Staranais

I bought one of those because I just wanted a vibration (pager) collar. The stim is utterly useless though, it says it has 99 levels, but in reality it has 1 level that pulses at 99 different rates. At anything up to about level 30 the pulse is so slow that you couldn't possibly time the correction accurately, what's more it finishes the next pulse after you take your finger off the button so it keeps correcting while your dog is doing the right thing. So even a dog owner with naturally quite good timing might not realise that they are confusing the hell out of their dog with poorly timed corrections. Ugh really? What a piece of ill-designed crap. I'm glad you tried it on yourself first so you realised what was going on, before you put it on a dog. And glad you posted here, because now I'll never buy one.

I guess you could complain to council, but would it help? The dog control officers might get told not to talk about their jobs in public, but that won't change their attitudes toward the dogs & owners.

At a guess that's probably the oral formulation though, CW EW? ETA: if she's been given 0.25ml of a 20mg/ml solution, which it looks like from the receipt, and she weighs 25kg, that sounds like an entirely appropriate dosage to me.

Possibly they meant 0.25 ml of a Metacam 20mg/ml solution, from a 50ml bottle? That's merely a guess, but it sounds like a much more appropriate dosage. Not much else I can so without more info, sorry. ETA: I've never personally seen a 20mg/ml solution licensed for dogs, only for large animals, but it could exist I guess. You'd need to check the packet. Shouldn't really matter so long as they give less of it to the dog, so the dog gets the right number of mg. It's all the same drug (meloxicam).

So the dog is 25kg, and she was given 50ml of 20mg/ml metacam (meloxicam). Are you sure? ETA: it seems rather unlikely to me, as that's 1000 mg of metacam, which is a huge amount. And a 50ml injection is also a very large amount of fluid to put into a dog. I suspect you've got the numbers wrong?

Do you mean 0.25 ml of 20mg/ml injectable metacam? Or 50ml of 20mg/ml metacam? Or something else? Sorry, am just a little confused by the way you have written this.

I'm sorry for all you folks who live in Victoria. I've met some lovely dog control officers in my time - and also met some who have openly told me that they don't like dogs. I would hate to see them all given the power to PTS my dog if they decided she "might" bite someone.

That is true, but when NZ farmers talk about a heading dog, they're generally referring to a specific type of border collie bred for NZ farm conditions. Just a little quirk of language, I guess. We do use Kelpies, ACD, although I have seen them used mostly on cattle, but they wouldn't be called a heading dog. This sums it up pretty well: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/farm-dogs/1

Yes, I have seen them before, and for the most part I like them too. Like Erny I've got to say that don't always agree with number 5 - depends on the dog and the situation. I can see the arguments for the rule. I understand that you generally want the dog associating good things with you (classical conditioning!), and also understand that in many situations you need the dog to believe the punishment will occur even if you're not present, hence it's good for the dog not to associate the punisher with the handler. But on the other hand if my dog does something like bites me through sheer stroppiness (not these days but has happened in the past), then I'm quite happy for her to see that I'm the one punishing that behaviour since I need her to understand that I insist that she respects my person (if that makes sense). I don't need her believing that the magical dog gods are zapping her for biting her owner.

Test C qualified - as in, you've qualified to compete at Test C level, the highest level.

Yeah my old stafford loved his fire hose toy. Can't remember where we got it from. He also really liked bike inner tubes & car tyres. Cheap & long lasting. Everyone got destroyed eventually, though.

I could believe that! It's bloody expensive too, between about $80 and $180 a year, & a responsible owner will get absolutely nothing for it.

OT: how do you get a title in NZ for obedience? I thought about CGC too, but we'd fail miserably where my Labs can't sit still when someone new and exciting walks past You need to win a class twice in order to move up a level, and you only get a title when you win into the top level (out of 5 levels). Takes a good dog and a lot of dedication! ETA: So the only titles available in NZ obedience are TCQ (= you've won into the top class), ObCh and Ob Gr Ch. None of these are within the capabilities of most dogs & owners. There has been some talk of awarding titles at the lower levels, though nothing has come of it yet.

If you go this route, be sure she connects the punishment to the behaviour not to you (or you'll just get a dog that avoids stealing food when it thinks you're watching!) I'd also manage the situation even if you decide to correct, as the more times she succeeds at stealing food, the more times you'll need to punish (or the more aversive the punishment will need to be) in order for the punishment to work.

Yeah, when I did mine with my old boy we just had one CGC, which was the lowest level. They've introduced the other levels to give regular people something to do after the CGC without having to do competitive obedience (as obedience is very, very competitive & hard to get a title in NZ).

Yes, it would be both sensible and kind. No flaming from me either. I don't know if I could bring myself to euth my own dog, though. Even if I understand it was the best choice for her, I simply don't think I could actually do it. PTS other dogs is hard enough.

Yes, either extreme is silly - I apologise if I gave the impression that I constantly squished her down without teaching her & rewarding the correct behaviours. I would find life bloody difficult if I didn't both teach & reward the good stuff, and disuade her from doing the bad stuff. If all I did was correct the bad, she'd probably be bloody miserable. One important criteria for me in deciding to use aversives as well as reward is that I find I can give her more freedom if she clearly knows that some things are not acceptable. For example, when we are working out the front of the house I will often have her off leash wandering around the lawn & enjoying the sunshine. And yes, I will often give her a specific behaviour to do as I work, such as put her in a down stay (& periodically reward her for keeping it). But I would not feel safe giving her that level of freedom if I had not also taught her that she must not (NOT NOT NOT) ever do things like flip into full prey drive, dash onto the road & chase the neighbours kids down as they go past on their scooters and bikes. There's just no room for negotiation there. Chasing the kids isn't just "not as rewarding" as doing her down stay - it's not on, ever ever ever. So I guess what I'm saying is she'd spend a lot of time tied up or in her crate if I didn't inhibit her from doing some things.

Hi Steve Thanks for the update. Does the survey still indicate that most of the replies are from ANKC registered breeders? if so I think the graph showing breeding for the pet market and money is a bit of a worry. Pam Me too. It would be interesting to see how the numbers who breed primarily for money break down into registered/non registered breeders, if you're collecting that info.

That was the plan, but we were lacking freezer space. Next time I will create freezer space!

Depends what they find on their clinical exam.

Yes we were - but after exams perhaps? Sorry! I would challenge you to live with my dog without creating any inhibitions, Corvus. You'd spend so much time managing & redirecting her inappropriate behaviour & shoving treats down her gob to try to maintain the good alternatives, that I don't believe you'd have any time left to have much fun with her (eta - or to work her, which is why I got her in the first place). Having said that, I wouldn't personally use ecollar for mouthing during playing - easier & better to set the rules of the game to be "if you want to play with me, you don't mouth me hard". Simple!

AKA a heading dog? They normally come in short coats, are bred to work, & aren't normally kennel club registered. Lovely dogs. Huntaways are lovely too, but are bred to bark all day, so not always suitable for a suburban property.

What kinds of games are you playing with her that you keep getting bitten? Like, wrestling on the ground? Or playing tug with a toy?

But I got it, don't worry. Thinking back, my old boy managed to educate lots of people who previously thought that staffords were evil, child killing monsters. But I don't know if he managed to convince anyone (except me!) that he was pretty.

Oh sorry! I'm in NZ. So I'm not sure how similar the Aussie system is.