Cosmolo

Provided puppies are fed with enough frequency in these situations a lack of routine IMO is actually far better than a strict routine. Dogs without routines are frequently more flexible, with less "set in stone" expectations and as a result less anxiety.

Really sorry Huski xxx

Definitely not looking at getting another dog any time soon- this is just research for the future! Gone off springers I'm afraid TTSD, the pointers will only be if we decide we need/ want a big dog- otherwise will stick with ACDs and JRTs

Yes all the GSP's i have known have been food driven so they seem to be different. I agree HW- hence our considering them!

I am quite partial to Pointers and they seem to be the only large breed (pedigree) dog that fits what we would like in a dog. But, having trained and had experience with a few (not many as they're not that common) i have noticed what seems to be a similar trait across all of them (adult and puppy alike) and it's my only reservation about the breed IF it is indeed common. Obviously my sample size is limited hence why i thought it might be of benefit to ask here. I notice that the ones i have encountered seem to have a lower than average drive for food- right the way through to being positively fussy and refusing to eat normally. Has anyone else noticed this? All the Pointers i have seen have been different ages, raised differently etc, a few i have seen at training, in their home environment AND in a different home environment- same behaviour in all circumstances. All experiences welcome.

How absolutely frustrating. Did you see the enclosures where the dogs were going to be kept? What was the fencing like? Depending on the answer to the above, i'd fight them on the vet bill.

I like that article that Melzawelza just posted and the bell curve- however, there are dogs beyond their particular definition of dog aggressive as well and to suggest that there is not a category of dogs who are beyond "needing supervision and a good leader" to manage dog aggressive behaviour is a little inaccurate IMO.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that while getting an adult rescue with a known temperament is a great idea, i would still exercise caution if the expectation is to leave the new dog unsupervised with your small breed dog. The margin for error when you have a significant size imbalance is very small.

I know many dog aggressive Staffordshire bull terriers and i know many who are very good with other dogs- under supervision and appropriately matched. Unfortunately my experiences with American Staffordshire terriers has been a little more skewed toward a majority being dog aggressive- however it's important to remember that dog trainers are more likely to see dogs with problematic behaviours. Would your expectation be to leave the dogs alone together unsupervised? This for me changes what i would recommend- i have a Jack Russell Terrier and a Bull arab type who are best of friends and both are excellent with other dogs. But they do not get left alone together unsupervised.

So many incidents!! The owner should receive a severe penalty- completely irresponsible.

Good luck herbiegirl- is it one or both elbows that are being done?

Brookestar- you have misinterpreted what i meant when i said required- we did exactly what the qualified physio and the vets told us to do for our particular dog. The lameness was present but improving and then reached a point where it failed to improve any further. Morgan is now on daily medication, we sought a second specialist opinion which gave us an additional surgical option. We elected not to put her though this for a variety of reasons, mostly that the surgery cannot address the degenerative arthritis already present, both elbows would have to be done separately and the recovery time would be lengthy for each. So she is now on Loxicom indefinitely.

I use nylabones for my puppies and adult dogs- they love them and i think they help keep their teeth clean. My dogs get other fresh bones too but they have their nylabones inside and in their crates.

Good puppy school's are NOT a waste of time. Criticising all puppy schools based on a handful of experiences is like saying all small dogs are aggressive because you've seen a few that are. Avoiding ones at vets may be a bit of a false sense of security too. Plenty of qualified, quality trainers run classes at vets and there are plenty of unqualified people running classes lacking in quality at a variety of locations including pet stores, parks, private residences etc. By all means research your trainer/ puppy school choices- everyone should. But try not to bag out a whole industry/ whole group of people/ type of class based on a few dodgy experiences. davecol i would set up your training sessions a little differently so that the pup is highly motivated to do what you want and you can start to build reinforcement history. The problem with the approach that you describe is that it limits the number of repetitions you can do, takes a longer period of time and doesn't really make it clear enough to the pup what you want from them as they're still bouncing around having fun when they ignore you.

I doubt very much that observing the other puppy in one context is creating problems in a completely different context, especially after one session. In saying that well run puppy classes are there to improve the behaviour of all the puppies in the group so the instructor should be able to effectively manage the barking puppy situation.

I would not allow this behaviour, particularly with a young puppy and unknown dogs

I would recommend Cottage Kennels. But regardless of kennel choice, given recent events in SA make sure you ask the about their fire plan in case of emergency.

If the ears are red raw you need to treat that in addition to repelling the flies. There are products that do both and products that only do the latter.

Exactly Megan. Unless something triggers the memory, forgetting them is not beyond the realms of possibility. Cosmo never greets me at the door hence why i was lucky my OH reminded me so quickly in my situation.

For any of the posters that think it would not happen to them- PLEASE read the article posted. It is long but a worthwhile read and will give you some insight. It's not about how much you love or care for something. This could happen to anyone. Thanks for the article Melz- the end of it i thought was very beautiful, the rest quite devastating.

People make mistakes- many, many people make mistakes that don't end in tragedy but unfortunately there are times when it does. I had a situation a few years ago where i forgot my dog in the car- my horse was having emergency surgery, i was extremely tired and stressed and she is the quietest dog in the world- doesn't move a muscle when you pull up somewhere. I walked inside without her and fortunately my husband asked where she was and i was able to go straight back out to get her. I'm not excusing deliberate acts of cruelty at all- but there are situations where one mistake is costly and devastating and who can say they have never made a mistake of any kind. Most of us are just lucky that our mistakes haven't been so costly I'm really sorry Kirty

My small, medium and large sized dogs eat once a day but usually have some training treats or chews at other times as well. Young dogs and puppies here work for most of their food too- treat balls and training with very few actual meals.

After having two years in a row where we had over $20,000 worth of vet bills in each year we insured our new pup when she arrived last year (the rest of my dogs are un-insurable). Thank goodness we did as she wracked up $8000 worth of vet bills in about 6 months- surgery for elbow dysplasia AND an emergency vet visit plus physio. Petplan paid out about $6000 total without any fuss. No way a rainy day account would have withstood the last few years we have had.

Just to add to what the above posters have added- If the dog tolerates it for 30 repetitions and then on the 31st does not and nips the child and this results in the immediate removal of the child (which it normally would) this can dramatically lower the dogs threshold in the future- it's not just as simple as going back to where you were before, the dog learns a new, extremely effective coping strategy in that moment and this is then likely to be repeated at other times. Just because a dog can or will put up with something doesn't mean they should have to.

I think most kennels would allow raw if it was provided by the owner though. Kepala is the only one i know with a pool- beautiful facility.