Staranais

Exactly. I don't hate them, but I am wary of them.

I hope you recommend exercise and training too! Exercise is a good recommendation. But it's pretty hard to teach someone how to train a dog when you only have a 10 or 15 minute consult with them, and just telling them "train the dog" isn't any use if they have no idea where to start. That's why it's better to have a good training club or behaviourist in the area that you can refer them to. A client doesn't want to pay a veterinarian's hourly fee to learn about training, not when there are cheaper and better qualified people that they can to go to. The challenge is finding a local trainer/behaviourist that you trust enough to stake your own reputation on when you refer clients to them, and trust to refer the problem back to you if they decide they think it does need medication.

And that, precisely, is the problem. If excessive barking is totally subjective, a neighbour can complain that even one bark a day is 'causing them to lose their peaceful enjoyment of the property'. If someone is so sensitive to noise, they should not live in a busy suburb. I am not trying to ignore the issue of barking dogs. Some dogs do bark a lot and can be annoying. I also think that some neighbours complain because it gives them power over their neighbours. How frequently have we heard on this forum that neighbours have complained about dogs barking, sometimes even when the dogs weren't home? If we as dog owners allow people to be unreasonable about dog ownership and let subjective laws raise expectations that dogs need to be absolutely quiet, we may as well get virtual pets. I would like to see time limits on the barking and excessive barking fully defined so that everyone can be aware of their rights and responsibilities. Yes.

Do they really? Do you mean more types, or a higher incidence of disease? & could you post a source for it? I've never seen anything concrete.

That looks very, interesting, Erny. I wonder how much it will cost, and how accurate it will be at predicting food substances that the dog reacts to? If it's only antibody based it could miss predicting cell mediated reactions to food? But could still potentially be a useful tool in the toolbox. Could you please post more if you hear more?

Is it possible she's scavenging or getting into the trash prior to the occasions that she's had the vomiting? If you don't train her one tues/weds, so she doesn't go in the car to training and she gets no treats, does she still vomit on those nights? IBD stands for inflammatory bowel disease, basically where the gut associated immune tissue responds inappropriately to certain food molecules and causes chronic gut inflammation. Diagnosed definitively by both a biopsy & by excluding everything else that could cause GIT signs, so it's a long and expensive road getting a definite diagnosis for IBD. You can make a presumptive diagnosis by ruling out other possible causes of gut inflammation & the dog scoring high on the canine IBD index.

A warning snap isn't necessarily fear - it can also be that the dog is trying to control you, or trying to train you to stay away from his stuff or not do certain things. It's exactly what he'd do with another dog that was being pesky - first give it a fair warning by a snarl or snap, then bite it properly if it persisted in the annoying behaviour. I'm glad you're getting the situation sorted out. If you can't do it by yourself though, I would second the advice to seek professional help. You might forgive being bitten, but not everyone is so forgiving - to be frank, if he manages to bite someone else he could end up seized & declared dangerous or PTS. But, glad you seem to be working it out so far by yourselves.

Agree. I think most dogs would be OK in an apartment in theory, but in some cases the owner would need to put in an impractical amount of work to make it OK. e.g., I have a very noisy and energetic WL malinois, I guess she'd be OK in an apartment so long as I took her out and exercised her to complete exhaustion 3 or 4 times a day. But I hate to think how much work that would be and how much time that would take! Some dogs are also barkier than others, which can be an issue in apartments even more so than in regular suburbia.

Even making them by yourself is expensive unfortunately, so I can see why they're expensive to buy. When I make dehydrated liver treats I get 1kg of liver for $6 NZ or $7 NZ, then when you dehydrate it it becomes only about 200g of liver treats.

I wouldn't be worried if she's still bright and happy. I'd make sure her worming is up to date, since it's possible for some GIT parasites to cause signs like this, and is a quick & cheap fix if that's what is going on. If it's worrying you, I'd be considering doing a bit of an elimination diet with her to see if there's anything in particular she reacts to (such as the treats, as you already suspect) - or if that doesn't work, even trying a novel/hydrolyzed protein diet to see if her issues resolve on that. Has she got any skin issues?

That's very interesting, I didn't know that. Particularly interesting as the NZSDTA has no interest whatsoever in conformation and runs a completely open studbook, to be entered dogs are merely required to have won a working trials event. Dogs registered on the ANKC Sporting Register aren't shown. The SR allows them compete in performance events entire, rather than as desexed Associates. Yup, I know. I just think it's interesting that I'd be allowed to compete with my dog entire on the basis that they'd won a NZSDTA event, when most owners of unregistered dogs apparently need to desex before competing in ANKC performance events. It's a bit different here, you don't ever need to desex a non-pedigree dog to be on the associate register.

Depends what you mean by teaching phase & training phase. I'd call it a training phase once you had created the completed behaviour just as you wanted it, & were now just practicing it in different situations/locations. If you're still working on developing the behaviour you want, then you're still teaching, IMO.

That's very interesting, I didn't know that. Particularly interesting as the NZSDTA has no interest whatsoever in conformation and runs a completely open studbook, to be entered dogs are merely required to have won a working trials event.

And also from her website:

For those people asking about health testing, she actually talks about it on her website. and I wouldn't call the tests complete, or the conditions on the guarantee ideal, and of course we have no idea if she'll even do the tests or honour the guarantee - but isn't that true of many ANKC breeders too?

Good work Steve!

I'd say, look at his dogs. If you're impressed by their obedience and attitude, he obviously has something to offer, even if you don't like his methods or they're not appropriate for your dog or situation. I don't take training advice from anyone anymore if I wouldn't want my dog acting like theirs!

It's a good story, and I think has a lot of truth to it. I also think the difference is partly caused by the fact that the NZ elbow scoring system is more highly correlated to disease in a young dog than the NZ hip one is (for OCD and UAP, anyway). Hence, selecting breeding stock on the basis of elbow rads is going to be more effective than selecting on the basis of NZ hip rads. I would be very interested to see a study on the changing incidence in clinical H.D. cases during this time period (not just the change in radiographic hip scores). I would also be very interesting to see a study on the changing prevalence of Penn Hip scores based on the population of dogs scored by Penn Hip method. ETA, I'm not sure if you're right about the OCD. I read all of the recent information I could get my hands on when my own personal dog developed shoulder OCD, and although there has been far less research done on shoulders than elbows or hips, everything I read suggests that although the jury is still out, most specialists think it is rather likely that there is an inherited component to the defective endochondral ossification leading to OCD of the humeral head.

If he's into working farm dogs, he probably doesn't see the need for using treats. Most farm dogs either work for the love of the job, or they don't get kept. On a farm, a dog that had to get food rewards to work would simply not be kept. For non-stock training, most farm dogs I know work for praise & attention (which is given rarely so is valuable to the dog), and to avoid punishment. Their obedience needs to be reliable but not flashy. Again, food rewards don't come into it. Different strokes for different folks.

They were discussing this in class the other day. Interestingly, in contrast, the elbow scores in each breed measured have decreased markedly over the same period.

Some spot ons are safe on pups that are 6 weeks old, some aren't. Can't remember which are safe and which aren't off the top of my head, but make sure you check the packet or ask your vet before you use it on your puppy.

Yes, which drive? We build prey drive with teasing & frustration & making the dog work gradually harder to capture the toy & then putting it away while they still want more. But, some dogs will have little drive no matter how much you try to build it. Don't know much about Susan Garrett's drive methods.

Yes, I dry liver, fish and heart for my dog. Goes down a treat. Have to cut them into thin strips, and dry until they're very dry, or they won't keep properly & will go off.

You are well within your rights to rid your house and yard of mice, it is a sensible thing to do. If you do so in an abusive way, you are no longer within your rights, and can be prosecuted for animal cruelty.

No, you said your brother and cousins tied their tails together. Disgusting. If you really do think rodents are not animals, you most certainly do need a biology lesson.