Nekhbet

why is your dog off lead in the first place if he has no recall under distraction? Of course he's going to run off there is no consequence to him not listening, and by the time you do implement one of taking him away he's already got away with it. Keep him on lead and work on his focus in the dog park, no playing with other dogs until he's better mannered and listens to you.

yes, but don't panic if their poo becomes bright-dark red over the next couple of days ;) I would cook it up first though it's not really good raw

THere's faith in humanity for you - entire dogs are not always that big an issue. The reasons you give really sound like the same things belted out by many vets over the years to me ... and we've never had an accident or problem. Lack of training and responsibility causes issues, not testicles.

The most complaints I have heard is rude staff and lack of contactability - I've heard 10 complaints just this past week of staff ignoring people, snapping at them or just not having the phones answered at all. Even a vet clinic has complained of their unreliability.

Last dog that passed was this year, Sunday before and that was Skoota - almost 7 year old Dogue de Bordeaux from bloat Last september my Rottweiler Diesel was PTS from severe HD/ED he had just turned 4 Bella: 2009 rescue DDB died at 2 years of age from a heart attack a couple of months after I rescued/rehomed. Undersized trachea caused and enlarged heart which just couldnt keep up Jan 2008 I PTS my working line GSD Krueger just after his second birthday from HD/ED Buddy; 2007 PTS SBTx from severe anxiety problems due to previous abuse

to a degree, if they want something they'll do their darndest to get it. Very strong willed, lovely dogs but not for the inexperienced. They just need firm leadership and guidence to be a good pet.

I dont understand why people go to those lengths when they could just get their own prefix and, I dont know, do it legitimately

I was talking to EVERYONE! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY EVERYONE'S INVITED you know I would love to see you again when you have time Erny :D

I see no reason for a flame suit if it is in everyone's best interests. We get companion animals to help bring us joy, not to cause us stress and cause themselves potential harm.

Kirsty it's not a failure. The decision is ultimately yours but NEVER blame yourself, I'm not pushing merely suggesting it as an option considering this is all probability will turn into a lot of long term management. If you did not want nor expect a dog with problems you did not make provisions for it. That is in no way failure, you are probably being more responsible saying it's out of your depth then plugging away with no resources. I got a rescue once that bent a window frame out of a wall, screamed if he couldnt see you even over a bench and broke out of a steel cage while partially anaesthatised. Making him go through any more would have just been ridiculous for him and for us.

They had the dog a week and it was all through the week and continuing. Frankly I would have packed him back to the shelter within a week of the destruction. The dog has options and instead his anxiety rules, he goes into destructive mode as he has no temperamental resilience to deal with changes like new environment, being without people etc. His trainability for work would be low if he's anxious about change. Theres a difference in dogs shredding soft toys like my lot do, but my house is in tact. They get left alone and I dont come home to my doors and house decimated. I would not be offering this dog more toys, especially stuffed ones, as ingestion and blockage is a very real danger.

And what he's holding in his hand is not a pet - its a feral animal that is destroying our environment. I think he's smart enough to know the difference between the two. And more people bashing him should be too. The two things are totally separate and different and you can't compare him helping eradicate destructive feral animals with management of pets. I hunt rabbits but I have a pet one that gets spoiled rotten despite his miserable nature.

They wont take a dog that left alone will tear things to shreds like its environment, escape and potentially shred itself - it's a character flaw on the dogs behalf.

there is methods for when you start with neutral objects, then you have think laterally when the dog already has a very high value for something. It's two very different things

Whats the grace period of the shelter? You've had this dog a week and he's destroyed the place. Weigh up if you have the time and finances for a high maintenance dog that will obviously need a lot of ongoing work.

get yourself a tube of calming paste for horses, 2ml every morning at least. If you can enclose him somewhere safe or at least shut all the doors in the house so he can only access say hallway/near dog door and put a cheap bed there. No food until you leave and that is put in really difficult to work out toys, saving that a plastic coke bottle filled with kibble and smushed in half.

you need to introduce something aversive as well. Even if you growl HEY NO if she makes a dash to it on lead then redirect her back to you. When there is no control or reward close the teddy is more, you have to lower the appeal of the teddy.

goodness me too many people with their knickers in a twist. The cat is dead, he didnt hang it, they shot it. Pick up any hunting magazine on the store shelf and you will see the SAME THING for page after glossy page - feral cats, foxes, pigs, birds, deer, feral dogs etc. I think the only mistake was letting the photo get out so all the armchair activists could have a whinge about it.

I still have reservations ... that last one did not go on to clarify - it ended in victimisation. I spoke to the Dr in charge of the Deakin survey he didnt actually know what a lot of equipment actually was or what it was for. He just knew it was 'bad'. I asked him to explain himself and he couldnt. Yet his findings are published and submitted to government to 'help' promote best practice for the care and training of 'working dogs'. Uh huh. Anyone that doesnt want details to me, is something to be avoided. Because then personal biases can influence the 'meaning' of the results. If only 2 people in the survey use aversives compared to, say, 50 that don't wouldn't you want to know why? Or are we just feeding the government more fuel to ban what equipment and methods we have left. I think personally the government and some other groups should just keep their noses right out of dog training methods. All its doing is making things worst for a lot of people and animals.

Pity Geelong is a long way for you ... I'd say you're more then welcome, we're actually working towards a partnership with a whole new rescue group to help rehabilitate the dogs for new homes

Yes and no ... I do think diet and environment do play a huge part in it, especially now with the massive range of man made chemicals to inject, pour on or feed to your animals on a regular basis. We as humans are going the same way.

first bitch was going to be bred with, didn't get to do it and now I put her on Covinan shots to prevent seasons. She's 8 now but I"m still debating whether to do it or not now she's older or just leave her be. The seasons did her some good temperament wise. Second bitch will be bred with when she has all her health tests done.

A frame, tunnel and some of the jumps are, I have modded, shorter weave poles because of beginners. We need a few more things in the very near future but since everyone is new we can get away with it. Unfortunately I can't let anyone be on site or use the equipment outside of class hours If you want to pop down when we get some more stuff and use it for a little we can work something out. We're usually there a couple of hours earlier wearing our lot out lol

Yup information overload lol Just personally, I'm no longer desexing any dog I get especially males. The two male dogs I did desex in recent years; I regretted it in both instances. But that is me. Saying that I would not desex a dog as chunky as yours, if he were mine I would wait until he's over 12 months and then decide when from there. There is no law that says you have to either frankly. As for cancer, the hormones you are removing are not unnatural - they are an inherent part of growth and development. Yes some hormones can promote cancers but the dogs need to be predisposed to those cancers in the first place. Even then the body still produces hormones like Testosterone in other glands apart from the testes. All dogs need training and its become all too common for people to blame hormones on bad behaviours, and in turn be lulled into that false sense of 'oh he's desexed we won't have any problems' idea. I would let him mature, then decide if and when you want him done. I personally turn my back on any vet that pressures me to surgically alter my dog IF they cannot give me a good reason it is in their best interest. I had one tell me my DOgues balls were ugly to look at and we should remove them ... well don't stare at his arse then :rolleyes:

Sheriden is right - no kill means rehomable animals are not killed. Not every animal is rehomable, would you rather they warehouse them for the rest of their lives in cages?