Willem

the white foam indicates an upset stomach, which can have many causes, e.g. bugs, viruses, plastic, toxic substances, bone splinter...etc.. ABs only work (sometimes) against bacteria, but can be harmful in case of other causes. With 12 weeks he is obviously still growing. If the stool is getting firm again: that's a good sign so I wouldn't be too worried - if it would be my dog all what I would do is to feed a little bit less so it is easier for his stomach to recover. (A day / 24 hours without food increases the acid conc. in a dog's stomach significantly thus killing pathological bacteria - never needed any AB for my dog.) ETA: if he is only 12 weeks old I assume he is normally doing several poops per day?...the poop is your best friend :D when checking the dog's health...should be firm, no blood, no or only little mucus, same consistency (not firm on one end and soft / running on the other).

how old is the dog?...once grown up dogs need significantly less food was he vaccinated recently?...or heartworm drugs administered? was he outside and could eat something he shouldn't eat?...rat poison, frog,...plastic...or did you bombed the house or used other pesticides? how does the vomit looks like?...foam?...yellowish?... how often did he vomit and since how many days? does he still has stool and is it a healthy stool?

I assume you don't refer to foxes, Myna birds, rats, mice, rabbits and cane toads in our NPs when you are talking abut 'delicate flora and fauna'... could you list one specie of this 'delicate fauna and flora' for which my dog - assuming that I walk her on leash on a track in a NP - would represent an increasing risk?

but it is hard to believe that dogs on a leash walked on a track do the same harm and damage than all the straying dogs that are out there anyway!...in a lot of the European parks it is allowed and the parks are much smaller!...in Canada it is allowed...all these parks have sensibel fauna and flora and obviously the risks associated with allowing access of dog owners with their dogs is rated not so high. Compare the ratio of NP size and population of Australia and Europe: I can't see that dog owners would represent a risk here.

the problem I see is that our cities and transport systems are just not suitable for dogs anymore - even if dogs on trains would be allowed in Sydney: who really wants to take his / her dog in a crowded train?...there are not many breeds that are 'mentally equipped' to cope with such scenarios and for most of the dogs it would be just cruel. In the suburbs there might be more space in the trains to allow this, but in the city? Making cities including transport systems more dog friendly would require major investments - I can't see that this will happen or that there is a lobby strong enough to facilitate the diversion of $$ to those areas. However, allowing access to NPs for dogs would be something that doesn't require additional investments and would be beneficial for many people and responsible dog owners - the current law doesn't help wrt straying dogs anyway, and for responsible owners it is not a big deal to keep the dog on the leash, so why not allowing it?

some light reading regards this topic http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4214076/Animal-welfare-experts-hot-under-the-collar-over-dogs-in-coats.html

...that's an unusual (?) high / good value for a CKCS?...most of them have some abnormalities regarding blood platelet counts - while over 40% looks good on paper, it would make me suspicious wrt how it was measured if I had a CKCS... http://www.cavalierhealth.org/platelets.htm

Collar grab - and dog's choice. If you're preventing the dog making a choice after the collar grab and some calm behaviour - it won't stop the fence running, but when the dog calms down - you release the dog and allow it to make a choice. You might limit the choices and increase your control by having a lead on when you let go the collar, but you let the dog make a choice. You reward the good choices. So the dog is making a choice without you telling it what to do - so eventually (or two grabs in the case of my dog)... dog chooses to behave how you want, you reward that, dog will learn to make that choice when you're not there. Hence I can leave a bowl of porridge on the coffee table until it goes cold... and she will leave it alone until I get back in the room and then she will ask me if she can have it. I've come back into the kitchen to see her drooling next to her bucket of kibble with the lid off cos I forgot. But she doesn't eat it. Collar grab + Its yer choice. (lots of youtube about these games). Thankyou for your reply. Can you explain HOW the bolded bit occurs? Dogs dont generalise behaviours well usually. As for 9years, ive been grabbing his collar, and taking him down a notch, then offering a choice, he makes the right choice, coz we've been training together for some time now. When i am not at home, he makes the other choice, he fence runs and barks. He does not seem to generalise the right choice. So how will this help? ...that's the challenge with all these choices left to the dog :) ...when you are not there he gets rewarded by 'chasing' the passing people away so it is a 'good' choice for him...hence my suggestion to train it with decoys who will only disappear when he stops barking / chasing. In this case the reward will only be the treat or praise he gets when he stops barking / chasing, but not the disappearing of the people who pass by. I doubt whether it will work just with collar grabs and the like... Eta:...for this scenario respectively your objective IMO it is better to adjust the trigger zone to allow the control of the dog with minimal interaction (minimal collar grab, lead pull etc.) as the final goal is that he shows the wanted behaviour when on his own...so just rewards (treats, praise) when he stops barking, but no close interaction, use the trigger zone instead for your favor and minimize the zone according to the trainings progress.

...great article ...I'm still digesting so...

human grade meat (and other food) is not automatically healthy for dogs...the meat will be very likely treated with 220...225 and can cause fatal Thiamine deficiency...conversely 'dog' grade meat treated with 220....225 contains additional Thiamine to address this issue. If any raw human grade meat has been treated with preservatives then it has been done illegally. Yes, the regulations allow for preservatives to be added to some human-grade processed meat products (eg sausages, frankfurts). Processed products that contain added sulphites are required to declare it on their packaging. By law, there shouldn't be any in raw human grade mince. Here's some info on the regulations: http://www.meatupdat...hur-dioxide.pdf ...to my knowledge there is no legal definition for 'human grade', hence manufactures can put in more or less what ever they want as long as a) they list all the ingredients, thus applying with the declaration requirements, b) it is still eatable for humans without causing harm Eta for clarification: for 'mince' sulphites are not allowed, but still found: some further reading here: http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/elibrary/industry/sulphur-dioxide-sulphides-in-meat-info-pamphlet.pdf http://fedup.com.au/factsheets/additive-and-natural-chemical-factsheets/220-228-sulphite-preservatives ...the point I wanted to make is that food 'declared as human-grade' doesn't reveal much about the quality and the preservatives used, hence all meat products declared as human-grade can still contain sulphites.

human grade meat (and other food) is not automatically healthy for dogs...the meat will be very likely treated with 220...225 and can cause fatal Thiamine deficiency...conversely 'dog' grade meat treated with 220....225 contains additional Thiamine to address this issue. If any raw human grade meat has been treated with preservatives then it has been done illegally. show us the legal definition of 'humane-grade'....

human grade meat (and other food) is not automatically healthy for dogs...the meat will be very likely treated with 220...225 and can cause fatal Thiamine deficiency...conversely 'dog' grade meat treated with 220....225 contains additional Thiamine to address this issue.

...of course it might result in legal investigations, but I can't recognise that this is a law. For example: I have to shoot my dog because she got injured in a car accident and I want to put her out of misery. This doesn't comply with the standard - but, assuming that she would have died anyway, but might have suffered for another 2 hours, it still complies with the law...?....

http://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/law-and-policy/legislation-and-codes/codes-of-practice quote:...'It is recognised that equivalent or better ways of achieving the required work health and safety outcomes may be possible. For that reason compliance with codes of practice is not mandatory providing that any other method used provides an equivalent or higher standard of work health and safety than suggested by the code of practice'.... while this link is about OHS, I would assume the same applies to the Animal Welfare.

...these guidelines (?) are part of the 'Animal Welfare Code of Practice', but they are not laws representing NSW legislation?

what exactly is your question?...is it about the over aroused state?....or do you want some ideas how to train your dogs not to chase by passers? wrt over-aroused:...no matter what 'drive', the outcome is the same: dogs (other mammals...humans etc. too) become less sensitive and more aggressive due to the adrenalin and other agents released in the brain - in such a state they can be better and faster hunters, fighters etc. and don't get distracted by smaller injuries (all part of the evolution). Downside is that behaviours can be 'tougher' and affects close environment (people, other dogs, objects...). You can train dogs in an aroused state so they learn how to control the abundance of energy without directing the aggression towards innocent bystanders...challenging, but doable. wrt 'by passers chasing': it depends on what you want to achieve: should they still alarm, but stop barking and chasing on a cue?...or do you want them to ignore passers totally?...the game plan for this 2 options is more or less the same: you need some decoys outside the fence - the exercise would be that they only go away when the dogs stop barking. At the start you have to find out what the trigger zone is, so the distance of the decoy(s) to the fence has to be adjusted to keep the arousal at a level where you still can control the dogs...wanted behaviour (stop barking) gets rewarded.

I lived most of my life in Germany, we had dogs, my brothers and sisters in Germany still have dogs, so I know what I'm talking about... Eta: this My link is a German Forum...the same topics, the same issues, the same problems we have here....when visiting a country as a tourist on holidays it is more likely to see all the good things as the grass on the other side is always greener... Eta: wrt NPs in Germany: every park ranger (Jaeger) has the right to shoot a dog if it not leashed and strays...and they shoot! ...finding campsites in Italy, France and Germany that are pet friendly becomes more and more difficult...on most beaches in France dogs are not permitted... Furthermore you have to pay a tax for every dog in Germany (similar to other European countries)...for some breeds it's EU 1,000 p.a.!!!!

he???....I'm pretty happy that a lot of responsible dog owners start training their dogs in the controlled environment of an obedience class instead of using 'unprepared decoys' in inappropriate locations for this purpose. And every walk can be used for training the dog... Modern cities are not built for dogs anymore, so IMO it is really sometimes better to leave the dog at home. Regards Europe, e.g. Germany: ...the only big difference - compare to Australia - is that dogs are allowed in most national parks (on leash), however access is restricted for many shops, public buildings and sometimes also for restaurants. Eta: http://www.hundeerlaubt.de/hunde-verboten

...he uses this product personally and it seems it works for his teeth (they look pretty healthy) :laugh:

...it might be a long stretch, but the scenario could be compared with the automobile industry: I remember when the first discussions popped up regarding the danger of lead in fuel. The automobile industry stated that it would take years to develop motors that can run without lead in the fuel....government issued the laws and suddenly every brand could offer the right motors ...same with fuel efficiency, safety...emissions. Too much bureaucracy isn't good, but sometimes it can help to overcome the 'laws of inertia'...

...I think it is not likely, she learned to be by herself for 3 years - why should she be anxious?...that doesn't mean that she doesn't love company. In a way, her capability to entertain her self and to explore her environment is also a positive thing as it indicates that she is not braindead - that (that she is interested in a lot of things) is something that you can use in your favour: it shouldn't be to difficult to train her the right things - just very very time consuming ...her mindset regarding exploring the environment is like a puppy - unfortunately (for you) her mindset comes with an already matured and very strong body.

yeah, the Vikings are strange people...they even don't allow neutering (only in rare cases), and despite the arguments promoted here down under all the time they don't have problems with stray dogs....the Norwegian Animal Welfare Act makes it clear that surgical procedures are not to be used to adapt animals to the needs of humans, unless strictly necessary...such an attitude might not be always convenient (for humans), but IMHO it shows deep respect for mother nature and their creatures.

looks like that in the past 3 years no one spent the time to teach the dog what she is allowed to do and what not - and the dog just learned how to entertain herself. Now you are challenged with overprinting a 3 year long reinforced behaviour - that's a very tough job, especially if you have to deal with 34 kg of muscles. One way to cope with it would be to copy her past environment: kennel / run where she has some toys she can play with - that's just maintaining the status quo. However, it buys you time for the training outside the kennel where you have to monitor her 100% all the time to correct / prevent unwanted behaviour immediately and to reinforce good manners. That's pretty tough especially if you physically struggle to control the dog: she will recognize this straight away and it will worsen the whole situation. You might have to face that she is just too much 'wild' dog for you. Perhaps you could ask friends to share the load - maybe someone could walk her, so training her walk manners, someone else could stay with you at home monitoring and training her etc.. Eta: a muzzle might also help to minimize the destruction, however, it can't replace the required training.

I guess it is somehow linked to the old instinct's 'cleaning up around the den' to avoid predators; bitches with pups are also known to eat the poop of the young ones to minimize clues that would point to easy prey. Hence I would expect the 'poop burying behaviour' using the nose more from bitches than from males. While urine and feces are used to mark territory or to lure potential partners on the trail (or leave warnings for competitors), around a den those signals are not helpful and might lead predators to vulnerable prey. Scratching the ground after defecation is the opposite behaviour: canines have glands in the paws (also for sweating)- the poop and urine will be recognizable from a far distance, the sweat is the 'business card' telling other canines more details (male, female...where he/she comes from and where he/she went...etc.). All these instincts are still somewhere buried in our civilized dogs, but for many of them the context got lost and therefore it looks weird sometimes.

dog can develop immunity against ticks - if they are exposed to a small number of ticks, allowing the ticks to engorge for only a short period, they will develop immunity which can be increased by slowly increasing tick numbers and period. That is how laboratories harvest serum against tick paralyses. So if you walk your dog every day and it gets just the right numbers of tick bites, and you remove the ticks after the walks, there is a good chance that the dog will become immune respectively will develop cutaneous immunity that will hinder tick attachment. Body size and weight of the dog will play a major role - if the dog is too big, respectively there are not enough ticks or time of attachment is too short, the immunity will be compromised. Conversely, too many ticks and too long attachments might kill the dog. The problem with this immunity is that it fades out pretty fast if the dog is not exposed to ticks anymore, so the procedure for developing this immunity would have to start from scratch.