Nekhbet

Jeezus all to just walk up a ramp? If he's a highly trained obedience dog why is it failing? Heel him up the ramp, hold his collar and guide him. If he doesnt want to, keep the pressure on until he moves up the ramp don't let him baulk if that is your problem.

I think avoid internet advice and go straight to a dog trainer. Where are you in situated and we can make some recommendations. And no your breeder and vet were both wrong, your dog was not fine to leave at 6 weeks unless you are an extremely experienced person who can provide the socialisation that the dog would have gotten from other dogs. Personally if you do like reading internet things I recommend www.leerburg.com as a start, there are articles and videos to watch on how to train the dog, but I would still get a trainer in ASAP to help you.

That's because these so called gentle harnesses rely on applying some discomfort to the dog to supposedly stop them pulling. Now the premise is that people don't want to use those horrible, nasty tools like correction chains and prong collars so these wonderful, magical 'gentle' aids do the trick! EEEEEEEEEEEEEP ... wrong. You (and most other people on the planet) have a breed with a reasonable to high pain threshold and hence the harness will do absolutely nothing except help him pull you about in no time, unless you intend on muscling your dog to get him in place like you do with the front attach harnesses. And unless you can hold the animals focus THE WHOLE WALK be prepared to be yanked and pulled because there is NO consequence to the action. It's why I see people constantly buying new harnesses and equipment, one fails apparently you go buy another sorry but they pretty much fall into same sh*t different smell category with me no matter the brand. Our problem is we see the leash as an attachment NOT a TOOL that it is hence why all this stuff is on the market. How you use the leash is just as important as the collar you use and both handler and dog need to learn that. It's why leashes now look like waterskiing equipment, we think of it as something to just hang on to and hope we don't get hurt. Teach your dog to respect the lead length and signals from it, owners learn how to use it properly to train your dog and you don't need a million dollars worth of equipment that stops working after a while. They're overpriced gimmicks, every one of them. Get a prong for your staffy, learn how to use it and train him not to pull. The money you've probably spent on harnesses could have bought you a corrective collar and a couple of lessons with a decent trainer and fixed the problem.

Yup go straight to Glenn at Pet Resorts Australia, he's not one to mince words with the owner either, might be what he needs :laugh:

just cut his food intake in half and make sure there's enough good quality protein in there to keep him going to shed the kilos, the put it up to 2/3 of original for maintenance. If he wants treats he gets his normal food or a carrot God I'm mean :laugh:

Depending where you are I have a friend selling a 4 dog trailer for under $1000, he needs it gone ASAP, down here in Geelong :)

why is a daycare person letting strange dogs near her small animals *sigh*

Yes jelly that wasn't a typo ... we even run a ferret rescue :) see told you, totally crazy We had a white shepherd rescue here once, they all thought he was the biggest bunny ever ... don't fall down in my garage that's all I can say

Would you come down to Geelong at all? We're on the Melbourne side on a Sat afternoon? inlinek9.webs.com

now now now just because I am the crazy ferret lady with 20 of them that ... well ... yes OK

I hope not a lot of people base their puppy selling on traits they see and test whilst pups :laugh: I gave the old 'predict the pup' a go, so far I have a 100% success rate with predicting how they would turn out as adults. Some things you can't change or suppress. My bitch, 7 weeks old guarding the back door, fearless, no problems with surfaces, sleeps like a log in the car, solid prey drive and latches onto things like a vice ... still like that 2 years later.

Melatonin can be dangerous if not used properly, just because things are natural does not mean they are safe. I would look into dietary and exercise routines before going into supplementation at this level. Even though it's out and about it's not government recognised as 'safe'.

Everyone reeeeeemaaaaaaaaaaaaain caaaaaaaaaaaaaalm ... all is well. Jellys got 24 hour harassment privelages so don't think she can't get support in between times or reinforcement of an idea. I see why she got upset, it's a dog with a long term problem that went back a bit but all is well. We saw Roo today, we all had a good chat and discussion, went through a few things to see how Roos temperament is coming along with the changes etc and we're getting there. Rome wasn't build in a day :D

http://dingofoundation.org.au/adf.php

Roo and Jelly should be coming today so we'll see what's going on. I think Roo just doesn't understand no frankly, everything's open slather for destruction for her when she feels she doesn't want to deal with it or it's in her way.

Rant away. People are idiots, if they don't like it they don't deserve on of your beautiful babies and that's that. In the mean time, I see a wake of people crawling into fetal position after a brisk conversation over price with you Mon

Why is anyone being 'harsh' with a Halti - they are not designed for that type of behavior so what the hell was the trainer doing to the dog and showing other people how to do as well? So you don't like reward based training but you do at Alpha? It's working on the same principles you just obviously removed the food and forced the dog into liking you instead. I'm curious now

Here's a sturdy dog crate for you :D those black ones you can bend the bars with your fingers if you try hard enough http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DOG-RESIDENCE-SOLID-STEEL-2-DOOR-DOG-PET-CRATE-by-SAVIC-LARGE-91CM-/130661299749?pt=AU_Pet_Supplies&hash=item1e6c053625 and its puppy powder who I originally got my crate from. I put together a couple of these at my last job, my god you could hold hit the small one with a car I reckon and it wouldn't dint. If she's not stressed she's just finding things to do, you just have to stay one stay ahead of roo unfortunately. As I said I didn't hold high hopes for the black crate, so don't take it as a failure. Clip it shut, bend the bars back and use some strong black cable ties to tie up the gaps she's made. And just to make you feel better (kinda :laugh:) this was done by my rescue GSD culprit on the right there One $200 Snooza bed care of the rescue Malinois ... I didn't even leave the house for this one Yes. She's so upset about the whole thing...

the weave poles on topbuy.com.au are actually not bad .. and you can set them up in a zig zag to start dogs off too

So train distraction with no distraction around, and then let the dog go mental with other dogs. Find a new trainer. If your trainer has to take your pup out of a situation it's beyond their skill level. Listen to your breeder, they know their dogs and lines best and they have already achieved to where you want to go. Sport harnesses and others frankly teach nothing, it's maybe fine now but wait until you have a large, strong ridgeback yanking you around howling.

I am happy that she did well, I knew she would! Don't think I too had the idea of the crate being long term, but if it means she's calm, quiet and safe, it's a huge leap in her wellbeing, and you have some freedom so you learn to relax. A step at a time, but it's a huge step that you can now leave the house for whatever reason and your dog is safe. Once again, that is not damage :laugh: remember that shepherd you met? Hes still in reo-bar :laugh:

So the long term harm to his organs and brain is not a concern to you? That's not caring about welfare, that's conceding defeat because you're limiting yourself in how you deal with things. And all at the expense of the dog. You give an animal medication to decrease stress reactions, then you test if it's stressed ... Animals can't talk to us, we rely on the researchers opinion to say if the animal is in stress or not, which is subjective. I also bolded the main point .... we don't know, but hey don't let that stand in the way of flooding these products onto the market We don't really understand what's happening to the dogs, we just know that some of them don't exhibit stress behaviors while on them and so that's good enough. My point is proceed with caution and an educated mind, DON'T follow blindly. I have 2 science degrees Corvus, I'm not an idiot on these medications and mode of action, as well as long term effects. I have also helped a lot of dogs behaviorally over the years, my learning is not all books and other peoples studies I actually do the groundwork myself. The times dogs actually need these medications is a lot less then we give them, that is my point. Friends of mine were recently told to try clomicalm because the dog was unsettled at the vet, geezus they're the dog lollies of the 21st century now. We've lost reality - these medications were never just something to be handed over willy nilly, for people or animals. But we don't give owners the full story sometimes, and we don't emphasise how these medications are most effectively used. So that is why I am against the mass prescription of them for minor, ridiculous behaviors that can be easily fixed with a firm behavioral plan or in some cases, a good kick in the metaphorical bum for the dog.

Erny has some extremely valid points. Where is the line drawn between medicating for the right reasons and going in conjunction, to when it becomes convenience and pseudo-results. Remember medications in order to have this affect have to work somehow on the brain. Scientifically we are not that good. We understand some things but why some people see things and have traumatizing reactions while others think it's the best thing since sliced bread, well, they're not 100% sure. Even for people it's not an exact science, do you know how many migrants are addicted to their 'nerve' medication? Doctors gave it to them when they came over, they're still popping in their 70's because noone helped them emotionally along the way. Pull them off now and it would be unbearable. Life experiences cannot be fixed with a pill. I've seen it in people and animals, and I've heard it from doctors mouths. If there is a genuine imbalance, the pills help. Otherwise the brain has to adjust to these new levels and wow.... wow ... all I can say is why do you think most medications have warnings about if you already have X, Y, Z thoughts or ideas to stay away.

Well the dog is half way there... Block the windows and put sounds on to flood the brain like a talkback radio show, only feed him out of food toys and funnel the dog into something productive. I would be loathe to call that full blown SA but a dog that doesn't know what else to do with itself. And which it's why it's also severely over diagnosed too. Scratch at the door or whimper and BANG ... SA dog! I'm not dismissing the fact there are genuine SA dogs out there but frankly, if your only option left is literally to medicate the dog in order to get some function and safety for the rest of its life, then there's a place for that animal. I did it with one of my own dogs because frankly, no animal deserves to live with NO ability to relax. You go to a GP, have someone give their opinion on your behaviors and get a packet of medication. You take that medicine whether you like it or not. You don't feel too good but your friend thinks you look heaps better. You get taken back to the GP, GP thinks you're great and keep taking your medicine because from outward signs you seem calmer and improved. Meanwhile inside your brain is screaming to you, you feel confused and numb but you have no opinion. Dogs cannot talk back. We think because the external reactions are gone the internal must be following and THATS where my problem lies. It's a band aid of the 21st century, they're not bloody nice and a dog cannot scream out for help or stop the meds when it's not understanding or coping with the internal reactions it's having. But we think it's fine more and more often, and that is what makes me mad. Oh, and the fact they are prescribed so quickly because most trainers/vets/behaviorists refuse to do anything but supposedly socially acceptable methods. Stress is not a bad thing in small doses. Fear, pain, avoidance, stress, anger they're all part of the learning process and they're normal parts of what comes out of a dog but we're too quick to jump on any of these reactions as abnormal. We've overshot the mark with dogs and gone too far ahead of ourselves. Sterility and lack of balance breeds problems, that is a fact. Using sterility and lack of balance to fix the said problems too, well have a think about that - where are you going to get to? Bulltish and band aids.

Never said I wouldnt agree, that just sounds like he needed to shut up :laugh: My comments were in relation to true SA type behaviors, not just a dog carrying on because nothing stops it Bingo, exactly. Just because a dog does something doesnt immediately mean its SA, its banded about WAY too much to be honest and mostly self diagnosed. Stop asking, get your butt down there as often as you like