding and line breeding is decreasing the variation in the cellular DNA. the closer the individuals the more similar their genetics. Keep breeding them together and the offspring's DNA becomes closer and closer to the other dogs. This is undesirable because variation allows recessive conditions to not be expressed (dominant gene masks it) which is the sticking point with DD. Yes the first generation may not SHOW the foundation stock diseases but keep breeding the mutts and it will pop up. If two different breeds are created over say 2000 years the genetic diversity would be great. Remember we are still breeding dogs so the diversity cant be that huge or it wouldnt be a dog anymore! All dogs have the same chromosomes and genes, but the 'version' of that gene if you like, is what makes the difference. Differences between small, tall, long hair, squished face etc etc Chimps share 96% of the same genes. The others we dont have in our chromosomes hence we dont look like chimps. All dogs have the same number of genes and chromosomes. If they are missing through a genetic accident usually the pups dont survive past the womb.

too late for that ... he now launches himself thinking he can actually make it ... 55kg of muscle trying hard to get up there (maybe if he flaps those ears of his )

I'm just being a proud mummy hehehe its my first working dog so I'm being all gushy now that she's coming so far. Cant wait to get the DDB onto a suit the nippy little bastard that he is

Its hard for the ANKC to promote or support bitework. They have to (theoretically) be a neutral body and it would only take one bitework trained animal to rip someone a new one and the ANKC would look really bad. Plus there is not a consistant standard with how people train, I have seen people table train, push dogs into defence too early, intimidate etc and create a not quite right working animal. Sure it will work but I wouldnt want to be its handler. I would never send my dog away for protection work unless you intend it to go board for months. Its something that has to be done with the handler if you want a good strong relationship with your animals. Both of mine do protection and we take it at their pace, not a set training timeline. ETA Jeff i need to send you some photos of my bitch doing full suit, tried it for the first time and the floodgates have opened! Amazing how much more confident she is after one training session

ahh yes but prey drive is a natural response to a trigger. It is useless for a dog to keep being in prey drive if there is nothing to chase. Thats why when you train with the ball or whatever the idea is to make the dog think you still have the prey trigger in your posession even though they cant directly see it. If he's running after it like a loon then he's in drive, even if he is taking cues off the other dog. Remember pack order adds to a dogs behaviour when hunting as well. I dont know much about the comparison on retireving and prey drive and how the two can intertwine. But I suppose the retrieve would be a modified version - instead of the basic hunt - chase - kill it has the added grab and bring back. Any ideas retriever people?

Malinois - rediculously high prey drive. Unfortunately it over rides her going into defence so we're plodding along slowly with her. She will chase, hunt, stalk anything. If she hears someone 3 fences away prey drive is triggered and she runs the fence prey barking to get to it. She can pluck birds out of the air too, snaps its neck and leaves it. She never works for food, if she's training she wont eat. DDB - also very high prey drive. He's a hunter though, he will catch and hold like a vice grip. He grabbed a bird once and buggered if I could get it off him (dont worry they only catch the ferals) He's not as cluey as the Mal but will go nanas over anything you wave in his face. He also wont take much food if we're training. They both get rewarded with verbal/pats and taking a bite. Tollers if you cant call your dog off a rabbit then wouldnt his prey drive be higher? If my two chased a rabbit that bunny would be finished (actually the drought is pulling them out of hiding ) I dont know how people have worked out the exact percentages, for me it depends on what the dog is doing. Yes the dog may want to work in prey but that is useless for me because prey with no defence means I get a beating - dog wont defend me. Or dog switches into drive at an innapropriate time. urrrgggg

if you go by their tummies then yes, they seem overfed. If I give my Mastiff a whole chicken he looks fatty but he has little stored body fat. If you can feel the ribs and he doesnt have doggy man boobies he's doing OK

Mina will have to be muzzled she's cranky at the moment but Skoota definately needs the attention! I am going to be on holidays from the 21st dec to 15th Jan, so any time then is good.

wont be making it this sunday unfortunately :D have to work so I can pay the excess on the ex's car I crashed into a pole last night

well if you like Kristie why dont you pop down to KCC park too on sunday afternoon. Skoot needs to meet some little doggies, he still isnt sure what they are

well sundays are good for me as long as its not a very hot day, neither or us handle the heat well! Let me know if this sunday is OK for you If you know where KCC Park is we can meet there, let them run around together if they fall in love :p just to let you know mine is not desexed but yours being a male shouldnt be an issue. They can go mark things together ;)

If you are interested in meeting a Dogue de Bordeaux then I could probably swing past. He's a big boofer but controllable by me, and would stay on lead. If yours gets used to him then nothing would phase him ;)

I was interested in Schutzhund and had room for a new dog so when a working Malinois litter came up I grabbed a pup. It was definately a lurning curve :D and now she has been transferred over to PP/security because of training issues. So the dog came because of the sport. I got the DDB, found he had great prey but easily went into defence so put him in for PP/security as well. Suprisingly for a dog not bred to do it he does a great job, especially for his age. Unfortunately the work and attitudes involved means that more dogs are not really an option so until one of these goes adding another canine wont be happening soon!

new interactions have to be human controlled anyway. I would never expect a dog to just accept a new member into the pack. Her behaviour could indicate that she's telling the newby 'i'm gonna be your boss so take that" and she's reaffirming her position in the pack. I dont think you are asking too much. But remember at 9 months the dog is going to start maturing and behaving like an early teen. Set clear, firm boundries for all in the household and stick to them religiously. Dont make exceptions. If she does something wrong make sure she knows it (time out etc) and keep the same rules for the fosters. Make sure everyone is fed separately and dont let any dog eat out of the others bowls. No one on furniture, pushing you etc. But you still have to watch that your fosters have compatible personalities with your doggy, you cant expect every dog to get along with every other. An overly dominant animal may not be the way to go with her.

what are you trying to achieve with this dog? Trials? Competition? or just to be a pet? The wolfies I have met have been similar. Really if she behaves quietly around you I wouldnt be wishing too hard for a hurricane on a lead! But if she is constantly in a dog group situation you will find she may get most of her sillies out with them. More one on one fun time or just going out together and treating her will get her interesting in you.

what exactly do you mean by wet and dry and why dry food do you use consult your breeder before your vet as they usually know better whats good for their babies

Bones like chicken necks are a great start for pups. Mix of protein and calcium in a neat little package I use Eagle Pack for my dogs, one of the best on the market. I also feed raw foods like chicken (maryland, wings, necks) lamb necks/flaps/offcutts. Then I cook up some vegetables and rice to add to this too, sprinkle some Vets All Natural nutritional powder and there is a meal. Both my dogs get 2 meals a day, one kibble one fresh. It depends what you can afford. If you can get things like Royal Canin, Nutrience, Eagle Pack etc then go for it. If you are limited to supermarket brands you will find that going to factory shops or markets for your meat and getting a bag of mixed veges (coles sells a big bag for like $2) and rice is a better option. I dont like buying pet mince as I dont know exactly what goes into it and some people mince bones in there too. I got my dogs used to eating whole things like necks early on in life (never gave them a choice really) so they had to work for their food. Fussy dogs are usually created when the owner keeps changing the diet, or keeps pandering to the pups habits. Stick to set meal times, if it wont eat it throw it out and wait till the next meal time, and you shouldnt have too fussy a puppy.

well if you have such vast medical knowledge ... there are hormones in the urine. Bitches mark, when you take her for a walk she will piddle a trail back to your home. She will flag and present to dogs. She will do all the things a bitch in season will do. So pretty much you have all the trouble of an in tact bitch. And if a dog jumps your fence she will want to mate, so dogfight. You will have to contain her in an enclosure or always indoors if you intend this. We are giving you dog related information. Its a little more complicated then human examples.