Staranais

That is the cutest dog I've seen in quite a while!

Mine is in the yard when I go out. She's fairly intimidating looking and rather loud, so you'd be pretty brave to try to steal her (not that she'd necessarily do anything to someone who came into the yard - although anyone brave enough to try to steal her would have to deal with me if I ever caught up to them!)

Thinking about it, I do think that dog owners don't always help themselves either. When I go to our local offleash trail/jogging/cycling area I have several times been complimented on my dog's "good manners", and people reasonably regularly look astounded when I do simple things like cue her to stop zooming around and immediately come back and walk close by my side off leash when we are passing joggers, or tell her to move off the path and hold a down stay as people with kids go by. I'm not saying that to brag about my dog, as she's hardly an angel. But I'm just thinking aloud, that it's a little sad that people are impressed that we can do (and that we do do) these basic things. I don't know which comes first, though. Are dogs getting banned from public places because they're often unmannerly? Or are dogs unmannerly since they're only allowed off leash in a few special areas (and owners therefore put a lower priority on control and good manners, since the dog is only ever going to be off leash in areas where allowed to do what it pleases)? Thinking further, in rural areas, almost all of the dogs I've seen out in public places (e.g. tagging along with farmers at the stock sales) are very well behaved, and obey on cue, like my dog does at the park.

NZ is similar. I'd love to be able to take my dog on the train & be allowed off leash in more areas - I'd be happy to muzzle and sit tests in order to be able to do so. I don't really know, but I kind of think the increase in restrictive dog laws is a symptoms of society becoming more risk adverse and self centred. And I mean that both on the part of dog owners, and non-dog owners. On the one hand, there are lots of irresponsible owners and untrained dogs out there - many dog owners don't seem to get why their dog should have manners in public or why it needs to learn to follow commands before it's allowed off leash, or don't see why they should pick up after their dog, meaning that their dog is a huge annoyance to everyone else. Where as non dog owners are panicked about dog attacks and don't want even a remote chance of getting hurt or inconvenienced by someone else's dog. And it's easier to just blanket ban dogs than single out the good & ban owners, so there is a tendency to make dog laws based on the lowest common denominator (irresponsible owner with an untrained dog).

Sensationalist reporting, but isn't it always? The concept - that of introducing a pointer into the dalmation gene pool & then backcrossing until you have dogs that are almost entirely dalmation but with a few desirable pointer genes - seems very sensible to me.

Yup, was just wondering as different lines can be suited for different things, so most WL mallie buyers will definitely want to know about the sire & dam's lines, you'd want to put this info in any advert if you have it.

I feed bones, and also brush her teeth a few times a week. I am a bit of a clean teeth nazi.

Could try other dogsport clubs too - tracking clubs, agility clubs, etc - so long as you emphasise how much work they are (i.e., they can be more like a lifestyle than a pet, they want a job to do, really need an owner who is experienced with dogs and who will put lots of time into them every day - definitely not generally suited for someone that just wants to train the dog once or twice a week & have it loiter around the house the rest of the time). You may also want to advertise them on Specialist Canine Forums in Aussie, you get more working folk going through there. http://www.specialistcanines.com/ Do you know their pedigree, Rubidoo?

You might want to try some local dogsport (schutzhund) clubs too, especially if the pedigree of the pups is known? Just an idea.

I'm not much into labs, but #3 looks believable to me?

Thanks for the review - and I love that photo!

I am not at all interested in showing, and couldn't care less if the breeder I buy from shows. Having said that, I think there's no point in breeding if you don't test the quality of your dogs in some manner - whether by competition or by work.

A remedy is homoeopathic it was prescribed in a homoeopathic way (so to say). As I have already tried to explain before: homoeopathy means "similar disease" so when a remedy given is able to produce the same symptoms a patient has THAN (and only than) you can call it homoeopathic. Arnica does not cause bruising, even when overdosed. If arnica is prescribed for bruising as described by the poster, it is therefore not being used in a homeopathic way by any standard. It is merely being used as a herbal medicine, and as false evidence for the efficacy for homeopathy. Plus, any common definition of homeopathy includes the fact that homeopathic medicines are prepared by being highly diluted, e.g. F.A.Q from the Homeopathic Council of New Zealand or F.A.Q from the New Zealand Homeopathic Society. Using full strength arnica is therefore not a homeopathic remedy on two counts.

We've had this debate on the forum a million times, if you search the archives. Some people believe every dog can be trained to a high standard within a reasonable time frame using only reward and frustration, whereas others believe some dogs need aversives to reach their potential within a reasonable time frame, and these two groups are IMO simply never going to agree. Having said that, I wouldn't be calling other trainers methods unscientific if you don't know the difference between positive punishment & negative reinforcement yourself. Hopefully, since you are a professional trainer, that was merely a typo.

The left leg is the side that the dog is on - many people train the dog to focus on their left leg and follow their left leg when heeling, so stepping off on the left leg can be a cue to the dog (that is watching the left side of the handler). Having said that, I start off on any old leg when I heel or leave my dog for a stay, and my girl copes.

K9 will be able to answer this better than anyone else, but as I understand it, you do not need to say stay - you want the dog to automatically give you his attention and focus in the presence of the food. You also don't want to intimidate/pressure the dog into leaving the food alone until the release command, as the dog will then see you as an obstacle to achieving drive satisfaction - instead you want the dog to believe that focusing on you is the best way to achieve his goal of getting the food. Hence, this program is a little different to the way most people teach a dog food manners. I'm sure Steve will correct me if I've mislead you, but this is my understanding of the program.

I'd love to own a well bred, health tested, working line (or really good rescue) american pitbull terrier. However I will probably never end up doing so - firstly there are really no pitbull lines I like in this country & you're not allowed to import, and secondly the restrictions imposed upon pitbull owners in this country makes owning one fairly pointless (I see no point in owning a dog that must be muzzled at all times in public). But, I can dream.

Yes, arnica isn't homeopathic, it's merely a herb. Many herbs and plant extracts have been tested & found to work and are now a part of conventional medicine - look at aspirin, digitalis, morphine, cinchona (quinine), etc. If you diluted the arnica until there were only a few molecules of it left and then it worked better, that would be more akin to homeopathy. On a marginally related note... I think I love

Depends how she was escaping before, I'd think. Did she go over the fence, under the fence, or through a loose paling? If the dog is really very determined to get out, you'll need a secure fence over 6 feet tall & sunk into the ground or concreted at the base. Making a kennel-run for her may be more practical. I'm glad you got her back.

It's a special crate you buy for your dog. It needs to be at least large enough for the dog to stretch out on their side, although if your dog is house trained it can be far bigger if you prefer. My dog has a wire crate, but you can get plastic ones too. I put a cover on top so she feels secure and safe in there, and a cushion and a water bowl inside so she's comfortable. If you get them used to it slowly, most dogs are quite happy to snooze in their crate for a few hours at a time, especially if you leave them something to do in there.

Yes, I totally agree. I know with my mally she's so much more reactive and sensitive than my stafford, and her thresholds to go into drive are so much lower, she's quite a lot more difficult to handle in some ways than my old boy was (although easier in some ways too). Although I think it would be easier for a first time competitor to raise & train a high drive dog if they had an experienced training mentor to hold their hand and supervise them and give them advice. Which is sort of the point Kristov is making about training clubs, I think.

I'd also imagine that there would be more variation in training & success in schutzhund in countries where any breed is allowed to compete? I'd think that training something like a labrador or terrier for Sch would be a rather different kettle of fish to training your typical working line herding breed, but I've seen footage of these breeds competing. It's certainly been a very different experience teaching & handling my old stafford and my new malinois, although they're both reasonably high drive dogs.

She may just be bored & looking for something fun to do? I don't leave my dog alone in the house at all, she's a good girl but she's only canine, and if left alone all day I'm sure she'd find some way to amuse herself that wouldn't amuse me. If you're only leaving her alone for 2 hours a day, I'd just crate her with a kong or bone. She will be quite fine in a crate for 2 hours a day.

Are you thinking of training one of your dogs for competition, Aussielover? If so, good luck! I think that most dogs could get lower level Australian obedience titles, if the handler was persistent enough. Higher level titles, and in many other disciplines & working pursuits, you'd need a dog with a bit more pizazz & a handler that could motivate the dog. I've also seen dogs do well in high level obedience that didn't appear to be very drivy to me, they were merely focused & calm. That level of drive wouldn't be adequate for what I do (SAR), or for schutzhund or for winning agility competitions, yet these dogs did quite well in obedience. So perhaps you need to think about the difference between merely motivating a dog to do something, and it being in drive (a term which means different things to different trainers, of course - if the dog isn't fired up & adrenalised, I don't call it drive, and nor do most working dog trainers I know).

Well, if it was proven to work, it wouldn't be called alternative medicine - it would just be called medicine. :D